Recently, Ulysses S. Grant received a posthumous promotion to General of the Armies of the United States, the U.S. Army’s highest rank.
Last week, the Grant Monument Association shared the news that Congress has passed, and President Joseph Biden signed into law, legislation authorizing the President to posthumously promote Grant.
The provision was passed as Section 583 of the National Defense Authorization Act, according to the GMA, which noted that it confers on Grant the same rank and precedence held by General John J. Pershing, the only officer to have been General of the Armies of the United States during his lifetime. It added that the posthumous honor of that rank was conferred in 1976 upon George Washington during the celebration of the nation’s bicentennial.
The posthumous promotion comes in this bicentennial year of Grant’s birth.
Greg Roberts, volunteer ath the U.S. Grant Birthplace, managed by Historic New Richmond, Inc. under the auspices of the Ohio History Connection, spoke on the honor.
“This recognition is much appreciated and comes appropriately at the conclusion of the year long celebration of the bicentennial of General Grant’s birth in Pt. Pleasant. It serves as a source of great pride for the small group of dedicated people of Clermont and Brown County who have supported the U.S. Grant Birthplace and the Boyhood Home over the many years that Grant had been unfairly and unjustifiably disparaged. I encourage everyone who loves justice and truth to visit the Birthplace and Boyhood Home and Schoolhouse in the coming year to learn more about the legacy and true character of our most famous son, Ulysses S. Grant,” Roberts noted.
In the news release, the GMA said that the honor reflects the extraordinary importance of Grant’s military career.
“Washington and Grant were the top commanders of the U.S. Army during the two wars of existential importance to the United States: the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Grant, whose battlefield achievements ensured the survival of our nation amid the greatest threat it had ever faced, is regarded by many military historians as the most capable and accomplished general in American history, besides being one of the great military commanders in world history. His campaigns are still studied by the modern U.S. Army. Beyond that, his battlefield accomplishments effected the emancipation of enslaved people, and during his postwar career, he fought for profound changes to the Constitution that conferred upon former slaves equal rights, including the right to vote regardless of race,” notes the GMA.