All five of the historical artifacts shown were owned by Frederick Dent Grant (1850-1912), the eldest son of Ulysses S. Grant, and were passed down through Grant’s direct family line until they were sold as a group to a collector in January 2020. Each of these items is rare and desirable in its own right and fit within F.D. Grant’s storied life. Given his father’s prominent place within 19^thcentury American history, it may be no surprise that both Ulysses and Frederick Grant spent most of their lives in service to their country. Frederick Grant was a witness to the Civil War while at his father’s side and died while still serving as one of the highest ranking officers in the U.S. Army. Though he is often overshadowed by his father (the Civil War hero and U.S. President), Frederick Grant was also popular and well-connected in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, serving in significant military and political offices throughout his life. As he grew older, he looked more and more like his father, and he is also recorded as having the same direct, military man demeanor.

The Grant Family: An American Family Legacy

Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio into an abolitionist family and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and in 1843. He met his wife, Julia, through her brother Frederick T. Dent, a cadet and friend of Grant from his time at West Point, while Grant was in St. Louis serving as an officer in the 4^th U.S. Infantry Regiment then stationed at Jefferson Barracks. Frederick Grant was born on May 30, 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Ulysses S. and Julia (Dent) Grant. Frederick Grant was named after his uncle. The Dents were slaveholders and the owners of the White Haven plantation near St. Louis, Missouri. Grant’s parents did not attend the wedding in 1848 due to their disapproval of slavery, a reflection of the sectional storm brewing across the United States.

Though Ulysses S. Grant opposed the Mexican-American War and had intended to leave the army after four years, he was still in the service when Frederick Grant was born. Julia and Frederick Grant remained with the Dent family while U.S. Grant was away. Grant finally left the Army in 1854 in part due to a drinking problem and attempted to establish himself in the St. Louis area with little success. At one point, he owned one of the Dent’s slaves but freed him rather than use slave labor. The family moved to Galena, Illinois, in 1860 so that Grant could work in his family’s leather business alongside his two younger brothers. Frederick went to Galena’s public schools. Not long after reaching a state of some financial security, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter marking the beginning of the Civil War.

Frederick Dent Grant Joins the Military

Though it might be odd from a 21^st century perspective, young Frederick Grant initially accompanied his father to war when Ulysses Grant led his unit to northern Missouri. Fredrick was returned relatively quickly to his family in Galena but rejoined his father multiple times, as was recorded in Ulysses' memoirs. “My son accompanied me throughout the [Vicksburg] campaign and siege, and caused no anxiety either to me or his mother, who was at home.  He looked out for himself and was in every battle of the campaign. His age, then not quite thirteen, enabled him to take in all that he saw…”  Thus, before he was even a teenager, Frederick Grant had seen the turmoil of war and learned valuable lessons about military life. Frederick Grant’s wartime experience ended when he rode out onto the battlefield during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863 and was shot in the leg by a Confederate sharpshooter.  His wound became infected, and he also contracted typhoid. However, he made a full recovery.

Given his father’s rise to commanding general of the Union Army and his defeat of Robert E. Lee’s armies, it is not surprising that Frederick Grant, like his father and namesake before him, was admitted to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1866. He graduated 1871 and was initially assigned to the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment but took a leave of absence to work for the Union Pacific. He then worked as General William Tecumseh Sherman’s aide-de-camp in Europe. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1873 and served on Sheridan’s staff and was part of Yellowstone and Black Hills Expeditions with George Armstrong Custer and became one of Custer’s favorite companions.

He was married on October 20, 1874, at his parent’s home to Ida Marie Honoré, daughter of a wealthy Chicago businessman. One of the wedding gifts was an exceptional special order Remington Rolling Block Sporting Rifle inscribed to Grant from R.B. Marcy. Randolph Barnes Marcy, George McClellan’s father-in-law, was a fellow West Point graduate, and a veteran of the Mexican-American War, Indian wars, and the Civil War. He was also very experienced with the West and published “The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions. . .” After a brief honeymoon, Grant’s wife moved in with the Grants at the White House and Frederick returned to his responsibilities on the frontier. The gift was very fitting considering Remington’s strong action was popular with American officers serving in the West, including Custer. In 1875, both Grant and Marcy were part of expeditions to Yellowstone, and Grant was one of the authors of his expedition's report, which includes details about the game they encountered. An account of Marcy's expedition also indicates hunting was a major part of their adventures.

A twist of fate appears to have spared Grant his life. He returned east to Washington, D.C., for the birth of his first child, a daughter they named Julia Dent Grant after his mother. She was born on June 6, 1876, only a few weeks before Custer and his men were killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Thus, Grant was not present for the historic battle and his career was not cut short in the carnage. Julia was President Ulysses S. Grant’s first grandchild and went on to marry and later divorce Prince Mikhail Cantacuzène of the Russian Empire, a general like her father and grandfather.

Frederick Dent Grant's Double Barrel Hammer Shotgun

After President Grant left office in 1877, he and Frederick Grant went on a world tour. The younger Grant then returned to the Army and served during the Indian Wars in the West, including the Bannock War, and remained in the Army until he resigned in 1881. He aided his father in preparing his famous memoirs prior to his death from throat cancer in 1885. He also had business in New York and made a failed run for Secretary of State of New York in 1887. Two years later, he was appointed as U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary by President Benjamin Harrison and held that position until June 8, 1893. During his time in Vienna, he was either presented with or purchased the engraved 12 gauge double barrel hammer shotgun by Peterman that was passed down through his family. The plaque added to the bottom of the stock suggests he took possession of this attractive underlever shotgun in 1892.

The High-Art Sword of General Frederick Dent Grant

After returning to the U.S., Grant was a police commissioner in New York City in 1894 and served for four years, three under the reform minded Theodore Roosevelt who was President of the Board of Commissioners in 1895–1897. When the U.S. declared war on Spain in the spring of 1898, Grant volunteered for Federal Service as the colonel of the 14^thRegiment of the National Guard of New York, and Roosevelt resigned his position as Secretary of the Navy to raise his famous Rough Riders. Grant was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on May 27. On June 3, 1898, he took provisional command of the First Division of the Third Army Corps which was covered by the papers. June 3^rd also coincided with a meeting of the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution which Grant was a member of as the descendant of Noah Grant, a veteran of the Revolution who fought at Bunker Hill. The records of their meeting include the resolution for the presentation sword available in our June Premier Auction. They state: "Resolved, That this Society directs. . . that a sword, with appropriate belongings, be presented to Brigadier-General Frederick Dent Grant.” The sword presentation a month later on the 4th of July is documented in the New York Tribune. It was presented at Camp Thomas along with a set of epaulets by Edward Payson Cone, and the sword itself is illustrated in the article. Grant remained with the Army after the defeat of Spain and served in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection and was U.S. Military Governor of Pampanga in 1899-1900.

Theodore Roosevelt and an Engraved Bolt Action Rifle

After returning to the States, he was commissioned a brigadier general in the U.S. Army in 1901. He served as commander of Governor's Island in New York and the Department of the Great Lakes. Approximately two years later, the exceptionally engraved “Officer’s Model” Springfield Armory Model 1899 Krag-Jorgensen Bolt Action Carbine owned by Grant was manufactured based on the 1903 dated stock cartouche. Given 1903 was during the switch-over from Krag to Model 1903 production, the Springfield Armory staff or other government officials may have selected this carbine for presentation to Grant, possibly in relation to the 1904 World’s Fair (Louisiana Purchase Exposition/St. Louis World’s Fair) which included his father’s former farm as one of the exhibits. Grant’s son, Ulysses S. Grant III, was also an aide to President Theodore Roosevelt that year, so perhaps the carbine was even ordered by President Roosevelt himself. Regardless of its specific origins, this carbine is easily one of the finest Springfield Krags extant, and its rarity, historical pedigree, and condition are unmatched.

The Sword That Isn't a Sword

Around this same time, Grant likely received the final item passed down through his family: an unusual Model 1902 Officer’s Dress Sword that isn’t a sword at all. It is in fact a Model 1902 sword hilt mated to a scabbard. There is no blade, and the scabbard can be taken down into two pieces. This was no doubt an excellent piece of kit for a high ranking military officer known to be a world traveler.  He was promoted again to major general in 1906 and can be seen wearing a Model 1902 sword in portraits from the early 1900's.

The Legacy of the Grant Family

Grant became the commander of the Department of the East in 1910. When the Eastern Division was created on April 12, 1912, encompassing both the Department of the East and Department of the Gulf, Grant became its commander and remained in charge until his death on April 12, 1912. Had he not died at the relatively young age of 61, he would have had a significant role within the Army during the First World War.  As it was, he was held highest rank in the Army at the time and was second only to fellow Major General Leonard Wood in terms of seniority when he died from cancer like his father. His son, Ulysses S. Grant III, graduated from West Point in 1903 and also served his country in the military for many years and served through World War I and was in charge of U.S. civil defense during the World War II. Like his father, he reached the rank of major general before he retired in 1946.

By the time Grant was laid to rest, he had seen our country torn apart by war and then reunited to become a true world power. He saw the West taken from Native American control and the frontier declared closed, thus completing what many saw as our nation’s manifest destiny to rule from sea to shining sea. At the same time, we also expanded outwards thanks to our successes in the Spanish-American War and Filipino-American War. During his years with the military, he was a witness to his father’s greatness and then the surprisingly rapid transition from muzzleloaders to single shot breech loaders and then bolt action rifles and machine guns.

The items passed down through his family are unique and valuable artifacts both from his life and our nation’s history. This is the first time they are being made available at public sale, and there is no guarantee they will be ever available again. They very well may end up within one or more museum or private collections for generations to come, so do not miss your opportunity. Check out the June Premier Auction catalog online now and submit your bids or get registered for telephone or online bidding through RIAC Live.

Sources:

Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885–1886. ISBN 0-914427-67-9.

Grant, J. D. (1988). The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant: (Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant). United States: Southern Illinois University Press.

Grant, F. D. (1875). Report of an Expedition Up the Yellowstone River Made in 1875. United States: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Underwood, L. (2002). All the Presidents' Children. United States: Dageforde Pub..

Makers of New York: An Historical Work, Giving Portraits and Sketches of the Most Eminent Citizens of New York. (1894). United States: L.R. Hamersly & Company.

Foundation, L. F. (2017). Civil War Officers; Union: Ulysses S. Grant (3); Excerpts from Newspapers and Other Sources (Classic Reprint). United States: Fb&c Limited.

Grant, F.D. (1912). The Vicksburg Siege Recalled by Frederick Dent Grant. The Literary Digest.