Daily Inspiration Quote by John Buford

It reads like praise, but it’s also a piece of battlefield leadership: Buford is manufacturing morale in prose, turning endurance into a unit identity. The line is studiously absolute - “no shirking or hesitation, to tiring” - a triple denial that does more than compliment his men. It polices the story of the campaign. In an army where reputations travel faster than supply trains, “so far as I have seen” is a careful hedge: he’s asserting authority without pretending omniscience, then sealing it with corroboration from “brigade commanders.” This isn’t sentiment; it’s documentation.

The dates matter. June 27 to July 31, 1863 brackets the brutal grind of the Gettysburg Campaign and its aftermath: forced marches, heat, chaos, the exhaustion that turns discipline into a daily wager. Buford, a cavalryman known for cool judgment, is speaking from the perspective of someone whose job depends on men staying alert when fatigue makes everything fuzzy. Cavalry doesn’t get to be tired; it screens, scouts, buys time.

Subtext: he’s defending his command against the era’s favorite accusation - cowardice dressed as “straggling.” “Shirking” was moral failure, not just slipping out of line. By insisting he’s seen none, Buford is implicitly staking his own credibility on theirs: a commander who admits collapse in the ranks admits he can’t see, can’t control, can’t be trusted. In one tight sentence, he reassures superiors, honors his soldiers, and claims the campaign’s hard-earned legitimacy.