“Written in Defeat, After the Battle of Five Forks,” is the heading given to a letter written by General George E. Pickett to his wife, April 2, 1865. It is included by Arthur Crew Inman in his volume, A Soldier of the South.[12] Here is part of it:
“All is quiet now, but soon all will be bustle, for we march at daylight. Oh, my darling, were there ever such men as those of my division? This morning after the review I thanked them for their valiant services yesterday on the first of April, never to be forgotten by any of us, when they fought one of the most desperate battles of the whole war. Their answer to me was cheer after cheer, one after another calling out, ‘That’s all right, Marse George!’ and ‘We only followed you!’ Then in the midst of these calls, silencing them, rose loud and clear old Gentry’s voice, singing the old hymns which they all knew I loved:
‘Guide me, oh, Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.’
“Voice after voice joined in till from all along the line the plea rang forth:
‘Be my sword and shield and banner,
Be the Lord my righteousness.’
“I do not think, my Sallie, the tears sounded in my voice as it mingled with theirs; but they were in my eyes, and there was something new in my heart.
“When the last line had been sung, I gave the order to march ...”
What the soldiers felt in the depths of their life is revealed in