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Grant in a West Point
After graduating from West Point ranked 21 in a class of 39 in June, Grant learns that he is assigned to duty, beginning September 30, with the Fourth U. S. Infantry at Jefferson Barracks, just outside St. Louis, Missouri. His rank, established automatically by his West Point graduation, will be brevet second lieutenant. -
U. S. and Mexican
Grant begins to march across the disputed territory. General Zachary Taylor's force reaches the Rio Grande on March 28. Small clashes between U. S. and Mexican units lead to a Mexican declaration of war on April 23. "Even if the annexation itself could be justified, the manner in which the subsequent war was forced upon Mexico cannot . . . The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions." -
Palo Alto
Taylor wins the battle of Palo Alto as Grant finds himself under fire for the first time. "You want to know what my feelings were on the field of battle! I do not know that I felt any peculiar sensation. War seems much less terrible to persons engaged in it than to those who read of the battles... During that night I believe all slept as soundly on the ground at Palo Alto as if they had been in a palace. For my own part I don't think I even dreamed of battles." -
Fourth Infantry
Grant's Fourth Infantry is ordered to leave General Taylor's force and join that of General Winfield Scott. The troops retrace their route across Mexico to Camp Page on the Gulf. -
Grants assigned dreary outpost
Grant reports at Detroit, Michigan. He learns that he has been assigned to duty at the dreary outpost of Madison Barracks at Sackett's Harbor, New York, on Lake Ontario. By spring of the following year, Grant has obtained a transfer to Detroit. -
Sackett's Harbor
1850 to 1851 Grant spends a full year at Sackett's Harbor. Then the Fourth Infantry is ordered to the Pacific Coast. Grant says goodbye to his wife and son, who will be staying with his parents, and reports at Governor's Island, New York, for embarkation on the steamer Ohio. -
Fort Vancouver
Grant arrives at Fort Vancouver, Oregon (later Washington) Territory. Prices are inflated on the Pacific Coast, and Grant's attempts to supplement his captain's pay are unsuccessful. Discouraged and unhappy about the long separation from his family, which now includes the second son he has never seen, and with no prospect of reunion, Grant finds consolation in drink, as fellow officers will later recall. He begins to consider resigning. -
Grants votes
Grant casts his only presidential ballot prior to the time he is himself elected. The nation is deeply divided over the issue of slavery. "It was evident to my mind that the election of a Republican President in 1856 meant the secession of all the Slave States, and rebellion. Under these circumstances I preferred the success of a candidate whose election would prevent or postpone secession, to seeing the country plunged into a war the end of which no man could foretell. With a Democrat elected b -
Grant is appointed mustering officer
Grant is appointed mustering officer. It is a temporary job which ends within two weeks. -
Commander at Memphis
Grant leaves Halleck at Corinth to establish separate headquarters as district commander at Memphis -
Grant is assigned to all armies of the United States
Grant is assigned to command all armies of the United States. He decides to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. First, however, he makes a quick trip to Nashville to confer with Sherman, who is given Grant's former command on March 18. By March 23, Grant is back in Washington -
Grant's promotion
Lincoln signs the papers for Grant's promotion to major general of volunteers. -
Talk about Lee's surrender
Grant meets with the Cabinet to discuss Lee's surrender and the future of the South. Lincoln invites the Grants to join him at the theatre that evening. -
Congress establishes a new rank
Congress establishes a new rank, general of the armies of the United States, to which Grant is immediately appointed. -
Grant resigns
Grant resigns his position as Secretary of War ad interim after Congress reassembles and insists upon the reinstatement of Stanton. Johnson believes that Grant has betrayed him; Grant now openly breaks with Johnson.
