No, that's not cool, I don't know what it is so to cogitate upon it further I went back to reading.
The only time this book is worth a damn is when Harry shuts up and Andrew's letters are quoted. He was a marvelous writer, descriptive, and you get a better sense of his personality.
Andrew liked a good meal...Don't know what that means either but there are more references to having a good meal or going without food than I would have thought.
Andrew never slept well. His illnesses were all marked by lack of sleep, as mental illnesses are. Sleeplessness can cause mental imbalance as well as be caused by mental illness. That made me think of "Stonewall" Jackson. Where was it that he fell asleep? Pulled McPherson's book off the shelf...Index...Ah! The Seven Days Battles. Disoriented, didn't understand nor give clear orders. Slow moving, un-Stonewall-like, didn't "get up," Lee didn't know where he was! Fell asleep at mess with a biscuit in his mouth. I bet a lot of generals didn't sleep well during the war.
Humphreys was ambitious. He was also resentful of those given higher station than he thought they deserved, especially if he thought he was being slighted. He cared deeply for his reputation. He did not care so much for the fate of his troops; if thousands were killed in rash charges but he was described as "gallant," leading them, the latter was the bottom line.
In this letter, you get examples of each of the above:
December 31, 1863, 11:15 pm:
"The last letter I shall write you in this year; brief space has the year to live and brief must be my note, for I am as weary as the year. Since half past five, before my dinner was more than half over. I have had dispatch after dispatch to send, dispatch after dispatch to receive. It has been somewhat fatiguing. I feel bright enough this evening if it were not for the physical weariness of receiving and sending so many dispatches.
AAH had reluctantly accepted the position as Meade's Chief of Staff. Initially I viewed complaints such as this about a desk job suspiciously but I had my mind changed by how different his writing (at bottom) was when he was in combat. He truly missed being out on the field getting shot at.
From the same letter, his descriptive writing talent:
"Our camp is quiet, not a sound to be heard, no one is uproariously mirthful at the close of the year, no singing, no laughing.
"It is pitch dark, the rain has ceased but the raindrops falling from the trees are beating a midnight tattoo for the sleep of the old year; there are the taps, the lights are out, for the year has gone, it is now 12 o'clock, and I will say goodnight, good day, a happy New Year, I am the first to greet you."
That is wonderful writing! It reminds me of "Night Vigil."
"I have done enough to establish my reputation as a soldier, a general, and as a man. In exigencies I am leant upon. It is a satisfaction to me to know it, even if no others do save those who lean. How bright I felt last Xmas, fresh as I was from a field where totally unexpected to me, I had some chance of distinction and did not lose it. Well, I shall hope soon to be in command of troops again, and then I shall be brighter.
The full sentence bolded makes me sore, it refers to Fredericksburg and Fredericksburg is a sore point with me. I have to remind myself not to blame Humphreys for Fredericksburg. That was Burnsides' debacle, Humphreys was just following orders. In that sentence you see the primacy Humphreys puts on his reputation regardless of the needless slaughter of his troops so I blame him for that.
April 29, 1864:
"I was particularly struck at sunset with the quiet beauty of every view, turn which way you would, standing some short distance in front of my tent. The unusual brilliancy and clearness of the atmosphere; the soft green tints on the hillsides; the picturesque groupings of the encampments far
and near in every direction; the endless variety in the forms of the ground and in the moving figures of troops mounted and on foot, in bodies and singly, and the effects produced by seeing all this through the vista in the thin belt of timber that encircles our camp, which gives the impression that it is a painting..."
Ah, nice. Nice, nice paragraph.
He has a sense of humor! Here, chasing Lee in June, 1864, he is droll:
"And as to Lee we are so careful of him that we inquire about him constantly. If for a moment we think he is going away from us, we send out at once, a whole host of people not only to inquire after him, but to feel him and see how he is, and what sort of a place he is in, whether low and swampy or high and dry and open. He has a fancy for tangled, swampy, unhealthly place, which we argue with him about. He is very obstinate."
He was a very intelligent man, adept at the subtleties of word play.
Battle was glorious for Humphreys, it was art, music, poetry for him.
"The whole movement was elegantly executed, and I might say, too, as elegantly planned..."
-October 16, 1863.
From a letter written in 1869 on Gettysburg:
"It was an interesting incident of the battle, and was prettily done...a movement...Hancock and others who saw it from the Cemetery crest, describe as a beautiful sight, the opening of the enemy's artillery upon us adding to the effect...
"The whole thing was done with the precision of a careful exercise, the enemy's artillery giving effect to its picturesqueness. the division, brigade, and regimental flags were flying of course."
Artillery as a "special effect" adding to the "picturesqueness" beauty of the scene! That is fucked up!
At times Humphreys seems so detached that the temptation is to say that it was not real to him, that the men were just set pieces in his beautifully staged play. However, below, from the same letter, shows just how real it was to him. To this point, and as a rank amateur only, this is the most significant thing I have read. I believe it is key to understanding Humphreys:
"...the thrilling interest of a battle is the personal incident...A battle so lifts a man out of himself that he scarcely recognized his identity when peace returns and with it quiet occupation."
That is what happened to Humphreys. Battle lifted him out of his previous sickly self and he was unrecognizable by himself or by others. It didn't happen before the war, it didn't happen when he was given command, it happened only when he was in battle. I used to believe America was born insane* and became sane sometime before the Civil War. I believed we were sane during the war and have remained sane since. Humphreys was insane his entire life also and became sane and competent during the Civil War. And then it looks like here he may be saying he went back to his old insane self "when peace returned." Did America, too? fuck.
"May 7, 1864, 1 p.m.
"...I have not been under fire, a mode of fighting a battle that is not at all to my taste. However in accepting the position of Chief of Staff, I supposed I accepted the chance of one such battle; this has been a peculiar battle; fought in a dense thicket, rightly called the Wilderness.
"It began Thursday at midday, and continued all day yesterday extending over several miles, beginning by our attack at daybreak, rolling magnificently around from one side to the other, nothing but musketry. At very long intervals a cannon shot mixed with the roll. At times the musketry ceased or lulled for a time, to break out again suddenly with fury."
Good writing! We can see, hear and feel that scene.
"I hope the next battle may be in open ground. Shots are going on still...We hold the battlefield now. We have lost many valuable officers and good men. The loss is not that of a great battle."
"Lost many valuable officers" but not "the loss of a great battle." What a strange man.
"I went to pass the day with Sedgwick, very much to his gratification. It was the day he was killed. I had only parted from him a few moments to examine something on the left of his Corps when he was shot in a spot where I had been frequently."
Have to go now, Andrew but thanks for coming by! FUCK.
*I am not using the word "insane" in the legal sense but in the sense that it is understood in common discourse, that someone or something is "not right," is "off."
The only time this book is worth a damn is when Harry shuts up and Andrew's letters are quoted. He was a marvelous writer, descriptive, and you get a better sense of his personality.
Andrew liked a good meal...Don't know what that means either but there are more references to having a good meal or going without food than I would have thought.
Andrew never slept well. His illnesses were all marked by lack of sleep, as mental illnesses are. Sleeplessness can cause mental imbalance as well as be caused by mental illness. That made me think of "Stonewall" Jackson. Where was it that he fell asleep? Pulled McPherson's book off the shelf...Index...Ah! The Seven Days Battles. Disoriented, didn't understand nor give clear orders. Slow moving, un-Stonewall-like, didn't "get up," Lee didn't know where he was! Fell asleep at mess with a biscuit in his mouth. I bet a lot of generals didn't sleep well during the war.
Humphreys was ambitious. He was also resentful of those given higher station than he thought they deserved, especially if he thought he was being slighted. He cared deeply for his reputation. He did not care so much for the fate of his troops; if thousands were killed in rash charges but he was described as "gallant," leading them, the latter was the bottom line.
In this letter, you get examples of each of the above:
December 31, 1863, 11:15 pm:
"The last letter I shall write you in this year; brief space has the year to live and brief must be my note, for I am as weary as the year. Since half past five, before my dinner was more than half over. I have had dispatch after dispatch to send, dispatch after dispatch to receive. It has been somewhat fatiguing. I feel bright enough this evening if it were not for the physical weariness of receiving and sending so many dispatches.
AAH had reluctantly accepted the position as Meade's Chief of Staff. Initially I viewed complaints such as this about a desk job suspiciously but I had my mind changed by how different his writing (at bottom) was when he was in combat. He truly missed being out on the field getting shot at.
From the same letter, his descriptive writing talent:
"Our camp is quiet, not a sound to be heard, no one is uproariously mirthful at the close of the year, no singing, no laughing.
"It is pitch dark, the rain has ceased but the raindrops falling from the trees are beating a midnight tattoo for the sleep of the old year; there are the taps, the lights are out, for the year has gone, it is now 12 o'clock, and I will say goodnight, good day, a happy New Year, I am the first to greet you."
That is wonderful writing! It reminds me of "Night Vigil."
"I have done enough to establish my reputation as a soldier, a general, and as a man. In exigencies I am leant upon. It is a satisfaction to me to know it, even if no others do save those who lean. How bright I felt last Xmas, fresh as I was from a field where totally unexpected to me, I had some chance of distinction and did not lose it. Well, I shall hope soon to be in command of troops again, and then I shall be brighter.
The full sentence bolded makes me sore, it refers to Fredericksburg and Fredericksburg is a sore point with me. I have to remind myself not to blame Humphreys for Fredericksburg. That was Burnsides' debacle, Humphreys was just following orders. In that sentence you see the primacy Humphreys puts on his reputation regardless of the needless slaughter of his troops so I blame him for that.
April 29, 1864:
"I was particularly struck at sunset with the quiet beauty of every view, turn which way you would, standing some short distance in front of my tent. The unusual brilliancy and clearness of the atmosphere; the soft green tints on the hillsides; the picturesque groupings of the encampments far
and near in every direction; the endless variety in the forms of the ground and in the moving figures of troops mounted and on foot, in bodies and singly, and the effects produced by seeing all this through the vista in the thin belt of timber that encircles our camp, which gives the impression that it is a painting..."
Ah, nice. Nice, nice paragraph.
He has a sense of humor! Here, chasing Lee in June, 1864, he is droll:
"And as to Lee we are so careful of him that we inquire about him constantly. If for a moment we think he is going away from us, we send out at once, a whole host of people not only to inquire after him, but to feel him and see how he is, and what sort of a place he is in, whether low and swampy or high and dry and open. He has a fancy for tangled, swampy, unhealthly place, which we argue with him about. He is very obstinate."
He was a very intelligent man, adept at the subtleties of word play.
Battle was glorious for Humphreys, it was art, music, poetry for him.
"The whole movement was elegantly executed, and I might say, too, as elegantly planned..."
-October 16, 1863.
From a letter written in 1869 on Gettysburg:
"It was an interesting incident of the battle, and was prettily done...a movement...Hancock and others who saw it from the Cemetery crest, describe as a beautiful sight, the opening of the enemy's artillery upon us adding to the effect...
"The whole thing was done with the precision of a careful exercise, the enemy's artillery giving effect to its picturesqueness. the division, brigade, and regimental flags were flying of course."
Artillery as a "special effect" adding to the "picturesqueness" beauty of the scene! That is fucked up!
At times Humphreys seems so detached that the temptation is to say that it was not real to him, that the men were just set pieces in his beautifully staged play. However, below, from the same letter, shows just how real it was to him. To this point, and as a rank amateur only, this is the most significant thing I have read. I believe it is key to understanding Humphreys:
"...the thrilling interest of a battle is the personal incident...A battle so lifts a man out of himself that he scarcely recognized his identity when peace returns and with it quiet occupation."
That is what happened to Humphreys. Battle lifted him out of his previous sickly self and he was unrecognizable by himself or by others. It didn't happen before the war, it didn't happen when he was given command, it happened only when he was in battle. I used to believe America was born insane* and became sane sometime before the Civil War. I believed we were sane during the war and have remained sane since. Humphreys was insane his entire life also and became sane and competent during the Civil War. And then it looks like here he may be saying he went back to his old insane self "when peace returned." Did America, too? fuck.
"May 7, 1864, 1 p.m.
"...I have not been under fire, a mode of fighting a battle that is not at all to my taste. However in accepting the position of Chief of Staff, I supposed I accepted the chance of one such battle; this has been a peculiar battle; fought in a dense thicket, rightly called the Wilderness.
"It began Thursday at midday, and continued all day yesterday extending over several miles, beginning by our attack at daybreak, rolling magnificently around from one side to the other, nothing but musketry. At very long intervals a cannon shot mixed with the roll. At times the musketry ceased or lulled for a time, to break out again suddenly with fury."
Good writing! We can see, hear and feel that scene.
"I hope the next battle may be in open ground. Shots are going on still...We hold the battlefield now. We have lost many valuable officers and good men. The loss is not that of a great battle."
"Lost many valuable officers" but not "the loss of a great battle." What a strange man.
"I went to pass the day with Sedgwick, very much to his gratification. It was the day he was killed. I had only parted from him a few moments to examine something on the left of his Corps when he was shot in a spot where I had been frequently."
Have to go now, Andrew but thanks for coming by! FUCK.
*I am not using the word "insane" in the legal sense but in the sense that it is understood in common discourse, that someone or something is "not right," is "off."
