History: The American Civil War

Is there any specific documentary you recommend? I have watched some passively in quarantine and most have been quite dry.

I admit to not being as versed on civil war but by default and osmosis its a period that sometimes realize you know more than you do. Perhaps incorrectly. My favorite movie is the good the bad the ugly and at some point might be curious to learn more about sibleys new mexico campaign but ultimately only around my interest in the movie more so.

As for civil war of course the history classes coming up from texas history 7th grade up to university its a hammered home topic.

I find the napoleon era and his battles to be a bit of a yawner too.
that said it would be fun to talk about the civil war.

The anecdotes from quarantine that were intriguing to me about civil war:

- the entire slave culture and its situation in places like barbados and caribbean. They would separate the slaves and pit one against each other. Sick stuff. There truly was a culture of some slaves getting preferential treatment vs other slave. One slave even killed himself when master died since knew next situation would be lame with next owner. This layer is so deep and fascinating.

- people showed up to a civil war battle to watch as spectators

- they thought the civil war would be short when it started. It makes me think of now and how things can be assumed to be short and you never knew. Those entering it had no idea

- the story of lee is fascinating and arlington cemetery sits on his former property.

- its crazy how many places they were fighting

-it seems like these iron boats and that whole scene was as much them lighting a barge on fire as i can tell. Someone correct me here
- that burnside guy is a trip

* disclaimer I watch documentaries and am armchair qb on it all correct me please if applicable

 

Thanks I will look at the ken burns I may have seen it.

The battlefield and visiting idea is not one that I have thought of. Are there any nearby houston to trip to?

I know san Jacinto is near and not civil war and I still havent gone and checked it. What you think?
Other places in texas?
Those historical road signs are interesting too. You are right...in person adds an element. I was in missouri for the eclipse and those small towns there and the river make me think of that era.

But what about civil war do you like? I want to understand back story and buildup to it better. Any thoughts?

You allude to its vastness, what stories should I investigate or battles, snippets of intrigue do you like?

 

Very interested. Very uneducated.


I really am intrigued by WW2, but the Civil War intrigues too. The fact that these two major events happened so recently is crazy.


I will watch the Ken Burns documentary tomorrow night potentially, if still on Netflix. Curious to continue reading here.

 

Civil war is interesting but not relatively interesting as ww2.
I think I have seen every ww2 doc there is lol.
Recently in quarantine I find ancient history to be most interesting. I still havent done deep dive on egypt stuff.

So civil war..what you got?
It seems like the south had no chance yet union had guys like mcclellan bumbling and the south was defending their land vs attack/conquest? They say that maryland only went north because they moved troops in and occupied it?
Curious how union portrayed it as pesky insurrection to the outside nations and im unclear as to if any other nations had a dog in the fight? I dont know enough about it. All in google I know

 

For those who haven’t seen the Ken Burns documentary, the reason ppl spoof it and make fun of it is there obviously is no action footage or interviews of participants. So, much of it is narration over a pan-and-scan, zoom-in-out of coffee table books. Haha

not really riveting stuff like the must see Vietnam War documentary. But definitely a good way to get a Birdseye view (or coffee table view) of it, as starting point to continue research.

@IBTL ... I second @HTM recommendation checking out YouTube for the battle re-enactment clubs throughout the south.

At @HTM , I used to study the postbellum era / reconstruction era a lot, but not so much the actual war or period leading up to it. I would be interested in reading more bios. Thx for those suggestions.

 

My third and fourth great grandfathers were Confederate soldiers from Texas.

The rest of what I got is what I learned in school. Which is nothing.

 

Growing up, we lived in the Nashville, TN area. We attended a small church in the 80s and there would be old ladies in attendance that would tell stories about their Grandpas that actually fought. It was strange realizing how "close" in history it still was for some families. They lived in homes in Franklin that were field hospitals or even had preserved bullet holes in their walls and houses. (Battle of Franklin was a big battle that happened in that area).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Franklin_(1864)

The annals of war may long be searched for a parallel to the desperate valor of the charge of the Army of Tennessee at Franklin, a charge which has been called "the greatest drama in American history." Perhaps its only rival for macabre distinction would be Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. A comparison of the two may be of interest. Pickett's total loss at Gettysburg was 1,354; at Franklin the Army of Tennessee lost over 6,000 dead and wounded. Pickett's charge was made after a volcanic artillery preparation of two hours had battered the defending line. Hood's army charged without any preparation. Pickett's charge was across an open space of perhaps a mile. The advance at Franklin was for two miles in the open, in full view of the enemy's works, and exposed to their fire. The defenders at Gettysburg were protected only by a stone wall. Schofield's men at Franklin had carefully constructed works, with trench and parapet. Pickett's charge was totally repulsed. The charge of Brown and Cleburne penetrated deep into the breastworks, to part of which they clung until the enemy retired. Pickett, once repelled, retired from the field. The Army of Tennessee renewed their charge, time after time. Pickett survived his charge unscathed. Cleburne was killed, and eleven other general officers were killed, wounded or captured. "Pickett's charge at Gettysburg" has come to be a synonym for unflinching courage in the raw. The slaughter-pen at Franklin even more deserves the gory honor.


To put how horrible the civil war was, kids were basically fighting in their own back yards. Imagine fighting someone from New York on Westheimer, only to die in your Mom's arms in your own home.

Also among the dead was Tod Carter, the middle child of the Carter family. Having enlisted in the Confederate army three years earlier, Carter had returned to his hometown for the first time since then, only to be wounded in battle just a few hundred yards away from his own house. He was found by his family after the battle, and died early in the next day.

 

The South had two main advantages. They were mostly fighting on their home turf. You're basically talking about generational knowledge of every town, forest, river, hill in the area. Common soldiers could lay traps and surprises because they knew exactly how the land was.

They had the greatest defensive General the US has every produced. General Robert E. Lee was a master at defending positions and repelling attacks at great loss to the enemy. He was also one of the greatest field generals the US has every produced in those situations.

Some historians think: if the South had decided to make the Civil War a war of attrition and never launched a counter offensive (which Lee was not nearly as good at), they could have outlasted the will of the North to wage war. When the under manned and under equipped Southern army started moving into the teeth of heavily defended and better outfitted Northern soldiers, it was over.

 

I was a post reconstruction tutor in college. Sadly I don’t remember too much about the war itself. South had absolutely no shot because of sheer numbers but Lee and Jackson were amazing military minds.

I don’t believe any foreign nations joined the war, or even recognized the confederacy as a legitimate country.

 

They did not recognize them as a legitimate country but several nations traded with them and kind of straddled the fence because of the cotton exports.

 

At one time I was big into Shelby Foote. The guy wrote the definitive civil war trilogy. I lived in his city: memphis and actually walked past him once without knowing it in a bank.
His books are the ones I think Ken Burns drew from they are so good.

 

Here are a few period books I (not a battle kind of guy) recommend:







And of course...

 

x2 on Lincoln's Virtues. If you ARE a battle guy, there are no better, more detailed battle histories than Pfanz's two books on Gettysburg: