Located in Fairmount Park, the monument honors Ulysses S. Grant, who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later as President of the United States.

The monument was designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter and consists of an equestrian statue atop a pedestal.

[3] In spring 1839, at the age of 17, Grant enrolled in the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York,[4] graduating several years later in 1843.

[5] At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Grant, who by this time had pursued a civilian career, returned to military service in the Union Army,[6] where he rose through the ranks as a commander, and in 1864 was promoted to lieutenant general.

[7] Grant's military service culminated in Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865,[8] which marked the start of the conclusion of the American Civil War.

[20] Following this, Philadelphia Mayor Samuel Howell Ashbridge introduced Bishop Ozi William Whitaker of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, who gave an invocation for the monument.

[21] This prayer was followed by an address by Ashbridge,[22] after which the monument was officially presented to the city by John H. Converse, the president of the Fairmount Park Art Association.

[27] The final part of the festivities related to the monument's dedication took place later that night at the Academy of Music, where multiple orations were given regarding Grant and the statue.

[28] According to a publication issued by the Fairmount Park Art Association after the monument's unveiling, the statue depicts a moment when Grant is surveying a battlefield.