“The great event in all our lives has at last come to pass. A war of gigantic proportions, infinite consequences, and indefinite duration is on us, and will affect the interests and happiness of every man, woman, or child, lofty or humble, in this country . . . We cannot shun it, we can not alleviate it, we cannot stop it. We have nothing left now but to fight our way through these troubles . . .”

- John M. Daniel, a Richmond newspaper editor
Quoted in Soldiers Blue and Gray, Robertson: p. 6