THE "BRING YOUR CHILD TO WORK" PITFALL

You will recall that Ernest Hemingway blew his chances of obtaining the "Father of the Year" Award when he placed his children in harm's way while chasing Nazi U-Boats in his cabin cruiser. Another father who embraced the same laissez-faire philosophy with respect to child endangerment was General Ulysses S. Grant, who, with the blessings of his wife, allowed his 11-year old son Frederick to accompany him on his quest to slaughter Confederates. During one campaign in 1863, Frederick, then at the hoary age of twelve, was shot in the leg and nearly had to have it amputated. As a result, Mama Grant withdrew her consent, and Frederick's military career was put on hold until 1866, when he became a cadet at West Point. 

Frederick eventually achieved the rank of Major General and also served as the Police Commissioner of New York City and Minister to Austria-Hungary. Just like his dad, he died in his early sixties from throat cancer.

For further information on the young Grant's Civil War experiences, click here. For a brief biography of the lesser-known General Grant, click here.

By Bain News Service, publisher, via Wikimedia Commons