The Graveyard of Their Dreams, Part 1

There was formerly a diary here which people seemed to like.  Circumstances have dictated it disapper.  C'est la vie.  This sentence is strictly filler only so as to meet the length requirement.  Still not there yet, so I'll add this one.  And another.  And still another.  And yet another.  

•  If you like this and want to know more...

  ...tune in tomorrow at this same time, approximately 2pm EST, for part 2.

  by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 10:55:18 AM PDT

  •  Well done, Raybin...

    Damn I'm glad to see you around and writing stuff like this.

    by kredwyn on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:59:06 AM PDT

    •  Mark Knopfler "Brothers in Arms"

      Background music... Mark masterfully performing Brothers In Arms at the 1998 Benefit for Montserrat, in London. Enjoy!  

      by Sigrid of Horg on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 01:05:29 PM PDT

  •  Wonderful!

    I am so glad you're writing about the Civil War again Raybin! Well done - this was just great!

    by vcmvo2 on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:51:56 PM PDT

  •  Thank you!

    I loved reading this -- and remembering those of my family (on both sides) who died at Shiloh and Gettysburg or starved to death in prison. A grim and horrible time in history which should not be forgotten. Only when you read the pension files or 1890 Veterans census are the long-lasting effects revealed.

    utahgirl

    by nio on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 03:01:45 PM PDT

    •  For your entertainment

      Robert McCormick's Letters

      Robert died a few days after his last letter home.

      utahgirl

      by nio on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 03:05:02 PM PDT

•  This can also be found at...

  My Left Wing

  Blue House Diaries

  Progressive Historians

  by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 10:57:23 AM PDT

•  So glad you've brought this series here, Raybin

  Yer such a talented whippersnapper.

  Hotlisted.

  by bumblebums on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 10:58:32 AM PDT

•  Perfect antidote

  to meta.

  Thanks, Raybin. I'm looking forward to the series.

  by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 10:59:44 AM PDT

  •  Thank ya

    Heh, if it helps wash away the taste of meta, then I've done my job.  

    Unless this is a conspiracy by Markos to make people forget about meta!

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:01:54 AM PDT

    •  My thoughts exactly

      Oh sweet relief!

      by hono lulu on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:10:43 AM PDT

    •  It'd be just like

      that sneaky bastard, wouldn't it.

      by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:13:34 AM PDT

  •  Boo hiss

    No need to insult  Kos, Hunter, Jerome and um, yeah me.

    Schoolmarm.

    by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:22:48 AM PDT

    •  You bet it was, baby

      A big ole FU to you.

      Heh.

      by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:24:11 AM PDT

      •  Well

        That's an unconventional way to make a pass at me.

        But it'll work . . .

        by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:26:55 AM PDT

        •  You're so easy.

          by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:29:23 AM PDT

        •  Dude

          You made the first pass at her by TR'ing her.  Is that your version of S&M?  Pathetic.

          by Nonpartisan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:39:15 AM PDT

          •  It worked didn't it?

            Take notes young man.

            by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:43:25 AM PDT

            •  It worked?

              Only because she has automatic mojo.

              by Nonpartisan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:44:05 AM PDT

              •  Umm

                I think you missed my objective here.

                by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:44:50 AM PDT

                •  No no

                  It's just that, if she were any ordinary woman without automatic mojo, she'd get royally pissed if you TR'd her.

                  So I shouldn't "take lessons" from your conduct, because if I used it on anyone but McJoan and SusanG and MissLaura and BarbinMD, I wouldn't make many "friends".

                  by Nonpartisan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:01:59 PM PDT

                  •  If she were an ordinary woman

                    I would not be making a pass at her.

                    by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:07:39 PM PDT

                    •  Me and the SCOTUS, huh?

                      by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:12:08 PM PDT

      •  Reading this exchange...

        ....I suddenly find myself transported back in time and humming "Amie"

        by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:30:22 AM PDT

        •  What you gonna do?

          Good to see you, buddy.

          by mcjoan on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:31:39 AM PDT

  •  The perfect anti-dote to meta is pure ...

    ... reality-based reportage.

    This is achingly unrealistic.

    by Yellow Canary on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:43:57 AM PDT

    •  At least it made you ache

      I don't ask for much!

      by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:45:33 AM PDT

      •  The seducer will always claim that ...

        ... any effect is both intended and a mark of his success.  "Ah, but I got you to blush,' he says, happy in his delirium, for he knows his true goal.

        The claim itself, however, is false.

        by Yellow Canary on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:55:55 AM PDT

        •  No, I'm serious

          The only thing I like more than irritating people is making them happy.  So I'll settle for second best in your case.

          by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:08:24 PM PDT

          •  I know.

            I prefer truth to contact.

            by Yellow Canary on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:11:01 PM PDT

•  Wherein I beg pathetically upon my knees...

  ...for recommends.  I usually hate people that do this, but if you couldn't tell already, I worked WAY too hard on this to not try and maximize its viewership.

  by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:00:07 AM PDT

  •  no need for begging

    this is rec list stuff --- maybe even front page - well, it would be if i were running things dammit

    by cookiebear on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:16:57 AM PDT

    •  Cookiebear for frontpage!

      Shit, we can't escape the meta anywhere!

      by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:21:00 AM PDT

  •  Recco'd after three

    paragraphs.  Excellent, Raybin.

    Any particular reason you chose to write about these western PA units? ;-)

    by wozzle on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:24:22 AM PDT

    •  I did the same as you.

      Then went back to read the whole thing.  It just gets better and better.  Rereading is even better yet. :)

      by possum on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:26:53 AM PDT

•  The history of this era has always

  been a hobby of mine.  This diary brings the events to life in a way that few accomplish.  Thanks, Raybin, for a fine post.  I look forward to the next part.

  by possum on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:04:18 AM PDT

  •  Thank you so much

    And may I also say that possums are my favorite animal ever.  (True!)

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:11:53 AM PDT

    •  I for one am really not fond of the possum

      as an animal.  The screen name comes from my childhood story.

      Your writing puts a real face on real people and their families.  The reminders that every soldier has a real life is an important one.  Too bad every person studying war on any level cannot remember that fact.

      by possum on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:14:40 AM PDT

•  Great writing

  Wonderful reading.

  So where have you sent this off to be published?

  by hono lulu on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:09:36 AM PDT

  •  The answer to that question is...

    ...both this link and the 3 above I've provided.  :-)

    Thank you so much, by the way.

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:11:16 AM PDT

•  have a full measure of my devotion... recs!!

  by commonscribe on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:12:05 AM PDT

  •  Just as long as its not your last one

    You know...last full measure of devotion...Lincoln...

    These are the jokes, people!  Laugh!

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:16:34 AM PDT

    •  ROFL.

      That was hysterical.  Takes a real history buff to laugh heartedly at that one.  I love it!!!

      by possum on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:17:43 AM PDT

•  very, very nice

  tracing the events of an era through individual participants is such a rewarding read in history

  you've done a fab job here. i take it you're a historian? i see good things ahead for you.

  btw, if i remember correctly, you have some focus on the Civil War. i'd love to read something new about the Cherokees' checkered history and involvement in it. much of it is dated, but it's so interesting and revealing in terms of the consequences of colonization - i think it might also offer some real insights into the current debacle in Iraq

  by cookiebear on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:15:56 AM PDT

  •  You've got to make people care

    tracing the events of an era through individual participants is such a rewarding read in history

    People ultimately care most about other people, not mere events.  Most historians forget that.

    i take it you're a historian?

    Heh, I'm an historian in much the same way Katie Couric is a journalist. :-)

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:20:14 AM PDT

    •  well, you should be

      90% of being a historian is about weaving compelling narrative drawn from documented evidence, afaic

      you definitely have that covered

      by cookiebear on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:22:24 AM PDT

•  beautiful stuff, raybin

  as always.  I'm so looking forward to the next installment. :)

  by lapolitichick on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:18:37 AM PDT

•  Ahhhhh

  I have started the intro, and due to the length, will print the whole thing, take my sandwich and go read it out in the sunshine to savor. Yes it is spring today, 70 degrees and bitchin' beautiful. : )

  I'm very glad to see your work here again, amigo. I truly hope you will submit this series for official publication.

  by cosmic debris on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:20:48 AM PDT

  •  It's a lovely thought, but...

    I truly hope you will submit this series for official publication.

    Uncited works of popular history don't usually go over well for publishing houses.

    (Note to all:  I hope you know me well enough to know that I didn't make up and/or plagarize anything here.  I can offer citations for any  part of this upon request, but end notes are a bitch in the blogging format and would spoil what I'm going for here)

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:34:23 AM PDT

•  I recc'ed

  IN SPITE OF your use of the phrase "ill starred."

  Note to Raybin, you're not Shelby Foote.

  by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:21:56 AM PDT

  •  Shhhhhhhhhhh

    Let me have my delusions.

    I'm actually angling more for Bruce Catton here, to be honest.  

    And my sincere apologies to Peter Cozzens who I ripped the title off from.  (He wrote a book about the Battle of Chattanooga called "The Shipwreck of Their Hopes"  Here's a link to the Amazon page for it as a peace offering to him. :-)

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:27:48 AM PDT

•  oh, my

  Are you going to collect this in a book form at some point?  Because I'd buy it.

  by Nina Katarina on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:27:09 AM PDT

  •  I wasn't going to...

    ...but any opportunity to satisfy my lust for money is a suggestion well worth listening to.

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:29:00 AM PDT

    •  Keep us posted.

      I'll buy, too.

      by possum on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:31:15 AM PDT

    •  You should.

      Forget about the notion that it's well covered time in our history as writing goes.  You offer something unique:  The perspective of a well-informed aficionado.  And damn it, you write very well.

      The World (of the Civil War) According to Raybin.

      by Cathy on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:35:29 AM PDT

•  I will print this out for my husband,

  who is a Civil War historian.  Extremely well done, sir.

  by kate petersen on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:32:33 AM PDT

  •  Eep!

    Dammit, he's going to expose me and reveal that I made this all up!

    I really really really hope he likes it.

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:38:04 AM PDT

    •  I will tell you about it only if he does. :) nt

      by kate petersen on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:41:19 AM PDT

•  It's all about the context...

  ...says the person who gets a paycheck for doing history. CW era stuff has always been a challenge for me personally, which is unfortunate given my job. Not too many years ago, I stood in a little valley with Joe Battlefield Expert trying to draw up reasonable historic boundaries for a minor battlefield site. I remember thinking that before the end of the day, I'd be giving the old fart CPR. The next thing I knew, he was headed up the rocky hillside like a bighorn sheep, yelling "I think they could have pulled the big guns up here"!  Within minutes of trying to catch the old guy, I was begging for oxygen.

  To summarize- history ain't easy. It also ain't easy to write good history. Thanks, Raybin.

  by histopresto on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:34:42 AM PDT

  •  You're welcome

    Your story made me grin, having led people on more than a few mini Bataan Death Marches over various battlefields.

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:37:29 AM PDT

•  Ahhhh bliss

  Democrats are back in power and Raybin's back on the reclist. All is right with the world.

  by PerfectStormer on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:52:49 AM PDT

  •  I like the way you think

    You have the highest character that mortals can attain!

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:12:01 PM PDT

•  Hi Baby!! It's been like forever.

  Excellent work Sir--keep it up.  I'm looking forward to the rest.

  by PoliSigh on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 11:53:21 AM PDT

  •  It's been at least forever

    Which is way too long, I think.

    I hope I don't disappoint with the rest.  Man, the pressure is on now.  

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:13:26 PM PDT

•  Beautiful, Raybin,

  beautiful. Thank you.

  by occams hatchet on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:09:03 PM PDT

  •  You're most welcome

    I do what I can.

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:13:47 PM PDT

•  Oh gawd, Raybin, a sight for sore eyes

  Earthquake coming through... So glad to see you.

  You and these civil wars diaries of yours have been sorely missed.

  Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

  by bronte17 on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:19:08 PM PDT

  •  You too!

    Missed you!  And I've missed writing them.  Everything's just been so damn missed!

    by Raybin on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:33:16 PM PDT

•  Very well written

  I'll bookmark it for my spouse who will love it!  

  I always get a bit of a shadow feel around old civil war battlefields--when I went to Antietam the feeling was very creepy, like there were things underground that weren't quite dead.  Probably just an overactive imagination or ex-dinner at work, but it was very strange.

  by barbwires on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 01:16:10 PM PDT

  •  I've had that feeling...

    at Manassas,Gettysburg, San Jacinto, and at Duxford Air Base in England

    There is something about a battlefield. I'm not religious but there is some kind of energy in these places. It was the greatest at Gettysburg, it's very strong if you go to the Angle of Pickett's charge, and the least at Duxford, but it was there at every one of these sites. I've heard people mention it even at Hastings and in Greece where the 300 Spartans faced the Persians.

    by UndercoverRxer on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 01:58:39 PM PDT

•  Any relevance to our current political situation?

  It seems clear to me that the present-day "conservatives" are a product of old Southern grievances reenacted through the GOP. I grew up in Texas and remember well the undercurrent of antagonism for the "North" and "Yankees" (read now as "Blue States" and "Liberals."

  Certainly the fires stoked by the Republican "leadership" bears resemblance to the divisive rhetoric of the Old South. Warmongering conservatives tried to leave America once, now they are just trying to kill it.

  The Confederacy was actually an attempt to bring to this continent aristocracy in American guise, complete with plantation overlords, dissociative arrogance and hostility, genteel mannerisms and crushing oppression.

  Is it strange that the New South has given America its first overt King? I think envisioning the conservative movement as a population of ready "subjects" makes the dullards more understandable.

  by J Royce on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 01:17:21 PM PDT

  •  Oh yeah.

    If the North had dealt with the south like the winners of most civil wars do, there probably would be no neo-cons or southern strategy. The current GOP is civil war era Democratic party. Lincoln would be a Democrat in 2007.

    by UndercoverRxer on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 02:00:40 PM PDT

  •  Yep, you can see W's 30 percenters in this quote:

    It is seen in the perversion of Christianity, in the degredation of labor...in the indolence, ignorance, and poverty of the masses, and their servile submission to the arrogant claims of a privileged class; in the supremacy of force over law; in the recklessness of life; in subversion of the freedom of speech, and in such a loss of moral sense as to blind the evil-doer to a knowledge of the baseness of his crime.

    by bernardpliers on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 02:15:27 PM PDT

•  Outstanding!

  by marykk on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 02:00:18 PM PDT

•  This brought a chill to Confed hearts.

  Lee once said that he knew the war was lost when he heard this song, meaning that the North was not the weak soft Nation that the Rebs assummed they were.

  The Battle Cry of Freedom
  Yes, we'll rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom,
  We will rally from the hillside, we'll gather from the plain,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

  (Chorus)
  The Union forever! Hurrah, boys, hurrah!
  Down with the traitors, up with the stars;While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

  We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
  And we'll fill our vacant ranks with a million free men more,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

  Chorus

  We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
  And although they may be poor, not a man shall be a slave,Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

  Chorus

  So we're springing to the call from the East and from the West,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
  And we'll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love best,
  Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

  by UndercoverRxer on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 02:07:10 PM PDT

•  glad you got the kudos

  you so very well deserved Raybin, dear...!!!

  Diane W :)

  by wiretapthis on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 02:31:49 PM PDT

•  Compliments from a Union descendant

  Beautifully written and evocative.

  Two Irish orphans, one of whom survived the war, and became the seed of my mother's family tree.  The other, dead at Pleasant Hill, buried in a mass grave.

  My father's surname was represented by generals in each army, but we know less about his side of the family.  So I don't know what side they were on.  I was raised, however, to think of myself as a "Lincoln Republican".

  by aravir on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 03:02:30 PM PDT

•  Superb writing....

   A great way to start my day over coffee.
  Thank you so much!

  by a small quiet voice on Tue Feb 06, 2007 at 05:42:47 AM PDT