Ulysses S. Grant Marches On... Online.

• Position: WHAT'S NEW?

The Library of Congress has put the papers of Ulysses S. Grant online--for the first time--in their original format. The Library holds a treasure trove of documents from the Civil War commander and 18th president of the U.S., including personal correspondence, "headquarters records" created during the Civil War, and the original handwritten manuscript of Grants memoir--regarded as one of the best in history--among other items. The collection totals approximately 50,000 items, with the bulk falling in the period 1843-85.

The collection includes general and family correspondence, speeches, reports, messages, military records, financial and legal records, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and other papers. The collection relates to Grant's service in the Mexican War and Civil War; pre-Crvil War career; and postwar service as Secretary of War ad interim under Pres. Andrew Johnson; the 1868 presidential campaign and two-term presidency; his unsuccessful 1880 presidential bid; extensive international travels; and financial difficulties late in life that spurred the writing of his memoir, which he completed just days before his death from tongue cancer in July 1885.

The collection is supported by a finding aid and index, timeline, selected bibliography, and teaching resources. Published versions of many items in the collection can be read online through the website of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University.

Items in the collection provide a comprehensive and complex picture of a figure best known as a Civil War general, but who also was a devoted family man, world traveler, and admired former president. Highlights...