[DiogenesLamp]

I've mentioned before one of my great-grandfathers, fresh off the boat, served the Union in the western theater, had encounters with Forrest. Thank God, both lived to tell the stories.

Irish? Poor saps. Dragooned into fighting a war against people who had done them no wrong.

And they say the Union was against slavery.

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "Irish? Poor saps. Dragooned into fighting a war against people who had done them no wrong.
And they say the Union was against slavery."

No, not Irish, but one irony is the parents brought their boys here to avoid the draft in the Old Country -- they were draft dodgers.
Once here the boys soon enlisted, volunteered for infantry and served throughout the war, my great-grandfather both captured & wounded, nearly died.
After the war he used his pay to buy a farm in Kansas, raised a huge family...

The American dream in a nut-shell.