While Signal Officer, he went up against the Secretary of War
and put him to the controversial sword. He convicted Sheridan of
falsehood, Sherman of barbarism, Grant of inefficiency. He was aggressive,
arrogant, tyrannical, honorable, truthful, courageous--skillful soldier, a
faithful friend and one of the most exasperating of men Duty was his
religion, and like the Moslem he proselyted with the sword. His missionary
efforts were directed chiefly against the spiritual darkness of his
superiors in rank, though he would turn aside from pursuit of his erring
commander to set a chicken-thieving orderly astride a wooden horse, with a
heavy stone attached to each foot. "Hazen," said a brother brigadier, "is
a synonym of insubordination." For my commander and my friend, my master
in the art of war, now unable to answer for himself, let this fact answer:
when he heard Wood say they would put him in and see what success he would
have in defeating an army--when he saw Howard assent--he uttered never a
word, rode to the head of his feeble brigade and patiently awaited the
command to go. Only by a look which I knew how to read did he betray his
sense of the criminal blunder.
The enemy had now had seven hours in which to learn of the movement and
prepare to meet it. General Johnston says:
"The Federal troops extended their intrenched line [we did not intrench]
so rapidly to their left that it was found necessary to transfer
Cleburne's division to Hardee's corps to our right, where it was formed on
the prolongation of Polk's line.
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