The Civil War Trilogy Quotes

“Grant had begun to despise reporters, had grown weary of reading the fine exploits of the rebel armies, while his own victories were never “complete.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“the hard look of a man who also understood, who had seen all the stupidity, who knew, after all, that the gold stars were often mindless decoration, that the army was led not by symbols, but by the fallible egos and blind fantasies of men.           I”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“In the presence of real tragedy you feel neither pain nor joy nor hatred”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“But where was there ever any choice? The sight of fire against wood paneling”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. That is … a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. That is one reason why there are so very few good officers. Although there are many good men.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“Chamberlain thought vaguely of the South. She had loved it. She had been at home. Heat and Spanish moss. Strange hot land of courtly manners and sudden violence”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“The Frenchman may fight for France”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“His intellectual powers were of the highest order . . . the readiness with which he approached his duty . . . was equaled by the celerity and skill with which he performed it. As a staff officer he had no equal.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“May God have mercy on us all.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“Make the fight, don’t talk about it. You cannot imagine … the volume of talk that flows around this place. Washington is like a barnyard full of braying mules … and that includes most of my cabinet.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“But the men … it was the men who began to understand. Lee thought of West Point. We learned how to fight the old way, the books were all about Napoleon, the textbooks translated from the French. But Napoleon did not have these guns. It has taken us too long to learn the lesson. Too many times we have ridden across the bloody fields, spread with the incredible horror of what these guns can do. Longstreet gave them shovels, at Fredericksburg, on the heights, and they laughed, the men thought it was not … manly. We would stand up and face the guns. Lee shook his head. Now we do not have enough shovels. No one believes in standing up in front of certain death. There is no honor in foolishness.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“Two things an officer must do, to lead men. This from old Ames, who never cared about love: You must care for your men’s welfare. You must show physical courage. Well,”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“Chamberlain”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

“The world around him grew silent; there was something in the air. The odor of dead meat came down on the wind, drifting through the trees. Soft and sour, the smell of distant death.”
― Jeff Shaara, The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure