Eight days ago
to-day, the sick list was 144. Today it is 72! I begin to think that a Surgeon
may be as indispensable to an army as a Colonel,—that
"A doctor skilled our deadly wounds to heal,
Is more than armies to the common weal."
Another "speck
of war" yesterday. About ten thousand men from the three divisions here
having seen a "track" of the enemy, started in pursuit. After four or
five miles march, we came on them in line of battle. Our army looked at t'other
army and t'other army looked at our army, when our army came to the
conclusion that the "touch" had become "too fresh," and so
they turned around and came home! Oh, but we are a great people. For four
months we have been coaxing them to "come out," and when at last they
came out we ran off and left, and the report to-day is that we shall now go
into winter quarters here, at a safe distance from the enemy we
came to whip! Wonder if we may not soon expect a consignment of petticoats.
Hope the ladies association will not send any. I have too much respect for the
garment to see it disgraced by being worn by such officers. The honor of the day is
divided between Captain ———, of ———‘s Battery, and Colonel ———, of the ——— regiment
of Volunteers.* Yesterday, on the field, they disputed, each claiming the honor
of command. To-day they dispute, each claiming that this honor attaches to the
other.
*Were I publishing a
history of the war, I should feel it my duty to fill these blanks; but as it is
only a journal or record of events, AS THEY APPEARED, AT THE TIME, I feel that
it is more proper, as a general thing, to turn over persons to the care of the
historian.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 61-2
1 comment:
Par nobile fratrum is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "a noble pair of brothers".
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