Ulysses S. Grant

Grant, ULYSSES SIMPSON, eighteenth President of the United States; named at birth HIRAM ULYSSES, but, through an error when he entered the Military Academy, he was given the Christian names which he afterwards adopted; born in Point Pleasant, 0hio, April 27, 1822; graduated at West Point in 1843. He served in the war with Mexico, first under General Taylor, and then under General Scott, taking part in every battle between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico. He was made captain in 1853, and resigned the next year, when he settled in St. Louis. He was one of the first to offer his services to the national government when the Civil War broke out,

General Ulysses S. Grant

but, as no notice was taken of him, became colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. In May, 1861, he was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers, and placed in command at Cairo. He occupied Paducah, broke up the Confederate camp at Belmont, and in February, 1862, captured Forts Henry and Donelson. He was then promoted to major-general; conducted the battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, and for a while was second in command to Halleck.

ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT AS LIEUTENANT IN THE MEXICAN WAR.

 He performed excellent service in the West and Southwest, especially in the vicinity of the Mississippi River, and at and near the Tennessee River, in 1863. He was promoted to lieutenant-general March 1, 1864, and awarded a gold medal by Congress. He issued his first order as general-in-chief of the armies of the United States at Nashville, March 17, 1864. In the grand movements of the armies in 1864, he accompanied that of the Potomac, with his headquarters " in the field," and he remained with it until he signed the articles of capitulation at Appomattox Court-house, April 9, 1865. In 1866 he was promoted to general of the United States army. After the war Grant

fixed his headquarters at Washington. When President Johnson suspended Stanton from the office of Secretary of War, Grant was put in his place ad interim. Stanton was reinstated by the Senate, Jan. 14, 1868. In 1868, Grant was elected President of the United States by the Republican party, and was re-elected in 1872. He retired from the office March 4, 1877, and soon afterwards made a journey around the world, receiving great honors everywhere.

PRESIDENT GRANT'S BIRTHPLACE

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT ON HORSEBACK

Towards the close of his life he was financially ruined by an unprincipled sharper. Congress created him a general on the retired list; and, to make further provision for his family, he began compiling Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, a work that was completed shortly before his death, on Mount McGregor, N. Y., July 23, 1885. His remains lie in the magnificent mausoleum in Riverside Park, New York City, that cost $500,000, raised principally by popular subscription.

The Ulysses S. Grant Gold Congressional Medal