Early life and career of Ulysses S. Grant
Early life and career of Ulysses S. Grant | |
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18th President of the United States | |
In office March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Hiram Ulysses Grant April 27, 1822 Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | July 23, 1885 Wilton, New York, U.S. | (aged 63)
Resting place | General Grant National Memorial Manhattan, New York |
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18th President of the United States
Presidential elections
Post-presidency
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After the war, Grant was assigned to posts in New York and Michigan before traveling west to a posting at
Ancestry
Grant was of English and Ulster Scots ancestry; his immigrant ancestor Mathew Grant arrived with Puritans from England in the 1630.[1] Grant's paternal grandmother Suzanna Delano, of French origin, was the granddaughter of Jonathan Delano (1647–1720), 7th child of Philippe de La Noye (1602–1681). Philippe was descended from the illustrious House of Lannoy, and was one of the Fortune's passengers who landed at Plymouth in November 1621, joining the first settlers of the Mayflower. The offspring of the paternal uncle of Suzanna, Thomas Delano (born 1704), gave a few decades later another president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt.[2][3][4] His mother descended from Presbyterian immigrants from County Tyrone, Ireland (where the ancestral family home still stands in Ballygawley) to Bucks County, Pennsylvania.[5]
Early life and family
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in
At the age of five, young Grant began his formal education, starting at a subscription school and later was enrolled in two private schools.
West Point (1839–1843)
At the age of 17, with the help of his father, Grant was nominated for a position at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York by Congressman Thomas L. Hamer. Hamer mistakenly nominated him as "Ulysses S. Grant of Ohio". At West Point, he adopted this name, but only with a middle initial. Among his army colleagues at the academy, his nickname became "Sam" because the initials "U.S." also stood for "Uncle Sam". The "S", according to Grant, did not stand for anything, though Hamer had used it to abbreviate his mother's maiden name.[15] The influence of Grant's family brought about the appointment to West Point, while Grant himself later recalled that "a military life had no charms for me".[16] Grant, stood 5 feet 1 inches and weighed 117 lbs, when he entered West Point.[17] Grant later said that he was lax in his studies, but he achieved excellent grades in mathematics and geology.[18] Although Grant had a quiet nature, he did establish a few intimate friends at West Point, including Frederick Tracy Dent and Rufus Ingalls.[19] He joined a fraternity group known as the Twelve in One, and was highly esteemed by his classmates.[20] While not excelling scholastically, Grant studied under Romantic artist Robert Walter Weir and produced nine surviving artworks.[18] He also established a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman, setting an equestrian high-jump record that stood almost 25 years.[18] He graduated in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 29. Grant later recalled that his departure from West Point was of the happiest of his times and that he had intended to resign his commission after serving the minimum term of obligated duty.[21] Despite his excellent horsemanship, he was not assigned to the cavalry, as assignments were determined by class rank, not aptitude.[18] Grant was instead assigned as a regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment in the 4th Infantry Regiment, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant.[22]
First assignment (1843–1846)
Grant's first assignment after graduation took him to the
Mexican–American War (1846–1848)
Rising tensions with
Grant's first battle experience came at the Battle of Palo Alto against a substantial Mexican force that intended to flank and attack the American army.[29] Grant did not panic and readied his 1822 musket when Taylor ordered two large artillery guns that fired on the Mexican army, who retreated.[30] The next day the American army followed the retreating Mexican army to Resaca de la Palma.[31] Not content with his responsibilities as a quartermaster, Grant made his way to the front lines to engage in the battle, and participated in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.[32] Grant led his company in a charge, capturing a Mexican officer and a few of his men, his first victory. Grant later realized the ground he gained and his captives had earlier been won in the battle.[31]
Crossing the Rio Grande, the United States army continued its advance into Mexico. Thousands of American volunteers were incorporated into the U.S. military serving alongside the regular army, including Thomas Hamer, who had nominated Grant to West Point.[33] Starting in September, Taylor and his Army of Invasion, moved south and engaged the Mexican army at the Battle of Monterrey.[34] During the battle, Grant demonstrated his equestrian ability, carrying a dispatch through Monterrey's sniper-lined streets on horseback while mounted in one stirrup.[35]
President James K. Polk, who was wary of Taylor's growing popularity, divided his army, sending some troops (including Grant's unit) to form a new army under Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott.[36] Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City. The army met the Mexican forces at battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec outside Mexico City. At the latter battle, Grant dragged a howitzer into a church steeple to bombard nearby Mexican troops.[37] Scott's army was soon into the city, and the Mexicans agreed to peace not long after.
In his memoirs, Grant indicated that he had learned extensively by closely observing the decisions and actions of his commanding officers, particularly admiring Taylor's methods, and in retrospect, he identified with Taylor's style. At the time, he felt that the war was a wrongful one because he believed that territorial gains were designed to spread slavery throughout the nation; writing in 1883, Grant said "I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day, I regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation." He also opined that the later Civil War was inflicted on the nation as punishment for its aggression in Mexico.[38]
Marriage and family
On August 22, 1848, after a four-year engagement, Grant and Julia were married.
Extended military service (1848–1854)
Although Grant received promotions during the
While on assignment out west and in an effort to supplement a military salary inadequate to support his family, Grant, assuming his work as quartermaster so equipped him, attempted but failed at several business ventures.[46] The business failures in the West confirmed Jesse Grant's belief that his son had no head for business, creating frustration for both father and son. In at least one case Grant had even naively allowed himself to be swindled by a partner. These failures, along with the separation from his family, made for quite an unhappy soldier, husband and son. Rumors began to circulate that Grant was drinking in excess.[47]
In the summer of 1853, Grant was promoted to
Years later after his resignation, Grant told
Civilian life, poverty, and struggles (1854–1861)
At age 32, with no civilian vocation, Grant began to struggle through seven financially lean years and poverty.[57] His father, Jesse, initially offered Grant a position in the Galena, Illinois branch of the tannery business, on condition that Julia and the children, for economic reasons, stay with her parents in Missouri, or Grant's in Kentucky. Ulysses and Julia were adamantly opposed to another separation, and declined the offer. In 1854, Grant farmed on his brother-in-law's property near St. Louis, using slaves owned by Julia's father, but it did not succeed. Two years later, Grant and family moved to a section of his father-in-law's farm; to give his family a home, built a house he called "Hardscrabble". Julia hated the rustic house, which she described as an "unattractive cabin".[58] During this time, Grant also acquired a slave from Julia's father, a thirty-five-year-old man named William Jones. Having met with no success farming, the Grants left the farm when their fourth and final child was born in 1858. Grant freed his slave in 1859 instead of selling him, at a time when slaves commanded a high price and Grant needed money badly.[59] For the next year, the family took a small house in St. Louis where he worked, again without success, with Julia's cousin Harry Boggs, as a bill collector.[60] In 1860 Jesse offered him the job in his tannery in Galena, Illinois, without condition, which Ulysses accepted. The leather shop, "Grant & Perkins", sold harnesses, saddles, and other leather goods and purchased hides from farmers in the prosperous Galena area. He moved his family to Galena before that year.[61]
Although unopposed to slavery at the time, Grant kept his political opinions private and never endorsed any candidate running for public office before the Civil War.
References
- ^ Brands 2012, p. 7.
- ^ Connected to Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- ^ "Family Relationship of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd U.S. President and Ulysses S. Grant, 18th U.S. President". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-31.
- ^ 10 Things You May Not Know About the Roosevelts
- ^ "US Grant Ancestral Homestead, Dungannon". Discover Northern Ireland. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b Chernow 2017, p. 3.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 21–22.
- ^ White 2016, p. 9.
- ^ White 2016, pp. 6, 8.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 497; White 2016, pp. 16, 18.
- ^ Farina 2007, pp. 13–14; Simpson 2000, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Longacre 2006, pp. 6–7.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 8.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 10.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 12; Smith 2001, pp. 24, 83.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 16.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 13.
- ^ a b c d Smith 2001, pp. 26–28.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 20; Longacre 2006, p. 18.
- ^ Longacre 2006, pp. 18, 21.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 16, 19.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 26–28; Longacre 2006, p. 24.
- ^ a b Smith 2001, pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Smith 2001, pp. 30–33.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 35–37.
- ^ White 2016, pp. 66–67.
- ^ a b c d e White 2016, p. 67.
- ^ White 2016, pp. 67–68.
- ^ White 2016, p. 71.
- ^ White 2016, pp. 71–72.
- ^ a b White 2016, pp. 73–74.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 32–33.
- ^ White 2016, pp. 78–79.
- ^ White 2016, p. 78.
- ^ Longacre 2006, pp. 37–42.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 34–35.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 36–37.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 31, 37.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 20, 26.
- ^ Smith 2001, p. 73.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 34.
- ^ Simon 2002, p. 242.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 46.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 76–77.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 47.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 81–82.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Longacre 2006, pp. 55–58.
- ^ a b McFeely 1981, p. 55.
- ^ a b Smith 2001, pp. 87–88; Lewis 1950, pp. 328–332.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 86–87; White 2016, pp. 118–120; McFeely 1981, p. 55.
- ^ Smith 2001, p. 87.
- ^ Smith 2001, p. 88.
- ^ Farina 2007, p. 202.
- ^ Farina 2007, pp. 13, 202; Dorsett 1983.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 57.
- ^ Simon 2002, pp. 241–242.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 58–60.
- ^ Smith 2001, pp. 94–95.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 64.
- ^ McFeely 1981, pp. 65–66.
- ^ a b McFeely 1981, p. 69.
- ^ Welles 1881, pp. xi–xii.
- ^ Catton 2015, p. 8.
Sources
- Brands, H. W.(2012). The Man Who Saved The Union Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace. New York: Doubleday.
- Catton, Bruce (2015) [1968]. Grant Takes Command. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-13210-7.
- ISBN 978-1-5942-0487-6.
- Dorsett, Lyle W. (1983). "The Problem of Ulysses S. Grant's Drinking During the Civil War". Hayes Historical Journal. 4 (2): 37–49.
- Farina, William (2007). Ulysses S. Grant, 1861–1864: His Rise from Obscurity to Military Greatness. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-2977-6.
- Lewis, Lloyd (1950). Captain Sam Grant. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-52348-6.
- Longacre, Edward G. (2006). General Ulysses S. Grant The Soldier And The Man. Cambridge, Massachusetts: First Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81269-X.
- ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
- ISBN 0-684-80551-0.
- ISBN 0-395-65994-9.
- ISBN 0-684-84927-5.
- Welles, Albert (1881). History of the Buell Family. New York, NY: American College for Genealogical Registry, Family History and Heraldry. pp. xi–xii.
- ISBN 978-1-5883-6992-5.