- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Three examples:
1. On the late afternoon of July 2, while the soldiers of Kershaw's brigade were resting prior to their charge, up rode a "doughty general clad in a brilliant new uniform, a crimson sash encircling his waist ... great golden curls hung in maiden ringlets to his very shoulders. His movement was superb as he sat his horse in true knightly manner. ... As he was passing, a man in Company D, 3rd South Carolina roused up from his broken sleep ... (and) called out, 'Say, Mister, come right down out of that hair,' a foolish and unnecessary expression that was common throughout the army when anything unusual hove into sight. ... [The General] 'became mad as a March hare' ... dashed up ... and demanded in an angry tone, 'Who was it that spoke?' ... As no reply was given, he turned away, saying 'D-----, if I only knew who it was that insulted me I would put a ball in him.' But, as he rode off, the soldier (replied), 'Say, Mister, don't get so mad about it. I thought you were some d--- wagon master.' " [Richard Wheeler, Witness to Gettysburg] [commentary: The officer is not identified, but it sure sounds like none other than Maj. Gen. George Pickett, who just happened to be on the field at that time and near that location.]
2. July 3, Cemetery Hill. "About the time the rebels began their charge, Gen. Meade, attended by only one officer, appeared among our guns, on foot, saying to our officers that this point must be held at all hazards. When the cry went round that ammunition was getting short, Gen. Meade picked up a shell, stepped up to a gun, asking if that could not be used. Just then up came a boy with a supply, and seeing someone in his way, he grabbed him by the arm, saying, 'Out of the way, you old fool,' and clapped a shot into the gun. Gen. Meade retired in good order, smiling, we supposed, at the boy’s earnestness. (This was an Irish lad serving as No. 6 on the gun). When told how he had treated the commanding General he could not believe it. [W. E. Parmelee, Battery H, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, article in the National Tribune, September 2, 1886]
3. June 29, on the march to Gettysburg, between Frederick and Bruceville, Maryland. "General Robert Tyler of the Reserve Artillery had been sitting on horseback for some time, and seeing a branch (laden with cherries) fall near him, reached for it and got it just as Private Meacham of the 20th Indiana was about to pick it up. The latter, unaware of the rank of his successful rival, administered to the general’s posterior a kick which sent him sprawling in the mud, and sent his spectacles flying. The General … enraged (by the laughter of bystanders) ordered me to place the man under guard till evening, but during the march he disappeared and I heard no more of it." [Robert Stoddart Robertson, Personal Recollections of the War, A Record of Service with the Ninety-Third New York Infantry]
1. On the late afternoon of July 2, while the soldiers of Kershaw's brigade were resting prior to their charge, up rode a "doughty general clad in a brilliant new uniform, a crimson sash encircling his waist ... great golden curls hung in maiden ringlets to his very shoulders. His movement was superb as he sat his horse in true knightly manner. ... As he was passing, a man in Company D, 3rd South Carolina roused up from his broken sleep ... (and) called out, 'Say, Mister, come right down out of that hair,' a foolish and unnecessary expression that was common throughout the army when anything unusual hove into sight. ... [The General] 'became mad as a March hare' ... dashed up ... and demanded in an angry tone, 'Who was it that spoke?' ... As no reply was given, he turned away, saying 'D-----, if I only knew who it was that insulted me I would put a ball in him.' But, as he rode off, the soldier (replied), 'Say, Mister, don't get so mad about it. I thought you were some d--- wagon master.' " [Richard Wheeler, Witness to Gettysburg] [commentary: The officer is not identified, but it sure sounds like none other than Maj. Gen. George Pickett, who just happened to be on the field at that time and near that location.]
2. July 3, Cemetery Hill. "About the time the rebels began their charge, Gen. Meade, attended by only one officer, appeared among our guns, on foot, saying to our officers that this point must be held at all hazards. When the cry went round that ammunition was getting short, Gen. Meade picked up a shell, stepped up to a gun, asking if that could not be used. Just then up came a boy with a supply, and seeing someone in his way, he grabbed him by the arm, saying, 'Out of the way, you old fool,' and clapped a shot into the gun. Gen. Meade retired in good order, smiling, we supposed, at the boy’s earnestness. (This was an Irish lad serving as No. 6 on the gun). When told how he had treated the commanding General he could not believe it. [W. E. Parmelee, Battery H, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, article in the National Tribune, September 2, 1886]
3. June 29, on the march to Gettysburg, between Frederick and Bruceville, Maryland. "General Robert Tyler of the Reserve Artillery had been sitting on horseback for some time, and seeing a branch (laden with cherries) fall near him, reached for it and got it just as Private Meacham of the 20th Indiana was about to pick it up. The latter, unaware of the rank of his successful rival, administered to the general’s posterior a kick which sent him sprawling in the mud, and sent his spectacles flying. The General … enraged (by the laughter of bystanders) ordered me to place the man under guard till evening, but during the march he disappeared and I heard no more of it." [Robert Stoddart Robertson, Personal Recollections of the War, A Record of Service with the Ninety-Third New York Infantry]