The officers have all the glory. Glory is not
for the private soldier, such as die in the hospitals, being eat up with
the deadly gangrene, and being imperfectly waited on. Glory is for
generals, colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants. They have all
the glory, and when the poor private wins battles by dint of sweat, hard
marches, camp and picket duty, fasting and broken bones, the officers get
the glory. The private's pay was eleven dollars per month, if he got it;
the general's pay was three hundred dollars per month, and he always got
his. I am not complaining. These things happened sixteen to twenty
years ago. Men who never fired a gun, nor killed a Yankee during the
whole war, are today the heroes of the war. Now, I tell you what I
think about it: I think that those of us who fought as private soldiers,
fought as much for glory as the general did, and those of us who stuck
it out to the last, deserve more praise than the general who resigned
because some other general was placed in command over him. A general
could resign. That was honorable. A private could not resign, nor
choose his branch of service, and if he deserted, it was death.
THE SCOUT AND DEATH OF A YANKEE LIEUTENANT
General Hood had sent off all his cavalry, and a detail was made each day
of so many men for a scout, to find out all we could about the movements
of the Yankees.
Pages:
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296