How Ulysses Grant Became President
The man now known as Ulysses S. Grant was actually born with the name Hiram Ulysses Grant. His father was a staunch Ohio abolitionist. As a young man Grant showed an exceptional aptitude for working with horses, a life-long passion and one of the first things he writes about in his famous autobiography. When Grant was 17 years old, Congressman Thomas Hamer nominated him for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Hamer incorrectly wrote down Grant's name as "Ulysses S. Grant", and this was the name Grant used for the rest of his life. It's probably for the better, as U.S. Grant is a better set of initials than H.U.G. for a future president.
Grant showed some ability as an artist (nine of his paintings still exist) and as a fearless horseman. He set an equestrian high-jump record that stood for almost 25 years. Grant graduated from West Point in 1843, placing 21st in a class of 39. He planned to resign his commission after serving the minimum four-year term of duty and was disappointed when he was not assigned to the cavalry. He was made regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant.
Upon graduation Grant was posted to the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, in September 1843. At the time it was the nation's largest military base in the west, commanded by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny. It was while he was posted here that he met and became engaged to Julia Dent, his future wife.
When the Mexican–American War broke out in 1846, Grant was part of the Army of General Zachary Taylor was that sent to Mexico. Grant participated in leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. At Monterrey, he heroically carried a dispatch through sniper-lined streets while hanging off the side of his horse. When President James K. Polk divided Taylor's forces, Grant's unit was sent to join Major General Winfield Scott. Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City. At Chapultepec, Grant operated a howitzer from a church steeple, which was used to bombard nearby Mexican troops. In his Memoirs, Grant wrote that he believed that the war was not a just war. Grant wrote in 1883: "I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day, regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."
Grant's mandatory service had expired during the war, but he decided to remain in the army. He married Julia on August 22, 1848 and the couple had four children. In the next six years, Grant was posted to a number of locations including Detroit, Sackets Harbor, New York, and Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory. To supplement his meager military salary, Grant tried and failed at several business ventures. His separation from his family made him unhappy and he drank to excess.
Grant was Promoted to Captain in the summer of 1853, and was assigned to Fort Humboldt in California. There it was reported that Grant had become intoxicated off-duty while seated at the pay officer's table. In lieu of a court-martial, Buchanan gave Grant an ultimatum to resign and Grant agreed to do so, effective July 31, 1854.
Grant struggled through seven financially lean years. In 1854, he farmed on his brother-in-law's property near St. Louis, using slaves owned by Julia's father. The farm failed. Two years later, he and his family moved to land on his father-in-law's farm, and built a family home he called "Hardscrabble". During this time, Grant acquired a slave from Julia's father. The farm was unproductive and the Grants left the farm when their fourth and final child was born in 1858. Grant freed his slave in 1859 instead of selling him, despite the fact that slaves fetched a high price and Grant needed money desperately. The family moved to St. Louis where Grant worked as a bill collector, again without success. In 1860, Grant's father offered him the tannery job in Galena and Grant accepted.
Grant was not politically active before the Civil War. His father-in-law was a prominent Missouri Democrat, while his father was an ardent Republican. In the 1856 election, Grant cast his first presidential vote for Democrat James Buchanan, and in 1860, he supported Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, but was unable to vote.
On April 14, 1861, following the attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. Grant was asked to lead a recruiting effort. Grant helped recruit a company of volunteers and accompanied the regiment to Springfield, the state capital. Illinois Governor Richard Yates offered Grant a position recruiting and training volunteer units, which he accepted, but he wanted a field command in the regular army. He made several efforts to acquire a military command. General George B. McClellan refused to meet with Grant. He continued serving at the training camps.
With the aid of Illinois congressman Elihu B. Washburne, Grant was promoted to Colonel on June 14, 1861, and put in charge of the unruly 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Grant was transferred to northern Missouri and promoted to Brigadier General, again with Washburne's support. Grant was given command of troops near Cairo, Illinois by the end of August 1861. Grant's troops advanced into Paducah and took the town without a fight.
On November 7, 1861 Grant and his troops crossed the Mississippi. He asked his new commander Henry Halleck for permission to attack Fort Henry in Tennessee. Grant's forces captured Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. His forces advanced on Fort Donelson. When the Union forces captured the fort, Lincoln promoted Grant to major-general of volunteers.
Next, Grant's army, known as the Army of the Tennessee, joined with Brigadier General William T. Sherman, and the two planned to attack a Confederate army at Corinth, Mississippi. At the battle's end, the Confederates captured one Union division and the remaining Union army was left vulnerable, but the Confederates halted due to exhaustion and a lack of reinforcements. The next morning, Grant counterattacked, and the Confederates were forced to retreat back to Corinth. Grant was criticized for high casualties on the first day of battle and Halleck removed Grant from active command of his army. Discouraged, Grant considered resigning his commission, but Sherman convinced him to stay. Lincoln took notice of Grant, stating: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Seven weeks later, Halleck's forces took Corinth and Grant was reinstated as field commander of the Army of the Tennessee.
On December 17, 1862, Grant issued the controversial General Order No. 11, which expelled Jews, as a class, from the district controlled by his troops. Grant believed Jewish merchants were profiteering from an illicit cotton exchange through enemy lines. The Jewish community and Northern press criticized Grant over his order and Lincoln demanded it be revoked. Grant rescinded the order and the controversy ended.
Vicksburg, Mississippi is located on the high bluffs of the Mississippi River. It was seen as a key strategic location, important for control of the river. Initially command of the campaign was given to General John McClernand, but Lincoln told McClernand that he was to lead an army division under Grant's authority. In December 1862, Grant moved to take Vicksburg. A number of efforts to take the city were ineffective. On April 16, 1863, Grant ordered Admiral David Porter's Union gunboats to meet up with his Union troops who had marched south down the west side of the Mississippi River. Grant ordered diversionary battles which allowed his army to cross east over the Mississippi. He captured Jackson, the state capital and a railroad supply center. At the Battle of Champion Hill, a Confederate Army commanded by General John Pemberton was defeated, and retreated into Vicksburg. After Grant's men attempted to take Vicksburg entrenchments twice, suffering severe losses, they settled in for a siege lasting seven weeks. When the siege began, Grant lapsed into a two-day drinking episode. Ultimately, Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863.
The fall of Vicksburg gave Union forces control over the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. Success at Vicksburg was a great morale boost for the Union war effort, although Grant received criticism for his reported drunkenness. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton suggested that Grant be brought back east to run the Army of the Potomac.
Lincoln commissioned Grant a major general in the regular army and assigned him command of the newly formed Division of the Mississippi in October 1863, including the Armies of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland. After the Battle of Chickamauga, the Union Army of the Cumberland retreated into Chattanooga, where they were trapped. Grant put Major General George H. Thomas in charge of the beseiged army. On November 23, 1863, Grant organized three armies to attack at Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Two days later in the early morning, Union forces successfully took Lookout Mountain. Grant ordered Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland to advance when Sherman's army failed to take Missionary Ridge from the northeast. The Army of the Cumberland, led by Major General Philip Sheridan and Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood, captured the Confederate entrenchments on top of the ridge, forcing the rebels into retreat. The battle gave the Union control of Tennessee and opened Georgia to Union invasion.
On March 3, 1864 Lincoln promoted Grant to Lieutenant General, giving him command of all Union Armies. Grant assigned Sherman the Division of the Mississippi and traveled east to Washington D.C., meeting with Lincoln to devise strategy. Grant established his headquarters with General George Meade's army in Culpeper, Virginia. The plan was for Sherman to attack Atlanta, while Meade would lead the Army of the Potomac, with Grant, to attack Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Grant believed that Lee had limited manpower and that a war of attrition fought on a battlefield would lead to Lee's defeat.
Grant's army fought Lee's army in a series of bloody battles known as the Overland Campaign. Grant crossed the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864, and attacked Lee in the Battle of the Wilderness, a hard-fought three-day battle with many casualties. Rather than retreat as his predecessors had done, Grant attempted to wedge his forces between Lee and Richmond at Spotsylvania Court House. Lee's army got to Spotsylvania first, and another costly battle ensued, lasting thirteen days. Unable to break Lee's defenses after repeated attempts, Grant again flanked the Confederate army to the southeast, meeting at North Anna, where a battle lasted three days. Grant then maneuvered his army to Cold Harbor, a vital railroad hub that linked to Richmond, but Lee's men were again able to entrench against the Union assault. During the third day of the thirteen-day battle, Grant led a costly assault on Lee's trenches. As casualty reports became known in the North, heavy criticism fell on Grant, who was derisively called "the Butcher" by the Northern press. The Union Army had suffered 52,788 casualties in the thirty days since crossing the Rapidan. Lee's army suffered 32,907 casualties.
Grant's army the James River undetected, and arrived at Petersburg. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was able to defend the city, and Lee's reinforcements soon arrived. The result was a nine-month-long siege of Petersburg. Resentment grew as the war dragged on, but the Petersburg siege prevented Lee from reinforcing armies opposing Sherman and Sheridan. During the siege, Sherman took Atlanta, a victory that advanced President Lincoln's reelection prospects. Sheridan and his Army of the Shenandoah defeated the army commanded by Jubal Early, ensuring that Washington would not be endangered. Grant then ordered Sheridan's cavalry to destroy vital Confederate supplies in the Shenandoah Valley.
On August 9, 1864, Grant, who had just arrived at his headquarters in City Point, narrowly escaped death when Confederate spies blew up an ammunition barge in the James River. Grant continued to extend Lee's defenses south and west of Petersburg, to capture vital railroad links. As Grant continued to push the Union advance westward, Lee's lines became stretched and undermanned.
Meanwhile, Sherman reached the East Coast and Thomas defeated John Bell Hood's forces in Tennessee, Union victory appeared certain. Lincoln attempted to negotiate an end to the war with the Confederates, but it was unsuccessful. In March 1865, Union forces finally took Petersburg. They captured Richmond that April. Lee's troops began deserting in large numbers. Lee attempted to link up with the remnants of Joseph E. Johnston's defeated army, but Union cavalry forces led by Sheridan were able to stop the two armies from converging. Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Grant gave generous terms. Confederate troops surrendered their weapons and were allowed to return to their homes on the condition that they would not take up arms against the United States. Within a few weeks, the Civil War was over.
On April 14, five days after Grant's victory at Appomattox,Grant attended a cabinet meeting in Washington. Lincoln invited him and his wife to Ford's Theater, but they declined as they had plans to travel to Philadelphia. That night Lincoln was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth at the theater, and died the next morning. Secretary of War Stanton notified Grant of Lincoln's death and summoned him back to Washington. At Lincoln's funeral on April 19, Grant wept openly. He later said Lincoln was "the greatest man I have ever known."
Later that month, Sherman concluded an armistice agreement with Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Stanton and Grant agreed that the terms of the armistice were much too lenient. Grant renegotiated the agreement in to match the terms set at Appomattox.
At the war's end, Grant remained commander of the army. In May 1865, the Union League of Philadelphia purchased a house for the Grants in that city, Grant's military work was in Washington. He attempted to commute but by October he and Julia had moved to Washington. That summer took the Grants traveled to Albany, Galena, and throughout Illinois and Ohio, where they were met with enthusiastic receptions.
In November 1865, Johnson sent Grant on a fact-finding mission to the South. Grant recommended continuation of a reformed Freedmen's Bureau, which Johnson opposed. Grant did not believe the people of the South were ready for civilian self-rule, and that African-Americans in the South required protection by the federal government. Grant agreed with Johnson's policy of pardoning established southern leaders and in allowing representatives from the South to take their seats in Congress.
On July 25, 1866, Congress promoted Grant to the newly created rank of General of the Army of the United States. Johnson favored a lenient approach to Reconstruction, calling for an immediate return of the former Confederate states into the Union without any guarantee of African-American citizenship. The Radical Republican-controlled Congress opposed the idea and refused to admit Congressmen from the former Confederate states. Congress renewed the Freedmen's Bureau and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. During the congressional election campaign later that year, Johnson took his case to the people in his "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour. Johnson pressured Grant, the most popular man in the country, to go on the tour. Grant reluctantly agreed. He confided to his wife that he thought Johnson's speeches were a "national disgrace".
Conflict between radicals and conservatives continued after the 1866 congressional elections. Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the southern states into five military districts to protect the freedmen's constitutional and congressional rights. Military district governors were to lead transitional governments in each district. Grant was to select the general to govern each district from a group designated by Johnson. When General Philip Sheridan removed public officials in Louisiana who impeded Reconstruction, Johnson was displeased and sought Sheridan's removal. Grant recommended against his dismissal. Throughout the Reconstruction period, Grant and the military protected the rights of more than 1,500 African-Americans elected to political office.
Johnson wished to replace Edwin Stanton, a Lincoln appointee who sympathized with Congressional Reconstruction and he wanted to replace him with Grant. Grant recommended against the move, in light of the Tenure of Office Act, which required Senate approval for cabinet removals. Johnson believed the Act did not apply to officers appointed by the previous president. He appointed Grant as an interim appointee during a Senate recess. Grant agreed to accept the post temporarily. Stanton, believing he had Senate protection, vacated the office until the Senate reconvened. When the Senate reinstated Stanton, Johnson told Grant to refuse to surrender the office and let the courts resolve the matter. But Grant felt that violating the Tenure of Office Act was a federal offense, which could result in a fine or imprisonment, so he returned the office to Stanton. This angered Johnson, who accused Grant of breaking his promise to remain Secretary of War. Grant defended himself in an angry letter to Johnson, breaking off any cordial relations between the two men. Grant's statement increased his popularity among Radical Republicans. Grant supported Johnson's impeachment, but he took no active role in the impeachment proceedings. Johnson barely survived impeachment, but was very much a lame duck president thereafter.
The Republicans chose Grant as their presidential candidate on the first ballot at the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago. He faced no significant opposition. In his letter of acceptance to the party, Grant concluded by stating "Let us have peace". This became his campaign slogan. For vice president, the delegates nominated House Speaker Schuyler Colfax.
Grant's General Order No. 11 (ordering the expulsion of all Jews in his military district in 1862) became an issue during the presidential campaign. He responded to the criticism saying "I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit." Grant remained at his post in Washington until July and returned to his home in Galena for the rest of the campaign.
The Democrats nominated former New York Governor Horatio Seymour. Their campaign focused mainly on ending Reconstruction and returning control of the South to the white planter class. This alienated many War Democrats in the North. The Democrats attacked Reconstruction and the Republican Party's support of African-American rights. Grant won the election by 300,000 votes out of 5,716,082 votes cast. He won 214 electoral votes to Seymour's 80. Grant at the age of 46 was, at the time, the youngest president ever elected.
Grant showed some ability as an artist (nine of his paintings still exist) and as a fearless horseman. He set an equestrian high-jump record that stood for almost 25 years. Grant graduated from West Point in 1843, placing 21st in a class of 39. He planned to resign his commission after serving the minimum four-year term of duty and was disappointed when he was not assigned to the cavalry. He was made regimental quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment, with the rank of brevet second lieutenant.
Upon graduation Grant was posted to the Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, in September 1843. At the time it was the nation's largest military base in the west, commanded by Colonel Stephen W. Kearny. It was while he was posted here that he met and became engaged to Julia Dent, his future wife.
When the Mexican–American War broke out in 1846, Grant was part of the Army of General Zachary Taylor was that sent to Mexico. Grant participated in leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. At Monterrey, he heroically carried a dispatch through sniper-lined streets while hanging off the side of his horse. When President James K. Polk divided Taylor's forces, Grant's unit was sent to join Major General Winfield Scott. Scott's army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City. At Chapultepec, Grant operated a howitzer from a church steeple, which was used to bombard nearby Mexican troops. In his Memoirs, Grant wrote that he believed that the war was not a just war. Grant wrote in 1883: "I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day, regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."
Grant's mandatory service had expired during the war, but he decided to remain in the army. He married Julia on August 22, 1848 and the couple had four children. In the next six years, Grant was posted to a number of locations including Detroit, Sackets Harbor, New York, and Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory. To supplement his meager military salary, Grant tried and failed at several business ventures. His separation from his family made him unhappy and he drank to excess.
Grant was Promoted to Captain in the summer of 1853, and was assigned to Fort Humboldt in California. There it was reported that Grant had become intoxicated off-duty while seated at the pay officer's table. In lieu of a court-martial, Buchanan gave Grant an ultimatum to resign and Grant agreed to do so, effective July 31, 1854.
Grant struggled through seven financially lean years. In 1854, he farmed on his brother-in-law's property near St. Louis, using slaves owned by Julia's father. The farm failed. Two years later, he and his family moved to land on his father-in-law's farm, and built a family home he called "Hardscrabble". During this time, Grant acquired a slave from Julia's father. The farm was unproductive and the Grants left the farm when their fourth and final child was born in 1858. Grant freed his slave in 1859 instead of selling him, despite the fact that slaves fetched a high price and Grant needed money desperately. The family moved to St. Louis where Grant worked as a bill collector, again without success. In 1860, Grant's father offered him the tannery job in Galena and Grant accepted.
Grant was not politically active before the Civil War. His father-in-law was a prominent Missouri Democrat, while his father was an ardent Republican. In the 1856 election, Grant cast his first presidential vote for Democrat James Buchanan, and in 1860, he supported Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, but was unable to vote.
On April 14, 1861, following the attack on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers. Grant was asked to lead a recruiting effort. Grant helped recruit a company of volunteers and accompanied the regiment to Springfield, the state capital. Illinois Governor Richard Yates offered Grant a position recruiting and training volunteer units, which he accepted, but he wanted a field command in the regular army. He made several efforts to acquire a military command. General George B. McClellan refused to meet with Grant. He continued serving at the training camps.
With the aid of Illinois congressman Elihu B. Washburne, Grant was promoted to Colonel on June 14, 1861, and put in charge of the unruly 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Grant was transferred to northern Missouri and promoted to Brigadier General, again with Washburne's support. Grant was given command of troops near Cairo, Illinois by the end of August 1861. Grant's troops advanced into Paducah and took the town without a fight.
On November 7, 1861 Grant and his troops crossed the Mississippi. He asked his new commander Henry Halleck for permission to attack Fort Henry in Tennessee. Grant's forces captured Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. His forces advanced on Fort Donelson. When the Union forces captured the fort, Lincoln promoted Grant to major-general of volunteers.
Next, Grant's army, known as the Army of the Tennessee, joined with Brigadier General William T. Sherman, and the two planned to attack a Confederate army at Corinth, Mississippi. At the battle's end, the Confederates captured one Union division and the remaining Union army was left vulnerable, but the Confederates halted due to exhaustion and a lack of reinforcements. The next morning, Grant counterattacked, and the Confederates were forced to retreat back to Corinth. Grant was criticized for high casualties on the first day of battle and Halleck removed Grant from active command of his army. Discouraged, Grant considered resigning his commission, but Sherman convinced him to stay. Lincoln took notice of Grant, stating: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Seven weeks later, Halleck's forces took Corinth and Grant was reinstated as field commander of the Army of the Tennessee.
On December 17, 1862, Grant issued the controversial General Order No. 11, which expelled Jews, as a class, from the district controlled by his troops. Grant believed Jewish merchants were profiteering from an illicit cotton exchange through enemy lines. The Jewish community and Northern press criticized Grant over his order and Lincoln demanded it be revoked. Grant rescinded the order and the controversy ended.
Vicksburg, Mississippi is located on the high bluffs of the Mississippi River. It was seen as a key strategic location, important for control of the river. Initially command of the campaign was given to General John McClernand, but Lincoln told McClernand that he was to lead an army division under Grant's authority. In December 1862, Grant moved to take Vicksburg. A number of efforts to take the city were ineffective. On April 16, 1863, Grant ordered Admiral David Porter's Union gunboats to meet up with his Union troops who had marched south down the west side of the Mississippi River. Grant ordered diversionary battles which allowed his army to cross east over the Mississippi. He captured Jackson, the state capital and a railroad supply center. At the Battle of Champion Hill, a Confederate Army commanded by General John Pemberton was defeated, and retreated into Vicksburg. After Grant's men attempted to take Vicksburg entrenchments twice, suffering severe losses, they settled in for a siege lasting seven weeks. When the siege began, Grant lapsed into a two-day drinking episode. Ultimately, Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863.
The fall of Vicksburg gave Union forces control over the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. Success at Vicksburg was a great morale boost for the Union war effort, although Grant received criticism for his reported drunkenness. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton suggested that Grant be brought back east to run the Army of the Potomac.
Lincoln commissioned Grant a major general in the regular army and assigned him command of the newly formed Division of the Mississippi in October 1863, including the Armies of the Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland. After the Battle of Chickamauga, the Union Army of the Cumberland retreated into Chattanooga, where they were trapped. Grant put Major General George H. Thomas in charge of the beseiged army. On November 23, 1863, Grant organized three armies to attack at Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Two days later in the early morning, Union forces successfully took Lookout Mountain. Grant ordered Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland to advance when Sherman's army failed to take Missionary Ridge from the northeast. The Army of the Cumberland, led by Major General Philip Sheridan and Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood, captured the Confederate entrenchments on top of the ridge, forcing the rebels into retreat. The battle gave the Union control of Tennessee and opened Georgia to Union invasion.
On March 3, 1864 Lincoln promoted Grant to Lieutenant General, giving him command of all Union Armies. Grant assigned Sherman the Division of the Mississippi and traveled east to Washington D.C., meeting with Lincoln to devise strategy. Grant established his headquarters with General George Meade's army in Culpeper, Virginia. The plan was for Sherman to attack Atlanta, while Meade would lead the Army of the Potomac, with Grant, to attack Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Grant believed that Lee had limited manpower and that a war of attrition fought on a battlefield would lead to Lee's defeat.
Grant's army fought Lee's army in a series of bloody battles known as the Overland Campaign. Grant crossed the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864, and attacked Lee in the Battle of the Wilderness, a hard-fought three-day battle with many casualties. Rather than retreat as his predecessors had done, Grant attempted to wedge his forces between Lee and Richmond at Spotsylvania Court House. Lee's army got to Spotsylvania first, and another costly battle ensued, lasting thirteen days. Unable to break Lee's defenses after repeated attempts, Grant again flanked the Confederate army to the southeast, meeting at North Anna, where a battle lasted three days. Grant then maneuvered his army to Cold Harbor, a vital railroad hub that linked to Richmond, but Lee's men were again able to entrench against the Union assault. During the third day of the thirteen-day battle, Grant led a costly assault on Lee's trenches. As casualty reports became known in the North, heavy criticism fell on Grant, who was derisively called "the Butcher" by the Northern press. The Union Army had suffered 52,788 casualties in the thirty days since crossing the Rapidan. Lee's army suffered 32,907 casualties.
Grant's army the James River undetected, and arrived at Petersburg. Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard was able to defend the city, and Lee's reinforcements soon arrived. The result was a nine-month-long siege of Petersburg. Resentment grew as the war dragged on, but the Petersburg siege prevented Lee from reinforcing armies opposing Sherman and Sheridan. During the siege, Sherman took Atlanta, a victory that advanced President Lincoln's reelection prospects. Sheridan and his Army of the Shenandoah defeated the army commanded by Jubal Early, ensuring that Washington would not be endangered. Grant then ordered Sheridan's cavalry to destroy vital Confederate supplies in the Shenandoah Valley.
On August 9, 1864, Grant, who had just arrived at his headquarters in City Point, narrowly escaped death when Confederate spies blew up an ammunition barge in the James River. Grant continued to extend Lee's defenses south and west of Petersburg, to capture vital railroad links. As Grant continued to push the Union advance westward, Lee's lines became stretched and undermanned.
Meanwhile, Sherman reached the East Coast and Thomas defeated John Bell Hood's forces in Tennessee, Union victory appeared certain. Lincoln attempted to negotiate an end to the war with the Confederates, but it was unsuccessful. In March 1865, Union forces finally took Petersburg. They captured Richmond that April. Lee's troops began deserting in large numbers. Lee attempted to link up with the remnants of Joseph E. Johnston's defeated army, but Union cavalry forces led by Sheridan were able to stop the two armies from converging. Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Grant gave generous terms. Confederate troops surrendered their weapons and were allowed to return to their homes on the condition that they would not take up arms against the United States. Within a few weeks, the Civil War was over.
On April 14, five days after Grant's victory at Appomattox,Grant attended a cabinet meeting in Washington. Lincoln invited him and his wife to Ford's Theater, but they declined as they had plans to travel to Philadelphia. That night Lincoln was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth at the theater, and died the next morning. Secretary of War Stanton notified Grant of Lincoln's death and summoned him back to Washington. At Lincoln's funeral on April 19, Grant wept openly. He later said Lincoln was "the greatest man I have ever known."
Later that month, Sherman concluded an armistice agreement with Confederate General Joseph Johnston. Stanton and Grant agreed that the terms of the armistice were much too lenient. Grant renegotiated the agreement in to match the terms set at Appomattox.
At the war's end, Grant remained commander of the army. In May 1865, the Union League of Philadelphia purchased a house for the Grants in that city, Grant's military work was in Washington. He attempted to commute but by October he and Julia had moved to Washington. That summer took the Grants traveled to Albany, Galena, and throughout Illinois and Ohio, where they were met with enthusiastic receptions.
In November 1865, Johnson sent Grant on a fact-finding mission to the South. Grant recommended continuation of a reformed Freedmen's Bureau, which Johnson opposed. Grant did not believe the people of the South were ready for civilian self-rule, and that African-Americans in the South required protection by the federal government. Grant agreed with Johnson's policy of pardoning established southern leaders and in allowing representatives from the South to take their seats in Congress.
On July 25, 1866, Congress promoted Grant to the newly created rank of General of the Army of the United States. Johnson favored a lenient approach to Reconstruction, calling for an immediate return of the former Confederate states into the Union without any guarantee of African-American citizenship. The Radical Republican-controlled Congress opposed the idea and refused to admit Congressmen from the former Confederate states. Congress renewed the Freedmen's Bureau and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. During the congressional election campaign later that year, Johnson took his case to the people in his "Swing Around the Circle" speaking tour. Johnson pressured Grant, the most popular man in the country, to go on the tour. Grant reluctantly agreed. He confided to his wife that he thought Johnson's speeches were a "national disgrace".
Conflict between radicals and conservatives continued after the 1866 congressional elections. Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, which divided the southern states into five military districts to protect the freedmen's constitutional and congressional rights. Military district governors were to lead transitional governments in each district. Grant was to select the general to govern each district from a group designated by Johnson. When General Philip Sheridan removed public officials in Louisiana who impeded Reconstruction, Johnson was displeased and sought Sheridan's removal. Grant recommended against his dismissal. Throughout the Reconstruction period, Grant and the military protected the rights of more than 1,500 African-Americans elected to political office.
Johnson wished to replace Edwin Stanton, a Lincoln appointee who sympathized with Congressional Reconstruction and he wanted to replace him with Grant. Grant recommended against the move, in light of the Tenure of Office Act, which required Senate approval for cabinet removals. Johnson believed the Act did not apply to officers appointed by the previous president. He appointed Grant as an interim appointee during a Senate recess. Grant agreed to accept the post temporarily. Stanton, believing he had Senate protection, vacated the office until the Senate reconvened. When the Senate reinstated Stanton, Johnson told Grant to refuse to surrender the office and let the courts resolve the matter. But Grant felt that violating the Tenure of Office Act was a federal offense, which could result in a fine or imprisonment, so he returned the office to Stanton. This angered Johnson, who accused Grant of breaking his promise to remain Secretary of War. Grant defended himself in an angry letter to Johnson, breaking off any cordial relations between the two men. Grant's statement increased his popularity among Radical Republicans. Grant supported Johnson's impeachment, but he took no active role in the impeachment proceedings. Johnson barely survived impeachment, but was very much a lame duck president thereafter.
The Republicans chose Grant as their presidential candidate on the first ballot at the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago. He faced no significant opposition. In his letter of acceptance to the party, Grant concluded by stating "Let us have peace". This became his campaign slogan. For vice president, the delegates nominated House Speaker Schuyler Colfax.
Grant's General Order No. 11 (ordering the expulsion of all Jews in his military district in 1862) became an issue during the presidential campaign. He responded to the criticism saying "I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit." Grant remained at his post in Washington until July and returned to his home in Galena for the rest of the campaign.
The Democrats nominated former New York Governor Horatio Seymour. Their campaign focused mainly on ending Reconstruction and returning control of the South to the white planter class. This alienated many War Democrats in the North. The Democrats attacked Reconstruction and the Republican Party's support of African-American rights. Grant won the election by 300,000 votes out of 5,716,082 votes cast. He won 214 electoral votes to Seymour's 80. Grant at the age of 46 was, at the time, the youngest president ever elected.