I had family on both sides of The War, and see the convoluted truth on both sides.”
Nicely put. The battle cry of Freedom could legitimately be had by both sides, and could legitimately be scoffed at by the other side. Therein lies the tragedy. And the importance of amnesty and unity going forward, as Lincoln thought.
I see it in fairly neutral terms. Lee was a genius, and a gentleman. Lincoln showed incredible civility/compassion at the end of the war (his policies for reconstruction survived his death) after showing ruthlessness to the South and the North during the war.
Sherman got a bum rap. I look at his march through the South in the same light as the firebombing of Dresden or the nuking of Japan: necessary backbreaking warfare. His was actually a genius campaign.
The war was a tragedy. Let’s hope the next one ends as well.