Glorious Reality of War
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As the men of the 24th Iowa regiment Company G crested the top of the ridge, C.W. got his first glimpse of the battle. The drama being played out in the valley below was nothing like C.W. imagined fighting would be. He knew that the well-bred soldiers of the eastern theater took up battle lines facing the enemy. They shot volley after volley, advancing or retreating in long picket lines. But the men from the west were less regimented in this mêlée. Though the men began in a picket line, they rapidly dispersed into clusters of men fighting in all directions. He saw blue and gray coats colliding like bull elk battling for their territory. The 24th joined the battle. C.W. heard a Reb scream in agony when his belly was slashed. A soldier in blue had pierced him through with his bayonet. The bleeding Reb staggered like a drunken man. His hands grasped at the red liquid gushing out in an attempt to force the life fluid back into his body. C.W. could not tell if the thunderous noise came from the roar of men charging into battle or the canons blasting away at each other. Both Union and Confederate forces blasted away at each other. C.W. knew that the Coehorn Mortars had a range of about twelve hundred yards. That seemed about right, because they were exploding all over the battlefield. But he’d never been the target of one of these 24-pound cannonballs filled with a bursting charge of a pound of powder. Not knowing where the next ball would hit filled him with terror.
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About the Book
The Glorious Reality of War is not a biography. Rather, it is a fictionalized account of the experiences of Civil War veteran Charles Wesley Rickard based upon his own recollection recorded in a seventeen page letter to his grown daughter in 1925. He was fifteen when he joined as a fifer because: "They said I was too young for a private and would only muster me in as a fifer as the Col.'s son W.W. Byam had already enlisted as a drummer. (I had never seen a fife) but I could use a rifle, and was bound to go as something."
About the Author
About the Author Michael Mendoza resides in Santee, Ca and has a master's degree in American History from American Public University. He also earned a Doctor of Ministries degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Mendoza is an adjunct instructor for Central Texas College teaching Western Civilization, American History and Introduction to Philosophy on board navy ships while they are on deployment. Currently, Dr. Mendoza is teaching theology for Liberty University Online About the Book The Glorious Reality of War is not a biography. Rather, it is a fictionalized account of the experiences of Civil War veteran Charles Wesley Rickard based upon his own recollection recorded in a seventeen page letter to his grown daughter in 1925. He was fifteen when he joined as a fifer because: "They said I was too young for a private and would only muster me in as a fifer as the Col.'s son W.W. Byam had already enlisted as a drummer. (I had never seen a fife) but I could use a rifle, and was bound to go as something." My website is: http://www.dentedcanenterprise.com/