292 The American Civil War
both sides unprepared. Many had visions of
personal and group glory, which realities
abruptly banished from their minds. 'I can
inform you that I have Seen the Monkey
Show at last,' a Confederate penned home
after Stones River, 'and I dont Waunt to see it
no more.' He went on to describe, 'Som had
there hedes shot of|f| and som ther armes
and legs Won was Shot in too in the midel.'
He then concluded with exasperation, 'I can
tell you that I am tirde of Ware.'
They were nothing more than livestock in
a butcher's pen, herded forward for the
slaughter by what seemed like uncaring and
incompetent generals. Men in the prime of
their lives were cut down indiscriminately.
Friends and comrades fell on their left and
right, leaving those who survived to puzzle
over the question: why them? And while
they may have won the battle, rarely did
they advance the cause dramatically. There
seemed to be no end in sight.
Eventually, that experience in camp, on
the march, and in battle hardened men on
both sides. They learned how to conduct
themselves better on the battlefield and in
camp, to husband valuable resources and to
discipline themselves on important matters.
Soldiers accrued some emotional immunity
to the randomness of the killing and the
brutality of warfare, realizing that fear and
intensive examination would produce no
results. They resigned themselves to the idea
that it was either God's will or their time.
The men of 1861 and 1862 had become
veterans, with a vast warehouse of military
knowledge based on personal experience or
observation. 'The experience of twenty years
peaceful life,' noted a veteran on the
anniversary of his first battle, 'has been
crowded into three years.' After just a few
years, so stated another enlisted man, he and
his comrades 'had learned nearly all that was
worth knowing, at least far more than [our|
generals knew three years before.'
Since early childhood, family and society
had taught them to make decisions for
themselves, to act as they saw best. Veterans
did not hesitate to put those hard-earned
military lessons to good use, even withoutsupervision of their officers. They mastered
the art of selecting excellent tactical
positions and throwing up breastworks to
shield their bodies from the accurate fire of
rifled muskets. Engineers marveled at the
positions and fortifications that enlisted men
built quickly and on their own initiative.
While killing was an inextricable component
of warfare, soldiers learned how to take steps
to reduce risks, to preserve themselves and
their comrades for another day. Early in the
war, they advanced elbow to elbow, as the
tactics manual had instructed them. As
veterans, they realized that the purpose was
to concentrate firepower and strength, but
they could accomplish that by dispersing
themselves a little more and exploiting
terrain features and cover. Yet they retained
the important objective: to focus their fire
on specific targets and areas. In camp and on
the march, they knew 'just what to do and
what not to do.' They practiced good
hygiene, and supplemented their diet from
the countryside. As one sergeant in
Sherman's army commented, 'I believe if we
were as green as we were when we first came
out - (as the 'Vets' say) we would starve to
death.' Almost as important, veterans could
teach these lessons to new troops. While
they liked to play pranks and mislead
newcomers, the hardened soldiers also
understood that their own lives depended to
some degree on how well the green soldiers
performed, and they would not neglect the
instruction of any who would listen.
Along with changes in behavior, veterans
embraced new attitudes about the war. They
began to see both soldiers and civilians as the
enemy, and they recognized the destruction
of property as a powerful tool in fighting the
war. Rebel cavalry commander Nathan
Bedford Forrest proved himself master of the
destructive cavalry raid, wreaking such havoc
on garrisons, railroads, and supply depots
that Sherman called him 'that devil Forrest.'
Confederates, too, paid less credence to
notions of 'civilized warfare,' especially when
it came to black soldiers. Both they and the
black troops fought under the black flag,
signaling their opponent that they would