Emma Sansom - Civil War Heroine During Col. A. D. Streight's cavalry raid across north Alabama (April 19-May 3, 1863), he was pursued by a Confederate force half the size of his Union company. Led by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederates had several advantages. They were riding horses; the Union troops were riding mules (except for a small contingent of cavalry composed of north Alabama Unionists who were showing Streight the way). Horses were faster and quieter. Stories from the north Alabama hills tell that one could hear the braying of Streight's mules for miles. For this reason, Southerners called Streight's Federals the "Jackass Cavalry." During the raid, a sixteen-year-old Gadsden, Alabama girl became one of the most well-known heroines of the Confederacy. In 1914, when French horse-armies were being slaughtered by German machine guns in World War I and the cavalry was instantly made obsolete, Bennett H. Young, a Confederate cavalry officer, published a book about several Confederate engagements, including the story of Streight's Alabama Raid and Emma Sansom. The following is from pages 472-478 of Bennett H. Young, Confederate Wizards of the Saddle, 1914; reprint, Kennesaw, Ga.: Continental Book Co., 1958. By the afternoon of May 2d, the pressure of Streight and his men by Forrest was at its fiercest tension. Guided by his two companies of Alabama refugee horsemen, Streight had been told if he could only cross Black Creek and burn the bridge, that he might hope for a few hours' respite, and if he could not feed his weary men and wearier beasts, he could at least let them sleep enough to restore a part of their wasted energy, and from a few hours' repose get new strength for the struggles and trials that yet faced them in this perilous campaign upon which they had so courageously come.... Sitting in their cottage, mayhap talking of the soldier brother, there fell upon the ears of these defenseless home-keepers strange sounds: the galloping of horses, the clanging of swords, frequent shots, sharp, quick commands. They wondered what all this clamor could mean, and rushing to the porch, they saw companies of men clad in blue, all riding in hot haste toward the bridge over the creek. They were beating and spurring their brutes [mules], which seemed weary under their human burdens, and in their dumb way resenting the cruel and harsh measures used to drive them to greater and more strenuous effort.
Stephen W. Sears’ Landscape Turned Red is an account of political and military plans. Especially General Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign as well as the Battle of Antietam. Sears frames his work around the pending support of Great Britain and France to the Confederate cause due to cotton. Landscape Turned Red covers the battle of Antietam. It offers a vivid account of both armies, the soldiers and officers, and the bloody campaign. It analyzes the impact of Antietam on the Civil War as a whole. Sears' use of diaries, dispatches, and letters recreate the Battle of Antietam. You experience the battle not only from its leaders but also by its soldiers, both Union and Confederate. Sears attempts to examine the tactical moves of both Lee and General George McClellan. He also talks about the foolish decisions that troubled both the Federal and Confederate forces. Sears' use of traits, political pursuits, and tactical preferences, explain the thoughts of many. Some of these include President Lincoln, General Halleck and General McClellan, and their subordinates. Stephen Ward Sears is an American historian specializing in the American Civil War. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and an attendant to a journalism seminar at Radcliffe-Harvard. As an author he has concentrated on the military history of the American Civil War. Such as the battles and leaders of the Army of the Potomac. He was an editor for the Educational Department at American Heritage Publishing Company. American Heritage Publishing two of his ten books.
The townspeople then surround the townhouse where the kings money was lodged threatening to kill the troops with clubs. He then received information the mobs of people have declared to murder the troop by taking him away from his post. Captain Thomas Preston then sent a non-commissioned officer and 12 men to protect the sentry and the king’s money in hopes to deescalate the situation before it gets out of control. After arriving Captain Thomas Preston came across the rural crowd screaming and using profanity against the troops telling them to fire. C...
Wagner, Frederic. 2011. Participants in the Battle of Little Big Horn. 1st Ed. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland and Company.
Young men in old, ill-fitted uniforms lay twisted on dried, grassy wheat as we can see them reaching for a weapon that once laid above them or clutching their fists to take the pain away as dawn arises and dense fog hovers the horizon and tiny peaks of mountain peer out above a ruthless and needlessly waste. Tiny horse like figures blend into the background, posing like trees as riders dislodge, seeming to search and strip the bodies of shoes, weapons, anything that can help the next soldier survive.
In the beautiful Southern autumn days, a war was becoming bloodier and bloodier by the day. Howard Bahr’s The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War takes place in the most tranquil time of the year in 1864. Bushrod Carter, a young Confederate rifleman, leaves his Mississippi town to fight in the Tennessee Army under General John Bell Hood. The story follows Bushrod and a few of his fellow Confederates through the months leading up to the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. Bahr writes the story with great historical accuracy and vivid imagery. The story documents the fear, suffering, and close bonds created with fellow soldiers through every part of the battle including the eve, during, and its aftermath. Bushrod’s luck runs high as he has never once gotten seriously wounded or shot. However, he becomes wounded in one of the Confederate charges and he is taken to a makeshift hospital where he comes under the care of Anna Hereford. She has already lost two potential romances to the war, but Bushrod attempts to form somewhat of a courtship even though he is in the middle of a terrible war that will not be settled for sometime.
The narrator then describes what it is life for men when the village is under attack. The men face a very different experience during the attacks than the women. Since they are outside working they usually get pulled aside by the military and face horrible treatment. They get chained up and risked being killed if they resisted. They are forced to stay like this until the attack is over so some men die of exhaustion from being in the sun for so long. However, when it is all over, the men are freed and allowed to come back to th...
The day to day life for the regular soldier was not glorious. Many times the regiments were low on supplies such as food and clothing. They lived in the elements. Medical conditions were grotesque because of the lack of advanced equipment and anesthesia. “Discipline was enforced with brutality” as if all the other conditions were not bad enough.
Another unique aspect to this book is the constant change in point of view. This change in point of view emphasizes the disorder associated with war. At some points during the book, it is a first person point of view, and at other times it changes to an outside third person point of view. In the first chapter of the book, “The Things They Carried,” O’Brien writes, “The things they carried were largely determined by necessity (2).
The author uses diction in the passages to signify the effect of the author¡¯s meaning in story and often sway readers to interpret ideas in one way or another. The man in the story arrives to a ¡°[dry] desert¡± where he accosts an animal with ¡°long-range attack¡± and ¡°powerful fangs.¡± The author creates a perilous scene between the human and animal in order to show that satisfaction does not come from taking lives. With instincts of silence and distrust, both of them freeze in stillness like ¡°live wire.¡± In addition, the man is brought to the point where animal¡¯s ¡°tail twitched,¡± and ¡°the little tocsin sounded¡± and also he hears the ¡°little song of death.¡± With violence ready to occur, the man tries to protect himself and others with a hoe, for his and their safety from the Rattler. The author criticizes how humans should be ¡°obliged not to kill¡±, at least himself, as a human. The author portrays the story with diction and other important techniques, such as imagery, in order to influence the readers with his significant lesson.
In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, The soldiers show feelings of guilt and empathy towards the wounded horse’s in chapter 4 because the horses remind the soldiers of their younger, innocent, and carefree selves. The men’s use of the horses is a symbol for how the army uses the men. The men must lie still listening to the sound of the horse’s pain, "It's unendurable. It is the moaning of the world, it is the martyred creation, wild with anguish, filled with terror, and groaning” (62). Detering becomes disconcerted and wants someone to put the horses out of their misery. Many of the younger soldiers that were drafted in had no control of what they wanted to do, neither did the horses. The horses were dragged into a the war with no voice
Phillips, Charles. "December 29, 1890." American History 40.5 (2005): 16. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.
These hardships included: the harsh weather, watching friends die, killing mass amounts of the enemy, and many more things that can slowly break down even the toughest soldier from the inside out. For example, the author describes a vivid scene after a group of soldiers and refugees had been under attack on Christmas and were now looking for supplies. A man named the Baron Charles de Radzitsky d’Ostrowick had gone into a house in search of water. Toland describes what the Baron sees; “The Baron sickened as he stepped over the debris to the door. Here thirty bodies-American and German-were stacked as if for future reference. He picked his way through the human refuse to the courtyard. Outside, bodies were so thick he climbed onto a wall.” (275)
Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
The story leads up to the summer of 1863, during which the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment led an unsuccessful attack on the Confederate’s Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The 54th regiment was the Nation's first black regiment and because of their skill, courage, and determination, they were credited with paving the way for the successful entry of other black soldiers into the ranks of the Union. In addition, these brave men demonstrated that black men were willing to fight and die both for their country and for their freedom. The setting was primarily outdoors and on the battle
Her spry, Timberland-clad foot planted itself upon a jagged boulder, motionless, until her calf muscles tightened and catapulted her small frame into the next stride. Then Sara's dance continued, her feet playing effortlessly with the difficult terrain. As her foot lifted from the ground, compressed mint-colored lichen would spring back into position, only to be crushed by my immense boot, struggling to step where hers had been. My eyes fixated on the forest floor, as fallen trees, swollen roots, and unsteady rocks posed constant threats for my exhausted body. Without glancing up I knew what was ahead: the same dense, impenetrable green that had surrounded us for hours. My throat prickled with unfathomable thirst, as my long-empty Nalgene bottle slapped mockingly at my side. Gnarled branches snared at my clothes and tore at my hair, and I blindly hurled myself after Sara. The portage had become a battle, and the ominously darkening sky raised the potential for casualties. Gritting my teeth with gumption, I refused to stop; I would march on until I could no longer stand.