1041: Whites of Their Eyes
| Whites of Their Eyes |
 Title text: Don't fire until you see through the fragile facade to the human being within. |
Explanation
This comic is based on the famous command, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes", given by William Prescott, an American officer during the American Revolutionary War. His men were running low on bullets, so Prescott commanded that they hold their fire until the enemy was close enough to guarantee a hit. This was a tactic used by a number of armies, such as Napoleon's French at Aspern and Wellington's British in the Iberian Peninsula. Prescott carries on after his initial command, adding romantic allegories.
The title text expands on that, stating not to fire until you see the person's "soul" in their eyes.
Transcript
- [A Revolutionary War soldier gives orders to two others hunkered down behind a rock.]
- Lead soldier: Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes
- Lead: And smell the scent of their hair.
- [The two others getting an incredulous look on their faces.]
- Lead: And taste the sweetness of their lips.
- [They begin taking fire from the opposition.]
- Lead: And feel the heat of their skin pressed against yours, trembling as you-
- Soldier 2: Maybe we should just start shooting.
- Lead: Right, yes.
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ 
refresh comments!Discussion
Little did they know, the entire incoming Yankee force was composed of buxom women, and the captain was proven oh-too-right. Davidy22[talk] 08:33, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
I'm very concerned at the home life of the person who wrote that those phrases were "romantic allegories". They were sexual, not romantic, and that's definitely not what "allegory" means. An allegory is type of metaphor. i.e. "Animal Farm" is an allegorical novel. It appears to be about farm animals but it's really about communism. I will edit this in 24 hours unless anyone objects. AmbroseChapel (talk) 23:50, 7 September 2017 (UTC)
