Thursday, November 29, 2007
GRANT MEMOIRS - 6
One wonders how a commander views the horrors of war. How can a man send thousands to their deaths and still be sensitive to suffering?
After a day of battle atShiloh it rained hard that night. Grant had a severely swollen ankle due to a horse fall. Unable to sleep due to the rain and ankle pain, he moved into a log house which was serving as a hospital. All night men were treated, limbs were being amputated. "The sight was more unendurable than encountering the enemy's fire, and I returned to my tree in the rain."
He also relates that after the second day of battle he saw an open field "so covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk across the clearing, in any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a foot touching the ground."
While on duty inMexico
Commenting on sleeping on the porch of a captured "rebel hospital" filled with southern wounded: "While a battle is raging one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand, with great composure; but after the battle these scenes are distressing, and one is naturally disposed to do as much to alleviate the suffering of an enemy as a friend."
After a day of battle at
He also relates that after the second day of battle he saw an open field "so covered with dead that it would have been possible to walk across the clearing, in any direction, stepping on dead bodies, without a foot touching the ground."
While on duty in
Commenting on sleeping on the porch of a captured "rebel hospital" filled with southern wounded: "While a battle is raging one can see his enemy mowed down by the thousand, with great composure; but after the battle these scenes are distressing, and one is naturally disposed to do as much to alleviate the suffering of an enemy as a friend."
