Page:Journal history of the Twenty-ninth Ohio veteran volunteers, 1861-1865.djvu/79

 mother earth, while the wounded were collected at convenient points to receive the necessary treatment.

Whoever has followed the phases of the battle of Gettysburg must have been expressed with the stubborn valor displayed on both sides by the common soldiers. The dauntless resolution exhibited in the attacks made it a terribly bloody and destructive conflict, and the unyielding and resolute front of the defence brought victory. But there was no possibility of achieving on either side such sweeping and complete triumphs as are recorded of wars in other countries and in other days, in a contest between two armies where the common soldiers were of such a temper and in such earnest as were these. It is a sad spectacle to see the manhood of two claiming to be Christian peoples thus march out to a field, like trained pugilists, and beat, and gouge, and pummel each other until one or the other from exhaustion must yield. It is revolting and sickening, and it is hoped that the day will come when disputes arising among nations may be settled by compromise, as two reasonable and upright men would decide a difference, governed by the golden rule, instead of resorting to blows where right and justice must be subordinate to brute force. But in a great battle like that which we have been considering it is not the soldiers themselves who are responsible, but the parties who make the quarrel. Hence, while the mind revolts at the scenes of destruction which the field discloses, the immediate actors are not to be held accountable. They go in obedience to the dictates of duty and of patriotism, and while they may indulge no personal hatred toward those who for the time they call enemies, they must in battle inflict the greatest possible injury upon them. In all ages the highest honors have been reserved for those who have fought the battles of their