On this anniversary of the birth of Hiram Ulysses Grant, 200 years ago Wednesday, he is remembered as the 18th president of the United States, commander of the U.S. Army during the Civil War and national hero. He can also be thought of as an ordinary human being who struggled with many things that we struggle with now, two centuries later.
Grant’s official story is one of unrelenting service to his country. The Ohio native studied at West Point Military Academy. He graduated from West Point as a skilled horseman. Following his graduation, he was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, here in St. Louis. Not long after arriving at Jefferson Barracks, Grant met Julia Dent, the sister of one of his West Point classmates and the daughter of a plantation owner. Shortly after meeting Dent, Grant went on to fight in the Mexican-American War. After the war, Grant returned to St. Louis and married Dent in 1848. The couple had four children. Grant resigned from the military in 1854 after being assigned to a series of remote army posts, including some on the West Coast. The Grant family lived at White Haven, the Dent family’s plantation.
Grant’s military career advanced quickly during the Civil War. After it began in April 1861, Grant reenlisted and became a colonel in the 21st Illinois Volunteers. President Abraham Lincoln soon made Grant a brigadier general. Grant had his first major military victory after his troops captured Fort Donelson in Tennessee. By 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of all U.S. armies. Grant commanded the victorious Union army and, on April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.
