Never (to all appearances) had the country been so well off. Yet what one actually saw in that state was the hustle and excitement of boom times. Pennsylvania had put 150,000 men into uniform, and by now a good many of them had gone under the sod, whether with or without appropriate graveside ceremonies. It destroyed and wasted, and wherever the armies had gone “the desolation has become almost complete,” but back home it was not like that at all. "Returning to his regiment in the fall of 1862 after a furlough in his home city of York, the chaplain of the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry looked at the ravaged Virginia countryside and noted in his diary that war was very mysterious. Here is the way he opens his recounting of the battle of Gettysburg, a pivotal point in this war.
What is clear to me is that he is one of those rare historians who can both synthesize facts and write with both competence and flair. There has been plenty of praise and criticism heaped on Catton’s history of the Civil War it has been one of the most widely read accounts. I have paid my respects when near a significant site such as Ground Zero or Hastings or Waterloo or in this case Gettysburg. I am not an “aficianado” of wars even though I have read some of the great battle storytellers from Homer through O’Brian and Cornwell. What is clear to me is that he is one of tho Preface - Wars seem to be part of the human condition. Preface - Wars seem to be part of the human condition. Previous library review: Conceived in Liberty Civil War dual biography Newer review: The Emancipation of Color in modern art Previous review: Fischer/Spassky the New York Times' report on the chess match of the century To these girls who had been nowhere and who had all their lives before them this was the first of all the roads of the earth, and to many of the young men who marched off under the moon it was the last of all the roads. There was the long white road in the moonlight, with the small town girls laughing and crying in the shadows, and the swaying ranks of the young men waving to them and moving on past them. the Colonel mused aloud: "There could be worse fates that to die fighting here in Pennsylvania, with that flag waving overhead". as the colors went by (Vincent) took off his hat, and he sat there quietly, watching the flags moving on in the silver light. took his men through a little town, where the moonlight lay bright in the street, and in every doorway there were girls waving flags and cheering. there was a stir in the air, and the first faint tug had been felt from the line that had been thrown into Gettysburg, a quiet hint that something was apt to pull the whole army together on those long ridges and wooded hills. There was a bright moon that night, and most of the army kept to the road long after the sun had gone down.
#GLORY ROADMOVIE FULL#
This was on June 30, the night before the full moon of July 1. This is from chapter 3, "White Road in the Moonlight", at its very end, describing Colonel Strong Vincent leading a brigade of the V Corps up into Pennsylvania to reinforce Buford at Gettysburg. To give an idea of the Catton's moving style, I will simply offer an extended quote. The second part to Bruce Catton's outstanding trilogy, covering the period from the autumn of 1862 to the battle of Gettysburg in July of '63. Another veteran recalled, "There is nothing like it this side of the infernal region, and the peculiar corkscrew sensation that it sends down your backbone under these circumstances can never be told." It is nothing like a hurrah, but rather a regular wildcat screech.". A Federal surgeon wrote after the war, "I have never, since I was born, heard so fearful a noise as a Rebel yell. Another veteran recalled, "There is nothing like it this side of the infernal region, and the peculiar corkscrew sensation that it sends down your backbone under these circumstances can never be told." Across the open field, shaken by the blast of many guns, there rose the high unearthly keen of the Rebel yell. Across the open field, shaken by the blast of many guns, there rose the high unearthly keen of the Rebel yell.
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