n-chief of the army, March 17, 1864; fought the
battles of the Wilderness, in May, and besieged Richmond, 1864-1865.
He received Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865.
Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal for Fort Donelson,
Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, December 17, 1863. In July, 1866, he was
made general; acted as secretary of War _ad interim_ (12 August, 1867,
February, 1868); President of the United States (first term),
1869-1873; (second term), 1873-1877.

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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.

_Resolutions of Congress Voting a Medal to General Grant._

_Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_: That the thanks
of Congress be, and they hereby are, presented to Major-General
Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and soldiers
who have fought under his command during the rebellion, for their
gallantry and good conduct in the battles in which they have been
engaged; and that the President of the United States be (p. 372)
requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable
emblems, devices and inscriptions, to be presented to
Major-General Grant.

SECTION 2. _And be it further resolved_, That, when the said
medal shall have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of
this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall
transmit the same, together with the said medal, to Major-General
Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the
United States of America.

SECTION 3. _And be it further resolved_, That a sufficient sum of
money to carry this resolution into effect is hereby appropriated
out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Approved December 17, 1863.

_____

_General Grant to General Cullum._

Headquarters, District of West Tennessee,
To Fort Donelson, February 16th, 1862.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE W. CULLUM,
Chief of Staff, Department of the Missouri.

General: I am pleased to announce to you the unconditional
surrender, this morning, of Fort Donelson, with twelve to fifteen
thousand prisoners, at least forty pieces of artillery, and a
large amount of stores, horses, mules, and other