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10 Best Novels About the Civil War
06-17-2014, 12:57 PM
Post: #27
RE: 10 Best Novels About the Civil War
I loved Gettysburg and Glory, too. I instinctively recognized the characters portrayed, but then, I am a Civil War nut from an early age, as was my next door neighbor pal, and I can still tell you what regiments fought in what brigades and in what division and in what corps. Heck, I used to go to the Official Records between classes in college and hand-write my own booklets of the orders of battle for fun. Nothing would anger me more than when a thoughtless reader would cut those sections out of books with a razor, so I did an end run with my booklets. Often I can tell you off the top of my head where the spoken word came from, be it reports or diaries or memoirs, in the movie or Shaara's book, Killer Angels. I am my own footnote!

But what I saw and fascinated me most was the great visual portrayal of how the soldiers maneuvered on the field, what we now call close order drill, and the portrayal of the devastating fire of the cannons, which acted as giant shotguns taking down men by the dozens. It took real courage or foolhardiness, depending on one's point of view, to walk and run at the enemy with nothing to protect you but a woolen shirt or uniform jacket. Your only salvation was that most weapons were single shot and the reloading time saved many a soul.

The Civil War was but one step removed from the real slaughter of WW I with the machine gun. Indeed WW I was the first time there were more combat casualties in a war instead of disease being the great killer, as it was in our Civil War.

And yet, I know relatively little compared to those who do battlefield reenactments or guide the tourists.
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RE: 10 Best Novels About the Civil War - Wild Bill - 06-17-2014 12:57 PM

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