American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant

by Ronald C. White Jr.

“He was unusually sensitive to pain, and his aversion to taking any form of life was so great that he would not hunt.” Although young Ulysses would win an award for marksmanship with a pistol at a Fourth of July picnic, he found no sport in killing animals.

Grant was suddenly aware of his anxious feelings. “What General Taylor’s feelings were during this suspense I do not know; but for myself, a young second lieutenant who had never heard a hostile gun before, I felt sorry that I had enlisted.” Teaching mathematics seemed a distant dream.

The war prompted him to ask questions about himself, the army he served, and the American nation he loved.

Grant paid 50 cents to attend a bullfight. He quickly discovered “the sight to me was sickening” and did not stay long. “I could not see how human beings could enjoy the suffering of beasts, and often of men.”