GDG- Gettysburg The second day

[Tom Gilbert]

That is definitely pertinent, Jim .. their world of 1863 was certainly not ours of 2006 .. hardships and handicaps we don't have to deal with, don't even think of, were accepted and dealt with routinely, many things not even recorded because they were so mundane at the time, but, if we can consider and take into account, many seemingly strange things and incoherent actions (to us) could be explained .. "our thoughts were not their thoughts", to paraphrase a Bible verse .. having said that, one of the really special things about the study of this history is how much they were like us .. ordinary people called on to do very remarkable things .. their thoughts and reactions while seen "through the glass darkly" ring familiar .. I often think of my own military experience almost exactly a century after that of the boys in blue & gray .. the means and the technology were dramatically different, but the human reactions, the people themselves, were pretty much the same .. we can
 thus identify a little with the feelings of Lincoln, his generals, his boys and of course their counterparts, Americans all .. to me, this is one of the major attractions and joys of my study .. the contrasts and the comparisons.. Tom Gilbert

James Cameron <cameron2 at optonline.net> wrote:  Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:


<< I suggest, that being that time is the one thing the GDG has a limitless
supply of, that we start a discussion of this book. Perhaps a week or two
for each chapter. Who would like to start us off by leading the discussion
on Chapter 1? >>

Even before getting to Chapter 1, the Preface contains one of the most 
pertinent statements to be found in any work on the battle.

"In attempting to understand and describe a particular action, I was 
reminded often of the void that exists in military matters between my 
generation of soldiers and that of the Civil War. Their methods and 
mind-sets are rather beyond the reach of our full understanding. Even when 
they described their doings in detail, (and more often than not they assumed 
that such descriptions were unnecessary and did not give them), it is hard 
to understand and appreciate what they were describing. A reader of Civil 
War literature should keep this gap in mind."

Jim Cameron


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