On April 12th of this week the United States had the 150 year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. All over the South there have been remembrances. Here in Washington DC there are no less than 12 different exhibits in the Smithsonian. A lot to see and take in.
I have been watching Ken Burns epic on the Civil War with my parents every night. It is one of the best series I have ever seen. It is so real you can almost smell the gunpowder and hear the men's cries. Such a moving experience. These simple men, farmers, grocers, carpenters wrote home so eloquently. It brought tears to my eyes.
So. that is where I have been all week. Immersing myself in a lot of history. I have visited most of the Civil War battlefields. My parents would take my brother and I when we were kids. When my boys were old enough I began to take them. Some are breathe taking. Others just small little memorials of another time. The writer, Shelby Foote brings them alve in his books.
In my travels lately I have been visiting some of the battlefields and many of the cities that these battles took place in. They look so much different when you see them from an adult point of view. In many you can not see hardly a trace. In others they bare their scars well. I have enjoyed myself so much...yet have this deep sadness when I see the photographs of some of these soldiers. A war we should never forget. A war to learn somthing from.
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5 comments:
Posting a comment yet again! If you are seeing Ken Burns' "Civil War" for the first time, I envy you. It is so completely engrossing and Shelby Foote was a fabulous story teller. I feel so old. As a youngster, I had a civil war themed party in 1961, the bi-centennial of the start of the civil war. And now it's 50 years later!
only saw a bit of the K.B. series, but how sad & tragic...very well done though. thanks for the wonderful vintage photos! I always enjoy the photos, both old & new, that you share.
this was a wonderful series..should be seen by everyone!
I grew up in the south...this war will never be forgotten and I am hopefully the racism will evaporate... I think I may be dreaming. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
So much of my family are from the south. As I research their history, I find so many of the men are in the fighting, and some died. To forget this Civil War would be for me, forgetting about family. I think when you find names and even faces of the men and the families, they become very real. I wish that in these so called modern times we were learning more from this Civil War.
Mary
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