.
The South had a fine chance to win by combat if she had decided to really get in there immediately, not just crack a few kneecaps and send them home chastised. Jackson was a prophet when he advocated black flag warfare - he knew what Sherman knew, that once the industrial North got bit hard enough they would gear up and steamroll the cotton farmers like putting a crease in a pair of trousers. But, that does not mean the North was an inexhaustible juggernaut. They had geared up to go all out, with all they had, to win - that kind of a burst usually exhausts a lot of resources and men very quickly. This is what was beginning to happen when Grant came east and changed things dramatically.
As much as I admire Shelby Foote and enjoy his series, I have to say such comments are in the 'victim' camp. The South never had a chance - the North beat somebody who couldn't fight back, the bullies! The North had one hand behind their back - the South was doomed, the North had overwhelming men and resources. Foote was not a Lost Causer, but that ideology was taught heavily throughout the South for generations, especially Foote's.
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Diane I am amazed by your insight into the South and the Southern way of thinking! I swear you are a Southern Belle at heart. Being able to balance Foote and Faulkner is difficult but they represented that generation of grandchildren who had grown up with both the veterans and the generation of the post-war and the mixture of their views and opinions.
The Lost Cause belief that was held so tightly by the veterans was sustained through the early 20's but gave way to the depression in the 30's. The post WW II Dixiecrats were short lived but gave way to Southern Democrats who gained political clout during the next 40 years or so which brought about the use and display of the CBF again and clashes with those marching for civil rights.
Fortunately, the South lost this struggle as they had the ACW, and our people and nation are better off with this removal of last vestigage Jim Crow
I always take into consideration Shelby Foote's generation when reading his wonderful work. His grandparents remembered the war in their old age - not his parents or himself. He related talking to old men on their porches in Mississippi about riding with Forrest - and it was clear these stories had the double magic of aged distance and childhood fantasy. Then there's the real world that wasn't so great. Faulkner was a good friend who talked much about the decay of the South after the Civil War, and the impact that event had on the region. The South was almost dormant, still stunned, when Foote was a child.
The South had a fine chance to win by combat if she had decided to really get in there immediately, not just crack a few kneecaps and send them home chastised. Jackson was a prophet when he advocated black flag warfare - he knew what Sherman knew, that once the industrial North got bit hard enough they would gear up and steamroll the cotton farmers like putting a crease in a pair of trousers. But, that does not mean the North was an inexhaustible juggernaut. They had geared up to go all out, with all they had, to win - that kind of a burst usually exhausts a lot of resources and men very quickly. This is what was beginning to happen when Grant came east and changed things dramatically.
As much as I admire Shelby Foote and enjoy his series, I have to say such comments are in the 'victim' camp. The South never had a chance - the North beat somebody who couldn't fight back, the bullies! The North had one hand behind their back - the South was doomed, the North had overwhelming men and resources. Foote was not a Lost Causer, but that ideology was taught heavily throughout the South for generations, especially Foote's.
Diane I am amazed by your insight into the South and the Southern way of thinking! I swear you are a Southern Belle at heart. Being able to balance Foote and Faulkner is difficult but they represented that generation of grandchildren who had grown up with both the veterans and the generation of the post-war and the mixture of their views and opinions.
The Lost Cause belief that was held so tightly by the veterans was sustained through the early 20's but gave way to the depression in the 30's. The post WW II Dixiecrats were short lived but gave way to Southern Democrats who gained political clout during the next 40 years or so which brought about the use and display of the CBF again and clashes with those marching for civil rights.
Fortunately, the South lost this struggle as they had the ACW, and our people and nation are better off with this removal of last vestigage of Jim Crow laws.
I knew you had a southern accent!
Regards
David