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Ulysses S. Grant Information Center: Home

Information about General and President Ulysses S. Grant and resources for doing research. Includes material suitable for the K-12 audience.

Ulysses S. Grant Information Center - Resources and Research Tools Relating to America's Greatest Hero

Grant Promoted to General of the Armies

More than 150 years after leading the Union Armies to victory in the Civil War, Ulysses Grant is about to be promoted to General of the Armies of the United States.

The move, authorized in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, would make Grant just the third officer to receive the rank. The others are John Pershing, who was promoted to the rank in 1919, and George Washington, who received a posthumous promotion in 1976, according to the Arlington National Cemetery website.

Purpose of this Website

The purpose of this website is to disseminate selected information and resources on Union General and Eighteenth President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. Informativeness, relevancy, accuracy and fairness are the main criteria the author of the website applied in selecting material. 

The reader will find both links to pre-selected websites and documents and original documents written by the author of the website and other experts in the field of history and the study of U. S. Grant. 

The audience is anyone interested in Grant, including the K-12 audience, for whom there is a section in this website dedicated to age-appropriate materials for students. There is also a section for those wishing to do advanced, in-depth research.

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Fast Facts About Ulysses S. Grant

  • Born: April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio
  • Parents: Jesse Root Grant (1794-1873) and Hannah Simpson Grant (1798-1883). USG was their first child.
  • Brothers: Samuel Simpson Grant, 1825-1861. Orvil Lynch Grant, 1835-1881 (obituary).
  • Sisters: Rachel Clara Grant, 1828-1865. Virginia Paine Grant Corbin, 1832-1913. Mary Frances Grant Cramer, 1839-1905.
  • Children: Frederick Dent Grant (May 30, 1850-April 12, 1912).    Ulysses "Buck" S. Grant, Jr. (July 22, 1852-Sept. 25, 1929).   Ellen "Nellie" Wrenshall Grant (July 4, 1855-August 30, 1922).   Jesse Root Grant, II (Feb. 6, 1858-June 8, 1934)
  • Went to West Point: 1839
  • Graduated from West Point: 1843
  • Mexican War: 1844-1846
  • Married, August 22, 1848 to Julia Dent Grant (Jan. 26, 1826-December 14, 1902)
  • Left the Army: 1854
  • Returned to the Army: 1861
  • Promoted to Lieutenant General of all Union Armies: March, 1864
  • Received Surrender from General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox: April 9, 1865
  • Elected President 1868 and 1872. Served from 1869 to 1877. Forty-six years old when first elected
  • Went on World Tour: 1877-1879
  • Died: July 23, 1885 of throat cancer at Mt. McGregor, New York. Age 63.
  • Link to a complete timeline from PBS's American Experience.
  • Link to Grant's complete military service from the Grant Presidential Library.

Critique of Endnotes Relating to Grant and Drinking Allegations in Grant, by Ron Chernow

If you use any of my opinions in your own research, please cite me. Dr. Marie Kelsey.

Ulysses S. Grant: A Bibliography. Free Update Here. Original Volume May Be Ordered From Amazon

Author of this Website, Dr. Marie Kelsey

Information About the Author

♦Marie E. Kelsey, Ph.D.
♦mkelsey@css.edu
♦Professor Emerita, College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, Minnesota
♦Ph.D. Library Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison
♦Former director of the Educational and Media and Technology program (licensure and master's degree) at St. Scholastica
♦Full disclosure: Ulysses S. Grant is my avocation and I do not have a degree in history.
♦Author of Ulysses S. Grant, A Bibliography, Westport, Connecticut, Praeger, 2005. Buy it at Amazon, get the free update above.