History Forum / War History / US Civil War / October 2006

I observe that the North had a string of incompetent generals until
Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan took command.  And I observe that the
South had a string of competent and brilliant generals - except for
Bragg and Ewell (after Ewell lost his leg).

Common on these chat groups is the claim that not only was secession
legal, but that this fact was so obvious that no one really disputed it
in 1860-61 nor later. And those who opposed secession were close to
being criminal in their opposition.

In a recent article in the U. Va. Alumni magazine, Lee Graves lists Gary
Gallagher's ratings of the 10 most influential CW-related movies in his
life.  The article was entitled "Shades of Blue and Gray The Civil War in
Art and Film."  He also uses a 5-star rating system to grade ...

While looking for other things I found the following, which I think is
interesting in the light of many of our discussions here.
On Sept. 20, 1810, Thomas Jefferson wrote the following to one John
Colvin:

Dear Group,
   Many people say that the Civil War was fought over slavery, and then
again many say that it was fought over States Rights.  My question is, what
do you think is the correct answer?  Or is either of the answers correct?