Comments on: Gettysburg And Gridlock

By: Michale

Michale — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 21:21:52 +0000

David,

And yeah, I'm a nerd.

I think that, if there is ONE common thread that binds all Weigantians, THAT would be it... :D

Michale

By: akadjian

akadjian — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:09:14 +0000

This effort avoided solving the problem, by instead postponing it as long as humanly possible -- by extending the political gridlock. Right or wrong though this effort may have been, when you contemplate 50,000 dead in three days, you can begin to understand the motivations for the politicians back then who agreed to engineer such monumental gridlock for such a long period.

Great article, Chris!

This is one of my favorites as it highlights why I'm a big fan- you're able to link the past to the present so well!

In particular, I loved this paragraph. It reminded me of plate tectonics. If the pressure keeps building up, eventually it releases in geological violence of some sort!

And yeah, I'm a nerd. A nerd that is jealous because I haven't been to Gettysburg. Adding it to the list.

-David

By: Chris Weigant

Chris Weigant — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 22:29:48 +0000

db -

Allowing settlement, when the Settlers can't know if the territory is slave or free, seems a prescription for disaster.

Or a prescription for ideologues to move into the territories, and fight it out (and stuff ballot boxes). Must have been bizarre to have lived through it, that's for sure.

-CW

By: Chris Weigant

Chris Weigant — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 22:27:17 +0000

Michale -

I, too, went to Gettysburg as a kid, on a school field trip. I guess what struck me the most was that so much ammunition was fired that people still routinely found rounds just by looking down at the ground, in places. That's a lot of ammo.

Don't remember if I visited Ball's Bluff as a kid. Antietam is the most sobering Civil War spot, I think, for me. Most deaths in a single day...

-CW

By: Michale

Michale — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:38:11 +0000

Hawk, No elaborate comment, but did want to offer a "Thanks" for reminding me of Ball's Bluff. I remember visiting there many years ago and feeling it was the most "personal" of all the sites I'd visited with my kids. You could look down at the river and easily, vividly, imagine soldiers scrambling, struggling to get up the bluff and how they would have fallen if hit by fire. Thanks, indeed ~ Hawkowl I'de gladly take the credit, but it was DB who brought up Ball's Bluff Battlefield.. Michale

By: Hawk Owl

Hawk Owl — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:03:56 +0000

Michale, No elaborate comment, but did want to offer a "Thanks" for reminding me of Ball's Bluff. I remember visiting there many years ago and feeling it was the most "personal" of all the sites I'd visited with my kids. You could look down at the river and easily, vividly, imagine soldiers scrambling, struggling to get up the bluff and how they would have fallen if hit by fire. Thanks, indeed ~ Hawkowl

By: db

db — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 10:53:41 +0000

CW, The Kansas-Nebraska Act & it's concept of "Popular Sovereignty" has always struck me as the starting point of the war. Allowing settlement, when the Settlers can't know if the territory is slave or free, seems a prescription for disaster. Michale, Agree, but there are many battlefields that give you that sense of history. The most disturbing National Cemetery for me is at the Ball's Bluff Battlefield. It is small, only 22 graves, but one soldier & 21 "Unknown" hit me harder that the larger sites.

By: Michale

Michale — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 09:47:34 +0000

For anyone who hasn't (or anyone who has, for that matter) a trip to Gettysburg is a must..

The only way to describe my trip there is eerily profound.. You actually FEEL the history of the place..

And, considering I was a gangly nerdy kid of 15, that says a lot..

Michale