and other wars
June 7, 2011 (Tuesday)
The American Civil War got under way 150 years ago, in 1861. I’ve been watching the History Channel lately, and have been reminded that the main story about that war was not the politics of Washington and Richmond, although they were a big and important part of what happened. The main story was the awful loss of human life and the terrible physical pain and suffering of the soldiers.
National Geographic Magazine ran special issues about the war on its 100th anniversary, fifty years ago. One of the first articles appeared in the April, 1961, issue and was written by Ulysses S. Grant III, Major General, US.A. (Ret.), who was chairman of the National Civil War Centennial Commission. The following is heavily edited from that article by Gen. Grant:
“Both Yank and Rebel went blithely to war, because there had been no major conflicts for this country in almost 50 years. At first the Civil War seemed like a fun and chivalrous adventure. North and South, the young men enlisted in huge numbers to follow fife and drum down the springtime streets. Girls waved handkerchiefs and cheered. Nobody seemed to have the slightest idea of what was to come. Battles were deadly, like Gettysburg, where 708 men of the 800-strong 26th North Carolina Regiment were cut down by withering Union fire. Before the surrender at Appomattox Court House in 1865, more than half a million men — North and South — had left their lives on that last barricade where springtimes ease and no girls wave.”
We know that most soldiers have returned from war with no desire to talk a lot about what they experienced and what they saw in battle. And with good reason.
Jesus’ prophecy has come true: “There will be wars and rumors of war.” Sadly, it is our history, and sadder still, our present and future.