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Re: Period account of "fragging" officers?
Gentleman,
I just found this today. It is from At Gettysburg or What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle by Tillie Pierce Alleman. Tillie was at the Jacob Weikert just east of Little Round Top for much of the fighting. She recorded this incident on July 2nd, as the fighting on the Union left was beginning to heat up:
This forenoon another incident occurred which I shall ever remember. While the infantry were passing, I noticed a poor, worn-out soldier crawling along on his hands and knees. An officer yelled at him, with cursing, to get up and march. The poor fellow said he could not, whereupon the officer, raising his sword, struck him down three or four times. The officer passed on, little caring what he had done. Some of his comrades at once picked up the prostrate form and carried the unfortunate man into the house. After several hours of hard work the sufferer was brought back to consciousness. He seemed quite a young man, and was suffering from sunstroke received on the forced march. As they were carrying him in, some of the men who had witnessed this act of brutality remarked:
"We will mark that officer for this."
It is a pretty well established fact that many a brutal officer fell in battle, from being shot other than by the enemy.
Enjoy,
Gentleman,
I just found this today. It is from At Gettysburg or What a Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle by Tillie Pierce Alleman. Tillie was at the Jacob Weikert just east of Little Round Top for much of the fighting. She recorded this incident on July 2nd, as the fighting on the Union left was beginning to heat up:
This forenoon another incident occurred which I shall ever remember. While the infantry were passing, I noticed a poor, worn-out soldier crawling along on his hands and knees. An officer yelled at him, with cursing, to get up and march. The poor fellow said he could not, whereupon the officer, raising his sword, struck him down three or four times. The officer passed on, little caring what he had done. Some of his comrades at once picked up the prostrate form and carried the unfortunate man into the house. After several hours of hard work the sufferer was brought back to consciousness. He seemed quite a young man, and was suffering from sunstroke received on the forced march. As they were carrying him in, some of the men who had witnessed this act of brutality remarked:
"We will mark that officer for this."
It is a pretty well established fact that many a brutal officer fell in battle, from being shot other than by the enemy.
Enjoy,
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