History Resources

Inside the Vault: Ulysses S. Grant

by Gilder Lehrman Staff

Originally broadcast on May 15, 2020, this Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection explores the earliest known letter by Ulysses S. Grant, written when he was a 17-year-old cadet at West Point, and a political cartoon showing Grant’s “bull-dog” grip on the Confederacy in 1864. Patience LeBlanc, the 2018 Gilder Lehrman Texas History Teacher of the Year, joined the Gilder Lehrman curators in conversation. 

Click here to download the slides from the presentation.

Classroom-ready resources for the documents presented

Use the timestamps below to jump to the documents you want to view

  • Today’s Documents: 6:02-6:42
  • Earliest known letter by Ulysses S. Grant, written as a cadet: 6:43-14:29
  • Clothing at West Point: 14:30-18:54
  • Schooling at West Point: 18:55-22:12
  • Landscape painting of West Point: 22:13-26:06
  • Q&A: 26:07-34:22
  • "The Old Bull Dog on the Right Track": 34:23-35:19
  • Lieutenant General Grant: 35:20-38:26
  • General George B. McClellan: 38:27-42:52
  • President Abraham Lincoln: 42:53-46:01
  • General Ulysses S. Grant: 46:02-47:04
  • President Jefferson Davis: 47:05-50:36
  • Summer of 1864: 50:37-56:00
  • Q&A: 56:01-1:01:08