Though die-hard Civil War buffs and history nerds can rattle off a list of famous Union and Confederate military leaders, there are two names that even laymen know: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Though their military careers are storied and well recorded, their personal lives, background, and post-Civil War lives are less known.
Born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, Grant worked at his family’s tannery as a child, which he returned to during a break in his military career before again heeding the call to duty during the Civil War. Alternatively, Lee was a military man from the start, choosing to side with his home state of Virginia when it seceded from the Union.
The infographic below, created by Norwich University, lays out the lives of these two civil war titans. It offers an overview of key moments in each man’s life from their time at West Point and ultimately how they spent the final years of their lives.
Image courtesy of Norwich University
