General Grant Memorial
The tomb of our 18th President in Morningside Heights on the Hudson River
This stunning white marble and granite rotunda perched on a bluff overlooking the Hudson is the final resting place of the man that many believed brought the Civil War to an end through his brilliant military leadership of the Union Army. Although General Ulysses S. Grant subsequently became President of the United States in 1868, his memorial honors his military service. It was constructed from 1892 to 1897, when the memory of the War was still painfully fresh, and it was paid for entirely by private donations. Inspired by Napoleon's Tomb in Paris at Les Invalides, the soaring domed ceiling and grandeur of the interior of the General Grant Memorial matches the sweeping river views it commands.
Commonly known as "Grant's Tomb," the memorial is the tomb of both Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia Dent Grant, who had enjoyed a long and extremely close marriage. Grant insisted that his wife, upon her death, should be laid to rest beside him. Neither Arlington Cemetery nor West Point, which was Grant's Alma Mater, would permit this. Instead, the Grant family made the decision that his memorial would be here in New York so that Julia could see the mausoleum from her home in Manhattan. She joined him there 17 years after his death. A sarcophagus was carved for each out of a single piece of granite, and they remain side by side beneath the great rotunda. A reluctant soldier, Grant attended West Point with hopes of becoming a professor. As a young man he served in the Mexican War, and then retired from the military and unsuccessfully tried his hand at farming. Grant reenlisted as a Colonel at the outbreak of the Civil War, and rose rapidly through the ranks. Within five years he became the first four star General of the Armies.
After the Civil War, the popular general was easily elected president in 1868. He presided over Reconstruction and the reassimilation of the South into the Union during his two-term presidency. He also supported the Constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for former slaves; his commitment to those rights would secure lifelong support in the African American community for the man they would always see as their general. However, his presidency was not without scandal; during his tenure conflicts with the Native Americans of the plains continued, including the infamous battle at Little Bighorn, and his own brother-in-law was involved in the stock market collapse of 1869.
General Grant Memorial was designed by New York architect John Duncan who was chosen through an international design competition, and was built by the Grant Monument Association. Taking five years to complete, the memorial contains over 8,000 tons of granite and reaches a height of over 150 feet. The memorial is situated among a grove of trees on the edge of the Hudson River and offers many places to relax and take in the beauty of the memorial and views.
