The Civil War
By
Bruce Catton
Notes and Summary
By
Bob Johnson
Kaffe Magnum Opus
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Compromise vs. Carnage
The anti-slavery Unionists and the staunchly States Rights slave owners
were in a stand-off. Neither side could propose a compromise that would
work. The sides, or sections as Catton describes them – North and South –
became so steadfast in their positions that war seemed to be, and became, the
only way to resolve the issue.
Some compromises were proffered and implemented but they all dealt with
the geography or lifespan of slavery. There was no effort this writer is
aware of that dealt with the fact that the South was wholly dependent upon
slavery for its livelihood and wealth. Catton says the monetary „value‟ of
the slaves at the time of Civil War was greater than $2 Billion. The cost of
the war to both North and South was far more than this sum. The entire
economy of the South was literally destroyed. The land itself was all that
withstood the war. Its “cotton is king thinking” was true enough in 1861,
but by 1865 demand for southern cotton had all but disappeared. They
sacrificed far more than $2 Billion.
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But the North got richer and stronger economically as a result of the
requirements of the military effort. Manufacturing was king and the North
rode this demand to riches.
Before the war, had the Northern anti-slavery movement come up with a
way to help the South transition from free labor to paid labor, and
compensated the plantation owners for the loss of their most valuable assets,
then war might have been avoided.
It is abhorrent to think of people as assets and value them in monetary terms.
In 1860 and before, the leaders of the Nation employed slaves and its
horrible consequences were a part of their lives and people did not give it
much thought. It was normal. This changed during the first half of the 19 th
century until it reached a tipping point with the shelling of Fort Sumter.
There are issues today that can be compromised but may not due to the
emotional positions of the participants. I can think now of the labor disputes
in the auto industry in the sixties and seventies. The air traffic controllers
during Reagan‟s presidency did not see their wholesale slaughter. It was a
kind of civil insurrection and the Reagan administration warned them, but
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still, like the lemmings in the famous Apple Computer advertisement during
half time of the Super bowl, they walked right over the cliff. And they lost
everything. Compromise would have saved them; instead they and we got
carnage.
No matter what circumstance we find around us, there are solutions that will
not involve physical violence, or legal violence or economic violence. I
recall a fight between a landlord and a tenant that escalated to over $100,000
in fees for both sides, when the issue itself was worth less than $30,000.
There was a bank that once refused to extend a term loan from 3 years to 7
years and as a result lost near $100,000. I think the best term to describe
these emotional fights, when the issue takes on human form and is
personalized by the combatants, is nuts. I‟ve been there. Who hasn‟t?
There is much to be learned from The Civil War.
Know when to fight and know when not to fight
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Put a little differently, you have to know what resources you need to win the
day. What time, material, money and manpower is necessary. Do you have
it? If not, you must have a plan B.
In 1860 the South could ill afford a major war effort. Its only product was
cotton. Sure it was a lot of cotton, but an undiversified economy is like a
business that relies on a single large customer for survival. Sooner or later
you will go out of business. I recall a customer of mine who supplied all of
the loose-leaf binders for Woolworth‟s. Remember them? I know the
owner of that local business rode a white chariot for a long time; he rode
until the chariot hit a brick wall, or to stay with the lemmings, a precipice.
It is likely that both sections of the country were playing poker with the lives
and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of US citizens. No, it was
millions. Over 600,000 soldiers died in four years of fighting. Many more
were wounded. Today, in order to reach the same percentage of the
population, the country would have to loss over 6,000,000 soldiers.
Remember what happened in Vietnam when we lost 55,000. The country
was turned upside down, and the anti-war movements, in effect, rebelled and
chose war with the Johnson Administration in order to achieve its goals.
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Johnson was emotionally tied to the war and his view of never losing a
conflict. If only he could have seen the Berlin Wall crumble and known
how fragile the Soviet Union economy had become we would have saved
thousands of lives and ten years of horrible inflation. But imagine what
would happen if 6 Million were killed. No one I think would give up the
right to bear arms.
This is why Khrushchev banged his shoes on the table in the United Nations
General Assembly in 2000. He had no other options; it was shoes or else the
world would know how fragile the Soviet Union had become. Perhaps this
episode gave Kennedy the nerve to stare down the Russians over Cuba.
We must in business and otherwise face reality, assess the situation and then
map strategy. Is this the time? Or can you take longer and gain a higher
degree of confidence. You never have to fight when your opponent desires.
You can leave the field, strengthen, and come back to fight on your terms.
In the mist of battle, stay calm and constantly assess and reassess and re-
strategize. If anything is to be learned from the Generals and Political
leaders between 1860 and 1865 it is: change is the road to success; Lincoln
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finally got off the Chieftain‟s stool and relinquished day to day command of
the army to Grant; Lee would fall back to fight another day; and Sherman in
South Carolina was ruthless because he and his army saw this state as the
cause of the carnage, but, he and his army became gentlemen in North
Carolina and did far less damage.
Grant lost more battles and skirmishes with his bluecoats in the Army of the
Potomac than he won. He could see that in the end the South was doomed
for it had a depleted population, no money and no distribution system. The
North had innovation, immigrants and a manufacturing system that supplied
all the goods and services Grant would ever need. All Grant had to supply
was nerve, strategy and energy, which he did.
There was a battle he lost near the end of the war. Where the Army of the
Potomac routinely lost and withdrew to lick its wounds and „refit‟, this time
Grant ordered an advance, and his men cheered. His break with routine so
increased the morale of the Army that it fought with more energy and it went
on to victory. Grant knew when to fight and when to feint and when to use
faux props to confuse his enemy.
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Of course, it helped to have a constant supply of people to fill in for the
horrendous loses. It became normal for both sides to lose 15,000 men in a
single day. It became normal and routine for the army to drop 15,000 men
in a single sitting. Just throw more men at the problem. Line them up,
march them into battle with patriotic tunes, and let them fire away at point
blank range. It took even Grant some time to recognize that when Lee‟s
Army of Virginia was entrenched in defensive position, it was unbeatable,
and to come back and fight another day.
Sidestep; recognize that your prospect is not in the mood to change. Then
plan another attempt down the road. There are all kinds of options available
to the energetic, nimble warrior. A Road Warrior, that is, a good
salesperson, must employ the same tactics. Good salesmen know when they
have reached the tipping point, one way or another, and know when to
withdraw or move forward to the close.
Kentucky Was a Northern State
No way you say? It sure surprised this reader. I‟m a bluegrass musician and
we always sing about Kentucky and think of Kentucky as a Southern State.
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But Catton tells us, “To begin with, early in September (of 1861) Kentucky
ceased to be neutral and reluctantly but effectively cast its lot with the
North.” (Page 55) It had a secessionist governor but a Unionist Legislature
and it went North. There were pockets of Southern sympathizers
particularly around Paducah, but the state went with the North.
April 13 and April 14, 1861, Fort Sumter
On the 14th of April the northern detachment of 68 men abandoned Fort
Sumter and the Southern Flag flew. There was a long bombardment but
surprise of surprises no one was killed in the fort; not a single Southern
Bombardier was killed. This was not a good way to start the Civil War. The
lesson was “We can fight but not die”. What a tragic misstatement and
belief.
Amateurs
Catton is a brilliant story teller; it is a pleasure to read his works. They are
stories and good mysteries. They are full of detail but the big picture is
apparent always.
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The South fought for independence, a powerful motivator. The North fought
for a united country, one Nation under God or to uphold the Union – “we
can‟t let those guys get away with secession”. Not until Lincoln wrote his
famous Proclamation making slavery illegal in most areas did the North
have a strong reason to fight and die.
Let us remember that it did not take an Einstein to realize that when the
army marched into battle shoulder to shoulder and armpit to armpit that the
people on either side of you were dead men. I think these men must have
believed they would be the one standing when the smoke cleared, for how
can a person march to death voluntarily?
I don‟t think anyone today in any circumstance, Iraq or Afghanistan or the
people of New Orleans with Katrina bearing down, can possibly understand
the dread and the courage these men must have possessed. What else would
allow them to march headlong into a fuselage, especially when they knew
their generals were not particularly adept at fighting?
The soldiers fought side by side and hand to hand and after the battle could
stand and look out over 20,000 men lying dead. The stench and cries of the
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wounded and the sight of men dead for several days would drain the energy
from anyone. It was horrible. Yet, still they marched.
Neither the Union nor the Confederacy was ready to fight in 1861. There
were no armies and no experienced generals or officer corps to lead. They
were, Catton tells us, amateurs. Yet still they declared war and the civilians,
for a short while, even came out to picnic and watch the battle.
Catton believes both sides thought the other would back down. He
postulates that neither really expected to be at war for an extended period.
Ninety days was all they needed for that was the time period volunteers
agreed to fight. Recruit, train and fight in 90 days and then repeat the
process. What were these folks thinking? It had to be that the fight would
be short. But as we know now, once men personalize the issues, they will
fight to the death.
Sherman‟s march to the sea after sacking and burning Atlanta to the ground
is a good example of how conditions deteriorated. At the end of the war
Lincoln, Grant and Sherman realized that the objective must be the
destruction of the Southern army, not the gaining of ground. So they set out
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to literally destroy the tools of warfare and the supplies needed to keep an
army in the field. They set out to crush the army of the South, to kill as
many as needed to destroy the will to fight.
This was only two or three generations ago. My great, great grandfathers
fought in the Civil War. One changed his name so he could fight for the
South and therefore fight his brother who fought for the North. The pains of
war have not in my opinion been forgotten.
There are too many stars and bars on the back of cars. There are too many
flags flying in the front yards of ordinary people that tell me the feelings left
behind by carnage and carpetbaggers are quite real and not forgotten. At a
music festival one of the participants with powerful language, told another
that „We don‟t talk about the War around here”. He was mad and clearly
does not forgive nor forget.
Perhaps our next president, President Elect Barack Obama may lasso these
feelings and move the people who fondly and proudly hold on to them to get
on with life. Let them harness these feelings to forge a unified country once
again, and rid it of hatred and bigotry. My contribution might be to stop
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singing certain songs that stir Southern sentiment. “Someone Play Dixie for
Me” is a song of a fallen soldier who wants the tune Dixie to play as he is
lowered into the „sweet Georgia Ground”. It is a powerful song and I will
let it go.
In 1861 no one realized it was too late to bring the country together without
a fight. It was too late to stop the carnage. The amateurs would become
expert at killing. And both sides thought that if just one more piece of good
luck came along they might win the war. The North was well grounded in
manpower and material but the South too well grounded in the desire for
independence. It was too late and war was on. I know first hand that it still
goes on, if only philosophically, in many regions of the country. This is too
bad. If Lincoln had lived to restore the South and help it save face our
country today would be a different place. But Lincoln died too soon and the
dealers of retribution and vengeance got the reins and the South was
plundered.
Does the status quo appeal to businesses? I think so. If the status quo is
maintained the participants in the market can predict their future with a high
degree of certainty. If one or another begins to change the status quo it
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invites strong responses and all parties risk dissolution. Had the two parties
in 1860 been willing to work through the tough issues and make real and
substantive compromise, the Civil War might never have taken place. But
they did not compromise and the Civil War did take place and still we pay
the price. One day …