What was ulysses s grant role in the civil war

Confederate commanders Albert Sidney Johnston and P. Beauregard led a surprise attack against Grant's forces, with fierce fighting occurring at an area known as the "Hornets' Nest" during the first wave of assault.

Confederate General Johnston was mortally wounded, and his second-in-command, General Beauregard, decided against a night assault on Grant's forces.

Reinforcement finally arrived, and Grant was able to defeat the Confederates during the second day of battle. The Battle of Shiloh proved to be a watershed for the American military and a near disaster for Grant.

Though he was supported by President Abraham Lincoln, Grant faced heavy criticism from members of Congress and the military brass for the high casualties, and for a time, he was demoted. A war department investigation led to his reinstatement. Union war strategy called for taking control of the Mississippi River and cutting the Confederacy in half.

In December , Grant moved overland to take Vicksburg — a key fortress city of the Confederacy — but his attack was stalled by Confederate cavalry raider Nathan Bedford Forest, as well as due to getting bogged down in the bayous north of Vicksburg.

In his second attempt, Grant cut some, but not all, of his supply lines, moved his men down the western bank of the Mississippi River and crossed south of Vicksburg. Failing to take the city after several assaults, he settled into a long siege, and Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, Though Vicksburg marked both Grant's greatest achievement thus far and a moral boost for the Union, rumors of Grant's heavy drinking followed him through the rest of the Western Campaign.

Grant suffered from intense migraine headaches due to stress, which nearly disabled him and only helped to spread rumors of his drinking, as many chalked up his migraines to frequent hangovers. However, his closest associates said that he was sober and polite and that he displayed deep concentration, even in the midst of a battle. In October , Grant took command at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The following month, from November 22 to November 25, Union forces routed Confederate troops in Tennessee at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, known collectively as the Battle of Chattanooga. The victories forced the Confederates to retreat into Georgia, ending the siege of the vital railroad junction of Chattanooga — and ultimately paving the way for Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's Atlanta campaign and march to Savannah, Georgia, in Grant saw the military objectives of the Civil War differently than most of his predecessors, who believed that capturing territory was most important to winning the war.

Grant adamantly believed that taking down the Confederate armies was most important to the war effort, and to that end, set out to track down and destroy General Robert E.

Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. From March until April , Grant doggedly hunted for Lee in the forests of Virginia, all the while inflicting unsustainable casualties on Lee's army. On April 9, , Lee surrendered his army, marking the end of the Civil War. The two generals met at a farm near the village of Appomattox Court House, and a peace agreement was signed. In a magnanimous gesture, Grant allowed Lee's men to keep their horses and return to their homes, taking none of them as prisoners of war.

During post-war reorganization, Grant was promoted to full general and oversaw the military portion of Reconstruction. He was then put in an awkward position during President Andrew Johnson's fight with the Radical Republicans and Johnson's impeachment.

Subsequently, in , Grant was elected the 18th president of the United States. When he entered the White House the following year, Grant was not only politically inexperienced, he was — at the age of 46 — the youngest president theretofore.

Though scrupulously honest, Grant became known for appointing people who were not of good character. While he had some success during his time in office, including pushing through ratification of the 15th Amendment and establishing the National Parks Service, his administration's scandals rocked both of his presidential terms, and he didn't get the opportunity to serve a third.

After leaving the White House, Grant's lack of success at civilian life continued once again. He became a partner of the financial firm Grant and Ward only to have his partner, Ferdinand Ward, embezzle investors' money. The firm went bankrupt in , as did Grant. That same year, Grant learned that he was suffering from throat cancer, and though his military pension was reinstated, he was strapped for cash.

Grant began selling short magazine articles about his life and then negotiated a contract with a friend, famed novelist Twain, to publish his memoirs. The two-volume set went on to sell some , copies, becoming a classic work of American literature. Grant Lithograph by A. Abraham Lincoln letter to Ulysses S.

Grant, April 30, Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. New York: Charles L. McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press You Might Also Like.

Loading results Tags: ulysses s grant national historic site ulysses s grant civil war american military battlefields. When initial assaults on the city demonstrated the strength of Vicksburg's defenses, the Union army was forced to lay siege to the city. On July 4, , after 46 days of digging trenches and lobbing hand grenades, Confederate general John Pemberton 's 30,man army surrendered. Coupled with the Northern victory at Gettysburg , the capture of Vicksburg marked the turning point in the war.

It also made Grant the premier commander in the Federal army. Later that same year, Grant was called upon to break the stalemate at Chattanooga , further cementing his reputation as a capable and effective leader. In March , President Lincoln elevated Grant to the rank of lieutenant general, and named him general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States. Lee and his vaunted Army of Northern Virginia at any cost.

Though plagued by reticent subordinates, petty squabbles between generals and horrific casualties, the Federal host bludgeoned Lee from the Rapidan River to the James in what one participant would later describe as "unspoken, unspeakable history.

In , running against Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant was elected eighteenth President of the United States. For two years following his second term in office, Grant made a triumphal tour of the world. In , he lost his entire savings to a corrupt bank. To make up some of his losses, he wrote about his war experiences for Century Magazine.