- Frederick Dent Grant
Infobox Military Person
name=Frederick Dent Grant
caption=Grant in 1908
born=birth date|1850|5|30
died=death date and age|1912|4|12|1850|5|30
placeofbirth=St. Louis, Missouri
placeofdeath=Governors Island
nickname=
allegiance=United States
branch=United States Army
serviceyears=1871-1912
rank=Major General
unit=4th Cavalry Regiment
commands=14th New York Volunteers
Eastern Division of the US Army
battles=Indian Wars
*Bannock War Spanish-American War
Philippine-American War
awards=
relations=Ulysses S. Grant , father
laterwork=Civil engineer , businessman, minister toAustria-Hungary ,police commissioner Frederick Dent Grant (
May 30 ,1850 –April 12 ,1912 ) was a soldier andUnited States minister toAustria-Hungary . Grant was the first son of General of the Army andPresident of the United States Ulysses S. Grant andJulia Grant .Early life
His father was in the
United States Army when Frederick was born inSt. Louis, Missouri . The family moved as the senior Grant was assigned to posts in Michigan and New York. Frederick spent his early childhood at his paternal grandparent's house while his father was stationed on the West Coast. After his father's resignation from the army, the family lived in St. Louis and inGalena, Illinois . He attended public school in Galena until the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War in 1861. Grant's father organized a volunteer regiment and was made colonel. Frederick accompanied his father when the regiment was sent to northern Missouri, but he was sent home when it arrived. He then rejoined his father off and on at several campaigns during the war.Early military career
Grant was appointed to West Point in 1866 and graduated in 1871. He was assigned to the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment. He took a leave of absence to work with the
Union Pacific Railroad as a civil engineer. Late in 1871, he wasaide-de-camp to GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman in Europe. He rejoined the 4th Cavalry in Texas in 1872.In 1873, he was assigned to the staff of General
Philip Sheridan and promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was on the Yellowstone Expedition and was withGeorge Armstrong Custer during theBlack Hills expedition.In 1874, Grant married Ida Marie Honoré (1854-1930), the daughter of Henry Hamilton Honoré, who made his fortune in Chicago real estate. They were married in Chicago and had two children: Julia (born 1876) and Ulysses III (born 1881). (Note: Ulysses IV was the son of
Ulysses S. (Buck) Grant, Jr. )In 1877, he took a leave of absence to accompany his father on a trip around the world.
In 1878, Grant was in the
Bannock War and was in the fight againstVictorio in New Mexico.Non-military career
He resigned from the army in 1881 and assisted his father in preparing the latter's memoirs. During this time, he was in business in New York City.
In 1889, President
Benjamin Harrison appointed him Minister to Austria. AfterGrover Cleveland became president, Grant was allowed to continue in his post. Grant resigned in 1893.Grant became a commissioner of police in New York City in 1894.
Later military career
When the
Spanish-American War started in 1898, Grant was colonel of the 14th New York Volunteers and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. He served inPuerto Rico . In 1899, Grant was sent to thePhilippines for service in thePhilippine-American War , where he remained until 1902. In 1901, he was made a brigadier general in theRegular Army .When he returned to the United States, he held various commands and was promoted to major general in 1906. At the time of his death, he was the commander for the Eastern Division which included the Department of the East and the Department of the Gulf. He died of cancer, the same disease that had claimed his father, at
Fort Jay onGovernors Island in New York City onApril 12 1912 , and was buried inWest Point Cemetery .References
* "The National Cyclopædia of American Biography". (1916) Vol. XV. New York: James T. White & Co., pp.93-94.
External links
* [http://www.lib.siu.edu/projects/usgrant/fdg-obit.html Obituary of Frederick Dent Grant] from "Report of the Sixth Reunion of the Grant Family Association at the Breevort House, Manhattan, New York City, February 27, 1914", ed. by Frank Grant and Elihu Grant (Westfield, Mass.: n. p., 1914), pp. 26-29.
* [http://www.findagrave.org/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2302 Frederick Dent Grant]
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