Winter at the memorial, General Grant National Memorial, 2015.

This memorial to Ulysses S. Grant, victorious Union commander of the Civil War, includes the tombs of General Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant. A West Point graduate, Grant served in the Mexican War and at various frontier posts before rapidly rising through the ranks during the Civil War. Grant's tenacity and boldness led to victories in the Battles of Vicksburg and Chattanooga and Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Scenes of these events are depicted in mosaics within the tomb. In 1866, Congress awarded Grant his fourth star making him the first full General of the Armies. A grateful nation elected Grant twice to serve as President, in 1868 and 1872.