'Court- martial and be damned'

 

Corporal William H. Ball of the 5th Wisconsin Light Battery wrote his brother Quigley a newsy letter from Camp Clear Creek in Tishomingo Co. Mississippi dated June 17, 1862. 

Toward the end of the letter, Ball casually mentioned an incident that occurred between his battery and the newly assigned 25th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment as both units marched with the Army of the Mississippi, commanded by Major General John Pope.

By the way, let me say something of General Pope . . . Among the soldiers his profanity is proverbial. Woe be to the officer whom he sees the least fault in. He gets roundly and soundly cursed. Being a Major General, most of them are afraid to say a word back. Once in a while he gets to cursing the wrong man.

The other day while on the march, he got beaten at his own game. A Capt. of the 25th Ill[inois] Reg. was in command at the time – his regiment was strung out along the road for a long distance and the battery had got between his two lines on each side of the road. Pope happened to ride by and noticed the confusion. He asked who commanded the regiment. The Senior Capt. was pointed out. Riding up to him, Pope commenced a tirade of abuse and curses.

The Capt., nothing daunted, cussed back with interest. Pope threatened to courtmartial him. “Court- martial and be damned” said the Capt.

At that Pope turned and went on. It is said that Pope likes occasionally to meet with such a character. He knew he dare not courtmartial the Capt. because he [Pope] commenced the “rumpus”.

Interesting example of how a leader’s inconsistency, pettiness, disrespect, and false bravado affect the attitudes of the rank and file of his command.

'Do unto others' eh?

There are millions of stories from the Irrepressible Conflict. This was just one of them.

Mac

Works Cited

FYI: The sketch that headlines this post depicts the Union troops under General John Pope disembarking in Kentucky, across the river from the Confederate forces in New Madrid, MO in 1862. This is from an 1896 Frank Leslie’s Publication.

[1] Ball, William H. Letters (1862-1864). Auburn University Digital Library Collection