Major General Ulysses S. Grant

Left image: Major General Ulysses S. Grant at his headquarters in Cold Harbor, Virginia.
Right image: President Ulysses S. Grant

Library of Congress

 

Born in Ohio in 1822, and baptized Hiram Ulysses, Grant was reported to been nominated to the military academy at West Point in 1839 as "Ulysses Simpson Grant" (Simpson being the maiden name of Grant's mother) by the Congressman who authored his appointment. The name was to follow him for this rest of his life.

Grant was noted for his distinguished service during the Mexican War in the armies of Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Following this war he successfully (and sometimes unsuccessfully) worked as a farmer, real estate salesman, county engineer candidate, customhouse clerk, and finally, clerk in a leather store business conducted by his two brothers in Galena, Illinois.

However, with the advent of the Civil War, Grant achieved rapid advancement from relative obscurity, and within three years commanded the armies of the United States. Achieving victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862 won him the acclaim of the nation and the moniker of "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. Following the Battle of Shiloh, he focused his attentions on taking the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and with the combined forces of the Army of the Tennessee and Admiral David Dixon Porter's Mississippi River "Brown Water" Navy, the success of the Campaign and Siege of Vicksburg essentially split the Confederacy in two, and gave the Union control of the Mississippi River.

Rewarded for his success in the western theater with the appointment to Major General in the Regular Army, Grant continued to move his forces east through Chattanooga, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, until stopped at Petersburg, Virginia, with his failure to take the city by assault. Forced to lay siege to Petersburg in June 1864 (much as he had done in Vicksburg), Grant finally forced the capitulation of city in April 1865, and advanced on the Confederate capitol at Richmond, Virginia. On April 9, 1865, Grant succeeded in bringing General Robert E. Lee to bay at Appomattox Court House, leading to the surrender of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

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Major General Ulysses S. Grant

NPS/ B. Secor

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Major General Ulysses S. Grant Statue

About the Sculpture

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Type of Sculpture: Statue
Cost: $34,000
Location: Grant Circle
Sculptor: F.C. Hibbard
Date Erected: 1918

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Major General Ulysses S. Grant

NPS

The 15-foot-high bronze statue of Grant was sculpted by Frederick C. Hibbard and cast by the Florentine Brotherhood Foundry, Chicago, Illinois.

It depicts Grant mounted in military uniform, wearing a slouch hat and a buttoned major general's frock coat, with 18 buttons placed in three sets of two buttons for brigadier generals and three sets of three buttons for major generals. Grant also wears knee-flap boots and gloves and has a sword at his left side. Grant holds the horse's reins in his left hand, and across the horse's withers is a brace of pistols in a double-pommel holster. The heart-shaped breastplate on the horse's harness has a U.S. eagle on it.

 

Major General Ulysses S. Grant Statue Inscriptions

NPS Photos

 

Alternative text for Inscriptions

Left inscription image reads:  
ULYSSES S. GRANT
BRIG. GEN. U.S. VOLS. MAY 17, 1861 
MAJ. GENERAL OF VOLS. FEB. 16 1862 
MAJ. GEN U.S. ARMY JULY 4 1863 
LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARCH 2 1864 
GENERAL JULY TWENTY-FIFTH 1866 
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMY 
MARCH 12 1864-MARCH 1 1869 

Right inscription image reads: 
ULYSSES S. GRANT 
CADET. U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY 1839 
BVT. 2ND LT. 4TH INF. JULY 1 1843 
2ND LT. 7TH INF. NOV 13 1845 
TRANS. TO 4TH INF. NOV 15 1845 
FIRST LIEUTENANT SEPT. 16 1847 
CAPTAIN. AUGUST FIFTH 1853 
COL. 21ST ILL. INF. JUNE 28 1861