War and Peace
‹ 2 · Outline · 4 ›
3.The miseries and horrors of war
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 787Arjuna sees war against his own kinsmen as futile slaughter; no victory or kingdom can justify such bloodshed.read · scan
William Caxton, Prefaces and EpiloguesVol. 39
- p. 8Troy's ruin is an example of how dreadful and perilous it is to begin a war, with its harms, losses and deaths.read · scan
James Hogg, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 761–763Kilmeny's vision shows the eagle and lion in ravening strife, cities ablaze, widows wailing and threat of an end to mankind.read · scan
George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 796War returns to glut itself as men fight for food.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43
- p. 320War brings loss without gain, and the same questions of intercourse return after fighting ceases.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Second Inaugural AddressVol. 43
- p. 424War's magnitude and duration were unforeseen by either party; hope it passes.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1402–1403Drums and bugles ruthlessly break into church, school, marriage, farm and commerce; war overrides all pleas and peace.read · scan
- p. 1410–1411Soldiers march through Manhattan; the poet is racked by war-strife.read · scan
3a.Devastation of country and civilians
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 232–234The enemy has ravaged the land, burned the sanctuary and synagogues, and made havoc of the people.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 117Greeks plunder Troy's temples and houses, holding captive youths and matrons.read · scan
- p. 239War shall waste the country and change the state.read · scan
- p. 366Land exhausted by war; Turnus scorns the plea for peace.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 404–405Jerusalem ignorant of the things that belong to peace; enemies will encircle and dash it down.read · scan
- p. 408–409Nation against nation, Jerusalem encircled by armies, falling by the sword and captivity.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 291–292Taking Ariminum opens Italy to war; Rome is overrun by panic as people flee and Pompey abandons the city.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 71–72An army assaults the city unawares, the inhabitants cannot withstand it, and the prince must flee.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 290–291Sigurd's host lays waste Hunding's sons' realm; battle described with spears, shields and helmets, and Lyngi summons his army.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 10English forces take and plunder Norman coastal towns, burning them and carrying off burgesses.read · scan
- p. 10–11The English divisions lay waste the country, marching in separate battles under marshals, with the king between them.read · scan
- p. 12–13English march in order through Normandy, wasting the country; inhabitants who had never seen war flee, and Saint-Lo is plundered.read · scan
- p. 14–16English occupy Caen three days, plunder, ship prisoners and riches to England, then burn and pillage onward through Louviers.read · scan
- p. 16–17English advance along the Seine burning towns, repairing the broken Poissy bridge, while Philip gathers allies at Saint-Denis.read · scan
- p. 18The English army burns and wastes the French countryside, storms castles, and slaughters a town that broke its ransom bargain.read · scan
- p. 34–35Prince's army ravages France while the French king musters a huge host to catch him; the pope's cardinals seek peace.read · scan
- p. 56English return toward Bordeaux laden with prisoners and plunder, avoiding assaults while French towns defend.read · scan
- p. 81Scottish earls raid into Durham, burning villages and slaying people, aiming to reach Newcastle.read · scan
- p. 82Scots burn the countryside while the English gather at Newcastle and plan to enclose them.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 102–104Captain Care attacks a castle held by a lady whose lord is away, and burns it.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 163–164The lady's land is being ravaged by war and settlement is by trial of champions.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 18Conquest and destruction of cities illustrated by Roman and Spartan practice.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 82The world is darkened over with plague and war, making travel difficult.read · scan
- p. 394Strozzi's raid sends countryfolk fleeing into Florence; Cellini foresees the portcullis jamming on the carts.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 19Foraging for food from peasants leads to wounds; the siege of Danvilliers fails through lack of powder.read · scan
- p. 22Villages burned, a tower sacked and mined; Paré regrets the grain barns destroyed.read · scan
- p. 43Paré sees towns razed and cannons broken, concluding 'such is the evil that wars bring with them'; relieved to escape the soldiers.read · scan
- p. 58Spaniards ruined the marquis's chateau and villages because he refused to join their party in ruining the Netherlands.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 150–151Raiding Spanish stores and chasing a barque for treasure, while Indians under Spanish control shoot arrows at the raiders.read · scan
Captain Walter Bigges, Drake's Great ArmadaVol. 33
- p. 237–238Drake's forces embark, burn Playa, and seek hidden munitions during the raid on Santiago.read · scan
- p. 238Reprisal and burning of town when the enemy refuses to parley.read · scan
- p. 248–249Sacking and burning of the town, and the aim of fighting Spain, the greatest enemy.read · scan
Francis Pretty, Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the WorldVol. 33
- p. 209The town is rifled, Spaniards attack with horsemen and kill a man, and a flag of truce is distrusted.read · scan
- p. 210Raiding of unsuspecting ports and ships; the town is spared only because the company is too few to ransack it.read · scan
William Shakespeare, Songs and SonnetsVol. 40
- p. 271–273War overturns statues but cannot burn the living record of verse.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 331Vision of cities, armies, cattle raids, sieges and slaughter with giants.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 136British troops plundered and abused inhabitants on their march, contrasted with the blameless conduct of French troops in 1781.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 232Frontier war brings slain, captives and refugees; young men drafted, showing need for inward humility and fortitude.read · scan
- p. 236–237Enraged armies lay waste flourishing countries.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 249–250Roman factions' auctions of the conquered citizens' goods illustrate confiscation as the spoils of civil strife.read · scan
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Minna von Barnhelm, or The Soldier's FortuneVol. 26
- p. 319–320The landlord excuses how the ring came to him by saying that in war things changed masters.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 258–259Jetter laments war's misery: endless drums, towns sacked, women and children suffering, soldiers quartered; citizens finally toast safety and peace.read · scan
- p. 285–286Egmont pictures the desolation of a war that would ruin towns, commerce and agriculture.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 340The exiles' flight is the human suffering wrought by war.read · scan
- p. 369–370War, the universal destroyer, has overturned structures and sent even nobles and princes into exile, including the maiden.read · scan
- p. 371–373Refugees crowd the village with wagons and cattle, displaced by war.read · scan
- p. 376War's pressure seemed light amid hope as French armies came bringing seeming friendship.read · scan
- p. 389–390Exiles' false hope of quick return and 'sorrowful days' show the disruption of war.read · scan
- p. 391–392Exiles scattered in a foreign land, each a burden to his neighbor, if return home is denied.read · scan
- p. 404–406She recalls the sorrowful flight and the pursuing foe as hardships worse than the tempest.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 387–391Stauffacher fears war will burn homes and spare not infants; Gertrude says wrong cannot be borne and God aids the brave.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 196War's ravages leave land uncultivated and peasants beggars; troops behave like an invading enemy even in peace.read · scan
- p. 455Soldiery pillaged houses and war levies raised prices, driving peasants from home.read · scan
- p. 470–471Soldiers plunder, burn, and ravage villages in wave after wave for twenty days, destroying fields and houses.read · scan
- p. 472Rumors of the invading army sacking villages spread alarm through the countryside.read · scan
- p. 474–475Invasion of neighboring countries drives villagers to seek refuge and flee.read · scan
- p. 477–478Danger of soldiers forces flight and clashes plans for reunion.read · scan
- p. 478–479Villagers await news of towns where soldiers quarter, hoping to be out of the way of foragers.read · scan
- p. 487–488Refugees flee the approach of German soldiers; the dread of an army devouring the countryside.read · scan
- p. 490–491Soldier bands roam the mountains; the Unnamed promises to defend the castle.read · scan
- p. 491The castle shelters refugees; the Unnamed leads armed men against plunderers and pillagers of an invaded village.read · scan
- p. 492–493The Unnamed routs plunderers and is applauded as deliverer; refugees, fleeing danger, incline to peace.read · scan
- p. 493News of the terrible march of soldiers brings fresh tales of misfortune daily.read · scan
- p. 493Refugees tally regiments and leaders as the army passes and ravages the country before finally leaving.read · scan
- p. 495–496Vineyards, villages and houses show the destruction left by the soldiery; villagers weep and beg alms.read · scan
- p. 497The ransacked, befouled house shows the soldiers' wanton destruction, including mocking caricatures of priests.read · scan
- p. 550Neighbors' plundering of the vineyard for firewood reflects the ruin left by war and pestilence.read · scan
- p. 550–552The house left filthy and stripped, with the remains of German soldiers' beds, shows war's devastation.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 395In Greek wars invasion ruined a man and victory or defeat made him master or slave.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, MontaigneVol. 32
- p. 114Civil war, plague and marauding parties expose Montaigne to outrage; moderation made him suspect to both sides.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1311Armed soldiers enter the church to seize a peaceful people.read · scan
- p. 1315–1316The exiles guarded by sentinels, camped like a leaguer after a battle.read · scan
- p. 1317The village is burned and its people deported, leaving it in ruins.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 147A city in blockade is a disagreeable place to live, with sentinels robbing under the authority of their arms.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 410Gettysburg town became a hospital, shell-riddled and pillaged during Confederate occupation, its people returning to ruined homes.read · scan
- p. 410–412Haskell describes the devastation of Gettysburg: trampled graves, dead horses, the incongruities of battle and the fallen soldiers' resting place.read · scan
3b.Wounds, death and the battlefield's aftermath
See also: Medicine 7a · Life and Death 10b
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 311Odysseus stands like a blood-stained lion amid the slain.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 42–43The Horse dies in battle; the Trumpeter pleads for mercy in the fight, though his trumpet stirs others on.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 23–24Ares as war's money-changer returns ashes in urns; families mourn men slain for a woman's sin.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 91–93Electra contrasts death by chance of war at Scamander with a murder at home.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 196Victory in battle is credited to God rather than bow and sword; present defeat and slaughter are lamented.read · scan
- p. 242–244Lament over nations laying Jerusalem in heaps, slaughtering the people; young men fall and widows do not mourn.read · scan
- p. 255David's enemies triumph, his strongholds ruined, he cannot stand in battle.read · scan
- p. 285–288God will judge nations and fill places with dead bodies.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 305Volscens' cavalry intercepts the pair; Nisus hurls his spear.read · scan
- p. 355Mourners curse the cause of the unhappy war; the dead of both sides burned.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 302–303Caesar surveys the dead at Pompey's camp, regretting necessity forced on him.read · scan
- p. 307–308Civil war halves Rome's population; Caesar celebrates triumphs, shows and feasts.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 84A fierce contest with fire ends in victory, but with deaths and injuries among bystanders.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 114Bloody battles of Apulia are recalled and judged less horrible than the ninth chasm.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 31–32English victory at Crecy and pursuit; slaughter of stray French forces and commons the next morning.read · scan
- p. 32–33After Crecy the English count the slain, take a truce to bury the dead, and march on Calais.read · scan
- p. 51–53Aftermath of Poitiers: knights quarrel over who captured the French king and prisoners are taken.read · scan
- p. 94–95Aftermath of battle, with prisoners taken and retaken by the bishop's force.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 98–100The battle ends with heavy slaughter on both sides; few survive, and widows mourn.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 157–159Gawaine and an unknown knight joust; the knight is mortally wounded, and Gawaine has slain a sworn brother.read · scan
- p. 204More than half the Round Table knights are slain or destroyed in the quest.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 11Assault on the castle leaves many wounded, giving surgeons work.read · scan
- p. 14–15Enemy sally at Perpignan leaves many killed and wounded.read · scan
- p. 32Enemy wounded are sent back safely under truce, yet die on the road and are thrown from carts.read · scan
- p. 36–37Council to surrender the town; piled unburied dead and a hellish siege.read · scan
- p. 41Ransom and captivity of a surgeon taken at war; freedom bargained as a prisoner's price.read · scan
- p. 41–42Ransom of prisoners judged by their clean legs and stockings; the soldiers sell their captive cheaply.read · scan
- p. 42–43Ransoming of a noble prisoner, haggling over price, and higher authorities seizing the prize; ransom ends at forty thousand crowns.read · scan
- p. 44Aftermath of Saint Quentin: wounded, prisoners, and suspicion that a surgeon might carry secret intelligence.read · scan
- p. 45The battlefield is covered with rotting dead, flies and stench; the horror of war's aftermath.read · scan
- p. 48–49After Dreux, twenty-five thousand dead cover the field; at Havre the English surrender, stricken with plague, and take it home.read · scan
- p. 49–50Battle of Saint Denis wounds many; he prays God to spare France such misfortune.read · scan
- p. 50–51Moncontour victory brings wounded soldiers to Tours; Mansfeld came at the King of Spain's command.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, That to Philosophise Is to Learne How to DieVol. 32
- p. 26–28In wartime death's face seems far less dreadful than at home.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 141Aftermath of the raid: prize taken, wounded cured, and courteous exchange with the enemy governor.read · scan
- p. 164A rash attack on a frigate ends in slaughter by pikes and calivers.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 82The bloody battle near Auxerre destroys nobility and invites Saracen, Hun and Danish invasions.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 210The field-worthy sight of bodies is met with soldiers' volleys of ordnance as funeral honor.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 392–393The great day is cheaply bought; the victors count losses.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 491Dodger reports a five-hour battle between French and English, with thousands dead.read · scan
- p. 505Ralph was pressed to bitter wars in France; casualty lists report deaths.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 413Valdesso, weary of long dangerous wars, says there ought to be a vacancy of time between fighting and dying.read · scan
Jean Racine, PhaedraVol. 26
- p. 151–153Athens' fields are glutted with kinsmen's blood from protracted strife.read · scan
William Hamilton of Bangour, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 572–574Killing in single combat with spear; slayer curses his arm and shield.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 253He grieves over the miseries of war: destruction, cripples, want and captivity; desires to live in the spirit of peace.read · scan
Jane Elliot, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 483Scottish youth lost in battle on the Border, defeated by English guile; the land's prime lies dead.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 396–398Jacobite song: no peace for Church and State, murderous wars, seven sons dead until Jamie returns.read · scan
- p. 457–459A returning soldier after war's deadly blast, with widows and fatherless babes; soldier's wealth is honor.read · scan
- p. 461–463A soldier's wife mourns his absence; curse on statesmen who rouse brethren to hate; hope for peace.read · scan
- p. 478–480Lassie laments lads lost in bloody wars.read · scan
- p. 488–491Jacobite songs of Culloden: a woman mourns father, brothers and lover slain, and the Highlanders are loyal to Charlie.read · scan
- p. 491–492Donald and his country fell at Culloden; exiles who fought for their rightful king have lost all in vain.read · scan
Sir Walter Scott, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 742–744Lost battle imagery with groans of the dying and the flying host.read · scan
Thomas Campbell, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 770–771A soldier on the battlefield at night, among wounded and dying, dreams of leaving war for home.read · scan
- p. 772–774Armies on the frozen Rhine and Danube suffer dying groans in winter.read · scan
- p. 780–781Battle of Linden: drums, charges, artillery, and soldiers falling in the snow.read · scan
George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 784–785An army in purple and gold lies dead, lances unlifted and trumpet unblown.read · scan
Charles Wolfe, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 822–823Soldiers bury their leader by night with the enemy firing nearby and the morrow uncertain.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1299–1300Death of a soldier in the field, carried back to the silent camp.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 986Arthur's fellowship of knights has fallen in the day-long battle; the dying king laments the end of Camelot.read · scan
James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1384–1385Mourns the returning army and the fallen, whose sacrifice won the triumph; joy turns to dirge.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1403–1404The battlefield death of a soldier sets the scene.read · scan
- p. 1408–1409The old veteran recalls the war's hardships and few joys, dwelling less on battles than on the wounded.read · scan
- p. 1417–1418Vision of torn, bloody battle-flags carried through the smoke of battle.read · scan
- p. 1419–1420Vision of slain soldiers and skeletons; the dead are at rest while the living, mothers, wives, armies, suffer.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 353–354Estimates casualties and describes the desolate battlefield, littered with the debris and dead of both armies after the fight.read · scan
- p. 360–361Ambulances carry off the wounded at night after the day's battle.read · scan
- p. 371Vivid depiction of the cannonade's sound and destruction, the guns as infuriate demons, and wounded and dead men and horses.read · scan
- p. 374Shells explode ammunition boxes, hit ambulances, hospitals and headquarters, and spare nothing animate or inanimate in the field.read · scan
- p. 377Cannonade at Gettysburg: batteries battered, dead horses, wounded soldiers crying for water, the suffering of battle.read · scan
- p. 388–389Haskell describes the victorious aftermath of Pickett's charge: prisoners, dead of many states, captured flags, the sudden reversal of battle.read · scan
- p. 390Tallies enemy dead, wounded, prisoners and captured flags after the failed grand assault at Gettysburg, contrasted with small Union losses.read · scan
- p. 394–395Estimates Union and Confederate losses by corps, prisoners, dead and captured flags after Gettysburg.read · scan
- p. 405Shows the human cost of battle, striking young and old alike.read · scan
- p. 405–407Generals Gibbon and Hancock wounded, rejoicing at victory.read · scan
- p. 407Revisiting the battlefield, Haskell sees the wreckage of arms, dead horses and graves, and the silence where the armies fought.read · scan
- p. 408Burial practices and enemy plundering of the dead are part of the battle's aftermath.read · scan
3c.The brutality of war and atrocity
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 238–239The tale describes sea-robbers pillaging Egypt, slaughtering men and enslaving others, then the Egyptian army routing them.read · scan
- p. 303–304The slaughter in the hall continues, compared to vultures on small birds, until the floor runs with blood.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 43Captors reject the trumpeter's plea, holding that one who encourages and guides fighters shares in the fighting.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 178–180Civil war and treatment of public enemies, clemency versus severity.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 117Sack of the palace: Pyrrhus pursues and kills Polites, and the aged Priam arms uselessly.read · scan
- p. 117Pyrrhus slaughters Priam on the altar; Troy falls with its king.read · scan
- p. 300Nisus and Euryalus slaughter the drunken sleeping Rutulian camp, likened to a lion in a fold.read · scan
- p. 304Continued night slaughter; Nisus urges restraint as dawn nears.read · scan
- p. 305Turnus rouses his troops and shows the heads of the slain to terrify the Trojans.read · scan
- p. 325Aeneas, hearing of Pallas's death, cuts through foes seeking Turnus and takes captives for sacrifice.read · scan
- p. 325Aeneas kills Magus, a priest, Anxur and Tarquitus in vengeful slaughter, scorning the dead.read · scan
- p. 340Aeneas rampages like Aegaeon, slaughtering Turnus's chiefs and charioteers such as Lucagus and Liger.read · scan
- p. 340Aeneas slays a suppliant in battle and rages among the enemy; Ascanius breaks the siege.read · scan
- p. 389–406Battle rages after the broken truce; Aeneas, provoked, abandons piety's restraint and fills the plain with slaughter.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 986–987God drives back the confederates; the Jews who helped them are slain or captured and their land taken.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 72Arab highwaymen attack the embassy despite claims of ambassador status, killing the young men and seizing the treasure.read · scan
- p. 291–292Pirates attack the ship with swords and bows, wounding and killing those who resist.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 321Paduan defeat by Can Grande and the Bishop of Feltro's betrayal of Ferrarese fugitives, put to death.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 14After Caen's fall, the king wants the town put to the sword, but Harcourt persuades him to spare people for the campaign ahead.read · scan
- p. 17–18Harcourt's men slaughter the burgesses of Amiens in a skirmish and the English burn and assault towns near Beauvais.read · scan
- p. 29The cruel battle continues with feats of arms; the English give no quarter or ransom.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 21–22The assault on Chateau le Comte succeeds; the defenders blow up their powder and captured Spaniards are killed in cold blood on order.read · scan
- p. 37Fall of Hesdin: prisoners chosen for ransom, and Spaniards breaking the agreement to spare lives, massacring captives.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 417–418Pirates fire on the barque, sink it and plunder captives.read · scan
Captain Walter Bigges, Drake's Great ArmadaVol. 33
- p. 241–242A white flag of truce is violated, breaking the customary usage of war.read · scan
Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43
- p. 79–81Captives taken in just wars may be held in servitude.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4
- p. 83–84War moves on iron and gold; Vane's counsel in peace and war; massacre of Piedmontese Protestants.read · scan
Thomas Gray, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 456–458Edward's invasion of Wales, slaughter of the bards and dying country's cries.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 272–273A former soldier's narrative of captives tortured to death grieves him.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 376Describes the horrors of warfare: plunder by victors and fugitives, crime, blood and merciless fury on both sides.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 58–59The quarrel becomes a bloody brawl between armed retinues; the Signor and Cristoforo are killed.read · scan
- p. 488–489Soldiers take fortresses by storm and put inhabitants to the sword; fortifying invites attack.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 388–390Italian wars were mild until foreign invaders brought atrocity, razing cities and massacring enemies.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 107–108Describes the soldiers' expeditions against Indians, the pursuit, slaughter of prisoners, and massacre of women.read · scan
- p. 109–110Rosas's plan of extermination, bribed allies and a treaty to slaughter fleeing Indians; the war is bloody.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 159Murder of multitudes by the frenzy of nations, with guilt of priests and kings, is less wonderful than women's indifference.read · scan
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1170–1172The armed assassins rush in, likened to lions; a son spares a woman.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 386–388The last bloodiest fight at the wall is stormed and won; no humanity spared for the wounded.read · scan
- p. 407–408Evidence of terrific fire on the field, with hasty Rebel burials and the bitter remark that war brutalizes men.read · scan
‹ 2 · Outline · 4 ›