Gods and Generals Page #3

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Colonel Jackson, sir. Father.

I am a soldier in the 4th Virginia.

And in the 4th Virginia I will stay.

And if needs be, die.

- Then I will take my leave.

- No, sir.

It is I who will leave the two of you to

have some time together on your own.

You may have this room as

long as you require it.

Thank you.

Farewell, colonel.

May we meet again in happier times.

And if not in this troubled world

may we meet in...

In heaven.

- Parade, rest!

- We're ready.

Men of the valley.

Citizen soldiers.

I am here at the order of General Robert

E. Lee, commanding all Virginia forces.

On April 15 of this year

of our Lord, 1861...

...Simon Cameron, the secretary of war

of the United States...

...sent a telegram to our governor to

raise three regiments of infantry...

...to be sent to assist in suppressing

the Southern Confederacy.

Governor Letcher's answer is well

known to you, but perhaps not his words.

His wire to Washington stated:

"You have chosen to inaugurate civil war.

Having done so, we will meet you

in a spirit as determined...

...as the Lincoln administration

has exhibited toward the South."

Two days later the Virginia legislature

were voting for secession.

Just as we would not send any of our

soldiers to march in other states...

...and tyrannize other people...

...so will we never allow the armies

of others to march into our states...

...and tyrannize our people.

Like many of you, indeed most of you,

I've always been a Union man.

It is not with joy or with a light heart

that many have welcomed secession.

Had our neighbors to the North practiced

a less bellicose form of persuasion...

...this day might not have come.

But that day has been thrust upon us...

...like it was thrust upon our ancestors.

The Lincoln administration required

us to raise three regiments.

Tell them we have done so.

Dismissed.

Attention, company!

- Good morning, sir.

- Reverend Pendleton.

- How goes it with the artillery today?

- You're just in time for a christening.

The men have decided

to name the howitzers:

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

I'm sure your men will spread the gospel

wherever they encounter the enemy.

Has my son proven a worthy adjutant?

I'm certain Captain Pendleton will prove

himself deserving of the family name.

Thrust! Develop! Die!

Captain White.

How fare the scholars

of Washington College?

Are they making their transition

from books to bullets?

A few more days of drill, and my boys

will surpass the cadets of VMI.

Drill, Professor White, drill and drill.

Remember Alexander in Anatolia.

Caesar in Gaul. Napoleon in Iberia.

We march by day,

and read Xenophon by night.

- We will be your Greek phalanx.

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