“This country will be drenched in blood. God only knows how it will end. Perhaps the liberties of the whole country, of every section and every man will be destroyed.…”
—William T. Sherman, December 1860
“This is no time for man to war against man. The forces of Heaven are loose and in all their fury, the wind howls, the sea rages, the eternal is here in all his majesty.…”
—Private Day, off Cape Hatteras, N.C., January 1862
“… [B]ut just then a white flag was seen to flutter from the rebel works, which proclaimed that the finale had been reached. Then one long, joyous shout echoed and re-echoed along our lines. Its cadence rang long and deep over hill and valley until we caught the glad anthem and swelled the chorus with our voices in one glad shout of joy. It was a glorious opening for the Fourth of July.…”
—Corporal Barber, at the surrender of Vicksburg, July 1863
“… the country mourned the loss of one of its more illustrious defenders, the brave and noble McPherson. When his death became known to the army that he commanded, many brave and war-worn heroes wept like children. … It is said that Gen. Grant wept when he heard of his death.…”
—Corporal Barber, outside Atlanta, July 1864
“… [I] regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the C. S. Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.…”
—Gen. U. S. Grant to Gen. Robert E. Lee, April 7, 1865
