How Did Ulysses S. Grant Affect The Civil War

Improved Essays
Ulysses S. Grant a man who led the Union victory in the Civil War. A man who was willing to fight was unconventional for the Union but that’s what ended up winning the war for the Union. Grant’s impact on the U.S. didn’t just effect the U.S. during the war but even after he made an impact when he became president afterwards during the reconstruction of the Civil War. Grant was a leader during and after the war. Even though he was and unconventional and was controversial for the time period he was a game changer for the Civil war and afterwards during the reconstruction. Born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant Ohio to Jesse and Hannah Grant (Waugh). A family who had strong Christian values and was against slavery. Grant’s family was not a very rich family his father a tanner so therefore education was harder to come by. College was not really an option except for West Point. Grant’s father enrolled him without his permission. Grant did not want to go there but thinking it was his only option he went ahead to get an education. During this time he learned all of his military skills. After Grant graduated from West Point he was assigned to the Fourth Infantry at the Jefferson Barracks south of St. Louis, Missouri. It’s here when he met his wife Julia Dent the sister of his West Point roommate. Unfortunately their Union wouldn’t be until several years later because of the Mexican War. Despite the fact he did not support the war he went and still fought. Grant was even citied twice for his bravery in the Mexican War. During Grant’s time in the Mexican War he was the quartermaster for the Fourth Infantry, also was in charge of providing supplies and transportation as his regiment moved through the Mexican countryside. During this time period gave Grant experience in the logistics of war. After the Mexican War ended Grant went back to Missouri and married Julia. Shortly after his marriage to Julia he was transferred to Detroit and New York he was able to take …show more content…
Even though it was a draw he showed that the Union was willing to fight. February of 1862 he was able to capture two major forts of the Confederate in Tennessee Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. These were the first major victories for the Union and he was promoted to a major general. Grant was in high spirits until the battle of Shiloh. That Battle of Shiloh happened on April 6, 1862, Confederate soldiers under the leadership of General Albert Sidney Johnston. The Confederates pour out from the tree line and surprising the Union forces. The Confederates surround the Union troops, capture, kill, or wounded most. This was a 2 day battle, on the first day of the battle Gen. Johnston was wounded and was replaced by P.G.T. Beauregard. Grant stood his ground until Grant was eventually to overpower the Confederate forces. The battle of Shiloh was 2 days and produced 23,000 casualties and was the bloodiest battle in the Civil war and on American soil. This was a battle won by the Union but many Union Soldiers lost their lives on the battlefield and Grant blamed himself so did others. Even after the loss of so many Union, Lincoln stood by his

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Shiloh National Military Park was established on the 27th of December in 1894 to commemorate the battle that occurred around the Shiloh Church dating from April 6th to April 7th of 1862 consisting of more than a total of 23,000 casualties making it the largest battle in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War. In early 1862, US forces won victories in regions of Kentucky and Tennessee which paved a path for invasion to disassemble Confederate rail communications along important railroads, Memphis & Charleston and Mobile & Ohio. With this conflict, the Confederate commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston, arrived to protect the rail communications by scattering his forces around the town of Corinth. The opposing side, the Federal,…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Battle of Fort Donelson lasted from February 11-16, 1862 and was a major victory for the Union by Ulysses S. Grant. The battle was commanded by Union Commander Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Commander Simon B. Buckner, there were an estimated 40,702 forces engaged in the battle with 24,531 being on the Union side and 16,717 soldiers on the Confederate side. Grant wanted to capture Fort Donelson after the capture of Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. Grant was hoping to quickly capture Fort Donelson, but the winter weather, difficulty in moving ironclad ships, and the late arriving soldiers would have to set back Grant’s plans although he thought that the fort could not withstand the power of the Union gunboats. Confederate general Albert…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    General Grant pressed and strategized his commanders to tirelessly burn out the confederates of their resources to destroy their army. Grant had also strategized the many pin points to defend and keep the remaining confederate-held territories. With these the confederacy was falling with two other advances being made by none other than commander hood. That launched these two attacks, one of them being Peach Tree Creek. Both of those advances were met with defeat, being that the union held a stronghold of the confederates.…

    • 1390 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ulysses S. Grant: Grant was both a general and a commander of the Union forces in the later years of the Civil War. He is known for being a great general who guided the Union troops to their triumph over the Confederate armies. He was victorious when he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in Tennessee and when he crushed a large Confederate army in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Grant’s contribution to ending the Civil War, however, was when he led his forces to lay siege to Lee’s Northern Virginia army in Petersburg, Virginia, which forced the Confederate surrender there. Later, Grant became the eighteenth president of the United States.…

    • 2230 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why? Grant was very unsuccessful in the start of his military career. After the Civil War broke, he became a very influential person that helped the Union win the war. Afterwards, he was elected President of the United States.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grant, and his role for the rest of the war. Because of his genius battle tactics throughout the battle, along with his great leadership and heroism, Grant was made the Commanding General of the entire U.S. army, a position that he would serve well in. From this position Grant would go on to claim many more victories for the Union. The biggest of these victories would happen at the Appomattox Court House, on May 9th, 1865, when General Grant was successful in making General Robert E. Lee surrender, which ultimately led to the end of the Civil…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a lot of ways this battle could have turned out but it is set in the history books. The Confederate had won the Second Battle of Bull Run. “This confederate victory helped pave the way for Robert E. Lee to invade in the north towards Maryland.” Then on the Union side “McClellan was relieved of his duties and given charge of the Potomac army, and Pope was relieved of command on September 5 and spent the remainder of the war in the west, first quelling the Sioux Uprising and then as commander of the Division of the…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. He impacted the world greatly, in more than one way. He composed many great speeches such as, the Gettysburg address, and the “House Divided Speech”. Also he is accredited with a big part of freeing the slaves. He was also the first Republican President.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ulysses S. Grant Corrupt

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ulysses S. Grant was a great general, and a great president for many reasons. One may look at the first major win for the Union as a great pivot point for them, and guess who was leading them, General Grant. While in his presidency, he established the national park service, which includes a list of nearly 79000 parks, national monuments, historic battlegrounds, and memorials. He also pushed through the ratification of the 15th amendment, the right of voting for blacks, and all other races in the U.S. Although Grant was a perfectly honest president, most of his associates were corrupt which tarnished his presidency by various scandals.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fort Sumter Essay

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Jefferson Davis decision to take the fort showed his strength and devotion to the Confederate States, and efficiently coerced other states to join his cause. However, President Lincoln displayed his brilliant tactics by holding his ground in regards to the Constitution and by entrapping the Confederate soldiers to be the aggressors or to be seen as weak. Without a doubt, both the Union and the Confederates were led by ingenious…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He learned through this that he was going to have to take a more active role in the war than he had anticipated. President Lincoln took on a new role in 1862 of learning how to really fight a war. He started studying war and strategy. He began to seek guidance from his advisers. “He requested information as to the location of forces, their state of readiness, and the levels of arms and ammunition they held……

    • 1766 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Shortly after his reelection the Confederates surrendered to Union general Ulysses S. grant and the war was over. Lincoln immediately started to try and reconstruct the country quickly, barely punishing the Confederates if any at all. He was soon faced by a radical Republican group who wanted to completely reunify the South and North again but severely punish the former Confederates for the losses. Lincoln did not have much time to fight for his cause because on April 14th, 1865 he was assassinated by a well known actor, John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln survived the initial shot to the head and went into a coma for nine hours in the house next to the theater before eventually dying the next morning.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These loses quickly turned public opinion against Lincoln, whose lack of experience was finally coming to fruition in the form of embarrassing defeats. This forced Lincoln into early action, replacing McClellan with one Ulysses S. Grant. Though Lincoln came into the war with little knowledge of tactics, he quickly surpassed all of his generals in strategy except for Ulysses S. Grant, whom he felt could lead the Union to victory. Defeats at Bull Run and Chancellorsville quickly led to Lincoln questioning his generals. Before Grant was given the title of general-in-chief, McClellan had two successors by the names of Ambrose E. Burnside and Joseph Hooker.…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    One of the most influential persons in American history is the one that kept America one nation: Abraham Lincoln. Truly, it is inspiring that one man born in a one-room cabin on the Kentucky frontier would someday be considered the greatest leader of the greatest nation in the world. Many today believe only members of the elite class can change the world, but the life of Lincoln begs to differ. A self-educated man, Lincoln received very little help in his career in politics.…

    • 2046 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays