The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is distinct from the General Grant National Memorial. The first one is in Washington, DC, and the second one is in New York. The General Grant National Memorial is the largest mausoleum in North America.

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC is a presidential memorial honoring the Civil War General and 19th president of the United States. It was built between 1902 and 1924, and it is the largest equestrian monument in United States. The platform is 252 feet long and 71 feet wide. The statute of Grant is over 17 feet tall and sits on a 22.5 foot table marble pedestal. The memorial is located in Union Square between The Capitol and Reflecting Pool. Grant faces west towards the Lincoln Memorial. The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial define the official east and west ends of the National Mall. (You can read more about it here or on Wikipedia here.)

From Google Maps, the memorial is an oval elongated north to south. The Capitol Reflecting Pool is on the west side (left).

The memorial was swarming with people; it looked like it might be an entire class of students getting graduation pictures. Impressive photo backgrounds might be one of the few perks of going to school in or near Washington, DC. In the panorama, the second big tree from the right is one of the oldest trees on the United States Capitol grounds. You can read more about it here.

We approached from the south, which has the Artillery Group sculpture.

When you walk around to the front, you see something odd. A duck ramp in the reflecting pool. Why do ducks need a ramp to get in and out of the pool. Are DC ducks too lazy to fly? Or is this for the ducklings?

On the south side is the Artillery Group sculpture of a caisson carrying three soldiers.

In the middle, there is a statue of a stoic unperturbed Grant astride his warhorse Cincinnati. Surrounding grant and four lions on pedestals.

On the north side is the Calvary Group sculpture shows a color squad of seven soldiers charging into battle.

There is a great view of The Capitol from the memorial.

The next stop was the National Japanese American Memorial, but we had to pass several smaller monuments and memorials along the way.