What is something you wondered "did this ever happen?" about the ACW

Keiri

Sergeant
Joined
Aug 11, 2015
I mean, say, I wonder if among the rank and file, there were some who (and here's a bad example) ransacked bodies of their friends who have passed and kept their personal items.

I am mostly focussed on rank and file - but hey, if there's a good ranking one that'd be interesting.

So not really what if but... was there?
 
I would suppose so. There's accounts galore of the living taking shoes and other items the dead didn't need anymore. Probably the weirdest example of this sort of thing was the "Angel of Death". This angel seemed to visit certain people, who knew as surely as sunrise they were going to die in the next battle. These men who had this premonition often gave away everything they had - blankets, socks, shoes, food, pipes, everything to their mystified buddies. Jeb Stuart was one who was 'touched by the Angel of Death' and knew he was going to die. He made arrangements with one of his staff to do some very personal business and the staffer said you ought to do this yourself. Stuart replied quite matter of factly, "Won't be able to. The next battle will be my last." The next battle was Yellow Tavern.
 
Wow... maybe especially in Jeb’s case it was he felt his body and health giving out.
 
Jeb Stuart was one who was 'touched by the Angel of Death' and knew he was going to die. He made arrangements with one of his staff to do some very personal business and the staffer said you ought to do this yourself. Stuart replied quite matter of factly, "Won't be able to. The next battle will be my last." The next battle was Yellow Tavern.
Was that before or after he had visited Flora and the kids? If before, that would shed his last visit with his family in a completely different light. So far I had thought it to be a chance he took because they were near to where he was. If he knew he'd die soon and for himself wanted that last visit to say goodbye... *heartbreak*
 
Colonel Edward Cross was another who had a premonition about his death at Gettysburg . He usually wore a red bandana so his men could see him , but was wearing a black one at the Wheatfield because he said he would die that day.
It also makes you wonder how many soldiers had premonitions but lived to fight another day.
.
 
Or worse, which chose to die because they were depressed or couldn’t handle it etc.
 
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