n made during other conflicts of the
Peninsular campaign, and the contrast thus presented to the gaudy and
careless dressing of many of the Union troops, seemed one to reflect
credit on the Confederate prudence at the expense of that quality on
which they had so prided themselves--their _chivalry_. Except as the sun
shone on the sloping musket-barrels and bristling bayonets, there were
few brilliant objects in all that formidable array, on which the
sharp-shooters of the Federal army could readily fix as targets. Few
bright buttons flashed on uniforms, even of officers, and
shoulder-straps were so uncommon as to make it difficult to distinguish
an officer (even a field or staff officer, if not on horseback) from a
private. Our own forces, throughout the war, have probably been
needlessly reckless in this regard; and there is no doubt that the
brilliant uniforms, particularly of the various Zouave corps, have often
made them more easily distinguishable and added to their losses when
fighting at long range. But the truly brave man is not apt to consider
the consequences to his own safety, of wearing a dress or carrying an
insignia which he would otherwise bear with propriety and with pride. It
was an inviting mark which Henri of Navarre offered to the foe at Ivry,
in the white plume with which he led on his followers; and Murat, when
he made those desperate charges to which reference has before been made
during the progress of this narration, must have known that his flashing
silks, his feathers and embroidery, put his life much more in danger
than that of an officer less conspicuously clad; but neither the foe of
the League nor the brother-in-law of Napoleon remembered the danger when
the glory was to be won and the great object of the soldier
accomplished. Perhaps that duellist may be pardoned by those who look
on, when he carefully removes from his person every mark that could
furnish a target to his enemy, but he is no more than pardoned; and if
there is one redeeming trait in the detestable character of the
duellist, it is to be found in that ready exposure of his life to the
chances of _fate_ and _skill_, which does not stop to calculate a button
or measure the narrowest line of aim which can be presented to an
adversary. Straitened circumstances and the want of many of the
appliances of luxury, may have had something to do with the lack of
personal display on the part of the Confederates, more especially the
officer