Ulysses S. Grant: Civil War Hero (1869 - 1877)

Summary

Ulysses S. Grant was a Union general whose Civil War leadership helped defeat the Confederacy, and a two-term president whose record has been reassessed over time. Though his administration faced serious corruption scandals and economic hardship, Grant also took forceful action to protect African-American civil and voting rights during Reconstruction.

Early life and military career

• Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, he adopted the name “Ulysses S. Grant” after a congressional patron mistakenly entered it on his West Point application. Fellow cadets called him “Sam,” connecting his initials, “US,” with Uncle Sam.
• After graduating from West Point in 1843, he served in the Mexican–American War and left the army in 1854. He struggled financially as a civilian and returned to military service when the Civil War began.
• Grant’s 1862 assault on Fort Donelson earned him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant and helped win him a promotion.
• He secured Union control of Kentucky and much of Tennessee, then won the costly Battle of Shiloh.
• In 1863, his capture of Vicksburg gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy. Together with the Union victory at Gettysburg, it marked a turning point in the war.
• Appointed Commanding General in 1864, Grant fought Robert E. Lee in a series of battles that trapped Lee’s army near Richmond. Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865, effectively ending the war.
• Some critics argue that Grant prevailed through overwhelming force rather than superior tactics, while his strategies remain subjects of military study.

Presidency and Reconstruction

• Elected president in 1868 and reelected in 1872, Grant helped stabilize the country during Reconstruction and often clashed with President Andrew Johnson over its implementation.
• His administration sought to dismantle Confederate nationalism, protect African-American citizenship, and support industrial expansion.
• Grant used the army and the newly formed Department of Justice to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan and enforce civil and voting rights.
• He built a Republican coalition in the South that included Black voters, Northern newcomers known as carpetbaggers, and white Southern supporters called scalawags. African-Americans won election to public office during this period.
• These coalitions later fractured, and conservative white Redeemers regained power in the South through coercion and violence.
• Grant’s Indian peace policy initially reduced frontier violence, but the Great Sioux War broke out in 1876, including the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Challenges, legacy, and final years

• Grant was criticized as a poor administrator who often appointed former Army associates rather than experienced officials. Corruption scandals became especially prominent in his second term.
• His administration struggled to respond effectively to the Panic of 1873 and the ensuing five-year depression.
• Despite the scandals, Grant appointed the first Civil Service Commission and signed legislation intended to end the corrupt patronage system.
• After leaving office in 1877, he toured the world for two years, helping raise the American presence abroad. He failed to secure the Republican nomination for a third term in 1880.
• Facing financial reversals and throat cancer, he wrote his memoirs, finishing them five days before his death in 1885. The memoirs became both a major literary work and a financial success.
• Earlier assessments often ranked Grant’s presidency poorly because of corruption. More recent evaluations give greater weight to his civil-rights record and vigorous enforcement of Reconstruction. His leading achievement remains his service to the Union during the Civil War.

Speakers and sources

• Professor Dave — narrator and sole speaker in the subtitles.