Biographical Notes
Ulysses S. Grant
Following the defeat of Santa Anna at Mexico City the political scene in Mexico was a shambles and it was not until the end of the year that a provisional government was formed. Negotiations to formally end the war commenced at Guadalupe-Hidalgo in December 1847 and were concluded early the following year. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed by Nicolas Trist for the United States on February 2, 1848. It was approved by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 1848, and by the Mexican National Congress on May 30, 1848. Grant remained in Mexico as part of the Army of Occupation until after the treaty was ratified. While in Mexico he traveled widely and developed a fond spot in his heart for the Mexican people. Also during this period he was promoted to permanent rank of first lieutenant in recognition of his "gallant and meritorious conduct" in the Battle of Molino Rey. Simultaneously he was promoted to the rank of brevet captain for his role in the Battle of San Cosme Garita. The 4th Infantry Regiment was among the last units to leave Mexico and it was not until July 16, 1848, that they embarked at Veracruz for the voyage home. Grant landed at Pascagoula, Mississippi, a week later and immediately asked for leave to visit Julia in St. Louis.
Julia and Ulysses were married on August 22, 1848, in St. Louis. Julia's cousin and Ulysess' friend, Major James Longstreet, was best man. Following their honeymoon, Grant was assigned to troop duty in Sackets Harbor on the east shore of Lake Ontario. With the end of the war, Grant reverted to his permanent rank of first lieutenant, but he was still the regimental quartermaster and lobbied to be assigned to Regimental headquarters in Detroit. On March 2, 1849, Grant was reassigned to Detroit. In the spring of 1850 the Grants' first child was born and named Frederick Dent Grant in honor of Julia's father. In the spring of 1851 regimental headquarters was moved to Sackets Harbor and the Grants returned to Lake Ontario. He remained regimental quartermaster and, on General Scott's order, had his brevet rank of captain restored. The following year, the 4th Infantry was deployed to the West Coast and, as quartermaster, Grant supervised the move. Julia was pregnant and could not accompany him. The regiment and it's dependents were crowded onto the steamship Ohio for the voyage from New York to Panama. All passenger space on the Ohio was already booked and so the regiment was billeted on the open deck. Eleven hundred persons on a ship designed to carry 330. It was a difficult trip, but things got worse when the regiment reached Panama and encountered a cholera epidemic. Only 450 survivors, Grant among them, made it all the way to San Francisco on August 17, 1852, aboard the steamship Golden Gate.
The 4th Infantry Regiment remained in the San Francisco area for four weeks. The Gold Rush was in full swing and Grant was taken with the possibility of making a large amount of money in a short period of time. In mid-September 1852, Grant and his regiment were moved to Fort Vancouver. The unit's mission was the protection of settlers in northern California and the newly acquired Oregon Territory. As quartermaster, Grant remained at Fort Vancouver while the rest of the regiment was split into small units and deployed over it's wide area of responsibility. While at Fort Vancouver, Grant invested his time and limited financial resources in a number of economic enterprises - all of which failed. He grew despondent and began drinking heavily. In September 1853, he was promoted to the permanent rank of captain in the regular army, but was increasingly focused on the inadequacy of his long term financial position. His new rank made him eligible to command a company and he was transferred to Fort Humboldt in northern California with orders to take command of Company F. Arriving on January 5, 1854, Grant found his duties at Fort Humboldt boring and tedious. He missed his family and continued to be despondent. His drinking continued and an unconfirmed, but believable account, has it that his commanding officer found him to be inebriated during pay call. He was offered the opportunity to resign or face a court martial. Against the advice of his friends he chose to resign. His official reason was that he could not support his family on his army pay.
Following his resignation from the army, Grant traveled first to New York City arriving on June 25, 1854, and then spent the next six years struggling to make ends meet financially. Julia owned a farm near St. Louis and they set up housekeeping there. Grant tried hard to make the farm successful but failed. By the end of 1857 he was down to pawning his gold watch to provide Christmas for his family. From time to time old friends from the army helped him out with small gifts, but by-in-large, times were very hard. When he had no cash for food he sold firewood on the street. In 1858 Grant sold the farm and Colonel Dent helped him obtain a job with a real estate firm in St. Louis. By the summer of 1859 Grant had failed to make a go of real estate, but that winter he did manage to secure a decent job at the Customs House in St. Louis. One month later there was a turnover in staff and he lost the position. He subsequently swallowed his pride and asked his father for a job in the family tannery, then located in Galena, Illinois. Jesse gave him a clerkship and he moved to Illinois in May, 1860. In November, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union. On April 11, 1861, Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Commander of Confederate Forces in Charleston, demanded the surrender of Fort Sumpter. On April 12, following the refusal of Major Robert Anderson, Fort Sumpter's commander, Beauregard opened fire.
President Lincoln called for volunteers to help put down the rebellion and Grant was offered the position of captain of the Galena volunteer company. He declined, but did assist in the formation of the company and accompanied it to Springfield where he helped organize the state volunteers. While in Springfield he felt that his previous military experience warranted giving him command of a regiment. With the support of Republican Congressman Elihu Washburne, a personal friend of President Lincoln, Grant was appointed colonel of volunteers and given command of the 21st Illinois Infantry Regiment by Illinois Governor Richard Yates on June 14, 1861. At the end of June the unit was mustered into federal service and ordered to reinforce the Union position in Missouri. Although Grant had demonstrated great personal bravery on the battlefield in Mexico he had never commanded any unit larger than a company, and that only very briefly. While in Missouri he acquired a handbook of infantry tactics and, leaning on it heavily, began training his regiment. In the process he found that he had an innate ability to direct troops in the field. While in Missouri he was promoted to brevet Brigadier General, one of a list of 34 such appointments made on orders from President Lincoln in an effort to provide the officers necessary to staff the expanded volunteer army that was being created. Here again Grant appears to have benefited from the patronage of Washburne. His date of rank was backdated to May 17, 1861.
About the same time that Grant received his promotion, President Lincoln gave Major General John C, Fremont command of Union forces in the Western Theater of Operations. On August 30, 1861, Fremont gave Grant command of the Union Army on the Mississippi River. In November Fremont was relieved of command and replaced first, briefly by Major General David Hunter, and then by Major General Henry W. Halleck. While commanders were being shuffled, Grant moved on the Confederate positon at Belmont on the Mississippi River just south of his headqaurters at Cairo, Illinois. In so doing he was acting against a specific order from Fremont, but Fremont had already been dismissed from command and General Halleck was not yet in control of the situation. Grant apparently felt that if successful his disobedience would be overlooked. It was a bloody battle on both sides. Grant succeeded in overrunning the Confederate position, but was ultimatley forced to retreat when the Confederates were reinforced with superior numbers. Washburne investigated the battle after the fact and returned to Washington to report favorably to President Lincoln. The Northern press declared Belmont to have been a Union victory. In the Confederacy initial elation turned sour when it was learned that the Confederate force had a two to one advantage at Belmont and still suffered heavy losses in dead and wounded. Grant was not reprimanded for attacking without orders, but General Halleck was not convinced that his subordinate's abilities matched his responsibilities.
