Ulysses S. Grant Essay, Research Paper

Ulysses S. Grant rose to command all the Federal ground forcess in the Civil War and lead

them to triumph. He was respected so much that he went on to be president of the United

States for two footings. His clip of glorification didn & # 8217 ; t last everlastingly though, he developed malignant neoplastic disease and

died insolvent.

Ulysses Hiram Grant was born April 27, 1822, in a two room frame house

at Point Pleasant, Ohio ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . His male parent, Jesse Root Grant, was foreman in

a tannery and a husbandman. His female parent, Hannah Simpson Grant, was a difficult working frontier

adult female. When Ulysses was a twelvemonth old, the household moved to Georgetown. There his male parent

bought a farm, built a house, and set up his ain tannery. Jesse and Hannah had five more

kids at that place, two male childs and three misss ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) .

Grant love Equus caballuss and learned to pull off them at an early age. When he was seven

or eight he could drive a squad and began haling all the wood used in the house and stores.

From that point on until he reached 17, Grant did all the work done with Equus caballuss ;

such as interrupting up the land, ruting, ploughing maize, conveying in the harvests when

harvested, and haling wood ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . Three months each winter when work

was minimized Grant went to a one room schoolhouse, and that & # 8217 ; s how he was educated

until he went to West Point at age 17.

When Grant turned 17, his male parent got him an assignment to the United

States Military Academy at West Point. The congresswoman who made the assignment did

non cognize Grants & # 8217 ; full name, so he left out Hiram and added Simpson. Simpson, was

Grants & # 8217 ; , female parents & # 8217 ; maiden name ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . He was pleased with his new name

because he disliked his old initials H.U.G.

Cadet Grant did non care for military life and ne’er expected to remain in the ground forces.

He was good in mathematics and hoped sometime to learn it. In other topics he was

approximately norm. He was, nevertheless, the finest equestrian at the academy. Quiet and diffident, he

made few friends ( The Civil War ) .

When he was commissioned, Ulysses was ordered to Jefferson Barracks, near St.

Louis, Missouri. While stationed there he met Julia Dent, girl of a slave owning

Southern household ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) . Within three months he proposed to her and was

accepted. Since he had merely his wage as lieutenant, the nuptials was postponed ( Ulysses S.

Grant 2 ) .

Grant was in about every conflict of the Mexican War. He fought on pes,

detecting many different commanding officers and how they lead their military personnels. This experience, he

said, was of great value to him, because he became acquainted with about all the officers

of the regular ground forces. Some of them including the great soldier Robert E. Lee were to be on

the Confederate side in the Civil War ( Krick 15 ) .

Grant came back from Mexico a captain, with favourable reference. He at one time

married Julia and took her to his new station, Sackett & # 8217 ; s Harbor, New York. During the

Mexican War Grant formed the wont of imbibing. At Sackett & # 8217 ; s Harbor he joined a

moderation society, but he forgot the pledge the following twelvemonth when he was sent to

Detroit ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) .

In 1852 Grant? s regiment was ordered to the Pacific seashore by manner of the Isthmus of

Panama. Mrs. Grant stayed with her parents because she didn? T want to take their two twelvemonth

old kid on a trip like that. Cholera attacked the regiment in Panama. Grant showed great

leading and resourcefulness in acquiring the mules to transport the hallucinating work forces across the

isthmus ( Krick 16 ) . He kept his cool and showed how he could take work forces when times got

rough.

Grant spent two old ages on the Pacific seashore. He missed Julia and wasn? T at that place when

his 2nd kid was born. He turned once more to imbibe and have on slovenly uniforms. His

colonel asked for his surrender, and Grant borrowed money to return place ( Ulysses S.

Grant2 ) .

Julia? s male parent gave Grant 80 estates to farm, close St. Louis. Grant called the topographic point

Hardscrabble ( Ulysses S. Grant2 ) . He cleared the land, built a log cabin, and worked difficult

but could non do agrarian wage. Two more kids were born and Grant couldn? T

back up his household. Grant sold his stock and implements and turned to selling existent estate in

St. Louis. He failed once more and walked the streets looking for something to make. Finally his

male parent persuaded his younger boies to take Grant into their leather concern at Galena,

Illinois. Grant worked as a clerk, selling fells to saddle shapers and setts. When the

Civil War broke out he was 39 old ages old and was by and large regarded as a failure ( Ulysses S.

Grant 1 ) .

After Fort Sumter was fired on April 12, 1861, President Lincoln issued a call to

weaponries ( The Civil War ) . Within two hebdomads Grant was boring voluntaries in Galena, because,

as he said, there was no 1 else to make the occupation. He went with the voluntaries to Springfield,

Illinois, have oning his threadbare citizen & # 8217 ; s apparels ( The Civil War ) .

At Springfield, the governor made him foremost a clerk, so a rallying officer. When

the assemblage was completed Grant left. A few hebdomads subsequently the governor telegraphed him to

come back and accept the rank of colonel because the work forces he had recruited had asked for

him. Military officers were expected to provide their ain uniform and Equus caballus, but Grant didn & # 8217 ; Ts have

either one. Still, he enforced subject on the unsmooth farm young persons and in a month had a

trained regiment ( The Civil War ) . He marched his work forces into Missouri, and in St. Louis he

read in a newspaper that he had been made a brigadier general of voluntaries.

Grant reached his central office at Cairo, Illinois, September 4, 1861 ( Ulysses S.

Grant 1 ) . Two yearss subsequently, without firing a shooting, he occupied Paducah, Kentucky. In

November his altogether recruits made an unsuccessful onslaught on a Confederate cantonment at

Belmont, Missouri. Grant so set to work to fix his work forces for a long, difficult battle.

Volunteers poured in until he had about 20,000 work forces ( The Civil War ) .

In February 1862 Grant advanced into Tennessee. With the assistance of Commodore

Foote & # 8217 ; s gunboats, he captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River ( The Civil War ) . Then he

moved against the more formidable Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland River. While he

was occupying this garrison, the Confederate general, Simon B. Buckner asked for a armistice. This

was the same officer who in had loaned Grant money to rejoin his household in 1858 ( Ulysses

S. Grant 2 ) . Grant & # 8217 ; s reply became celebrated in American history: & # 8220 ; No footings except an

unconditioned and immediate resignation can be accepted. I propose to travel instantly

upon your plants & # 8221 ; ( The Civil War ) . Buckner surrendered the garrison with 14,000 captives.

Newspapers in the North were filled with congratulations of & # 8220 ; Unconditional Surrender & # 8221 ; ( Ulysses S

Grant 2 ) . Lincoln named him a major general.

The aim of the run in the West was to cut the Confederacy in two by

winning the Mississippi Valley. The first major success came during1862 in the conflict of

Shiloh in southern Tennessee. In two yearss of despairing combat, Grant pushed the

Confederate forces back to Corinth in Mississippi ( The Civil War ) .

Losingss on both sides were heavy. Grant was badly criticized for his behavior in

this conflict because he had failed to expect an onslaught by the enemy, but President Lincoln

said, & # 8220 ; I can & # 8217 ; t save this adult male & # 8211 ; he fights & # 8221 ; ( The Civil War ) . Grant made no alibis but spent

the remainder of 1862 doing programs to take Vicksburg, the fastness on the Mississippi River

that served as a major transit point for the Confederacy.

Vicksburg was a superb operation and showed Grant at his best. The garrison

surrendered unconditionally on July 4, 1863, a twenty-four hours after the conflict of Gettysburg ( The Civil

War ) . Five yearss subsequently Port Hudson fell. Grant & # 8217 ; s boy Frederick, 13 old ages old, was with him

in the Vicksburg run. Fredrick said, & # 8220 ; He looked out for himself in every

conflict & # 8221 ; ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) .

As a wages for his triumph at Vicksburg, Grant was given supreme bid of all

the ground forcess in the West ( The Civil War ) . When he returned to Tennessee, he set out to

alleviate a Federal ground forces penned up in Chattanooga. The Confederates occupied Lookout

Mountain and Missionary Ridge, those two locations were the lone things in the manner

nearing the metropolis. On November 24 and 25, the Federal military personnels stormed the

highs, and

the Confederates fled into Georgia ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) . All Tennessee was now captured,

and the power of the Confederacy was efficaciously broken.

In the concluding conflict of the Civil War, Grant found himself up against Robert E. Lee.

Lee was the lone general left in the South who had a opportunity of crushing Grant and the

North. With military personnels outnumbering Lee & # 8217 ; s two to one, Grant sought out to destruct the

Southern ground forces. Grant & # 8217 ; s scheme was merely to direct all his work forces into conflict at one time, ne’er

allowing them rest until triumph prevailed. Lee saw that Grant wouldn & # 8217 ; t back down, so he

surrendered in order to salvage lives of the all ready bloody-minded war ( Krick 26 ) .

Grant went to Washington to disband the ground forces. In April 1866 Congress revived for

him the rank of full general, a rubric non used since George Washington had held it ( The Civil

War ) . The wage gave Grant fiscal security, and he became a familiar figure in the streets

in his visible radiation roadster, driving a spirited Equus caballus. Gifts were showered on him. Galena and

Philadelphia both presented houses to him. New York City gave him $ 100,000 ( Ulysses S.

Grant 1 ) .

Grant had ne’er been interested in political relations and belonged to no political party.

President Johnson hoped to set through Lincoln & # 8217 ; s mild program of & # 8220 ; retracing & # 8221 ; the

seceded provinces ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . The Extremist Republicans in Congress demanded a

harsh policy. Johnson hoped to hold Grant & # 8217 ; s support, but Grant quarreled with him and

was won over by the Groups.

While the Senate was impeaching Johnson, the Republican convention in Chicago

nem con nominated Grant for president, with Schuyler Colfax of Indiana for vice-

president. Grant received 214 electoral ballots as against 80 for the Democratic campaigner,

Horatio Seymour ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . Grant received great support from the black people

in the Southern provinces.

Grant moved into the White House with Julia and his beautiful girl Nellie. His

boies were besides at that place from clip to clip, and his old male parent, now a postmaster in Covington,

Kentucky, made brief visits. Grant & # 8217 ; s brothers stayed with their concern and were excessively busy

to see him ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) .

Serious jobs confronted the state. The war had brought poorness and

devastation to the South, but it brought the North prosperity. There was widespread

corruptness in both political and concern life. Grant & # 8217 ; s presidential term contributed to corruptness

in political relations.

In 1869 two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk, attempted to corner gold and

brought force per unit area on Grant to maintain the United States exchequer from selling it ( Ulysses S.

Grant 1 ) . Foreign trade was about stopped. On Black Friday, September. 24, 1869, the

United States exchequer, with Grant & # 8217 ; s blessing, all of a sudden put 4 million dollars in gold up for

sale ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) . The monetary value plunged, doing the ruin of many speculators.

In 1870, the Radical Republicans hoped to derive Black ballots in the South by adding

the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that & # 8220 ; the right of citizens of the

United States to vote shall non be denied or abridged & # 8230 ; on history of race, colour, or

old status of servitude & # 8221 ; ( Ulysses S. Grant ) . The immediate consequence of the

amendment was an addition of terroristic Acts of the Apostless against Blacks to forestall their vote.

Led by Carl Schurz and other reformists, a group in the Republican party set out to

licking Grant for reelection. They organized the Broad Republican party, which called for

civil service reform, an terminal to corruptness in authorities, and the backdown of military personnels

from the South ( The Civil War ) . The Democratic party joined with them in back uping

Horace Greeley, laminitis of the New York Tribune, for the presidential term. The regular

Republicans, renominated Grant. Grant received 286 electoral ballots ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) .

Greeley died shortly after the election, and his 63 electoral ballots were divided among other

campaigners ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) .

Grant & # 8217 ; s popularity declined as grounds of serious political corruptness came to visible radiation.

The authorities had given money and land grants to the new railroads in the West. In 1873

it was found that certain members of Congress had been bribed to vote in the involvements of

the Union Pacific Railroad ( Krick 32 ) . The payoffs were in the signifier of stock in a railroad

building company, the Credit Mobilier. In 1874 the Whiskey Ring dirt was

uncovered. The ring was a combination of distillers and revenue enhancement officers who defrauded the

exchequer of the gross revenue enhancement on whisky ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) . Grant was non personally

implicated in the dirts, but he gave assignments to unfit people and stood by them

after they had been shown to be dishonest.

The wartime roar ended with the great terror of 1873. Five old ages of difficult times

followed. Businessmens urged the authorities to return to a sound currency and call in the

& # 8220 ; bills & # 8221 ; & # 8211 ; paper money issued during the Civil War. The bills were non based

on gold or Ag in the exchequer and had therefore declined in value, doing a steep rise in

monetary values ( The Civil War ) . Grant vetoed a measure naming for more paper currency. In 1875 he

signed the Specie Resumption Act, which made bills redeemable in gold or Ag

coin ( Ulysses S Grant 1 ) .

Grant reluctantly announced that he would non be a campaigner for a 3rd term

because he knew that the dirts of his disposal had turned the electors against him.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats nominated & # 8220 ; reform & # 8221 ; campaigners ( Ulysses S. Grant

2 ) . The election was so close that the consequences were disputed until March 2, when a

Congressional commission decided in favour of Rutherford B. Hayes.

For the following two old ages Grant, with his married woman and boy Jesse, toured Europe and Asia.

He returned place with many gifts, but his money was about gone. In 1880 the

Republicans tried to hold him nominated for a 3rd term, but the Democrats prevailed and

nominated James A. Garfield ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) . Grant, nevertheless, was still the people & # 8217 ; s

hero, and his friends raised a big fund for him by popular subscription. Grant went to

New York City and bought a house with the money.

Grant & # 8217 ; s kids had become grownups and been successful in populating their lives. Nellie,

had been married at the White House to a affluent Englishman. Frederick was a lieutenant

colonel in the ground forces, Jesse was a attorney, and Ulysses, Jr. , was in a Wall Street securities firm

house, Grant and Ward ( Ulysses S. Grant 2 ) .

Grant foolishly invested all his money in Grant and Ward. He paid no attending to

its operations, and his boy seemingly knew small about the concern. Ferdinand Ward was

a dishonest speculator. The house crashed in 1884 and left Grant penniless and

humiliated ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . Ward was sent to the province penitentiary.

To gain money, Grant turned to composing. Samuel L. Clemens, better known as

Mark Twain, was so a subscription book publishing house. He offered Grant a high royalty for

his memoirs, and in 1885 Grant began to order them ( Ulysses S. Grant 1 ) . A hurting in his

pharynx was eventually diagnosed as malignant neoplastic disease, but Grant went on, composing with a pen, to supply

for his married woman after he was gone.

In the summer of 1885 Mrs. Grant took her hubby to the Adirondacks near

Saratoga. There he finished his `Personal Memoirs & # 8217 ; about a hebdomad before he died on July

23 ( Krick 12 ) . Written honestly, the work ranks high among military lifes. It was so

popular that Mrs. Grant received about $ 450,000 from its sale ( Krick 12 ) . A granite grave

to Grant & # 8217 ; s memory was built on Riverside Drive in New York City, in 1959 it became a

national commemoration ( Krick 45 ) .

Grant & # 8217 ; s life was like a roller coster, in the beginning he started low and was

regarded as a failure. He worked his manner to the top, became the most esteemed general in

the U.S. , and was elected President of the United States. Then all of a sudden his life went

downhill, his house crashed, he developed malignant neoplastic disease and died insolvents.

The Civil War. Videocassettes. PBS. PBS Documentary, day of the month unknown. 6 hours

Krick, Robert. Civil War Chronicles. 1994, 64 pages

& # 8220 ; Ulysses S. Grant. & # 8221 ; Compton & # 8217 ; s Multimedia Encyclopedia. Compton & # 8217 ; s. Newsmedia, Inc. ,

1994 ( 1 )

& # 8220 ; Ulysses S. Grant. & # 8221 ; Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc.

1994 ( 2 )