Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site near St. Louis

White Haven was the childhood home of Grant's wife, Julia; the color of the house is called Paris Green and it was painted this shade while the Grants lived here

Achieving great national fame for his victories at Vicksburg and the surrender at Appomattox, Grant was widely credited as the General who saved the Union

The original ice house is now below ground; the plantation was originally 850 acres with Grant supervising the slaves working here from 1854 to 1859

Grant would often haul wood from White Haven into St. Louis to sell; when Grant entered the US Military Academy at 17, he weighed only 117 pounds and stood 5 feet 2 inches tall (he would later grow to 5' 7" )

The Grants' bedroom although Ulysses was seldom here; the house is 10 miles SW of downtown St. Louis and is now in a nice residential area

Julia Grant was considered a socialite in St. Louis with the couple entertaining frequently; the Grants turned White Haven over to William Henry Vanderbilt in 1881, to satisfy a loan after one of Grant's financial partners absconded with investment funds

The chicken coop has been moved from its original location; Adolphus Busch purchased much of the original plantation and that section is now known as Grant's Farm

I was surprised that so many photos existed of Grant; a week after Grant's victory at Appamattox, Lincoln was assassinated, and was succeeded by President Andrew Johnson, who promoted Grant to General of the Army

This stone building was the summer kitchen for White Haven; Grant was philosophically opposed to slavery and, unlike many military leaders, requested African-American troops

Julia Grant asked for an allowance and received a liberal one (her words); she kept meticulous details of her spending but complained of never being able to reconcile her accounts

The former stables of White Haven is now a museum with many artifacts from the period and a detailed history of Grant; the structure is original but a protective outer shell has been added

As president, Grant stabilized the post-war national economy, created the Department of Justice, and prosecuted the KKK; Grant served 2 terms and, in his retirement, was the first president to circumnavigate the world

The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant was published by Mark Twain and was a critical and commercial success; Chernow's Grant was a more recent best-seller

The Grants at the Great Temple of Karnak (Egypt) during their world tour in 1878; it's difficult to imagine how challenging and uncomfortable travel must have been back then

Grant was just 63 when he died of throat cancer attributed to years of cigar smoking; his funeral was attended by 1.5 million people and he was later buried in Grant's Tomb in NYC, the largest mausoleum in North America