Edward Island, and at Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1872 he accompanied the Canadian engineer, Sir Sandford Fleming, on his overland journey to British Columbia, the result of which was embodied in an entertaining book, entitled Ocean to Ocean. In 1877 he became principal of Queen's College, Kingston, Ontario, for the endowment of which he has raised over $400,000, and by his learning and unique personality raised it to a high status among Canadian universities. He served as president of the Royal Society of Canada and as moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian church of Canada, and held the degree of LL. D. from Dalhousie and Toronto Universities. His other writings include Advantages of Imperial Federation, Our National Objects and Aims, The Religions of the World, etc. A man of powerful personality, marvelous versatility and indomitable perseverance, coupled with deep religious convictions, Principal Grant's death, which occurred in 1902, was a distinct loss, not only to the institution of which he was the head but to the Canadian people at large.
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| ULYSSES S. GRANT |
Grant, Ulysses S[1] When news that Fort Sumter had been fired on was flashed over the wires, in April, 1861, meetings were held in every city and village in the north, and volunteers by thousands offered their services in defense of the Union before President Lincoln issued his first call for troops. At a meeting in Galena, Illinois, a middle-aged clerk in the hardware and leather store of Jesse Grant came forward. Many did not know, until then, that U.S. Grant was a graduate of West Point, that he had served with distinction in the Mexican War and that he had resigned from the regular army with the rank of captain. His friends urged him to go to Washington and be restored to his old rank, for trained officers were in demand, and his rise would be rapid. It was characteristic of him that he did not think of his own advantage, but organized a company of volunteers and went with it to the state capital. Politics and self-seeking were foreign to his nature. Sheer ability and devotion to duty carried him to the top.
Born on April 27, 1822, on a farm near Point Pleasant, Ohio, the boy was named Hiram Ulysses. An error in his papers when he entered West Point Military Academy in 1839 dropped the Hiram and substituted Simpson, his mother's maiden name. He reported the error, but it was never corrected. Upon his graduation in 1843 he was sent to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and thence to the Mexican War where he won two brevets for gallantry. In 1848 he married Julia B. Dent, the sister of a classmate, in St. Louis, and saw several years' service in California in gold-fever days. In 1854 he resigned and retired to a farm near St. Louis, at the same time opening a real-estate office in the city. Like so many other great men Grant was a failure in business. He got into debt, and was glad to take a place as clerk in his father's store in Galena.
In May, 1861, Grant was appointed Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry, and in August he was made brigadier-general of volunteers and given command of southwestern Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo. From the start Grant's policy was strategic and aggressive, qualities which marked his whole career. He at once took possession of Paducah, a move which secured Kentucky to the Union. On Nov. 1 he routed the Confederate garrison at Belmont Mo., a result which checked the advance of a Confederate force under General Price. In Feb., 1862, he captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland, the latter after a three days' siege which resulted in the unconditional surrender of the garrison with 14,000 prisoners. This important victory broke the Confederate lines, and secured Federal control of western Kentucky and Tennessee. Grant was now made major-general of volunteers and given command of western Tennessee. On April 6th he fought the battle of Shiloh (which see), one of the severest engagements of the war. During the summer he fought the minor battles of Iuka and Corinth. He then determined to capture Vicksburg and thus open the Mississippi. The high ground east of the city offered the only favorable point of attack, but failing, after months of effort, to secure a foothold there, Grant transferred his army to the west side of the river and marched through the swamps to a point below the city, while Commodore Porter's fleet of gunboats, with the transports, ran past the Confederate batteries. Again crossing the river 30 miles below Vicksburg, he pushed rapidly between the armies of Johnston and Pemberton, defeating them separately and driving the latter into the defenses of Vicksburg. This stronghold, after a siege of six weeks, was surrendered July 4, 1863, with its garrison of 32,000 men. Grant's next campaign was for the relief of Chattanooga, where the Federal army, beaten at Chickamauga, was besieged and practically cut off from supplies. On Nov. 23rd to 25th the
- ↑ As a matter of curious interest U. S Grant Jr. informs the Editor of The Student's that the S was always written without a period and that while it may have meant “Simpson” it was never so written.
