Preface-Pouring Water
“I was pleased to see our men without being ordered about,
going over the battle field, helping up and leading those of the Rebel wounded
that could walk and many a one I saw pouring water from their canteens in cups
and giving it to others; instead of being maltreated, they were cared for and
made as comfortable as possible as the circumstances, time, place and their
condition would admit.”
Page 41-Peacetime Officers
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful for
mankind if we only had peacetime officers and no wars for them to practice their
skills at? I don’t mean to belittle the regular army officers for without them
most of us in the field would be lost and their bravery speaks for itself. I
only wish that their skills in the field would never be needed.”
Page
69-Inaction
“It is now April 3rd and almost a year since the call went out and
we still sit. I am in charge of the picket duty this night and am actually
looking forward to it to relieve some of the boredom.”
Page 70-Springtime
“A
reawakening of the earth in the spring is something truly amazing and I thank
the Lord for His allowing me to again be able to experience it here is 1862 even
under these circumstances. Such beauty amongst such evils of mankind.”
Page
76/77-17 Year Old Killed
“I bent down beside him and held his head in my arms as
I tried to comfort him and he whispered with a breaking voice in my ear that he
wanted to thank me for my compassion during that ordeal and then he asked me if
he was going to die. All I could think about at the moment was what if I was
holding my son’s dying head in my arms. I uttered a prayer for him and it seemed
to calm him somewhat. What is there to say in this situation? Even the greatest
minds that ever walked this earth could not have uttered any words to ease this
poor young man’s pain and suffering. This poor fellow who was only 17 years old
will never again see a sunrise or the stars in the heavens. He will never lie in
his dear wife’s arms and feel her warmth beside him. He will never enjoy the
laughter of his children.”
Page 78-Tears in Their Eyes
“We held the burial
service today for those that were killed in the recent engagement including the
poor young fellow I tried so awkwardly to comfort in his greatest hour of need.
What a sad time for all of those assembled when the Chaplin read their names and
said a few appropriate words over their graves before the parties assigned the
task to cover them up for the last time. I saw many a man with tears in his eyes
as the various names were read and knew they were saying goodbye to fellow
soldiers that had become their friends and brothers in arms. How many times will
this scene be repeated before this lunacy ends?”
Page 81-Collect Your Dead and
Dying
“I ordered the forward pickets to fall back some so the officers on the
other side could collect their dead and dying, give those that have passed from
this earth a proper burial and treat as best they could those that were
wounded.”
Page 85-Lydies Run Through
“ Unfortunately he told us that Lydies had
been killed several days earlier in a skirmish they had with the Rebels. He said
he was out on picket duty and got separated from his fellow pickets and the
enemy surrounded him and an officer thrust his sword through him. By the time
the rest of the pickets got to him it was too late and the Rebels ran like
jackrabbits from our superior force. The Colonel said they gave him a proper
military burial yesterday and sent what little belongings he had home to his
wife and family. How heartbreaking that must be for the family to receive notice
that their husband and father had been taken from them forever and all they have
to show for it is a pouch of tobacco and a tin cup he used for coffee.”
Page
91-A Season for Everything
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war,
and a time for peace. I found it disturbing that peace was mentioned in the same
scripture as hate and war.”
Page 98-Our Cost of Our Keep
“I paid 85 cents per
bushel for the potatoes, ham for 9 cents and coffee for 10 cents. Sugar cost me
11 cents, and all these provisions last us quite some time.”
Page 123-Damien
Cavanaugh
“I noticed that someone had put up a makeshift cross, with a
Confederate hat hanging on it and burned into the cross was, (Damien Cavanaugh,
16 years of age, too young to die.)” Page 141-Blood, Sweat, Death “The shouts of
the soldiers on both sides, the screams of the wounded and the horrifying look
upon the faces on both sides as they rush into battle is frankly hell on earth.
I doubt if those looks, screams and the utter terrifying expressions on the
faces of the dead and the dying will ever leave my thoughts. There is no way to
describe it unless you have been here and seen it first hand and I pray that
will not be the case for our children and grandchildren.”
Page 180-Antietam,
Hell on Earth
“ I can remember when our fine minister at home in our fair
village would preach on the total desperation of those sinners who have and will
end up in hell. His description compared to what I am seeing today does not even
come close to what eternal torment may be if it is anything like what is
unfolding around me. These scenes of killing and being killed, men being
bayoneted and driven through with swords is unspeakable. What have we wrought
upon ourselves?”
Page 195-Step over the Dead and Dying
Both our men and those of
the Confederate Army were lying there and as we listened to this living hell on
earth I thought to myself that those that had been outright killed were in many
cases the lucky ones that day. Later that day I returned to headquarters of the
regiment and the most difficult part of the trip was being careful not to tread
on the dead.”
Page 215-Bombardment of Fredericksburg
“As I watched this constant
bombardment of the guns vomiting forth their terrible projectiles into every
street, house and corner of Fredericksburg I said a silent prayer for the brave
Rebel soldiers as I had said a prayer for our boys as they repeatedly tried to
finish the pontoon bridges. I was told when the onslaught was halted that over
8,000 shot and shells were unloaded on this once fine city.”
Page 218-Truce
“General Burnside has asked General Lee for a truce so that both sides can tend
to their dead and wounded and Lee has agreed to it. One of the staff of General
Burnside mentioned that it was the civilized thing to do. We kill each other for
several days and then we consent to a truce to take care of those mangled bodies
of the brave men on both sides, Civilized?”
Page 233-Plato
“Only the dead have
seen the end of war”
Page 250-Lunacy
“Mankind, as I have often said, seems to
have gone mad or maybe just returned to his state of lunacy as he repeats war
after war over the millenniums”
Page 255-Sword
“ The fighting does not ever seem
to stop and I have run more that one poor soul through with my sword. I think
this sword is cursed as it has taken so many lives in this conflict and like I
it may end up with me in hell for all eternity.”
Page 263-620,000 Dead
“ It has
been reported that over 620,000 men (and boys) from both the North and the South
perished in the Great War. Over half of those that perished died from disease.”
Page.266-267-Captain Tyler
“I had some hard campaigning and fighting after I was
exchanged, finally following General Robert E Lee in his last retreat. Fought my
last battle at Sailor’s Creek in Nottoway County on April 6th, 1865 where
Pickett’s whole division was surrounded and captured. My regiment, the 8th
Virginia infantry numbered only 80 men left in all ten companies from the
original 1,000 that had taken up arms in the cause. We had fought the war
through together, and I can tell you, (The iron entered my soul when we had to
surrender those of us that were left.) I surrendered in good faith and I will
stand by the (Old Flag), the red, white and blue as devotedly as we followed
(The Lost Cause), which will never again be unfurled in anger I pray. We shook
hands with the devil by entering into such a bloodbath as the Civil War was and
I pray my sons will never have to experience anything like that in their
lifetimes.”
Footnote:
On a least one occasion, possible more, Joseph has visited
the authors home and this writer fervently hopes that he, John and Captain Tyler
approve of these efforts to awaken mankind.
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