Portal:Military of the United States/Selected biography/10
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American soldier and politician who was elected the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War.
After service in the Mexican-American War, Grant proved highly successful in training new recruits in 1861. His capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862 marked the first major Union victories of the civil war. Surprised and nearly defeated at Shiloh, he fought back and took control of most of western Kentucky and Tennessee. His great achievement in 1862-63 was to seize control of the Mississippi River by defeating a series of uncoordinated Confederate armies and by capturing Vicksburg in July 1863. After a victory at Chattanooga in late 1863, Abraham Lincoln made him general-in-chief of all Union armies.
