whatever. But the march taught Grant a lesson he never forgot and,
thereafter, in the hour of peril, he invariably consoled himself
by remembering that his opponents were not free from danger and
the more he made them look to their own safety the less time they
would have for worrying him.

It was in July, 1861, when Grant entered Missouri, and about a month
later the astonishing news reached his headquarters that President
Lincoln had appointed him a Brigadier General of Volunteers. The
explanation of this unexpected honor was that the Illinois
Congressmen had included his name with seven others on a list of
possible brigadiers, and the President had appointed four of them
without further evidence of their qualifications. Under such
circumstances, the promotion was not much of an honor, but it placed
Grant in immediate command of an important district involving the
control of an army of quite respectable size.

For a time the new General was exclusively occupied with perfecting
the organization of his increased command, but to this hard, dull
work he devoted himself in a manner that astonished some of the other
brigadiers whose ideas of the position involved a showy staff of
officers and a deal of picturesque posing in resplendent uniforms.
But Grant had no patience with such foolery. He had work to do
and when his headquarters were established at Cairo, Illinois, he
took charge of them himself, keeping his eyes on all the details
like any careful business man. In fact he was, as far as appearances
were concerned, a man of business, for he seldom wore a uniform and
worked at his desk all day in his shirt sleeves, behind ramparts
of maps and papers, with no regard whatever for military ceremony
or display.