My Great-Great Grandfather Hugh Smith was wounded carrying the Colors of the 84th Pennsylvania, late afternoon of the 23d! He survived until 1897.

@3PercentNeanderhal

8 ай бұрын

Mine was a sharpshooter in the Confederate 7th Kentucky and may have fired the bullet. He was not wounded once during the entire war. His first cousin rode with Quantrill and was killed during an engagement in Kansas.

@binoculord

8 ай бұрын

Wow if your grandfather was a standard bearer it truly is a miracle he survived the war

@OldMusicFan83

8 ай бұрын

@@binoculord He was at Port Republic, too. But he received a medal discharge at the end of 62. He was pretty sick and his left hand crippled from a gunshot wound.

@seanmmcelwain

8 ай бұрын

@@3PercentNeanderhalmine was with the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry spent most of the war fighting against Quantrill and other bushwhackers. Comments section kinda wild snapshot of our connected history.

@dorothymcguire737

Ай бұрын

My 3x great grandfather was killed @ Kernstown. Meredith Anderson Company D 21st infantry division 2nd brigade. He rests in Stonewall Confederate Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia.

And I had ancestors on the southern side from Virginia, Florida, and South Carolina who lived this nightmare. Thanks for reading that to remind us that there was much more grim horror and casual death than glory and pageant.

I used to go through Kernstown every day on the bus going to school years ago in Stephen’s City. Around Winchester there are a ton of those plaques chronicling the civil war battles.

My great-great grandfather, Adam Sutton, of the 67th OVI, was killed here at this, his first battle.

I am reminded of General Shermans saying "Some people think of war as all glory, when in reality war is all hell".

"Glory and romance" my foot! If there's any more horrible place to be than on a battlefield when the battle is raging, it's the battlefield the next day.

"...as he paints a word portrait of what he saw..." I don't think I have ever heard a more accurate and yet eloquent description of a written account. Very fitting in deed. I guess it all comes back to a fascination we all have deep within us with the macabre? We see a horrible sight that we probably shouldn't want to see , but we can not take our eyes off of it, and then we have to relay the story to others. And if we are not the ones telling the story, we want to listen or read intently to the telling of or writing of the story. I guess it is just a grim part of the human psyche that we all have? The world around us may change, but human nature does not change, which is part of why the story of humanity is so full of war and conflict. Rather, it is out of fascination with the macabre or a desire to honor those who came and went before us or a combination of both, the story must be told.

Thank you for this very detailed description of the aftermath of this battle!

We forget how brutal the battles were during the civil war and the horrendous aftermaths. As a nation, I hope we never experience this again within our own.

@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail

9 ай бұрын

Well said. True words. Thank you.

My great grandfather Hugh Member was wounded at this battle. He was in a wheelchair for most of his life.

Those guys were nuts. A different species than modern people. Imagine walking slowly in tight formation straight into a firing squad and cannons with cannister shot. Cannister shot sprayed small metal balls like a big shotgun. You or many of your company will die before you even use your weapon. Lucky if you got shot dead, many lost eyes, arms, legs, or combinations of the above. Hard to believe, but men did that for centuries.

Sad and terrible - thank you for posting.

Regarding the "Glory of War," W.T. Sherman said it all and said it best. My high school friends and acquaintances that rest in the 1970's section of my town's cemetery are mute testimony of how true Sherman's words were and are. Yes, and while a lesser man (me) survived to this day.

That General Gordon you mention had been a West Point Classmate and friend of Stonewall Jackson prewar

Thanks for your great content!

Great work!!

If a battle was fought today that inflicted 10% casualties, it would be considered a bloodbath. 30% battle casualties was not uncommon during the American Civil War.

All 40 shot through the head? Sounds like execution of severely injured troops.

If you ever get a chance, visit the Belle Grove Plantation. It's right there. They used to have a farm days event in the summer. No longer, unfortunately.

As usual Ron, top hotch content.

Well done, and said.

Begins at 3:42

Enjoy the channel and hearing about this era. Appreciate your research. What a strange time and events that just don't make much sense to me. One thing that fascinates me about this era is that despite all the death and destruction there appears to be a common theme on both sides. Can't go long without looking at photographs of both sides and usually find a general with his hand hidden under his jacket. Kinda makes me think of the double headed eagle displayed on the cover of Albert Pike's, Morals and Dogma.

He had his picture taken with his hand in his uniform, ala Napoleon, then forgot to button it when he had the second picture taken.

He wrote very well .

Glorification of war would not exist were it not for death; truly sad.

The civil war was some of the most furious fighting Americans ever experienced on both sides. To give you a good mental picture. In the Vietnam war 56,000 soldiers died in the course of about 10 years. In the battle of Gettysburg, about 50,000 in 3 days . That's why President Lincoln said in his famous speech, - that words could not express what these men made hallowed with there very lives & blood ( paraphrase) . I read a old history book about 30 years ago that they marked the bodies with stakes near them. Reason being is it took a couple of years to bury everyone . Not trying to be macob, but you know there were some hellish smells on that battlefield after about a month or 2 of rot . Them gravediggers really earned there money back then.

I was born 100 years after the Civil War, I wish there were some way of tracing my family tree to find out if I had any relatives that took a part in it.

@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail

7 ай бұрын

The best advice I was given when I started tracing my family history was to reach out to your family and find out what they know. The names of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents can help get the ball rolling on sites like Ancestry.com.

@theicecavalier342

7 ай бұрын

@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Thanks, I'll try and research ancestry. Unfortunately I am the oldest person in the family now. Missed the opportunities with great grandparents, grandparents, and mine. As such, I wouldn't be able to help much, as I don't even know my grandparents legal names.

@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail

7 ай бұрын

@@theicecavalier342 Got it. Newspapers.com might also be useful.

@theicecavalier342

7 ай бұрын

@@lifeonthecivilwarresearchtrail Thank you.

Forget the beard. Look at his eyes and the seriousness behind them. Posing for a photo back then was a serious situation though.

@krautyvonlederhosen

9 ай бұрын

He certainly does paint with words.

@Northman1963

8 ай бұрын

That was a different reality, a different mindset than today. There was no social media, no internet. They got their news long after the fact. Young men had no idea what they were marching into. The papers and politicians painted a glorious adventure for young guys.

@davidmuir7711

8 ай бұрын

The agate eyes of a killer.

Down south we wonder why there seems to be a ghost or a haunt related to the American Civil War on every corner and in almost every house. My youngest has claimed to hear a man moan as if in pain once when visiting her Naamaw house. True storyrhere.

Port Crayon is a small town in North Central Pennsylvania ..odd choice of a name.

Sad.

Why weren't these brave men put to rest honorably, the very first act after the battle, rather than going through their pockets and taking the buttons off their uniforms. Really, all this gathering up of the material left on the battlefield can wait - honor these men!

I had a great - great grandfather who died at the battle for Vicksburg . He was just a lowly courier of some kind for the Northern side . Unfortunately some Confederate sniper shot him off his horse. Not dieing in some glorious battle. Just shot off his horse . I guess when it's your time, that's it . 😮

Without exception the first Confederates amongst the trees and bushes that lay where they fell...were shot in the head. The Northern troops were that good at sharpshooting or is there some other explanation?

@owensomers8572

8 ай бұрын

I'll assume the dead that lay there were killed outright, with the large caliber bullets used at the time most head shots would have been instantly fatal. There were lines of soldiers firing volleys at each other from standing positions, hence clusters of dead. Non-fatal injuries would have been taken, or made their own way, off the battlefield. Many of those injured would still have died later, just not on the battlefield itself.

What's so funny ....

Go to 3:47 to skip dithering irrelevancies.

Why is your noggin so big and the portrait of the hero shown smaller?

Bl Bla Bla

Boring....

@YTisAbunchOFfascists

9 ай бұрын

Just like Frank and Dana. Boring. Lame. Plain. Worthless.

@mbmochinski

8 ай бұрын

Move on then.

Powerful.