From Terry Griner: Bragg In the pre Civil War U.S. army, Braxton Bragg was serving as Supply Officer on a small post. His commanding officer traveled away from the post and left Bragg in charge. Bragg began to write a series of letters in which he requisitioned various gear as Post Commander and then refused the requisitions as Supply Officer. He filled both types of letters with logical and by the book reasons for both the requests and the refusals. When the Commandant returned, Bragg showed him the file of letters. The Commandant read them and then said. “Damn Bragg, you are the only officer in this man’s army who can pick a fight with himself!” From Bruce Milligan: Hannibal I think it is from Polybius. By then only a group of lesser officers and couriers remained with him [Hannibal] on the knoll across from Cannae. All of these watched the advance of the legions, obscured at intervals by dust clouds, almost unbelieving. One of them, a man named Gisco, shook his head and said. ”It is a most amazing thing to see such a number of men.” Hannibal turned to glance at Gisco and the anxious faces around him. He said quickly, “I’ll tell you something more amazing,” Hannibal said as they all watched expectantly, wondering why he smiled at such a moment, “in all that number, there is no other man named Gisco.” Churchill Mr. Winston Churchill was anxious to be able to announce as soon as possible after the Germans began to shoot across the Channel that we had done the same thing. He therefore took great interest in the installations of the first of these navel 14-inch guns; and it was in consequence named ‘Winnie’ after him. (Its mate inevitably became ‘Pooh.’) When ‘Winnie’ was to open fire for the first time, it was ordered that the Battery Commander should report direct to the Prime Minister, through G.H.Q. Home Forces, when and how many rounds it had fired. The following is the essence of the interchange of signals that followed: R.M. Siege Battery to Prime Minister:‘“Winnie’ fired three rounds to-day. Two direct hits obtained.”. P.M. to R.M.S.B.:“Direct hits on what?” R.M.S.B. to P.M.:“Direct hits on France.” —- Taken from The War: 1939-1945, edited by Desmond Flower and James Reeves Fremantle I just happen to be reading Three Months in the Southern States by the British Lt. Col. Arthur J.L. Fremantle, and here is another slightly amusing anecdote from the Civil War. Hood’s division was marching through Chambersburg, on the way to Gettysburg, and the locals were laughing at them for their bare feet and their tattered uniforms:“They answered the numerous taunts of the Chambersburg ladies with cheers and laughter. One female had seen fit to adorn her ample bosom with a huge Yankee flag, and she stood at the door of her house, her countenance expressing the greatest contempt for the barefooted Rebs; several companies passed her without taking any notice; but at length a Texan gravely remarked, ‘Take care, madam, for Hood’s boys are great at storming breastworks when the Yankee colors is on them.’ After this speech the patriotic lady beat a precipitate retreat.” Zhukov “Zhukov, in asking Boldin why he was not at Laptevo as ordered, reminded him that this was his third time in encirclement and asked sarcastically if he wasn’t overdoing it a bit.” -- The Road to Stalingrad, page 275, by John Erickson, detailing a conversation between Western Front commander General Zhukov and 50th Army commander General Boldin on the eve of the Soviet Moscow counteroffensive in December, 1941. Jackson My men have sometimes failed to take a position, but to defend one, never!” -— Lieutenant General Thomas J. Jackson, after the battle of Fredericksburg in 1862 (from “Civil War Quotations: In the Words of the Commanders,” Sterling Publishing Co., 1998). Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #85 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com