Scourge of War Boards

The other day, 69th NYSV, JC, Vonviper, and myself were posting some of our favorite lines from different movies.

In that spirit, I thought it might be fun to post our favorite Quotes from the ACW. From Officers and Soldiers, Politicians, and Citizens of that time. Don't anyone be shy about it.

I'll start.

"Woe to those who started this war, if they were not in bitter earnest." (Mary Chestnut)

This one is from a poem, written as one of the countless eulogies for Stonewall Jackson, by Judge George L. Christain:

"A hero came among us as we slept;
At first he lowly knelt, then rose and wept,
Then gathering up a thousand spears,
He swept across the field of Mars,
Then bowed farwell, and walked among the stars
In the land where we were dreaming."

"Goddammit man! When I tell you to hold the hill I mean hold the damn hill!" - Hancock, the Superb - Gettysburg.

“It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow to fond of it” General Robert E. Lee

"Damn the Torpedoes! Full Steam Ahead!" Admiral David Farragut, Battle of Mobile, August 5, 1864

This quote is from Stephen Sears book on the Peninsula campaign. I can't remember if it was from a diary or a letter or if someone said it, but I really liked it.

It is strange, to have a piece of shell come so near you...you can feel the wind.

This one is from McClellan written in a letter to his wife after Antietam. I feel this just about sums up who McClellan was in a single sentence.

"Those in whose judgment I rely tell me that I fought the battle splendidly and that it was a masterpiece of art."

This one is my personal favorite.


Some Federals who were too badly injured to serve in their regular units soldiered on in the Veteran Reserve Corps.

At White House Landing, Virginia, the 18th Regiment of the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps was engaged in a skirmish with a detachment of Major General Wade Hampton's Confederate raiders on June 20, 1864. A Union courier galloped up to the officer in command with an urgent query from headquarters. "Will your invalids stand?" he asked.

Colonel Charles F. Johnson, perhaps annoyed at a second imploring message from headquarters, replied, "Tell the general that my men are cripples, and they can't run."


http://www.64thill.org/vrc.htm

Great read,

Regards,

Greg

I read this one last night, from Shelby Foote's works. It was from the Battle of Chickamauga.
After the Union had retreated to the far side of Missionary Ridge, and Gen. Bragg wasn't convinced that he should go after them. At one point, a Confederate private who'd been captured the day before, but escaped during the Union retreat, had been brought to Bragg to tell him how disorganised the Union was. Quoting from the book:

"The stern-faced general heard him out, but was doubtful, if not of the soldier's capacity for accurate observation, then at any rate of his judgment on such a complicated matter. "Do you know what a retreat looks like?"he asked shaply, fixing the witness with a baleful glare.
Irked by his commander's mistrust, the man replied with words that endeared him to his comrades, then and thereafter, when they were repeated, as they often were, around campfires, and at future veteran gatherings.
"I ought to, General," he said; "I've been with you during your whole campaign."

Braxton Bragg, at dusk on the first day of the battle of Shiloh, after being told that victory was complete and he should stop the attack:

"My God, was a victory ever sufficiently complete?"

"In one hour you will be in Hell of Glory"- General Wilox to Pickett before his famous charge.

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance"-General Sedgwick at Spotslvania right before he died to a rebel sharpshooter.

A Union General - seeing his troops routing try's to rally them by saying.........

"Think of home boys!"

one of the union soldiers replies....

"I am thinging of home General and I'm trying to get back to it a quickly as possible!!!"

a classic retorte if true. http://www.norbsoftware.com/Portal/medi ... 06fd64.jpg[/img_size]