11. Blood Terrified Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant earned an undeserved reputation as a bloody butcher of a general. In reality, there was more to him than the caricature of a bull who only knew how to put his head down and charge straight ahead. His 1863 Vicksburg Campaign, for example, was a masterpiece of maneuver warfare. After tricking the Confederates into letting him cross the Mississippi River unopposed, he conducted a 17-day whirlwind campaign during which he captured Jackson, Mississippi, won 5 battles, and besieged Vicksburg.
Ironically, considering his butcher reputation, Grant was terrified by blood: its sight made him physically ill and caused him to freak out. Even the hint of blood or red juice on a rare steak was enough to nauseate him. As a result, he would only eat meat that was cooked black until it was nearly charcoal, without the slightest possibility of his seeing anything red when he cut (or cracked) it open.
