Day two, Chapter four, Chamberlain.

We read in detail the Battle of Little Round Top from the perspective of Chamberlain. Others are focused on Lee and his story. I find Chamberlain to be the most interesting character of the bunch. A professor who is now a colonel. There is a slight condecension in the tone of other colonels when they speak to him. He is here on principle. He has trouble with the heat. He has trouble with the men. He is being held in reserve it would seem, until Sickles moves his men of the high ground.

If Lee is the tragic hero, the Chamberlain is the super hero. Mild mannered professor by day, battle winning warrior by night.

What did you think if the battle description? If this was your first read, or if you can remember your first read (and didn't already know the details of the battle) what did you think Chamberlain would do when he was told his company was out of ammunition?

 

You know, I find myself becoming depressed as I read through the thoughts/etc. that people are having in reading this book which is, by the way, fiction (even though it is based on historical fact). It is still fiction. Fact is that my family's history was burned to the ground in a courthouse fire during the Civil War, a fire set to simply destroy a little town where there was no real need for burning and pillaging. Fact is that 257 teenagers from Virginia Military Institute went to fight at New Market, 50+ were wounded and ten were killed and these were just children (teens), but they won that battle. Probability is that Lee made the decision to surrender probably from watching so many die, so many becoming ill and hungry and probably because he heard of the brutalization of Savannah, Atlanta and so many parts of the south that were simply brutally destroyed by the savage actions of soldiers determined to either win or lay waste to the countryside. The fact is no one was a winner. The fact is the war wasn't actually won. The fact is Lee surrendered to put an end to the horror of it all. Another fact is, there are parts of the south where if I were a northerner, I wouldn't go. Tempers flare and anger erupts when the Civil War is mentioned and that little, "hell no we ain't forgetting" is true. General Lee is still a hero in these parts and a fact is if you decide to visit the south, you should remember that fact.

Edit: By the way, just in case I wasn't clear: as is so often the case, fact-based fiction becomes believed as actual history. The thoughts, feelings, etc. of these various soldiers is pure conjecture and is not factual history. If you want to know the real facts, then you need to do research and study pure history, not base your beliefs on a work of fiction.

 

^^ Nice post, Val.

For a bit of color:
As is well known, <The Battle Hymn of the Republic> was written as an anthem of the North, and the pre-war <Dixie> became a rallying song for the South. There was, of course, many an extra verse... I'll just enter a couple of them here...

Dixie
First Verse (Daniel Emmet)

I wish I was in the land of cotton,
old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
In Dixie land where I was born in,
early on a frosty mornin',
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.

Chorus:

Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.
........

Dixie's Land (Southern Civil War lyrics)

Southrons, hear your country call you!
Up! Lest worse than death befall you!
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
Lo! The beacon fire's lighted!
Let our hearts be now united!
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!

Chorus:

Advance the flag of Dixie!
Hurrah! Hurrah!
For Dixie's land we'll take our stand
to live or die for Dixie!
To arms! To arms!
And conquer peace for Dixie!

And:

How the South's great heart rejoices
at your cannons' ringing voices!
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
For faith betrayed and pledges broken,
wrongs inflicted, insults spoken.
To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie!
...

A Northern verse ?

Away down south in the land of traitors,
Rattlesnakes and alligators,
Right away, come away, right away, come away.
Where cotton's king and men are chattels,
Union boys will win the battles,
Right away, come away, right away, come away.

Chorus:

Then we'll all go down to Dixie, away, away,
Each Dixie boy must understand,
That he must mind his Uncle Sam,
Away, away, and we'll all go down to Dixie.
Away,away, and we'll all go down to Dixie.
...

Earlier comments mention the prevalence and functions of music on the battlefields and on the campaigns...

I'm sure we'll soon be singin' some of these songs together at Gettysburg!

 

My +1 often teases me and calls me his "barefoot southern bride" (because I prefer bare feet to shoes and duh, I'm southern). I love it. I have a little book that is called, HAVING IT Y'ALL, (the official handbook for citizens of the South and those who wish they were). It was written by Ann Barrett Batson and is meant to be a little comedic, but it really hits the nail on the head. I'll just quote a little paragraph here and if any of you are interested in more, I'd highly recommend you buy the book. It is a bit of a profile of what it means to be a southerner:

[QUOTE]It's a universal truth that Southerners are just downright different from everybody else.

 

[QUOTE=valentine,Sep 14 2006, 07:28 AM] You know, I find myself becoming depressed as I read through the thoughts/etc. that people are having in reading this book which is, by the way, fiction (even though it is based on historical fact).

 

^^ I understand that. It appears as if in the discussion it is being assumed that this is a study in actuality and not in fiction. As I stated earlier in the beginning, the Civil War and its aftermath, etc. has been "in my face" all my life and its just always been a part of life here. To dwell on these historical figures and put myself in their shoes/look through their eyes, etc. is not pleasant to me. I'm not sure I want to engage in feeling what they felt. We'll start the movie soon and I'll try to simply view it and not think a lot about it. I think I'll leave this analysis to those of you who can be dispassionate.

 

I'm with Deb. I'm into my second reading of the book and we have watched the movie. For me, it will all come together and have great meaning, when I'm actually there next month.

You folks are too deep for me. I am, however, enjoying your discussion and will keep lurking.

 

It's gonna be great listening to LB and Rob sing Dixie for us

 

For those who are really 'into' the history of the events at Gettysburg, I suggest a return to the battefield on Sunday...especially for those who are staying over on Sunday night. I'll have more to say about this in the next week or so....

 

Their minds are wired differently. Lee sees an opportunity to win here and now, Longstreet sees an opportunity to win at a later date. Both are thinking win. Lee using Napoleonic tactics, maneuver. Longstreet using his defensive strategy. If the end result can be a win, fight now, attack.

I see no challenge to Longstreet's courage. Longstreet was a warrior. Heck, even Lee had to almost beg him to stay back from the front lines, leading his troops. Neither Lee/Longstreet feared their deaths, same thing for many Union generals/troops. Fredericksburg is weighing heavily on Longstreet's mind, and role reversal. But, he is the loyal confidant of Lee, second in command. No choice but to attack as ordered. Though he does feel the smarter plan is to go around to the right, no question. I doubt he felt any better knowing he was right. His cause was victory, afterall.