Lies About the U.S. Civil War 150 Years Later

Warph · May 10, 2011, 07:58:44 PM

Lies About the U.S. Civil War 150 Years Later
by David Swanson 04-12-2011)

Tuesday (April 12, 2011 past) marks 150 years since the start of the U.S. Civil War. Newspapers everywhere are proclaiming it the deadliest war in U.S. history, the costliest U.S. war in terms of the loss of human life. That claim, like most things we say about the Civil War, is false. ( It was the deadliest War for American Lives Lost in our history... Warph)

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/04/12/lies-about-the-u-s-civil-war-150-years-later/

Sarge · May 11, 2011, 08:06:54 AM

That is a very good article making some very good and accurate points.

Humpy · May 11, 2011, 09:48:32 AM

I read the article by David Swanson and come to the conclusion that he is very much ignorant not about just the Civil War but several other things.
"We now ,in the United States,imprison more people of African descent than were enslaved here at the time of the Civil War,and it is national policies completely out of the control of the American people ,that control that mass incarceration"
What a statement. They are in the prison system because they did the crime. Not because of race. This comment borders on stupid .
The little line about the soldiers in combat " Many simply reloaded their guns over and over again,fetched supplies for others,or laying in the dirt". He needs to study up on that one. I suggest reading some of Gary Gallagher's books ,or Shelby Foote's books .
He wants to wonk on the number of soldiers killed by comparing the Civil war to other wars. There were almost as many causalities at Gettysburg in three days (actually 2 1/2) of fighting as in all of Vietnam . We are comparing American death not others .
IMHO a sorry article to be written for a veterans mag. Ya can't get away from the liberal white guilt slant any more .
Never mind states rights (art.10 ) any more. Just concentrate on political correct and revisionist history .
As far as the "emancipation proclimation". It wasn't just for the boarder states. It was for all the states in secession . The slavery in the North was still valid.
Mr Swanson states that California and Vermont would be great places to live if they were allowed to secede .A guest on a program I was watching the other evening was asked about commerce,and if ihe thought China was still communist. His reply? California is more communist than China.
Kinda long winded,but I am about to retire and want to begin gettin involved in our local doings,politics and conservations. Although I have been around since 1988 .I have been remiss about inter action with the community.My apology .

Sarge · May 11, 2011, 03:41:59 PM

Absolutely Humpy, the author did have some skewed items in that article. He did say that the emancipation proclamation only affected those states that had succeeded and did not apply to the border states, I think you just misread that or I misread it, now I'll have to go back and make sure. As far as casualties, he was referring to everyone, not just Americans. As far as Americans, yes the Civil War did have the highest casualties. The bit about incarceration in our prisons, well that was a ridiculous statement and you are right about that, the people who do the crimes are the ones in prison. Now, there were many Civil War soldiers that died with several loads jammed on top of each other which can be attributed to many factors. For some, it was fear and adrenalin, for some, it was because the main charge didn't go off which the soldier may not be aware of in heated battle. There were many more soldiers that died and lived in battle with hot gun barrels than there were that had multiple loads in their rifle. Also I'm sure some curled up in the dirt scared to death, it happens, and in the next battle the very same person may be the one that leads the charge. You don't know what you will do in that situation until you are in it. I'm sure there are many states that would be pleasant to live in if allowed to succeed, but I don't think Kalifornia or Vermont would be one of them.

Humpy · May 12, 2011, 07:17:19 AM

Sarge people also forget about the tens of thousands that died of dysentery and disease,especially in the POW camps like Andersonville .

Sarge · May 12, 2011, 08:37:41 AM

Absolutely! The POW camps of both sides were overcrowded,underfunded, filthy establishments. Also many died in the field from diseases and the surgical procedures of the day killed many more. The old song "Soldier's Joy" refers to an opium concoction given to surgical patients for pain. Many survived the surgeons table to spend their life addicted to opium.