Hi all,
Can any war be called civil? I'm not questioning reasons for going to war, but the idea of calling any war a civil war.
I'm into research on my WIP, working title ... THE QUAKER AND THE CONFEDERATE ... and so, understandably, I'm into research of the Civil War, 1860-65. In particular, I'm interested in what happened in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is a far more complicated task than I imagined, but the most interesting thing to date is that I'm learning how much I don't know about the Civil War in the very state where I was born!
The devil is ever in the details, is it not? In historical romance, to me your book stands or falls on the details. So ... the details have to be as close to perfect as you can get! Well, because both the Union and the Confederacy marched their troops back and forth over Virginia soil countless times, and because many Virginians refused to secede and separated into the state of West Virginia ... allegiance is often blurred in matters of war. I'm "here to learn" and so I shall ever try, try, try ... to get it all right.
My head and heart this morning, as I'm reading letters written by Confederate soldiers to their families, et al, are bent on the idea of any war being called a Civil War, much less OUR CIVIL WAR! In reading the pained details of the daily lives of the soldiers ... not just how they tried to survive battle, but how horrific their daily lives actually were ... rife with measles, mumps, sore throats, blisters, hunger, thirst, exposure to elements, et al ... not to mention seeing your friend's arm and shoulder point blown off or passing ill, fallen, lagging-behind soldiers along the roadways ... I'm struck by the reality that the life of a soldier during the Civil War was not at all civil. Their daily lives were a struggle and a hardship, even before the enemy was met. Brother fought against brother in some instances, friend against friend.
While the purpose for which each side fought was often known only to the individual soldier, the frey into which they all marched was the most uncivil time in our nation's still-young history. There was one civil moment ... when Lincoln, for political & economic purpose perhaps ... signed the Emancipation Proclamation ... and later the 13th amendment passed ... marking the official end of slavery. That was a civil act, indeed, in a most uncivil war.
Even now in our country we're engaged in yet another battle where friend disagrees with friend, and brother disagrees with brother. Our country is in a great divide. It is a difficult time. I'm once again reminded that war is anything but civil.
Until next time ...
Jo(anne) Gregg Sundell
http://www.joannesundell.com/
The Parlor House Daughter, 12/08
Meggie's Remains, 7/09
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