my mistake; wasn't his family from Virginia? Paul Shelton wrote: > Paul, > > I'm sorry, but Patton was a Californian. Perhaps you've confused him with > the actor who played him in the movie - George C. Scott - who was born in > Virginia. > > -Paul Shelton > > -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Finkelman [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 7:27 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: sherman > > One might view Sherman as the man who was responsible for freeing more human > being from bondage than any other person. His march from the Mississippi to > the > Atlantic Ocean resulted in the liberation of more than a million slaves and > the > destruction of a nation, whose "cornerstone," accoring to its own Vice > President, was slavery. I suppose we should not be surprised that those who > lost their slaves, and the wealth that came from it, hated General Sherman. > His > tactics, ironically, were no different that those of laster used by > Eisenhower, > Patton (a Virginian) and the rest of the Allied High Command in World War > II, to > prevent the enemy from making war, by destroying the enemy's ability to make > war. We used the same tactic against Japan, only with carpet bombing and > firebombing. > > Gross and vile? Interesting terms. I am not sure what "gross" means here > (disgusting, ill mannered, overweight?) Vile. I would reserve that term, at > least in the American context, to perhaps traitors, who having taken oaths > of > allegience to the United States, made war against the United States when > they > did not like the outcome of a presidential election. > > Paul Finkelman (father of a first generation Virginian!) > > -- > Paul Finkelman > Chapman Distinguished Professor > University of Tulsa College of Law > 3120 East 4th Place > Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-2499 > > 918-631-3706 (office) > 918-631-2194 (fax) > > [log in to unmask] > > Deane wrote: > > > Well, let me just say this. > > I am a 54 year old housewife with nothing but Southern roots on each side > of > > my family, so I admit to a strong bias. > > My paternal grandparents were born in North Carolina in the 1880's. > > My maternal grandparents were born in Tidewater Virginia in the 1880's. > > During my childhood and formative years in the 1950's, it was their > > reflections on their parents' lives that shaped my thinking and taught me > to > > regard certain aspects of Southern American history the way I do. > > I certainly will not bore you folks with that. > > However, it was my beloved and dear and college degreed (i.e., not > ignorant > > red neck) grandparents who taught me that men like Sherman were gross and > > vile. > > On the other hand, one of my grandfathers (whose name was Wade Hampton > > King) had a brother whose middle name was Grant......that brother was > named > > after Ulysses Grant. The family legend has it that my great-grandfather > > named that son after the Union general out of gratitude for being able to > > take his horse home from Appomatox. > > In fairness, I think that it was the horrors of Reconstruction.... the > > salted fields that the Yankee troops had left behind them along with > > poisoned water wells, needlessly slaughtered live stock, the ring-barked > > fruit and nut trees and the resulting starvation that caused the deepest > and > > most induring bitterness. > > I do not think that Margaret Mitchell's book created myths. I think that > > when many Southerners read GONE WITH THE WIND they were relieved that > after > > so many decades someone had finally come close to putting it right and > > putting it down on paper.....and better yet, folks everywhere were reading > > it and, perhaps, coming to a better understanding, albeit a romanticized > > one, of what Southerners tended to be like. > > I could go on and on and on, but I won't. > > I could tell you about the teacher I had in college in the 1960's who > asked > > me (the only southerner in that small Vermont college), "Is it true that > you > > Southerners despise the blacks, the Jews and the Catholics. And if so, > why?" > > I was so flabberghasted that I could not answer except to say, "Why no. We > > just hate Yankees!" > > I could try to describe to you the anguish on my own mother's face as she > > told me about her own grandmother's stories of eating insects and make > 'tea' > > out of shoe leather after the "Wah". > > I can hear my mother now, telling me how her grandmother said over and > over > > and over, > > "We were SO hungry." > > Deane Ferguson Mills > > a 13th generation Tidewater Virginian and proud of it. > > > > > I agree with your assessment of Margaret Mitchell's role in tarnishing > any > > > understanding of Sherman. But no matter what is written, I'm afraid, > > some > > > Southerners, and nearly all Native Americans, will continue having a > > > difficult time believing Sherman had any noble purpose in waging all out > > > war, either against the Confederacy, or against the Sioux and other > > Western > > > peoples he subjugated in the Indian Wars. > > > > > > -Paul Shelton > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Jim Watkinson [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > > > Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 3:21 PM > > > To: [log in to unmask] > > > Subject: sherman > > > > > > > > > Harold is right. Total war is key. There was a review of a bio of > > Sherman > > > 2 or 3 weeks ago in the NYT Review of Books which strongly suggested > that > > > the man who said "war is hell" believed he could end the war sooner -- > and > > > stop the carnage -- by fighting the war in a differrent manner. This > > seems > > > to ring true. Margaret Mitchell (and David Selznick) probably did more > to > > > set back the cause of understanding the war than anyone who has ever > > lived. > > > > > > Jim Watkinson > > > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > > > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > > > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html -- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, OK 74104-3189 phone 918-631-3706 Fax 918-631-2194 e-mail: [log in to unmask] To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html