Ulysses S. Grant: President, General, Alcoholic, And Protector Of Slaves

US Commanding General of the Army, Secretary of War, 18th President of the United States - whatever the title, Ulysses S. Grant was a man who was considered. He was not only steadfast in his beliefs, but was also more than happy to support them with brilliant and sometimes brute force. While he is best known for his major victories and eventual victory as a major Union general during the Civil War, he also made major contributions to American culture and the fight for social and civil rights for African-Americans during his presidency. even though later administrations minimized much of their hard work).

Grant's early life

Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, into a family of tanners and farmers. He was not a particularly gifted student, and he hated working with his father with leather, but it turned out that he was very good with horses. Since he came from a long line of soldiers—his grandfather had fought in the American Revolution and his great-grandfather in the French and Indian War—it seemed natural for him to enroll in the prestigious United States Military Academy, then known as West Point. goes.

Lt. Grant's Ups and Downs

Thanks to a still unexplained clerical error by Congressman Thomas Hammer who nominated Young Grant, Hiram Ulysses became "Ulysses S." at West Point. This worked for young Grant, who was too embarrassed to have his initials "H.U.G." that he refused to put them on his suitcase, but his comrades still kept him in the early U.S.

He first saw military action during the Mexican–American War, where then-Lieutenant Grant served as quartermaster, ensuring that supplies were carried safely and were often hit by heavy gunfire. On a personal level, Grant was against the war effort and saw it as a political plan to conquer land and perpetuate slavery, so the U.S.

Grant was eventually forced to leave the army and farm, which did not bring him much joy. During this time, his father-in-law either sold him or gave him a slave named William Jones, but Grant released the man to freedom after only a year. After Grant quit farming, he became a clerk—and so poor that, at one point, he wrote that he had "no shoes fit to wear on the streets" and spent much of his time buying Christmas gifts for his children. Sold only watch.

Civil War Grant

Although Grant may have seemed destined for historical obscurity, he met the mother of all calls to action on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter. Within weeks, Grant volunteered for the Union Army as a military aide to Governor Richard Yates and was given the task of shaping the 21st Illinois Volunteers' specially undocumented regiment. He quickly rose through the ranks because of his ability to turn rowdy volunteers into disciplined soldiers, becoming brigadier general by the time he launched his first offensive against Confederate forces at Belmont, Missouri. He won at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.

However, the Battle of Shiloh actually killed Ulysses S. Grant was put on the map. It was the only bloody battle the US had ever seen (at least until the Battle of Antietam), with about 24,000 casualties in just two days. Grant's refusal to retreat and insist on an offensive proved victorious for the Union, but also angered those who viewed the new general as a butcher, who would also sacrifice the lives of soldiers. Were prepared. Some even demanded his resignation, to which Lincoln famously replied, "I can't give up on this man—he fights."

From President to Poor

Grant proved that when he laid siege to Vicksburg, he had gained control of the city on July 4, 1863, a key stronghold for the Confederate's access to the Mississippi. Many historians consider the double shock of the Union victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. turning point in the war. The following year, the Battle of the Wilderness finally saw the famed Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeat Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, kicking off the Overland Campaign, a genuine Clash of the Titans fought in Virginia during May and June 1864. Finally, after the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

Grant was regarded as a hero after the war and was elected President of the United States in 1869. His major achievement was the passage and ratification of the 15th Amendment, which was crucial for black Americans to achieve any level of voting, social and economic rights. After the war, the creation of the Justice Department and the passage of the Third Enforcement Act, which suppressed the Ku Klux Klan insurgency in the wake of the amendment. He did Susan B. Anthony also supported women's rights by winning the vote, and on March 1, 1872, he signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, creating America's first national park.

Sadly, Grant's story has a sad epilogue. His successor, President Rutherford B. Hayes, berated many of his achievements, and after he stepped down, Grant once again fell on hard financial times. After being diagnosed with throat cancer in his early sixties, it seemed a miserable end was inevitable, but Grant's writer Mark Twain had a guardian angel. Refusing to let an American hero die of penury, Twain arranged a hefty payment for the former general's memoirs. Grant had finished the manuscript a few days before his death, but the money was more than enough to support the rest of his family.