Bushrod Johnson
At many occasions during a battle, soldiers will ignore commands to do what is they think is best. A confederate soldier named Bushrod Johnson, 49th North Carolina described the battle in the crater. Johnson depicts the behavior of the soldiers during the battle. "The officers were tryingto stop them but they kept on until they finished up." This shows that the soldiers would ignore commands because they fought for what they believed. When 'the officers were trying to stop them' the failed attempt to stop the soldiers shows how determined soldiers can be during a war. Ignoring commands can be very harmful but it can also be beneficial. Soldiers need to know when it is okay to ignore commands and when it is not okay so they can still stay in line. In the Civil War, soldiers often defied their leader’s commands.
Southern soldiers despised the black soldiers throughout the Civil War. Bushrod Johnson of the 49th regiment of North Carolina wrote down what he witnessed at the battle of the crater. "How the negro's skulls cracked under the blows...When I got there the ground was covered with broken headed negroes and were searching about among the bombproofs for more," The Confederacy did not view blacks as actual people. The Southerners savagely beat the black soldiers to death as is evident from the "broken headed negroes". The five black soldiers that perished were hiding and doing no harm, yet the southerners despised and loathed them deeply, so they caused them so suffer a slow, painful, and gruesome death. Johnson was horrified by the sight of many bloody wounded or dead blacks scattered on the ground like old dolls tossed to the floor, and he sensed that these acts of cruelty were long from over. The Southerners completely disregarded the rules of proper war by murdering the blacks by fist and foot. In the Civil War, Confederates despised the black soldiers fighting for the North.
http://www.goordnance.army.mil/history/Staff%20Ride/ADDITIONAL%20READING/BATTLE%20OF%20THE%20CRATER/botc_Alleged_Massacre.pdf
Southern soldiers despised the black soldiers throughout the Civil War. Bushrod Johnson of the 49th regiment of North Carolina wrote down what he witnessed at the battle of the crater. "How the negro's skulls cracked under the blows...When I got there the ground was covered with broken headed negroes and were searching about among the bombproofs for more," The Confederacy did not view blacks as actual people. The Southerners savagely beat the black soldiers to death as is evident from the "broken headed negroes". The five black soldiers that perished were hiding and doing no harm, yet the southerners despised and loathed them deeply, so they caused them so suffer a slow, painful, and gruesome death. Johnson was horrified by the sight of many bloody wounded or dead blacks scattered on the ground like old dolls tossed to the floor, and he sensed that these acts of cruelty were long from over. The Southerners completely disregarded the rules of proper war by murdering the blacks by fist and foot. In the Civil War, Confederates despised the black soldiers fighting for the North.
http://www.goordnance.army.mil/history/Staff%20Ride/ADDITIONAL%20READING/BATTLE%20OF%20THE%20CRATER/botc_Alleged_Massacre.pdf