These astonishing accusations were caused by his failure to answer
dispatches from Headquarters which had never reached him, and by
his visit to General Buell which had obliged him to travel beyond
the strict limits of his command. The whole matter was soon
explained by the discovery that a Confederate had been tampering
with the dispatches in the telegraph office, but it was exceedingly
annoying to Grant to find himself publicly condemned without a hearing.
Nevertheless, it supplied a very fair test of his character, for
he neither lost his temper nor displayed any excitement whatsoever.
On the contrary, he remained perfectly calm in the face of
grave provocation, replying firmly but respectfully to the harsh
criticisms of his superiors, and behaving generally with a dignity
and composure that won the silent approval of all observers.

Of course, as soon as the facts were known he was restored to his
command with an ample apology, but his preparations for the advance
against Corinth had been seriously interrupted and it was some time
before he again had the work in hand. Nevertheless, within five
weeks of the surrender of Fort Donelson, he was headed toward
Mississippi with over 30,000 men, having arranged with General Buell
to follow and support him with his army of 40,000, the combined
forces being amply sufficient to overpower the Confederates who
were guarding Corinth. This vast superiority, however, probably
served to put Grant off his guard, for on March 16, 1862, his
advance under General Sherman reached Pittsburg Landing, not far
from Corinth, and encamped there without taking the precaution
to intrench. Sherman reported on April 5th that he had no fear
of being attacked and Grant, who had been injured the day before
by the fall of his horse and was still on crutches, remained some
distance in the rear, feeling confident that there would be no