Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant

Abstract

In 1854, U.S. Army Captain Ulysses S. Grant underwent a demoralizing stretch in his military career. Following his service in the Mexican American War, the Army transferred Grant to the isolated Fort Humboldt in northern California. Separated from his wife, Julia, and their two children, Grant suffered intense bouts of loneliness and occasionally turned to alcohol for reprieve. Grant’s drinking eventually bled into his work, and his superior officer forced his resignation after Grant arrived at a pay meeting hungover. He returned home in shame, and many, including his father Jesse, had lost faith in him. Few would have expected that, a mere ten years later, Grant would save the Union from political schism and become the first Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army since George Washington. For John Reeves, the decade between Grant’s resignation in 1854 and his accession to Lieutenant General in 1864 constituted the most critical juncture in Grant’s life, but scholars have not given these years adequate focus. Reeves’s book follows Grant’s life during this time and documents his family ties to both North and South, his multiple attempts to find a new career in antebellum civilian life, and his eventual reentry and redemption in the Union Army.