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The Confederates, pissed off at this display, responded with a volley of gunfire that splattered the Irishman and his Union officers with dirt. Sheridan, his toast so rudely interrupted, turned at his assailants and roared ...

The Quote:

"That was ungenerous! I'll take your guns for that!"

His army promptly mistook this outburst as an order and stormed up the slopes toward the Confederates on Missionary Ridge, along with the seething Sheridan himself -- while Sheridan's bewildered superior, General Ulysses S. Grant, was left wondering what the hell was going on.

Via Wikimedia Commons

"I've won entire campaigns drunker than you'll ever be."

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The Aftermath:

The Confederates fled in panic, with angry Sheridan in hot pursuit. He didn't stop until he realized that they had won ages ago and he was in fact the only Union general who was still fighting.

Via Wikimedia Commons

And because he'd most likely run out of booze and sobered up by that point.

The Battle of Missionary Ridge was a spectacular victory that cost the South the war in the West and elevated Grant to command of all Union armies (which in turn didn't hurt his future election as the President at all). As Grant would later remark: "To Sheridan's prompt movement the Army of the Cumberland, and the nation, are indebted .... Except for his prompt pursuit, so much in this way would not have been accomplished."

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So, yeah. Sheridan and his hip flask helped shape the nation.

If you would like to read more about famous instances of trash talk, see Jacopo's book "Go @#$% Yourself!" -- An Ungentlemanly Disagreement, by Filippo Argenti and check out its topic page.

For more awesome quotes, check out The 11 Most Badass Last Words Ever Uttered and The 10 Most Devastating Insults of All Time.

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