Joy Hakim

History

A History of US

War, Terrible War

1855-1865

In War, Terrible War we face Civil War, from the battle of Manassas to the battle of Gettysburg and then to the South's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Follow soldiers in blue and gray as they endure long marches, freezing winter camps, and awful battles, all fought on American soil. Meet Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Jefferson Davis, soldiers on both sides, slave owners, abolitionists, average citizens, and others. This is the story of a people enduring the horrors of a war where brother sometimes fought brother.

Quotes

"It was the worst war in American history. It was called the Civil War, or the War Between the States, and sometimes brother fought brother and father fought son. More than 620,000 Americans died. Cities were destroyed, farms burned, homes leveled, and on one bloody day at a place called Antietam, more men were killed than on any other day in all our history. The total deaths were almost as many as in all of our other wars combined. If the same percentage of today's population were killed it would mean five million deaths."

"General Winfield Scott was in charge of the Union army. He was an old man, and in terrible physical shape. He even had to be helped onto his horse. But there was nothing wrong with his mind--it was as sharp as ever."

"Today, if you want to hear music, you can turn on your headset. So it is hard for most of us to understand the importance of singing in the Civil War. But the soldiers sang everywhere. They sang when they marched, they sang around the campfires, and they sang on the battlefield--to cheer themselves when things were going well, or to rally themselves when things were going badly. Songs helped them survive in the hideous prisons. And it helped them to know that at home their families were singing the same songs."