THE DEATH OF A HERO VERSUS THE DEATH OF A COWARD

From: "Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War" Gerald F. Linderman

“Reduced to tactical terms, courage was preeminently the charge—the boldest actions were assumed to be those of offensive warfare..”In the first years of the war the rank-and-file held themselves to a strict standard that of fighting “man fashion.” They were expected to wait stoically through the tense and difficult period just prior to battle; to stand and receive enemy fire without replying to it (one of Lee’s soldiers called this “the most trying duty of the soldier”); and to resist all urges to quicken their pace under fire, to dodge or duck shells, or to seek cover.

“Dame and his comrades were apprehensive far in advance of the test of battle, for they knew that mercilessness awaited failure.  Seeing in battle a soldier so fearful that he was about to run, Rutherford B. Hayes threatened him with a pistol and vowed that “he would kill him on the spot” if he did not “go in and fight.” The man regained control, returned to the battle, and was immediately killed.  Hayes was glad to have given the weakling the death of a hero rather than that of a coward.”