- Joined
- Feb 5, 2017
In all the diaries and memoirs from private soldiers to great generals, all talking about coming through bayous and paddling in the Mississippi and other southern rivers, I never hear a THING about reptiles. Even Freemantle in describing his awful journey from the Rio Grande (I think) up to Virginia talks about wading chest high through some horrible place and never, ever are these things mentioned.
Yet, as the war went on, the average Confederate soldier didn't have shoes, never mind protective boots of any kind.
In fact, Grant talking about the Mexican War and all the deserts, etc they crossed never mentioned snakes.
Surely the bayous and riverbanks were loaded with these things. My sister lived for 29 years in Talladega (just retired to Virginia) and I remember 5-years-ago in downtown Talladega a huge, old something or other crawling on the side of the road in the city! It had to be worse 160 years ago.
Being in NH we don't have to worry much about poisonous snakes and certainly northern New England is pretty free from them AND... I'm just not a snake person. I just can't imagine.
So why don't we hear more about all that when these soldiers are crossing *barefoot* through these bayous and along riverbanks? Never even heard about it in surgeons diaries of the time period - treating snake bite.
Yet, as the war went on, the average Confederate soldier didn't have shoes, never mind protective boots of any kind.
In fact, Grant talking about the Mexican War and all the deserts, etc they crossed never mentioned snakes.
Surely the bayous and riverbanks were loaded with these things. My sister lived for 29 years in Talladega (just retired to Virginia) and I remember 5-years-ago in downtown Talladega a huge, old something or other crawling on the side of the road in the city! It had to be worse 160 years ago.
Being in NH we don't have to worry much about poisonous snakes and certainly northern New England is pretty free from them AND... I'm just not a snake person. I just can't imagine.
So why don't we hear more about all that when these soldiers are crossing *barefoot* through these bayous and along riverbanks? Never even heard about it in surgeons diaries of the time period - treating snake bite.