Off Topic: 150th Anniversary of the Civil War

I was an Army medic, so I've seen quite a bit, but the thought of doing an amputation with a shot of whiskey and a wooden stick between your teeth is enough to make anyone turn green. Poor souls.

Thanks. It's the first time I've seen that image of the amputation in progress.
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I just watched the last segment of Ken Burns series. The number of US war casualties in the Civil War outnumbers that of all other wars combined. Of those, about 2/3 died from something other than battle wounds - most from disease and malnutrition.
 
Did anyone happen to see last Friday's "Who Do You Think You Are?" episode? A historian described to Ashley Judd just how a surgeon would have amputated her ancestor's leg...out in the middle of the battlefield. He even had a set of instruments on hand to show her.

She asked about how they sterilized the blades before the procedure. He sort of gave a sickly smile and said that they didn't. And he said that the operation, from start to finish, would take less than 12 minutes. Yikes.

After watching that bit, it doesn't seem so strange that my great, great grandfather skedaddled out of the regimental hospital as quick as he could after getting shot in the leg.
 
Should I say that my grandfather was a Civil War veteran.. NO

But Obama said his Father was a WWII vet..

Yea but I aint no Obama
 
Thanks for the link.

I'm having difficulty accepting the terminology "Civil War" to describe this particular conflict. I prefer "War Between the States" or "War of Northern Aggression".

That is all......:p
 
150th Anniversary of the Civil War!!!!!!!! WAIT A MINUTE!!!! I can very clearly remember looking forward to the CENTENNIAL of the Civil War! What do you mean a half a century has gone by since then????? Geeeeeze I must be getting old!!!! :D Nice link and great photos - thanks for posting! :)
 
I just watched the last segment of Ken Burns series. The number of US war casualties in the Civil War outnumbers that of all other wars combined. Of those, about 2/3 died from something other than battle wounds - most from disease and malnutrition.
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Just imagine all the horses and their droppings, the flies that landed on the droppings, then on the food and the wounds. They didn't know about sterile techniques then. In addition, if you got hit by one of those .58 caliber bullets coming out of the muskets, you either die, or end up an amputee given the fact the surgeons couldn't do much with shattered bones.
 
I'm having difficulty accepting the terminology "Civil War" to describe this particular conflict. I prefer "War Between the States" or "War of Northern Aggression".
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Clembert, please see the article below. 150 years didn't change much, according to this poll.

Civil War still divides Americans
mug.cnnpolitics By: CNN Political Unit

Washington (CNN) - It has been 150 years since the Civil War began with the first shots at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and in some respects views of the Confederacy and the role that slavery played in the events of 1861 still divide the public, according to a new national poll.

In the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Tuesday, roughly one in four Americans said they sympathize more with the Confederacy than the Union, a figure that rises to nearly four in ten among white Southerners.

When asked the reason behind the Civil War, whether it was fought over slavery or states' rights, 52 percent of all Americas said the leaders of the Confederacy seceded to keep slavery legal in their state, but a sizeable 42 percent minority said slavery was not the main reason why those states seceded.

"The results of that question show that there are still racial, political and geographic divisions over the Civil War that still exists a century and a half later," CNN Polling Director Holland Keating said.

When broken down by political party, most Democrats said southern states seceded over slavery, independents were split and most Republicans said slavery was not the main reason that Confederate states left the Union.

Republicans were also most likely to say they admired the leaders of the southern states during the Civil War, with eight in 10 Republicans expressing admiration for the leaders in the South, virtually identical to the 79 percent of Republicans who admired the northern leaders during the Civil War.

The survey polled 824 adults via telephone between April 9 and April 10. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

–CNN Associate Producer Gabriella Schwarz contributed to this report
 
Oh boy, I can see this one going right off the rails!!
ClemBert said:
I'm having difficulty accepting the terminology "Civil War" to describe this particular conflict.
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Having been born in Montana and raised in Wyoming, I was educated with the term "Civil War" and indoctrinated into the "fact" that the war was fought over slavery. It was a quick and easy way for the government educational system to rationalize a bloody and cruel war. One that in the eyes of our government was necessitated by the honorable duty of maintaining the unity of our country. (I can visualize ClemBerts ears starting to turn red about now). Of course I was young and my teachers were my trusted mentors who would never steer me wrong.

Then I started spending time in the south and educating "myself" into the history of this great part of our country. A diverse cross section of our population whose ancestors had the courage to actually stand up to the federal government and say, "enough is enough".

For that reason alone, we should celebrate the anniversary of "The War of Northern Aggression" and the people who had the courage to stand up to the federal government telling them what they as states had to do and charging them (taxing) for the service as well.

This rant isn't meant to imply that slavery wasn't a part of the reason for the war, simply that it was just that, only a part. Not the entire reason.

An unbiased opinion on the "Civil War" by CNN, really?? Isn't kind of liking asking Al Gore his opinion of Sarah Palin's stradegy on climate change?

Although I can never by considered a southerner because of my birthplace, I most assuredly will NEVER accept being referred to as a Yankee.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

I shall now go lay down by my dish and await the enlightened conversation which is sure to follow.
 
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We can, in fact we must, remember and acknowledge the anniversaries of the important events in the war, but I can't come to terms with celebrating events in which some 700,000 soldiers, sailors and civilians died.
 
It's probable that the word "Celebrate" wasn't the most appropriate word I could have used. "Remember" or possibly "Commemorate" would have been better.

To celebrate the deaths of so many hundreds of thousands of patriots really is not what I was thinking when I typed the post. Rather to remember the past as in George Santayana's quote so that possibly we can prevent our government from doing it again. Unfortunately, it seems as though those who serve in our government often suffer from both short and long term memory loss.
 
Ahhhh . . . the debate on this and what to call it could go on forever and ever . . . anyway you cut it, whether you live in the south or the north . . . each and every family paid a price and it touched everyone. I'm sure that 150 years later, the terms used will have to be more "politically correct" - heaven forbid that anyone be offended by history . . . . I think one of the best descriptions I ever heard was when I was visiting the museum in the basement of the farmer's market in Charleston, SC . . run by the Daughters of the Confederacy. I visitede with one of the elderly ladies after my wife and I had viewed the displays and I tossed a $10 bill in the "kitty" (they operated on donations). She kept referring to the war as "the late unpleasantness" - an appropriate term I thought. I thanked her for the opportunity to view the displays and for what they were doing and then I mentioned that I was a Commander of a Sons of Union Veterans camp in Michigan. Her whole attitude changed towards me . . . I got a stern glare from her and she reached over and took the $10 bill out of the can that I had donated and handed it back to me with the comment . . "We don't need your damn Yankee money down here". It was a little shocking to say the least and I quickly learned that not only was the war "the late unplesantness" . . . whe was quite "unpleasant" as well. We left, or I should say, "retreated" and I chose not to tell her that I had ancestors who "fought on both sides of the fence" . . . some of whom paid the ultimate price. For over thirty years I traveled and presented first person storytelling programs on the Civil War to audiences of all ages. If anything, I truly hope that the "remembrance" of the war on the anniversary of it will prompt the younger generation to want to learn more about it and help them realize the cost and sacrifices on both sides as they fought for what they believed in. If we are to have a future, we need to learn from our past.
 
Great anecdote bedbugbilly. I can't believe that people have neither forgotten nor forgiven after 150 years, and that the hatred still persists, as you mentioned. What people don't realize is how great this country is, how awesome this political system is, no matter how imperfect it is. I did not grow up here, so I have a different perspective than the folks who were born and raised here. The three things I appreciate the most in my 35 years here are the democratic process, the freedom, and the orderly transition of power between different administrations. Can't say the same thing about the rest of the world. So, if you look beyond North and South, yanks and rebs, you'll probably see the greatest country of the world. I adopted her 35 years ago, and still love her in all her virtues and shortcomings.

Hong
 
We're due for another one on the basis of political ideology imo.

Too many citizens and elected representatives are ignoring our constitution and catering to special interests at the expense of the nation as a whole. These issues are now beyond anything that can be fixed with elections IMO.

The saddest part about our situation is that we spent years and years, countless dollars, and thousand of lives fighting against communism in order to protect free nations around the world. While our former foes have realized their form of governance pretty much sucks, and have adopted the policies of free nations, free nations, including our own, are attempting to implement the failed policies of our former enemy.

The end result will be the same. Either collapse, or civil war.
 
Maybe all the people who say slavery was not all that bad would like to be slaves for a while. Let them enjoy the long days in all kinds of weather and conditions tending their masters fields and pastures. Let them enjoy having not being able to have a say in their present or future life. Let them enjoy having their families torn apart because the master needs to sell a few slaves to pay a gambling debt. All the people of the Grand Old South make me want to puke in your self righteous.The problem is the North should have been a lot harder on the South and broken it's back during Reconstruction, We are still paying the price for not doing so. A white Yankee and proud of it.l
 
the last bid by a people who truely understood what a republic government was all about.

some call this war american's second bid for independence.

the republic which ben franklin mentioned to an inquirer upon leaving the assembly hall when asked by her, "well what have you gentleman done today?" ben stated .".Madam, we have given you a republic if you can keep it!" had by 1871 ended in all but name replaced by a democracy defactor goverment operating under admirlity law replacing the common law of the republic.

it would be many decades before the full impact of this event would be felt my the american people...but by then many would be too unconcerned to care... Prosperity makes a society dull to change......

S.M.
 
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