"How Sad a Task"
As is often the case, I found an interesting anecdote unrelated to the subject of my profile. This one is part of a diary entry penned by Chaplain Daniel Plummer Cilley (1806-1888) three days after the June 14, 1863 failed Union assault on Port Hudson.
Rev. Cilley wrote, "The flag of truce is up and the dead and wounded are being removed. I saw 114 dead soldiers buried in one long grave. I have 'wallets,' papers, and pictures to send to the friends, one of the latter articles, the photograph of a very pretty young lady. How sad a task it is to tell of death and suffering to those at home. I cannot get the scenes out of my mind."
Cilley's straightforward accounting of what he saw, and his candid expression of feeling, caught my attention.
I wonder if he carried the memory of those tragic scenes for the rest of his life.
Labels: 8th, chaplain, cilley, civil war, eighth, history, huse, infantry, louisiana, new hampshire, port hudson, volunteer
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