Posted on 10/30/2001 5:55:04 PM PST by an amused spectator
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:38:31 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
MILLBROOK, Va.
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
Enjoy, and thanks for the good read, César G. Soriano!
BUMP!
Second, I confess to having a soft spot in my head regarding Sheen. I just find him to be a superb actor. I won't go out of my way any longer to watch any of his movies, and haven't been able to get through even one hour of West Wing. Yet, he can act. Come to think of it, what better kind of guy to play Lee, who may have been the most effective traitor this nation ever produced.
Seriously, though, as a history buff (of a modest degree), I find the Civil War to be the most compelling era I ever studied. I find R.E. Lee to be as interesting a character as this nation ever produced. He is my third favorite Confederate after Longstreet and Joe Johnston. (Obviously, my hierarchy has more to do with how I perceive them as real people than according to their accomplishments.)
My favorite person in the Civil War was US Grant. He might even be my favorite person in the history of the world.
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va., Oct. 19 -- U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm's fake mutton chops flowed from his face like the wings of an angel. His white shirt was hand-stitched cotton. His frock coat, black as anthracite, fit to perfection. And his cravat was fastened with a golden pin. continue
BTTT
There are a bazillion events in history that are depressing, some so much as to make their study an exercise in masochism. That doesn't prevent them from being interesting.
The Revolutionary War, after all, began as a civil war.
I believe it was Bruce Catton who said the Civil War was a blending of meanness and greatness. There was so much to admire about humanity and so much nostalgia.
At the end of Pickett's Charge, many of the retreating Confederates walked backward so as to face their final bullet taking it in the chest, just because getting shot in the back would be an undignified way to die. I'm not a sentimental person, yet that thought nearly brings tears to my eyes.
At Stone's River (Murfreesboro), on the evening of January 1, 1863, 40,000 Federals and 40,000 Confederates camped just a few yards apart. A Federal regimental band struck up an impromptu concert of Yankee songs (Battle Cry of Freedom, Battle Hymn of the Republic...). When they finished, some Confederates called across the divide, "Play some of ours!" So they did (Yellow Rose of Texas, Bonnie Blue Flag...) plus even more shared tunes (The Girl I Left Behind, Kathleen Mavourneen, Tenting Tonight...). Then, for an encore,they played "Home Sweet Home." 80,000 soldiers, Blue and Gray, joined in one of the largest all male choruses in the history of North America singing this tune. The next morning these two armies crashed head-long into one another, and countless voices sang no more. That isn't depressing so much as nostalgic irony.
In the Wilderness in 1864, when Grant's staff, especially those of Meade's that he inherited upon taking command, started practically crying in fear and begged Grant to retreat. They were that sure that another catastrophe was being arranged for them by General Lee. They practically screamed for Grant to have a care because Lee would get behind them and cut off their ability to use the trains to withdraw. The much maligned General Grant said, "When this army is defeated, and I'm driven from this line, it will only be when we have so few men left that they won't want any trains."
That's quite an awesome statement when you think about it. There wasn't anyone who knew Grant who doubted he meant it quite literally. I believe there are Americans today that realize what we have going at this minute is a fight to the death with the forces of evil in the world. Yet try to imagine the quisling press that interviewed Rumsfeld the other day if he or the Chair of the Joint Chiefs makes it clear that we are in that kind of conflict again.
Any war, especially any civil war is about as horrible a thing as can befall a people. It can be depressing. Yet it can also be an interesting study on what we are capable of when the stress is as intense as we can ever face. It also can be a celebration and a renewal of what it is that we find important.
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