http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c87d32d5 No online items Ulysses S. Grant Correspondence mssGrant Melissa Haley The Huntington Library March 2021 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Ulysses S. Grant Correspondence mssGrant 1 mssGrant Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library Title: Ulysses S. Grant correspondence Creator: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Identifier/Call Number: mssGrant Physical Description: 12.87 Linear Feet(11 flat boxes) Date (inclusive): 1864-1865 Abstract: This collection contains correspondence sent by Ulysses S. Grant, primarily from City Point, Virginia, to Abraham Lincoln, Edwin M. Stanton, Henry W. Halleck, George Gordon Meade, Benjamin F. Butler, Philip Henry Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and others during Civil War operations from May 1864 to April 1865. Language of Material: Materials are in English. Conditions Governing Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Conditions Governing Use The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Preferred Citation [Identification of item]. Ulysses S. Grant correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Immediate Source of Acquisition Purchased from William Bixby, 1918. Custodial History William K. Bixby purchased various parts of the collection from 1904 to 1914 from S.H. Beckwith, Grant's secret cipher operator, and from the sons of Colonel George K. Leet who was a member of Grant's staff. Biographical / Historical Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822-July 23, 1885), the eighteenth president of the United States, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He graduated from West Point in June 1843 and in 1844 was sent to serve along the U.S./Mexico border under General Zachary Taylor, subsequently fighting in the Mexican War from 1846 to 1848. Grant resigned from the army in 1854, taking up farming and real estate. In 1860, he moved with his wife Julia Dent Grant (married 1848) and family to Galena, Illinois. Grant reenlisted in the army following the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War. In June 1861, he was designated a colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry; in August, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to a post at Cairo, Illinois. Following his promotion to major general in 1862, Grant lead Union troops during engagements at Shiloh, Tennessee in 1862 and Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863. In March 1864, he was put in command of the Union Army and promoted to lieutenant general, overseeing campaigns at numerous sites in Virginia, 1864 to 1865, including the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Richmond. Grant's army headquarters was located at City Point, Virginia, from June 1864 until the end of the war in spring 1865. In 1867, Grant served briefly as the Interim Secretary of War in the administration of Andrew Johnson. He was elected president in 1868, serving two terms from 1869 to 1877. Accomplishments of his tenure include the passage of the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in 1870, which guaranteed the right to vote for Black men; his presidency, however, was often marked by ineptitude and corruption by subordinates. In 1874, Democrats took over the House of Representatives, effectively ending the Reconstruction period. Grant chose not to run for a third term in 1876. Grant traveled for two years following his presidency and then moved to New York. He devoted much of his final years to writing his Personal Memoirs, published in 1885 and 1886. Grant died in Wilton, New York of throat cancer at age 63. Scope and Contents This collection contains correspondence sent by Ulysses S. Grant, primarily from City Point, Virginia, to Abraham Lincoln, Edwin M. Stanton, Henry W. Halleck, George Gordon Meade, Benjamin F. Butler, Philip Henry Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and others during Civil War operations from May 1864 to April 1865. The correspondence is in the form of signed letters, most in Grant's hand and on army letterhead; the letters were then resent as telegrams, many after being ciphered. Correspondence primarily pertains to Union Army campaigns in Virginia from August 1864 to February 1865. Items sent to Philip Henry Sheridan also discuss campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley and the Confederate battalion of John S. Mosby; Ulysses S. Grant Correspondence mssGrant 2 mssGrant items sent to William T. Sherman discuss the capture of Atlanta and Sherman's campaign through Georgia and into South Carolina; several other items mention campaigns in the deep south and western edges of the war. The letters detail Union troop movements, orders and plans; intelligence on Confederate Army and government officials' movements and plans, including reports from deserters and Confederate newspapers; Union supplies, stores, and artillery; the capture of prisoners-of-war and enemy artillery; POW exchanges; soldier enlistments; the state of roads and railroads, especially in Virginia; Union general and officer appointments and dismissals; the recruitment of Black soldiers; and Grant's movements and whereabouts. Correspondence are autograph letters signed and sent by Grant from City Point, Virginia, unless otherwise noted. Most messages are marked "cipher" (see individual Scope & Contents notes for exceptions). The times noted in the date were in Grant's hand in some cases; in others, they appeared to have been added later and may have indicated the time the telegram was sent. Many of the items addressed to Major General Philip Sheridan in Virginia were actually locations in the newly created state of West Virginia. Processing Information This collection was reprocessed in 2020-2021 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project. The items had been assembled physically and arranged chronologically by Huntington Library staff in early- or mid-20th century; material was rehoused during reprocessing. Previously assigned item-level call numbers have been retained. The number of pages for each item is noted in parentheses in item-level Scope and Contents notes. According to the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, several items in this collection were misdated—see Scope & Contents notes at the item level for details. These dates were corrected to reflect their apparent actual dates during reprocessing, though the items were not physically refiled. Related Materials The Huntington Library holds a number of individual Ulysses S. Grant letters from this time period, see library catalogs for details. Arrangement Material is arranged chronologically. Publication Note Most correspondence in this collection has been published in The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, John Y. Simon, editor (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1967-2012) under the item's date, either as featured correspondence or in a footnote. If the item is located in a footnote under a different date or in a calendar, volume and page numbers are noted in item-level Publication Notes. Items not located in the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant are also noted. Items may also be published in Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Selected Letters 1839-1865 (New York: Library of America, 1990) and in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880-1900). Subjects and Indexing Terms Generals -- United States -- Correspondence Petersburg (Va.) -- History -- Siege, 1864-1865 United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns -- Virginia United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Correspondence Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns Virginia -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Military records -- United States -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893 Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872 Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Meade, George Gordon, 1815-1872 Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888 Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891 Stanton, Edwin M. (Edwin McMasters), 1814-1869 Ulysses S. Grant Correspondence mssGrant 3 mssGrant Box 1, Folder 1 Grant to Major General Henry W. Halleck, Washington, D.C. HM 3214 1864 July 14 Scope and Contents (3 pages) Box 1, Folder 2 Grant to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton HM 3215 1864 July 20 Scope and Contents (1 page) Box 1, Folder 3 Grant to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton HM 3216 1864 July 26 Scope and Contents Dated 2pm. (1 page) Box 1, Folder 4 Grant to Major General George Gordon Meade HM 3217 1864 July 26 Scope and Contents Dated 3pm. (1 page) Box 1, Folder 5 Grant to Major General Henry W. Halleck, Washington, D.C. HM 3218 1864 August 1 Scope and Contents Dated 11:30am. (1 page) Box 1, Folder 6 Grant to Major General Henry W. Halleck, Washington, D.C. HM 3219 1864 August 1 Scope and Contents (2 pages) Box 1, Folder 7 Grant to Major General George Gordon Meade HM 3220 1864 August 1 Scope and Contents (1 page) Box 1, Folder 8 Grant to Major General Benjamin F. Butler HM 3221 1864 August 4 Scope and Contents (1 page) Box 1, Folder 9 Grant to Major General William T. Sherman, near Atlanta, Georgia HM 3222 1864 August 4 Scope and Contents Dated 10am. (1 page) Publication Note In Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 11, page 382 (footnote). Box 1, Folder 10 Grant, Washington, D.C., to Major General William T. Sherman HM 3223 1864 August 7 Scope and Contents Dated 12pm (includes note "sent"). In pencil. (1 page) Box 1, Folder 11 Grant, Washington, D.C., to Major General Philip Henry Sheridan HM 3224 1864 August 7 Scope and Contents Dated 12pm (includes note "sent").