Yes -- that's the song.

There's much about that period of history which is badly misunderstood today, and there's much to be said about it.  I don't have the time to delve extensively into the subject -- but I'll say briefly:

1.  There was an unfortunate eagerness for war in the South at the time......from people who little seemed to realize precisely what such a war would entail.

2.  Sherman was right in his pre-war estimation of the South's inability to win a protracted war with the North.  It was simply a matter of logistics: the North could afford to lose troops, and the South could not.  Grant basically won his battles by throwing men & material into a meat grinder, and then using his advantages in men & supplies to win battles.  The strategy worked, but at an awful cost.  The resulting casualties were horrendous on both sides.  Regardless of the brilliant generalship of Lee -- he simply couldn't overcome the overwhelming logistical problems involved.  The South's best chance for real victory was at Gettysburg........but certain critical breaks went against Lee.  Like the untimely death of Stonewall Jackson, who was accidentally shot by his own men shortly before -- and the enigmatic & controversial unavailability of J.E.B. Stuart during the battle.

Myself........I personally believe that Providence has a hand in the affairs of men.

3.  Men like Lee who wanted to emancipate the slaves should have been listened to.  They weren't.

4.  It was a cultural war as much as a war for other reasons.  And it wasn't any fun regardless of which side you were on.

5.  There were sterling heroes and totally vile men represented on both sides.  While still other men had mixed personal characters.....self-sacrificing and good at one time, and self-serving and evil at other times.  It all has something to do with the inherent contradictions of human nature.

6.  The last Confederate brigadier general to surrender his arms was a Native American, a full-blooded Cherokee named Stand Watie.  He was the only Native American to achieve such high rank on either side during the war.

There were reasons why the Indian Nations largely allied themselves with the Confederacy......a fact which is often forgotten or glossed over today.  Contemporary prints of western-theater battles at the time show the Confederate troops largely dressed in full traditional Native American garb -- because that's who those troops were mostly composed of.

7.  Many of the famous Union generals from the war years went on to serve out not-so-heroic careers after the war was over.  A number of them spent the remainder of their careers wiping out Native American tribes -- while others went on to be implicated in various political scandals.  Not all of them: but a fair number of them.

8.  Abraham Lincoln was a truly great man.  Jefferson Davis was a mediocre cipher.

9.  The South lost the war due to the turmoil of its own chaotic internal politics more than it lost the war on the battlefield.

There's a lot to learn from the study of history.

Something To Do At 3:00AM