On the spot Grant infused a fighting spirit into the army, and men received him with “a rousing cheer” as he made the rounds.11 He tolerated no sloppiness. That first day he passed by soldiers packing cracker boxes into wagons in perfunctory fashion. “That won’t do, men,” he reprimanded them. “Those crackers are going to men who are starving. Every cracker is precious, and the more boxes you get into that wagon the more hungry men you will feed tonight.”12 He gestured with his crutch to indicate where more boxes could be stored. Such stories sparked new vitality in the hitherto sluggish,
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