Page:History of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry in the War Between the States.djvu/193



During and since our late war, the "Rebel" and "Yankee" yells have been frequently referred to, but their true character and essential differences have not, so far as I know, been clearly presented.

I was recently asked to say something upon this subject before the society of "The Virginians," on the occasion of its annual banquet in New York, and the substance of what was then stated is given below.

There is a natural tendency in the minds of most men, as they move onward along the "River of Time," to forget, or in a great measure to obliterate from their memories, unpleasant things, and, on the contrary, to recall and treasure those that have contributed to their joys, comforts, and successes. With no one is this peculiarity more marked than with the old soldier. When he talks of his war experiences, it will constantly be found that his trials, privations, discomforts, and disappointments, have been largely forgotten or overshadowed by the memory of his comrades, of social gatherings around the camp-fires, of songs that were sung and stories told, of adventures and narrow escapes, of battles lost and victories won.

Among the incidents of active service there were probably no events more thrilling and more exciting to the soldier than those of a charge, for in its dash there were displayed not only the boldness and the fury of the occasion, but, of necessity, much of the savagery of war.