Ulysses S. Grant

     Originally born as Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, Ulysses S. Grant went on to become a successful military commander in the Civil War, fighting for the Union against the Confederates, as well as the 18th president of the United States. After a devastating loss at the hands of General Lee in May of 1863, Grant led Union forces to victory in keeping Vicksburg, Mississippi under siege after almost a year of fruitless attempts. One of the Independence Day victories was a result of Grant victoriously defeating Vicksburg, July 4th. (The other was that Le and his troops retreated to the Potomac.) Earlier, Grant was able to reach Vicksburg by clearing a path through Port Gibson, Jackson, and Champion's Hill. These many victories all resulted in a promotion for Grant to General in Chief of all the Union armies. Grant then faced Lee in a series of bloody battles in May an early June that almost seemed to follow a constant recurring pattern ("Lee would take up an entrenched position in the path of the invading force, and Grant would attack it, sustaining heavy losses, but also inflicting casualties the shrinking Confederate army could ill afford"). But after suffering heavy losses in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor (about 60,000 men almost 12,000 in Cold Harbor alone), Grant altered his battle tactics and moved his army south of Richmond and settled down for a siege there. Then on April 2, 1865, Grant forced Confederates to abandon Richmond and Petersburg, chased them down for hundreds of miles and cut off their path of retreat south resulting in the surrender of Lee on April 9th. Grant also partook in a joint military-naval operation in 1862 during which he captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland.

     An interesting video on how Ulysses S. Grant found his true calling as a general in the Civil War:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCZLae7kuTI