Kincaid's Battery
Tags
Summary
A ceremony is under way, and the ritual question is asked: "If any one alive knows any cause why this thing should not be." The moment breaks into farewells — "'Tis good-by, Kincaid's Battery" — and the next instant she is in his arms. "No! not under this roof—nor in sight of these things," she refuses. "You 'ave no ri-ight to leave me! Ah, you shall not!" he protests, and she drops into a seat, staring like one demented.
Editor's review
This work centres on Kincaid's Battery and opens with a burst of urgent dialogue: someone publicly asks whether there is reason to oppose the matter, and farewells, embraces and quarrels follow, with emotion mounting layer upon layer in a very short space. In the excerpt, the cry "you have no right to leave me" and a character sinking down with unfocused eyes show the author's skill in staging scenes and externalizing psychology. The work sets personal feeling against the collective unit of the battery, embedding private relationships in a wartime setting; the tension comes from broken dialogue and abrupt movement. Its value lies in experiencing the language rhythm of a nineteenth-century American Southern writer: colloquial spellings, frequent dashes and short sentences together create a stage-like immediacy. Suitable for readers interested in war fiction, Southern American literature and dramatic narrative; as you read, note how pauses and punctuation in the dialogue drive the emotion.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy war subjects and the Southern American literary tradition
- Writers interested in dramatic dialogue and scene staging
- Readers studying nineteenth-century American fiction language and dialect spelling
- Readers willing to closely read emotional turns in a short excerpt
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer complete novel-length structures and detailed military history
- Readers unaccustomed to colloquial spellings and a style full of dashes
- Readers expecting war experience retold from a modern perspective
Reading tips
- Read the opening dialogue aloud to feel the characters' emotional shifts through the pauses in speech.
- Note the tension between "the battery" as a collective symbol and private feeling.
- Do not correct dialect spellings word by word; follow the flow of speech to grasp the meaning first.
- After the excerpt, look back at the punctuation and observe how dashes create a sense of rupture.
Contents
- copyright
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- I CARROLLTON GARDENS
- II CARRIAGE COMPANY
- III THE GENERAL'S CHOICE
- IV MANOEUVRES
- V HILARY?--YES, UNCLE?
- VI MESSRS. SMELLEMOUT AND KETCHEM
- VII BY STARLIGHT
- VIII ONE KILLED
- IX HER HARPOON STRIKES
- X SYLVIA SIGHS
- XI IN COLUMN OF PLATOONS
- XII MANDEVILLE BLEEDS
- XIII THINGS ANNA COULD NOT WRITE
- XIV FLORA TAPS GRANDMA'S CHEEK
- XV THE LONG MONTH OF MARCH
- XVI CONSTANCE TRIES TO HELP
- XVII "OH, CONNIE, DEAR--NOTHING--GO ON"
- XVIII FLORA TELLS THE TRUTH!
- XIX FLORA ROMANCES
- XX THE FIGHT FOR THE STANDARD
- XXI CONSTANCE CROSS-EXAMINES
- XXII SAME STORY SLIGHTLY WARPED
- XXIII "SOLDIERS!"
- XXIV A PARKED BATTERY CAN RAISE A DUST
- XXV "HE MUST WAIT," SAYS ANNA
- XXVI SWIFT GOING, DOWN STREAM
- XXVII HARD GOING, UP STREAM
- XXVIII THE CUP OF TANTALUS
- XXIX A CASTAWAY ROSE
- XXX GOOD-BY, KINCAID'S BATTERY
- XXXI VIRGINIA GIRLS AND LOUISIANA BOYS
- XXXII MANASSAS
- XXXIII LETTERS
- XXXIV A FREE-GIFT BAZAAR
- XXXV THE "SISTERS OF KINCAID'S BATTERY"
- XXXVI THUNDER-CLOUD AND SUNBURST
- XXXVII "TILL HE SAID, 'I'M COME HAME, MY LOVE'"
- XXXVIII ANNA'S OLD JEWELS
- XXXIX TIGHT PINCH
- XL THE LICENSE, THE DAGGER
- XLI FOR AN EMERGENCY
- XLII "VICTORY! I HEARD IT AS PL'--"
- XLIII THAT SABBATH AT SHILOH
- XLIV "THEY WERE ALL FOUR TOGETHER"
- XLV STEVE--MAXIME--CHARLIE--
- XLVI THE SCHOOL OF SUSPENSE
- XLVII FROM THE BURIAL SQUAD
- XLVIII FARRAGUT
- XLIX A CITY IN TERROR
- L ANNA AMAZES HERSELF
- LI THE CALLENDER HORSES ENLIST
- LII HERE THEY COME!
- LIII SHIPS, SHELLS, AND LETTERS
- LIV SAME APRIL DAY TWICE
- LV IN DARKEST DIXIE AND OUT
- LVI BETWEEN THE MILLSTONES
- LVII GATES OF HELL AND GLORY
- LVIII ARACHNE
- LIX IN A LABYRINTH
- LX HILARY'S GHOST
- LXI THE FLAG-OF-TRUCE BOAT
- LXII FAREWELL, JANE!
- LXIII THE IRON-CLAD OATH
- LXIV "NOW, MR. BRICK-MASON,--"
- LXV FLORA'S LAST THROW
- LXVI "WHEN I HANDS IN MY CHECKS"
- LXVII MOBILE
- LXVIII BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
- LXIX SOUTHERN CROSS AND NORTHERN STAR
- LXX GAINS AND LOSSES
- LXXI SOLDIERS OF PEACE
- OTHER BOOKS BY MR. CABLE
FAQ
Why does the opening dialogue read as disjointed?
The excerpt makes heavy use of dashes, short sentences and colloquial spellings, and characters' words are cut off in quarrels and farewells. This disjointedness is deliberate, conveying the urgency of emotion and the tension of the scene rather than indicating a damaged text.
Was Kincaid's Battery a real unit?
It is a fictional unit in the novel and should not be matched to a unit in real military history. Readers can understand it as a narrative device that carries the characters' relationships and the atmosphere of war, not as a historical record.
Is it suitable as an introduction to Southern American literature?
It can serve as a fragmentary introduction. The excerpt is short and dialogue-heavy, conveying the language style and emotional intensity of Southern literature; but for a systematic understanding of the tradition, fuller representative works should be read alongside it.
Comments
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About the author
George Washington Cable
Author · American · 1844–1925
George Washington Cable (1844–1925) was an American novelist, born in New Orleans in 1844 and died in Florida in 1925. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate army, and after the war he worked as a reporter for the Picayune. Writing in a realist mode about the lives of Louisiana Creoles, he has been called "the first modern Southern writer." His representative works include Old Creole Days and The Grandissimes. This site holds two of his works, Kincaids Battery and The Flower of the Chapdelaines, commonly categorized as inspirational growth. Publicly available information on his life and writing is limited; readers may turn to his fiction to learn more about his style and subject matter.
