| Lewis A. Grant |
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| 1828 births | |
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| 1918 deaths | |
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EARLY LIFE Lewis Grant was born in Winhall, Vermont , the youngest of ten children of James and Elizabeth (Wyman) Grant. He attended the district school of Townshend, Vermont , until he was sixteen years old. Within a year, he had become the teacher at the same school. Later he attended the academy at Chester, Vermont to finish his education. Grant then taught school for five years in New Jersey , in Chester, Vermont, and near Boston , meanwhile reading law. He was admitted to the bar in 1855 and established his practice in Bellows Falls, Vermont . Grant married S. Agusta Hartwell in 1857 , and the couple had a daughter. Unfortunately, his wife died in their second year of marriage. CIVIL WAR He was mustered into the service of the United States on September 16 , 1861 , at St. Albans, Vermont , as Major of the Fifth Vermont Infantry to serve for three years. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel to date from September 25 , 1861 , and later to Colonel , to date from September 16 , 1862 . He was wounded at the Battle Of Fredericksburg . He assumed command of the famed Vermont Brigade and led it during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign . Taking advantage of a furlough that September, Grant married Mary Helen Pierce, a niece of President Franklin Pierce . They had two sons. Grant was appointed Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers, April 27 , 1864 and accepted the appointment May 21 , 1864 . He was commissioned Brevet Major-General U. S. Volunteers, to date from October 19, 1864 , "for gallant and meritorious services in the campaign before Richmond, Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley;" and was honorably discharged from the service August 24 , 1865 . He commanded the Second Brigade, Second Division, VI Corps , from February 21 , 1863, to December 29 , 1863 , and from February 2 , 1864 , to September 29 , 1864 , and from October 8 , 1864 , to December 2 , 1864 ; the Second Division, VI Corps , from December 2 , 1864 , to February 11 , 1865 ; the Second Brigade, same Division, from February 11 , 1865 , to February 20 , 1865 , and from March 7 , 1865 , to June 28 , 1865 . During his service with the Fifth Vermont Infantry Volunteers, that regiment took part in the following battles: Yorktown , Williamsburg , Goldings's Farm, Savage's Station, White Oak Swamp, Crampton's Gap , Antietam and Fredericksburg. Following is a list of battles in which he participated as a Brigade or Division Commander: Fredericksburg and Salem Heights, Gettysburg , Fairfield, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, Wilderness , Spotsylvania Court House , Cold Harbor , Siege of Petersburg, Charlestown, W. Va., Gilbert's Crossing, Cedar Creek , Siege of Petersburg, Assault on Petersburg (where he was wounded in the head), and Sailor's Creek, Va. He was recommended August 22 , 1866 , by General Ulysses S. Grant , commanding the army of the United States, for appointment as a field officer in the Regular Army and was appointed August 29 , 1866 AS Lieutenant Colonel of the 36th Regiment, U. S. Infantry, to date from July 28 , 1866 , but declined the appointment on November 6 , 1866 . On May 11 , 1893 , he received the Medal of Honor for "Personal gallantry and intrepidity displayed in the management of his brigade and in leading it in the assault in which he was wounded," at Salem Heights, Virginia, May 3 , 1864 . POST WAR After the war, Lewis Grant was Assistant U.S. Secretary Of War during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison . He died at Minneapolis, Minnesota , and is buried in Lakewood Cemetery (Section 8, Lot 416, Grave 2) in that city. REFERENCES ''Revised Roster of Vermont Volunteers and lists of Vermonters Who Served in the Army and Navy of the United States During The War of the Rebellion, 1861-66'', (Press of the Watchman Publishing Co., Montpelier, VT, 1892), pp. 142, 144, 735, 747. |
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