Writing 101: Sherman, Burnside, and Commas for Nonessential Elements
In a December 20, 1862, letter to his younger brother, Sen. John Sherman, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman shared initial news that he’d soon be going down the Mississippi for what would become the Chickasaw Bayou expedition. In the letter, he expressed a little frustration at the overall pace of the U.S. war effort. “I wish Burnside and Rosecrans were getting along faster, but I suppose they encounter the same troubles we all do . . .” he wrote.
But then he made an additional observation about Burnside that illustrates an important point about punctuation:
“Burnside of course is a clever man, but he had no confidence in himself and if I mistake not an abiding confidence in McClellan and would lean on him for counsel if present. . . .”
I had to reread the sentence to understand the meaning of its last half. Initially, I read it as thought Burnside had no confidence in himself and not an abiding confidence in McClellan, either. But if that was so, why would Burnside lean on McClellan for counsel were McClellan present?
Sherman was telling his brother that Burnside lacked confidence in himself but believed (“if I mistake not”) Burnside had a lot of (“abiding”) confidence in McClellan. Sherman probably didn’t know for certain, or maybe just knew through hearsay, that Burnside had a lot of confidence in McClellan, ergo his qualification, “if I mistake not.”
Clarity is the single most-important element of good writing. If you’re not clear in what you’re saying, then even your best ideas aren’t going to get the hearing they deserve. Sherman is generally clear in his writing style, but an extra comma could make his intent clearer—clear enough that we wouldn’t have to parse out what he’s saying. It would be instantly understandable.
The phrase “if I mistake not” is, in this instance, a nonessential element. We can take it out of the sentence and not change the core meaning of what Sherman’s saying. We signal nonessential elements by setting them with a comma before and a comma after. So let’s add those commas and see what Sherman’s sentence looks like:
“Burnside of course is a clever man, but he had no confidence in himself and, if I mistake not, an abiding confidence in McClellan and would lean on him for counsel if present. . . .”
Does that read better? I think so.
Of course, in writing a private letter to his brother, it’s likely that neither one of them were too worried about grammar and punctuation. As a historian, I always cut folks slack on that regard when going through their old mail. But as I writer, I am reminded of the value of a well-placed comma.
That was a fun article, brought a laugh. Your comma did make the difference. I am going to call it a comma-dee (comedy). Well done.
Ba-dum-dum! 🙂
160 years of misunderstanding about Hood at South Mountain was due to imputing a single word into one of Hood’s sentences from his book, Advance and Retreat. “But with the mountain, on the right, within our lines,” is what Hood actually said. However, readers, primarily Ezra Carman who was not in that battle, imputed or added subconsciously the word “flank” to Hood’s sentence and completely and mistakenly changed the entire understanding of the battle. “But with the mountain, on the (Confederate) right flank, within our lines.” Hood could have said, “but with the mountain, on MY right, within our lines.” The result was an effective coverup of the massive Confederate losses on the Fox’s Gap portion of the South Mountain battlefield and the failure to understand the overwhelming Union victory that Lincoln needed to issue his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and a the failure to correctly understanding the battle that drove the Confederates out of Maryland.
“Let’s eat Grandma”
vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma.”
Commas save lives.
Indeed, they do!
Sherman was notoriously bad in grammar, so he may have really meant that!
I concur, Sir.
(Whether I’m mistaken or not)
Burnside was an honest man. He had no confidence in his martial abilities, and told everyone who would listen the same. And, truly, he had zero abilities as a soldier, much less a general. Few such honest men are ever found.
I would have used em dashes! Perhaps he was just in a hurry: “On, on I must go…”