Ulysses had been to a meeting with General Joseph Reynolds who had been asked by the Governor of Illinois to recruit Ulysses S. Grant to lead the 21st Illinois Infantry. While procrastinating and questioning his ability to lead a thousand men, General Joseph Reynolds called his brother William to join the conversation. It was the demeanor of William F. Reynolds that assisted in convincing Ulysses S. Grant to return to military service from retirement. This was his initiation into the Civil War.

SC: "Past and Present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana", Pub by B.F. Bowen, 1909; "America's Successful Men of Affairs" Pub by New York Tribune, 1895-96.