Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog

While posted near Suffolk, a six-foot Georgian from the up country of his State, and a member of the Fourth Georgia, attempted one morning to cross a little stream when the tide was in. Encumbered with his clothes, the poor fellow had to swim for his life, and narrowly escaped being drowned.

The regiment in the afternoon saw him sit down on the opposite bank of the creek, deliberately take off his shoes and socks, next his clothes, and tie them up carefully in a bundle for his back. All these preparations being made, he hesitated before proceeding any further; but at length having made up his mind like a gallant soldier, as he was, he plunged boldly into the water, which was nowhere more than two feet deep, the tide having gone out. The cheers with which he was received by his regiment, when his perilous feat was safely accomplished, were prolonged, enthusiastic, and somewhat vociferous.

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From “A Confederate,” The Grayjackets: How They Lived, Fought and Died, with Incidents & Sketches of Life in the the Confederacy (Richmond: Jones Brothers & Co., 1867). Image: “Confederates at a Ford” by Alan C. Redwood (1844-1922).