Recollections of Hell and the American Civil War:
The Story of a Union Infantryman
The Story of a Union Infantryman
Table of Contents
1. Leaves on the Wind
2. Leaving Home
3. Guns and the Young
4. Dance with the Devil
5. It Can't Hurt
6. Land of the Lotus Eaters
7. Unchain My Heart
8. Yon Dread And Flaring Sun
9. To Hell We Ride
10. Epilogue
2. Leaving Home
3. Guns and the Young
4. Dance with the Devil
5. It Can't Hurt
6. Land of the Lotus Eaters
7. Unchain My Heart
8. Yon Dread And Flaring Sun
9. To Hell We Ride
10. Epilogue
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1. Leaves on the Wind
A generation of men is like a generation of leaves; the wind scatters some leaves upon the ground, while others the burgeoning wood brings forth - and the season of spring comes on. So of men one generation springs forth and another ceases.
~ Homer
Why do generations of men fade away? What causes are there in today’s world for death? Men of science and government proclaim that we Americans have reached the pinnacle of reason and civilization. However, countless people still fade away into death: their passings no more significant than the disappearance of dust upon the wind.
Though I am neither philosopher nor studier of society, my life’s experiences – so soaked with blood were they – have led me to formulate several conclusions upon death. Mainly, I believe generations fade apropos of the ugly and ravenous beast we call war… Conflict stole many years of my life. It forced many men I called friends to abandon mortality. In short, war has efficiently torn apart my family and my country.
Many seasons have passed since my tour of combat. I have left the battlefield and settled peacefully in the far West. Here I have found obscurity and peace, as well as a great deal of unoccupied time. Thus, I set myself to the task of recording both my memories from the war and the stories of other souls I crossed paths with during that fateful period of turmoil... With luck, posterity will someday come to understand the futility of wars, such as mine, and bring about harmony.
Though I am neither philosopher nor studier of society, my life’s experiences – so soaked with blood were they – have led me to formulate several conclusions upon death. Mainly, I believe generations fade apropos of the ugly and ravenous beast we call war… Conflict stole many years of my life. It forced many men I called friends to abandon mortality. In short, war has efficiently torn apart my family and my country.
Many seasons have passed since my tour of combat. I have left the battlefield and settled peacefully in the far West. Here I have found obscurity and peace, as well as a great deal of unoccupied time. Thus, I set myself to the task of recording both my memories from the war and the stories of other souls I crossed paths with during that fateful period of turmoil... With luck, posterity will someday come to understand the futility of wars, such as mine, and bring about harmony.
~ J. Harper, 1882
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