Future President Ulysses S Grant as Brigadier General

In 1861, Ulysses S. Grant was not yet the president of the United States; he would later become the 18th president, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1861, Grant was a relatively unknown figure in national politics, but he had a significant role in the early stages of the American Civil War. At the time, he was a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Grant had resigned from the military in 1854 due to personal and professional struggles, but when the Civil War broke out in 1861, he re-enlisted in the army. By the end of the year, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Union Army. His early successes in the war, particularly his victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862, earned him national attention and helped pave the way for his rise to prominence.

At this point in 1861, though, he was still largely focused on his military duties rather than political aspirations, which would come later after his major contributions to the Union victory in the Civil War.