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U.S. GRANT: THE UPS AND
DOWNS OF HIS CAREER
THE PRESIDENT THAT
SAW GRANT AS THE HOPE FOR WINNING THE WAR
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As an army
recruiter:
U.S. Grant
mustered in a
volunteer Galena
regiment and
took it to the
state capital,
Springfield.
There he took
charge of
mustering
several more
regiments and
came to the
attention of the
governor,
Richard Yates.
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In June 1861
Yates appointed
Grant colonel of
the rebellious
21st Illinois
volunteer
regiment. Grant
soon taught the
unruly men
military
discipline and
led them against
pro-Confederate
guerrillas in
Missouri.
Because of his
demonstrated
leadership
ability, Grant
was then made
brigadier
general in
command of the
volunteers
district at
Cairo, Illinois/
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Grant fought
his first
battle, an
indecisive
action
against the
Confederates
at Belmont,
Missouri, in
November
1861.
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Three months
later, aided
by Commodore
Andrew H.
Foote's
gunboats, he
captured
Fort
Donelson, on
the
Cumberland
River, and
Fort Henry,
on the
Tennessee
River. These
were the
first major
Union
victories of
the war.
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The
Confederate
commander,
Brigadier
General
Simon B.
Buckner,
an old
friend of
Grant's,
yielded to
Grant's hard
conditions
of “no terms
except
unconditional
and
immediate
surrender.”
Buckner's
surrender of
14,000 men
made Grant a
national
figure
almost
overnight,
and he was
nicknamed
“Unconditional
Surrender”
Grant. This
victory also
won him
promotion to
major
general of
volunteers.
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