Tag: Ulysses S. Grant
THIS DAY IN HISTORY – President Ulysses S. Grant is born – 1822
Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War leader and 18th president of the United States, is born on April 27, 1822.
The son of a tanner, Grant showed little enthusiasm for joining his father’s business, so the elder Grant enrolled his son at West Point in 1839. Though Grant later admitted in his memoirs he had no interest in the military apart from honing his equestrian skills, he graduated in 1843 and went on to serve in the Mexican-American War, though he opposed it on moral grounds. He then left his beloved wife and children again to fulfill a tour of duty in California and Oregon.
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Robert E. Lee surrenders – 1865
In Appomattox Court House, Virginia, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option.
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Lincoln, Sherman and Grant plan final stages of Civil War – 1865
On March 27, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln meets with Union generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman at City Point, Virginia, to plot the last stages of the Civil War.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY – President Lincoln signs Ulysses S. Grant’s commission to command the U.S. Army – 1864
On March 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document officially promoting then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY – General Lee’s army beats Grant’s Union troops to Spotsylvania – 1864
On May 8, 1864, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, to find the Rebels already there. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. Grant hoped to control the strategic crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House, so he could draw Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into open ground.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY – President Lincoln signs Ulysses S. Grant’s commission to command the U.S. Army – 1864
On March 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signs a brief document officially promoting then-Major General Ulysses S. Grant to the rank of lieutenant general of the U.S. Army, tasking the future president with the job of leading all Union troops against the Confederate Army.