Ulrich That was a brutal war,
They usually are.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Well Wayne, I think this shows two things about Robert E. Lee.
First of all, he was human enough to make a mistake, even a bad mistake.
But having made it he was not too proud to admit it.
Beyond that, as the core of my being I am a Yankee. And being a Yankee I don't think I ought to go around making moral judgments about people with who I disagree simply because I disagree with them. The Confederates believed they were right as deeply as I believe. And we fought a war over it. But the war is over, long long over.
Hi John! Well, I'm a Yankee as well, born in New York City, raised in New Jersey, now living in Virginia.
And when I think about the Civil War I almost want to break down and cry. Dammit, there HAD to be another way!
By the way, when I was a Marine all my best friends were Southerners. I can't imagine drawing a bead on any of them. Thank God I wasn't a professional soldier in the 1860's.
Wayne
Firelock76Dammit, there HAD to be another way!
Actually, Wayne, there was another way. William Seward believed that if allowed to secede in peace the Confederacy would ultimately return to the Union. He wrote a long memo to Abe Lincoln proposing that. However, the memo included a rather crazy idea that we should also provoke a war with France. Seward had been in the Senate for a number of years and was very familiar with the Confederate leaders, especially Jefferson Davis. Davis saw no necessity for war.
Abe Lincoln saw things differently. He feared that if the Confederacy was allowed to secede the northwest would want to secede also to gain economic independence from eastern bankers. With the country thus balkanized Britain and France would lose no time in taking advantage of us to make the separate sections economic colonies.
After the election Abe Lincoln was new to the whole Federal Government. No one, north or south, knew him or what his perspective was. And of course he knew nothing of the relationships between northern and southern legislators over the years. In the early days of his administration he dithered around not knowing what to do. I think the Confederates mistook his confusion for weakness; there was never any question in him mind but that secession was simply a criminal insurgency.
John
I agree 100%! Well said!
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
That was a great article. I just now finished reading it.
I wish they had mentioned how many passenger cars and locomotives they used to pull that reunion off. I bet the management of the P&R and WM must have had to work every contact they had ever made in the industry to pull together everything they needed. There probably wasn't a surplus coach left east of the Mississippi River!
One point of contention I did have with the article is that even with the electric signalling (ABS) it would still have been a Timetable and Train Order operation. CTC with remote controlled electric switches would have been yet to be invented.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
John WR Well Wayne, I think this shows two things about Robert E. Lee. First of all, he was human enough to make a mistake, even a bad mistake. But having made it he was not too proud to admit it. Beyond that, as the core of my being I am a Yankee. And being a Yankee I don't think I ought to go around making moral judgments about people with who I disagree simply because I disagree with them. The Confederates believed they were right as deeply as I believe. And we fought a war over it. But the war is over, long long over.
Folks,
I always found the Civil War too depressing to look at too closely, but Have done some reading on the subject. I might comment that Lee was not only capable of making mistakes but made quite a few of them, from his efforts in West Virginia onwards. Like many a famous commander, his apparent sucess often owed much to the utter incompetence of his opponents. (Hooker, Butler, McClelland come quickly to mind). I sometimes wonder how differently the war would have went, and how much shorter, if Sherman and Grant had been in the East. Grant made some bad moves as well (the totally senseless attack at Cold Harbor). Probably all commanders were struggling with their mixture of Napoleonic tactics and advancing weapons technology. But all of them seemed capable of mistakes that the average corporal wouldn't have made.
As far as Lee taking the blame, how could he do otherwise? He was the commanding officer and had no choice but to take blame. He knew his offer to resign was nothing but theatrics.
I'm not talking strictly from a history book perspective either. Lyndon Johnson drafted me 4 days after my 19th birthday and I had my tour with the infantry in Viet Nam , 1967-68. I sure as hellfire would not attend any get-togethers with any aging VC or NVA. Those crud didn't take foot soldiers prisoners; anyone they took alive was tortured and mutilated before being murdered, particularly by the VC.
At least Lee could leave his seriously wounded men behind without fear of their being mistreated, as could Union leaders. With enenies such as those one could meet on grounds of common humanity. Not so with the savages of Ho Chi Minh.
Benny Peters
Benny, in case no-one's said this to you yet thank you, thank you for your service!
And God bless you!
Firelock76 Benny, in case no-one's said this to you yet thank you, thank you for your service! And God bless you! Wayne
I'll second that Benny. Thank you greatly for your service. And may God's blessing be with you always.
Ken
greyhounds Firelock76 Benny, in case no-one's said this to you yet thank you, thank you for your service! And God bless you! Wayne I'll second that Benny. Thank you greatly for your service. And may God's blessing be with you always. Ken
Wayne & Ken,
Thanks very much for your kindness. When I think about, I think God's blessed me for everyday I've been back in the USA! Too many good guys never made it back., as we all know, from every war. I really wish there was another way. But, as a marine wrote in his account of the Pacific War, until the millenium comes. and nations stop trying to enslave each other, we'll have the damndable things.
Best regards, gentlemen.
Benny
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