The Present Moment Is Nice But It

I Think I Was Always Subconsciously Driven By An Attempt To Restate That Faith And To Show Where It Was Properly Grounded, How It Grew Out Of What A Great Many Young Men On Both Sides Felt And Believed And Were Brave Enough To Do

The Civil War Was Fought In 10,000 Places, From Valverde, New Mexico, And Tullahoma, Tennessee, To St. Albans, Vermont, And Fernandina On The Florida Coast. More Than 3 Million Americans Fought In It, And Over 600,000 Men, 2 Percent Of The Population, Died In It.

It Began With One Act Of Madness, And It Ended With Another. John Brown Heard History's Clock Strike In The Night And Tried To Hurry Dawn Along With Gunfire; Now John Wilkes Booth Heard The Clock Strike, And He Tried With Gunfire To Restore The Darkness. Each Man Stood Outside The Human Community, Directed By Voices The Sane Do Not Hear, And Each Kept History From Going Logically... The Line From Harper's Ferry To Ford's Theater Is A Red Thread Binding The Immense Disorder Of The Civil War Into An Irrational Sort Of Coherence.

The Confederate Constitution Was Almost Identical To That Of The United States.

There Is A Rowdy Strain In American Life, Living Close To The Surface But Running Very Deep. Like An Ape Behind A Mask, It Can Display Itself Suddenly With Terrifying Effect.