Carolina valor.

"We have lost mo' men," said he, "than any otha' Commonwealth; but these
Vuhginians, whose soil, by----! suh, we defend suh! Yes, suh! whose soil
we defend; these Vuhginians, stigmatize us as cowads! _We_, suh! yes
suh, _we_, that nevah wanted to leave the Union,--_we cowads_! Look at
ou' blood, suh, ou' blood! That's it, by----! look at that! shed on
every field of the ole Dominion,--killed, muhdud, captued, crippled! We
_cowads_! I want you prent that!"

I was able to give each of the officers a drop of whiskey from my flask,
and I never saw men drink so thirstily. Their hands and lips trembled as
they took it, and their eyes shone like lunacy, as the hot drops sank to
the cold vitals, and pricked the frozen blood. Mingling with the
privates, I stirred up some native specimens of patriotism, that
appeared to be in great doubt as to the causes and ends of the war. They
were very much in the political condition of a short, thick, sententious
man, in blue drilling breeches, who said--

"Damn the country! What's to be done with _us_?"

One person said that he enlisted for the honor of his family, that "fit
in the American Revolution;" and another came out to "hev a squint et
the fightin'." Several were northern and foreign lads, that were working
on Carolina railroads, and could not leave the section, and some labored
under the impression that they were to have a "slice" of land and a
"nigger," in the event of Southern independence. A few comprehended the
spirit of the contest, and took up arms from principle; a few, also,
declared their enmity to "Yankee institutions," and had seized the
occasion to "polish them off," and "give them a ropein' in;" but many
said it was "dull in our deestreeks, an' the niggers was runnin' away,
so I thought I'ud jine the foces." The great mass said, that they never
contemplated "this box," or "this fix," or "these suckemstances," and
all wanted the war to close, that they might return to their families.
Indeed, my romantic ideas of rebellion were ruthlessly profaned and
dissipated. I knew that there was much selfishness, peculation, and
"Hessianism" in the Federal lines, but I had imagined a lofty
patriotism, a dignified purpose, and an inflexible love of personal
liberty among the Confederates. Yet here were men who knew little of
the principles for which they staked their lives;--who enlisted from the
commonest motives of convenience, whim, pelf, adventure, and foray