Grant, Ulysses Simpson

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Ulysses Simpson Grant
    Place of Birth
    Burial Place
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    1
    No. of Children
    4
    Family
    Jesse Root Grant (father), Hannah Simpson (mother), Julia Dent (wife, 1848)
    Education
    West Point (US Military Academy)
    Occupation
    Politician
    Military
    Farmer or Planter
    Businessman
    Relation to Slavery
    Slaveholder who freed slaves
    Political Parties
    Democratic
    Republican
    Government
    President
    Grant Administration (1869-77)
    Military
    US military (Pre-Civil War)
    Union Army
    US military (Post-Civil War)

    Ulysses S. Grant (American National Biography)

    Scholarship
    In mid-April 1863 Grant set in motion a campaign that won acclaim as the most brilliant of the war. Because of its high risks, Sherman and other subordinates opposed his plan, but Grant, like Robert E. Lee, was a great commander because of his willingness to take risks. He sent Union cavalry under Colonel Benjamin Grierson on a raid through Mississippi as a diversion. He ordered Union gunboats and transports under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter to sail directly past the Vicksburg batteries to a point thirty miles south, where they could ferry the troops, who had toiled through the swamps down the west bank, across the river. Most of the fleet got through, and once across the river, Grant's army cut loose from anything resembling a base of supplies. They had to live off the country until they could fight their way back to contact with the river above Vicksburg.

    Instead of driving straight north toward Vicksburg, Grant marched east toward the state capital of Jackson, where a Confederate army was being assembled by General Joseph E. Johnston. Grant then intended to turn west and invest Vicksburg, defended by another Confederate force under General John C. Pemberton. During the next three weeks Grant's men marched 130 miles, fought and won five battles against separate enemy forces that, if combined, would have nearly equaled Grant's 45,000, and penned the enemy behind the Vicksburg defenses.
    James M. McPherson, "Grant, Ulysses S.," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/05/05-00291.html.
    Date Event
    Confederate troops invade western Kentucky and bring the state's efforts to remain neutral to an end
    Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant occupy Paducah, Kentucky on the Ohio River
    Brigadier General Grant sails from Cairo, Illinois to attack Confederate positions along the Mississippi
    In Mississippi County, Missouri, Brigadier General Grant and his men overrun a Confederate camp at Belmont
    - On the Tennessee River, Union forces deploy for an assault on Forts Henry and Donelson
    In Calloway County, Kentucky, Confederate forces abandon Fort Heiman to concentrate at Fort Henry
    In western Tennessee, Fort Henry falls to the naval bombardment of Flag Officer Foote's gunboats
    In Warren County, Kentucky, Confederate forces begin the evacuation of Bowling Green
    - In Tennessee, Union forces surround Fort Donelson and begin probing attacks
    In Tennessee, Union troops reinforce the siege of Fort Donelson, while gunboats attack from the river
    In Tennessee, Confederate troops attempt a full-scale break out from the siege of Fort Donelson
    In Warren County, Kentucky, Confederate forces complete the evacuation of Bowling Green
    In Tennessee, General Grant forces Fort Donelson's "unconditional and immediate" surrender
    Irving Carson, Chicago Tribune war correspondent, is killed on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh
    Massed Confederate forces attack the Union's Army of the Tennessee at Pittsburg Landing
    At Pittsburg Landing, Union reinforcements turn the tide on the second day of the Battle of Shiloh
    At Savannah, Tennessee, experienced Union division commander Charles F. Smith dies of illness
    The Army of the Tennessee secures its beachhead across the Mississippi at the Battle of Port Gibson
    In Mississippi, Grant's advance on Vicksburg continues with victory at the Battle of Raymond
    Grant's Union Army captures Jackson, the state capital of Mississippi
    Union forces withdraw from the Mississippi state capital of Jackson after inflicting heavy damage
    In Mississippi, the Army of the Tennessee wins a pivotal battle at Champion Hill and moves on to Vicksburg
    On the Mississippi, the Union's Army of the Tennessee completely surrounds Vicksburg
    The Union's Army of the Tennessee attempts the storming of Vicksburg but is beaten back
    Second Union attempt to take Vicksburg by infantry assault ends in bloody failure with 500 dead
    After twice failing to storm the city, Union General Grant orders a siege at Vicksburg, Mississippi
    - In Mississippi, the Siege of Vicksburg continues
    General Ulysses S. Grant fires his troublesome and ambitious subordinate, James A. McClernand
    After forty-seven days of intense siege, Vicksburg surrenders to Grant's Army of the Tennessee
    Ulysses Simpson Grant is formally named commander of all Union Armies, with rank of Lieutenant-General
    The Louisiana pianist Louis Gottschalk plays for General Grant at a gala concert in Grover's Hotel.
    The Battle of the Wilderness opens on ground fought over the year before at Chancellorsville
    In Spotsylvania County, Virginia, the Battle of the Wilderness continues for a second bloody day
    In Spotsylvania County, Virginia, the Battle of the Wilderness ends and Union maneuvering continues
    The Union Army crosses the James River, ending Grant's Overland Campaign and besieging Petersburg
    - In Virginia, Union attacks at Chaffin's Farm tighten the ring around Petersburg
    - In fighting around Peeble's Farm, Union forces further tighten to ring around the key town of Petersburg
    In Philadelphia, wealthy citizens gift a house to the Grant family as reward for the commanding general's war service
    In Amelia County, Virginia, Union forces consolidate to block General Lee's retreat towards Danville
    General U.S. Grant, Union commander, contacts Confederate General Robert E. Lee to suggest Lee's surrender
    General U.S. Grant, Union commander, receives a response from Confederate General Robert E. Lee concerning surrender
    Ulysses S. Grant, Union commander, hints at generous terms and suggests to Robert E. Lee they meet face to face
    At dawn, the Army of Northern Virginia makes one last effort to break out the Union encirclement
    Robert E. Lee meets Ulysses Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House and surrenders his army
    In Washington D.C., thousands watch as the victorious Army of the Potomac parades through the city
    In Washington D.C., the second day of the Grand Review sees General Sherman's army parade through the city
    The Great North-Western Sanitary Fair opens in Chicago, Illinois
    General Ulysses S. Grant visits the United States Military Academy and reviews the Corps of Cadets
    The Great North-Western Sanitary Fair closes in Chicago, Illinois having raised $270,000
    Ulysses S. Grant arrives at the resort in Saratoga, New York on the next stage of his victory tour
    General Ulysses S. Grant continues his victory tour of American cities, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts
    Outside Springfield, Illinois, thousands watch the races at the National Horse Fair
    In New York City, General Grant spends the afternoon at the racetrack
    At a gala reception in New York City, thousands greet General Ulysses S. Grant and his family
    In New York, an accident with a loaded experimental rifle slightly wounds General U.S. Grant
    Colonel Theodore Bowers of Grant's staff is accidentally killed boarding the General's train at West Point
    Ex-Confederate General George Pickett reaches out to his old West Point friend U.S. Grant for amnesty
    Mexican Ambassador Matias Romero meets with President Johnson seeking assistance for Mexico
    Congress authorizes the size and structure of the peacetime U.S. Army of 76,000 men.
    Union General Philip Sheridan calls the mayor of New Orleans "a bad man" and recommends his removal.
    President Andrew Johnson's "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour travels across New Jersey to New York City.
    The 39th Congress restricts the ability of the White House to dismiss the commanding general of the army.
    President Johnson relieves Fifth District military governor General Phil Sheridan of his duties.
    During a dispute between state and local authorities, federal troops keep the peace in Nashville city elections.
    Ulysses Grant takes the oath as the eighteenth President of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC
    The 41st Congress of the United States opens in Washington, DC
    Date Title
    Major-General Leonidas Polk, CSA, Report on the Battle at Belmont, November 7, 1861
    Brigadier-General U.S. Grant, To the troops of the November 7, 1861 engagement at Belmont, Missouri, November 8, 1861
    Flag Officer A.H. Foote, USN to Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, Report on the Battle of Belmont, November 9, 1861
    Brigadier-General U.S. Grant, Report of the November 7, 1861 engagement at Belmont, Missouri, November 12, 1861
    Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman to Confederate Headquarters at Bowling Green, Kentucky, February 9, 1862
    Cleveland (OH) Herald, “The Coming Siege of Vicksburg,” February 3, 1863
    New York Herald, “The Pen and the Sword,” May 17, 1863
    Abraham Lincoln to Isaac Newton Arnold, May 26, 1863
    John A. McClernand to Abraham Lincoln, May 29, 1863
    Thomas Ewing to Abraham Lincoln, June 6, 1863
    Recollection of Colonel Hermann Lieb, commander of the 9th Louisiana at the Battle of Milliken's Bend, June 7, 1863
    Recollection by William T. Sherman, Siege of Vicksburg Ends, July 4, 1863
    New York Times, “Gen. Banks,” July 17, 1863
    Abraham Lincoln, Speech at Great Central Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 16, 1864
    Abraham Lincoln to William T. Sherman, December 26, 1864
    Editorial, "Grant's Negro Troops," Chicago Tribune, April 8, 1865
    Edwin M. Stanton to Major General William T. Sherman, April 15, 1865
    George Alfred Townsend, "The Obsequies in Washington," April 19, 1865
    Charges and specifications against the Lincoln Conspirators on trial in Washington, D.C., May 8, 1865
    Andrew Johnson, "Message to Congress respecting the condition of affairs in the Southern States," December 18, 1865
    Carlisle (PA) American Volunteer, “Lecture by Frederick Douglass,” March 7, 1872
    Chicago Style Entry Link
    Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. 2 vols. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1885–86.
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    Wilson, James Harrison. “Reminiscences of General Grant.” Century Magazine 30 (October 1885): 947-955.
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    Woodworth, Steven E. Decision in the Heartland: The Civil War in the West. Wesport, CT: Praeger, 2008.
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    Brisbin, James S. The Campaign Lives of Ulysses S. Grant, and Schuyler Colfax. Cincinnati: C.F. Vent & Co., 1868. view record
    Catton, Bruce. "Grant and the Politicians." American Heritage19, no. 6 (1968): 32-35, 81-87. view record
    Chadwick, Bruce. 1858: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and the War They Failed to See. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc, 2008. view record
    Flood, Charles Bracelen. Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that won the Civil War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. view record
    Grant, Ulysses S. “The Siege of Vicksburg.” Century 30, no. 5 (September 1885): 752-767. view record
    Hardy, William E. “South of the Border: Ulysses S. Grant and the French Intervention.” Civil War History 54, no. 1 (2008): 63-86. view record
    Maihafer, Harry J. The General and the Journalists: Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley, and Charles Dana. Washington: Brassey’s, 1998. view record
    McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: W W Norton & Company, 1981. view record
    Mosier, John. Grant. New York: Palgrave MacMillan , 2006. view record
    Simon, John Y. "From Galena to Appomattox: Grant and Washburne." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 58, no. 2 (1965): 165-189. view record
    Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. view record
    Simpson, Brooks D. The Reconstruction Presidents. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. view record
    Simpson, Brooks D. Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. view record
    Smith, Gene. Lee and Grant: A Dual Biography . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984. view record
    Smith, Jean Edward. Grant. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. view record
    How to Cite This Page: "Grant, Ulysses Simpson," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/5770.