Don't be so passionate about the Civil War

Yeah right! I know of few subjects that people are more passionate about than the American Civil War. If you ever visited any of the forums on the net, you know what I'm talking about. Since you are here, you are more than likely passionate, too. You are probably already wondering where this jerk is going with this.

People still take sides on the war as if we were still fighting, as if their kin were still in the army. Many from the North will pick Grant as the greatest general. People from the South say it's Lee. Oh yes, they can find the facts to back up their opinions, too. I call it, "Facts based on hard opinion."

This is all good, and everyone has an opinion, right? We know what they are like. In fact, it's kinda fun to get worked up over it.

I took a buddy to the Shiloh Battlefield. He knew very little about the battle or the war. I explained things as best I could as we roamed about--being the expert that I am. We are both from Arkansas, and he kept saying things like, "If Johnston hadn't been killed, I bet 'we' would have won the battle," and "Forrest must have turned out to be 'our' best general." I reminded him that one of his grandfathers didn't come to America until the early 1900's. I told him if he researched, he would probably find ancesters that were Yankees, so it's hard to know what side "we" were on. The war was lost or won almost a century and half ago, and frankly friends, many of our ancesters liked to travel after--ask the Western Native-Americans.  You and I probably have Rebs and Yanks in our history.

I think we can get a lot better understanding if we take our "uniforms" off and take another look at the war. I have no problem saying Grant was one of the best generals our country has ever seen; his record speaks for itself. Lincoln, in my opinion, is the top reason the North won. He bent, broke, and snapped the rules and laws because that is what it took. He stayed the course. Shelby Foote said the war created two geniuses, Lincoln and Forrest. I agree. They learned on the job--they mastered the job.

There is plenty to debate: Did the South have the right to leave the Union? Was slavery doomed anyway, even without the war? Was the war really started because of slavery? Was Grant a butcher? It goes on and on. However, let us remember we are all Americans when we look and study the history. There is no CSA.

By no means am I saying not to have lively debate and argument--far from it. However, I believe the debate would be better served if we gave opinions based on facts, not facts based on opinions because of bias blinders.

If you really want to have fun and love to argue the Civil War, check out forums like Civil War Talk and Civil War Interactive . I may even be there to debate you on who was the greatest general of the war. We all know it was Patrick Cleburne, because he was from Helena Arkansas. See, I have an opinion, too.