ULYSSES
S. GRANT
Grant was born
about 5 A.M., April 27, 1822, in a two-room cabin in Point Pleasant,
Ohio, on the Ohio River about 25 miles upstream from Cincinnati. His father was
Jesse Root Grant (1794-1873) and his mother was Hannah Simpson Grant
(1798-1883). Grant was the oldest of six children. He had three sisters and two
brothers-Simpson Grant, Clara Grant, Mrs. Virginia P. Corbin, Orvil L Grant and
Mrs. Mary F. Cramer.
Ulysses married Julia Boggs Dent
when he was 26 and she was 22 years of age on August 22, 1848, at the bride’s
home in St. Louis. Grant had three sons and a daughter- Frederick Dent Grant
(1850-1912), Ulysses S “Buck” Grant Jr. (1852-1929), Ellen “Nellie”
Wrenshall Grant (1855-1922) and Jesse Root Grant (1858-1934).
Grant learned the fundamentals at
subscription schools in Georgetown, Ohio. During 1836-1837 he attended Maysville
(Kentucky) seminar, operated by Messrs. Richardson and Rand. During 1838-1839 he
attended the Presbyterian Academy at Ripley, Ohio. In May 1839, he entered the
West Point Academy from which he graduated twenty-first of a class of 39 cadets
in the class of 1843.
Grant served in the Armed forces
as a professional soldier. He served in the Army during 1843-1854 and 1861-1869,
rising from second lieutenant to general. He fought the Mexican War and civil
War. Grant opposed the Mexican War believing the United States to be the
aggressors but he fought many battles in Mexico-battle of Palo Alto and Resaca
de la Palma (both may 1846), Capture of Monterrey (September 1846), Veracruz
(March 1847), Churubusco (August 1847), Molino del Rey (September 1847) and
Occupation of Mexico City (September 1847). He was named regimental
quartermaster and commissary at Tacubaya during 1847-1848. In 1854 he resigned
the Army to go live in a farm with his wife and children outside St. Louis.
With the outbreak of the Civil
War, grant requested recommission in the Army but never got an answer. In June
1861 he was appointed colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry where he
resumed his raising military career. In July 1866 Grant was promoted to General
of the Army, the first commander since Washington to hold that rank. He served
as secretary of war ad interim during 1867-1868.
Grant was nominated to the
presidency by the Republicans at a Chicago Convention in May 1868. Grant had no
serious opposition for this nomination. He was elected as president in 1868 and
reelected in 1872. His vice presidents were Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), of
Indiana, served 1869-1873. Also, Henry Wilson (1812-1875) of Massachusetts
served 1873-1875.
Ulysses S. Grant died July 23,
1885, about 8 a.m. in Mount McGregor, New York. He was detected throat cancer in
the spring of 1884 which complicated when the cancer ate through an artery.
Inaugural Speech Second Inaugural Speech
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