Home to Texas: Recollections of a Texas Badman - Part 7

And now I'm gonna southward
for my heart is full of woe,
I am going back to Georgia to see my Uncle Joe,
You may talk about your Beauregarde
and sing of General Lee
But the gallant Hood of Texas
played hell in Tennessee...

General Hood was a raging jackass. the sonafabitch charged the Yankees two or three times outside Atalanta when he should have helt strong on his siege lines. once Atlanta fell, the war was over.

This image is in the public domain, via WPClipart-American History

Hood onct tolt a soldier sittin by a fire he didnt know why that soldier was asittin by the fire stead of out on the lines. heres what that soldier tolt him back.

yes, and what you dont know, General Hood, would make a might damned big book.

its a thought that can hold of your mind, how men kill in battle. there are three boys, two from in the War between the States, that come to mind when I think this over.

the first boy was me, in the first battle I was in. I had got lost when we broke off. a bunch of goddammed yankees bounced outta the woods and surprised me. bein goddammed yankee farmboys they couldnt hit me with all the shots they took at me. I broke The Grey and ran away. I was turned around lookin at one of em chasin me. then a damned branch knocked me clear off The Grey. damn did my back hurt. I managed to clear the Colts, and tuck it under me like my arm was busted. the godammed yankee rode up on me as I was lyin there. it was mortifyin cause a I was cryin a bit from fear and that damn pain in my back, and the goddammed foolishment of fallin offa my horse. he just grinned at me and tolt me to get my keister, I think he said, to back on the farm. no one should ever have to take kindly to bein called a damn farmer, so I shot him. of course of facts, I woulda shot him anyway for bein a goddammed yankee, but I dont figger I had to take his guff anyway. if he hadnt a spared a poor cryin boy when he did though, then there wouldnt be no dime novel, so there ya go.

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the second boy was another yankee. we were rollin up the flank, when I seen this boy crawlin away from the field and he was bleedin bad. hed either been bayoneted or caught a load of shot, cause of his guts was wide open. he was cryin and scairt bad. I stepped down offa The Grey, and give him some water. I tolt him his momma was comin, and he needed to close his eyes and just imagine her comin for him. I shot him clean through the head, and I think Jehovah never counted that as one of my sins. I saw that a lot over my years, both grey and blue, and mex, and indian. little boys that was gonna die and needed help dyin easy.

the last boy was another yankee. I had rode war party against some cavalry that was after the Comanche, whils I was still havin Heart-Catcher in my teepee. he had been lanced through to his horse, stuck to that horse as like hed been nailed to it. the lance had gone deep nuff into the horse to kill it outright. the boy musta been a hell of a horseman, cause of hed rode the horse down to where he wernt stuck under it. he saw me comin up and smart boy, figgered me for a renegade, for I watched him draw upon his entire strength to get his Sharps up at me. I saluted him with my saber, and shot him as neat as I could. that boy had a killers eyes, and that how a killer oughta die, cussin his enemy, and tryin to take his enemy with him unto death. he mighta been jist a boy, but that un was a killer born.

thinkin bout those three boys can tell you a lot about war, and killin. I let my mouth go on bout the ueslessness of goddammed yankees and mexicanos in battle. its true that man for man, Texans tend to pick up a fightin life easier then most other men. its in the blood of the Scots-Irish, and the Comanche. but most men, specially farmers, and clerks and shopkeepers and such, have no taste for battle. sure enuff theyll go for fisticuffs often nuff, or wavin knives at each other, or even pull a pistol in extremis, or when they get drunk, hahaha. but the life of Aries aint for most men. you gotta keep your mind on the horizon, and hidden gullies, and where the next shot at you is gonna come from, even when there aint a battle roarin around you. that fear rides your gut like a shave tail bronc buster. you just got to take that fear and turn it into joy of battle. its also true that there were certain goddammed yankees, and mexicanos that did fight good. just not most of em. for example, a bunch of unorganised niggers called the 9th cavalry had a mutiny in san atone when they was first posted out there, but by the end of the Red River war, they was crack troops, as was the rest of the nigger troops. the plains indians called em Buffalo Soldiers, and not just for their wooly heads, but cause of they had the warriors strength of the buffalo. they had learned how to love war.

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it pains me to say it, and not cause of they was niggers, but the yankee Buffalo Soldiers, and the other yankee soldiers, helped to clear Texas of the Comanche, when that was our task and our honor to do.

course, buffalo huntin ended up havin a good part in clearin the plains of all the indian tribes, sos I can take some small pride in that.

The Son of God goes forth to war,
A kingly crown to gain;
His blood red banner streams afar:
Who follows in His train?
Who best can drink his cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below,
He follows in His train.

John Stevens:

This chapter shows my bother for what he is. As much as I love him, the truth of the matter is that he was never fit for a peaceful civilization. Men like him ought to be put up on their own ranch, fenced up with food, whiskey, and soiled doves, and only to bring the fences down when the bugles of war sound.

Part 1 is here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-1

Part 2 is here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-2

Part 3 is here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-3

Part 4 is here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-4

Part 5 is here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-5

Part 6 is here:
https://steemit.com/story/@stevescoins/home-to-texas-recollections-of-a-texas-badman-part-6