Grierson's Raid by Brown

We stopped by Post-Hip after lunch today and Scott tells us about Grierson's Raid by somebody Brown. He thinks it's a great book. So who's Grierson, and what's this raid?  Grierson was an American Civil War general, and his raid was an expedition through Mississippi during Grant's Vicksburg Campaign.

Some say that the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg (which happened at the same time) sealed the fate of the Confederacy. With their victory at Vicksburg the Union gained complete control of the Mississippi River and so the Confederacy was effectively split in two: East and West. Gettysburg put an end to Lee's invasion of the North.The prudent thing for the Confederacy to have done after these two major defeats would have been to sue for peace. But they didn't. The war dragged on for another two years.

The same thing happened in WWII with Germany and Japan, and they didn't give up just because the tide turned against them. They fought on to the bitter end. Of course, you never know what's going to happen in war. Some bit of luck might fall your way and change the whole course of events. Not likely, but it could happen. And movies are full of stories about the underdog who manages to defeat the big, bad, over-equipped, over-gunned and over-armored villains. It must be an emotional thing. Once you have your mind set on war, that's it, you're set, set until can't walk, stand or crawl any farther. Only then will the leaders who have set us on this course admit defeat. That's why they got picked.

I am beginning to think that war is inescapable. All this talk about peace is just a waste of breath. If people are not waging war, i.e. they are at "peace", they will still find someone else to fight about something else. Just look at politics, and you don't have to just be talking about national politics. Look at any level: state, county, city, district, ward, school board, whatever. There is always somebody making a fuss about something. Christ must have been nuts to think we could be nice to each other.

P.S. Civil War Factoid: Every state of the Confederacy, except South Carolina, contributed at least one regiment of troops to the North. Another guy named Brown has something to say about it.