Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Shelby Foote

Quote by Shelby Foote

“I could see their faces then, and the army became what it really was: forty thousand men—they were young men mostly, lots of them even younger than myself, and I was nineteen just two weeks before—out on their first march in the crazy weather of early April, going from Mississippi into Tennessee where the Union army was camped between two creeks with its back to a river, inviting destruction.”

Quote by Shelby Foote

Book:Shiloh
Create image

Work

Shiloh

Shiloh is a coming-of-age story that explores themes of loss, courage, and the impact of war on a child's life. The narrative follows Shiloh's experiences as he navigates the complexities of the Civil War era, witnessing the harsh realities of war firsthand. more

Author

Shelby Foote
Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote was an American historian and author, renowned for his works on the American Civil War. Born on November 17, 1916, and passing away on June 27, 2005, Foote's writing style was marked by its vivid storytelling and rich historical detail, earning him high regard among scholars and the general public alike. more

You May Also Like

“That was when General Johnston rode up. He came right past where I was standing, a fine big man on a bay stallion. He had on a broad-brim hat and a cape and thigh boots with gold spurs that twinkled like sparks of fire. I watched him ride by, his mustache flaring out from his mouth and his eyes set deep under his forehead. He was certainly the handsomest man I ever saw, bar none; he made the other officers on his staff look small.”

American Civil WarCivil War Western TheaterBattle Of Shiloh
Book:Shiloh
Create image

“Sherman making a mockery of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s recent assertion, while visiting the Rebel army, that the Yankees would have to retreat from Georgia or starve, and predicting that the retreat would be “more disastrous than was that of Napoleon from Moscow.”

American Civil WarCivil War Western Theater
Book:William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country: A Life
Create image

“a gang of unpredictable ruffians by day who turned to enthralling storytellers after dark. "I would sometimes join them, and listen for a great part of the night to some of the finest fairy tales and most romantic legends it has ever been my fortune to hear.”

LegendsFairy TalesAmerican Civil WarStorytellersCivil War Western TheaterRuffians
Book:Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor
Create image

“Before long the meeting at headquarters got down to a serious discussion of how General Bragg was to be dealt with, and Howard suddenly realized that he had never attended a strategy conference like this one: matters were not handled so informally in the Army of the Potomac. Grant and Thomas and Sherman simply talked things out, putting a whole campaign in review—Sherman bubbling with ideas, as always, Thomas full of solid facts about the roads and mountains and rivers where they would have to fight, Grant listening to both men and now and then putting in an observation of his own. Howard, who was not especially fanciful, felt that it was almost like being in a courtroom: Thomas was the learned judge, Sherman the brilliant advocate, and Grant was the jury whose verdict would settle everything.”

American Civil WarCivil War Western Theater
Book:Grant Takes Command 1863-1865
Create image

“The Battle of Atlanta was an unusually confusing engagement for those who fought in it , with assaults coming from unexpected directions and the fortunes of battle changing directions from one moment to the next. Arkansas troops, pinned down in front of the Sixteenth Iowa's works, came in and surrendered, but before they could be moved to the rear other Confederate troops appeared from that very direction; the Iowans tried to put their prisoners between this new threat and themselves, but the Arkansans became belligerent and began to take up arms again. There was a period of total confusion; in the press an Iowa soldier asked an Arkansas which side was surrendering, and the Rebel answered with a laugh: "I'll be damned if I know". In the end it was the Sixteenth Iowa that went off in captivity.”

American Civil WarCivil War Western TheaterAtlanta Campaign
Book:Marching Through Georgia: The Story of Soldiers and Civilians During Sherman's Campaign – An Engrossing Military History from Buzzard Roost Gap to Savannah
Create image

“To be sure, late that afternoon, Union soldiers drifted into the Confederate camp, and soon knots of blue- and gray-clad men dotted the hills around Appomattox Court House; bullets were indeed replaced by backslaps, the rebel yell with a hearty Southern drawl, war fervor with the first hints of war nostalgia, unbridled hatred with nascent relief, and, by the next day, West Point mini-reunions were even breaking out at the McLean farmhouse. But”

American Civil WarCivil War Eastern TheaterAppomattox Campaign
Book:April 1865: The Month That Saved America
Create image