It is extremely important to bear the information from the 'character design preface' in mind when reading all character backstories on this blog. Before doing so, please refer back to the information on that particular post first.
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The Cavalry Sergeant:
Name: Virgil Montgomery
"Hailing from a poor family, Virgil Montgomery was brought into the world of strategic warfare in 1862 as a young man of 23 who possessed very little.
Throughout the civil war, he served his country well and did everything that was commanded of him, although he didn’t lead any attacks against the Confederacy. After a good many battles, he attained the rank of sergeant for his persistence in the face of danger and his loyalty to the Union.
But, obviously, his profession came with a heavy price. Throughout his years a soldier, he witnessed and experienced all the horrors of the civil war, such as the extreme weather, the near-starvation, the various diseases raging through the ranks and the shock of watching his fellow soldiers have their bodies and limbs blasted to pieces around him, traversing muddy fields whilst listening to their unrelenting screams of pain or their pleads to be mercifully killed.
However, his most vivid and terrible memory is of when his own left arm was blasted beyond recognition in 1864 in a Confederate ambush, and the infection it sustained in a matter of days. Virgil sometimes has nightmares about when he was lying in the surgeon’s tent, remembering resting against the many bodies as they writhed against each other from wall to wall, moaning in pain or in delirium brought on by blood loss, disease or an infected limb.
Virgil feared that he’d die from his wounds or infection, but miraculously recovered and managed to fight his way through the rest of the civil war until the Union’s victory in 1865.
However, it wasn’t a real victory for the tired soldier. The civil war was all he had and when it ended, he realised he had no direction in life. Instead of returning to a civilian lifestyle, he stayed on in the army for several years after.
Over time, his troubled and traumatic past got to him and, coupled with the boredom of serving as a soldier in peace time, he became a severe alcoholic.
Now, his eyes are heavy with the weight of all he’s seen, although not as heavy as the many articles of kit he had to haul across the battlefield.
His uniform, once clean and official, has become untidy, weathered, torn and wrinkled. His cap is always low over his eyes, shielding them from any daylight, and he’s constantly hungover. You can usually smell him a mile away due to the stale alcohol permanently on his breath.
After his lifetime of suffering and pain, all he wishes for now is to become a rancher and live out the rest of his days amongst the wildlife and countryside in peace."