Ulysses S. Grant biography

Synopsis

Profile

Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April, 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio, near the mouth of the Big Indian Creek at the Ohio River. His famous moniker “U.S. Grant” came after he joined the military. Hiram was the first son of Jesse Root Grant, a tanner and businessman, and Hannah Simpson Grant. A year after Hiram was born, the family moved to Georgetown, Ohio, where he grew up in what he described as an “uneventful” childhood. He did, however, show great aptitude as a horseman in his youth.

Hiram Ulysses Grant was not a standout as a boy. Shy and reserved, he took after his mother rather than his outgoing father. He hated the idea of working in his father’s tannery business, a fact that Jesse begrudgingly had to acknowledge. When Hiram was 17, Jesse arranged for him to enter West Point. A clerical error had listed him as Ulysses S. Grant. Not wanting to be rejected, he changed his name on the spot. Grant didn’t excel at West Point, earning average grades and finding the academy “had no charms” for him. He received several demerits for slovenly dress and tardiness. He did well in mathematics and geology and excelled in horsemanship. In 1843, he graduated 21st out of 39 and was glad to be out. He planned to resign from the military after he served his mandatory four years of duty.

After graduation, Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant was stationed at St. Louis, Missouri, where he met his future wife, Julia Dent. Grant proposed marriage in 1844, and Julia accepted. But before the couple could wed, he was shipped off for duty. During the Mexican-American War, Grant served as quartermaster, efficiently overseeing the movement of supplies. Serving under General Zachary Taylor and then later General Winfield Scott, he closely observed their military tactics and leadership skills. He got the opportunity to lead a company into combat and was credited for his bravery under fire. He also developed strong feelings that the war was wrong and was being waged only to increase American’s territory for the spread of slavery.

In 1844, Ulysses and Julia finally married. Over the next six years, Grant was assigned to several posts, and the couple had four children. In 1852, Grant was sent to Fort Vancouver, in what is now Washington State. He missed Julia and his two sons, the second of whom he had not even seen. Grant became involved in several failed business ventures, trying to get his family to the coast so they could be closer to him. He began to drink, and a reputation was forged that dogged him all through his military career. In the summer of 1853, he was promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Humboldt on the Northern California coast, where he had a run-in with the fort’s commanding officer, Lt.