Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States and military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction. Under Grant, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and effectively ended the war with the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. Grant, born in Ohio of English and Scottish ancestry, shunned his father's trade, but had exhibited equestrian ability as a youth. With his father's guidance, he began a lifelong military career after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1843. He fought in the... Mexican–American War, resigned from the Army in 1854, and then struggled in business, while nurturing his growing family in St. Louis and Galena, Illinois. When the American Civil War began in 1861, Grant trained Union volunteer regiments as a colonel, and engaged the Confederates near Cairo, Illinois. In 1862, he fought a series of battles and was promoted to major general.
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| Birthdate: | April 27, 1822 |
| Birthplace: | Point Pleasant, Ohio |
| Date of death: | July 23, 1885 |
| Height: | 5' 8" |
| Education: | United States Military Academy |
| Religion: | Methodism |
| Also known as: | Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Hiram Ulysses Grant, S. Ulysses Grant |