"I did not expect to hear you talk so, Wingfield, for you always seem to he in capital spirits.""I am in capital spirits," Vincent replied, "and ready to fight again and again, and always confident we shall lick the Yankees; the fact that I have a doubt whether in the long run we shall outlast them does not interfere in the slightest degree with my comfort at present.I am very sorry though that this fellow Pope is carrying on the war so brutally instead of in the manner in which General McClellan and the other commanders have waged it.His proclamation that the army must subsist upon the country it passes through gives a direct invitation to the soldiers to pillage, and his order that all farmers who refuse to take the oath to the Union are to be driven from their homes and sent down south means ruin to all the peaceful inhabitants, for there is scarcely a man in this part of Virginia who is not heartily with us.""I hear," one of the other officers said, "that a prisoner who was captured this morning says that Pope already sees that he has made a mistake, and that he yesterday issued a fresh order saying that the proclamation was not meant to authorize pillage.He finds that the inhabitants who before, whatever their private sentiments were, maintained a sort of neutrality, are now hostile, that they drive off their cattle into the woods, and even set fire to their stacks, to prevent anything from being carried off by the Yanks; and his troops find the roads broken up and bridges destroyed and all sorts of difficulties thrown in their way.""It does not always pay-even in war-to be brutal.I am glad to see he has found out his mistake so soon," another officer said.
"McClellan waged war like a gentleman; and if blackguards are to be allowed to carry fire and sword through the land they will soon find it is a game that two can play at, and matters will become horribly embittered""We shall never do that," Vincent said."Our generals are all gentlemen, and Lee and Jackson and many others are true Christians as well as true soldiers, and I am sure they will never countenance that on our side whatever the Northerners may do.
We are ready to fight the hordes of Yankees and Germans and Irishmen as often as they advance against us, but I am sure that none of us would fire a homestead or ill-treat defenseless men and women.It is a scandal that such brutalities are committed by the ruffians who call themselves Southerners.The guerrillas in Missouri and Tennessee are equally bad whether on our side or the other, and if I were the president I would send down a couple of regiments, and hunt down the fellows who bring dishonor on our cause.If the South cannot free herself without the aid of ruffians of this kind she had better lay down her arms at once.""Bravo, Wingfield! spoken like a knight of chivalry!" one of the others laughed."But many of these bands have done good nevertheless.They have kept the enemy busy there, and occupied the attention of a very large force who might otherwise have been in the woods yonder with Pope.I agree with you, it would be better if the whole thing were fought out with large armies, but there is a good deal to be said for these hands you are so severe upon.They are composed of men who have been made desperate by seeing their farms harried and their buildings burned by the enemy.They have been denounced as traitors by their neighbors on the other side, and if they retaliate I don't know that they are to be altogether blamed.I know that if my place at home were burned down and my people insulted and ill-treated I should be inclined to set off to avenge it.,'
"So would I," Vincent agreed, "but it should be upon those who did the wrong, not upon innocent people.""That is all very well, but if the other side destroy your people's farms, it is only by showing them that two can play at the game that you can make them observe the laws of war.I grant it would be very much better that no such thing should take place; but if the Northerners begin this sort of work they may be sure that there will be retaliation Anyhow, I am glad that I am an officer in the 7th Virginians and not a guerrilla leader in Missouri.Well, all this talking is dry work.Has no one got a full canteen?""I have," Vincent said."Dan managed to buy a gallon of rum at a farmhouse yesterday.I think the farmer was afraid that the enemy might be paying him a visit before many days, and thought it best to get rid of his spirits.Anyhow, Dan got the keg at ordinary city prices, as well as that couple of fine turkeys he is just bringing along for our supper.So you had better each get your ration of bread and fall to."There was a cheer as Dan placed the turkeys down in the center of the group, and soon the whole party, using their bread as plates, fell to upon them, and afterward joined in many a merry song, while Dan handed round the jar of spirits.
