Frederick Dent Grant
Major General, U.S. Army

Frederick Dent Grant was born in Saint Louis, MO, on 30 May 1850, the first son of Ulysses S. Grant, who was, at that time, serving in the U.S. Army. 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 in Galena, IL. He attended public school in Galena until the outbreak of the American 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, often coming under hostile fire himself.

In 1866, Grant was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy * and graduated in 1871. After commissioning, he was assigned to the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment. He then took a leave of absence to work with the Union Pacific Railroad as a Civil Engineer. Late in 1871, he served as Aide-de-Camp to General William Tecumseh Sherman in Europe. In 1872, he rejoined the 4th Cavalry in Texas.

* USMA Controversy

On 1 June 1870, the first African American cadet, James Webster Smith, from South Carolina, was admitted into the U.S. Military Academy. Smith was sponsored by Senator Adelbert Ames of Mississippi and nominated by Representative Solomon L. Hoge of South Carolina. He was selected for his outstanding character and scholarly ability by David Clark, a northern philanthropist. While Smith was at West Point, he was forced to endure immense racism, violence, and shunning by other Cadets. Smith's harassers included fellow cadet Frederick Dent Grant. Frederick was one of the instigators that were intent on driving Smith from the Academy.

Smith wrote to Clark about the racial hazing, whereupon Clark went to the White House to talk with President Grant. Frederick was also at the meeting between Clark and the President. Clark advocated that Grant stop the hazing. Grant said, "Don't take him away; the battle may as well be now as anytime." The young Frederick was noted to say in front of his father that, "the time had not come to send colored boys to West Point." When Clark disagreed, Frederick said, "Well, no damned nigger will ever graduate from West Point." Smith was later discharged after failing an unconventional private examination test by Professor Peter S. Mitchie. While Frederick Grant denied being a leader of the cadets who hazed Smith for being an African American, there is evidence to suggest he actively participated. [Source: Wikipedia]

Grant was assigned to the staff of General Philip Sheridan in 1873 and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He was on the Yellowstone Expedition and was with George Armstrong Custer during the Black Hills Expedition.

In 1874, Grant married Ida Marie Honoré, the daughter of Henry Hamilton Honoré, who made his fortune in Chicago real estate. They were married in Chicago and had two children: Julia Dent Grant (born 1876) and Ulysses S. Grant III (born 1881). [Ulysses S. Grant IV was the son of Ulysses S. Grant, Jr.] Their daughter Julia was born on 6 June 1876 and Grant received leave to travel to Washington, DC, for her birth. In 1877, he took a leave of absence to accompany his father, serving as his Secretary, on a trip around the world. Grant served in the Bannock War (1878) and was in the fight against Victorio in New Mexico.

Grant 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 1887, he ran on the Republican ticket for Secretary of State of New York, but was defeated by the Democratic incumbent Frederick Cook. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him Minister to Austria-Hungary and after Grover 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; an office he held until 1898. There he served alongside future President Theodore Roosevelt.

Frederick Grant returned to the Army at the onset of the Spanish-American War in 1898. When the war started Grant was Colonel of the 14th New York Volunteers and was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers. He then commanded the District of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1899, Grant was sent to the Philippines for service in the Philippine-American War, and remained there until 1902. He became a Brigadier General in the Regular Army in 1901.

After he returned to the U.S., he held various commands and was promoted to Major general in 1906. At the time of his death, he was Commander of the Eastern Division, which included the Department of the East and the Department of the Gulf.

Death and Burial

Major General Frederick Dent Grant died on 12 April 1912. When he died it was revealed that, like his father, he had throat cancer . He is buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery in West Point, NY.