GRANT, (HIRAM) ULYSSES SIMPSON (1822 85). A celebrated American general, and the eighteenth President of the United States. He was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822, and was the eldest child of Jesse R. Grant, a tanner and farmer, and Hannah Simpson Grant. On his father's side he was remotely of Scottish ancestry, being a de scendant of Matthew Grant, one of the settlers of Windsor, Conn., in 1635, and a man of much importance in the infant colony, which he served for many years as surveyor and town clerk. Ulysses's great-grandfather, Noah Grant, held a military commission in the French and Indian War, and his grandfather, also named Noah, fought in the Revolution, afterwards emigrating to Pennsylvania, and from thence to Deerfield, Ohio. His maternal grandfather, John Simpson, had likewise emigrated to Ohio from Pennsyl vania.
Jesse Grant, who had worked as a tanner for the father of the afterwards noted Abolitionist, John Brown, started in business for himself at Ravenna, but removed to Point Pleasant, and in 1823 to Georgetown, about 40 miles from Cin cinnati, where Ulysses was brought up, working on his father's farm in summer and attending school in winter. Jesse Grant, desirous that his son should have a better education than he him self had had, procured for him in 1839 an ap pointment to West Point, where Ulysses in 1843 graduated twenty-first in a class of thirty nine, and was then commissioned brevet second. lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment of Infantry,. stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. In May,. 1844, his regiment was ordered to Louisiana, and in September, 1845, to Texas, to join the• army of General Taylor. In the Mexican War, Grant took part in the battles.of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and was present at the cap ture of Monterey; was then made quartermaster of his regiment in 1847; participated in the battles of General-Scott's campaign, and for his bravery at Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847, was made first lieutenant, and for his conduct at Chapultepec, September 13th, was brevetted' captain. In the summer of 1848 his regiment re turned, to be stationed first at Detroit and then. at Sackett's Harbor. In the same year he was married to a Miss Julia T. Dent, of Saint Louis, sister of one of his classmates at West Point, who survived him many years, dying in 1902.. In 1852 he accompanied his regiment to Cali fornia and Oregon, and on August 5, 1853, was commissioned full captain; but on July 31, 1854. resigned and removed to the neighborhood of Saint Louis, Mo., where he cultivated a farm and engaged in the real-estate business. His lack of knowledge of business methods, however, and his carelessness in money matters involved him heavily in debt, and caused him in 1859 to give up and move to Galena, Ill., where he was em ployed in his father's store at $800 a year. Here he was living when the Civil War broke out in 1661. He immediately recruited and drilled a company of Galena volunteers, and accompanied them to Springfield, where he was employed in the Adjutant-General's department as a muster ing officer. He offered his services to the national Government, but, receiving no reply, accepted on June 17th the colonelcy of the Twenty-first Illi nois Volunteer Infantry, and served with his regi ment under General Pope in Missouri until Aug ust 7th, when he was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers. In this capacity he served in Missouri; was later placed in charge at Cairo, Ill., and early rendered important service by the seizure, on September 6, 1861, of Paducah, Ky., at the. mouth of the Tennessee, and on the 25th of Smithland, at the mouth of the Cum berland, two important strategic points. His next move, a month later, was to check the advance of a large force under General Jeff Thompson, this being successfully accomplished by two battles, one at Fredericktown, Mo., the other at Belmont. The District of Cairo was now enlarged, and General Grant was placed in command. In February, 1862, he moved from Paducah with 15,000 men, aided by Commodore A. H. Foote (q.v.), with a fleet of gunboats, for the purpose of capturing Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumber land. The former surrendered February Gth, its
reduction, however, being the work of the gun boats; the latter was taken on the 16th, only after a severe battle in which the land forces were engaged. (See FORT HENRY AND FORT DONELSON. ) Buckner, who was in command of the fort after the withdrawal of his superior officers, proposed the appointment of commission ers to settle the terms of capitulation, to which General Grant replied: "No terms other than an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." The capture of this fort was the first important and brilliant victory of the Federal arms, and it made a great impression upon the country. General Grant was at once made a major-general of volunteers, his commis sion being dated as of the day of the battle; and by a play upon his initials he became widely known as 'Unconditional Surrender Grant.' The battle of Shiloh (q.v.), or Pittsburg Landing, was next fought. The Federal troops at that point were attacked April Gth by a large Confed erate force under Gen. A. S. Johnston (q.v.), and suffered heavy loss. General Grant arrived on the field at the critical moment and reformed the broken lines, and heavy reilnforcements under General Buell having arrived, the battle was re newed on the 7th and the Confederates, now under the command of General Beauregard (Johnston having been killed), were driven back to Corinth. In this battle General Grant was slightly wounded. He was second in command in the movement against Corinth, which was oc cupied by the Federal troops on May 30th. When, in July, General Halleck was called to Washington to take command of the armies of the United States, General Grant was assigned to the command of the Department of the Ten nessee, with headquarters at Corinth. In Sep tember he fought the Confederate General Price at luka and defeated him. He then removed his headquarters to Jackson, Rosecrans with 20,000 men to hold Corinth, which he did success fully. In October General Grant's department was enlarged by a portion of Mississippi, includ ing Vicksburg, the forces under his command being designated as the Thirteenth Army Corps. After several efforts by different plans to capture Vicksburg, he was finally enabled, as a result of his brilliant movements, to invest the city, May 18, 1863, and on July 4th General Pemberton sur rendered with about 30,000 men. General Grant was now appointed a major-general in the Regular Army, and in October was placed in command of the Military Division of the Tennessee, com prising the departments commanded by Sher man, Thomas, Burnside, and Hooker. General Grant was next called upon to conduct the opera tions against the Confederate General Bragg at Chattanooga. On November 24th the Federals stormed Lookout Mountain, and on the 25th they carried the heights of Missionary Ridge. General Halleck, in his annual report to the War Depart ment, said that, in view of the strength of Bragg's position and the difficulty of storming his en trenchments, "the battle of Chattanooga must be considered the most remarkable in history. Not only," he continued, "did the officers and men ex hibit great skill and daring in their operations on the field, but the highest praise is due to the com manding general for his admirable dispositions for dislodging the enemy from a position appa rently impregnable." Congress at its next session passed a vote of thanks to General Grant and his army, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in his honor. The grade of lieutenant-general was revived, General Grant was nominated by Presi dent Lincoln for the position, and the nomination was promptly confirmed by the Senate. On March 17, 1864, he issued his first order as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. His headquarters thereafter were with the Army of the Potomac. The battles of the next campaign, which had for their object the capture of Richmond, in front of which the main army of the Confederates was concentrated for a last and desperate resistance, were among the bloodiest of the whole war.