Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Ulysses S. Grant
Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822. When he was a child, there was no sign he would be the strong general that he would turn out to be. He loved to work with horses and could control the animals very well by the time he was seven or eight.
At the age of 16, Grant reluctantly enrolled at West Point. It was here that he took the name Ulysses S. Grant. Grant kept this name for the rest of his life. He was only an average student at West Point. He graduated twenty-first out of thirty-nine students. He did well in math and drawing. What impressed everyone was the way he worked with horses.
After graduation, Grant wanted to be in the cavalry. Instead, he was assigned to the infantry and stationed near St. Louis, Missouri. There he met Julia Dent, the sister of one of his former classmates. They fell in love and became engaged. Grant was soon assigned to fight in the Mexican-American War. He fought bravely and was promoted.
Upon his return from the war in 1848, Ulysses and Julia married. He was then assigned to different parts of the country. Julia was able to travel with him at first. Later he was assigned to posts in the West. The journey there was long and difficult, and it was a dangerous place to raise a family. He was not able to move them out with him to his posts in Oregon Territory and California. Grant did not like being separated from his family. In 1854, Grant resigned from the army.
