The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1886-03-31
Hard Facts about Fighting.
THE OBSERVATIONS OF \ PRACTICAL
SOLDIERVS. TIE POETRY OF W.R
GENERAL OFFICERS WHO
GET GLORY WHILE
PRIVATES DO TIE
WORK

WORK.
AS we, year by year, grow ava.
from the war, and the number of mel
who carried a rifle or swung q sponge
staff among the guns grows smaller
the country is flooded with mythica
accounts Of this or that officer won
! derful display Of courage on sue!
and such fields, and the rising gene
ration is called upon to admire the
galiantry Of the warlike commanders
Of their ancestors. | protest against
the further manufacture Of sham mil
itary reputation. l know, and all
soldiers know, that the greater por
ton Of the stories now current must
be false.
An officer dies and at once the
newspapers and magazines are filed
with accounts of his bravery and OF
the valorous deeds he performed, and
how he saved the Union on such q
battlefield. We are solemnly told
that lis presence inspired his troops,
just ready TO break, or already in
flight, and they, nerved by glance
Of his blazing eye, reformed and
rushed madly on the foe and snatched
victory from defeat. This is rot, un-
mitigated rot.
The distinguishing characteristics
Of the American volunteer were his
independence Of thought, his want of
reverence for those ia authority, and
his ability to take care Of himself in
battle and to correctly judge of its
tide. lie had no respect for any
general whom he did not believe to
possess the qualifications essential
to g great commander. Therefore
none of our general officers inspired
him at all. When the volunteer
fought on the offensive he fought we'll
and steadily as long as he thought
there was 4 prospect Of success. On
the defensive he would fight to the
death if ne knew that it was essential
to the safety Of the army to hold the
position he occupied. He would as
sault earthworks, it mattered not low
strong they were, savagely, and carry
them if it was possible. But, having
once seen the work at close range,
and having thoroughly felt Of its de-
Tenders and realized that the line
could not be carried, he would not
again make a determined assault.
In one instance at Cold Spring
Harbor, in 1864, the army of the Po-
tomac openly refused 10 make Sec
ond assault on the works they had
been up to in the morning. The pri-
Yates had seen the Confederate works;
their general officers, of whom we
hear so much in these days, had not.
and the privates considered them
selves just as we'll qualified to judge
of their capacity to carry earthworks
by assault as any general officer, it
mattered not how high his rank, who
had not seen the works, and who
evinced 70 burning desire to inspect
their strength at close range. 1t is
true that the troops who refused to
renew the assault at Cold Harbor
cheerfully sprang to the assault at
Petersburg few days later, but they
had not seen the latter works and
they had q sufficient confidence in
General Grants ability as a COM
mander to believe that he would not
have ordered an assault unless there
had been some prospect Of success
and that is where they fooled them
selves. None Of our generals could
have forced their troops TO make an
other determined assault on tie Con-
federate lines at Petersburg.
At present we hear of how such
and such generals led their men to
desperate charges. These heroes are
pictured to the youth Of our land as
going into action on horseback, way
ing sword in hand, and far in adj
vance Of the charging line. l have
seen many charges delivered by both
Union and Confederate troops. |
have seen our men with blanched
faces and set jaws, and their eyes
blazing with battle light. stream past
the guns served on, and run full
speed at earthworks. behind which
Lees veteran infantry lurked, and
most always get whipped. Then I
have seen the lines in gray charge
Union earthworks or battle lines, and
l have seen them melt away before
the heat of our fire; but / never saw
the recklessly brave general officers
we hear so much about at present
lead any troops into action. I have
seen them closely followed by their
brigade officers, but never saw them