In This Respect Early Youth Is Exactly

A Certain Combination Of Incompetence And Indifference Can Cause Almost As Much Suffering As The Most Acute Malevolence.

Beneath Everything Else, North And West, There Ran A Profound, Unvoiced, Almost Subconscious Conviction That The [american] Nation Was Going To Go On Growing-in Size, In Power, In Everything A Man Could Think Of-and In That Belief There Was A Might And A Fury That Would Take Form Instantly At The Moment Of Shock.

Like Most Rebel Soldiers, Sam Watkins Owned No Slaves.

Yet There Is A Dignity In The Human Spirit Which Can Become Most Clearly Visible In The Moment Of Defeat And Disaster.

Soldiers Who Had Been In The Army Long Enough To Know What A Bloody Swindle War Really Is Would Begin To Feel That Army Life Was Really Kind Of Fun, As Long As [general Philip] Sheridan Was Up Front.