Grant He could have been tried - Ulysses S. Grant and his resignation from the army

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Jan 24, 2017
"Grant was silent about the circumstances of his departure from the U.S. Army. However misuse of alcohol is said to be the reason for his sudden resignation, and it was the foundation of future stories about his abuse of liquor.

Rufus Ingalls, a friend of Grant's from his years at West Point, is quoted in Ulysses S. Grant, his Life and Character, saying:
'Captain Grant, finding himself in dreary surroundings, without his family, and with but little to occupy his attention, fell into dissipated habits, and was found, one day, too much under the influence of liquor to properly perform his duties. For this offense Colonel Buchanan demanded that he should resign, or stand trial. Grant's friends at the time urge him to stand trial, and were confident of his acquittal; but, actuated by a noble spirit, he said he would not for all the world have his wife know that he had been tried on such a charge. He therefore resigned his commission, and returned to civilian life.'

The book, by Hamlin Garland, was published in 1898 by Doubleday & McClure, New York"


Brooks D. Simpson in his biography on Grant - Triumph Over Adversity - provides another quote from Rufus Ingalls who declares "Buchanan was prejudiced against Grant & was an infernal old martinette & a d- an old S. of a B." (Charles G. Ellington, The Trial of U.S. Grant: The Pacific Coast Years, 1852- 1854).

Grant does not mention any of this in his memoirs, except to say that he had no chance of supporting his wife and family on the Pacific coast out of his pay as an army officer, therefore concluding to resign.

There appears to be a number of factors at play in the life of Ulysses S. Grant at this time, and I'm now aware of the defense that some of Grant's friends believed he had in relation to any charges that might be brought against him in a possible court martial. I did not believe he had any defense up to now.

So, I wanted to bring this to the attention of others for their input, and will be hoping to add more as soon as possible.

 
Given how many officers in the Civil War survived accusations of drunkenness, sometimes in combat, often without any formal charges ever being filed, it seems surprising Grant would be in such hot water over the matter. That would seem to suggest either a strict commander or Grant was exceptionally inebriated, like falling down drunk.
That is exactly one of the points I was hoping to focus on here. And the suggestion by one of his fellow officers that Grant should have gone on trial with the likelihood of being acquitted speaks volumes to me of both the possibility of not just a strict commander, but a 'vengeful' one, and also that many more men could have been tried on the same charges and weren't.
 
I was interested to discover more about the relationship between Grant and Buchanan and discovered this nugget:

"After graduation Grant was assigned to the Fourth Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, outside St. Louis. While there, he had an opportunity to become familiar with the family of his West Point roommate, Frederick Dent. During one of his visits to the Dents, Grant met Frederick’s sister Julia. A relationship soon developed between Ulysses and Julia, with Grant spending as much time as possible with the young lady. These visits frequently caused Grant to be late for dinner at the post’s officers’ mess. Interestingly, the fine for being late to dinner was one bottle of wine.

The presiding officer for the mess was Captain Robert Buchanan, a rigid disciplinarian who enforced the rules with a stiff impartiality. The fourth time Grant was late returning to the post, Buchanan informed him that he would again be fined the requisite bottle of wine. Grant, who had already purchased three bottles of wine for the mess, had some words with Buchanan concerning the fine and refused to pay. This trivial confrontation was the beginning of a long-running feud between the two.


Grant received a reprieve from his unpaid mess bills when rising tensions with Mexico caused his regiment to be transferred to Texas"

and this from the same article:

"In September 1853 Grant was transferred to Fort Humboldt, California, to fill the captaincy of the Fourth Infantry’s Company F. He was to find the fort more foreboding than any other post he was assigned to during his pre-Civil War career. Since the fort was located in an isolated area of northern California, Grant’s military life became slow, tedious, and monotonous. He watched his subordinates do most of the routine work and the Indians in the area remained peaceful. Things were so boring that Grant spent much of his time at Ryan’s Store, a local trading post that served liquor.

The time that Grant passed at Ryan’s did not go unnoticed by Fort Humboldt’s commander, Lt. Col. Robert Buchanan. This was the same Robert Buchanan with whom Grant had argued at Jefferson Barracks many years previously. Buchanan still harbored a strong dislike for Grant. He used his position as the post commander to make life unbearable for the captain and helped spread rumors that Grant was intemperate.

Made miserable by Buchanan and missing his family, Grant began to consider resigning his commission. One night he imbibed more than usual, and when he reported for duty the next day, he appeared to still be intoxicated. Buchanan became furious and put Grant on report for drunkenness while on duty, instructing him to draft a letter of resignation and to keep it in a safe place. After a similar instance of late-night drinking a short time later, Buchanan requested that Grant sign the letter of resignation he had drafted earlier or he would be charged with drunkenness while on duty.

Facing a court-martial, Grant decided that it was time to resign."

https://www.historynet.com/ulysses-s-grants-lifelong-struggle-with-alcohol.htm

I am fascinated by this new perspective on Grant's resignation and the notion that Grant was intemperate compared to other officers. That Buchanan appeared to have a strong dislike for Grant and intentionally made his life miserable (according to the article) points to more factors than Grant just missing his family and taking to drink through loneliness and despair.
 
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We'll most likely never really know all the facts behind Grant's resignation, and to what extent one factor or another played a role. But certainly, loneliness, inebriation, and a difficult commanding officer were contributing factors that have been accepted by historians and writers who have looked into the matter. Given the fact that the army was at peace during that time, and the fact that countless officers were known to be inebriated before and during actual warfare in the CW (who may or may not have suffered any consequences), drinking alone is probably not the whole story.
 
I think what intrigues me about the issue is that Grant could have defended himself and been acquitted of any charges at hand. His friends seemed to think he had a defense. It does make me wonder to what extent the rumors of his drinking would have gained the life they did if he had chosen to defend himself. It does seem much of the rhetoric around that stems from this incident and period in Grant's life. We know he missed his family, and no doubt this straw that broke the camel's back gave him the opportunity to finally make the decision to return to them. His reasoning in not allowing the situation to go to trial was his sense of mortification at Julia finding out. He obviously held her opinion in high esteem and did not want to give her any reason to feel ashamed of him. Perhaps he was a little ashamed of himself. Either way, it was a wake up call to Grant, but I don't think I'm done untangling this situation yet.
 
I was interested to discover more about the relationship between Grant and Buchanan and discovered this nugget:

"After graduation Grant was assigned to the Fourth Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, outside St. Louis. While there, he had an opportunity to become familiar with the family of his West Point roommate, Frederick Dent. During one of his visits to the Dents, Grant met Frederick’s sister Julia. A relationship soon developed between Ulysses and Julia, with Grant spending as much time as possible with the young lady. These visits frequently caused Grant to be late for dinner at the post’s officers’ mess. Interestingly, the fine for being late to dinner was one bottle of wine.

The presiding officer for the mess was Captain Robert Buchanan, a rigid disciplinarian who enforced the rules with a stiff impartiality. The fourth time Grant was late returning to the post, Buchanan informed him that he would again be fined the requisite bottle of wine. Grant, who had already purchased three bottles of wine for the mess, had some words with Buchanan concerning the fine and refused to pay. This trivial confrontation was the beginning of a long-running feud between the two.


Grant received a reprieve from his unpaid mess bills when rising tensions with Mexico caused his regiment to be transferred to Texas"

and this from the same article:

"In September 1853 Grant was transferred to Fort Humboldt, California, to fill the captaincy of the Fourth Infantry’s Company F. He was to find the fort more foreboding than any other post he was assigned to during his pre-Civil War career. Since the fort was located in an isolated area of northern California, Grant’s military life became slow, tedious, and monotonous. He watched his subordinates do most of the routine work and the Indians in the area remained peaceful. Things were so boring that Grant spent much of his time at Ryan’s Store, a local trading post that served liquor.

The time that Grant passed at Ryan’s did not go unnoticed by Fort Humboldt’s commander, Lt. Col. Robert Buchanan. This was the same Robert Buchanan with whom Grant had argued at Jefferson Barracks many years previously. Buchanan still harbored a strong dislike for Grant. He used his position as the post commander to make life unbearable for the captain and helped spread rumors that Grant was intemperate.

Made miserable by Buchanan and missing his family, Grant began to consider resigning his commission. One night he imbibed more than usual, and when he reported for duty the next day, he appeared to still be intoxicated. Buchanan became furious and put Grant on report for drunkenness while on duty, instructing him to draft a letter of resignation and to keep it in a safe place. After a similar instance of late-night drinking a short time later, Buchanan requested that Grant sign the letter of resignation he had drafted earlier or he would be charged with drunkenness while on duty.

Facing a court-martial, Grant decided that it was time to resign."

https://www.historynet.com/ulysses-s-grants-lifelong-struggle-with-alcohol.htm

I am fascinated by this new perspective on Grant's resignation and the notion that Grant was intemperate compared to other officers. That Buchanan appeared to have a strong dislike for Grant and intentionally made his life miserable (according to the article) points to more factors than Grant just missing his family and taking to drink through loneliness and despair.
Little confused how a apparent dislike over a separate incidents of insolence, would have any bearing on whether he was also insolent in another area......

The only thing that seems to implicate innocence or guilt would be his resignation, which usually indicates guilt.
 
Perhaps Grant was searching (whether he thought it out rationally or not) for some way to get out of the Army and that far off posting, in order to return to his family and start over in civilian life?
 
Little confused how a apparent dislike over a separate incidents of insolence, would have any bearing on whether he was also insolent in another area......

The only thing that seems to implicate innocence or guilt would be his resignation, which usually indicates guilt.
Let's start from his commanding officer having a dislike of Grant and making his life difficult. On the basis of that it is possible to presume he held Grant accountable, or sought to hold him accountable, in ways which he did not hold other officers accountable. He also potentially holds a grudge related to this earlier incident (which you refer to as 'insolence'). We know Grant stood his ground on that one for whatever reason.

I wonder have you ever considered people sometimes accept a punishment which they don't deserve? Even if they could form a defense?

I would not accept an automatic reasoning of 'guilt' in the circumstances. If it was to be placed in the context of the behavior of others at the time, and the strong dislike of his commanding officer, I'd say Grant would have had a fighting chance at an acquittal. And an even better chance of fighting off numerous subsequent rumors of his 'drunkenness'.
 
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Let's start from his commanding officer having a dislike of Grant and making his life difficult. On the basis of that it is possible to presume he held Grant accountable, or sought to hold him accountable, in ways which he did not hold other officers accountable. He also potentially holds a grudge related to this earlier incident (which you refer to as 'insolence'). We know Grant stood his ground on that one for whatever reason.

I wonder have you ever considered people sometimes accept a punishment which they don't deserve? Even if they could form a defense?

I would not accept an automatic reasoning of 'guilt' in the circumstances. If it was to be placed in the context of the behavior of others at the time, and the strong dislike of his commanding officer, I'd say Grant would have had a fighting chance at an acquittal. And an even better chance of fighting off numerous subsequent rumors of his 'drunkenness'.
Again not following your reasoning, the military takes things like duty rather seriously, so either repeatedly being late or impaired generally seems to have been considered unbecoming, and when it keeps happening repeatedly would think insolent or lack of respect for the rules and the system becomes apparent......

In what you provided, his lateness at Jefferson Barracks happened 4 times and the drunk on duty which is a rather serious offense happened least twice as well, if the 1st time he's asked to write the resignation, and the 2nd time to turn it in.

If one likes someone or not, it has no bearing on what the other apparently did do........ Its really a bit bizarre as the apparent dislike is based on him violating the rules......to then claim the rule breaking somehow didn't exist.....then the dislike wouldn't have either.....

I also dont accept a resignation facing charges as automatic guilt....(though think more often then not, it shows they know they would lose)...but certainly wouldn't take it as some bizarre form of automatic innocence........
 
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Think about how boring the Humboldt River was after Mexico? Few other officers. No interesting civilians. No new culture and no commander worth respecting and no chance for advancement.
Winfield Scott did not hold it against him when his name came up for Brig Gen'l.
 
It was not until December 3 1853, just prior to his move to Fort Humboldt, that Grant learned his second son Ulysses S. Grant Jr. had been born on July 22 the same year. Prior to this, Grant had not heard from Julia for several months and this weighed heavily on him.

In the interim, he saw the promise in California and felt that opportunities for success were open to those who were willing to work, even believing he could make enough in a short space of time to quit the army and return to live comfortably with his family at Whitehaven. But, the security of the army held him bound for the time being.

Grant was struck by the natural beauty of the region and at one point thought it a good place to live, telling Julia the Indians were harmless and peaceful 'if they were not put upon by the whites'.

He considered other ways to make money for his family, and augment his army pay like many others, but natural disasters of one form or another often seemed to impede his plans. He made loans to other officers that went unpaid. And his hope on being promoted to Captain of going to Washington to settle his accounts (and thus bring his family back with him) never materialized.

So, a hopeful and expectant Grant gradually became despondent when none of his efforts met with success.

He began pacing, smoking heavily, taking long rides and tell anyone who would listen about his wife and children.

Brooks D. Simpson describes his longing for his family in the following passage:

"He showed one enlisted man a tracing of the hand of the son he had never seen, trembling before finally turning away. A sergeant's wife recalled that at one point looked up from Julia's letters, tears in his eyes, and remarked, 'Mrs Sheffield, I have the dearest little wife in the world, and I want to resign from the army and live with my family.'"

It seems Grant's longing for his family had him considering resignation before the issue of his drinking arose again. As @jackt62 suggested, his resignation may have been prompted more by this than anything else.
 
Just getting back to Buchanan for a moment, he once told Grant "young men should be seen and not heard", and was believed to be the type to never give up a grudge. Another officer noted "He seemed to take delight in wounding the feelings of those under him, and succeeded pretty generally in making himself unpopular amongst the citizens as well as the army".

I wouldn't put aside the idea that a commanding officer could target one of the other officers under him. And possibly find fault in him where he did not find fault in others. Of course, we can't know that for sure, but the OP suggests others did not consider Grant 'guilty' and believed he would have had an opportunity for acquittal if tried.

So, we know Grant considered resignation before he was 'forced' to resign, due to his longing to be reunited with his family. And we know he had a contentious relationship with his commanding officer who may have 'forced' him to resign in circumstances where Grant chose not to defend himself. There is another element I would like to add to this discussion shortly.
 
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So, the final element I would like to add is that of ill health. Apparently this was a constant problem for Grant at Fort Humboldt, added to the misery of missing his family. Part of the issue related to complications from a tooth extraction which caused him to suffer ongoing pain. He also suffered from migraine headaches that came close to incapacitating him. Many people at the time believed alcohol served a medicinal purpose and no doubt it was prescribed as a remedy at times, but rather than curing Grant's ailments, it probably only added to them. The depressive effects of alcohol would not have been known at the time.

There were multiple factors leading to Grant's resignation and though he could have been tried, and potentially acquitted, in a court martial related to being alcohol affected on duty, I think the overall effect of missing his family was the foundational one. Secondary to this was the fact he did not want his wife to know that he was accused of such a thing and that 'it wasn't his drinking that got him into trouble - it was that Old Buck had it in for the new captain' - Brooks D. Simpson, Triumph Over Adversity (Ellington, The Trial of U.S. Grant, 151-53, Augustus Chetlain interview, Garland Papers, University of Southern California.)
 
After the War with Mexico, the antebellum Army lost quite a few officers who had plunged into action after graduating West Point and then got assigned to boring, isolated posts, etc. subject to the whims of a fossilized officer corps. Advancement was slow and limited and it's small wonder to me that a lot of these guys simply quit or fell into bad habits. When war came in 1861 the smart move by a rapidly expanding army was to cut them some breaks.
 
After the War with Mexico, the antebellum Army lost quite a few officers who had plunged into action after graduating West Point and then got assigned to boring, isolated posts, etc. subject to the whims of a fossilized officer corps. Advancement was slow and limited and it's small wonder to me that a lot of these guys simply quit or fell into bad habits. When war came in 1861 the smart move by a rapidly expanding army was to cut them some breaks.
Many of the West Point graduates were the best engineers available in the ante-bellum era. Grant's natural inclination would not have been engineering, it would have been commodities, especially wheat and flour. He moved to the heart of the wheat district prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Without the war he would have eventually gravitated towards one of the flour producers.
 
First of all, I recommend the (out of print) book: "The Trial of Ulysses S. Grant: The Pacific Coast Years" by Charles Ellington as it is thoroughly researched and offers much more context and detail to that period. There are several significant factors for Grant's 1854 Army resignation besides alcohol that should be considered such as:

1. Grant's intense loneliness, boredom and desire to be reunited with his family.

There is very strong evidence from surviving letters that the main factor in Grant resigning was to be reunited with his family.

"The state of suspense that I am in is scarcely bearable. I think I have been from my family quite long enough and sometimes I feel as though I could almost go home, with or without permission." -US Grant letter to Julia Oct. 1853

Even Grant's father Jesse believed he understood his son's primary reason for resignation. After learning of his resignation Jesse sent a letter to Jefferson Davis at the War Dept. asking him to reconsider the resignation of his son.

"[He] has not seen his family for over two years, & has a son nearly two years old he has never seen. I suppose in his great anxiety to see his family he has been induced to quit the service." -Jesse Grant to Jefferson Davis 1854

Grant sunk to his lowest at the desolate Ft. Humboldt in early 1854 while battling illness, boredom and loneliness. His resignation came at arguably his lowest point mentally, physically and emotionally during his time on the West Coast.


2. Resignation of Army officers during that time was a relatively common practice.

There were very few prospects for promotion in the peacetime army which limited Grant's options for transfer or increased income to support bringing his family West. Grant's rocky relationship with his commanding officer Buchanan would have been a contributing factor to his overall misery, but not likely a main factor in resignation as Grant had arranged a transfer to another command shortly before his resignation.

"[By 1854] Eighteen of the men he had known at West Point had quit the uniform in the past year and a half, and twelve more were preparing to follow within the next seventeen months." -From Captain Sam Grant by Lloyd Lewis 1950

Grant wrote his resignation letter April 11, 1854 the same day he received and sent a letter of acknowledgment for his promotion to Captain.


3. Living on the West Coast was prohibitively expensive.

Prices on the West Coast were highly inflated for a number of factors during Grant's time there. Grant attempted to make more money by engaging in side ventures, pretty much all of which failed for different reasons. Grant had less opportunities for side ventures at Ft. Humboldt than he had earlier at Columbia Barracks.

"I sometimes get so anxious to see you and our little boys, that I am almost tempted to resign (and obtain a position) where I can have you and them with me....Whenever I get to thinking upon the subject however poverty, poverty begins to stare me in the face..." -US Grant letter to Julia March 1854


Though Grant alluded to concern about earning a living outside the military this would be a natural tendency for anyone who has relied on a military salary for almost 15 years. There is evidence that Grant's pay, along with fellow officers, may have been drastically cut in 1854 giving Grant another solid motive to resign.


4. Drinking?
Much of the drinking-related accounts, often contradictory and gathered 40-50 years after the fact, are broken down and analyzed in Ellington's book. His conclusion is that there is insufficient first-hand evidence to establish conclusively that Grant resigned due to drinking-related incidents or due to the pressure of his commander Buchanan.

Bottom Line: A reputation, deserved or not, once it sticks is a hard thing to shake.
 
So, the final element I would like to add is that of ill health. Apparently this was a constant problem for Grant at Fort Humboldt, added to the misery of missing his family. Part of the issue related to complications from a tooth extraction which caused him to suffer ongoing pain. He also suffered from migraine headaches that came close to incapacitating him. Many people at the time believed alcohol served a medicinal purpose and no doubt it was prescribed as a remedy at times, but rather than curing Grant's ailments, it probably only added to them. The depressive effects of alcohol would not have been known at the time.

There were multiple factors leading to Grant's resignation and though he could have been tried, and potentially acquitted, in a court martial related to being alcohol affected on duty, I think the overall effect of missing his family was the foundational one. Secondary to this was the fact he did not want his wife to know that he was accused of such a thing and that 'it wasn't his drinking that got him into trouble - it was that Old Buck had it in for the new captain' - Brooks D. Simpson, Triumph Over Adversity (Ellington, The Trial of U.S. Grant, 151-53, Augustus Chetlain interview, Garland Papers, University of Southern California.)

Grant always seemed to be acutely concerned about his health throughout his life despite his apparent stoicism in the face of grave dangers on the battlefield. There are accounts that Grant suffered from periodic fevers (ague) in his childhood and that his first drink of alcohol was a blackberry cordial remedy taken during an 1833 cholera epidemic in Ohio. When Grant left West Point in 1843 he was reduced in weight from another unidentified ailment and again feared he would die from consumption which had been rumored to "run in the family". This mysterious feverish condition with chills which some would later speculate was persistent malaria, would come back to haunt Grant at future periods of his life along with his other prominent ailment of migraines.

It's important to note two things about the era Grant lived in:
1. The origin of illness was still not well understood so many now-treatable conditions could and did result in death.
2. Many contemporary treatments contained alcohol or simply were alcohol.

Grant by 1854 had lost two uncles to consumption and watched dozens die in a cholera outbreak in Panama in 1852 so he knew disease was as likely as anything to prevent him from seeing his beloved family again. In this way, illness itself could be understood as a pivotal motivating factor in Grant's resignation because every condition could prove fatal. Grant's struggles with illness on the West Coast should also be considered as another factor in his use of alcohol, besides just self-medicating for depression and boredom.

Memento Mori (Remember that you must die)
 
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