"His cardinal mistake is that he isolates himself, and allows nobody to see him; and by which he does not know what is going on in the very matter he is dealing with." -- Abraham Lincoln's reason for relieving General John C. Fremont from his command in Missouri, Sept. 9, 1861.
President Lincoln wrote these words to the man he was appointing to replace General Fremont. The new general would make no mistake about what was required of him: Get out there and circulate among the troops.