Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822-July 23, 1885) Graduated from West Point in June 1843 and served with Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War from 1845-1847. Grant resigned from the Army in April 1854 and rejoined the Army in 1860 at the outset of the Civil War by organizing a volunteer infantry company in Galena, Illinois. In 1862 he was promoted to the rank of Major General. Following Grant's capture of Vicksburg in 1863, Tennessee, Lincoln promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed him general in chief of all Union armies. After the Civil War, he served as interim Secretary of War under President Andrew Johnson from 1867 to 1868. Grant was elected President of the United States in 1868 and was reelected in 1872. George Meade (31 Dec. 1815-6 Nov. 1872) Graduated from West Point in 1835. At the outset of the Civil War, he accepted a commission as brigadier general of volunteers with the Union Army. He was put in command of the Army of the Potomac by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. He is best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, for which he received the official Thanks of Congress.
