Quote of the Day May 10, 2012

The Wood Road near Fox Gap

“fled like deer”  Alfred Iverson describing the retreat of his regiment after its rout at Fox Gap. From The Battle of South Mountain by John David Hoptak.  Charleston:  The History Press, 2011 page 58. Originally from Iverson letter to D.H. Hill, Aug 23, 1885, DH Hill Papers

Quote of the Day May 9, 2012

Eliakim Scammon

“Old Granny”  Derisive nickname for Eliakim Scammon. From The Battle of South Mountain by John David Hoptak.  Charleston:  The History Press, 2011 page 51.

Quote of the Day May 8 2012

The West Woods from Hauser’s Ridge

“It was so dark & dismal in that fearful woods which I was rapidly traveling with messages from Jackson that at times I could not tell thunder from artillery & was semi-bewildered as to the locality of our cannon; an experience I have never forgotten.” Henry Kyd Douglas describing the night before the battle as he carried messages and helped place artillery.  Marginal annotation made in Henderson, 2:228, Douglas Library. From Stonewall Jackson The Man, The Soldier, The Legend by James I. Robertson.  New York:  Macmillan Publishing Co, 1997 page 611.

Quote of the Day May 7 2012

Lt Custer with Lt Washington a Confederate Prisoner Fair Oaks VA May 31 1862

“My career as a cadet had but little to recommend it to study of those who come after me, unless as an example to be carefully avoided.” George Armstrong Custer comments on his “achievements” at West Point. From The Perfect Lion The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry Maxwell. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2011 page 22. Originally from Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975 page 99.

Quote of the Day May 4, 2012

John Pope

“We looked forward with keen delight to see this inflated gas bag punctured by the keen rapier of our great commander.” W.W. Blackford of the Confederate Army anticipates the defeat of John Pope by Robert E. Lee. From The Perfect Lion The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry Maxwell. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2011 page 109. Originally from War Years with Jeb Stuart by W. W.  Blackford, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1945 page 96

Quote of the Day May 3, 2012

James Ewell Brown Stuart

“[He] carries around with him a banjo player and a special correspondent, [and] this claptrap is noticed and lauded as a peculiarity of genius, when in fact, it is nothing else but a buffoon to get attention.”  Lafayette McLaws, no lover of J.E.B. Stuart had this to say about him.  From The Perfect Lion The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry Maxwell. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2011, page 74.

Quote of the Day May 1, 2012

John Pelham

“The army suits me better than anything else and I feel a confidence that I can succeed in it.”  Cadet John Pelham in a March 31, 1861 letter to Judge A.J. Walker concerning his prospects of remaining at West Point to graduate even though his home state of Alabama has seceded from the Union.  From The Perfect Lion The Life and Death of Confederate Artillerist John Pelham by Jerry Maxwell. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2011 page 43.

Quote of the Day April 25, 2012

Irvin McDowell

“an expensive ornament to the military school [whose] courtier-like services in the salon have immeasurably exceeded his military services in the field.” Daniel Tyler, a division commander at First Bull Run was jealous of the younger McDowell and had this to say. From A Single Grand Victory The First Campaign and Battle of Manassas by Ethan S. Rafuse. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources Inc., 2002 page 75.  Originally from “Autobiography,” in Daniel Tyler: A Memorial Volume Containing His autobiography and War Record, Some Accounts of His Later Years, with Various Reminiscences and the Tributes of Friends, edited by Donald G. Mitchell. New Haven: Tuttle, MOrehouse and Taylor, 1883 page 49.

Quote of the Day April 24, 2012

John B. Gordon

“He dressed for a battle as others would dress for a ball, and when the boys saw his clear gauntlets and his shining epaulets on him, they ate all their rations, lest they should die before they had a chance to finish them.”  One of John B. Gordon’s soldiers describes his commander. From A Glorious Army by Jeffry D. Wert. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011 page 242.

Quote of the Day April 21 2012

Ambrose Powell Hill

“a gallant, good soldier….There was a good deal of ‘curled darling’ and dress-parade about Hill.” James Longstreet. From A Glorious Army by Jeffry D. Wert. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011 page 215.