John Edwin Stillwell > Quotes

“We had no planning nor thinking to do, and the world could just wag as it willed.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“I put green hickory leaves in my cap, and kept them well saturated with water from my canteen. The leaves would retain the moisture and keep my head cool, and when they became stale and withered, would be thrown away, and fresh ones procured.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, Still were the pipe and drum; Save heavy tread and armor's clang, The sullen march was dumb.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“The Life and Adventures of John A. Murrell, the Great Western Land Pirate," by Virgil A. Stewart.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“Halt! Who comes there?" "Friend, with the countersign!" was the answer. "Dismount, friend, advance, and give the countersign!" cried the sentinel. Kuh-sock, went the fine, high-top boots of the rider in the mud, and leading his horse, he walked up, gave the talismanic word, to which the response was made, "Countersign's correct! Pass, friend.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“One quiet, star-lit summer night, while on picket between Bolivar and Toone's, I had the good fortune to witness the flight of the largest and most brilliant meteor I ever have seen. It was a little after midnight, and I was standing alone at my post, looking, listening, and thinking. Suddenly there came a loud, rushing, roaring sound, like a passenger train close by, going at full speed, and there in the west was a meteor! Its flight was from the southwest to the northeast, parallel with the horizon, and low down. Its head, or body, looked like a huge ball of fire, and it left behind a long, immense tail of brilliant white, that lighted up all the western heavens. While yet in full view, it exploded with a crash like a near-by clap of thunder, there was a wide, glittering shower of sparks,—and then silence and darkness. The length of time it was visible could not have been more than a few seconds, but it was a most extraordinary spectacle.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“the army in a time of war tended to develop patience, contentment with the surroundings, and equanimity of temper and mind in general. And, from the highest to the lowest, differing only in degree, it would bring out energy, prompt decision, intelligent action, and all the latent force of character a man possessed.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War: Enriched edition.

“I think that a man who has never spent some wakeful hours in the night, by himself, out in the woods, has simply missed one of the most interesting parts of life. The night is the time when most of the wild things are astir, and some of the tame ones, too. There was some kind of a very small frog in the swamps and marshes near Bolivar that gave forth about the most plaintive little cry that I ever heard.”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“was in the front rank, but didn't fire. I preferred to wait for a good opportunity, when I could take deliberate aim at some individual foe. But when the regiment fired, the Confederates halted and began firing also, and the fronts of both lines were at once shrouded in smoke. I had my gun at a ready, and was trying to peer under the smoke in order to get a sight”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“The planter himself was of a type then common in the South. He was a large, coarse looking man, with an immense paunch, wore a broad-brimmed, home-made straw hat and butter nut jeans clothes. His trousers were of the old-fashioned, "broad-fall" pattern. His hair was long, he had a scraggy, sandy beard, and chewed "long green" tobacco continually and viciously. But he was shrewd enough to know that ugly talk on his part wouldn't mend matters, but only make them worse, so he stood around in silence while we took his corn, but he looked as malignant as a rattlesnake. His wife was directly his opposite in appearance and demeanor. She was tall, thin, and bony, with reddish hair and a sharp nose and chin. And goodness, but she had a temper! She stood in the door of the dwelling house, and just tongue-lashed us "Yankees," as she called us, to the full extent of her ability. The boys took it all good naturedly, and didn't jaw back. We couldn't afford to quarrel with a woman. A year later, the result of her abuse would have been the stripping of the farm of every hog and head of poultry on it,”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865

“Pediculus vestimenti,”
― Leander Stillwell, The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865