Ulysses S. Grant, 1822-1885
Mathew Brady Studio
Albumen silver print, 1864
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC


In June 1864, Mathew Brady photographed General Ulysses S. Grant at City Point in Virginia. That spring, Brady had petitioned the army to travel behind the lines, but received permission only after his wife asked Mrs. Grant for help. On June 19, Grant wrote home, reporting, "Brady is along with the Army and is taking a great many views and will send you a copy of each." Records suggest that Brady had a second mission, sending coded messages to friends on Wall Street, who used knowledge of the army's plans to manipulate the stock market in their favor. A young colonel discovered the scheme and asked Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana to tell Grant "how he is being deceived by one to whom he has granted various privileges and favors." There is no record of Grant's response.




NEXT photograph

BACK to "Brady and the Civil War"

RETURN to the Table of Contents