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CIVIL WAR ERA QUOTES
By Saylor Ellis
Quote:
"My dead and wounded were nearly as great in number as those still on duty.
They literally covered the ground. The blood stood in puddles in some places on
the rocks; the ground was soaked with the blood of as brave men as ever fell on
the red field of battle.”
-- Confederate Colonel William C. Oates, Southern Historical Papers, April 6th,
1878
My Reflection:
This quote reminds me of something my great-great-great grandfather, John W.
Oswald wrote in a letter to a friend. He said, “To see the dead in piles makes me
sick. I never want to see another sight such, but such is war and man’s inhumanity
to man.” When I read this I think of all the brave men who have fought and died
and the ones that lived and had to deal with what they have seen. There is so
much we take for granted and we have everything we have because of the people
that fought and died and the people who saw the blood stained battlefields’
horribleness.
Quote:
“…our regiment made three charges during
the day, routing and driving the enemy each
time. It was terrible work I tell you. We met
them face to face, and cold steel was used in
no sparing way. We drove the enemy from
every position they attempted to hold, and
gained the day only by hard fighting and
good generalship. The loss in our regiment
that day was 39 killed, 131 wounded. Our
Colonel was wounded in the arm. “
--John W. Oswald, my great-great-great
grandfather September 21 1862
My Reflection:
These battles became closer to me once I learned that my relative was in the war.
Also, since he was in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and the date he wrote it,
that he was describing his experience at the battle of South Mountain. The
colonel he was describing was Rutherford B. Hayes, who was wounded at South
Mountain. If he had died, then Colonel Hayes wouldn’t have lived to become the
President of the United States. If my great-great-great grandfather had died in
the war, he wouldn’t have married and had children and I may not be here.
Quote:
My Reflection:
The United States of America was divided. The two sides had very different
opinions and the Confederate States seceded from the Union. They even elected
Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederate States of America. The Union’s
goal was to retain the United States as one country with a central government.
The Confederate States goal was to support the right of individual states to
choose which laws worked best for those states and to oppose the right of a
central government to impose laws on the whole country. Our country would be
so different today if the Union hadn’t won the civil war. Maybe there would still
even be slavery, which would be horrible and wrong. I am grateful that slavery
was abolished. Now we don’t have to deal with that ever again.
Quote:
“A ball had passed between my body and the right arm which supported him,
cutting through the sleeve and passing through his chest from shoulder to
shoulder. There was no more to be done for him and I left him to his rest. I
have never mended that hole in my sleeve. I wonder if a soldier ever does
mend a bullet hole in his coat?”
Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross
My Reflection:
Clara Barton was not afraid of the war she just wanted to help the soldiers
since she could not fight along side them. Although she was a woman, who
back then did not fight in wars, she was brave and went out there and did what
she could to serve her country, nurse and feed the soldiers. She was a great
role model for other women like my grandmother who helped out driving
officers during World War 2 and my great-grandmother who was one of the
founders of American Red Cross in Toledo Ohio.
Quote:
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
-- Frederick Douglas, Born a slave, became an American writer, abolitionist,
advisor to Presidents
My Reflection:
Frederick Douglas rose from
slavery to become the leading
African-American voice of the
1800s. I think it is cool that
President Lincoln called him the
most meritorious man of the 19th
century. It shows that struggling
the way he did leads to good
things. Like when I have a long
hard test I have to struggle
through and then if I put in a lot of
effort I end up getting a good
grade. Its worth it to make the
progress.
Bibliography
Chadwick, Randy. "The American Civil War: Quotes - Colonel William C. Oates."Brotherswar.com. N.p., Dec.
2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Frederick Douglass. The Biography Channel website. 2014. Available at:
http://www.biography.com/people/frederick-douglass-9278324. Accessed Mar 25, 2014.
Jone Johnson Lewis. "Clara Barton Quotes." About Women's History. URL:
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/quotes/a/clara_barton.htm . Date accessed: Mar 18, 2014.
Jefferson Davis. History.com website. 2009. URL http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/jeffersondavis. Accessed Mar 21, 2014
“'A house divided against itself can not stand.' I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave
and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will
cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
—Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858
. N.p.. Web. 24 Mar 2014. <http://americanhistory.si.edu/about/faqs/general-questions>.
John W. Oswald wrote in a personal letter to a friend, Sept 21, 1862