Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and rose to become a leading Union general in the Civil War (1861-1865) and the eighteenth U.S. President (1869-1877). He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and served as an army officer for many years. At the start of the Civil War, Grant was working in his father’s leather store in Illinois.

The Governor appointed him colonel of an unruly volunteer regiment, and by August 1861, he had risen to brigadier general of volunteers. On July 3, 1863, he led Union troops to victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, a decisive battle in helping the North win the Civil War. In 1864, President Lincoln appointed Grant general-in-chief.

Grant became a symbol of Union victory, and many Northern homes may have displayed the image of him shown here, which was typical of the patriotic images sold and distributed during the Civil War. Grant was elected president in 1868 and served two terms. Ulysses S. Grant died in 1885, soon after completing his memoirs.