You are not called upon to guard a tyrant's throne, or to enslave a nation of freemen, neither are your exertions required to redress a fancied wrong, or to revenge a supposed insult; but you are called upon to preserve your own dwellings from the flames--your families from destruction.
John Sherman: “You are not called upon to guard a tyrant's throne, or to enslave a nation of freemen, neither are your exertions…”
On the record
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gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sherman emphasizes that the soldiers are defending their homes and families, not fighting for tyranny.
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