Ulysses S. Grant was the first born son of Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant. This article lends itself to the story of this future general's ancestry, birth, and early career in and out of the United States army from 1822 to 1861. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio and he was educated in both private and public schools or academies and was later known to be an avid reader. Grant was raised as a Methodist, but uncommon for his time, he was not baptized or forced to attend church by his parents. Growing up in a middle-class family and supported by his father's tanneries, he sought a different career in the military. He was appointed to West Point by Ohio Congressman Thomas L. Hamer. It was Hamer who gave Grant the name Ulysses S. Grant when Grant entered West Point as a plebe in 1839. After four years at West Point, he was stationed in Missouri, where he met his future wife, Julia Dent. In 1846, Grant served in the Mexican–American War, where he was brevetted for bravery. There he fought in Mexico and learned under two commanders, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Upon his return to the United States, he married Julia and started a family.
After the war, Grant was assigned to posts in New York and Michigan before traveling west to a posting at Fort Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest and at Fort Humboldt in present-day Northern California. On his journey to California by ship, Grant compassionately aided victims of a cholera epidemic while he was traveling through Panama, arriving in San Francisco in 1853, during the California Gold Rush. Grant's tenure in the Pacific Northwest included the aftermath of the Cayuse War. Grant's various attempts at speculation ventures failed in his effort to support Julia and his family. While stationed at Fort Humboldt Grant became lonely and depressed and he began to drink. After accusations of drunkenness while on duty at Fort Humboldt, Grant was compelled to resign and returned to Missouri and his family. Six years of civilian life were difficult for Grant, as he had little aptitude for business or farming, and was devastated by the Panic of 1857. In 1859, the family moved again, to Galena, Illinois, where Grant had a job as a clerk in his father's leather shop. He worked there until 1861, when the American Civil War began.
Ancestry
Grant was of English and Ulster Scots ancestry; his immigrant ancestor Mathew Grant arrived with Puritans from England in the 1630.[1] Grant's paternal grandmother Suzanna Delano, of French origin, was the granddaughter of Jonathan Delano (1647–1720), 7th child of Philippe de La Noye (1602–1681). Philippe was descended from the illustrious House of Lannoy, and was one of the Fortune's passengers who landed at Plymouth in November 1621, joining the first settlers of the Mayflower. The offspring of the paternal uncle of Suzanna, Thomas Delano (born 1704), gave a few decades later another president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt.[2][3][4] His mother descended from Presbyterian immigrants from County Tyrone, Ireland (where the ancestral family home still stands in Ballygawley) to Bucks County, Pennsylvania.[5]
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822.[6] Point Pleasant was located in the southwestern corner of Ohio near Cincinnati.[6] His father Jesse Root Grant (1794–1873) was a self-reliant tanner and businessman, and his mother was Hannah (Simpson) Grant (1798–1883).[7] Grant was Jesse's and Hannah's first child.[8] Both Jessie and Hanna were natives of Pennsylvania.[9] In the fall of 1823, the family moved to the village of Georgetown in Brown County, Ohio, where they had five more children.
At the age of five, young Grant began his formal education, starting at a subscription school and later was enrolled in two private schools.[10] In the winter of 1836–1837, Grant was a student at Maysville Seminary, and in the autumn of 1838 he attended John Rankin's academy. Raised in a Methodist family devoid of religious pretentiousness, Grant prayed privately and was not an official member of the church.[11] Unlike his younger siblings, Grant was never disciplined, baptized, or forced to attend church by his parents.[12] One of his biographers suggests that Grant inherited a degree of introversion from his reserved, even "uncommonly detached" mother (she did not visit the White House during her son's presidency).[13] At home, Grant assumed the duties which were expected of him as a young man, and they primarily included maintenance of the firewood supply; he thereby developed a noteworthy ability to work with, and control, horses which were in his charge, and he used it to provide transportation as a vocation during his youth.[14]
West Point (1839–1843)
Congressman Thomas L. Hamer nominated Grant to West Point.
At the age of 17, with the help of his father, Grant was nominated for a position at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York by Congressman Thomas L. Hamer. Hamer mistakenly nominated him as "Ulysses S. Grant of Ohio". At West Point, he adopted this name, but only with a middle initial. Among his army colleagues at the academy, his nickname became "Sam" because the initials "U.S." also stood for "Uncle Sam". The "S", according to Grant, did not stand for anything, though Hamer had used it to abbreviate his mother's maiden name.[15] The influence of Grant's family brought about the appointment to West Point, while Grant himself later recalled that "a military life had no charms for me".[16] Grant, stood 5 feet 1inches and weighed 117lbs, when he entered West Point.[17] Grant later said that he was lax in his studies, but he achieved excellent grades in mathematics and geology.[18] Although Grant had a quiet nature, he did establish a few intimate friends at West Point, including Frederick Tracy Dent and Rufus Ingalls.[19] He joined a fraternity group known as the Twelve in One, and was highly esteemed by his classmates.[20] While not excelling scholastically, Grant studied under Romantic artist Robert Walter Weir and produced nine surviving artworks.[18] He also established a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman, setting an equestrian high-jump record that stood almost 25 years.[18] He graduated in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 29. Grant later recalled that his departure from West Point was of the happiest of his times and that he had intended to resign his commission after serving the minimum term of obligated duty.[21] Despite his excellent horsemanship, he was not assigned to the cavalry, as assignments were determined by class rank, not aptitude.[18] Grant was instead assigned as a regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment in the 4th Infantry Regiment, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant.[22]
First assignment (1843–1846)
Grant's first assignment after graduation took him to the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri.[23] After recuperating from an illness that left him thin and weak, Grant reported there in September 1843.[23] It was the nation's largest military bastion in the West, commanded by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny. Grant was happy with his new commander, but still looked forward to the end of his military service. During this period, Grant had entertained the idea of becoming a mathematics teacher following his military service and spent much of his free time studying advanced algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.[24] Grant spent some of his time in Missouri visiting the family of his West Point classmate, Frederick Dent, and getting to know Dent's sister, Julia; the two became secretly engaged in 1844.[24]
Mexican–American War (1846–1848)
Second lieutenant U.S. Grant in 1843
Rising tensions with Mexico saw Grant's unit shifted to Louisiana that year as a part of the Army of Observation under Major GeneralZachary Taylor.[25] President James K. Polk ordered Taylor south to force the Mexican government to bargain over disputed territory between the United States and Mexico.[26] Grant was in charge of securing hundreds of mules in preparation for the move south.[27] Grant purchased the mules from Mexicans and had the mules branded, but the mules resisted being broken to wear a saddle and pack.[27] Taylor took notice of Grant when Grant jumped in the water to help his men remove oyster beds so ships could advance from Aransas Bay to Corpus Christi, saying he wished he "had more officers like Grant."[27] On March 11, 1846, Grant's Fourth Infantry, part of the Third Brigade, left Corpus Christi, first traveling west and then veering south.[27] Having reached the Rio Grande, both the Mexican and American armies spied on each other.[27] On April 25, the Mexican–American War broke out when Mexican troops fired on and killed 11 American troops, commanded by Captain Seth Thornton, at Rancho de Carricitos.[28] Defending Fort Texas on the Rio Grande, Taylor's army advanced on Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
Monterey street fighting during the Mexican–American War. September 1846
Grant's first battle experience came at the Battle of Palo Alto against a substantial Mexican force that intended to flank and attack the American army.[29] Grant did not panic and readied his 1822 musket when Taylor ordered two large artillery guns that fired on the Mexican army, who retreated.[30] The next day the American army followed the retreating Mexican army to Resaca de la Palma.[31] Not content with his responsibilities as a quartermaster, Grant made his way to the front lines to engage in the battle, and participated in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma.[32] Grant led his company in a charge, capturing a Mexican officer and a few of his men, his first victory. Grant later realized the ground he gained and his captives had earlier been won in the battle.[31]
Crossing the Rio Grande, the United States army continued its advance into Mexico. Thousands of American volunteers were incorporated into the U.S. military serving alongside the regular army, including Thomas Hamer, who had nominated Grant to West Point.[33] Starting in September, Taylor and his Army of Invasion, moved south and engaged the Mexican army at the Battle of Monterrey.[34] During the battle, Grant demonstrated his equestrian ability, carrying a dispatch through Monterrey's sniper-lined streets on horseback while mounted in one stirrup.[35]
President James K. Polk, who was wary of Taylor's growing popularity, divided his army, sending some troops (including Grant's unit) to form a new army under Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott.[36] Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City. The army met the Mexican forces at battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec outside Mexico City. At the latter battle, Grant dragged a howitzer into a church steeple to bombard nearby Mexican troops.[37] Scott's army was soon into the city, and the Mexicans agreed to peace not long after.
In his memoirs, Grant indicated that he had learned extensively by closely observing the decisions and actions of his commanding officers, particularly admiring Taylor's methods, and in retrospect, he identified with Taylor's style. At the time, he felt that the war was a wrongful one because he believed that territorial gains were designed to spread slavery throughout the nation; writing in 1883, Grant said "I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day, I regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker nation." He also opined that the later Civil War was inflicted on the nation as punishment for its aggression in Mexico.[38]
Marriage and family
On August 22, 1848, after a four-year engagement, Grant and Julia were married.[39] He and Julia would go on to have four children: Frederick Dent Grant; Ulysses S. "Buck" Grant, Jr.; Ellen Wrenshall "Nellie" Grant; and Jesse Root Grant.[40] The couple corresponded during his service in Mexico; in one letter Julia shared with him a very pleasurable dream she had of him in a beard, which he was then sporting upon his return after the war.[41]
Extended military service (1848–1854)
San Francisco harbor during the California Gold Rush. 1850–1851
Although Grant received promotions during the Mexican–American War, the peacetime army offered little for a young officer's advancement.[42] Lieutenant Grant was assigned to several different posts over the ensuing six years. His first post-war assignments took him and Julia to Detroit and Sackets Harbor, New York, the location that made them the happiest. In the spring of 1852, he traveled in to Washington, D.C. in a failed attempt to prevail upon the Congress to rescind an order that he, in his capacity as quartermaster, reimburse the military $1000 in losses incurred on his watch, for which he bore no personal guilt.[43] He was sent west to Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory in 1852, initially landing in San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush. Julia could not accompany him as she was eight months pregnant with their second child; further, a lieutenant's salary would not support a family on the frontier.[44] The journey proved to be an ordeal due to transportation disruptions and an outbreak of cholera within the entourage while traveling overland through Panama. Grant made use of his organizational skills, arranging makeshift transportation and hospital facilities to take care of the sick. There were 150 4th Infantry fatalities including Grant's long-time friend John H. Gore.[45] After Grant arrived in San Francisco he traveled to Fort Vancouver, continuing his service as quartermaster; the U.S. military was to keep the peace in the Pacific Northwest between settlers and Indians in the aftermath of the Cayuse War.
While on assignment out west and in an effort to supplement a military salary inadequate to support his family, Grant, assuming his work as quartermaster so equipped him, attempted but failed at several business ventures.[46] The business failures in the West confirmed Jesse Grant's belief that his son had no head for business, creating frustration for both father and son. In at least one case Grant had even naively allowed himself to be swindled by a partner. These failures, along with the separation from his family, made for quite an unhappy soldier, husband and son. Rumors began to circulate that Grant was drinking in excess.[47]
In the summer of 1853, Grant was promoted to captain, one of only fifty on active duty, and assigned to command Company F, 4th Infantry, at Fort Humboldt, on the northwest California coast. Without explanation, he shortly thereafter resigned from the army on July 31, 1854. The commanding officer at Fort Humboldt, brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan, a strict disciplinarian, had reports that Grant was intoxicated off duty while seated at the pay officer's table. Buchanan had previously warned Grant several times to stop his drinking. In lieu of a court-martial, Buchanan gave Grant an ultimatum to sign a drafted resignation letter. Grant resigned; the War Department stated on his record, "Nothing stands against his good name."[48] Rumors, however, persisted in the regular army of Grant's intemperance. According to biographer McFeely, historians overwhelmingly agree that his intemperance at the time was a fact, though there are no eyewitness reports extant.[49] Two of Grant's lieutenants corroborated this incident and Buchanan confirmed it to another officer in a conversation during the Civil War.[50] Historian Jean Edward Smith says, "The story rings true.[51] Jean Edward Smith maintains Grant's resignation was too sudden to be a calculated decision.[52] Historian William McFeely said that Grant left the army simply because he was "profoundly depressed" and that the evidence as to how much and how often Grant drank remains elusive.[49] Buchanan never mentioned it again until asked about it during the Civil War.[53] The effects and extent of Grant's drinking on his military and public career are debated by historians.[54] Lyle Dorsett said Grant was an "alcoholic" but functioned amazingly well. William Farina maintains Grant's devotion to family kept him from drinking to excess and sinking into debt.[55]
Years later after his resignation, Grant told John Eaton, "the vice of intemperance had not a little to do with my decision to resign."[50] Grant's father, again believing his son's only potential for success to be in the military, tried to get the Secretary of War to rescind the resignation, to no avail.[56]
Civilian life, poverty, and struggles (1854–1861)
"Hardscrabble" home Grant built in Missouri for his family.Julia Dent Grant in 1868
At age 32, with no civilian vocation, Grant began to struggle through seven financially lean years and poverty.[57] His father, Jesse, initially offered Grant a position in the Galena, Illinois branch of the tannery business, on condition that Julia and the children, for economic reasons, stay with her parents in Missouri, or Grant's in Kentucky. Ulysses and Julia were adamantly opposed to another separation, and declined the offer. In 1854, Grant farmed on his brother-in-law's property near St. Louis, using slaves owned by Julia's father, but it did not succeed. Two years later, Grant and family moved to a section of his father-in-law's farm; to give his family a home, built a house he called "Hardscrabble". Julia hated the rustic house, which she described as an "unattractive cabin".[58] During this time, Grant also acquired a slave from Julia's father, a thirty-five-year-old man named William Jones. Having met with no success farming, the Grants left the farm when their fourth and final child was born in 1858. Grant freed his slave in 1859 instead of selling him, at a time when slaves commanded a high price and Grant needed money badly.[59] For the next year, the family took a small house in St. Louis where he worked, again without success, with Julia's cousin Harry Boggs, as a bill collector.[60] In 1860 Jesse offered him the job in his tannery in Galena, Illinois, without condition, which Ulysses accepted. The leather shop, "Grant & Perkins", sold harnesses, saddles, and other leather goods and purchased hides from farmers in the prosperous Galena area. He moved his family to Galena before that year.[61]
Although unopposed to slavery at the time, Grant kept his political opinions private and never endorsed any candidate running for public office before the Civil War.[62] His father-in-law was a prominent Democrat in Missouri, a factor that helped derail Grant's bid to become county engineer in 1859, while his own father was an outspoken Republican.[63] In the 1856 election, Grant cast his first presidential vote for the Democratic candidate James Buchanan, saying he was really voting against Fremont, the Republican candidate.[62] In 1860, he favored the Democratic presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas over Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln over the alternate Democratic candidate, John C. Breckinridge. Lacking the residency requirements in Illinois at the time, he could not vote. By August 1863, during the Civil War, after the fall of Vicksburg, Grant's political sympathies fully coincided with the Radical Republicans' aggressive prosecution of the war and for the abolition of slavery.[64]
Related Research Articles
Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As commanding general, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as U.S. secretary of war. As president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who signed the bill that created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.
Horace Porter was an American soldier and diplomat who served as a lieutenant colonel, ordnance officer and staff officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, personal secretary to General and President Ulysses S. Grant. He also was secretary to General William T. Sherman, vice president of the Pullman Palace Car Company and U.S. Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905.
Julia Boggs Grant was the first lady of the United States and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant. As first lady, she became a national figure in her own right. Her memoirs, The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant were published in 1975.
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William Worth Belknap was a lawyer, Union Army officer, government administrator in Iowa, and the 30th United States Secretary of War, serving under President Ulysses S. Grant. Belknap was impeached on March 2, 1876, for his role in the trader post scandal, but was acquitted by the Senate. Belknap was the first cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached.
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Orville Elias Babcock was an American engineer and general in the Union Army during the Civil War. An aide to General Ulysses S. Grant during and after the war, he was President Grant's military private secretary at the White House, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds for Washington D.C., and a Florida-based federal inspector of lighthouses. Babcock continued to serve as lighthouse inspector under Grant's successors Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur.
Frederick Dent Grant was a soldier and United States minister to Austria-Hungary. Grant was the first son of General and President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Grant. He was named after his uncle, Frederick Dent.
Robert Christie Buchanan was an American military officer who served in the Mexican–American War and then was a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1866, he was nominated and confirmed for appointment to the grades of brevet brigadier general and major general in the Regular Army for valor in several battles, to rank from March 13, 1865. In a career that spanned more than forty years, Buchanan held numerous commands and received multiple citations for bravery and distinguished service.
Ulysses S. Grant was the most acclaimed Union general during the American Civil War and was twice elected president. Grant began his military career as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839. After graduation he went on to serve with distinction as a lieutenant in the Mexican–American War. Grant was a keen observer of the war and learned battle strategies serving under Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. After the war Grant served at various posts especially in the Pacific Northwest; he was forced to retire from the service in 1854 due to accusations of drunkenness. He was unable to make a success of farming and on the onset of the Civil War in April 1861, Grant was working as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois. When the war began his military experience was needed, and Congressman Elihu B. Washburne became his patron in political affairs and promotions in Illinois and nationwide.
The trader post scandal, or Indian Ring, took place during Reconstruction and involved Secretary of War William W. Belknap and his wives receiving kickback payments from a Fort Sill tradership contract.
After the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant spent four years as head of the United States Army in peacetime. With his defeat of Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy, Grant was the most popular man in the country. As the Civil War ended Grant turned his attention to the Plains in the American West where there were numerous conflicts between white settlers, railroads, and Native Americans that resulted in wars between the Natives and the U.S. military. While the attempted Fenian invasion of Canada and French intervention in Mexico took some of his time, Grant's biggest focus was on Reconstruction of the defeated Southern states. Grant found himself caught between President Andrew Johnson, who wanted leniency to the South and a continuation of the social structure there, and the Radical Republicans in Congress, who wanted harsher punishment to rebel leaders and more government assistance to the freed slaves. Grant preserved his popularity and authority throughout the crisis that culminated in Johnson's impeachment. In 1868, the Republicans nominated Grant for president, and he won easily over his Democratic challenger.
After eight years in the presidential office during Reconstruction, Ulysses S. Grant looked forward to retirement from public life. When his second term in office ended in March 1877, Grant had gained weight, while he desired to travel the world and visit his daughter in Scotland. Grant began his post-presidential life with a two-year tour that took him and his wife and entourage around the world.
Jesse Root Grant was an American farmer, tanner and successful leather merchant who owned tanneries and leather goods shops in several different states throughout his adult life. He is best known as the father of Ulysses S. Grant and the one who introduced Ulysses to military life at West Point. Jesse was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and was one of seven children. He was a self-made man who rose from poverty to become a wealthy merchant.
William Ruben Rowley, was a lieutenant colonel and Military Secretary on the staff of General Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War later being brevetted a brigadier general. After moving from New York to Galena, Illinois, he taught in the local school, while also becoming involved in local politics. While living in Galena, Rowley was a neighbor and good friends with Ulysses Grant and John Rawlins before and at the time the Civil War broke out. Under General Grant he fought in the Battle of Shiloh and during the siege at Vicksburg. He was one of nine Civil War generals that came from Galena. After serving in the Union Army he returned to Galena and service in political life. Rowley was among several officers who wrote letters for and rigorously defended Grant against accusations from rivals and reporters that Grant was drinking at the Battle of Shiloh, a battle that he brought to victory. On other occasions during his military and political career Rowley stood by Grant during times of controversy.
Hundreds of historians and biographers have written biographies and historical accounts about the life of Ulysses S. Grant and his performance in military and presidential affairs. Very few presidential reputations have shifted as dramatically as Grant's.
Ulysses S. Grant began his world tour in May 1877, only a couple of months after his second presidential term had ended. After serving as a general during the Civil War, and as president for two consecutive terms during the turbulent Reconstruction era, Grant was ready for a vacation from the years of stress that war and politics had brought him. Now in his later fifties, Grant looked forward to the tour with great enthusiasm. With his wife Julia they embarked on a long-anticipated tour, which would develop into an around the world tour, lasting more than two and a half years. The tour was filled with visits to a variety of places and prominent people, including Queen Victoria, Pope Leo XIII, Otto von Bismarck and other such dignitaries around the world. The Grants had a flexible itinerary and their visits to various countries would bring them to Paris three times during their tour. Grant was often received by cheering crowds as "General Grant" the Civil War hero in the various countries along the tour, often with official greetings and huge celebrations.
Justus McKinstry was a United States Army officer who served in the Second Seminole War and with merit in the Mexican–American War and in the Third Seminole War. He was appointed a brigadier general and assistant quartermaster in the Union Army in the early days of the American Civil War but his appointment expired without being confirmed by the United States Senate. His actual highest rank was major. He was suspended from his appointment and held under arrest starting November 13, 1861, although his confinement was expanded to the city limits of St. Louis, Missouri after February 22, 1862, in anticipation of a court martial in October 1862. He was convicted of graft, corruption and fraud in the quartermaster's department in the Department of the West. The court recommended his dismissal from the army. On January 28, 1863, after being held in arrest for more than a year, McKinstry was cashiered "for neglect and violation of duty to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." Despite the expiration of his brigadier general appointment without Senate confirmation, some sources, such as Ezra Warner, list McKinstry as a brigadier general. If so regarded, he was one of three Union Army generals who were cashiered. After his dismissal from the Union Army, McKinstry was a speculator and stock broker in New York City, 1864–1867, and land agent in Rolla, Missouri, 1867 – c. 1870, although he spent most of the rest of his life in reduced circumstances in St. Louis.
Hannah Grant was the mother of Ulysses S. Grant, Commanding General of the Union Army during the American Civil War and the 18th president of the United States. She married Jesse Root Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio, and was the mother of six children. Little is known about her private life, other than what can be discerned from general and public information. She rarely discussed her son with anyone while he was a general and a president, especially not the press. She was a devoutly religious woman, always reserved and unpretentious in her manner, and she is often considered by historians and others to have had a strong influence on her son Ulysses, who shared similar qualities in character.
The horsemanship of Ulysses S. Grant has been widely acclaimed by his contemporaries and historians as among the most exceptional in American history. Ulysses S. Grant was a commanding general during the Civil War and a two-term U.S. president. Born in Ohio near the Ohio River, Grant grew up around horses, which he came to admire and love, possessing a natural affinity, allowing him to ride, train and manage horses at an early age. His father Jesse placed much confidence in his ability and gave him tasks involving horses that were rarely ever expected of a youth. At age five he was noted for doing difficult stunts bareback and soon after was also performing responsible chores, hauling timber, and driving teams of horses for long distances by himself. From boyhood through his military career, Grant had a well established reputation for training and managing horses. As a youth, neighbors would have him train hard-to-manage horses. As a cadet he set a high-jump record at West Point that stood for a quarter-century.
Simon, John Y. (2002). "Ulysses S. Grant". In Graff, Henry (ed.). The Presidents: A Reference History (7thed.). Macmillan Library Reference USA. pp.245–260. ISBN0-684-80551-0.
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