It is made of paper!

I've never participated in anything like this but............the author does seem to focus on Lee a bit....maybe it's due to the large role he played or simply because we all know of him? I'm well beyond the forward of the book, I don't want to get ahead of the discussion.

I do know that I'm enjoying the way the book reads, as I said earlier I thought it would be more like reading a history text book.

I'm trying to keep all the characters straight and think I should break out my pink highlighter, since I'm supposed to intelligently discuss what I'm reading.

 

They have plenty at Barnes & Nobles.

 

According to the author, Lee, the great leader of the army of the South, does not own slaves or believe in slavery. "He does not believe the Negro 'in the present stage of development' can be considered the equal of the white man." (Foreword, page x) Is this the typical view of the Southerner in the late 1800s? Racist by todays standards, in the Civil war south, I would imagine this view was down right progressive. Yet this man fought so hard and well for the "slave states" that he almost carries the cause of rebellion.

 

I may have to resort to that. None of my 'civil war buff' buddies are coming thru....even though we sat through the 4 hour Gods and Generals movie together.

 

Lee knows that Davis has prepared a letter of peace to present to Lincoln the day after Lee "destroys the army of the Potomac."(forward page xi) Imagine riding into battle, leading a corps of over 70,000 men, knowing that your victory is required to end the suffereing on both sides.

 

Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.

 

Just to get thing started, let me quote the second paragraph of the foreward.

"It was an army of seventy thousand men. They are rebels and volunteers. They are mostly unpaid and usually self-equipped. It is an army of remarkable unity, forghting for disunion. It is Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Though there are many men who cannot read or write, they all speak English. They share common customs and a common faith and they have been consistently victorious against superior numbers."

What a powerful picture that paragraph paints of the Confederate army. Pick up the tone of the narrative. The author speaks lovingly and respectfully of the southern army.

Next read the paragraph about Lee.

"An honest man, a gentleman. He does not drink or smoke or gamble or chase women. He does not read novels or plays; he thinks they weaken the mind....He is a man in control. He does not lose his temper nor his faith; he never complains."

Again, look at the picture he is painting of Robert E. Lee. Notice the tone of the narrative.

 

It is interesting about the "these men wore blue" description. Each individual had to make a choice, do I choose to wear blue, or gray. It is interesting to think about how they came to their "decision". For Lee, Shaara states that "he loves Virginia above all", and so chooses to wear gray, as he puts the state above the union. As to why, not sure yet.

Shaara describes the characters initially with adjectives based upon the battle results to date. Just prior to Gettysburg, in December, the Union Army was pretty whipped at Fredericksburg. The confidence carried by the Confederate Army is evident in the adjectives used by Shaara to describe the southern leaders, as well as the dejection/demoralization carried by the troops/leaders of the Union Army.

 

The Union chooses one bad leader after another. How could the troops not be demoralized?

 

Agree, they have lost faith with their leaders, "but not in themselves".