The history of the Southern people during that epoch is unmatched by the history of any people in all time. The result they achieved, this was the reason--beneath the superb "grit" of the Southern people lay deep the conviction "God is our refuge and strength" and "The God whom we serve. He will deliver us." It was the spiritual vision of the men of the South that saved it when it was ready to perish--and let the men of the South never forget it! Let them give unceasing recognition and thanks to God, for that great deliverance.
If I have made clear my thought--the connection of the religious revival in the army with the fortunes of our people at home after the war--I am glad! If I haven't, I am sorry! I can't say any fairer than that, and I can only make the plea that was stuck up in a church in the West, in the old rough days, when a dissatisfied auditor of the sermon, or the organist, was likely to express his disapproval with a gun. The notice up in front of the choir read like this: "Please don't shoot the musician, he's doing his level best"--I make the same request.
But, to return to our muttons! Let us get back to the winter camp at Morton's Ford.
The winter had now worn away and the spring had come. Vegetation began to show signs of life. Its coming bore us one comfort in one way--among others. It was not so cold, and we did not have to tote so many logs of wood to keep up our fires. Down on the river flats, where vegetation showed sooner than it did on the hills, green things began to shoot up. Dandelions, sheep sorrel, poke leaves and such, though not used in civil life, were welcome to us, for they were much better than no salad at all. The men craved something green. The unbroken diet of just bread and meat--generally salt meat at that--gave some of the men scurvy. The only remedy for that was something acid, or vegetable food. The men needed this and craved it--so when the green shoots of any kind appeared we would go down on the flats, and gather up all the green stuff we could find, and boil it with the little piece of bacon we might have. It improved the health of the men very much.
At this time, there was a North Carolina Brigade of Infantry at the front furnishing pickets for the river bank. They were camped just back of our winter quarters. Those fellows seemed to be very specially strong in their yearning for vegetable diet, so much so that they attracted our attention. Every day we would see long lines of those men passing through our camp. They would walk along, one behind another, in almost unending procession, silent and lonesome, never saying a word and never two walking together--and all of them meandered along intent on one thing--getting down to the flats below "to get some sprouts" as they would say when asked where they were going.