Ulysses S Grant, 1822-1885

Ulysses Simpson Grant did not allow his dire pre-war business career prevent him from becoming the chief architect of the Union forces victory over the Confederates in the American Civil War. He was not an enthusiastic cadet at West Point military academy and had no intention of committing to a soldiering career, indeed he went on to work in farming and real estate in the years before the War. Once the conflict started, however, he returned to uniform and enjoyed battle successes at Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862, earning the rank of Major General.

The crucial victory at Vicksburg led to Lincoln appointing him General in Chief in March 1964. His intense battles with the armies of Robert E Lee marked the final years of the war and the pinnacle of Grant's career; Lee surrendered on Virginia on 9 April 1865 and Grant went on to become President of the United States. He was a little man with a big heart; he became a master tactician and ably spread his determination to his men. This full biography enables the reader to evaluate Grant as a military commander without unnecessary diversions into his private and business lives.