I can't believe the courage these leaders had to go into battle. I think that my favorite Confederate leader is Longstreet. He was sensible, yet knew his place. He was never going to go against Lee. He was saddened by his own actions, " couldn't even quit. Even that is not allowed."
I had always thought of Lee as a great leader. Longstreet described, "the man brought strength with his presence: doomed and defeated, he brought nonetheless a certain majesty." I think differently now about him.
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I have often wondered how the soldiers had the courage to willing march towards the guns of the enemy. About a year ago, I saw a show on the History Channel where they talked about this very idea. They were interviewing a historian to ask this question and he stated that in many cases during these battles, the soldiers were standing right next to family members and close friends, all of whom were fighting together. So you would have a brother on one side and father on the other side and your best friend right behind you as you all marched into the battle together. I began to see that courage was not an absence of fear, but a desire to protect your family and friends. I don't think that they got over being scared, but their desire to watch out for friends and family took over and led them on.
ReplyDeleteLarry,
ReplyDeleteThat does change things a bit. I knew family members were involved but didn't connect that as the reason for going in to fight with such bleak odds. They weren't just willing to risk their own lives, they were trying to watch out for their family and friends.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tui, that realizing that these men and women were fighting for their loved ones and had the courage to fight even though the odds were against them. That is the true meaning of a hero to me.
Sharon.
Thanks for the insight, Larry. That kind of puts a new twist of thought in it for me. I had been thinking about the family against family and friend against friend scenerios, and wow, that would be a hard one. Now your thoughts add to the difficulty of the entire situation of the war and fighting. How sad, how sad, and how incredible the spirits and determination of these men really were.
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