Many thanks to Al and Dan for inviting me to visit the Lounge—something I do almost every day anyway—and an invitation I value very much. The invitation was triggered by many posts by Al concerning Southern Civil War monuments and statues. Those posts intrigued me, especially the monuments to the soldiers (but not to the generals!). Eventually, however, I was led to question the Rebel focus of Al’s posts, and he suggested that I join in. That led to deeper reflection about why Al’s Southern focus bothered me. So here goes:
I grew up in rural Baltimore County (outside the City) in the 1950s, a border state and city in every sense of the word. Hard as it may be for youngsters today (like my junior colleagues) to understand, the Civil War was then still played out at school and elsewhere. (In third grade, I remember singing: “We’ll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree…”, although we had no idea what that meant.) The South was very popular in the war games played out by the kids, and, being the contrarian I am, I chose to be on the North’s side, without knowing anything about either side.. Eventually, I began to think vaguely about the issues. In high school we were taught that the tariff led to the “rift”; it took many years—thank you James McPherson—to realize that the tariff and related issues were merely a cloak.
The truth is that the Civil War was about race. The fabled land of the South was built on the bloody backs of slaves. That is the critical fact to remember about the Civil War. That is not to downplay the valor of the Southern soldier, or the genius of some of its generals (although Lee and Jackson had their tactical weak spots, and Forrest was a prominent early KKK member—something that the South seems to have forgotten, along with his massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow).
I plan to offer a few posts on this topic. Unlike Al, I do not have photographs of mine own to post; but the North is full of haunting statues of its own. Anyone who has been in rural New England knows the classic picture of an infantryman, often wearing a greatcoat and holding a rifle, standing at the edge of a now forlorn village green. Here are two examples (Unlike Al, I lack good lead-ins to let the reader guess as the picture.)
Interesting post Bill. Of course, Pennsylvania is filled with Civil War monuments, but one of my favorites is the one in downtown Lancaster. Any information on that one?
Posted by: Juliet Moringiello | October 22, 2012 at 03:14 PM
Monuments! I love them. Talk of the causes of the war in slavery, too.
Posted by: Alfred Brophy | October 22, 2012 at 05:06 PM
Juliet. The lancaster meorial is at t the top of my list. More on that tomorrow. BillAnd Al, more on the art of the memorials.
Posted by: Bill Reynolds | October 22, 2012 at 05:15 PM
Bill, I suggest a correction. I go to Maine most summers and the Civil War monuments in the coastal towns do not seem forlorn. I have pictures of a few that I want to get reformatted so Al can use them. Inland Maine is a different story. It is the Maine of Empire Falls (although its author Richard Russo lives on the coast in Camden) and there the old towns with their abandoned downtown store fronts and mills are indeed forlorn as are many of the small towns in the south. I shall never forget going through places like downtown Danville or Port Gibson. Those places, north and south, now have much economic suffering that they share in common thousands of miles apart.
Posted by: Bill Turnier | October 23, 2012 at 08:57 AM
It is the Maine of Empire Falls and there the old towns with their abandoned downtown store fronts and mills are indeed forlorn as are many of the small towns in the south.
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Posted by: Jack | November 02, 2012 at 02:29 AM