With Ellsworth's death, now we have a solid begin date --May 24, 1861-- to put on Sherman's Vandalism. In the end, that really summarizes the entire war effort. The Southern states were looted, burned and robbed for the financial benefit of the northern states...but the soldiers who carried out the crime were simply miffed because the Southern states were..."defiant." They were offended that the Southern states exercised their right to self-government and self determination and they were determined----at whatever the cost---- to force the South to bend to their preferences.

Dr. Dearstyne goes on to note that at least forty (40) Union generals hailed from New York including John A. Dix who is noted to be a former senator and future governor, and who was Secretary of the Treasury in 1861. According to Dearstyne, Dix telegraphed Treasury agents in New Orleans: "If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot."

Oh! So, it's OK to shoot people in New Orleans who might be offended by U.S. Flags... but if someone shoots a New Yorker in Alexandria, Virginia, for stealing flags, they risk creating a martyr. Hmmm...

Appointed a general in the Union army, Dix adds to his heroic resume by arresting pro-Confederate members of the Maryland state legislature to prevent a vote on secession, negotiating prisoner exchange with a Confederate general, and commanding federal troops in suppressing the 1863 draft riot, and "working effectively with New York City officials to organize peaceful resumption of the draft a month later." Of course, Dearstyne didn't mention the many deaths of civilians, immigrants and various citizens who died as a result of the "order" Dix restored. In the end, recruiting immigrants off-the-boat to go south and loot another country resumed to D.C.'s satisfaction.

The New York Draft Riots did illustrate that many in the North and, in New York in particular, were not in agreement with Lincoln's war policies or goals. It also illustrates that Lincoln was willing to use brutal force to suppress any dissent.

Arresting state legislators without legal cause or due process and killing civilians rioting over the draft...wow! Dix had some tough assignments, I'll give him that. Perhaps he should have paused and reflected on his ultimate moral duty. Robert E. Lee faced similar assignments, had he remained in the U.S. Army, but Lee resigned rather than accept orders to carry out an illegal and immoral war against fellow Americans and citizens of his native state in order to suppress their rights. There's little doubt, at least for this writer, as to which serves as the better moral example.

In Dearstyne's defense, he does mention Erastus Corning and other New Yorkers who protested the draft and the arrest of civilians (after suspension of habeas corpus) by the Lincoln horde of loyalty brownshirts. He mentions New York City's mayor who suggested that NYC should secede (we note the irony here) from the state and form an independent city apart from D.C. rule. He mentions the criticisms of the Emancipation Proclamation. We should explore all these aspects in more detail.

We should applaud Dearstyne's efforts to generate New Yorker interest in the sesquicentennial and New York's role in the war. Any effort to understand the facts and the truth is commendable. But given the majority of what the north and New York put forward as "heroic" and as "heroes"... we can understand why New York's enthusiam is lacking. What Dearstyne calls New York's "modesty" would more properly be called shame.

Or is it just confidence that "might makes right?" And, perhaps they just don't want to gloat since their armies won the war...ignoring, of course, that ALL Americans lost liberties...and that the voluntary Republic our Founders gave us was destroyed by their efforts.

War is always a terrible waste. It is perhaps cliche to say that "Freedom isn't free" but as we reflect on the sacrifices of our veterans this Memorial Day, it is fitting that we remember this most terrible of our wars. In human terms, it cost more American lives (620,000+ soldiers and 50,000+ civilians) than in all our other wars combined. It is remembrance of these soldiers that inspired the traditions that led to Memorial Day observances of various flavors in the South and across the country...notably at Arlington Cemetery, land stolen by the U.S. Government from Robert E. Lee and his heirs.

To honor all those Americans who made the ultimate sacrfice, we should resolve to put forth our best efforts and energies to prevent such sacrifice in the future and to restoring the liberties we have let slip away or be ripped away in the last 150 years. We owe it to our ancestors and to our posterity.

"[I]t wasn't because our fathers knew what they were fighting for that they were heroes. They didn't know what they were fighting for, exactly, and they fought on anyway. That's what made them heroes." ---New York Commander of the Sons of Union Veterans, as quoted by James M. McPherson in his 1994 book, What They Fought For, 1861-1865 -- Why the Terrible Destruction of the Civil War? by Jeff Riggenbach

"Northern soldiers by and large said they were fighting to preserve what their ancestors had bequeathed to them: the Union. Southern soldiers also referred to their ancestors, but they typically argued that the real legacy of the Founding Fathers was not so much the Union as the principle of self-government. Very often we see Southern soldiers comparing the South's struggle against the U.S. government to the colonies' struggle against Britain. Both, in their view, were wars of secession fought in order to preserve self-government." ---Thomas Woods, Jr., from Politically Incorrect Guide to American History