| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
Just tuned in a public TV show about Tennessee... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Carlos_Buell | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
Would be cooler if he wasn't a Yankee...  | ||
| Whisperstealth |
RED, He was hardly what you could really consider a hard core "Yankee". After reading the Wiki page, it looks like he did his job, and nothing extra at all. Was very good to southern citizens, and punished his men, who weren't. | ||
| Aptbldr |
+1, "... nothing extra at all." Struck me, too; how much the entry describes routine soldier (if serving thru Shiloh is routine). Kentucky was notorious for straddling the fence. 30 years ago Hoosiers considered KY a Southern State. Rebel troops attacked Indiana across the Ohio River during Civil War! | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
He was from Ohio and wore a blue uniform... But yes, it would have been nice if other Union officers (Sherman) and soldiers had acted with a bit more propriety like Maj Gen Buell exhibited. | ||
| Seanp |
Buell moved his army slowly and too deliberately, arriving later at Pittsburg Landing than he might have if he'd been more aggressive. It's no wonder he was friends with McClellan. Sherman was simply trying to convince the citizens of the South that they had brought this war upon themselves, and that they had the power to end this war. He personally had no animosity towards Southerners, though they feel like he did, (and many "Lost Cause" southerners still hate Sherman.) Sherman's campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas was extremely successful and helped to end the war more quickly than it might have otherwise. | ||
| 86129squids |
Cool, guys- most folks think Friday or Saturday nite TV has nothing to offer- I get 3 public channels with my converter (no cable, satellite, nuthin), and on Saturday nites they're doing some cool shows about TN. Last weekend they aired a documentary on Popcorn Sutton (RIP), showed him and a buddy hand-building a moonshine still by a mountain spring! Got the VHS to record that one...  Carry on... | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
Yep, a scorched earth policy is rarely indicative of any animosity towards one's foes. While attending the U. Of South Carolina I learned about how the iron street lamps melted into puddles from the heat in downtown Columbia when Sherman burned the city to the ground. Yes, many Southerners will never forget Sherman's march to the sea, and it won't be remembered as a humanitarian act by someone pointing out the error of our ways | ||
| Seanp |
Ahh, the famed burning of Columbia. That always seems to come up as evidence of Sherman's animosity towards the South. Yet, it was not any direct order from Sherman, and may even have been set by retreating Rebels trying to mask their withdrawal from the city. Even if it was an act of the Union Soldiers, it was not an official act of vengeance, and not condoned by Sherman. The only burning he proscribed was to destroy militarily-significant buildings and depots. You should read Sherman's memoirs to get a glimpse into what he was thinking with his "scorched earth" policy across the South. But I doubt Sherman's memoirs are worth much at the University of South Carolina. I can't wait to teach the Civil War again this year. I always get a few cadets who have only ever heard what they got from their parents or their high school history class, and have never really looked into the primary source material. Of course, there are still a few left at the end of the semester who think the war was about states' rights, and that Robert E. Lee was the greatest general of the war. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
You also have to view the context of a civil war differently than a war of conquest. Scorched earth policies aren't viewed as harshly when the earth isn't yours. I viewed Sherman's policies as similar to the campaign for the Japanese mainland. While the scorched earth of both Japan and the south were locally horrendous, both saved lives in the long run by helping to bring the war to a faster ending. Lee would have much less willing to surrender later had the resources back home been available to regroup. As a Jayhawk born southerner, I don't blame Sherman. The south would have done the same thing given the capacity. The south failed to press the initial advantage and allowed the north to regroup. | ||
| Redbuelljunkie |
As with most things in life, opinions vary based upon one's point of view. And yes, most of my life I have heard it referred to as "The War of Northern Aggression". And no, most don't believe it was about slavery, nor does anyone I know condone slavery- then or now. |
