Ulysses S. Grant and the American Civil War

Ulysses S. Grant
General Grant in 1864
Commanding General of the United States Army
In office March 9, 1864 – March 4, 1869
Personal details
Born	Hiram Ulysses Grant (1822-04-27)April 27, 1822 Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S.
Died	July 23, 1885(1885-07-23) (aged 63) Wilton, New York, U.S.
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army (Union Army)
Years of service	1861–1869
Rank	General of the Army
Commands	United States Army Company F, 4th Infantry 21st Illinois Infantry Regiment District of Southeast Missouri District of Cairo Army of the Tennessee Division of the Mississippi
Battles/wars	See list American Civil War Battle of Belmont Battle of Fort Henry Battle of Fort Donelson Battle of Shiloh Vicksburg campaign Battle of Champion Hill Chattanooga campaign Overland Campaign Petersburg campaign Appomattox campaign

This article is part of a series about Ulysses S. Grant
Personal Early life and career birthplace Post-presidency World tour Personal Memoirs Reputation Memorials Tomb Memorial Depictions Bibliography American Civil War Civil War service Campaigns Vicksburg Chattanooga Overland Petersburg Appomattox General Order No. 11 Commanding generalship 18th President of the United States Presidency Inaugurations first second Reconstruction Fifteenth Amendment Scandals Reforms Grantism Peace Policy Federal judge appointments Presidential campaigns 1868 election convention 1872 election convention 1880 convention
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On the onset of the American Civil War in April 1861, Ulysses S. Grant was working as a clerk in his father's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois. When the war began, his military experience was needed, and congressman Elihu B. Washburne became his patron in political affairs and promotions in Illinois and nationwide.

Grant trained Union military recruits and was promoted to colonel in June 1861. Major general John C. Frémont, who viewed in Grant an "iron will" to win, appointed Grant to commander of the District of Cairo. Grant became famous around the nation after capturing Fort Donelson in February 1862 and was promoted to major general by president Abraham Lincoln. After a series of decisive yet costly battles and victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general by Lincoln in 1864 and given charge of all the Union armies. Grant went on to defeat Robert E. Lee after another series of costly battles in the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. After the Civil War, Grant was given his final promotion of general of the Armed Forces in 1866 and served until 1869. His popularity as a Union war general enabled him to be elected president in 1868.

Grant was the most acclaimed Union general during the Civil War.^[1] Some historians have viewed him as a "butcher" commander who in 1864 used attrition without regard to the lives of his own soldiers in order to kill off the enemy which could no longer replenish its losses.^[2] Throughout the Civil War, Grant's armies incurred approximately 154,000 casualties, while having inflicted 191,000 casualties on his opposing Confederate armies.^[3] In terms of success, Grant was the only general during the Civil War who received the surrender of three Confederate armies.^[2] Although Grant maintained high casualties during the Overland Campaign in 1864, his aggressive fighting strategy was in compliance with the U.S. government's strategic war aims^[2] and was in any case abetted by profligate Confederate generals who were willing to match his losses. Grant has recently been praised by historians for his "military genius" and viewed as a decisive general who emphasized movement and logistics.^[4] Grant is considered a modern, natural, and skillful general, leading from a central command center, using common sense, and delivering coordinated attacks on the enemy's armies.^[5]