History Forum / General / British History / November 2006

lee's puported quote.

were war not so terrible, Robert E. Lee observed as he watched the slaughter
at Fredericksburg, "we should grow too fond of it." Lee's remark, uttered in
the very midst of battle's horror and chaos, may be his most quoted-and
misquoted-statement. His exact words are in some dispute, and it seems
unlikely we shall ever be able to be certain of precisely what he said to
James Longstreet on December 13, 1862. But in every rendition of the
quotation, the contradiction between war's attraction and its horror remains
at the heart. War is terrible and yet we love it; we need to witness the
worst of its destruction

sherman is reported to have said
Eyewitness, Dr. Charles O. Brown, said that , 'the reason the reporters
missed the famous statement, and later denied that it had been made, was
that the reporters rushed away as soon as Sherman started reading his long,
technical speech. But before he sat down, the General suddenly said, 'Cadets
of the graduating class' - the students arose and saluted - and then changed
it to 'Boys,' making this statement: 'I've been where you are now and I know
just how you feel. It's entirely natural that there should beat in the
breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the
skill you have acquired here.

'Suppress it! You don't know the horrible aspects of war. I've been through
two wars and I know. I've seen cities and homes in ashes. I've seen
thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the
skies. I tell you, war is hell!' The reporters had missed the biggest story
of the day. Brown, seated alongside Sherman, wrote down the speech
verbatim." The Enquirer and News (Battle Creek) 18 November, 1933.