Strenuous Soldiers.—Soldiers like citizens are sometime extremists, and are likely to say and do some very unreasonable things. They work themselves up to a high pitch of excitement, see but one side of a question and are intolerant. Soldiers of this class are usually not the most reliable and their rashness is liable to lead them to do things detrimental to the cause they represent. The following lines illustrate this objectionable element.
Sound the bugle and beat the drum,
Fall in line, let the enemy come,
Let us charge the Yankees and let them know
We can shoot them down and over their dead bodies go.
If they contest the ground we will make them feel
That there is some virtue in cold steel;
We will give up our lives our country to save,
We will be freemen or fill bloody graves.
Give them no quarter—we ask for none—