From: schmidsj@unvax.union.edu (Stephen Schmidt)
Subject: Paul Cowan's Quote List
Message-ID: <1994Oct17.062005.26913@unvax.union.edu>
Organization: Union College, Schenectady, NY
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 94 02:20:05 GMT+5:00
Lines: 384
While wading through my news save files for other purposes, I stumbled
across a copy of the late Paul Cowan's "Top Ten Civil War Quotes" (which
Paul ended up expanding to include 77 quotes). Since I have not seen this
list posted recently, and do not know of another copy extant, I thought
I'd post it again in Paul's memory. I also saw the lyrics to Kathleen
Mavourneen, which Sharon Henderson posted a few months ago, and thought
that I might also post those in tribute to Paul, whose presence I dearly
miss...
First comes KM, then the quotes list.
** The lyrics of Kathleen Mavourneen, via Sharon Henderson ***
Kathleen, mavourneen, the grey dawn is breaking,
The horn of the hunter is heard on the hill.
The lark from her light wing the bright dew is shaking,
Kathleen, mavourneen, what! Slumbering still?
Oh, hast thou forgotten how soon we must sever?
Oh, hast thou forgotten this day we must part?
It may be for years, and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?
It may be for years and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, Kathleen, mavourneen?
Kathleen, mavourneen, awake from thy slumbers,
the blue mountains glow in the sun's golden light.
Ah! Where is the spell that once hung on thy numbers,
Arise in thy beauty, thou star of my night!
Mavourneen, mavourneen, my sad tears are falling,
To think that from Erin and thee I must part!
It may be for years, and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?
It may be for years and it may be forever,
Then why art thou silent, Kathleen, mavourneen?
*** Paul Cowan's Quotes List ***
Here (for what it's worth) is my compilation of quotes submitted
following my top-10 list. Some of the quotes were stolen from other
threads, I added a few more of my own favorites, and the top-ten list
has grown to 77 (which is getting close to the line limitation of some
news-reader software).
I have broken the list into subcategories. Some quotes were authored
during the War, some concerning the War, some by figures who were prominent
in the War, and some concern the factors (including slavery) that
contributed to the War.
A. Concerning the CSA
B. Lincoln Quotes (Stirring)
C. Lincoln Quotes (Humorous)
D. By and about Gen. R.E. Lee
E. By and about Lt.Gen. T. "Stonewall" Jackson
F. By and about Lt.Gen. U.S. Grant
G. By and about Maj.Gen. W.T. Sherman
H. By and about Misc. generals
I. Concerning soldiers
J. Concerning the "enemy"
K. Concerning Slavery and Race
L. Concerning Fort Sumter
M. Miscellaneous
In addition to myself, the contributors to the list include:
Stephen Schmidt, George A. Komatsoulis, Anthony R Tarantelli
Tom Townsend, Al Wilson, Peter Schwartz, Justin M. Sanders, Curt
Marcus, Bernie Gilbert, Joseph Dzikiewicz, Phil Stone, Lawrence Lee,
Peter A. Flessas, Lee M. Bryant, Paul L. Campbell, William J Gollatz,
David Spencer, Jeff Zurschmeide and Michael Shalom Kochin.
Since the original ground rules were very loose concerning sources of
quotes, I have put an asterix (*) after all the quotes except for the
hand full that I have explicitly checked the sources on. In some cases
where I really don't trust my memory I also added the caveat "or words
to that effect"
A. Concerning the CSA
1. The Union now subsisting between South Carolina and the other
States, under the name of The United States of America, is hereby
dissolved. - An Ordinance of the South Carolina Secession Convention.
2. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness. - Thomas Jefferson, in _The
Declaration of Independence_.
3. Our new government['s]...foundations are laid, its cornerstone
rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not the equal to the
white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his
natural and moral condition. - CSA V.P. Alexander H. Stephens
4. We only wish to be left in peace. [Or words to that effect] - CSA
President J. Davis *
5. If the Confederacy fails, there should be written on its tombstone,
"Died of a theory" - CSA Pres. Jefferson Davis
B. Lincoln Quotes (Stirring)
1. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this
Government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.
2. ...with the task before me greater than that which rested upon
Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever
attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail.
- Farewell address at Springfield.
3. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government,
while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and
defend it. - First inaugural address.
4. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of
affection. - First inaugural address.
5. It presents the question whether discontented individuals, too few
in numbers to control the Administration according to the organic law
in any case, can always ... break up their government and thus
practically put an end to free government upon the earth.
- President's Message to Congress, July 4, 1861.
6. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here. - Gettysburg Address
7. ...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died
in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth. - Conclusion of same Address.
8. Fondly do we hope - fervently do we pray - that this mighty scourge
of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue
until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty
years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood
drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as
it was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the
judgements of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'
9. With firmness in the right, as god gives us to see the right...
10. With malice toward none, charity toward all. - Second Inaugural
Address
11. *Sic semper tyranus* - J.W. Booth.
12. He will belong to the ages, while we are obliged to live on in the
wreckage. - Edwin Stanton
C. Lincoln Quotes (Humorous)
1. I pray that God is on my side, but I must have Kentucky. *
2. I can make more generals, but horses cost money. *
3. That is not the Army of the Potomac. That is McClellan's bodyguard. *
4. A pass to Richmond? My dear sir, it would do you no good. I have
given McClellan passes for two hundred and fifty thousand men...and
not one of them has got there yet!
D. By and about Gen. R.E. Lee
1. It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.
- Lee to Lt. Gen. Longstreet at Battle of Fredericksburg
2. It is only the ignorant who suppose themselves omniscient. - Gen. R.E. Lee
E. By and about Lt.Gen. T. "Stonewall" Jackson
[Compiler's note: The contributions in this category seem to have
ended up being redundantly brutal. Suggestions for trimming this list
would be appreciated]
1. There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Rally behind the
Virginians, boys! - General B.E. Bea, minutes before his death. *
2. Sir, we will give them the bayonet. - Jackson, to Bea *
3. I never see one of Jackson's couriers approach without expecting
an order to assault the North Pole. - Maj.Gen. Richard Ewell *
4. Kill them. Kill them all. - Jackson *
5. We must kill all such gallant and brave officers. - Jackson *
6. No, shoot them all. I do not wish them to be brave. - Jackson *
7. I do not want them brave. I want them dead. - Jackson *
8. Kill the brave officers and the cowards will run away. - Jackson *
9. Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.
- Jackson
F. By and about Lt.Gen. U.S. Grant
1. No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be
accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.
- Grant at Fort Donelson
2. I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.
- Grant at Spotsylvania
3. I have always regretted that the last attack at Cold Harbor was ever made.
- Grant, writing in his _Memoirs_
4. You call Grant a general? The man hauled cordwood! Cordwood, suh!
Bobby Lee would never do such a thing. - Anonymous Southern gentleman*
G. By and about Maj.Gen. W.T. Sherman
1. Col. Jesse J. Appler of the 53rd Ohio: This is no place for us!
Gen. Sherman: Take your damned regiment back to Ohio. There is no
enemy nearer than Corinth. *
2. War is the remedy our enemy has chosen. Let us give them a full
measure of it. *
3. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is
cruelty, and you cannot refine it .... - letter to the mayor and
others representing the City of Atlanta
4. I beg to present to you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah,
with 150 heavy guns, and about 25,000 bales of cotton. - Sherman, to
Pres. Lincoln *
5. There is many a boy here to-day who looks on war as all glory, but,
boys, it is all hell. -- W.T. Sherman, Columbus, Ohio, August 11, 1880.
6. 'Cump is like a fine machine with every screw one half turn loose.
[or words to that effect] - Sen. John Sherman *
H. By and about Misc. generals
1. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance. - Last words of
Maj.Gen. John Sedgwick *
2. If I owned Texas, and I owned Hell, I'd live in Hell and let out
Texas. - Phil Sheridan *
3. That was ungenerous! I'll take your guns for that!- Sheridan's
response when a shot from Missionary Ridge sprayed him with dirt.
(Sheridan got the guns, too.) *
4. ...to which I replied that Virginia claims to be an independent
nation to which the fugitive slave law did not therefore apply, and
that inasmuch she should be taken at her word. - Maj.Gen. Benjamin
Butler *
5. Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobbie Lee, I will
be willing to go home! - G.B. McClellan. (He couldn't, and he did.)
6. It is with heart-felt satisfaction that the commanding general
announces to the army that the operations of the past three days have
determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out
from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground, where
certain destruction awaits him. - Joe Hooker, April 31, 1863.
7. Oh, no, mix them up. I am tired of state's rights. - Maj.Gen G.
Thomas in response to the question of whether to bury the dead
according to state. *
8. I come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of
our enemies. - John Pope.
9. I don't care for John Pope one pinch of owl dung. - Gen. Sam Sturgis.
10. Officers and men addressed each other as Tom, Dick, or Harry, and
had no more conception of military graduations than of the celestial
hierarchy of the poets. - Gen. Richard Taylor, on the Texas cavalry in
his command.
11. Why don't you turn and fight, you cowardly rascal? If old Forrest
were here, he'd make you fight. - Southern dame unknowingly to Gen.
Forrest during retreat from Cowan's Station. *
12. I know Mr. Davis thinks that he can do a great many things that
other men would hesitate to attempt. For instance, he tried to do what
God had failed to do. He tried to make a soldier out of Braxton Bragg
and you know the result. It couldn't be done. - CSA Gen. Joe Johnston
I. Concerning soldiers
1. Your men are green, it is true, but so are those of the enemy; you
are all green alike. - A. Lincoln, before First Bull Run.
2. The troops were found to be as sensitive about the flanks as a
virgin. - James Longstreet, reporting on the battle of Williamsburg.
3. Banks to soldiers: Men, don't you love your country?
Soldier to Banks: Yes, and I'm trying to get back to it as fast
as I can! *
J. Concerning the "enemy"
1. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies - A. Lincoln,
first inaugural address.
2. Early to Lee: I wish they were all dead.
Lee to Early: Why, I do not wish that they were all dead. I merely
wish that they would return to their homes and leave us in peace.
Early, after Lee departs: I would not say so in front of Gen. Lee,
but I wish that they were not only dead, but in hell. *
3. The Rebels are our countrymen now. [or words to that effect]
- Lt.Gen. Grant following the surrender agreement at Appomattox
Courthouse. *
K. Concerning Slavery and Race
1. I never would have drawn my sword in the cause of American if I
could have conceived that thereby I was helping to found a nation of
slaves. - Marquis de Lafayette.
2. I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that
his justice cannot sleep forever. - Thomas Jefferson *
3. I believe that you are engaged in a great evil, and that it would
be perfectly right for any man to interfere with you as long as you
continue to oppress those whom you wickedly hold in bondage. - John
Brown, at his trial.
4. Now I know that the crimes of this guilty land shall not be washed
away except with blood. - John Brown.
5. If [Negroes] make good soldiers, then our entire theory of slavery
is wrong. - CSA Congressman Robert Toombs
6. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime ... shall exist within the United States ... - Amendment XIII
to the U.S Constitution (1865).
L. Concerning Fort Sumter
1. The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than
any the world has ever seen. ... It is unnecessary; it puts us in the
wrong; it is fatal. - CSA Sec. of State Robert Toombs.
2. Unless you sprinkle blood in the face of the Southern people they
will be back in the old Union in less than ten days. - An advisor to
CSA Pres. J. Davis.
3. [If the] Northern states ... desire to inflict injury upon us ...
a terrible responsibility will rest upon it, and the suffering of
millions will bear testimony to the folly and wickedness of our
aggressors. - J. Davis, inaugural address as Provisional CSA
President, February 18, 1861.
4. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors.
- A. Lincoln, first inaugural address, March 4, 1861.
5. All the past we leave behind with Sumter. - Walt Whitman
M. Miscellaneous
1. In which case you would have more brains in your belly than in
your head. - Alexander H. Stephens in response to an opponent's claim
that he could eat the diminutive Stephens. *
2. Get down you god-damned fool before you get shot. - O. W. Holmes
to a tall man at Fort Stevens. *
3. I find I can do them as much damage by snapping my fingers at them
every two minutes. - Gunnery officer of the CSS Virginia (aka
Merrimack) in reference the effect of his guns upon the USS Monitor. *
4. Mister, here's your mule. - Private soldiers of the Army of Tennessee
5. We'll fight them 'till hell freezes over, then we'll fight on the ice.
- Anonymous member of the Union 2nd Corps after Pickett's Charge *
6. In our youths, our hearts were touched with fire. - O. W. Holmes.
--
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Paul Cowan cowan@anl.gov COWAN@ANLPHY.BITNET or cowan@ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu
The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
A. Lincoln
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--
Stephen Schmidt Department of Economics
101 Social Sciences Union College
(518) 388-6368 Schenectady NY 12308