Some years ago, when being in public policy journalism was still a viable career path, I was working in bed, laptop on my knees. I hadn’t realized my feet had fallen asleep. The kettle went off (huzzah!), so I jumped out of bed, tried to land, and felt my left foot go CRUNCH …

Only later, when the doc told me I had a Dancer’s Fracture and asked me how I got it (“I was performing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” I said. “Just kidding -- I was getting out of bed”) did I realize this was ONE MORE THING I had in common with US Grant: silly foot injuries.

Because as the Battle of Shiloh began #OTD in 1862, Grant was hobbling around on crutches after falling from his horse at night in slippery mud, pinning his leg underneath him. His ankle swelled up so much, his boot had to be cut off. (I assume he got a bill from Halleck.)

Now, I’m a keen student of Grant’s Many Mysterious Tumbles From Horses, Which Had Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Drinking Even Though He Was A Legendarily Skilled Rider (Ahem) … and I’d give this one a 9.5/10 on the Legit Scale. The night was dark, and it was raining heavily.

Still, the fact that Grant fell from his horse didn’t dispel rumors, which gathered pace as the death toll at Shiloh became known, that the reason he was caught off-guard by the Rebels was cuz he was drunk.

But it’s like I told my doctor: “Look, I WISH that was my excuse …”

PS: Sometimes people ask me what made Grant and McClellan so different as generals. And I tell them: “If McClellan had sprained his ankle at Antietam, like Grant did at Shiloh, he ABSOLUTELY would’ve tried to call Time-Out.”