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Ulysses S. Grant

Throughout the years, America has produced many military geniuses. At the top of the list of these fine men is Ulysses S. Grant. How can a man go from a failure at life, to the winner of the Civil War, and then to become the leader of the greatest nation on Earth?

On April 22, 1822, in a little town called Pleasant Point, Ohio, Jesse and Hannah Grant gave birth to a son. Hiram Grant wasn't exactly a normal child. He didn't have many friends. He'd rather spend time with horses than play with other children. By the time he was five, Hiram could do spectacular tricks on horses that would amaze many people. When Hiram was eight, everyone considered him to be a master horseman.

His parents weren't exactly the best in the world. People would say that Hannah was insane, and Jesse would later hound Hiram for all his failures.

Ironically, Grant disliked both politics and war. When he was old enough, his father forced him to attend West Point, the United States Military Academy. At West Point, his classmates made fun of his name, Hiram, so he changed it to Ulysses Simpson Grant. Ulysses excelled in math and horsemanship at the academy. However, when graduation came around, Grant finished only 21st of 39.

Grant wanted to be assigned to the cavalry unit, but was stuck in the Fourth U.S. Infantry. He was a second Lieutenant under the command of Major General Taylor.

When the Mexican War broke out, Lt. Grant was assigned quartermaster duties. He was always able to get into the fight, however, and he was promoted with two citations for bravery. After the Mexican War, in 1848, first Lieutenant Grant was promoted to the rank of Captain. He was also married his West Point roommate's sister, Julia Dent. His parents didn't show up for the wedding due to the fact that Julia's parents owned slaves.

For the next six years, Grant tried many business ventures to raise enough money to support his family. Sadly, none of them succeeded. He then ended up working for his father as a clerk in Galena, Illinois.

When the Civil War broke out, Ulysses went straight to the War Department and was turned down due to his excessive drinking. He then had to turn to volunteers. He was given the rank of Colonel and was given command of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. After training his men to be great soldiers and performing several raids, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.

Grant became famous after capturing Forts Henry and Donelson. He had insisted on an unconditional surrender

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