Tag Archives: Virginia

William Faulkner’s Pickett’s Charge Quote

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“For every Southern boy fourteen years old…”

Pickett's Charge

Pickett’s Charge

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago. For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it’s still not yet two o’clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out and Pickett himself with his long oiled ringlets and his hat in one hand probably and his sword in the other looking up the hill waiting for Longstreet to give the word and it’s all in the balance, it hasn’t happened yet, it hasn’t even begun yet, it not only hasn’t begun yet but there is still time for it not to begin against that position and those circumstances which made more men than Garnett and Kemper and Armistead and Wilcox look grave yet it’s going to begin, we all know that, we have come too far with too much at stake and that moment doesn’t need even a fourteen-year-old boy to think This time. Maybe this time with all this much to lose and all this much to gain: Pennsylvania, Maryland, the world, the golden dome of Washington itself to crown with desperate and unbelievable victory the desperate gamble, the cast made two years ago; or to anyone who ever sailed a skiff under a quilt sail, the moment in 1492 when somebody thought This is it: the absolute edge of no return, to turn back now and make home or sail irrevocably on and either find land or plunge over the world’s roaring rim.”

… William Faulkner
From his book: Intruder in the Dust, 1948.

Learn Civil War History Podcast: William Faulkner’s Pickett’s Charge Quote

Pickett’s Charge

Ken Burns – The Civil War

My book 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes features quotes made before, during, and after the Civil War. Each quote has an informative note to explain the circumstances and background of the quote. Learn Civil War history from the spoken words and writings of the military commanders, political leaders, the Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs who fought in the battles, the abolitionists who strove for the freedom of the slaves, the descriptions of battles, and the citizens who suffered at home. Their voices tell us the who, what, where, when, and why of the Civil War. Available as a Kindle device e-book or as a paperback. Get 501 Civil War Quotes and Notes now!

Civil War Re-enactors Settle Battle

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Civil War Re-enactors Fight Results in a Draw

I have to include this post, because the story is bizarre.

The Associated Press reports a judge on January 6, 2010 found two Civil War re-enactors (a Johnny Reb and a Billy Yank) not guilty of assault. Seems the two were involved in a re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville when their re-enacting became too realistic.

The two were re-enacting as cavalry officers, and Johnny Reb claims Billy Yank knocked his hat off. Johnny Reb then responded by firing his revolver at Billy Yank. Although the revolver had a blank round, Billy Yank was injured. Then the two went on to feed the lawyers.

Here is The Associated Press report:

VIRGINIA
Re-enactors’ spat settled in court

STANARDSVILLE – A judge says it’s a draw between two Union and Confederate re-enactors who got into a tussle on the battlefield.

A judge found each man not guilty of assault on Wednesday after they pressed charges against each other over the dispute last September.

The men were playing cavalry officers in a re-enactment of the Battle of Stanardsville. The Confederate re-enactor claims his Union counterpart knocked his hat off.

The Confederate was accused of responding by firing a blank round from his revolver and injuring the Union re-enactor.
The Associated Press

I’m a fan of Civil War re-enactors. I appreciate and enjoy how they strive to bring history alive for us. If you ever get a chance to see a Civil War battle re-enactment, do it. But, I have to say in my point of view, these two Civil War re-enactors are nuts. To put it in 1800s terms; these two guys are crazy as loons.

To add some actual Civil War history value to this post:

 

The Battle of Stanardsville was fought on March 1, 1864 when cavalry led by Union General George Armstrong Custer fought with a brigade of J.E.B Stuart’s Confederate cavalry at Stanardsville, Virginia, near the South River.

The cavalry fight included charges with sabers clanging at each other, followed by counter-charges and more saber clanging. Custer wound up retreating across the South River at Banks Ford, and then heading north to Culpeper.