"I tell you there is no romance in making one of these charges"

As we remember the Battle of Gettysburg this weekend on the 234th birthday of our nation, consider the words of Sharpsburg veteran John Dooley a young Irishman from Richmond who joined the First Virginia Infantry along with his father and brother. Dooley fought at South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. Elected lieutenant before Gettysburg, he participated in Pickett's Charge on July 3 where he was shot in both legs and lay on the battlefield all night. Captured the next day, Dooley was released on February 27, 1865. His war journal is a great first hand account of the fighting in the Army of Northern Virginia.

This quote was made by Dooley on July 3. Pickett's Charge glorified mostly by those who never fought there has a different look from the eyes of an infantryman like Dooley. Here is the full quote as Dooley prepares to make the charge:

"Our artillery has now ceased to roar and the enemy have checked their fury, too. The time appointed for our charge is come. I tell you, there is no romance in making one of these charges. You might think so from reading 'Charlies O'Malley,' that prodigy of valour, or in reading of any other gallant knight who would as little think of riding over gunners and such like as they would of eating a dozen oysters. But when you rise to your feet as we did today, I tell you the enthusiasm of ardent breasts in many cases ain't there, and instead of burning to avenge the insults of our country, families and altars and firesides, and the thought is most frequently, Oh. if I could just come out of this charge safely how thankful would I be!"