American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

We all love and quote generals who make the perfect statement at the right moment. Lee at Fredericksburg... Bee at Bull Run... Grant in the Wilderness... you probably know the statements without me even having to say them.

But what about those statements that were just so bad you want to forget them?

Catching up on my Vicksburg history I ran across Sherman's line while his men were opposite Chickasaw Bayou.

"We will lose 5,000 men before we take Vicksburg, and may as well lose them here as anywhere else."

Now... if I am a soldier hearing that I think I'd just drop my rifle and find a good hole in the ground to hide in. Or insist, at the point of the bayonet, that our great general lead we happy few to glory against the enemy breastworks.

Then there's:

"I know Mr. Davis thinks he can do a great many things other men would hesitate to attempt. For instance, he tried to do what God failed to do. He tried to make a soldier of Braxton Bragg..."

General Joseph E. Johnston

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General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)

During the Vietnam war there was a rush to get trained helo pilots and on graduation day one young graduate was told by his instructor: Son, you are the worst pilot we have ever graduated, don't worry about getting shot as you will surely die in a crash. Alright, send me in!

I remember reading alot of WW2 stories along the similiar vein. Replacements were needed badly at the front and they usually didnt survive the first 24 hours. If they were lucky a veteran would tell them to stay in their hole and not stick their head up for anything.

Or, the classic Soviet phrase, "when the man in front of you dies, pick up his rifle, and carry on." Yeah, thats encouraging.

"It takes a brave man to be a coward in the Red Army" - Josef Stalin

Soviet army knew how to make men brave. Place machine guns behind them to shoot anyone who retreats. Lucky for Stalin that Hitler was even stupider. Just think what a policy of welcoming deserters with open arms would have done to the Red Army.

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General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)

actually there were thousands of Russians who willingly assisted the Germans during WWII. Called "Hilfswilliger" (or "Hiwis") by the Germans, meaning "helper volunteers". After the war, many of them were turned over to the Red Army by the Allies, to God knows what awful fate at the hands of Stalin's butchers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiwi_(volunteer)

I just found one while reading "The Longest Night".

"Fill your canteens boys! Some of you will be in hell before night and you'll need water".
Colonel Isaac C. Pugh, 41st Illinois Infantry at Shiloh

Doesn't hearing that just give you a good feeling inside?

Col. Deano

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Lt. General David Martin
First Brigade, First Division, First Corps, Army of the Potomac