Signs of Hope, Mementos of Grief [News Bits]

In fact Robert W. McAyeal enlisted in the US Army on the very day the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. That's something my Catholic-priest cousin is proud of, but I'm not sure you can really infer anything from it. Could he have really known about the Proclamation on the very day it was made? Only if he happened to be near a telegraph, I guess.

Decison to enlist? You write that as if most Confederate soldiers had a choice.

Many did, but I haven't done much reading on the war in years, so I don't know how many were conscripted vs. enlisted. The South certainly relied on conscription much more than the North did. And those that did voluntarily enlist had their tours extended, often times indefinitely. Some things never change.

The motivations to fight in the war weren't much different for Confederate or Union soldiers - salvery was a political issue that didn't have much bearing on most common soldier's decision to enlist. The notion that most enlisted men in the North fought because they were opposed to salvery is one of the biggest myths surrounding the war. In fact, the Union army experienced it's greatest number of dessertions after the Emancipation Proclimation was issued.

I've never seen the Confederate memorial in question, but it does not strike me as a tribute to the Confederate "cause" but more as a monument to those that fought for reasons not all too dissimilar from those in the north.

Regarding Obama's laying a wreath on Confederate soldiers: My mother's great-grandfather fought on that side. It's not something I'm proud of, but he was from Tennessee, so I guess he didn't have much choice. Of course the Civil War ruined his family's fortunes, so it was Gone To Texas for him. On the other hand my dad's great-grandfather fought for the Union, so I'm proud of that at least.

Obama also layed a wreath to honor African-American veterans. It's been a controversy whether or not blacks fought for the Confederacy. Oddly, apparently they did. Once at the UT library I was cruising through old editions of a Huntsville, Alabama, newspaper, a place I've visited. I came across a notice for a meeting to discuss financial benefits for "Negroes" who served in the Confederate Army. At least the defunct Confederate government tried to live up to its promises to them.

Hey, great article about Donna Reed and the GIs! Where'd you find it? Say...