Pickett's Charge today
 

American history could have changed today. One of America's key crossroads in history. Today was the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

(my favorite part)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-DoYsM2Chxo

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YHSixnUqxCM

(high water mark)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oW3DfXrn8Yc

(park today)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hPfTUcUBL60

the day was going so well, until this came up. ;)

Faulkner used to say that it was possible for every southern boy to go back in their minds to a time when the flags were unfurled, but the charge hadn't started yet.... maybe that is why it took so long to implement the 14th amendment... :-?

So much in so relatively few words:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to
dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground.
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never
forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to
the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that
cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and
that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Wow.

That sounds like the drunken antebellum version of "all real Americans love the sting of battle".:D

But serioulsly, going to the Gettysburg battlefield is a very sobering experience. Folks always says the WWI was the first modern war, but in many respects I think that honor goes to the American Civil War. If you look at the old pictures of the Southern cites ruined by the Union, you won't see pictures of cities like that until WWII.

It's very strange going to the South as a Yankee, but you can understand why so many folks are P.O.'d and you hear that "The South will Rise Again."

A deep man believes in miracles, waits for them, believes in magic, believes that the orator will decompose his adversary; believes that the evil eye can wither, that the heart’s blessing can heal; that love can exalt talent; can overcome all odds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson - The Conduct of Life {Beauty}

Faulkner used to say that it was possible for every southern boy to go back in their minds to a time when the flags were unfurled, but the charge hadn't started yet........Yep, every real southerner wishes we had clobbered them that day! Guilty as charged..lol. However we all know slavery was wrong and a huge mistake...still...

52,000 Americans lost their lives between July 1 and July 3 1863. That isn't a typo, 52,000!

What would this country be like if they had given up the fight on July 4?
As hard as it is, and I have no allusions, sometimes you have to fight.

Edit
The Battle of Chickamauga may have been worse, September 19-20, 1863 (two days), 34,624.

In 1860, the population of the US was about 30 million.

623,000 Americans died in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865.

In 1940, the population of the US was about 130 million.

407,000 Americans died in WW II from 1941 to 1945.

All us wars combined excluding the Civil War: 645,000 vs. The Civil War 623,000.

The Civil War was the worst war in American history.

If this 'War Criminal' ( http://www.publiusrendezvous.com/sherman.gif ) had not made his so called ride through the south I think things would have been allot different.

We still would have fought the war...
The North would have given up...
The south would have left the North alone...
The states would come back together...
Slavery ( in the USA )would have been shown in it's true light...
We as a nation would not have the racial problems we have today...
We as a nation would not be paying the taxes we pay today...

These are just a few highlights that may have happened if the 'War Criminal' pictured above did not make his ride.

Kinda makes me think of the saying

"If wishes where horses ,beggers would ride"

Edited

I have to hand it to him... his tactics have proven to be extremly effective.

Interesting. I agree with one, not the rest.

Obviously. Sherman did not cause the Civil War. He was, in fact, a junior commander at its onset.

Probably not. Once Vicksburg was taken and the Mississippi was in Union hands, the war was effectively lost for the Confederacy. Yes, it may have stretched out the war for an extra year or so, but the South was running out of men and materiel.

The Attack on Fort Sumter: 1861
The March to the Sea: 1864


Slavery was more than a 'moral' or political system; it was an economic reality. Cotton was the South's livelyhood, and slaves were needed to farm. Accordingly, with the onset of Emancipation (1863), the financial needs of the South's agricultural economy would have made any reconciliation impossible.

It was already well-established that slaves were treated harshly. After all, they were slaves.

You're right: We would have completely different ones.

You're also right: We would have totally new taxes to pay.

On topic: I love Gettysburg, and have visited it numerous times. If possible, get yourself a car guide. The guide will drive your car and take you to the site of each event in chronological order. You'll get out of the car, walk along and hear the stories, then move on to the next site. Very informal and very fascinating.

OMG, we lost nearly 2.5% of our population in the Civil War.:oops:

No, it isn't a typo. It also isn't correct.

There were 52,000 casualties, including dead, wounded and missing. The total count of lost lives was around 6,000. Still terrible, but nowhere near the number you cite.
http://gburginfo.brinkster.net/Casualties.htm

You have to love revisionist history.

:rotfl:

If you want to dismiss the people who have spent that kind of time doing that kind of research as "revisionist", then I guess you must know something the rest of us don't.

Please, by all means, show me the real numbers, sources, references and proof.

Perhaps it takes more research on my behalf. I'll look into it. Including James McPherson's work.