nd Richmond?"
"Licking, h----l," said the wounded Major, "who could fight such
people? Indians! Worse than an Apache. Just as we would get in line
of battle and ready for an advance, a little Georgia Colonel, in his
shirt sleeves and copperas breeches, would pop out into a corn field
at the head of his regiment, and shout at the top of his voice,
'Charge!' Man alive! here would come the devils like a whirlwind--over
ditches, gullies, fences, and fields, shouting, yelling, whooping,
that makes the cold chills run up your back--flash their glittering
bayonets in our very faces, and break our lines to pieces before you
could say 'boo.' Do you call that fighting? It was murder." No more
need be said of the Georgians.
Little Florida did not have many troops in the field, but little
as she was, she was as brave as the best. Her troops, like those of
Georgia and South Carolina, were impulsive, impetuous, and rapid in
battle. They were few in numbers, but legions in the fray.
The Alabamians and Mississippians came of pioneer stock, and like
their ancestry, were inured to hardships and dangers from childhood;
they made strong, hardy, brave soldiers. Indifferent to danger, they
were less careful of their lives than some from the older States. They
were fine marksmen; with a steady nerve and bold hearts, they won,
like Charles Martel, with their hammer-like blows. They were the
fanatical Saraceus of the South; while nothing could stand before the
broad scimeters of the former, so nothing could stand in the way of
the rifle and bayonet of the latter.
The Louisianians were the Frenchmen of the South. Of small stature,
they were the best marchers in the army. Like their ancestors in the
days of the "Grand Monarch," and their cousins in the days of the
"Great Napoleon," they loved glory and their country. Light-hearted
and gay in camp, they were equally light-hearted and gay in battle.
Their slogan was, "Our cause and our country." The Louisianians were
grand in battle, companionable in camp, and all round soldiers in
every respect.
The Texan, unlike the name of Texan immediately after the war, when
that country was the city of refuge for every murderer and cut-throat
of the land, were gallant, chivalrous, and gentlemanly soldiers.
Descendants of bold and adventurous spirits from every State in the
South, they were equally bold and daring in battle, and scorned the
very word of fear or danger. Hood's old Texas Brigade shared
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