The Blue and The Gray...

On Saturday, the kids and I got a chance to watch a Civil War battle re-enactment.  What a gorgeous day!  Weather was sunny and in the 60's.  All the new leaves were coming out on the trees and the world was feeling fresh.

The costumes were beautiful, and if I concentrated really hard, I could imagine how it might have really been...you know, back then.

As we watched the troops advancing on each other, and men (pretending to be) falling dead after (fake) gunshots, I thought to myself, "This REALLY happened."  Men actually got close enough to one another to see the faces of the men they were killing.  They watched the life go out of them. 

But what struck me even more was that these men stood eye to eye with not just possible-death, because the odds were greater than 50/50, I'm sure, but eye to eye with the almost certain prospect of death.  What did they think of as they awaited the next volley of gun-fire--waiting to see if this round would take them out?  Did they think of home, a sweetheart left behind, their families?  And just what gave them the strength and the inner fortitude to keep pressing in on the enemy, closer and closer until it was eye to eye and hand to hand?  Was it the courage of their convictions that what they were fighting for was TRUE and RIGHT?

I didn't know until yesterday, that the Civil War claimed more lives than all of the wars that the United States has fought since that time...put together.  It claimed upwards of 600,000 lives.  Some experts say closer to 700,000. 

And of course the whole thing left me thinking about how differently war is fought now than then.  For example, the way they advanced upon each other in an organized way, the stationary cannons, the flag carriers, all of that seems so risky and personal, compared to the long-distance bombs, land mines, and air-raids that later wars have utilized.  It seems to me it must be easier in many ways to launch the long-distance missiles than it was to actually look a man in the eyes as your bayonet pierced his flesh.  I'm not sure yet how I feel about all of that or if I even need to have an opinion, but it has caused me to think, anyway (don't say it...I already know...it's dangerous!!!).

So now my plan is to delve a little deeper into the Civil War era with the kids.  But first, I think I'm gonna watch Gone With The Wind one more time!