He took part in many battles and distinguished himself by his coolness and courage under fire. In the battle of Monterey his regiment lacked ammunition and Lieutenant Grant volunteered to go for it to headquarters, four miles away. The route he had to travel was exposed to the enemy’s fire. He hung his foot on the saddle and held on to his horse’s mane; thus swinging on the horse’s side he galloped off and carried the message, returning unharmed.
In Mexico served many men and officers with and against whom he fought in the War between the States. He said afterwards that the knowledge of their character and methods which he gained during the campaign in Mexico was very useful. In the battle of Chapultepec, Grant, with the help of some comrades, dragged a small cannon up into the belfry of a church and used the place as a fort with great advantage. Major Robert E. Lee, in his report of the battle, commended the young lieutenant, saying that “Second Lieutenant Grant behaved with distinguished gallantry.” In 1848 Grant returned home and that year he was married.
Soon after, his regiment was ordered to California and Oregon. Unwilling to be separated from his family, in 1854 he resigned and came home. From his pay he had not been able to lay aside enough to defray his expenses home and these were paid by his father.
At thirty-two he had to begin the world with a wife and children to support. He moved to Missouri to a small tract of land belonging to his wife. Here he cut and hauled logs and split shingles and built a cabin. He named the place Hardscrabble, because, he said, life there was a “hard scrabble.” He worked diligently raising corn, wheat, and potatoes and cutting cord-wood for sale to help out his expenses, but he did not succeed as a farmer. At the end of three years, he was two thousand dollars in debt. Then he tried the real estate business but at that too he failed.
“Grant did not seem to be just calculated for business, but a more honest, generous man never lived,” said one who knew him in those days. “I don’t believe he knew what dishonor was.”
At last he gave up the struggle in Missouri and went to Galena, Illinois, where his brothers were carrying on a leather business. He began work in their shop as a clerk at six hundred dollars a year.
But he did not finish out the first year. The War between the States began. Grant helped to raise a company of soldiers in Galena and drilled them. As Colonel Grant, he was put in charge of the twenty-first Illinois regiment which he made the best regiment in the state. A little later he was made brigadier-general. After several skirmishes in the border states of Missouri and Kentucky, he went, in February, 1862, with seventeen thousand men and a fleet of gunboats to attack Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. Fort Henry was taken by the fleet before the army reached it, and then the land and water forces made ready to attack Fort Donelson. General Buckner, who had been with Grant in Mexico, wrote asking Grant for terms of surrender. “No terms other than an immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted,” Grant replied. “I propose to move immediately upon your works.” As Buckner was unable to hold the fort, he had to surrender on these terms. Grant was now made major-general.
His next plan was to attack and break the base of Confederate railroad communications in northern Mississippi. For this purpose he marched towards Corinth. The Confederate general, Albert Sidney Johnston, instead of waiting to be attacked, threw his forces gallantly against the Federal army. The battle raged the whole day, without decisive results. That night General Buell brought Grant heavy reinforcements, and in the next day’s battle General Johnston was killed. The Confederates were forced back to Corinth, contending for every inch of ground.
Grant’s third move was to divide the Confederacy by getting command of the posts along the Mississippi River, thus cutting off the western base of supplies. The fleet under Farragut had tried to carry out this scheme. But Vicksburg and Port Hudson were both held by the Confederates, and between these they controlled the river and brought supplies from the west. Vicksburg, called “the Gibraltar of the Mississippi,” was strongly situated. In five battles Grant drove back the Confederate forces and in May, 1863, besieged Vicksburg, resolved to starve it into surrender. Many said that this was a foolish attempt and tried to persuade Lincoln to remove Grant, but Lincoln resolved to give him a chance. Grant closed in on the Confederates and cut off their line of supplies. In July General Pemberton asked for terms and received this answer: “The unconditional surrender of the city and the garrison. I have no terms other than these.” The taking of Vicksburg was a great victory for the Federals. President Lincoln wrote Grant a personal letter: “My dear General, I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country.... When you turned northward, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. Yours very truly, A. Lincoln.” Those who had tried to get Grant removed saw that they too were wrong, but they lacked the president’s manly frankness and did not confess it.
Grant was given command of all the armies in the West. He went to Tennessee to relieve the division of the Union army under Rosecrans which the Confederates had hemmed up in Chattanooga. It was shut in by the Tennessee river on the north and by mountains on all other sides. Grant, with Sherman, Sheridan and other brave generals aiding him, marched up the mountain and fought a great battle on Lookout Mountain “above the clouds,” by which the troops in Chattanooga were relieved.