Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant

Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant were both exceptional Civil War Generals. They had differences and similarities, Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Stratford, Virginia, his father was a Revolutionary War veteran named Colonel Henry Lee or “Light Horse Harry.” When he was 18 years old Robert enrolled in West Point Military Academy, there he set to work to learn battle strategy. He came out of the academy without a single demerit and he received perfect scores in cavalry, artillery, and infantry. After leaving the academy he married Mary Custis, the great granddaughter of George Washington. The two of them had three sons and four daughters. Even with such a large family Robert remained in the military and traveled around the country. In the year 1846 he was finally able to prove his abilities as the Mexican American War began. In the war he worked under General Winfield Scott, and he showed great bravery and skill throughout his time in the war. In the end he was haled a hero and returned to his family who had been living on a plantation owned by his father-in-law father who had died a while before, and then spent his time trying to restore the plantation to success. Later in 1859, he went back into the army where he worked at a Texas cavalry post. When October came, Lee received a break from his duties to stop John Brown and his men who were planning an attack on Harpers Ferry. In this mission Lee had a great victory, he and his group captured Brown and put an end to his slave insurrection plans. This success put his name on the list of men to lead the Union in case the nation went to war. Lee was offered the position of general by Abraham Lincoln, but he not only declined it, he resigned from the army. Lee had doubts on his side of the slavery issue and when Virginia seceded from the Union, Lee agreed to help the Confederates by being their general. He did very well leading the Confederate Army, and was having a successful campaign in the North although he met many perils and in the battles he lost a many men. By the summer of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was prevailing over him, and this continued until the Battle of Appomattox where the Confederates surrendered and Lee responded by saying “I suppose there is nothing for me to do but go and see General Grant,”(1)  following that he said “And I would rather die a thousand deaths.”(2) So Robert and Grant met and arranged the terms for the end of the war. After the war he went home to his family and lived a quiet life until he died from a stroke in 1870.

            Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, his father was Jesse Root Grant, who owned a tanning business and his mother was Hannah Simpson Grant who Ulysses Grant took after more than his father. Grant had a rather uneventful childhood, but he always despised the idea of ever going to work in the undesirable tanning shop that his father had established. At 17 he joined the Military Academy at West Point but he did not do the best there, he received several demerits in the school and had average scores, therefore, after a while he decided that the Academy was not for him. He did graduate from school, however, following which, he served four years in the military. He was situated in St. Louis, Missouri, and it was there where he met Julia Dent, who would later become his wife. In 1844, he proposed to Julia, she agreed but they were not able to marry before Grant had to leave for his military duties in the Mexican American War. In this war he served as a quartermaster under General Zachary Taylor and later under Winfield Scott, during his time in battle he learned much about strategy and efficient military tactics. He also thought that the Mexican American War was not fought for a good cause, he felt that America was only trying to gain more territory so that slavery could excel. After the war had ended, Grant was finally able to marry Julia Dent having been engaged for four years. Through the next six years of their lives, they had four children, but Grant had gone away for military work several times, and during his absence he was lonely and began drinking to ease his pain, although this brought him a bit of a bad reputation. He was given the position of captain, in 1853, and was transferred to Fort Humboldt on the Northern coast of California, though before long he returned home. Grant was never very successful at leading a normal life, and to support his family he finally went and got a job at his father’s tannery business, where he served as a clerk, Grant volunteered back into the military when the Civil War began, and throughout it he was a successful general, then at the end of the war he gave generous terms to Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army out of kindness and respect. There after, instead of settling down like Lee, Grant ran to be president and won, serving as the 18^th President of the United States. After leaving office, he once again had trouble fitting into a regular life, and was having a serious financial issue, on top of it all, he was told he had throat cancer. Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885, and was buried in New York City.

            Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant both took different sides in the war, but that shows how both of them were loyal to what they believed. They both had families. They were both excellent generals, and they both attended the same military school, and died from health problems. Both lee and Grant were extraordinary leaders who made a great impact on the development of America. 

Bibliography: (1)-(2) gathered from the Ron Paul curriculum 8^th grade history class.