A Scythe of Fire

by Wilkinson, Warren; Woodworth, Steven E.

• ISBN13: 9780380977529
• ISBN10: 0380977524
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-02-14
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The men of the Eighth Georgia Infantry Regiment answered the Confederate call to arms in the spring of 1861, virtually at the moment that war was declared. They came from all corners of the state, some dressed in mismatched homemade uniforms, others in tailored finery. Proud and defiant, convinced that "one Southerner could whip ten Yankees," they plunged into the murderous heat of battle at Bull Run. Years later, after enduring combat's most vigorous trials in Maryland, at Gettysburg, and throughout East Tennessee and the bloody horror of the Wilderness -- their ranks severely depleted by winter and sickness and Union cannon, shot, and sword -- they were at Appomattox to witness the ultimate defeat of their beloved homeland. Few men saw more hard fighting than those of the Eighth Georgia, and their remarkable story is the history of the South at war. A monumental work of heart and scholarship, A Scythe of Fire tells the remarkable story of a single regiment that held together through long years of victory, defeat, despair, and death, from the Civil War's opening salvo to the Confederate surrender. The magnificent product of meticulous research, Warren Wilkinson and Steven E. Woodworth's stirring chronicle of America's War Between the States brings the conflict alive as never before through the eyes of the courageous men who fought and died on the nation's battlefields. Based on personal accounts, diaries, letters, and other primary sources, here is a tale of bravery and fortitude; the true story of fighting men united by an intense love of their land and devotion to a way of life. From the first heady days of the Southern secession and dreams of rapid triumph through harrowing winter marches and action in some of the fiercest conflicts of the war, A Scythe of Fire is the history of the Eighth Georgia as experienced by those who carried its standard into battle: doctors and farmers, land owners and simple folk, each dedicated to victory yet proud and unbroken in the face of defeat. It is a vivid, unforgettable, and profoundly human story of hope, folly, loyalty, and courage that will stand among the most acclaimed chronicles of the nation's bloodiest and most terrible epoch.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
In Defense of Southern Rights	1	(29)
The Elite of the Town	2	(11)
I Go to Illustrate Georgia	13	(5)
A Report That Would Be Heard	18	(7)
Important Movements Are on Foot	25	(5)
To Belong to the Southern Army	30	(21)
Daughter of the Stars	30	(5)
They Would Rush into Danger	35	(6)
Those Halcyon Days in the Valley	41	(5)
We Knew Where We Were a Going	46	(5)
Never Give Up the Field	51	(41)
You Must Get There	51	(6)
Battle and Fighting Mean Death	57	(3)
Get Ready, Men!	60	(6)
I Could Hear the Bullets	66	(2)
That Place of Slaughter	68	(10)
We Have Whipped 'Em	78	(8)
What an Insignificant Creature One Man Is	86	(6)
All Quiet Along the Potomac	92	(26)
I Have Missed It	92	(3)
The Eighth Georgia Is Known	95	(6)
He Caused Them to Have Some Serious Thoughts	101	(5)
Nothing Unusual	106	(9)
Moped Up in a Tent	115	(3)
We Must Not Let the Yankees Take Richmond	118	(32)
The Blighting Effects of War	118	(5)
The Occasional Crack of a Rifle	123	(8)
The Idol of His Regiment	131	(6)
From Some Cause, Not Understood by Me	137	(8)
In Search of the Enemy	145	(5)
Resistless as an Ocean Tide	150	(38)
A Quiet but Deep Work	150	(6)
Deep and Stern Convictions of Duty	156	(3)
Our Generals Seem to Have Failed	159	(3)
Soldiers Must Know No Obstacles	162	(7)
The Grandest Sight I Ever Looked Upon	169	(7)
May the Lord Direct Me	176	(4)
Some of the Prettiest Fighting	180	(8)
We Can Whip Any Army	188	(24)
Much the Worse for Wear	188	(6)
We Could Riddle Him into Doll Rags	194	(5)
Safely Through Another Week	199	(6)
The Best Place to Move From	205	(7)
A Scythe of Fire	212	(51)
Quit Fooling with Them	212	(7)
Abolition Soil	219	(3)
Such as the Army Needs	222	(4)
Today We Shall Whip Them	226	(5)
A Splendid Line of Brave Men	231	(7)
Stand Up and Fight	238	(8)
The Valley of Death	246	(6)
We Had Not Won	252	(5)
The Frown of Heaven	257	(6)
The Worst Part of This War	263	(20)
Our Times Are in His Hands	263	(5)
Like Old Times at Home	268	(4)
The Most Exciting Charge	272	(5)
The Sullen and Angry Expression on the Faces of Our Soldiers	277	(6)
The Raging Sea	283	(24)
The Battle That Most Tried My Nerves	283	(6)
It Was a Butchery	289	(3)
As Befits One of the Eighth Georgia	292	(5)
A Secret Whisper	297	(6)
I Will Be in My Place	303	(4)
Appendix	307	(7)
Notes	314	(15)
Index	329