50 Fun Facts About Ulysses S. Grant

Grant was which number president of the United States?

He served two terms, from 1869 to 1877.

What was Grant's name at birth?

His father always called him Ulysses; the 'S.' came later by accident.

In which state was Grant born?

His family moved to Georgetown, Ohio, in 1823, where five siblings were born.

How did Grant end up with the name 'U. S. Grant'?

Representative Thomas L. Hamer, unfamiliar with him, changed the name; colleagues then called him 'Sam'.

What nickname did Grant's army colleagues give him because of his initials?

'U.S.' was read as Uncle Sam.

Where did Grant rank in his 1843 West Point class of 39?

He was the academy's 'most proficient' horseman but was assigned to the infantry, not the cavalry.

Grant's father made his living in what trade?

Grant later worked in the family's leather goods shop, Grant & Perkins, in Galena, Illinois.

What was Grant's wife's maiden name?

Grant's abolitionist parents skipped the wedding because the Dents owned slaves.

What did Grant name the cabin he built on his father-in-law's farm in 1856?

Julia called it an 'unattractive cabin'; the family had little money but always enough food.

In which Illinois town was Grant living when the Civil War began?

He had moved there in April 1860 to work for his father's leather goods business.

Grant demanded 'unconditional surrender' at which 1862 stronghold?

Simon Bolivar Buckner submitted, handing Grant the Union's first major victory and 12,000 prisoners.

Which April 1862 battle was the costliest in American history to that point?

Its 23,746 casualties stunned the nation and brought accusations that Grant had been drunk.

Grant's 1863 capture of Vicksburg gave the Union control of which river?

The siege lasted seven weeks and split the Confederacy in two.

Grant's 1862 General Order No. 11, later a campaign issue, expelled whom from his district?

As president he appointed more than fifty Jewish people to federal office to make amends.

When Lincoln made Grant lieutenant general in 1864, who was the only previous holder of that rank?

The promotion gave Grant command of all Union armies.

The brutal series of 1864 Virginia battles Grant fought against Lee is called what?

It ran through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor in May and June.

Where did Lee surrender to Grant on April 9, 1865?

Grant let the Confederates keep their horses and ordered his men to stop celebrating.

What did Grant allow Lee's troops to keep after the surrender?

He told his men 'the rebels are our countrymen again'.

Why did the Grants decline Lincoln's invitation to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865?

The conspiracy that killed Lincoln also targeted top cabinet members.

Which president promoted Grant to General of the Army in 1866?

The two later broke over Reconstruction policy.

Which Grant phrase became the Republican slogan in 1868?

He played no overt role in the campaign, touring the West with Sherman and Sheridan instead.

Who was Grant's first-term vice president?

The 1868 convention nominated Grant unanimously on the first ballot and Colfax on the fifth.

Which chief justice swore Grant in on March 4, 1869?

In his inaugural address Grant urged ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment.

Which constitutional amendment, on voting rights, did Grant champion?

He also prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan and signed the bill creating the Justice Department.

Which federal agency was created in 1870 under Grant to enforce Reconstruction?

It let the Attorney General and a new Solicitor General prosecute the Klan.

In 1871 Grant created the first what?

Civil service reform was one of the few bright spots in a scandal-plagued administration.

Who served as Grant's long-running and widely praised Secretary of State?

Fish shaped the Treaty of Washington that settled the Alabama Claims.

The Alabama Claims, settled under Grant, concerned a Confederate warship built where?

The CSS Alabama's raids on Union merchant ships were resolved by the 1871 Treaty of Washington.

Which Caribbean territory did Grant try and fail to annex?

Senator Charles Sumner blocked the treaty for the modern Dominican Republic.

Which senator led opposition to Grant's annexation plan?

Grant retaliated by sacking Sumner's friend John Lothrop Motley as minister to Britain.

Which two financiers tried to corner the gold market in 1869's Black Friday?

They controlled the Erie Railroad and wanted high gold prices to boost crop exports.

Which 1873 law ended the legal basis for bimetallism, angering 'Silverites'?

It established the gold dollar as the monetary standard, producing deflation.

Which brokerage's 1873 collapse set off the Panic of 1873?

It failed to sell bonds for the Northern Pacific Railway.

The Whiskey Ring scandal involved distillers colluding with officials of which department?

Grant wrote 'Let no guilty man escape' on a letter, but his aide Babcock was acquitted anyway.

Which cabinet secretary uncovered the Whiskey Ring?

He fired hundreds of corrupt appointees and recommended David Dyer to prosecute the ring in St. Louis.

Which Secretary of War resigned in 1876 over kickbacks from the Fort Sill tradership?

The House impeached him anyway, but the Senate acquitted.

Whom did Grant blame in the press for the 1876 Little Big Horn disaster?

Grant called it a sacrifice of troops brought on by Custer.

Who was Grant's vice president during his second term?

The Massachusetts senator replaced Colfax on the 1872 ticket.

To resolve the disputed 1876 election, Grant signed legislation creating what?

It ruled Rutherford B. Hayes the winner.

Grant was the first president to do what after leaving office?

The two-and-a-half-year tour took in Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East and Asia.

How much did Grant raise from a Nevada mining investment to fund his world tour?

The Hayes administration lent him three Navy ships along the way.

Who nominated Grant for a third term at the 1880 convention with the 'hails from Appomattox' speech?

Grant led the first ballot with 304 votes but never reached the 378 needed.

Which swindler's collapse of the brokerage he ran with Grant's son Buck left Grant penniless?

Ward considered Grant 'a child in business matters'.

Which businessman lent Grant $150,000 and then took title to his home?

He offered to forgive the debt; Grant refused and repaid with his Civil War mementos.

Which author offered Grant an unheard-of 70% royalty on his memoirs?

The Century Magazine had offered only 10%.

Grant died of what illness in July 1885?

He finished the memoir on July 18, five days before his death.

Roughly how much did Julia Grant eventually earn in royalties from the memoirs?

That is about $16 million in 2025 money.

Where in upstate New York did Grant die?

Doctors had sent him there to escape the summer heat while he wrote.

Grant's Tomb was modeled after which ancient wonder?

John Hemenway Duncan's design was completed on April 27, 1897, Grant's 75th birthday.

Grant's Tomb is the largest mausoleum on which continent?

It stands in Riverside Park, where 1.5 million attended his New York funeral.