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 212 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS

withdrew the picket without orders, and, however ex- cellent his motives, it was quite natural that Longstreet should put him under arrest, which he did.

Moreover, ready as Toombs was to criticize others, he had no notion of being criticized himself. D. H. Hill, not noted for his soft tongue, rode up in the middle of an action, and not understanding the circumstances, blamed Toombs for the conduct of his troops. " You are always crying out, fight, fight," said Hill, in substance ; " why don't you fight?" Toombs resented this bitterly and would have insisted on a duel if Hill would have met

It is hardly necessary to follow Toombs the soldier any further. Many fine things are told of him, notably his whole-hearted submission when taken back to duty after the arrest by Longstreet.'^^ Longstreet liked him, as, in- deed, did every one, and said of him admiringly that he needed only discipline to make him a great general. Perhaps he needed some other things ; but discipline was the crying need of his whole life, and it is pathetic to see such exceptional gifts falling, falling by rapid stages from the candidacy for president to a petty and insignificant position in the Georgia militia. Mrs. Chesnut sums up his career and the whole tone of his correspondence un- der the Confederacy with splendid vividness, if perhaps a litde too vividly: '* Toombs is ready for another revo- lution and curses freely every Confederate from the President to a horseboy. He thinks there is a conspiracy

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