By using the coupled wave theory of Kogelnik,the diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam by a one dimensional reflection volume holographic grating is investigated. Considering the dispersion effect of the grating media,the spectral and temporal distributions of the diffracted and transmitted beams,the spectral bandwidth of the grating,as well as the diffraction efficiency of the reflection volume grating are studied both analytically and numerically. It is investigated that the spectral widths of the diffraction light are narrowed,temporal widths are broadened,and then diffraction efficiencies decrease with the dispersion effect of the grating media. In particular,the distortion and broadening of the pulsed beams are shown.They are controlled by the parameters of the grating and the input conditions. These results demonstrate that there is a new potential for the study of the diffraction of the ultrashort pulsed beam by the volume holographic gratings,such as femtosecond pulse shaping.