I was forced,” he naively said, “to raise a regiment in order to retain my influence in the community!” And, with equal naïveté, he added, that if he had not thus retained his influence, he could now have been of no use in aiding to compose these difficulties!
This quote illustrates the pressures faced by individuals in the South during the Civil War regarding their political affiliations.
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In November nothing could exceed the hatred which seemed everywhere felt to the freedmen.
I asked the old man what he wanted to learn to read for.
You see, General, this is alarming, and you must acknowledge that we are not safe.
But why should a sensible man deal with such folly?