Perhaps not coincidentally, he would die of tongue cancer.Ī Confederate sympathizer in a telegraph office intercepted and destroyed his messages to the War Department following the battle at Fort Donelson, and until the truth was discovered Grant was temporarily removed from command for failing to communicate with his superiors. His victory led to a promotion to major general.Īn illustrator depicted him smoking a cigar at Fort Donelson-he actually was a pipe smoker at the time-and the published image resulted in admirers sending him cigars by the barrel. Grant responded, “No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender,” and he became known in the North as “Unconditional Surrender Grant”-a nickname inspired in part by his initials, U. At Fort Donelson, his old friend, Confederate Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner, asked for surrender terms. In February 1862, he commanded the land forces in the Army-Navy operations in Tennessee that captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, opening the door for the occupation of Nashville, the first Confederate state capital to fall under Union control. After initial successes, he was forced to withdraw his men when Confederate reinforcements arrived. Placed in command of a series of departments-one of which took him back to Missouri where he used his officer’s pay to settle with his old creditors-he first led troops in combat during the Civil War on November 7, 1861, at Belmont, Missouri. At the end of July, he was made a brigadier general of volunteers, to date from May 17. Washburne, he was named colonel of the 21st Illinois Regiment, June 17, 1861. Initially, he did not get a commission in the army, but with the help of Congressman Elihu B. When President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to put down the Southern rebellion, Grant, Julia and their children were living in a seven-room room in a well-to-do section of Galena, Illinois, and he was working as a clerk in the family’s leather goods store. When the farm failed, Grant emancipated the man, William Jones, rather than selling him, even though Grant was in debt. In Missouri, he operated a farm, using one slave given to him by his slaveholding father-in-law. Hays to name Longstreet ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.Īfter resigning from the army, Grant tried his hand unsuccessfully at several business ventures. In 1880, Grant convinced President Rutherford B. During the Civil War, Longstreet became a renowned general of the Confederacy as Grant’s star was rising in the Union Army. They were introduced by her cousin, an Army friend of Grant’s named James Longstreet. There were occasional stories of drunken binges, but none substantiated. Rollins was still with Grant at the end of the war. He informed Grant that the first time he saw his commander drunk would be the last day he would serve as his aide. Rollins, was a teetotaler who had seen his own father drink himself to death and the family into poverty. During the Civil War, his aide-de-camp, John A. The boredom of frontier duty and longing for his beloved wife, Julia, likely did lead him to imbibe to excess. He did partake of alcohol, but he suffered severe migraines and it is believed some bouts with these were reported as bouts of drunkenness. The question of the extent of Grant’s drinking, especially during the Civil War, is still debated today. Following the war, he was posted to the West Coast with the rank of captain, but resigned July 31, 1854, under suspicion of heavy drinking. At the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec he was breveted for bravery and gallantry. A man of action, he would go to the front during battles, in disobedience of orders. Graduating 21st of 39 in the West Point Class of 1843, he served as a regimental quartermaster during the Mexican War, and developed a reputation for getting food and supplies over even the roughest terrain. To friends, he was known as “Sam.” Grant at West Point Academy He allowed the error to stand and became U. Simpson was his mother’s maiden name she had used some of her connections to get him the West Point appointment. His birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, but an error when he went to West Point changed it to Ulysses Simpson Grant. Grant was born April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, to a leather tanner named Jesse Grant and his wife Hannah Simpson Grant. Grant ArticlesĮxplore articles from the History Net archives about Ulysses S. Lieutenant General in command of all Union Armiesġ8th President of The United States Battles EngagedĪppomattox Campaign Ulysses S. Wilton, New York Initial RankĬolonel, 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment Highest Rank Achieved
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