How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"It started at breakfast time, all of a sudden—and terr'ble. I ain't never heered sich noise, or seed so many boys and men laid low. It was jest one awful roar of cannon and screams—that was the worst. Maybe I hadn't ought to say these things—" he looked timidly toward Ellen, who sat close to her husband, her great dark eyes staring and without expression. (7.9)
Here we have not only an eye-witness account of the fighting at Pittsburg Landing (courtesy of Dan Lawrence), but it also happens to be the last day of Tom Crieghton's life. Dan and Ellen provide polar opposite examples in this quote. Dan is a soldier basically retelling a memory of a battle that he is so desensitized to that he questions whether or not he should give all the details, while Ellen, on the other hand, not only has no war experience but is the mother of a victim of war. This one moment is an example of how differently one situation has multiple effects on people.
Quote #8
It is unfortunate that congressmen and their ladies should have been deprived of this spectacle. There was drama here, I can tell them—thousands upon thousands of us crossing the Rappahannock with banners flying, drums rolling, and our instruments of death gleaming in the sunlight. They could have seen those thousands scrambling up the innocent-looking wooded hills and falling like toy soldiers brushed over by a child's hand; thousands of young men whose dreams and hopes were snuffed out in a second and who will be remembered only as simple soldiers who fell in a cruel, futile battle directed by men who can hardly be called less than murderers. (8.44)
Nothing like some good ol' passive aggressiveness. Well played, Shad, well played. The beginning of his letter refers back to the Battle of Bull Run when congressmen considered the battle to be a good spot for a date night (3.3). Now, after experiencing the horrors of war, Shad not only calls out the politicians on their ridiculous attitudes toward war, but also blames them for the whole extravaganza, calling them murderers. Now those are some fighting words (horrible pun only slightly intended).
Quote #9
With broken young bodies piled high at Gettysburg and thousands of homes rocked in agony over their loss, the beaten army was allowed to withdraw and prepare for still more bloodshed, while the victorious army licked its wounds and made no effort to pursue its opportunities. (10.15)
So the loser gets to leave while the winners lick their wounds? Seems like it should be the other way around. But this is great reversal because it confuses our expectations. What Hunt is doing here is blurring the line of difference between the two sides of battle. And more than that, it's not just Union or Confederate homes getting rocked in agony, it's thousands—everyone gets lumped into the same category of suffering.