Galena’s most famous general is General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant rose to power as commander of the Union Armies during the Civil War. His fame continued during his two terms as president of the United States.
He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822 at Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was the first born child of Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant. His birth was followed by two brothers, Samuel Simpson and Orvil Lynch and three sisters, Clara Rachel, Virginia Paine, and Mary Frances. (The image on the screen is of the Point Pleasant home, where he was born.) A year after Grant’s birth, his family moved to Georgetown, Ohio. Ulysses rode, drove, and trained horses from the early age of eight; by ten he was transporting passengers 40 miles between Georgetown, Ohio, and Cincinnati. By age twelve, he was driving a logging team for his father.
As a teenager, Grant entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He had an average scholarship record—but, excelled in mathematics, horsemanship, and cartography, which is the study of map making. In 1843, at the age of 18, he graduated 21st out of 39 cadets. It is said that Grant was happy to be out and planned to resign from the military after he served his mandatory four years of duty.
It was while enrolled at West point that Hiram Ulysses Grant became Ulysses S. Grant. While filling out Grant’s application the congressman who sponsored him inadvertently recorded Grant’s name as Ulysses Simpson Grant, Simpson being his mother’s maiden name. After efforts to rectify the clerical error failed, Hiram Grant resigned himself to his new name.
Shortly after graduating from West Point, Grant served as 1st Lieutenant under Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott during the United States-Mexican War 1846-1848. This experience left a life-long impression on him, and he learned a great deal about commanding an army during this time. He later described the war as, “one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.” While in Mexico, Grant demonstrated his military competence during the battles of Molino Del Rey and Chapultepec and was twice brevetted for bravery and gallantry.
After returning from the Mexican War, Ulysses S. Grant married Julia Dent on Aug. 22, 1848 in Julia’s hometown of St. Louis. Julia Dent was the sister of Grant’s West Point roommate. They had been engaged for four years before finally getting married. Grant was 26 when he became Julia’s husband. Over the next six years, the couple had four children: Frederick Dent Grant, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Jr. nicknamed “Buck”, Jessie Root Grant, and daughter Ellen or “Nellie” as she was affectionately called.
After the Mexican War, Grant served in a series of mundane assignments around the country. Julia traveled with Grant to military posts in Michigan and New York, however, she returned home to St. Louis when Grant was sent to the Pacific Coast in 1852. Grant soon became homesick. He missed Julia and his two sons. His second son, “Buck” was born while he was away and Grant longed to meet him. Life on the Pacific Coast was expensive. To supplement his captain’s income, he became involved in several business ventures which ultimately resulted in failure. He was unable to generate the money necessary to bring his family to the coast. He was unhappy and began to drink. This cultivated a reputation that followed him throughout his military career.
Grant resigned from the army, and in 1854 he moved his family back to Missouri. His transition into civilian life was a difficult one. His first occupation was that of a farmer. As a wedding gift Julia’s father had given them a 60 acre farm near St. Louis. (The image on your screen is of the farm’s large log cabin called “Hardscrabble”. It is the only remaining structure that was hand-built by a United States president prior to assuming office.)
The life of a farmer was a difficult one, and Grant struggled to make a living off the land. The final straw was The Panic of 1857, when crop prices withered and money grew scarce. These were desperate times. It is said that Grant had to pawn his watch just to buy Christmas gifts for his three children. Then two months later, on February 6, 1858, the fourth Grant child, Jesse Root Grant Jr. was born.
Ulysses decided to give up farming in order to pursue a real estate venture. Unfortunately, being a man of few words, he was not cut out for the real estate business. He then applied for a job in St. Louis as an engineer and clerk, but was denied employment. Desperate to support his family, he was reduced to selling firewood on a St. Louis street. Despite his financial troubles, there was one solution Grant refused to consider. Instead of selling his slave, William Jones, who had come to him through his wife’s family, he set him free.
The life of the Grant family took yet another turn, in 1860. Ulysses’s father, Jesse, owned a Leather Store in Galena. (Further information on his store is provided on the Main Street Tour.) Two of Ulysses’s brothers, Simpson and Orvil, worked at the Leather Store. When Simpson became ill with tuberculosis, Jesse asked Ulysses to come to Galena and work in the family store. In April, 1860, the Grant family arrived via the steamboat, Itasca. Grant worked at the Leather Store as a clerk, and he traveled the tri-state area purchasing hides. (You will learn more about this on the Main Street Tour and see his Pre-Civil War home on the West Side Tour.)
