Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

A general who can write quickly and clearly is a wonderful thing to have

General Meade’s chief of staff, Maj. Gen. A.A. Humphreys, once said that, “There is one striking thing about Grant’s orders: no matter how hurriedly he may write them on the field, no on ever had the slightest doubt as to their meaning, or ever had to read them over a second time to understand them.”

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Andrew_A._Humphreys_-_Brady-Handy
Andrew_A._Humphreys_-_Brady-Handy

 

 

General Meade’s chief of staff, Maj. Gen. A.A. Humphreys, once said that, “There is one striking thing about Grant’s orders: no matter how hurriedly he may write them on the field, no one ever had the slightest doubt as to their meaning, or ever had to read them over a second time to understand them.”

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Mathew Brady or Levin Handy/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Brady-Handy Photograph Collection

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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