My shoes are gone; my clothes are almost gone.

I’m weary. I’m sick. I’m hungry.

My family have been killed or scattered

and may be now wandering helpless and unprotected

in a strange country. And I have suffered all this for my country.

I love my country. I would die—yes, I would die willingly because

I love my country. But if this war is ever over,

I’ll be damned if I ever love another country.

 

 

—Confederate soldier in Longstreet’s army