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"War is hell broke loose and benumbs all the tender feelings in
men and makes them brutes."
--Cyrus Boyd, 15th Iowa
We often think of the Civil War in
terms of tactics, troop movements, and logistics. We hear the voices of the
politicians, the generals, the lower echelons of commanders, and the
soldiers--and those voices need to be heard and digested.
However, within the war years there
are voices we seldom hear--yet, these voices need to be heard, too. We are
familiar with pictures, sketches, and paintings that can conjure up feelings and
emotions--nationalistic or pacifistic or otherwise.
"Genuine sentiments"
of the beginning of the Civil War are depicted in two
 paintings.
Tennessee artist
Gilbert Gaul's piece shows a Southern youth in his prime bidding farewell to
home and hearth.
Philadelphia native
George Lambdin crafted "The Consecration--1861".
Both are laced with
courage and acceptance of duty as well as acceptance from family or loved
ones. Both tend to portray negatively those who would shirk their
patriotic duty.
So also, the poet,
the hymn writer, and the preacher contributed to the feelings
associated with this conflict. Their written, spoken, and sung works inspired the educated as well as
the uneducated, and their works reflected their ideals and beliefs.
Perhaps, in their
own way, they were the "snake oil salesmen (and women)" of their day, as
they sought to convince others of the "rightness" of their cause and the
"wrongness" of the other side. But not all were so polarizing. There were those who simply lamented the
terrible human cost of the war and those who blamed "others" (other persons,
policies, and even God) for their country's and their personal misfortunes.
It is on these
largely unheard--and perhaps relatively unknown--voices I will focus.
These pages are a
work in progress, the destination of which I do not know for sure. I am open to
receiving comments on this work. By clicking on the email, please be a voice
that is heard!
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