And there were black Confederate soldiers, not nearly as many as in the North.
Posted on 08/20/2017 10:29:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
Can a man be guilty of a sin he himself seeks to purge from his being? Can he be a mixed bag, having some good and some evil in his being? Yes. We all know it. We all feel the sting of shame, of regret, when we reflect honestly on our hidden evil thoughts, when we contemplate the condemnation we would receive if a wrongful act was discovered. We could be otherwise deserving of praise for aspects of our nature that are laudable and honorable, but in that one thing we would feel disgraced.
Interesting word, isn’t it? Disgraced. It means to lose mercy, favor or virtue. Therefore, its opposite: grace, means to extend the restoration of virtue, to grant mercy, to again look favorably upon someone.
In the Civil War, America suffered a fall from grace. But grace was used to turn enmity into comity.
This is why the Civil War monuments existed, in part, perhaps in the largest part. A shattered nation needed to come back together. Secession was treason. Treason was disgrace; worse, treason was committed to protect the evil of slavery. Men died to stop it. Men died to save it. We know who won. But with battlefields stained with blood, and the shops, streets and homes filled with maimed bodies, broken futures, and fractured souls, how do you mend two warring sides?
Lincoln had planned for a mending. In 1863, roughly two years before the war ended, he issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, as stated here:
The proclamation addressed three main areas of concern. First, it allowed for a full pardon for and restoration of property to all engaged in the rebellion with the exception of the highest Confederate officials and military leaders.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
You’ve been here too long to believe that replies to the first, blank post on a thread are meant for the OP and not the author of the article. Sheez.
We are a nation of warriors. As warriors we respect and honor those who fought honorably and well. These were our brothers and sisters. Some in the confederacy were not fighting to preserve slavery, slavery had nothing to do with their lives.
When the fighting was over we came back together like the family we are.
Maybe three? California?
Great photo. You are correct that early in the war volunteers on both sides often furnished their own uniforms (militia) and weapons. That changed very soon however as both antagonists sought to streamline supply and weaponry. Confederate uniforms were turned out by the thousands from Richmond and other depots. When Richmond burned in 1865 several of the CS warehouses were loaded with unissued uniforms. On both sides, individual soldiers were discouraged from bringing their own weapons (long arms). This was because of supply consistency. Army’s wanted to field as few different caliber weapons as possible. (.54, .577, .58, .69). And not worry about supplying ammunition for every squirrel rifle
Union remains were identified to the best of their ability.
Families that had the means were able to bring their men home.
If you were a draftee from a New York tenement shot to pieces at Cold Harbor, you likely remained in the federal cemetery but at least you got a tombstone.
Even better.
My most southern of friends has an entirely different view of the Civil War: It was about the resources of the South, Free the Slaves was a slogan to stir people up.
Probably because Democrats longed for the “good old days” before the Republicans freed their slaves. Show me a Confederate monument put up by a Republican.
Probably because Democrats longed for the “good old days” before the Republicans freed their slaves. Show me a Confederate monument put up by a Republican.
I see you've never been to the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, nor Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Too bad. Interesting stories about both.
<>Secession was treason. Treason was disgrace; worse, treason was committed to protect the evil of slavery. <>
Hey Russel Nagelkirk, the states left the Union the same way they entered. It wasn’t treason, so STFU.
And there were black Confederate soldiers, not nearly as many as in the North.
Are you sure?
Because the Confederacy’s existence was never politically recognized, Andrew Johnson and Jefferson Davis never signed a surrender document. The monuments recognize those who ended the war and slavery.
The bloodiest conflict our country ever endured, that resolved the issues of states’ rights, secession, and slavery, relied exclusively on military actions. These military actions were fought out to the last measure of human endurance. Great men like Grant, Sherman, Lee, and Johnston, and their soldiers resolved what should have been political issues. Monuments North and South testify to the sincerity of those few who endured the tragedy of that struggle.
Their involvement came after abolitionists and planters and their political allies failed to identify those positions outside their inflexible ideologies that would have brought peaceful agreement. Instead these fire-eating miscreants of both persuasions stumbled into the Civil War.
Now similar intellectual dwarfs would repudiate this history.
Rewriting American History http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams061417.php3
Were Confederate Generals Traitors? http://walterewilliams.com/were-confederate-generals-traitors/
BS. Most of the 7500-8000 dead at Gettysburg were buried there.
In 1864 the Gettysburg Cemetery contained 3500 graves of Union soldiers. Starting in 1871 over 3300 Confederated dead were exhumed from graves around the Gettysburg battlefield and their remains transferred to Cemeteries in the South. Most of these remains went to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond but some went to cemeteries in NC, SC, and GA.
When will the Movie “The Outlaw Josie Wales” be banished?
Except Paul Revere’s side won. I wonder how Georgians would react if say the some person from Michigan purchases some land in Savannah and builds a statue commemmorating the artival of the 15th Michigan Volunteer Infantry after its March to the Sea.
I can’t believe the alt-left commie maggots have us fighting the Civil War all over again. “Americans” really deserve what is about to happen to them.
This is my stock answer. We are ignoring laws that we have if we don’t prosecute some of these b@st@rds. They need to be given a 10 year sentence.
Confederate soldiers, sailors, and Marines that fought in the Civil war were made U.S. Veterans by an act of Congress in in 1957, U.S. Public Law 85-425, Sec 410, Approved 23 May, 1958. This made all Confederate Army/ Navy/ Marine Veterans equal to U.S. Veterans. Additionally, under U.S. Public Law 810, Approved by the 17th Congress on 26 Feb 1929 the War Department was directed to erect headstones and recognize Confederate grave sites as U.S. War dead grave sites. Just for the record the last Confederate veteran died in 1958. When you remove a Confederate statue, monument or headstone, you are in fact, removing a statue, monument or head stone of a U.S. VETERAN.
18 U.S. Code § 1369 - Destruction of veterans’ memorials (a) Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (b), willfully injures or destroys, or attempts to injure or destroy, any structure, plaque, statue, or other monument on public property commemorating the service of any person or persons in the armed forces of the United States shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. (b) A circumstance described in this subsection is that— (1) in committing the offense described in subsection (a), the defendant travels or causes another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or uses the mail or an instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce; or (2) the structure, plaque, statue, or other monument described in subsection (a) is located on property owned by, or under the jurisdiction of, the Federal Government.
In those days especially, secession was not treason. The South wasn’t evil because it had slaves. Some of them used slave labor. It was a way of life. An economic system. Far too much drama is placed upon the issue of slavery. At least they worked.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.