It took great courage for Grant to disobey these conventions and cut himself loose from any base, living instead off the rich lands of the Mississippi Basin. It took great courage for him to move his army without forming a front. (Even his own generals, including William Tecumseh Sherman, thought he had lost his mind.) This strategy was hidden from Pemberton’s view because Grant kept up ordinary appearances by establishing a base at Grand Gulf and forming front and rear to march toward the rail line.
