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I don't know if this has ever been done here before, but I'd like to start a new thread.
Sometimes, while reading things that are violent and bloody in the ACW, I suddenly find myself laughing almost hysterically at something said by an officer or a soldier that relieves the stress of the ugliness of war, or even the way the author has expressed something that takes me by surprise. Often times I find the words of those long ago warriors rattling around in my head, even after I've forgotten the context.
I'd like this thread to be a compilation of your favorite quotes and/or narratives of things that amused you. We do know that the ACW was not without it's humor, and some of those off-the-cuff remarks that have been preserved are pithy enough to deserve some space.
I can't remember the particular circumstances, but I am often reminded of the young Confederate soldier that was found running away from a battle.
He was asked, "Why are you running away?"
The young soldier replied, "Because I can't fly!"
The reply always made sense to me.
Sincerely,
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
I can't remember the particular circumstances, but I am often reminded of the young Confederate soldier that was found running away from a battle.
He was asked, "Why are you running away?"
The young soldier replied, "Because I can't fly!"
The reply always made sense to me.
Sincerely,
Unionblue
From the correctness of the spelling and grammar in your quote, I suspect this young man was Union rather than Confederate. Confederates were usually shot before too many questions were asked. Reference the account of the Battle of the Cedars, December 7, 1864. Yes, it does make sense.
__________________ Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
Larry: Am sorry to disabuse you of the notion, but I believe the story was about a Confederate soldier in Bragg's AoT. But it is a good story from either side.
Gary: Saved that site to re-read later. An amazing number of highly interesting anecdotes for which I thank you very much.
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Hmmmm.
I can't remember the particular circumstances, but I am often reminded of the young Confederate soldier that was found running away from a battle.
He was asked, "Why are you running away?"
The young soldier replied, "Because I can't fly!"
The reply always made sense to me.
I remember reading that, but didn't recall who said it.
One of my favorites is a remark that Lincoln is said to have made about U.S. Grant, which was:
"When Grant gets possession of a place, he holds on to it as if he had inherited it."
I liked one about Lincoln when he said of Sherman: "We know what hole he went into. We just don't know what hole he'll come out of."
ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
"Grant stood by me when I was crazy and I stood by him when he was drunk and now we stand together always."
__________________ "There must be more historians of the Civil War than there were generals figthing in it... Of the two groups, the historians are the more belligerent." David Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered (1961)
From "Three Years with Wallace's Zouaves" Civil War Memoirs of Thomas Durham.
"Enlisted men assumed the posts of colonel., LT Col., major and adjutant. The officers were kept on guard duty for three an a half hours before being relieved....
...Two or three hogs were shot for entering the camp after being ordered to halt, the quartermaster was put on extra duty for sitting down at his post, and Dr. Fry was reprimanded for shooting at a mountain because it would not advance and give the countersign..."
Stupid Mountain.. I bet it learned its lesson!
__________________ "In mortal combat, a man may and will become so infuriated by the din and dangers of a bloody fight that his heart will turn to stone and his every de sire [be] for blood."
John Hadley, 7th Indiana after the battle at Port Republic
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