Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. His name was changed by a mistake made by a congressman on his nomination to West Point. At that time, Grant considered correcting the mistake, but since cadets were identified by their initials (and his would have been "H.U.G."), he decided to stick with the new name, Ulysses Simpson Grant. His friends called him Sam.
His new name led to new and auspicious initials: U.S. Grant. In his first great victory, the capture of Fort Donelson, newspapers decided that his initials stood for "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. In his letter to Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Grant wrote: "Yours of this date proposing armistice, and appointment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation is just received. No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." (An interesting note to history is that Buckner was a pre-war friend of Grant's who had lent Grant money when Grant was broke and reduced to selling firewood on the streets of St. Louis.)
When Grant was a young boy, his father informed him that he had planned to give Grant a silver dollar to clean out the barn, but that he didn't think Grant was large enough yet to be able to do such a hard job. A dollar was a great deal of money then, and Grant pleaded to be allowed to try. After several hours, Grant had cleaned the barn. His father congratulated him on doing such a fine job and gave him the silver dollar. His father then told Grant that since he had proven he could indeed clean the barn, it would be his responsibility to clean the barn each day.
Grant always loved horses, and was known throughout his entire life as an excellent horseman. When he was eight, a neighbor had a colt for sale that Grant very much wanted. Grant's father offered twenty dollars for the colt, but the farmer refused to sell for that price. Grant begged his father to buy the colt, and Grant's father agreed. Grant was told by his father to offer twenty-two and a half dollars for the colt, and if the farmer would not accept that, to offer twenty-five dollars. Grant mounted a horse and rode straight to the farmer and said, "Papa says I may offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't take that, I am to offer you twenty-two and a half, and if you won't take that, to give you twenty-five." Needless to say, he paid twenty-five for the colt, and it was a long time before he heard the last of that story from his neighbors in the town.
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