**Civil War paper I wrote back in 8th grade sometime.**
There were many excellent generals during the Civil War. However, there are two generals that receive the most attention and credit: Union General Ulysses S. Grant, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. These two generals are probably the most well known generals from the Civil War, and they both played a major part in the American Civil War.
Lee was born January 19, 1807. He came from a well respected family from Virginia, and he grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. His father was Revolutionary War hero, Harry Lee, who was a skilled cavalry commander and was said to be George Washington’s favorite cavalry commander (Time-Life Books). Even though he came from a well respected family, Lee’s childhood was not an easy one.
His father left the family when Lee was six years old because he had many debts and wanted to escape from them. This left his family in a financial crisis. Lee spent most of his youth caring for his mother because there was no one else. When Lee left for West Point in 1825 his mother said, “How can I live without Robert? He is both son and daughter to me” (Time-Life Books-10).
Grant was born in Ohio and was the oldest of six children. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but later changed it because of the confusion of his name in a letter to get into West Point (Illinois Periodicals Online at Northern Illinois University).
Grant and Lee both attended West Point Military Academy. Lee, however, was a much better student than Grant, and he also got admitted into West Point differently. Grant got into West Point because father had connections to Congressman Thomas L. Hamer and got him to nominate Grant. Congressman Hamer accidentally nominated him as “Ulysses S. Grant” and that is why Grant changed his name (Illinois Periodicals Online at Northern Illinois University). Grant basically only got in because of his father, rather than for being intelligent or demonstrating potential. Lee also got some help from family and used his family’s reputation to help secure a spot at West Point, but he showed much more academic potential and did much better at West Point than Grant did (Stratford Hall).
While at West Point, Lee did extremely well in his coursework and was at the top of his class. On the other hand, Grant struggled academically in most classes and graduated near the bottom of his class. The only thing Grant excelled at was handling horses, which could be beneficial to a general, but only with intelligence and military abilities, both of which he lacked when compared to Lee (Illinois Periodicals Online at Northern Illinois University).
When Grant graduated he was near the bottom of his class, while Lee was at the top of his. Later on Lee would also become the superintendent of West Point despite the fact that he felt he was not fit for the job. He thought that the position required “more skill and more experience than I command” (Time-Life Books -18).
After graduating from West Point, General Lee and General Grant both fought in the Mexican War which took place from 1846-1848. It was during the Mexican War when they first achieved military greatness. During the Mexican War they both fought under important, well-respected generals. Lee, for example, was complemented by Union General Winfield Scott, who, when asked about Lee, said he was “the very best soldier that I ever saw in the field” (Time-Life Books-23). This is what first got them any recognition and that was also when they first started getting some respect as officers in the military.
Lee got married in June of 1831 he married a distant cousin, Mary Custis, whose father was the adopted son of George Washington. Lee cared deeply for his wife and got quite worried when she became sick after having their second child. Despite her sickness, she still had five more children, having a total of seven children. Lee enjoyed spending time with his family and his wife and children were very important to him (Time-Life Books). Grant also had a wife and family.
