Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-07-05
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the Rebellion Tell OF
Whist1ing Bullets, Bright BaJonets,
Bursting Bombs, Bloody Battles,

Sir William Howard Russell writes
in his "RecoIlections Of the Civil War
in the North American Review, record
ing his observations during a trip to
Charleston and other places in the
South including the capital of the Con-
federacy in its early days, namely,
Montgomery, Ala Of his visit to
Charleston Sir William says:
Il found Gen. Beauregard at his
headquarters, writing at a table, sur
rounded by officers in the new Southern
Confederacy uniforms, a squarely built,
1.-THE, active men of middle height,
broad chested, solid, with a keen, we'll
cut face, very intelligent, but not very
determined a soldierly air and a look
which reminded me of that Of an old
French friend, Col Cler, of the
Zouaves, who fell in the Crimea.
Among his maps and plans were bou-
quets Of roses and geraniums and other
flowers sent in by his admirers, and
vases filled with the same fanked his
dispatch boxes. He received me with
perfect courtesy When some of those
present asked me what 1 thought of
the bombardment of Sumter, and [ re-
piled that I had not seen it, Beaure-
gard waved his hand and said: Mr..
Russell, you know, has seen the bonn
bardment of Sebastapol! Around me
were all the paraphernalia of an officer
| commanding troops in the field, aides
de camp staff officers, orderlies. Maps
and charts hung on the wall, copies of
general orders; and sentries were on
duty. l thought of the politicians,
Senators, Congressman and all the
lotteries whom | had left at Washing
ton, so full of schemes Of Cancellation
and compromise, without, as far as I
| could see the smallest semblance of a
military force to oppose this fragrant
and buoyant rebellion.
''Beauregard talked at his ease with
out reserve. He had not much SYM
pathy, I thought. with the cavalier pre-
| tensions of the South Carolnians, and
| cared but little for their aspirations,
but he believed religiously in the right
eousness of secession and in the wick
Cul1tSS VI Luc dDOllllOi1lSIS Ills u ult-
cd States officer, educated at West
Point, distinguished by his gallantry in
| the war with Mexico, had left his civil
employment as an engineer to batter
down the fortress over which the flag
of the United States was floating. He
| had become at once one Of the foremost
| figures in the Confederate States. What
| he might have been had he won the bat
| tie of Shiloh or stopped and over
! whelmed Sherman on his march to the
sea- who can say? But what he actual
~ subsidized into was the presidency of
railway and the managership of
State lottery"
Taking leave Of Gen. Beauregard, Sir
William dined at the Mills Hotel with
| a number of prominent Southern gen
| tlemen to whom he had been intro
duced. Men of intelligence" he states,
well Informed. polished, the equals of
the same class in any European So
ciety, they gave way to ridiculous
| 'rodomontade.' 1t was astonishing to
hear a man like Gov. Manning declare
| that the South never could be con-
quered we will welcome the world
in arms with hospitable hands to
bloody gravesv One of the party de-
clared that his visit to Europe had
been spoiled by his anger at seeing
white men acting as servants! Even
| well-educated men who read much, as
Beauregard did, could not understand
the sympathy in England for those who
were against the domestic institution
of slavery. The uprising in the North
was treated with ridicule. Beauregard
| admitted he was surprised, and old
men like Huger and Pettigrew shook
| their heads at it. It's washy sort of
enthusiasm got up by lecturing and
spouting,' said Beauregard. 1t will not
stand fire. | thought of his words
| afterwards when he was commanding
at Bull Run and fighting at Shiloh.
at was i'll advised enough by my ar
gumentatlve spirit to ask. DO you think
| the French are brave?' Certainly;
what of that?' DO you think you will
defend yourselves against invasion bet
ter than the French could?' We GER
| tainly would make invasion by the
Yankees a pretty bad business for
| them
"'Suppose they come with an enor-
| nous preponderance Of men and ma
terial, would you not be forced to sub
mit?'
Never! The Yankees are cowardly
rascals; we have kicked them and
cuffed them till we are tired of it.
Besides. John Bull would step in; we
know him very well. He will make
fuss at first, but cotton is king, and
John will come off his perch at once
when he finds he can't get cotton For
some time | was obstinate enough to
challenge propositions of this kind, but
soon discovered that I was q . out
of touch with that world"
Visiting Fort Sumter, "the bloodless
]