Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the Union’s leading general in the American Civil War and the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877.
Abraham Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and led the Union during the Civil War. Lincoln promoted Grant to command all Union armies in 1864 and backed his strategy.
Siege of Vicksburg: The 1863 Union campaign that captured Vicksburg, Mississippi, and secured control of the Mississippi River. Grant’s siege and victory split the Confederacy and established his reputation as a major commander.
Reconstruction: The period after the Civil War when the United States rebuilt the South and contested the status and rights of formerly enslaved people. Grant used federal authority to support Reconstruction and protect the postwar political order.
Whiskey Ring: A network of distillers and officials that evaded federal liquor taxes in the 1870s. The scandal damaged Grant’s administration, although he defended his private secretary during the investigation.
Point Pleasant, Ohio: A village in Clermont County, Ohio, where Ulysses S. Grant was born in 1822. Grant’s birthplace anchors his early life before his military education and career.
William Tecumseh Sherman: William Tecumseh Sherman was a Union general known for campaigns through Georgia and the Carolinas. Sherman served under Grant and carried out the coordinated strategy that pressured Confederate forces.
Overland Campaign: The 1864 series of battles in Virginia between Union forces under Grant and Confederate forces under Lee. Grant kept advancing after costly battles, preventing Lee from regaining the initiative.
Enforcement Acts: Three federal laws enacted in 1870 and 1871 to protect Black voting rights and suppress Ku Klux Klan violence. Grant enforced these laws against organized terror in the South.
Credit Mobilier scandal: A 19th-century bribery scandal involving a construction company, railroad financing, and members of Congress. The scandal contributed to the broader climate of corruption associated with Grant’s political era.
United States Military Academy: The federal military college at West Point, New York, that trains officers for the United States Army. Grant graduated from West Point in 1843 and entered the Army as an officer.