Johnson Hagood, Confederate officer, regarding Robert Gould Shaw. As quoted in Seeking the One Great Remedy: Francis George Shaw and Nineteenth-century Reform (2003), by Lorien Foote, Ohio University Press, p. 119
“
Had he been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the niggers that fell with him.
— American Civil War
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Had he been in command of white troops, I should have given him an honorable burial; as it is, I shall bury him in the common trench with the niggers that fell with him." in the context of "Johnson Hagood, Confederate officer, regarding Robert Gould Shaw. As quoted in Seeking the One Great Remedy: Francis George Shaw and Nineteenth-century Reform (2003), by Lorien Foote, Ohio University Press, p. 119" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "American Civil War" (Quotes, African Americans recruited for the U.S. Army (1863–1865), Contemporaries)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About American Civil War
The American Civil War (ACW), also known as the War of the Rebellion, the Great Rebellion, and several other names, was a civil war that was fought in the United States of America from 1861 to 1865. Fearing that the future of slavery was in jeopardy after the election of an anti-slavery U.S. president, eleven slave-holding U.S. states located in the southern United States declared their secession from the country and formed the Confederate States, also known as "the Confederacy", sparking war. Led by Democrat Jefferson Davis, they fought against the United States, also known as "the Union", led by Republican Abraham Lincoln, which consisted of every free U.S. state as well as five slave-holding states, known as "border states". In 1865, after four years of warfare, the Confederacy surrendered, and slavery was abolished in the United States with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution by three-fourths of the states.
About American Civil War
The American Civil War (ACW), also known as the War of the Rebellion, the Great Rebellion, and several other names, was a civil war that was fought in the United States of America from 1861 to 1865. Fearing that the future of slavery was in jeopardy after the election of an anti-slavery U.S. president, eleven slave-holding U.S. states located in the southern United States declared their secession from the country and formed the Confederate States, also known as "the Confederacy", sparking war. Led by Democrat Jefferson Davis, they fought against the United States, also known as "the Union", led by Republican Abraham Lincoln, which consisted of every free U.S. state as well as five slave-holding states, known as "border states". In 1865, after four years of warfare, the Confederacy surrendered, and slavery was abolished in the United States with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution by three-fourths of the states.
View all quotes →