American History

carolinayellowdog

(3,247 posts)

6. North Carolinians were far more ambivalent than either side's accounts make it seem

Thu Jun 20, 2013, 07:16 AM

Jun 2013

My only Confederate ancestor who didn't desert within months ended up being wounded at Gettysburg and taken prisoner, ending up at Point Lookout. He survived, whereas all my NC Unionist ancestors taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville died. After the war, the Unionist majority and Confederate minority in their community went back to a semblance of normality, and now old graveyards have a mixture of tombstones from veterans of both sides.

A few years ago I looked forward to all the sesquicentennial remembrances, but the more I learn about the war the more ghastly and demoralizing the story becomes. "Brother against brother" was no exaggeration in eastern North Carolina, and terror against civilians was a constant threat for years.

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150 Years of Misunderstanding the Civil War [View all] steve2470 Jun 2013 OP

Reading that I am reminded that 50 years later intaglio Jun 2013 #1

You're thinking of WWI. Some officers didn't understand the effect of those new-fangled machine guns tclambert Jun 2013 #5

And then, of course, there was the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, Art_from_Ark Jun 2013 #7

Plus they forgot the ladders. Democracyinkind Jun 2013 #13

If they had studied the Siege of Petersburg, they would have known Fortinbras Armstrong Nov 2013 #16

Good piece Sherman A1 Jun 2013 #2

you're very welcome ! nt steve2470 Jun 2013 #3

You explained.... GTurck Jun 2013 #4

North Carolinians were far more ambivalent than either side's accounts make it seem carolinayellowdog Jun 2013 #6

There are a million fascinating accounts. Enthusiast Jun 2013 #10

Thanks for posting that..... groundloop Jun 2013 #8

This is what a Civil War chess set should look like: East Coast Pirate Jun 2013 #9

K&R!....nt Enthusiast Jun 2013 #11

Excellent piece! Thanks for posting! I was born in deep south Mississippi. When the state seceded Rowdyboy Jun 2013 #12

Conitnued training for mid and seinior level military leaders ShawnRIN Jul 2013 #14

Just my take De Leonist Nov 2013 #15

civil war mamosta May 2014 #17

Isn't this a VERY old thread to resurrect? Cooley Hurd May 2014 #18

Sometimes Google does that? Agschmid May 2014 #19

The biggest misconceptions... Al Carroll Jun 2014 #20