Elisha Hunt Rhodes

Elisha Hunt Rhodes (March 21, 1842 – January 14, 1917) was an American soldier who served in the Union Army of the Potomac for the entire duration of the American Civil War, rising from corporal to colonel of his regiment by war's end. Rhodes' illustrative diary of his war service was quoted prominently in Ken Burns's 1990 PBS documentary series The Civil War, read by Chris Murney.

Quotes

Robert Hunt Rhodes (ed.) All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes (Lincoln, RI: A. Mowbray, 1985)

• Sunday last a soldier of Co. "A" died and was buried with military honors. ... Everything went on as usual in camp as if nothing had happened, for death is so common that little sentiment is wasted. It is not like death at home.
  • Near Downsville, Maryland (September 30, 1862)

• Daylight showed a strange scene. Men, horses, artillery, pontoons, and wagons are stuck in the mud. ... Rebels put up a sign, says "Burnside's stuck in the mud." ... We can fight rebels, but not in the mud.
  • Camp near Falmouth, Virginia (January 24, 1863)

• If we were under any other General except Grant I should expect a retreat, but Grant is not that kind of a soldier, and we feel that we can trust him.
  • (May 7, 1864)

• The glorious fourth has come again, and we have had quite a celebration with guns firing shot and shell into Petersburg to remind them of the day. This day makes four 4th of Julys that I have passed in the Army. The first at Camp Clark near Washington, the second at Harrisons Landing, the third at Gettysburg and today at Petersburg.
  • (July 4, 1864)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Elisha Hunt Rhodes on Wikipedia