Originally named Hiram Ulysses Grant, Ulysses Simpson Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Pt. Pleasant. He spent his childhood in Georgetown, OH, before going on to West Point, graduating in 1843. His initial combat experience was during the Mexican/American War of 1846-48.
Grant was forced to resign his commission in 1854 due to excessive drinking but when the Civil War broke out in 1861, he was recommissioned as a Colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. He led decisive victories at Vicksburg, MS, and the Wilderness Campaign eventually forcing the Confederate General Robert E. Lee to surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
After serving briefly as Secretary of War in 1867, Grant ran a successful campaign as the Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States in 1868.
After his two terms in office and dying of throat cancer, Grant penned his "Personal Memoirs", today considered one of the great manuscripts of American military literature.
