Here is a statistic I’d love to learn: What percentage of Confederate officers own slaves versus enlisted men? Further broken down by field officer versus general officer, and by number of slaves. I have a feeling this would shed some interesting light on the “Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight” idea that went through the Confederate Army. If it exists, I can’t find it. If it doesn’t, some graduate student somewhere should use it for a thesis.
Category: History
Lincoln, travel, new home page
Saw “Lincoln” today with Jenphalian, Will Shetterly, and Emma Bull. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The acting was universally brilliant. Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln and Danial Day Lewis as Lincoln were amazing, James Spader was a delight, and Hal Holbrook was, as always, perfect. Tommy Lee Jones stole the show. The few minor historical liberties they took all seemed reasonable. A truly splendid movie. I want to see it again when it comes out on DVD, so I can catch things I missed the first time.
ETA: Okay, if I want to be really persnickety, I’ll say that in the one battle scene in the movie, there were too many bayonet wounds to be authentic. Whatev.
I’m about to be traveling again–Texas once more to pick up my bird and visit friends. I expect to be back a few days before Christmas.
My new home page should be up soon, thanks to Corwin and Felix. I imagine there will be some glitches at first. But if all goes well, it’ll be pretty cool.
Just Couldn't get through to him.
Just Couldn’t get through to him.
Gettysburg
Just back from a weekend trip to Gettysburg with jenphalian, TNH, and PNH, and it was amazing and my head is still spinning. I’ll probably do another post once I’ve processed some of it.
It started Friday night and the NHs, where we watched the movie “Gettysburg,” which remains a favorite of mine. Saturday morning we headed for Pennsylvania.
We saw most of the battlefield. We talked, we hung out, compared notes. On Saturday, we did everything except the Day 2 Union Right; then went to our hotel and drank and talked and it was SO MUCH FUCKING FUN. Yeah. Like that.
Sunday was the last part, the museum, the gift shop, then dinner with Jen’s parents in York (much fun, good food) and now back in Jersey City and I believe I will drink now.
Seriously. I don’t know how else to say it. The experience of seeing the battlefield was mind-blowing; trying to imagine what it must have been like on Little Round Top, or the Peach Orchard, or Culp’s Hill. And the four of us all sort of fed into each other.
I’ve always had a fascination for what is going on in someone’s head in a moment of danger, or crisis; that’s why I write what I do the way I do. But there are things my imagination just won’t encompass.