Battles & Wars › Industrial wars › American Civil War
Ulysses S. Grant
1822–1885· Person· Americas
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
The Union general who won the Civil War's western campaigns and then defeated Lee, later the 18th US president.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
A West Point graduate who had left the army and struggled in business, Grant rejoined in 1861. He took Forts Henry and Donelson, survived a near-disaster at Shiloh, and captured Vicksburg in July 1863, splitting the Confederacy along the Mississippi. Made general-in-chief in 1864, he coordinated all Union armies, fought Lee relentlessly in Virginia, and accepted his surrender at Appomattox on generous terms. As president (1869–1877) he backed Reconstruction and prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan.
Why it matters
He grasped that the war would be won by pressing on all fronts at once and destroying Confederate armies, not by capturing cities.
Legacy and how we know
His Personal Memoirs (1885), finished while dying of throat cancer and praised as a classic, plus wartime orders and letters; recent biographies have revised his presidency upward.
Still debated
Long caricatured as a 'butcher' and a corrupt president, he is now rated much higher; how to weigh his heavy 1864 casualties remains debated.
Connections (4)
▸Ulysses S. Grant led the Union to victory in American Civil WarWell documented
The connection
Grant won the Union's first major victories at Forts Henry and Donelson (1862), took Vicksburg (1863) to split the Confederacy, and relieved Chattanooga. As general-in-chief from March 1864, he ordered simultaneous offensives on every front, pinned Lee in Virginia, and backed Sherman and Sheridan. Lee's surrender to him at Appomattox effectively ended the war.
When and how
Western theater, 1862–1863 (Tennessee and Mississippi); Virginia, 1864–1865; Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general, the army's top rank, in March 1864.
How we know
The Official Records, Lincoln's correspondence, and Grant's Memoirs; Lincoln reportedly defended him after Shiloh: 'I can't spare this man; he fights.'
Debates and open questions
Historians weigh Grant's generalship against Union material advantages, and debate the cost of his 1864 Overland Campaign: about 55,000 Union casualties in six weeks.
▸Ulysses S. Grant approved Sherman's March to the SeaWell documented
The connection
Grant put Sherman in charge in the West in 1864 with orders to break up the Confederate army facing him and damage its war resources. After Atlanta fell, Sherman proposed cutting loose from his supply line and marching to the sea. Grant and Lincoln had doubts, but Grant approved on November 2, 1864, while leaving forces to guard Tennessee.
When and how
Telegrams between Grant at City Point, Virginia, and Sherman in Georgia, October–November 1864; General George Thomas was left to defend Tennessee against John Bell Hood.
How we know
The telegrams survive in the Official Records, including Grant's November 2 reply: 'I say, then, go on as you propose.'
Debates and open questions
Who deserves credit for the idea is debated; Grant's and Sherman's memoirs differ on how much Grant shaped the plan.
▸Ulysses S. Grant accepted the 1865 surrender of Robert E. LeeWell documented
The connection
After Petersburg fell, Lee's starving army fled west and was cut off near Appomattox Court House. On April 9, 1865, Lee met Grant in Wilmer McLean's house. Grant offered generous terms: Confederate soldiers were paroled and sent home, officers kept their sidearms, and men who claimed horses or mules could keep them for spring planting.
When and how
McLean house, Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 9, 1865; the formal laying down of arms followed on April 12, overseen by Union general Joshua Chamberlain.
How we know
The signed surrender letters survive, along with Grant's Memoirs and eyewitness accounts by staff officers on both sides.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate how much the generous terms eased reconciliation, and whether they let the white South avoid reckoning with slavery and defeat.
▸Ulysses S. Grant as president backed the campaign that led to Battle of the Little BighornMostly agreed
The connection
Grant's 'Peace Policy' aimed to settle Native nations on reservations. After Custer's 1874 expedition found gold in the Black Hills, Lakota leaders refused to sell. In November 1875 Grant and his generals quietly stopped keeping miners out; in December free-roaming bands were ordered onto reservations by January 31, 1876. The Army's campaign that spring led to Little Bighorn.
When and how
White House meeting, November 3, 1875, with Generals Sheridan and Crook; 1876 campaign under Terry and Crook. That spring Grant briefly removed Custer, who had testified about corruption in Grant's administration.
How sure are we?
General Sheridan's confidential letter of November 9, 1875, to General Terry records the decision; Interior Department orders and Army files show the deadline and the campaign.
Debates and open questions
How much Grant personally drove the war, versus Sheridan and the Interior Department, is debated, as is how sincere the Peace Policy was.