Grant and Sherman

Dec 18

3 min read

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Grant and Sherman

March 1864

The oldest of six children, Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Ohio in 1822. His father was a tanner. He turned animal hides into leather. When he was seventeen, Grant’s father signed him up to attend the Military Academy at West Point without Grant’s knowledge. Reluctantly, Grant agreed to go. The congressman who sponsored Grant’s application to West Point mistakenly wrote his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant. (Simpson was Grant’s mother’s name.) By the time Grant arrived at West Point, it was too late to fix the mistake, and he became Ulysses S. Grant.

After West Point, Grant served in the United States army during the Mexican-American War. After the war, Grant married Julia Dent and had four children.Unfortunately, his position in the army required him to travel frequently. He rarely saw his family. In 1854, Grant resigned from the army and returned to Julia’s family plantation in Missouri. Grant attempted farming but failed. He failed at several other jobs and ended up back in Illinois working in his father’s tannery business.

In April 1861, the Civil War began. Grant was made colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. That summer, he was promoted to brigadier general. Grant had several important victories in the early years of the Civil War including the capture of Fort Donelson in Tennessee and the siege of Vicksburg in 1863.

William Tecumseh Sherman, one of eleven children, was also born in Ohio in 1820. His father was a member of the Supreme Court of Ohio, but he died suddenly when Sherman was nine. Sherman was then raised by a family friend, Senator Thomas Ewing. Ewing sponsored Sherman to attend the Military Academy at West Point when he was sixteen. Sherman and Grant attended West Point at the same time, but Sherman was a couple of years ahead of Grant.

Sherman went on to fight in the Second Seminole War in Florida but didn’t fight in the Mexican-American War. Instead, he became the superintendent of the Louisiana Military Academy. When the Civil War began, he resigned his position and joined the Union army. He fought bravely in the First Battle of Bull Run. As a result, he was promoted and sent to Kentucky to prevent the state from seceding. In Kentucky, he claimed that the war would not be short or easily won. As a result, he was demoted and sent to St. Louis.

In March 1864, Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general. Grant was only the third lieutenant general

in the history of the United States. The first had been George Washington. The second was Winfield Scott, another Civil War hero. Grant asked Sherman to meet him on his way to Washington, DC, to meet with President Lincoln. On their way, they stopped at Burnet House, a hotel in downtown Cincinnati. It was at this hotel that Grant and Sherman drew up their plans to end the Civil War.

Sherman would attack General Joseph Johnston’s forces in the South and take Atlanta and the railroads. This would cut the Confederate army in half and limit the movement of soldiers and supplies in the South. Meanwhile, Grant would attack Lee in Richmond. Their plan would finally end the Civil War.

Want to learn more about the Civil War? Check out the links below!