Battle sounds worse than it is. “Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low”
Urges his troops to fight against the ‘shame of slavery’
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch June 23, 1862:
Gen. Longstreet’s address.
The following address has been issued to the men of his division by Gen. Longstreet. It has the ring of true metal, and will be read with interest both by soldiers and civilians. Without doubt this calm and patriotic address, written by a genuine soldier, will have its desired effect:
Headquarters right Wing,
Army before Richmond, June 17th, 1862.
Soldiers:
You have marched out to fight the battles of your country, and by those battles must you be rescued from the shame of slavery. Your foes have declared their purpose of bringing you to Feggary [Beggary?] and avarice their national characteristic, recites them to redoubled efforts for the conquest of the South, in order that they may seize her sunny fields and happy homes. Already has the hatred of one of their great leaders attempted to make the negro your equal by declaring his freedom, they care not for the blood of babes, nor carnage of innocent women, which servile insurrection thus stirred up may bring upon their heads.–Worse than this, the North has sent forth another infamous chief, encouraging the lust of his hirelings to the dishonor and violation of those Southern women who have so untiringly labored to clothe our soldiers in the field, and nurse our sick and wounded. If ever men were called upon to defend the beloved daughters of their country, that now is our duty. Let such thoughts nerve you up to the most dreadful shock of battle; for were it certain death, death would be better than the fate that defeat would entail upon us all. But, remember, though the fiery noise of battle is indeed most terrifying, and seems to threaten universal ruin, it is not so destructive as it seems, and few soldiers, after all, are slain. This the Commanding General desires particularly to impress upon the fresh and inexperienced troops who now constitute a part of this command. Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self- possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low, Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you. Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace, falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land, will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make.
James Longstreet.
Major-General Commanding.
I had no idea that in one week in January 1862 James Longstreet lost three of his young children to scarlet fever.
Southern fears over northerners taking southern land were not unfounded. On June 21, 1862 the Daily Dispatch published a commentary on the last letter a Yankee soldier (killed at Shiloh) allegedly wrote to his wife: he’s already picked out a fine southern farm and they can get white women to do the household chores. In December 1861 a Union captain wrote that he expected industrious northern farmers to occupy and cultivate Virginia farms after the war.
Disputed ground -Henrico County by McClellan’s topographical engineer
