Quotes from Bell Irvin Wiley

I am astonished at my own indifference," he added, "as I never pretended to be brave; it distresses me at times when I am cool and capable of reflection to think how indifferent we become in the hour of battle when our fellow men fall around us by scores…. My God what kind of a people will we be?"27

In June, 1864, a Texan summed up with striking aptness the Rebel clothing situation. "In this army," he wrote from near Atlanta, "one hole in the seat of the breeches indicates a captain, two holes a lieutenant, and the seat of the pants all out indicates that the individual is a private.

There were of course many moderates in the South, including some of the most influential planters, who wanted to give the Lincoln government a trial, even after South Carolina seceded. Not that they doubted the right of secession. The question was rather one of expediency. But Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers took the ground from under these middle-of-the-roaders. The issue now was whether to fight with or against secessionists, and this left no choice for most Southerners.

In some communities young men who hesitated to volunteer received packages containing petticoats, or were seized by boisterous mobs and thrown into ponds.7 Thousands of persons indifferent to enlistment, and many who were downright opposed to it, were swept into the ranks in 1861 by the force of articulate popular pressure.

Few Bibles were printed in the South before the war and the Confederate Bible Society had great difficulty in obtaining Testaments. Most of the Northern societies took the view that scriptures were contraband and stopped making their publications available for Southern distribution.

In the meantime the companies had been looking for arms, clothing and other equipment. State and Confederate authorities soon exhausted their supplies, and volunteer units had to scramble for themselves. But during the high tide of patriotism of 1861 there was no lack of will and effort to provide all necessities.

In many cases the office of captain was more or less automatically voted to the person who had been most active in raising the company; to some extent this was true also in the choice of colonels.