Stonewall Jackson was outraged. His entire body shook in anger as he looked around him at what had been done to the city of Fredericksburg. He saw the pianos and the works of art and the crystal chandeliers smashed and ruined on the streets. He saw elegant furniture that had been wantonly vandalized and the remains of elegant, leather-bound books that had been burned for kindling. But it was the churches – the churches – that infuriated him most. Houses of God were pocked with bullet holes and charred by cannon shot. This was a crime against God – a despicable blasphemy – and it very nearly made him weep.Indeed.
Dr. McGuire, who was seldom far from Jackson’s side, shook his head in revulsion. “What can we do about this kind of barbaric behavior?”Jackson’s voice trembled. “Kill ‘em,” he said. “Kill ‘em all."
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Barbarians indeed. When Jackson was fighting in Florida food was quite scarce - they came upon some of the enemy in a dwelling and set siege to them, the building eventually catching fire and burning with the enemy inside. Afterwards Jackson's men discovered that under the building was located a store of sweet potatoes which had become nicely roasted and as they later joked, covered in the enemy's fat which had run down onto them. They had a feast of those sweet potatoes roasted in the enemy's fat.
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