cma1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Great video. Thanks for posting it.

40AcreMule (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Recent neo-Confederate propaganda is making the relatively small number of blacks who served in CS ranks out to be more than it was. They were often just the servants of other soldiers and were regarded as little more than mascots. Some officers (most famously Patrick Claiborne) tired to have blacks recruited/drafted into southern service enmasse in exchange for their freedom, but giving arms to slaves/former slavers was an unpopular concept.

silobuilder (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

you know, just found out that blacks also fought on the confederate side as well, not just union as I was believing all this time.

kbmastiffs (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

"it's amazing that 75 years ago they would have done anything to kill each other but in the video they are talking together and shaking hands."You obviously have never attended a WWII Living History event or be privileged to attend a WWII Reunion. I have several pictures of WWII German Fighter Pilots sitting right next to their US counter parts and talking like old friends. War is war, and war is hell, but once you have survived it, move on with your life.

kbmastiffs (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

tooch26m, You couldn't be more wrong about what the Civil War was fought over. Slavery did not become an issue until the 3rd year in when English and France were going to come over and help on the Side of the CSA. But England had just outlawed several forms of slavery itself and when Lincoln got word, he turned the war into something it was not initially about, slavery. There are many unbiased books written about the CW, not by a Confederate or a Yankee, pick one up sometime.

coop291 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

tooch26m - you may be right, but think about why that might be. We don't teach it to begin with and there are times when righting a wrong is the thing not remembered, but the wrong itself. It is hard for a black American to thank the folks who gave him freedom when the itervening years showed only limited progress until the 1960's. One thing all Black Americans should know is that 189,000 black Union soldiers and sailors fought in that war, won 29 Medals of Honor and suffered 39,000 dead.

coop291 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

You sir represent the real problem with your lack of understanding of who we are and where we came from. You will never be an effective citizen until you become an informed American. This war was the least avoidable conflict we have EVER fought, and though we are still imperfect...the proof of the worth of those men's sacrifice was just validated again with the election of Barack Obama. Lincoln, and the other 629,000 Americans who died and the 2 million who were wounded thought it worth it.

tooch26m (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Just my honest opinion, but it seems black americans are very ignorant of civil war history. Many thousands of americans died to give them freedom but thy couldn't care less. When I took my family to gettysburg last summer I made the comment to my wife, not one black person, while we were touring the new visitors center. Just seems odd to me that they don't seem to care about what was done to free them from slavery.

dogdillius (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

War is the Health of Big Government.Politicians need to fight their own Wars.

jge5090 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

anybody who has ever been to Gettysburg knows that there is some sort of "magic" in the air. I have been to that hallowed ground so many times that as someone who has a very strong interest in history, you can not help but leave with a sense of dread in your soul.