TWO days after his safe arrival in Missouri from the Lawrence massacre1, Quantrell disbanded the Guerrillas. Fully2 six thousand Federals were on his track. The savageness3 of the blow struck there had appalled4 and infuriated the country. The journalistic pulse of the North rose to fever heat and beat as though to its raging fever there had been added raving5 insanity6. In the delirium7 of the governing powers impossible things were demanded. Quantrell was to be hunted to the death; he was to be hanged, drawn8 and quartered; his band was to be annihilated9; he was to be fought with fire, persecution10, depopulation and wholesale11 destruction. At the height of the very worst of these terrible paroxysms, Ewing’s famous General Order No. 11 was issued. It required every citizen of Jackson, Cass, Bates and a portion of Vernon counties to abandon their houses and come either into the lines of designated places that were fortified12, or within the jurisdiction13 of said lines. If neither was done, and said citizens remained outside beyond the time limit specified14 for such removal, they were to be regarded as outlaws15 and punished accordingly. Innocent and guilty alike felt the rigors16 of this unprecedented17 proscription18. For the union man there was the same line of demarkation that was drawn for the secessionist. Age had no immunity19; sex was not regarded. The rights of property156 vanished; predatory bands preyed20 at will; nothing could be sold; everything had to be abandoned; it was the obliterating21 of prosperity by counties; it was the depopulation of miles upon miles of fertile territory in a night.
General Ewing had been unjustly censured22 for the promulgation23 of such an order and held responsible in many ways for its execution. The genius of a celebrated24 painter, Captain George C. Bingham of Missouri, had been evoked25 to give infamy26 to the vandalism of the dead and voice to the indignation of history over its consummation. Bingham’s picture of burning and plundering28 houses, of a sky made awful with mingling29 flames and smoke, of a long line of helpless fugitives30 going away they knew not whither, of appealing women and gray haired non-combatants, of skeleton chimneys rising like wrathful and accusing things from the wreck31 of pillaged32 homesteads, of uniformed things called officers rummaging33 in trunks and drawers, of colonels loaded with plunder27, and captains gaudy34 in stolen jewelry35, will live longer than the memories of the strife36, and keep alive horrible memories long after Guerrilla and Jayhawker are well forgotten.
Ewing, however, was a soldier. General Order No. 11 came from district headquarters at St. Louis where Scofield commanded, and through Scofield from Washington City direct. Ewing had neither choice nor discretion37 in the matter. He was a brave, conscientious,157 hard fighting officer who did his duty as it came to his hands to do. He could not have made, if he had tried, one hair of the infamous38 Order white or black. It was a portion of the extraordinary order of things, and Ewing occupied towards it scarcely the attitude of an instrument. He promulgated39 it but he did not originate it; he gave it voice but he did not give it form and substance; his name had been linked to it as to something that should justly cause shame and reproach, but history in the end will separate the soldier from the man and render unto the garb40 of the civilian41 what it has failed to concede to the uniform of the commander. As a citizen of the republic he deplored42 the cruelty of an enactment43 which he knew to be monstrous44; but as a soldier in the line of duty, the necessity of the situation could not justify45 a moment’s argument. He had but to obey and to execute, and he did both—and mercifully.
For nearly three weeks Jackson County was a Pandemonium46, together with the counties of Cass, Bates, Vernon, Clay and Lafayette. Six thousand Federals were in the saddle, but Quantrell held his grip upon these counties despite everything. Depopulation was going on in a two-fold sense—one by emigration or exodus47, and one by the skillful killing48 of perpetual ambushment and lyings-in-waiting. In detachments of ten, the Guerrillas divided up and fought everywhere. Scattered49, they came together as if by instinct. Driven158 from the flanks of one column, they appeared in the rear of another. They had voices that were as the voices of the night birds. Mysterious horsemen appeared on all the roads. Not a single Federal scouting50 or exploring party escaped paying toll51. Sometimes the aggregate52 of the day’s dead was simply enormous. Frequently the assailants were never seen. Of a sudden, and rising, as it were, out of the ground, they delivered a deadly blow and rode away in the darkness—invisible.
点击收听单词发音
1 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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2 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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3 savageness | |
天然,野蛮 | |
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4 appalled | |
v.使惊骇,使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的;丧胆的 | |
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5 raving | |
adj.说胡话的;疯狂的,怒吼的;非常漂亮的;令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话;疯话adv.胡言乱语地;疯狂地 | |
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6 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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7 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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8 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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9 annihilated | |
v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
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10 persecution | |
n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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11 wholesale | |
n.批发;adv.以批发方式;vt.批发,成批出售 | |
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12 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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13 jurisdiction | |
n.司法权,审判权,管辖权,控制权 | |
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14 specified | |
adj.特定的 | |
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15 outlaws | |
歹徒,亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 ); 逃犯 | |
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16 rigors | |
严格( rigor的名词复数 ); 严酷; 严密; (由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体)僵直 | |
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17 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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18 proscription | |
n.禁止,剥夺权利 | |
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19 immunity | |
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权 | |
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20 preyed | |
v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 );掠食;折磨;(人)靠欺诈为生 | |
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21 obliterating | |
v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 );涂去;擦掉;彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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22 censured | |
v.指责,非难,谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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23 promulgation | |
n.颁布 | |
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24 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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25 evoked | |
[医]诱发的 | |
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26 infamy | |
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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27 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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28 plundering | |
掠夺,抢劫( plunder的现在分词 ) | |
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29 mingling | |
adj.混合的 | |
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30 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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31 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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32 pillaged | |
v.抢劫,掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33 rummaging | |
翻找,搜寻( rummage的现在分词 ); 海关检查 | |
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34 gaudy | |
adj.华而不实的;俗丽的 | |
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35 jewelry | |
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝 | |
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36 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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37 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
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38 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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39 promulgated | |
v.宣扬(某事物)( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 );传播;公布;颁布(法令、新法律等) | |
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40 garb | |
n.服装,装束 | |
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41 civilian | |
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的 | |
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42 deplored | |
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 enactment | |
n.演出,担任…角色;制订,通过 | |
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44 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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45 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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46 pandemonium | |
n.喧嚣,大混乱 | |
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47 exodus | |
v.大批离去,成群外出 | |
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48 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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49 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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50 scouting | |
守候活动,童子军的活动 | |
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51 toll | |
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟) | |
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52 aggregate | |
adj.总计的,集合的;n.总数;v.合计;集合 | |
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