Grant decided to keep the name because he could avoid the "hug" monogram and it was easier to keep the wrong name than to try changing school records.[31]

^ All the graduates were mounted on horses during the ceremony.[35]

^ At the time, class ranking largely determined branch assignments.[43] Those at the top of the class were usually assigned to the Engineers, followed by Artillery, Cavalry, and Infantry.[43]

^ Several scholars, including Jean Edward Smith, Ron Chernow, and Charles B. Flood said that Longstreet was Grant's best man and the two other officers were Grant's groomsmen. [49] All three served in the Confederate Army and surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.[50]

^ During the Civil War, when Grant's Union supply depot at Holly Springs was sacked in December 1862, he incorporated the strategy of the Union Army foraging the land,[69] rather than expose long Union supply lines to enemy attack.[70]

^ William McFeely said that Grant left the army simply because he was "profoundly depressed" and that the evidence as to how much and how often Grant drank remains elusive.[86] Jean Edward Smith maintains Grant's resignation was too sudden to be a calculated decision.