A Soldier's Perspective

CJ By The Help They Give The Foe

I wrote this originally for the VAMC blog, but they haven't responded to my emails, so I'm posting it here instead:

143 years ago, our nation was embroiled in a bitter Civil War. 1864 saw the The Battle of Spotsylvania where Generals Grant and Lee fought it out for five days and threatened to fight all through the summer. It was also host to the Siege of Petersburg, a failed attempt by the Union to take that city just outside Richmond. The result was a ten month siege in which both sides lost thousands of lives. And let's not forget Sherman's Atlanta campaign and March To The Sea. But, there was something else that stands out about 1864 that resonates to this very day: the re-election of Abraham Lincoln. There's an eery parallel between the war politics of the 1860's and the war politics of today.

Many people called the election of 1864 a referendum on the Civil War. Coincidentally, the 2004 elections have been called a referendum on the Iraq War. If Lincoln were to get reelected, the Union campaign to bring the Confederates back in line and save the Union would continue. If he lost, the war would end and the Union's authority and credibility would be undermined. Many politicians staked their entire campaigns on "pulling out" of the South.

On August 29th, the Democrats chose General McClellan as their candidate on a platform of negotiated peace. Though a failed general, McClellan founded the famous Army of the Potomac. He was incompetent in judging his enemies' strengths and weaknesses and frequently retreated in the face of General Lee. His one true success came in stalling Lee's advance in Maryland in the Battle of Antietam.

The Democratic campaign platform at the time promised an end to the war and a negotiated settlement with the Confederates. McClellan supported the continuation of the war and restoration of the Union. Many Democrats within his own party failed to support him and splintered the vote.

I can just imagine the environment back then. The mother of a fallen soldier is recruited by the anti-war group Code Crimson (their name taken as a symbol of all the blood spilled at Gettysburg one year earlier). Let's call her Cindy. Mourning the loss of her son during the Battle of Chickamauga, Cindy demands to speak with Lincoln to find out what her son died for. Is freedom for a bunch of slaves really worth the cost of war? Too many Soldiers were dying for what? Cotton!! The South had prime cotton fields and Lincoln just wanted to get rich off them.

As things got nasty, it wasn't looking good for Lincoln. Union forces were "bogged down", according to the Northington Post (a fictitious paper I made up), and innocent Americans were dying during raids on towns such as Frederick, Maryland and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. As the war dragged on and looked as though it would continue indefinitely, things looked bad for Lincoln's chances to get reelected.

In 1864, the Cincinnati Gazette emphasized the "ignorance, incompetence, and corruption of Mr. Lincoln's administration" according to Democrats. They counted on war-weariness to win them votes. Today, Democrats refer to the Bush administration as "callous, incompetent and corrupt."

Sometime in the 1860s, George F. Root wrote a song called "Just Before the Battle, Mother" which contained the following lyrics:

Oh, I long to see you, mother,
And the loving ones at home,
But I'll never leave our banner,
Till in honor I can come.
Tell the traitors all around you
That their cruel words we know,
In every battle kill our soldiers
By the help they give the foe.

They are no different today. Syrians and Iranians pour into Iraq to kill innocent civilians, American troops and destabilize the nation. Yet, Nancy Pelosi (along with other Democrat and Republican politicians) visits the enemy "in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace."

Tell the traitors all around you
That their cruel words we know,
In every battle kill our soldiers
By the help they give the foe.

Have we learned nothing from our past? The Civil War, while disgusting and bloody, brought about the end of slavery. It opened up voting rights for people of all races. And yet, if the "peace movement" had their way, none of this would have happened – at least not when it did.

Likewise, we face a difficult situation in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for freedom yet again. We're fighting a determined enemy just as we did over 140 years ago. Yet, this enemy is more determined and invisible. They have no regard for innocent life or really anyone that doesn't agree with them. And yet, there are forces back here, the "peace movement", who want to ignore all the accomplishments that have come out of this fight and halt progression. The Soldiers who have been there, like myself, have seen first hand the positive changes that we can take credit for. Peace will come, but we need to win first.

Hark! I hear the bugles sounding,
'Tis the signal for the fight,
Now, may God protect us, mother,
As He ever does the right.
Hear the "Battle-Cry of Freedom ,"
How it swells upon the air,
Oh, yes, we'll rally 'round the standard,
Or we'll perish nobly there.