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Biography
Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant Ohio. He was raised into a methodist family. He assumed the duties expected of him as a young child. At the age of 17. with the help of his father, he was nominated for a position at the United States Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1843. He was then assigned to duty as a regiment quartermaster, managing supplies and equipment in the 4th U.S Infantry and achieved the rank of brevet second lieutenant. -
School
Grant graduated from the United States Military Academy in West point in 1843. -
Mexican-American War
During the Mexican-American War Grant served under generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Discontent with his duties as quartermaster, he made his way to the front lines to engage in the battle. -
Marriage
After a four-year engagement he married Julia Boggs Dent. He and Julia had 4 children. : Frederick Dent Grant; Ulysses S. "Buck" Grant, Jr.; Ellen Wrenshall "Nellie" Grant; and Jesse Root Grant. -
Promotion
Grant was promoted to Colonel and put in charge of the unruly Twenty-first Illinois volunteer regiment. -
Civil War
Grant attacked Fort Belmont taking 3,114 Union troops by boat on November 7, 1861, and initially took the fort, although his army was later pushed back to Cairo by the reinforced Confederate General Gideon J. Pillow. Though a defeat logistically, the battle instilled confidence in Grant and his volunteers.