Thursday, July 24, 2014

General Albert Sidney Johnston to the Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi, April 3, 1862

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Corinth, Miss., April 3, 1862.
Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi:

I have put you in motion to offer battle to the invaders of your country. With the resolution and disciplined valor becoming men fighting, as you are, for all worth living or dying for, you can but march to a decisive victory over agrarian mercenaries, sent to subjugate and despoil you of your liberties, property, and honor. Remember the precious stake involved. Remember the dependence of your mothers, your wives, your sisters, and our children on the result. Remember the fair, broad, abounding land, the happy homes, and ties that will be desolated by your defeat. The eyes and hopes of 8,000,000 of people rest upon you. You are expected to show yourselves worthy of your valor and lineage; worthy of the women of the South, whose noble devotion in this war has never been exceeded in any time. With such incentives to brave deeds and with the trust that God is with us your generals will lead you confidently to the combat, assured of success.

A. S. JOHNSTON,
General, Commanding

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 10, Part 1 (Serial No. 1o), p. 396-7; John Witherspoon Du Bose, General Joseph Wheeler and the Army of Tennessee, p. 64

No comments: