Ulysses S. Grant was in the American Civil War.
The Battle of Appomattox Court House , fought on the morning of April 9 , 1865 , was one of the last battles of the American Civil War . Robert Edward Lee ( January 19 , 1807 -- October 12 , 1870 ) was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865 . Ulysses S. Grant . In July 1863 , after a series of coordinated battles , Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg , giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two . The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg , Mississippi , a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River . The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant gained control of the river by capturing this stronghold and defeating Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton 's forces stationed there .