--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Burnside left even sooner, hard on the…" description: "\"“Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent argument with Meade, an exchange of recriminations which a staff observer said “went far tow..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg" --- # Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent… ![“Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent argument with Meade, an exchange of recriminations which a staff observer said “went far toward confirming one’s belief in the wealth and flexibility of the English language as a medium of personal dispute.” quote by Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg) > ““Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent argument with Meade, an exchange of recriminations which a staff observer said “went far toward confirming one’s belief in the wealth and flexibility of the English language as a medium of personal dispute.”” [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A heated argument reveals how language can become a weapon in personal disputes. **In simple terms:** Words can be used as weapons. Key Takeaway Choose language wisely. Themes conflict language communication Mood analytical critical Type historical literary When to use this quote - debates - negotiations - media discourse Key Concepts linguistics psychology history Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape power dynamics? - When is silence more effective than argument? A Different Perspective Sometimes restraint, than aggression, resolves conflict better. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-civil-war/) [Argument Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument-meade-4757464/) [Army-of-the-potomac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/army-of-the-potomac-10726/) [Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burnside-1106370/) [Burnside Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burnside-left-4757463/) [Civil-war-eastern-theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war-eastern-theater/) [English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) [Recriminations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recriminations-155743/) [Violent Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent-argument-4757465/) ## Related quotes > [Stand by General Burnside as you have stood by me and all will be well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-b-mcclellan/stand-by-general-burnside-as-you-have-stood-by-me-and-all-will-be-well/) [George B. McClellan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-b-mcclellan/) > [“Confederates in Jackson’s column reported seeing a Yankee balloon—it was the Eagle—and assumed that if they could see it, it could see them. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-w-sears/confederates-in-jackson-s-column-reported-seeing-a-yankee-balloon-it/) [Stephen W. Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-w-sears/) > [“It is recorded that during the long winter after the Battle of Fredericksburg, when the two rival armies were camped on opposite sides of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/it-is-recorded-that-during-the-long-winter-after-the-battle-of/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [“At one point they passed a newly abandoned Rebel encampment, and Captain Bowers was surprised to see that it looked just like one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-w-sears/at-one-point-they-passed-a-newly-abandoned-rebel-encampment-and/) [Stephen W. Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-w-sears/) > [“They lived in rural Michigan in the pre-automobile age, and for the most part they had never been fifty miles away from the farm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/they-lived-in-rural-michigan-in-the-pre-automobile-age-and-for-the/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [“The word began to filter down the lines, and the grumbling stopped, there was something new about this march, something these men had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-shaara/the-word-began-to-filter-down-the-lines-and-the-grumbling-stopped/) [Jeff Shaara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-shaara/) > [“What is the sense in recriminations about things over which the will of God itself is powerless? God can change the future, He cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/what-is-the-sense-in-recriminations-about-things-over-which-the-will/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“Perhaps it was as well that she had been unconscious for four weeks. She had missed the aftermath, the SO-1 reports, the recriminations, Snood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/perhaps-it-was-as-well-that-she-had-been-unconscious-for-four-weeks/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [“It all comes back. Perhaps it is difficult to see the value in having one's self back in that kind of mood, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/it-all-comes-back-perhaps-it-is-difficult-to-see-the-value-in-having/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“You disintegrated into the recriminations, the headlines, the pictures. You scattered yourself into proofs, warnings, suspicions, arrests. You rode out into the dark outrage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lee/you-disintegrated-into-the-recriminations-the-headlines-the-pictures/) [Jonathan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lee/) > [Regrets and recriminations only hurt your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armand-hammer/regrets-and-recriminations-only-hurt-your-soul/) [Armand Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armand-hammer/) > [“Of most dreadful suffering, I am the cause.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/of-most-dreadful-suffering-i-am-the-cause/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Ultimately what is not needed now is recriminations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-raab/ultimately-what-is-not-needed-now-is-recriminations/) [Dominic Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-raab/) > [“There followed one of those comical interludes in which the jihadists were confused about what to do next and fell to bitter recriminations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/there-followed-one-of-those-comical-interludes-in-which-the-jihadists/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) ## More by Shelby Foote > [A fact is not a truth until you love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/a-fact-is-not-a-truth-until-you-love-it/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Of all the passions of mankind, the love of novelty most rules the mind. In search of this, from realm to realm we roam.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/of-all-the-passions-of-mankind-the-love-of-novelty-most-rules-the/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“For my part I consider the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of proving that popular government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/for-my-part-i-consider-the-central-idea-pervading-this-struggle-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-think-making-mistakes-and-discovering-them-for-yourself-is-of-great/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I began the way nearly everybody I ever heard of - I began writing poetry. And I find that to be quite usual with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-began-the-way-nearly-everybody-i-ever-heard-of-i-began-writing/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“He is the kind of person I should expect to rescue one from a mad dog at any risk but then insist on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/he-is-the-kind-of-person-i-should-expect-to-rescue-one-from-a-mad-dog/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I never cared what kind of grade I got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-never-cared-what-kind-of-grade-i-got/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [And I'm a slow writer: five, six hundred words is a good day. That's the reason it took me 20 years to write those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/and-i-m-a-slow-writer-five-six-hundred-words-is-a-good-day-that-s-the/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/if-you-want-to-study-writing-read-dickens-that-s-how-to-study-writing/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I've never shown anybody a draft of anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ve-never-shown-anybody-a-draft-of-anything/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I ran into Ku Klux Klan and the threat of hurricanes, and those two things made me decide not to build on the Alabama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ran-into-ku-klux-klan-and-the-threat-of-hurricanes-and-those-two/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I took five years on the first volume, five years on the second volume, and ten years on the third volume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-took-five-years-on-the-first-volume-five-years-on-the-second-volume/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Grant was something rare in that or any war. He could learn from experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/grant-was-something-rare-in-that-or-any-war-he-could-learn-from/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Getting close to books, and spending time by myself, I was obliged to think about things I would never have thought about if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/getting-close-to-books-and-spending-time-by-myself-i-was-obliged-to/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“Right now I'm thinking a good deal about emancipation. One of our sins was slavery, another was emancipation. It's a paradox. In theory, emancipation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/right-now-i-m-thinking-a-good-deal-about-emancipation-one-of-our-sins/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) [Explore all 52 Shelby Foote quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) ## More American civil war quotes > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) [Homer Bone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-bone/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The 1860 election became a referendum on the southern way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/the-1860-election-became-a-referendum-on-the-southern-way-of-life/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. At Gettysburg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/what-began-as-a-bitter-dispute-over-union-and-states-rights-ended-as/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-h-stephens/its-foundations-are-laid-its-cornerstone-rests-upon-the-great-truth/) [Alexander H. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-h-stephens/) > [“For my part I consider the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of proving that popular government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/for-my-part-i-consider-the-central-idea-pervading-this-struggle-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/my-paramount-object-in-this-struggle-is-to-save-the-union-and-is-not/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The triumph of the Confederacy... would be a victory for the powers of evil which would give courage to the enemies of progress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-triumph-of-the-confederacy-would-be-a-victory-for-the-powers-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/if-i-could-save-the-union-without-freeing-any-slave-i-would-do-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Across the river he could see the burnt and crushed buildings of Fredericksburg, the debris piled along the streets, the scattered ruins of people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-shaara/across-the-river-he-could-see-the-burnt-and-crushed-buildings-of/) [Jeff Shaara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-shaara/) > [Grant stood by me when I was crazy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/grant-stood-by-me-when-i-was-crazy/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [You people speak so lightly of war; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-tecumseh-sherman/you-people-speak-so-lightly-of-war-you-don-t-know-what-you-re-talking/) [William Tecumseh Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-tecumseh-sherman/) > [We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/the-civil-war-was-fought-in-10-000-places-from-valverde-new-mexico/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) [Browse all 176 American civil war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-civil-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent argument with Meade, an exchange of recriminations which a staff observer said “went far toward confirming one’s belief in the wealth and flexibility of the English language as a medium of personal dispute.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shelby Foote" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-heels-of-a-violent-argument/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American civil war" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-heels-of-a-violent-argument/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/shelby-foote-13013_american-civil-war_burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-he_1376875.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Burnside left even sooner, hard on the heels of a violent argument with Meade, an exchange of recriminations…” — Shelby Foote", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Shelby Foote", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Burnside left even sooner, hard on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-heels-of-a-violent-argument/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/burnside-left-even-sooner-hard-on-the-heels-of-a-violent-argument/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```