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| Grant missed his family so much that he resigned from the
army and took a job as a farmer. Shortly after he started farming he decided he was not a
good farmer, so he sold all his farming equipment at an auction. After giving up farming
he took jobs as a real-estate agent, county engineer, and a food store clerk. After
many jobs failed, in the spring of 1860 his dad hired him in his tannery for $800 a year.
Then on April 16, 1860 he was called to serve in the Union Army at the outbreak of the
Civil War. In 1861 the governor of Illinois appointed him Colonel of the 21st
Volunteers. He took his regiment to Missouri where he was promoted to Brigadier General.
On February 2, he took 17,000 men and captured Fort Donnellson. This was where General
Buckner asked for surrender terms and Grant replied, " No terms accepted except an
unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." After Buckner surrendered,
Grant became Major General. In the fall of 1863, he took command of the entire Union Army.
When he took command, the army was pinned down at The Battle of Chattanooga. Grant's
expert planning and strategic command, helped the Union Army win the Civil War. It also
helped Grant become president. Grant ran for president in 1868. He won the election and was sworn into office on March 4, 1869. Grant was an unexceptional president. He did very little to help the U.S. and very little to uncorrupt the different Government departments. Grant went bankrupt in 1884. Slowly dying of cancer, he wrote a two-volume book called Personal Memories. This book was about his military career. Ulysses S. Grant died on July 23, 1885 from severe throat cancer. |
