Ask Ulysses S Grant

I will answer all asks in character as a 63-year-old Grant in 1885 answering either a written letter, or an in-person visit, based on research.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

I am an amateur historian who will answer all asks in character based on research. If I don't know, I will try to find info or make an educated guess if I can't find the answer.

He/him both in and out of character.

Born 2006, BA Philosophy student, Northeastern United States.

If you ask something out of pocket or nsft, I don't mind, but keep in mind I will be answering in character as a 63-year-old married man in the year 1885 who is answering either a written letter, or an in-person visit.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Good evening General! How do you suppose one would go about being a better American? Surely someone who has invested this much time and energy, as you have, into seeing the American experiment progress would have a few words of wisdom to share. Your input would be greatly appreciated! Your humble servant - James 🗽

General and President Garfield,

Thank you kindly for writing to me. I am most honored to receive your correspondence.

I believe that one can be a good, true, and loyal American whether one was born here or abroad, whether one's parents or grandparents were born here or abroad, and regardless of one's or one's parents' or grandparents' previous condition of servitude.

I also believe that one can always improve one's citizenship through civic participation, educating oneself regarding the history of this country, and through uplifting one's countryman.

In this era of Reconstruction, I think it is of the utmost importance to uplift the Colored man and support policies to improve his condition and to strengthen the standing of his rights and protections.

Civic participation is crucial in this time of historic policymaking that will shape this nation's future, for good or ill. Voting if possible, ensuring and protecting the rights of one's countryman to vote (particularly the Colored man), not merely in national elections, but in local elections if and whenever possible. Local elections have effects rippling outwards that affect the national scale. Many Presidents were once Mayors, Senators, et cetera. Vote in favor of schools, libraries, and the public health, and to support labor and those less fortunate than oneself. Do not expect the Churches to do all of the charity work, as not all of those in need of charity are Christians. Unionize if possible.

These are my humble opinions as an old soldier, a former statesman, and a Midwestern American. I am flattered that you value my opinions on this matter, good sir.

Out of character under the read more:

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER:

I am not stating these opinions as my own, but rather attempting to replicate the opinions of an early 1880s Grant (normally I go for 1885 specifically but in this case we need President Garfield to have been living). This post (above the read more) has been written in-character! Use of outdated language (Colored) is entirely for the purposes of historical accuracy!

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Hi General Grant! What was your relationship with Roscoe Conkling like?

Dear Anonymous #5,

Thank you kindly for your letter. It always brings me great joy to open friendly mail.

Senator Conkling is a dear friend of my wife and I, as he has been ever since we met him. Ours is a very fond friendship. Both personally and politically, he has been a great support to me. He is an excellent speaker and very passionate about racial justice.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

hello general grant!!

what were your thoughts on john aaron rawlins, your late chief of staff & secretary of war? his life unfortunately met a tragic end, and i am sorry if this question is hard for you.

Good afternoon, young man. Thank you for your visit, and for understanding the pain of my loss, even over a decade on. Major General Rawlins was a close personal friend of mine before the late War of the Rebellion. He overcame great adversity in his earlier years, and I admire him deeply. He was devastated by the loss of his first wife, and I felt for him. When he fell ill, we were both terrified, but he fought both the war and his disease with great courage, despite his lack of military training.

I am always glad to see young people studying the War of the Rebellion. I wish you the best of luck in your studies.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

How did you decide on the beard?

Dear Anonymous #4,

Thank you for writing to me. I'm always glad to open a friendly letter.

I began to grow out my beard when I was stationed in California from '52-'54. To start, it was a matter of misery, if I may write candidly. My separation from my wife and our then two sons, one who was born soon after I had to leave for California, made me miserable.

Nor did I shave when I had to resign my commission and attempt to scratch a living from the land in St. Louis, nor when I had to abandon that prospect and work in my father's shop in Galena. My beard grew quite long in this time.

However, soon after I had been promoted to Brigadier General during the late War of the Rebellion, I realized the length of my beard had become unpractical. I decided to trim it to a more suitable length, but not to shave entirely, as a fresh-shaven face is nearly impossible to maintain in wartime due to the frequency with which one must shave to maintain such appearance.

As I became well-known, the beard became inextricable from the public image of me, and thus was all but necessary to maintain as it was.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Can I be you and Julia’s third?

Dear Anonymous #3,

Thank you for taking the time to write me a letter. I apologize, I do not catch your meaning. Our third what? Usually when we say "our third", we refer to our third child, Nellie. If you were not aware that the number of our children surpasses two, I must inform you that it does. I presume by third you meant third child, as I cannot conceive of what else you could possibly mean, my apologies. If your desire is to be adopted in some way, which is the only possible meaning I can glean from your letter, I am deeply sorry that your parental circumstances or lack thereof lead you to desire to be cared for by Julia and myself. Currently, our financial circumstances are not ideal, and I am getting on in age, so I am sure you must be either unaware or in desperate straits.

Regardless, I am dreadfully sorry if I have misconstrued the meaning of your letter, or if I have disappointed you by my hesitance to take a stranger in in the sense of adoption. I assure you, it is nothing personal, I am sure you are most honorable and deserving, we are simply bad off monetarily and considerably old for such a thing.

I am assuming you mean "third" as in third child, as I simply cannot conceive of any other meaning. If I am incorrect in my assumption, please forgive me.

[Author's Note: Out of character under read more:]

If you read the way Mrs and General Grant wrote about Roscoe Conkling (politician from Utica), it seems they may have already had a third! I'm not kidding, the more I read about their relationship to Conkling, the more it seems like at the very least they both had a major crush on him and he had a major crush on Grant. Contemporaries including Grant's own son describe the relationship between the General and Conkling as almost romantic! Julia clearly had a crush on Conkling as well. At the very least, there was "threesome subtext", and at most, there may have been a historical power throuple! I'm serious!

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

what does the s stand for? 🤨

Thank you for your visit, It is always wonderful to have a visitor.

The story of my name is a most interesting one. When I was born, I was given the name Hiram Ulysses Grant. Hiram is a Biblical name, as my parents were devout Methodists. However, everyone always called me Ulysses, or "Lys".

Since I was already known by my middle name, my first name was not widely known. When I went to the Academy at West Point, an "S" was erroneously entered as my middle initial, likely after my mother's maiden name of Simpson. When I explained and asked for the erroneous "S" to be replaced with the correct "H", this was denied. Until I graduated, I continued to sign my name as U. H. Grant, before finally giving in.

The "S", therefore, does not stand for anything in particular, though many incorrectly render it as my mother's maiden name of Simpson, which does not bother me, though it is incorrect.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Hello sir. Out of all the horses you've had, I doubt there were any you felt particularly badly toward, but which would you say gave you the most trouble? I'd also like to know of any closest to your heart.

- 🐎 anon

Dear Horse Anonymous,

Thank you for writing to me, it means a lot to hear kind words from an interested party, whomever and wherever you may be, particularly on a topic so close to my heart.

You are correct in assessing that I could never feel badly towards a horse. They were merely animals, and their behaviors were responses to stimuli and to past experiences. I could never fault them or take their actions personally, as they were wholly sincere and never pointed in all that they did, which is part of why I get on with horses more easily than people.

As for trouble, I have certainly had trouble. Despite former rebel General Longstreet (a close friend before and since the late War of the Rebellion) asserting that I could ride anything, I have had experience with some particularly difficult horses (though no fault of the horses, merely fault of their previous masters).

During the aforementioned War, my first horse during said conflict was named "Jack". He was simply not suited for combat use, for which I do not blame him, as combat is not for what he was bred.

I also had a pony, captured from the South, called "Jeff Davis". He never gave me any trouble, but he tended to bite and kick stablehands, and anyone else who bothered him. He was nothing but sweet to me.

I have also had some bad experiences with horses that were not mine. I do not blame the horses, for they were not properly broken, but I do blame their masters for given me unbroken horses without prior warning simply due to my repute as a horseman, I am only human, and there is only so much I can do in such a short frame of time.

In terms of those I was most close to, I would have to say "Cincinnati" most of all, as well as "Egypt", and "Jeff Davis". "Cincinnati" was a lovely, sweet, gentle horse while also being well tempered to battle. We suited one another like two halves of one creature. The only others I trusted to ride him were Admiral Ammen and President Lincoln.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Thoughts on Edwin Booth, gen’ral?

Good day, young man, thank kindly you for your visit. I take it you are fond of the theater, a most cultured interest.

General Sherman and I have gone to the theater together a few times. He even tried to get me to appreciate opera, which is in a language I do not speak in multiple ways, as I am completely tone-deaf (the language of music, and the Italian language). I have never seen Mr Booth perform (nor either of his brothers for whom acting is a shared pursuit), this I would surely remember. I like Shakespeare's works as much as anyone else, though I do not have the sensitive nature nor the education to appreciate his Tragedies, nor the fine and subtle acting that Mr Booth is known for.

He is a friend of General Sherman, and a former friend of Brevet General Badeau. From what I heard from General (then Colonel) Badeau at City Point, Mr Booth, who had nursed him to health in his Baltimore home during the Draft Riots, following his injury at Port Hudson, was of a very gentle and somewhat nervous temper with a deeply sensitive nature. I never met the man, though I am sure he would be good company. General Badeau seemed to think so, indeed, he spoke of him at great length. From what I've heard, one of Mr Booth's brothers, a rather intense sort, was also present at Mr Booth's home during the Draft Riots, as was a Black man unfamiliar to any of the three to whom Mr Booth had offered his home as refuge from the Riots. From this and all else that I have heard regarding him, Mr Booth seems to be a good man.

Forgive me, I am not entirely sure whether you ask my thoughts of Mr Booth as a man, an actor, or both.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Hi General Grant 😁😁😁thoughts on McClellan …🥹

Good evening, young man, thank you kindly for paying me a visit.

Since you are a student of the late War of the Rebellion, I am sure you know that I served under General McClellan. Though we operated in different theaters of the War, I was aware of his actions as Commanding General at the time. I admire the concern he had for the welfare of his men.

If I may speak with you confidentially (I trust that this will not get out to the press, I trust you to respect my confidence)...I loathe to speak ill of one who is not present, or one who is present for that matter, however, if I may speak candidly, I believe that General McClellan possessed an overabundance of caution at times. However, I do not blame him for being fooled by the so-called "Quaker guns". From a distance, that is a genuine mistake, one that anyone could have made in his position. His overestimation of the strength of Confederate forces, however, I do not see so lightly. I believe that one's beliefs should be alterable when presented with sufficient evidence, and that an Officer should be able to accurately estimate the strength of the opponent. I also find General McClellan's unkind conduct towards our late Commander-in-Chief, President Lincoln, to be most unbecoming of an Officer, though I may be biased by the grief that still hangs heavy over my head regarding our departed Commander. Furthermore, it is my personal conviction that an Officer should not be a politician. I consider it unbecoming, and I believe that the one does inherently interfere with the other.

All in all, I believe General McClellan to be a good and noble man, but a political Officer. I do my best to see the good in all people, and I believe it is Unchristian to judge (lest ye be judged), and I believe General McClellan was genuinely frightened for his men and wished not to see them go to harm, which is a most noble sentiment, but unpracticable in a war.

If there is anything else you wish to know, or if you desire clarification on anything that I have said, I am an open book. I wish you the best in your studies of the late War of the Rebellion, and I hope that I have been of assistance.

[ask-ulysses-s-grant]

Hello, Mr. President, I'm here to wish you happy birthday!

Dear Anonymous #1,

Thank you for your kind wishes. Whomever you are, wherever in the world you are, it means a great deal to me that I have touched your life in such a way that you are aware of the date of my birth. I cannot help but wonder who you are, perhaps a reader of my memoir, or a student of the late War of the Rebellion... I hope you do not hide your name out of shame, rest assured that I have travelled the world and encountered individuals of all colors and creeds, and many who were formerly in the service of the late Confederacy have since become some of my closest friends and allies. I must let you know that you have nothing to fear from me. However, regardless, I respect your right to anonymity whatever the reason may be. Perhaps shyness? I have been known to be quite retiring. Some may consider it a fault, I consider it a strength. I hold my cards close to my chest, and have a tendency to listen more than I talk in face-to-face social situations. I find this to be to my benefit, though some in the past have considered me overly mysterious, or even dull.

Wherever you are, whomever you are, thank you kindly for your birthday wishes. It warms my heart.

Yours,

U.S. Grant