Grant In place of fanfare, a flag; in place of words, an image - Happy Birthday Ulysses S. Grant

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When it came to his daughter, Nellie, Grant was quite protective. I have read that when she married Algernon Sartoris, in the White House in 1874, Grant was not wild about the match. Folks noticed that the president wasn't at the reception and found him in his daughter’s bedroom, face down, crying. Is this a true story @GrantCottage1885? If so, his concerns proved right since the marriage came to an end in 1883, although the couple had four children.

The accounts that support the story are anecdotal in nature and do seem to have discrepancies, but no doubt have some basis in reality:

Ulysses Jr. (Buck) in a San Diego Daily article in 1922:

"The saddest I ever saw my father was when my sister Nellie was married. It was a lavish White House ceremony and she married a foreigner. He was very downcast for a long time about it. That evening I found him sitting with mother upstairs in my mother's dressing room and he was sobbing like a boy. I was so in awe of my father I couldn't think of what to say, so I withdrew, deeply shaken."

White House worker William H. Crook (from Through Five Administrations 1910):

"After his daughter had left the house on her wedding trip the General was missed. After considerable search he was found sobbing in his daughter's room, with his head buried in her pillow."

Jesse Grant (Son) from In the Days of My Father, General Grant 1925:

"[President Grant at the ceremony was] silent , tense, with tears upon his cheeks that he made no movement to brush away."

I think it's safe to say from Grant's own correspondence at the time that he was reluctant about the marriage. He thought his daughter too young to marry and did not want her to move away. He tried to encourage Algernon to become a US citizen and for the couple to settle in the U.S..

Grant wrote Algernon's parents in 1873:

"It would be with the greatest regret that I would see Nellie quit the United States as a permanent home...May I ask you therefore...whether your son expects to become a citizen of the United States?"

Algernon's older brother died in the fall of 1873, making Algernon the heir to the family estate and essentially ensuring him and Nellie would be moving to England after the wedding. The emotion Grant exhibited was undoubtedly tied to the realization that his daughter would be moving abroad, a very difficult reality for any parent of an 18 year old to handle. The marriage of course did fail, Algernon died in 1893, and Nellie moved back to the states and eventually remarried.

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It can’t have been easy to part ways with former confederates.
The impression I have is that he always admired his former comrades in arms and would not have a bad word spoken against them. So, while he may have changed his politics, I'm pretty sure his military stance never waned in terms of his loyalty to those who fought with him. I have a quote somewhere which I'll see if I can find where he refers to his former comrades and his affection for them.
 
The accounts that support the story are anecdotal in nature and do seem to have discrepancies, but no doubt have some basis in reality:

Ulysses Jr. (Buck) in a San Diego Daily article in 1922:

"The saddest I ever saw my father was when my sister Nellie was married. It was a lavish White House ceremony and she married a foreigner. He was very downcast for a long time about it. That evening I found him sitting with mother upstairs in my mother's dressing room and he was sobbing like a boy. I was so in awe of my father I couldn't think of what to say, so I withdrew, deeply shaken."

White House worker William H. Crook (from Through Five Administrations 1910):

"After his daughter had left the house on her wedding trip the General was missed. After considerable search he was found sobbing in his daughter's room, with his head buried in her pillow."

Jesse Grant (Son) from In the Days of My Father, General Grant 1925:

"[President Grant at the ceremony was] silent , tense, with tears upon his cheeks that he made no movement to brush away."

I think it's safe to say from Grant's own correspondence at the time that he was reluctant about the marriage. He thought his daughter too young to marry and did not want her to move away. He tried to encourage Algernon to become a US citizen and for the couple to settle in the U.S..

Grant wrote Algernon's parents in 1873:

"It would be with the greatest regret that I would see Nellie quit the United States as a permanent home...May I ask you therefore...whether your son expects to become a citizen of the United States?"

Algernon's older brother died in the fall of 1873, making Algernon the heir to the family estate and essentially ensuring him and Nellie would be moving to England after the wedding. The emotion Grant exhibited was undoubtedly tied to the realization that his daughter would be moving abroad, a very difficult reality for any parent of an 18 year old to handle. The marriage of course did fail, Algernon died in 1893, and Nellie moved back to the states and eventually remarried.

With a number of people all asserting the same thing here, I'd say there is more than a little truth to the telling of Grant's devastation at the marriage and departure of his daughter. Thanks for adding that. Much appreciated.
 
A final Huzzah :dance: for Ulysses birthday commemorations ... the unveiling of his monument at West Point!

Enjoy.

At the 12:30 minute mark we get more of a history of Grant, around the 20 minute mark the unveiling of the statue, and at the 22 minute mark commentary on his equestrian skill and ability.

 
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