History of Point Pleasant, (Clermont County) Ohio United States of America

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Ulysses Simpson Grant, eighteenth President of the United States, was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822; the eldest son of Jesse Root and Hannah (Simpson) Grant; grandson of Capt. Noah and Rachel (Kelly) Grant, and of John Simpson of Montgomery county, Pa.; great-grandson of Noah and Susannah (Delano) Gaunt, and of John Simpson, an early settler in Pennsylvania; great, great-grandson of Noah and Martha (Huntington) Grant; great, great, great-grandson of Samuel and Grace (Miner) Grant; great, great, great, great-grandson of Samuel and Mary (Porter) Grant; and great, great, great, great, great-grandson of Matthew and Priscilla Grant who left Plymouth, England on the ship Mary and John, landed at Nantasker, Mass., and purchased land of the Indians at East Windsor Hill, Conn., where the settlement and the farm remained the property of the Grant family and in 1900 was occupied by Roswell Grant. In the homestead built in 1697 the descendants of Matthew Grant have lived in peace except for two years during the Revolutionary war, when it was used as a prison for captured British officers. His father was a tanner and also was the owner of a small farm at Point Pleasant, and Ulysses, preferring farm work and driving horses to work in the tannery, was indulged in his preference, and besides conducting the farm and grinding bark at the tannery, he cared for the horses, did the teaming and carried passengers between the neighboring towns. He attended the subscription school of the village and was sent for the term, 1836-37, to the academy at Maysville, Ky. His father was ambitious to give his eldest son a better education than the neighborhood afforded and as the boy had saved over $100 of his earnings with which to pay his entrance fees to some school, he consulted with Ulysses as to his preference and the boy selected the U.S. military academy at West Point. His father wrote to Senator Samuel Morris at Washington, applying for an appointment and was referred to Representative Thomas L. Hamer of Georgetown. In writing to Mr. Hamer, who was an acquaintance of the family, Mr. Grant referred to his son as H. Ulysses, the boy baring at his birth received the name of Hiram Ulysses. Just before leaving for West Point young Grant changed the initials on his trunk from H. U. G. to U. H. G., and entered his name at the hotel "Ulysses H. Grant." When Representative Hamer filled the official appointment, knowing his familiar name and also the maiden name of his mother (Simpson), he wrote the name Ulysses S. Grant. When the young cadet reached West Point he notified the officials of the error, but they were not willing to correct it and he adopted the official name. At the academy he had among his classmates Sherman, Thomas, McClellan, Burnside, Hancock, Rosecrans, Pope, Franklin, Longstreet, Ingalls and several others who afterward became prominent in the civil war. He was a good mathematician and a superior horseman, but only an average student, and was graduated twenty-first in the class of thirty-nine in 1843. He was brevetted 2d lieutenant and attached to the 4th infantry stationed at Jefferson barracks, Mo. The next year he accompanied the regiment to Camp Salubrity, La., and in September, 1845, received his commission as 2d lieutenant and with his regiment was ordered to Corpus Christi to become part of the army of occupation recruiting for General Taylor's invasion of Mexico. His first battle was Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, and at Resaca de la Palma the next day he was in command of the company. As regimental quartermaster of the 4th infantry he was given charge of the pack-train and army wagons on the march of the army to Monterey. In the reduction of Black Fort on September 21, he joined his regiment and being the only officer mounted, led the charge, taking full command on the death of the adjutant. When General Taylor called for a volunteer to order up the delayed ammunition train, then far in the rear, cut off from the commanding general and his forces by the Mexicans, Lieutenant Grant performed the hazardous mission with success. With his regiment he was transferred to the army under General Scott and reached Vera Cruz March 9, 1847. He took part in the siege that terminated in the capture of the city, March 29, 1847. In the march to the Mexican capital he fought in the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17 and 18; the capture of San Antonio and the battle of Churubusco, August 20, and the battle of Molino del Rey, Sept. 8, 1847. For action in the last named battle he was brevetted 1st lieutenant and for action in the battle of Chapultepec he was brevetted captain. He was personally commended by General Worth for his bravery as exhibited in the march, and on reaching the Mexican capital he was promoted 1st lieutenant. He had as companion officers in Mexico, Davis, Lee, Johnston, Holmes, Pemberton, Buckner, Longstreet, [p.365]Herbert and other noted Confederate leaders. He remained in Mexico till the summer of 1848 when he accompanied his regiment to Pascagoula, Miss. He was married, Aug. 22, 1848, to Julia, daughter of Frederick T. Dent and a sister of Capt. Frederick T. Dent, a classmate at West Point. He was then stationed at Detroit, Mich., and Sacket Harbor, N.Y., and in July, 1852, he was ordered with the 4th U.S. infantry to San Francisco, Cal., and Fort Vancouver, Ore., by way of New York and the Isthmus of Darien. His position as quartermaster made his labors severe in crossing the isthmus, as the recruits were attacked by yellow fever. On Aug. 5, 1853, he was promoted captain at Fort Humboldt, Cal. Not finding army life in the far west congenial, he resigned his commission, July 31, 1854, and returned to New York, where he borrowed $50 of his classmate, S. B. Buckner, which sum enabled him to reach his father's home at Covington, Ky. He then went to St. Louis and settled on a farm near that city, which, together with three slaves, had been given to his wife as a wedding gift by her father. In May, 1860, failing to succeed either as farmer, a real estate agent, or a collector of taxes, he removed his family to Galena, Ill., where he was a clerk in his father's store, conducted by his two brothers and a brother-in-law. At the outbreak of the civil war he presided at a patriotic meeting held at Galena to raise a company for, service in the Federal army, and volunteered to drill the Jo Daviess guard, a company of volunteers then forming. On April 25, 1861, he took the company to Springfield, where Governor Yates secured his temporary services as mustering officer in the adjutant-general's office. He then wrote to the adjutant-general's office at Washington, D.C., offering his services to the government, but the war department never [p.366] answered his communication, and after visiting Cincinnati, Ohio, to see his classmate, George B. McClellan, and after offering his services to Governor Dennison at Columbus, Ohio, he returned to Springfield, Ill., and catered the volunteer service as colonel of the 21st Illinois infantry, June 17, 1861, which regiment he marched into Missouri. On July 31 Colonel Grant was made commander of a sub-district under Gen. John Pope commanding the military district of Northern Missouri. He was made brigadier-general of volunteers, Aug. 7, 1861, by President Lincoln, at the request of Representative Washburne, his commission dating from May 17. He was sent to Ironton, thence to St. Louis, from there to Jefferson City, and back to St. Louis, all within eighteen days, and was finally assigned to the command of the district of Southeastern Missouri with headquarters at Cairo, Ill. He occupied Paducah, Ky., Sept. 6, 1861, and on the 7th day of Nov. he attacked the Confederate forces at Belmont, Mo., and with 2500 men drove out the enemy and captured their camp after a sharp battle in which he had a horse shot under him. The Confederates were reinforced and renewed the fight, forcing Grant to fall back to his transports before a force of upwards of 7000 men. He brought off with him 175 prisoners and lost 485 men, the Confederate loss being 642. He then conceived the plan of capturing Forts Henry and Donelson in Kentucky by a co-operation of the army with the navy represented by iron-clad gunboats under Commodore Foote. The consent of Gen. H. W. Halleck, the department commander, was reluctantly given after repeated urging, and on Feb. 6, 1869, Fort Henry fell into the hands of the naval force under Admiral Foote. Fort Donelson with 15,000 men, increased on the 15th to 27,000, withstood a three days' assault and after a desperate effort on the part of the Confederate commanders to cut their way out of the fort, in which Generals Floyd and Pillow escaped in the night on a steamboat, and 3000 infantry and Forrest's cavalry escaped through the Union lines, Gen. S. B. Buckner unconditionally surrendered on Jan. 16, 1862, after some parley, conforming to the terms dictated by General Grant. The capture included 14,623 men, 65 cannon, and 17,600 small arms. The loss in killed and wounded was about 2000 on each side. On receiving his parole General Buckner received from Grant a sum of money which enabled him to reach his home with comfort, a thoughtful provision on the part of the conqueror to the conquered, and a return for the favor received by Captain Grant from Buckner in 1854. General Grant was made major-general of volunteers, his commission dating Feb. 16, 1862. He urged the prompt following up of his victory with an advance on Nashville, arid on February 28 set out for that place without awaiting orders, after having telegraphed to General Halleck that he should proceed if he were not directed to the contrary. He was ordered to remain at Fort Henry and at the same time was superseded in the command by General Smith. On March 13, 1862, he was restored to command, the Confederate troops having concentrated near Corinth, Miss., and he transferred his headquarters on the 17th to Savannah on the Tennessee river, where he found an army of 38,000 men encamped on both sides of the river. He immediately mobilized the force on the west bank of the river near Pittsburg Landing with the right resting on Shiloh church, making a line of battle nearly three miles in length. Here he was directed to await the arrival of General Buell's army, 40,000 strong, who were moving through Tennessee by forced marches. On April 6, 1862, the Confederate army under Gen. A. S. Johnston made an early morning attack on the right of Grant's line and drove it back, following up their success all along the line. About noon General Johnston was killed and General Beauregard took the command. With the aid of the gunboats in tire river Grant was enabled by falling back to the river to withstand the onslaught of Beauregard's 50,000 men until Buell came up in the evening, when the fortunes of war turned in favor of the Federal army and the Confederates fell back upon Corinth. There they entrenched and maintained their position till May 29, when Beauregard evacuated the place and retreated southward along the line of the Mobile & Ohio railroad. General Halleck took command of the Federal army in person on April 11 and Grant became second in command, in charge of the right wing and reserve. The army had been reinforced to 120,000 men, the division commanders being Thomas, Pope, Buell and McClernand, and the Confederates were 70,000 strong and entrenched. An advance on Corinth was begun, April 30, 1862, and on May 30 the place was found evacuated and Grant moved his headquarters to Memphis, Tenn. On July 11, 1862, Halleck was [p.367] appointed general-in-chief of all the Federal forces; on July 15 Grant returned to Corinth as commander of the army of the Tennessee, and on October 25 he was made commander of the department of the Tennessee, including Cairo, Forts Donelson and Henry, North Mississippi, and Kentucky and Tennessee west of the Tennessee river. On Sept. 19-20, 1862, the battle of Iuka was fought and on October 3-4 the battle of Corinth, when the Confederates were repulsed with great loss, and on the 5th the battle of the Hatchie River took place, which still further demoralized the Confederate forces and Grant pursued the retreating army into Mississippi. On Nov. 4, 1862, he seized Grand Junction and La Grange, on the 13th the cavalry occupied Holly Springs, and on December 5 Grant reached Oxford. On the 8th he ordered Sherman to take transports down the Mississippi to co-operate in the attack on Vicksburg, and on December 20 the Confederates recaptured Holly Springs where the Federal government had a large supply of stores. This determined Grant to abandon the land expedition and he took personal command of the expedition down the Mississippi, establishing his headquarters at Memphis, Jan. 10, 1863, and on the 29th with 50,000 men, in co-operation with Admiral Porter's gunboat fleet of 280 guns and 800 men and with the army of General Banks who was ascending the Mississippi from New Orleans to capture Port Hudson, he began the investment of Vicksburg, with the purpose of besieging the city from the high ground to the east of the place. He constructed a canal across the peninsular to open a line for supplies, but was detained by high water and constant breaking of the levees from carrying out the plan. He next undertook to turn the Mississippi from its course by opening a new channel to the Red river, but this plan, too, was abandoned. He then determined to run the batteries of Vicksburg and ferry the army across the river thirty miles south of Vicksburg and march to the rear of the city by way of Port Gibson. He drove General Bowen, the Confederate commander, out of the place, routed his army, captured 650 prisoners, took possession, May 1, 1863, entering Grand Gulf on the 15th. Pemberton was at Vicksburg with 52,000 men, Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson with an equally effective army, and Grant placed his force between the two armies and determined to prevent their concentration. He defeated Johnston at Raymond, May 12, 1863, captured the city of Jackson on the 14th and attacked Pemberton at Champion's Hill on the 16th, defeating him and causing a Confederate loss of 4000 killed and wounded, besides 3000 prisoners and 30 guns. He carried Big Black River bridge, May 17, where he captured 1757 prisoners and 18 guns and on the 18th drove Pemberton's army within the works at Vicksburg. The siege began May 23 and by June 30 the Federal army had 220 field guns in position and 71,000 troops who, besides conducting the siege, had to defend their rear against the army of Johnston, work night and day in mining the, enemy's works, and meet the constant assaults in front and rear. General Pemberton surrendered July 4, 1863, with 31,600 officers and men, 172 cannon, 60,000 muskets and quantities of ammunition. On the fall of Vicksburg, Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks and the Mississippi river was opened to the Federal army. Grant was made a major-general in the regular army and congress voted a gold medal to him and its thanks to him and his army. He proposed to the government at Washington that he move on Mobile, but was overruled and his army was divided up to reinforce Banks and Schofield and for use in Kentucky. He then visited New Orleans where he was injured by a fall of his horse. On recovering from his injury he returned to Vicksburg and on Oct. 6, 1863, was directed to send what force he could to Chattanooga to co-operate with Rosecrans and to report at Cairo to take command of the military district of the Mississippi. He reached the place October 16 and on Oct. 23, 1863, assumed command of the army at Chattanooga and concentrated his troops around the place. The same day he assaulted the enemy's lines, continued the assault on the 24th, and on the 25th repelled the lines and drove the Confederates out of Tennessee after capturing 6442 men, 40 pieces of artillery, and 7000 stand of small arms. He was in Knoxville, Tenn., December 25-28, and then went to Nashville where he established his headquarters, Jan. 13, 1864. On March 1, 1864, he was nominated by President Lincoln for lieutenant-general, the rank having been revived by congress, and on March 2 the appointment was confirmed by the senate. He arrived in Washington, D.C., on the 8th and there first met President Lincoln on the 9th and received from him his commission. He was given command of the entire Federal army, March 12, 1864, and established his headquarters at Culpeper, Va., on the 26th. He planned a vigorous and continuous movement against the armies of the Confederacy wherever stationed, and assigned Sherman to move against Johnston, Banks to operate against Mobile, Sigel against Breckinridge, Butler against Richmond from the south of the James, and Meade to cover Washington and assume the offensive against the army of Lee ? all to move, May 4, 1864. Grant fought the battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6 and 7. On the morning of the 11th he sent to Washington the famous sentence, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer," and there [p.368] was continuous fighting between the armies around Sportsylvania from the 8th to the 21st of May, in which Grant's army was lessened by 2271 killed, 9360 wounded and 1970 missing. While Grant was hammering at Lee's army, Butler had occupied Bermuda Hundred, Sherman had occupied Dalton, Ga., and was driving Johnston toward Atlanta, and Sigel had been forced back by Breckinridge. Grant moved by the left flank to the North Anna river, May 21, 1864, fighting his way day by day, and moving by the left to Cold Harbor on the 27th he assaulted Lee's entrenched army and was repelled with a loss of 7000 in killed, wounded and missing. During these thirty days of vigorous campaigning Grant had received 40,000 men to reinforce his constantly depleting army and it stood at the end of the campaign numerically the same as the army he commanded at the beginning. Meanwhile Sherman was within thirty miles of Atlanta, Ga.; General Hunter, who had succeeded Sigel, had seized Staunton, Va.; and Grant's army was being moved to the south of the James to cooperate with Butler against Petersburg and Richmond. The transfer occupied three days, June 13-15, 1864, and the advanced troops attacked Petersburg June 15 and the assault continued during the 16th, 17th and 18th, when the outworks had been captured, but further advance was checked by the arrival of Lee's army. Grant established his headquarters at City Point and sent out the cavalry to destroy the railroads both north and south of Petersburg. With Grant south of the James the Confederates began a vigorous campaign against the forces under Hunter at Staunton, driving him back to the Kanawha river, and Early drove the opposing Federal forces back by way of Hagerstown and Frederick, and on July 11, 1864, began to assault the fortifications defending the National capital on the north. General Grant at once hastened forward the 6th army corps to the defence of Washington and Early's forces withdrew. On July 30 the mine under the Confederate defences of Petersburg was exploded and a deadly assault along the entire front followed, but the Confederates were promptly reinforced and Grant withdrew his forces with considerable loss. Early continued to threaten the unprotected borders of Pennsylvania and Maryland and Grant ordered Sheridan on August 6 to assume command of all the forces concentrated in Maryland. On Aug. 14, 1864, Hancock's corps made a demonstration at Deep Bottom on the north of the James to prevent the reinforcement of Early, and on the 18th Warren's corps seized and held the Weldon railway and was reinforced by the 9th corps when severely attacked by Lee's army in its efforts to recover the road on the 21st. The battle of Reams's Station was fought August 25, and the Federal forces were obliged to fall back. On Sept. 2, 1864, Sherman entered Atlanta. On September 19, Sheridan routed Early at Winchester and on the 22d won the battle at Fisher's Hill. On September 29, Butler's forces captured Fort Harrison with fifteen guns and several hundred prisoners and his army within the fort, was assaulted by Lee's army in a three days' siege without disturbing his position. On September 30-October 1-2, Meade repulsed an attack and advanced his line beyond the Weldon road. On October 19 Early gained a victory at Cedar Creek over the army of Sheridan during his absence, but the retreating Federals were met in their route by Sheridan who had learned of the battle while at Winchester, twenty miles away; and his presence and coolness turned defeat into victory and he captured 24 guns, 300 wagons, and 1600 prisoners. On October 27 Butler made a demonstration against the enemy on his front and Meade moved out to Hatcher's Run where the Confederates were entrenched and after an unsuccessful assault Meade withdrew to his former position. Sherman started from Atlanta on his march to the sea, Nov. 16, 1864, and Hood turned his army north, marched into Tennessee, and fought the battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, in which he was defeated by Thomas, who captured 53 of his guns, took 4462 of his men prisoners, and drove him south of the Tennessee river. Sherman reached the seacoast near Savannah December 13, having destroyed 200 miles of railroad and property estimated at over $100,000,000. Butler with Porter's fleet attacked Fort Fisher, N.C., December 25, and after a vigorous bombardment from the fleet the land forces advanced to the fort, gained the parapets and were fighting their way into the works with every prospect of success, when the army was ordered to fall back and re-embark. On reaching Fort Monroe, December 27, Butler was relieved of his command and the army of the James passed to the command of General Ord who fitted out a second expedition under Gin. A. H. Terry, which with the fleet of Admiral Porter sailed from Hampton Roads, Jan. 6, 1865. On the 13th the fleet moving in a circle again directed [p.369] its fire against the fort and General Terry's force was landed, entrenched, and on the 15th under protection of the guns of the fleet assaulted and captured the works with 169 siege guns and the entire garrison. On Dec. 27, 1864, Sherman's army of 60,000 men with 2600 wagons and 68 guns took ap their march from Savannah through the Carolinas to prevent the retreat of Lee to the south, and on Jan. 7, 1865, Schofield was ordered from Clifton, Tenn., to the seacoast. He reached Washington, January 31, the mouth of Cape Fear river, February 9, Wilmington, N.C., February 22, and made a junction with Sherman at Goldsboro. Sheridan defeated Early at Waynesboro, March 2, and scattered his entire command, destroyed the James River canal, passed to the north of Richmond destroying the railroads, reached White House, Va., on the 19th, and joined the army of the Potomac. Sherman captured Columbia, S.C., on February 17, and compelled the evacuation of Charleston, and after various skirmishes reached Bentonville, N.C., on March 19, 1865, where the was assaulted six times by the army of Johnston and each time repulsed the Confederates. This obliged Johnston to fall back and on the 23d Sherman joined Schofield's army at Goldsboro, where for the first time since he had left Savannah, his army had communication with the seacoast. On March 20 Stoneman commenced his march from East Tennessee toward Lynchburg, Va., Canby moved against Mobile the same day, and in the far west Pope drove Price beyond the Red river. General Sherman, Admiral Porter and General Grant held an informal conference at City Point, March 27, 1865. On the 25th Lee made a determined effort to break the Federal lines and gain a line of retreat toward Danville by assaulting Grant's right. He captured Fort Stedman and several batteries, but the same day was driven back and the fort was recaptured. On the 29th Grant ordered a general advance: Sheridan was sent to Dinwiddie Court House, and the 5th corps was advanced, but on the 31st was driven back when the 2d corps came to its aid and drove the Confederates to their south works. Sheridan was forced to remain at Dinwiddie to repel repeated attacks of the Confederate infantry and cavalry and the 5th corps came to his help. On April 1 the Confederates opposing Sheridan fell back toward Five Forks, taking up a position on Lee's extreme right where Sheridan and the 5th corps achieved a victory, capturing their works, 6 guns and nearly 6000 prisoners. At daylight tin April 2 General Grant made an assault on the entire line of works around Petersburg and carried them by storm closing in cut the inner works defending the city. He captured Forts Gregg and Whitworth with 12,000 prisoners and 50 guns and the same night both Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated and the Federal forces took possession on the morning of April 3, 1865. Sheridan's cavalry and the advance of the 5th corps reached Danville to cut off Lee's retreat in the afternoon of the 4th and intrenched. The army of the Potomac reached there on the 5th and the army of the James under Ord marched rapidly toward Burkesville. Lee left Amelia Court House in the direction of Farmville and on the 6th his army was overtaken by Sheridan's cavalry and the 6th corps at Sailor's Creek, and several general officers and 7000 men were captured. The 2d corps captured 4 guns, 1700 prisoners, 13 flags and 300 wagons, the cavalry and the 6th corps were later defeated north of the Appomattox but were reinforced by the 6th corps on the 7th and the same night Grant sent a note from Farmville to Lee, asking for the surrender of his army. On the morning of the 8th Lee sent his reply that, while his cause was not hopeless, he would learn the terms proposed. Grant replied from Farmville that he would insist on but one condition, that the men and officers surrendered should be disqualified for taking up arms until properly exchanged. Meanwhile the 2d and 6th corps were pursuing Lee's troops in full retreat on the north side of the Appomattox, and Sheridan, Ord and the 5th corps were equally active on the south side to prevent Lee from escaping toward Lynchburg. It was toward midnight that Grant received a note from Lee proposing a meeting at 10 o'clock the next morning, the 9th, to make terms that might lead to peace. Grant replied that he had no authority to treat on the subject of peace, but that if the south would lay down their arms, such an act would save thousands of lives and hundreds of millions of property and do much toward hastening the event. Lee's advance reached Appomattox Court House early in the morning of the 9th of April, and Ord, Sheridan and Griffin reached the same point at the same time and Lee attacked the Federal cavalry, but finding infantry also on his front he sent in a flag of truce with a note to General Grant asking for an interview. This note was received while Grant was on the road approaching Appomattox Court House and he replied that he would move forward and nicer the Confederate leader at any place he would designate. The reply from Lee led Grant to a house in the village where, on the afternoon of April 9, 1865, the terms of surrender were drawn up by General Grant and accepted by General Lee, after a conference of three hours. The army of 28,356 men were paroled and afterward 20,000 stragglers and deserters came in and were also paroled. Grant promptly suppressed all demonstration of rejoicing on the part of the [p.370] victorious army on the field and on April 10 the started for Washington to hasten the disbanding of the armies and stop needless expense to the government. He left Washington to visit his family on the morning of April 14, and consequently was not in the city on the night of the assassination of the President and the attempted assault on members of the cabinet. He went to Raleigh, N.C., upon learning of Sherman's unacceptable terms for the surrender of Johnston's army and after consulting with General Sherman allowed that commander to renew negotiations and receive the surrender in modified terms, April 26, 1865, when Sherman paroled 31,243 of Johnston's army. General Canby captured the de-fences of Mobile, Ala., April 9, and the city was evacuated on the 11th leaving 200 guns and 4000 prisoners, after 9000 of the garrison escaped. Wilson's cavalry operating in Alabama captured Selma on April 2, Tuscaloosa on the 5th, occupied Montgomery the capital on the 14th, captured West Point and Columbus, Ga., on the 16th and Macon, Ga, surrendered on the 21st. The command of Kirby southwest of the Mississippi surrendered on the 26th and the rebellion was ended. The people of the whole country were anxious to see and do honor to the hero of Appomattox and he visited the northern states and Canada in June, July and August, 1865, and was everywhere received with civic, military and social honors. The citizens of New York city welcomed him in November by a banquet and reception in which the enthusiasm knew no bounds. In December he made a tour of the southern states and his observations made the basis of the reconstruction laws passed by congress. He defended the rights of paroled military officers of the late Confederacy against the action of the U.S. courts in cases of indictment for treason, and claimed that the conditions of surrender placed such officers outside the jurisdiction of civil courts. In this he opposed the administration, and when it became a personal matter between himself and the President he declared his intention to resign his position in the army if the armistice granted by him should he disregarded by the courts or the President. This decision resulted in the abandonment of the position taken by the executive and judicial branches of the governments. He visited Buffalo, N.Y., in June, 1866, and there took effective measures to stop the invasion of Canada by Fenians, accredited citizens of the United States in sympathy with Irish patriots. On July 25, 1866, he was made general of the U.S. army, a grade higher than had ever before existed in America and created by act of congress as a reward for his services in the suppression of the rebellion. President Johnson in his official position of commander-in-chief of the army ordered General Grant to proceed on a special mission to Mexico and subsequently to the far west, both of which orders Grant disregarded as not included in his duties as a military officer and not suggested for the benefit of the army or of the country, but made in a spirit of pique because he had refused to approve the policy of the President toward the south. On March 4, 1867, the 39th congress, in order to protect General Grant in his action, passed an act providing that "all orders and instructions relating to military operations shall be issued through the general of the army," and further provided that the general of the army should "not be removed, suspended or relieved from command or assigned to duty elsewhere than at the headquarters at Washington, except at his own request, without the previous approval of the senate." The clause was attached to the army appropriation bill which received the signature of the President under protest against this clause. The attorney-general declared the clause unconstitutional and the President undertook to send out this opinion to the district commanders through the secretary of war, who refused to distribute the opinion, and the President issued it through the adjutant-general's office. General Sheridan in command of the 5th military district sought the advice of the general of the army who replied that a "legal opinion was not entitled to the force of an order," and therefore he was at liberty "to enforce his own construction of the law until otherwise ordered," and in duly congress passed an act making the orders of district commanders "subject to the disapproval of the general of the army." In this way Grant became superior to the President in shaping the affairs of reconstruction in the southern states and the President met the situation by removing General Sheridan immediately after the adjournment of congress and appointing Gen. W. S. Hancock in his place. Subsequently some of the orders of Hancock were revoked by the general of the army and this caused some bitterness between the two officers, which, however, was not lasting, as when congress undertook to muster Hancock out of the U.S. service for his acts in Louisiana, Grant opposed the measure and it was defeated, and he soon after recommended Hancock to promotion to the rank of major-general in the regular army and secured his appointment. On Aug. 12, 1867, President Johnson suspended Secretary of War Stanton and [p.371] appointed Grant secretary ad interim. Grant protested against this action, but retained the position until the senate had refused to confirm the suspension, Jan. 14, 1868, when Grant informed the President that he could not hold the office in opposition to the will of congress and General Thomas was appointed in his place. The Republican national convention of 1868 on its first ballot unanimously nominated General Grant for the presidency and in his letter of acceptance he made use of the famous words, "Let us have peace." In the general election in November, 1868, the electors on his ticket received of the popular vote 3,015,071 to 2,709,615 for the Democratic electors and on the meeting of the electoral college in 1869 he received 214 votes to 80 for Horatio Seymour, three states, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia, not voting. He was inaugurated the eighteenth President of the United States, March 4, 1869. He called to his aid as executive advisors Elihu B. Washburn of Illinois as secretary of state, and on his resignation the same year to accept the mission to France, Hamilton Fish of New York; George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts as secretary of the treasury; John A. Rawlins of Illinois as secretary of war, and on his death, Sept. 9, 1869, William W. Belknap of Iowa; Jacob D. Cox of Ohio as secretary of the interior, and on his resignation in December, 1870, Columbus Delano of Ohio; Adolph E. Borie of Pennsylvania as secretary of the navy, and on his resignation, June 22, 1869, George M. Robeson of New Jersey; John A. J. Creswell of Maryland as postmaster-general; and Ebenezer R. Hoar of Massachusetts as attorney general, and on his resignation, June 23, 1870, Amos T. Akerman of Georgia, and on his resignation, Dec. 14, 1871, George H. Williams of Oregon. He advocated in his inaugural address the speedy return to specie payment, and congress passed the act on March 18, 1869, which was a pledge to pay the debts of the United States in coin unless the obligation expressly stipulated to the contrary, and in accordance with his views as expressed in his annual message to congress a bill was passed and approved July 14, 1870, authorizing the funding of the public debt at a lower rate of interest, through the issue of $200,000,000 of bonds at five per cent, $300,000,000 at four and a half per cent, and $1,000,000,000 at four per cent. His Indian policy was shaped to the end of civilizing the savages with a view to their ultimate citizenship, and his policy while not always successful introduced humanity and justice to take the place of brute force. He favored the annexation of Santo Domingo and recommended the adoption of the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States the also advanced the principles of civil service reform in the civil administration, appointing a commission which recommended competitive examinations, and it was put in operation June 1, 1872, but failed to be effective at the time on account of opposition from congress. On May 4, 1872, he issued a proclamation ordering all unlawful armed bands to disperse in the states in which conflicts between the white and colored races were rife, and said that he would "not hesitate to exhaust the powers vested in the executive, whenever and wherever it shall become necessary to do so for the purpose of securing to all citizens of the United States the peaceful enjoyment of the rights guaranteed to them by the constitution and the laws." As the proclamation was disregarded he issued a further warning October 12, and on the 17th suspended the writ of habeas corpus in parts of North and South Carolina, and after a few vigorous prosecutions of offenders the outrages ceased. The famous treaty of Washington, made May 8, 1871, by a high joint commission, by its terms referred the claims of the United States against Great Britain growing out of the operations of the Confederate cruiser Alabama, to a court of arbitration held in Geneva, Switzerland, and in September, 1872, awarded to the United States $15,500,000, which was paid in full. This was largely the result of the policy of President Grant and his secretary of state, and was the beginning of a friendship between the two English speaking nations of the globe that suggested arbitration as an acceptable substitute for war in the settlement of disputes between equally intelligent nations. President Grant's first administration left him some enemies in the Republican party, who classed his actions as imperial and his measures as arbitrary. This disaffection resulted in the calling of a national convention at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872, under the name of "Liberal Republicans" and the nomination of Horace Greeley for President. The convention claiming to be regular met at Philadelphia, Pa., June 5, 1872, and renominated Grant and approved of his administration. In the election in November, 1872, he was re-elected, receiving of the popular vote 3,597,070 to 2,843,079 for Horace Greeley, and [p.372] in the electoral college of 1873 he received 286 votes to 42 for Thomas A. Hendricks, 18 for B. Gratz Brown, 2 for Charles J. Jenkins and one for David Davis, the 14 votes of Arkansas and Louisiana not being counted by reason of charges of fraud and illegality. In making up his cabinet he continued the portfolio of state in the hands of Hamilton Fish; gave the treasurership to William A. Richardson of Massachusetts, who had been assistant secretary under Secretary Boutwell through his first administration, and on his resignation in 1874 to accept a seat on the bench of the U.S. court of claims, to Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky, and on his resignation in June, 1876, to Lot M. Morrill of Maine; the portfolio of war was left with William W. Belknap of Iowa and on his resignation, March 7, 1876, was transferred to Alphonso Taft of Ohio, and on his transfer to the attorney-generalship, to James D. Cameron of Pennsylvania; the portfolio of the interior was continued in the hands of Columbus Delano of Ohio until 1875, when he resigned and it went to Zachariah Chandler of Michigan; the naval portfolio was continued with George M. Robeson of New Jersey; the postmaster-generalship with John A. J. Creswell, and on his resignation,. July 3, 1874, it was temporarily filled by Assistant Postmaster-General James W. Marshall of Virginia, and permanently later in the same year by Marshall Jewell of Connecticut, and on his resignation in 1876 by James N. Tyner of Indianapolis, former assistant postmaster general; and the attorney-generalship was continued by George H. Williams of Oregon until May 15, 1875, when he resigned to practise law, and was succeeded by Edward Pierrepont of New York. The second administration of President Grant was marked by the passage of the resumption act and the detection and punishment of the prominent U.S. officials conspicuous in the formation of a ring designed to enrich the members under cloak of their official positions and by wrongfully using the name of the President. His words, "let no guilty man escape" rung the death-knell of the ring. He attended the inauguration of President Hayes, March 4, 1877, and at once withdrew to private life. On May 17, 1877, he set sail with his wife, his son Frederick Dent, and a private secretary, for his memorable tour of the world and was received with distinguished honors by the chief ruler of every country visited. The record of his tour was preserved by John Russell Young, who accompanied him through most of his tour and published "Around the World with General Grant 1877-79" (2 vols. 1880). In 1880 he visited Cuba and Mexico and returning to the United States went with his family to his old home at Galena, Ill. The Republican national convention of June, 1880, assembled at Chicago, Ill., presented his name as a candidate for the presidency, and for thirty-six consecutive ballots his name was recorded as having received from 302 to 313 votes, standing in almost every vote 306, and the number was attached to his loyal friends, who after the convention caused an iron medal to be cast with the legend, "Loyal 306" as a souvenir of the event. It is not known that General Grant was in any way a party to this struggle, and the only suggestion came from his lips after he returned from his tour when he spoke of the superior insight that the intercourse with the chief rulers of the world gave to a man entrusted with the administration of governmental affairs. He supported the candidacy of James A. Garfield. On Dec. 25, 1883, he received such injuries to his hip from a fall on the ice as made him permanently lame. He became a silent partner in the banking firm of Grant & Ward in New York, his son Frederick Dent Grant and Ferdinand Ward being the active partners. In this business he not only invested all his savings and those of other members of his family, but when he was appealed to for further funds he borrowed $100,000 from William H. Vanderbilt on his personal credit. The entire sum was lost through the dishonesty of Ward, whose will dominated the concern and who was found to have absorbed most of the capital and to have traded in imaginary government contracts which he represented as obtained through the influence of General Grant. When the end came the Grant family were all bankrupt and the greatest general of his age and the twice chosen President of the United States was obliged to depend on money thrust upon him by his friends, and to give up his swords, medals and other evidences of the esteem of the peoples of the globe, a sacrifice voluntarily made by him to secure a debt of honor. Mr. Vanderbilt subsequently returned these priceless souvenirs to Mrs. Grant, who made them the property of the nation by depositing them in the National Museum at Washington, D.C. In 1884 he was attacked by disease which proved to be cancer at the root of the tongue and knowing that his days were numbered, the heroic invalid accepted the suggestion of an enterprising publisher, and set out to write his "Personal Memoirs" in which he told the story of his life down to the close of the war. This work was done between Feb. 27, 1885, when he signed the contract with the publishers and July 21, 1885, two days before his death. His widow received as a copyright from the sale of this remarkable book over $500,000, and before the general died he knew that the proceeds from his work had already put his family beyond the danger that threatened the closing years of his life. The government also tardily came to his aid and on March [p.373] 4, 1885, congress created him a general on the retired list, thus restoring him to his former rank with full pay. His last days spent at Mr. McGregor near Saratoga, N.Y., were anxious ones for the family gathered in the Drexel cottage, and for the nation watching with the family the news of his death, which came Thursday morning, July 23, 1885. His funeral was most imposing and was attended by 12,000 U.S. soldiers in uniform; representatives from every state, and, in fact, from every nation; the chiefs of the departments of the Federal government; the ranking officers of the army and navy; 18,000 veterans of the civil war, north and south, mingled, and representatives from both houses of congress. The two ex-Presidents, Hayes and Arthur, were also present. His remains were committed to a tomb in Riverside Park on the banks of the Hudson river in New York city, and a grateful public through a popular subscription erected on the spot an appropriate monument, the corner stone of which was laid by President Harrison, April 25, 1892, and the casket containing the dust of the great commander was deposited in its final resting place, April 29, 1897, when the completed monument was dedicated. He received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Bowdoin and Union colleges in 1865 and from Harvard in 1872. (See Military History of Ulysses S. Grant from April, 1861, to April 1865 by Adam Badeau (3 vols., 1867-68); Life of Gen. U.S. Grant by Gen. James H. Wilson and Charles A. Dana (1868); Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant written by himself (2 vols., (1885-86), and other later biographies.) Grant received a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, October, 1900. He died at Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, N.Y., July 23, 1885.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Point Pleasant, (Clermont County) Ohio

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