The years 1861-1865 were the trying years of a nation in its adolescence. Traumatic years in which brother strove against brother, and father strove against son. When not only a nation was divided, but the people and the families within that nation were divided as well. Neighbors, friends, and families whom had worked together, lived together, and worshipped together found themselves divided over questions of union and slavery, states rights and central government rights, treason and patriotism. Questions that would only be answered, and difficulties that would only be settled after four long bloody years of war and deprivation that would cost 624,511 American lives. More American lives than were lost in all the wars of the 20th century (World War I-116,516; World War 2- 405,399; Korean War- 43,891; Vietnam War- 58,167) combined.
On this blog we will look at the people that this war affected, both North and South, as well as East and West. They were great figures of historical note, as well as faceless names that wrote letters, kept diaries and journals (where I have used quotations from these sources, the spelling and grammar have been intentionally reproduced as written by their respective writers), and lived and died through this bloody turmoil we know by many names---"The War Between the States"-- "The War Against Northern Aggression"--"The Lost Cause"-- "The Brothers War"--and many more. Those people caught up in this conflict, give us a glimpse into what they felt, what they thought, and what they lived....The American Civil War.
