Civil War

[Bob Rufener]

My wife and I visited Charleston and Ft. Sumter last year. An interesting place. I have read a number of books and seen a lot of footage of the civil war. Quite frankly, I didn't see much civil about it. Thousands of men from all sides were virtually slaughtered. It truly was a dark area in American history. I haven't visited any of the battlefields but it is on my bucket list.

[Belinda Barfield]

My wife and I visited Charleston and Ft. Sumter last year. An interesting place. I have read a number of books and seen a lot of footage of the civil war. Quite frankly, I didn't see much civil about it. Thousands of men from all sides were virtually slaughtered. It truly was a dark area in American history. I haven't visited any of the battlefields but it is on my bucket list.

I agree, nothing "civil" about it.

[Lee Koepke]

We took a trip a few years back that brought us through the Shenadoah Valley and eventually back to Gettysburg ... the story of Gen Early and his men that basically WALKED ( fought ) almost the same route we drove in about 3 weeks ... hundreds of miles, battles EVERY day, hike the mountains to the next battle ... every day for three weeks .... he was within blocks of the White House when his men just couldnt fight any more. Its almost incomprehensible in todays technological / automated society.

[Rod Sheridan]

As a bit of a history buff, I have visited Shiloh and Gettysburg and as others have said, the loss of life in relation to the population of the country was incredible. As Belinda remarked, there was nothing civil about it.

As in all wars, fighting is the failure of diplomacy.

I'll have drink tonight in honour of the brave soldiers lost on both sides, as well as the civilian casualties, and hope that we never head down that path again.


Regards, Rod.

[ray hampton]

according to the dictionary CIVIL 1 not military or religious 2 polite

civil war,war between factions of the same nations


is the word civilization based on the word civil ?

[Von Bickley]

I prefer to call it the "War of Northern Agression".

[Pat Germain]

Although technology was limited during the Civil War, it sure had a significant impact. The telegraph allowed almost immediate communications. Railroads in the North transported equipment and personnel at seemingly blinding speed. Ironclad ships could lob cannon balls at one another all day with little impact. And technology was a significant advantage for the North.

Seems pretty tragic all that new technology was used for such horrible objectives at the time. Of course, as we now know, it would get much worse in years to come. I was recently reading about English towns who lost completely all their young men in WWI. I'm sure many American small towns experienced the same thing in the civil war. No doubt on many occasions they lost their young men to both sides.

[Kenneth Moar]

I'm a Canadian, I don't know a lot about the US Civil war, but it is an amazing fact that the US put itself back together after what seems like a horrific conflict, that divided states, communities and even families.
I'm proud that a Canadian wrote an iconic song that captured some of the heartbreak, hurt and pride that was felt on both sides of that conflict. A well known performance of this song was sung by an American ,name of Levon Helm, member of the "Band" in "The Last Waltz" around Thanksgiving 1976??, . When I see Levon perform , I don't see Levon I see Virgil Caine, and I hear the pain and loss he has endured.
"The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" is one of those songs that seems to convey the very essence of the Civil War. This song may be about the end not the beginning, and more about the "South" than the "North", but mostly it's about the sacrifice of the hundred's of thousands of casualties on both sides.

All the Best to the USA

[Kevin W Johnson]

For those close enough, or those who want to make a trip....

The reenactment of the Battle of New Market is coming up May 14th and 15th.

http://www2.vmi.edu/museum/nm/reenac...20announce.htm

Sadly, i'm close by and forget every year until its too late. I plan to make it this year.

[Jim Creech]

I prefer to call it the "War of Northern Agression".

That is, after all, the proper name for it.

[Joe Angrisani]

That is, after all, the proper name for it.

No. That is an opinion. One hundred fifty years and "it's" still there, huh?

Far and away, both South, North, east, west and internationally, it is known as the American Civil War.

[Don Buck]

And to tie the Civil War discussion to woodworking, here's a winter view outside my door to my woodworking shop in Lexington, VA of the grave site of Stonewall Jackson. Most of Stonewall is buried here, his arm is still buried near the site he was shot.

IMG_0051.JPG

Don

[Scott Shepherd]

No. That is an opinion. One hundred fifty years and "it's" still there, huh?

Far and away, both South, North, east, west and internationally, it is known as the American Civil War.

Joe, I believe that's a term used in jest, not a serious one. Living in the Capital of the Confederacy my entire life, I can tell you that it's not much more than a joking phrase used when talking to people from up north. It's a button pusher and almost always gets a reaction, just like in this case.

Just my opinion.

[Curt Harms]

As Belinda noted, the quality and level of medical science was low at that time and as many died of wounds and sickness and disease as were outright killed in combat. In much of the 19th century a hospital was a place you went to die. An equally important factor was the use of Napoleonic era tactics which were suitable for relatively low powered and inaccurate muskets and artillery but caused mass carnage when used against long range rifled barrels in both shoulder fired weapons and in artillery. A smoothbore musket was lucky to hit a group of 100 men at 100 feet while a model 1863 Springfield rifled musket was accurate to 3-400 meters and deadly to twice that distance. The changes in technology played a large role in the casualty counts when tactics were not modified to adapt to the changing conditions. The only reason our casualties in WW I were relatively low was that we cam late to the party. The inability of the various high commands in WW I to adapt to further technological changes caused the casualties of millions from machineguns, poison gas, and advanced artillery. Beginning to notice a pattern here folks?

I visited the site of the battle of Fredericksburg a few years ago. That battle seemed to typify what Dave is talking about re tactics, weapons etc. I was reading the markers, looking at the terrain and thinking to myself "What were they THINKING!!? Shoulder to shoulder ranks marching into forces sheltered behind stone walls and breastworks. The only thing missing was pinned-on targets, fer chrissake.

[Greg Peterson]

Had the south had their way, the 'gentlemen' farmers of the day would have expanded their definition of slavery to include indentured servitude of caucasians, catholics and immigrants as well.

Lincoln wrote to Joshua Speed in 1855:

How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be take pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.

The war was about slavery. But it was not just about freeing blacks, it was to prevent the enslavement of whites. This is a matter that has been obscured over the past 150 years. But history tends to shade any event over time.