Ryan Struthers

@EchoesofWarYT GREAT General & President.

He won the Civil War, broke the Klan, went bankrupt at 62, got terminal throat cancer, and wrote one of the greatest books in American literature in the final year of his life. He finished it 5 days before he died. Ulysses S. Grant was born 204 years ago today. His name wasn't even Ulysses S. Grant. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822. The congressman who nominated him to West Point wrote down the wrong name. Grant kept it. The "S." stands for nothing. He hated his father's tannery and loved horses. Graduated 21st of 39 at West Point. Fought in the Mexican-American War, then came home convinced it was an unjust war designed to expand slavery. He later said he believed the Civil War was divine punishment for it. He married Julia Dent in 1848, into a slave-owning Missouri family. His abolitionist father refused to attend the wedding. In 1859, broke and desperate, Grant freed the one enslaved man he'd briefly owned instead of selling him. He could have gotten a year's wages. In the Civil War he became what no other Union general was: relentless. Vicksburg (July 4, 1863) split the Confederacy in half. Lincoln then gave him every Union army. His Appomattox surrender terms: officers kept sidearms, men kept horses for spring planting, no one prosecuted. As president (1869 to 1877) he did something no president would do again until LBJ: used federal troops to crush the Ku Klux Klan. He suspended habeas corpus in 9 South Carolina counties, prosecuted Klansmen before predominantly Black juries, and broke the first Klan. His presidency was also rocked by scandal: Black Friday 1869. Crédit Mobilier. The Whiskey Ring. Belknap. Grant himself never took a dime. He was just disastrously loyal to corrupt friends. The pattern damaged his reputation for a century. After the White House, he toured the world for 2 years. Dined with Queen Victoria. Met the emperor of Japan. Then in 1884, a Wall Street partner named Ferdinand Ward ran what we'd now call a Ponzi scheme. Grant was wiped out. 62 years old. Penniless. Weeks later he was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. Mark Twain offered to publish his memoirs. Grant wrote in agony, sometimes 50 pages a day, racing the disease to leave Julia an inheritance. He finished the manuscript July 18, 1885. He died July 23. The book made Julia $450,000, about $14M today. It's now considered one of the finest memoirs in the English language. For decades historians ranked Grant a failure. Since 2000 he's jumped 13 spots in the C-SPAN survey, the biggest rise of any president. Happy birthday, General 🇺🇸

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‼️COLLEGE COACHES‼️ Excited to announce that the Merrimack Valley Conference Showcase will be held again this spring! 🗓️ Monday, May 18, 2026 ⏲️6:30pm- 9:00PM 📍Lawrence Veterans Memorial Stadium, Lawrence MA More details will follow. @BostonHeraldHS @GlobeSchools @AlexAgrellaRB @PRZNewEngland @BrianDohn247 @NE6FB_Recruits @Murray_Jack_ @ScoutingNE @newftbj @kstone06 @newftbj @CoachMartinESA @CerulloCoach @DuganRyan8 @CoachFielding @mukala_K @TK_247 @BurtTalksSports @DWillisET @MVcreature @_LHSAthletics @DracutHSFB @LHSLancers_FB

HOME RUN FOR @CorsairFootball @UMASSDCoachSly 2 ABSOLUTE STUDS FIND THEIR HOME!! #FAMILY

Make it 3 State Titles to go with his 3 MASCAC titles! Congrats @UMDCoachFaniel! #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Wareham coach Steve Faniel has led the Vikings to three state titles in four years, building on a legacy started by Jim and Kevin Brogioli @RealWHSVikings southcoasttoday.com/story/sports/2…

Best D3 Running Backs Coming Back!!! 🎙️ @thejtzone4 ⭐️ @football_ncc @UWPlattFootball @BenUFootball @ALFREDSTATEFB @CorsairFootball @WarriorsFBall #d3fb #d3football #collegefootball #collegesports #football #ncaafootball #sports #D3 #D3Football #whyd3 #Division3 #runningback #runningbacks

Congrats to So. DL Ancil Alexander (@TauntonFootball) for being named an All-American, again! #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

🏀 Congratulations to Wareham High School 2026 Boys Basketball Division 4 Champions 🏀

Congratulations to So. DL Ancil Alexander (@TauntonFootball/@TauntonHS) for being named the @LittleEastConf Field Athlete of the Year! Congrats to Fr. WR Jayden Francois (@QHSAthletics) for being named All-Conference! #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Congratulations to @UMassD Class of '19 @CoachPappalardo for being named the co-OC at UTEP! #WinTheWest|#WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Including, “$1.25 billion for projects on University of Massachusetts campuses”! #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Absolute insanity out here…

Congratulations to @UMassD Class of '14 @CoachRobbat for being named the DC at Holy Cross! #GoCrossGo|#WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Congratulations to our conference-leading 5️⃣5️⃣ players named to the @MASCACsports All-Academic Team, and our 6️⃣0️⃣ players who made the Dean’s & Chancellor’s Lists this past fall! #STUDENTathletes|#WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

We are honored to receive the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement distinction. UMass Dartmouth and the Leduc Center received this distinction due to our impact on communities through teaching, research, and service. brnw.ch/21wZhtT

For the 6th year in row, a Corsair takes home the Gold Helmet! Congrats to Jr RB Mekhi Wilson (Narragansett, RI/@NHSMariners) for earning the award after his 6 TDs & 237 total yards on Saturday. Wilson broke the Single Season Rushing TD record, with 18 on the year! #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Make it 2️⃣6️⃣ in a row for the Corsairs at home! Congratulations to our seniors, who finished their careers 20-0 at home, with 3 conference titles. #d3fb Final from Cressy, @UMassD: 42, @PlymouthState: 21 #WinTheRep🏴‍☠️

Final from Cressy Field.

Final from Franklin, MA