For the first two years of the war, President Lincoln and General Grant had to size each other up from a distance. Historian William B. Hesseltine contended: “With his work as a military administrator adding nothing to his reputation, Grant’s rise to success was hampered by many difficulties.
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/abraham-lincolns-contemporaries/abraham-lincoln-and-ulysses-s-grant/
Ulysses S. Grant: America’s Second Three-Star General. President Abraham Lincoln called his cabinet to the Executive Mansion on March 9, 1864, to witness something that had occurred only once before in the history of the republic. As soon as everyone had arrived, Lincoln presented Ulysses S. Grant with his commission as a lieutenant general. Only George Washington had risen to that rank in the U.S. Army before him. Grant was characteristically humble. ‘I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred, he told Lincoln.
http://www.historynet.com/ulysses-s-grant-americas-second-three-star-general.htm
Meanwhile, the idea of resurrecting the rank of lieutenant general was introduced to Congress on December 7, 1863, by Representative Elihu B. Washburne, who represented Grant’s home district in Illinois. Although Washburne was a Republican and a stalwart Lincoln supporter, Lincoln did not welcome the initiative.
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When his superior in the West, General Henry W. Halleck, was transferred to Washington that summer, Grant took over command of the Union Army along the Mississippi River and began his career trajectory to command of the entire Union army in 1864.
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/abraham-lincolns-contemporaries/abraham-lincoln-and-ulysses-s-grant/
Grant transferred his energies to Virginia in 1864, where his strategy was to keep Lee occupied while Sherman had a free hand in the South. In March he was made a lieutenant-general, a rank revived especially for Grant by Congress.
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Grants most important victory came in July 1863, with the capture of Vicksburg, a key point on the Mississippi River, which enabled the Union to cut the Confederacy in half. Grant was made the supreme commander of the Union forces in the West, in October.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h102.html
Against his wishes, Grant was named General-in-Chief of the Army in March 1864, in which capacity he served until 1869 when he took office President. After Congress passed the legislation allowing for appointment of a lieutenant general, Grant was summoned to Washington to meet with President Lincoln.
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/abraham-lincolns-contemporaries/abraham-lincoln-and-ulysses-s-grant/
Grant would take on Robert E. Lee, and Sherma... Ulysses S. Grant by Josiah Bunting. As a general, Ulysses S. Grant is routinely described in glowing terms-the man who turned the tide of the Civil War, who accepted Lee's surrender at A... One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus.
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In 1861, Grant was appointed as a colonel of the Illinois Volunteers. In early 1862, he was instrumental in the capture of Fort Donelson, the first important Union victory of the war. Lincoln noted Grants success and promoted him to major-general of the volunteers.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h102.html
John Y. Simon, Lincoln and Grant. (Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin, 1984) General Ulysses S. Grant came to the attention of President Lincoln and the nation when in February 1862 Grant captured two Confederate garrisons on the Tennessee River, Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. “U.
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when was grant made lieutenant general
Grant made Lieutenant general in March 1864. Grant was made lieutenant general in March 1864.