My small, most-admired list of people is, perhaps, a mite unusual. It includes among others, George Washington Carver, Mahatma Gandhi, George Washington, Sojourner Truth, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln. None of these folks were perfect, I’m sure, but all had some admirable qualities. Yes, of course it’s debatable — just my personal beliefs.
I’ve been reading a very interesting work of fiction titled, “Grant Comes East.” This writing is very much focused on the famous generals, Lee and Grant. Written by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, this excellent book concerning the Civil War years is a sequel to their first book, the painstakingly researched masterwork “Gettysburg.” Though the book is probably more fascinating to history buffs, lovers of superb fiction writing, and also Civil War devotees, it’s a fine piece of writing that would appeal to anyone possessing an active imagination and a fondness for good literature.
Like “Gettysburg,” “Grant Comes East” is a journey into the twilight zone of “what-if” speculation. The plot of both books is built around the premise that General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia are victorious in the campaign begun at Gettysburg, Pa. and have now attacked Washington, D.C., captured Baltimore, Md. and gained a strong foothold in the north.
In the story, the Confederate States are now very close to total victory and, subsequently, attaining the goal of becoming an independent, free and sovereign nation.
I’m pausing to wonder; “if this transpires, will this new country keep the institution of slavery?” Gonna be interesting to see. I don’t believe it would — at least not for long. The greatest hero of the south, Robert E. Lee, was very strongly opposed to slavery. On Dec. 27, 1856, he wrote in a letter to his wife: “There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.”
While we see the course of the final abolition of human slavery is onward, and we give it the aid of our prayers and all justifiable means in our power, we must leave the progress as well as the result in his hands who sees the end; who chooses to work by slow influences; and with whom two thousand years are but as a single day.
Robert E. Lee did not own slaves, but many Union generals did. Union General William T. Sherman, who owned a number of slaves before the war, was constantly in court facing charges for abusing them. When his father-in-law died, Lee took over the management of the plantation his wife had inherited and immediately began freeing the slaves. Notably, some Union generals didn’t free their slaves until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. Winston Churchill once paid this glowing tribute to Robert E. Lee: “One of the noblest Americans who ever lived.”
The idea that most Confederate soldiers were fighting to preserve slavery is historically unfounded. Owning slaves was, basically, the privilege of the well-to-do. Only 6 percent of Southerners owned slaves. Recruits themselves referred to the war as “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.” Their letters home stated that they were fighting for liberty and independence from what they regarded as a “tyrannical government.” The letters and diaries of many Confederate soldiers were filled with sentiments of liberty and self-government. They spoke of a fear of being “subjugated and enslaved” by a tyrannical federal government. Sound familiar?
Well, I wonder how this “what-if” story is going to end. Can’t wait to finish it, and then ponder my own various what-ifs. Of course, all such wistful ponderings are an exercise in futility. The past is one thing that we cannot perfect or pervert — only ponder.