Jesse turned to his son and announced, “Ulysses, I believe you are going to receive the appointment.” “What appointment?” Ulysses asked. “To West Point; I have applied for it.” “But I won’t go,” replied Ulysses. Jesse insisted he would go “and I thought so too, if he did,” as Ulysses recalled his cowed reaction to this paternal edict. The young man had little confidence he could meet the entrance requirements. “I did not believe I possessed them, and could not bear the idea of failing.”
