I salute each and every one of these brave and honorable souls no matter which side they were on as well as all those who took part in the horrible conflict, May you all reside peacefully and comfortably in the loving arms of our creator forever. Salute.
Sweet Memories yes, he did not have any name on/under the collar of his uniform and the picture of his three kids were put in a paper in the north and either his wife saw it or friends recognized them. Either way it’s a sad true story. I think if you look his name up there will be a story.
I don't know whether you are familiar with the whole story, but the photo was shared in the news, and his wife identified the children as hers. Copies of the photo were made by photographers and sold to support orphans.
I found this video extremely moving. It made me strangely nostalgic for the visits I have made to Gettysburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg. My wife says you cannot fully understand America until you have visited those sacred places. What a tragic era for that generation of Americans.
In the late 80's a group of my fellow workers were at a conference in Chambrersburg, Pa. We had a few hours and visited the battlefield. Our first stop was on the Union lines looking across the wheat field towards the Confederate line. We were all aghast. The distance that the Southerners had to cross under musket and artillery fire was shocking. We all exclaimed, are there men today that would march shoulder to shoulder through shot and shell? We sighed, we thought not. There were brave men on both sides, that fact cannot be taken away. We visited Devil's Den, Little and Big Roundtop, toured the visitors center and stood where President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. We all came away with the fact, the battlefield is hallowed ground purchased by the lives and blood of both sides. You could almost feel the ghosts in battle formation around each of us. I guess the words I can express are awe, bravery, sacrifice and a sense of sanctity. If you get a chance to visit, do so. Visit late in the afternoon when the sun is low, the magnitude what took place there is apparent.
I have father and son ancestors that served in the Confederate army. The father was 52 and his son 15, they served in the Virginia Senior and Junior reserves from 1864-1865. The son was at the Surrender with Lee's army, the father was captured and held in a POW camp until after the war ended. My avatar is one of my g-g-grandfathers that served in the 60th Georgia Infantry, he was 33 when he left his wife and three children and joined the army. He was killed at the 1862 Battle of Bristoe Station in Virginia, a rear guard action prior to the main Battle of Second Manassas/ Bull Run.
God Bless all the honorable and brave soldiers of both sides, who fought and died at Gettysburg and on every other battlefield of that war. Respect their sacrifices.
This is the part of history we need more awareness of...putting human faces on everything, telling their story, seeing them as just people caught up in the time they lived in. I find the most tragic ones are the ones like, “brothers both killed WITH their father” (their poor mother!) or “Died clutching photograph of his children” these get me. Also I find it eerie to meditate on how every single person who experienced the 19th century is surely dead now. Looking into their faces and attaching a name to them brings them out of the book of forgotten names and make them real again.
Billy Graham' s grandfather lost a leg and an eye at Gettysburg. When his grandmother was dying she exclaimed that she saw him at her bedside and that he had both his legs and both of his eyes¡
I've always had a passion for old photographs 60 years ago you could go into any antique store and buy tintypes whole family photo albums for a couple of bucks I started collecting when I was about 14 I can study them for hours at a time we are truly the Unknown Soldier nothing remains about their life or who they were just an image Lost in Time
This is a great video. Very haunting. It's almost like some of the dead are asking, "What put me here? I'm too young to die." The creator of this clip needs to increase the contrast of the print and enlarge it so you don't need an electron microscope to read it.
These photos are extraordinary. I would be much obliged if the writing could be situated and contrasted such that it could be read without difficulty. I can't imagine that this would be a heavy task. Thanks.
Why leaders of country’s can not look back on these brave men and come to some arrangement that war should never happen again. These boys will always be remembered for their valour under such horrific circumstances. I’m English and find the civil war so interesting but I always get a lump in my throat when you see how old these warriors were and what they went through.I wish I could pay my respects to each and every man who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives as I type this I have a tear in my eye. Rest easy brave boys 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
My grandfather's Grandfather was at Little Round Top. He was captured as the Union Army pursued Lee southward in the days following the Battle. His wife in Maine never knew her husband fate. Our family would learn in 1972 that John Lenfest perished as a POW in Richmond. And only recently we learned that 20th Maine contemporary archival researchers found that Confederate prison hospital orderlies had misunderstood and consequentially misspelled his name. Another generational tragedy. So often i think of them. And grieve.
I case anyone wonders why there’s resistance to removing confederate statues, your looking at it. So much pain, so much loss, so much heartbreak. I hear it said that confederate monuments represent slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. What they represent is remembrance of loss, not unlike a gravestone. The act of tearing down these monuments and statues that commemorate the loss of so much, and so many, is tantamount to desecrating a graveyard. They were erected with the intention healing a grievous wound that was inflicted upon our nation. A wound that, beyond all reason, troubles our nation to this day.
My neighbor can put whatever monument he or she wants ......its called Freedom of Speech .....you know the the thing.....the US. Constitution......Also why not put the matter up to vote ? If people in a city or county want to remove a monument then fine let them decide .....but to send an angry mob to tear something down is mob rule ....something the founders of this country abhorred......but I'll bet your a big fan of Mao's Cultural Revolution too right ??? And I 'll bet you also believe all those "...peaceful protests..." in Portland ...Seatle ....and Minneapolis ....burning businesses and misc buildings public and private is Cool with you too ....right ???
@D Sullivan I didn't say I'd like it or said anything about being friends with my neighbor ....I just defended their right to Freedom of Speech ...if they want to put up on their private property a monument to Bin Laden .....I really don't care .....and if anything I might try to have a civil conversation and ask why ?? Thomas Jefferson said ....." I may fervently disagree with your opinions / beliefs ....but I'll defend to the Death your right to say it ...." my paraphrase .....but I guess you ate opposed to the rule of Law and Freedom of Speech apparently .....and with that I'll say ....Good Day 2 You sir !
“From the looks of this old graveyard, hell nobody really won” So sad to see so many kids and young men dead. War is a terrible thing. One day I pray it will all be over
Thank you for this beautiful video, and for focusing on the people whose lives were upended, rather than on Gettysburg as a place. I am floored that you have so few subscribers. Folks all over the world are interested in our civil war. You should have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. You simply aren't very visible. I just found you myself.
I THANK GOD EVERY DAY ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT GAVE AND THOSE THAT GAVE ALL SO I CAN LIVE IN THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH...THANK YOU.....MAY WE NEVER FORGET WHERE WE CAME FROM..AND WHERE WE CAN GO NOW BECAUSE OF THEM ALL.
As a mother of a marine i echo your sentiments. As my son has said "the day i was sworn in i signed a blank check to uncle sam up to & including death" for this we owe all men & women past & present who have served so we can live in this great country a debt we can't even begin to pay
These are the faces of this country's past. These men fought a terrible war that was made worse by the fact that technology in weapons had surpassed military techniques. The rifled musket with the invention of the minni ball by French man Claude-E´tienne Minie´ in 1848. These inventions made drastic changes in the killing power of the infantry. The rifled musket, and the minnie ball increased velocity, distance, and accuracy over the smooth bore musket. The minni ball was designed to smash bones, and rupture blood vessels that it hit. Most were .58 calibre, and would mushroom upon impact for maximum damage. Many men died from amputations after being shot in the arm or leg. An amputatation could cause shock, gang green, death from blood loss or other disease. These men fought hard for their sides, and many brother fought brother. Many families were split by the conflict, yet when you look at these men you can see something different. These were simpler times, and although terrible things happen in war, the human life was worth more than today. Today human life is not worth the price of a bullet to a lot of people. Many want to change or hide history. They are offended by symbols from the past, and try to change history books in schools. I believe this is a mistake, because there were many atrocities done in the past, but the thing to do is, study them, so they will not be repeated, not try to ignore, or change things. These men whose faces are preserved here, have lived their lives, and made their mistakes, and reaped their rewards. We should pay all of them respect, and learn from the history they gave us, no matter if it was good or bad.
@Zip Zenac Surely there are more appropriate platforms where you can express your opinion. Please find one, and don't attack a man who answered the call. He deserves to be proud of his service.
David, Thank you for your service. What makes the U.S. military great, is the willingness for good men, and women to serve this great country. I am from the Vietnam era, and by the time I finished school, troops were being pulled out of the country. However I had friends, and people I knew from school that served, and many died from cancer, probably from exposure to agent Orange. When the troops came home they were disrespected, and called names by those who didn't have the backbone, or the alliance to their country, to serve. I respect all who serve, and the families who sacrifice. No one should run down a man or woman who serves, PERIOD. If you have a problem with a government, then it should stay with the government.
@Zip Zenac I'm thinking you're maybe not a veteran but more of a brainwashed, self-hating, communist puke. Agent Orange? LOL As if it was a weapon? It's actually a mix of 2,4-D which is still used today and 2,4,5-T which was phased out of agriculture use in the late 70's due to dioxin concerns.
I was born 90 years after the civil war ended, about the same time as the last few veterans were dying. As I look at some of the young faces of the boys lost in the war, I wonder if more of them could have lived until I was born. It brings me to tears to think of all the lives lost in that war and the many that have followed. Oh Lord...
LONG LIVE THE CONFEDERACY THEY DIED FOR THE CAUSE AND SOVEREIGN INDEPENDENCE FROM THE NORTH'S TAXATION OF SOUTHERN RESOURCES, I DESCEND FROM CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS AND PROUDLY SAYING SO HERE AND NOW
As a Canadian I am familiar with your catastrophic civil war. I know that a number of my countrymen took sides for both sides and it would be an interesting study to follow them through the war and where they are buried either in their native soil or in some unknown grave.
@@patstokes3615And created the race relations we have had ever since. No nation has ever had to go to war to end slavery within its own borders. The Northern industrialists figured they could get the tariffs they wanted by colluding with radical abolitionists and the media. They used slavery to demonize the South and make it seem okay to violate their constitutional rights and guarantees. Much like the Leftist media does today with Trump supporters and conservatives in general. The Republican Party of 1860 was the party of big government, sectional interests, and was full of radicals including communists, socialists, red republicans, Jacobites, atheists, and free love enthusiasts. The Democrat Party of 1860 was the party of small government and inclusiveness. The war didn't end slavery as the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in areas under Confederate control. It was a lame attempt to incite servile insurrection in the South. If it would've happened it would have resulted in a lot of slave deaths. The EP had no effect on or in the South. No slaves were freed because of it. However, it did cause a spike in desertions in the Union Army. Remember, Lincoln said before he was elected he had neither intentions or the ability to legally free the slaves. The South was conquered and Radical Reconstruction drove a wedge between the whites and former slaves. The Republicans had the mostly ignorant slaves voting against their own interests. It was not the way to free slaves, gradual emancipation would've been much better. However, gradual emancipation would mean whites and blacks getting along and even voting together. The victorious North couldn't have an even stronger South than before the War. The former slaves after being free would've counted as a whole person instead of 3/4 in regards to taxation and representation. The South would've had the power to stop the highly protective tariffs that disproportionately hurt the South economically and drained their wealth to the North for more than fifty years after the War. To the North the slaves were political tools, when farm labor was replaced with machinery they didn't want the blacks that migrated to the North for jobs. They herded them into highly segregated areas. The North has always been more racially segregated than than the South has. The war was never about freeing slaves, it was about conquering an economic and political rival by gaining complete control of the federal government.
@@dvrmte you have literally NAILED IT! BUT, don't expect the person you replied to OR any other brainwashed individual commenting on this video to agree with your analysis. MOST of them are too far gone in the direction of big government to think outside the mental/political/cultural box they were put in from kindergarten. Centralized government good, state sovereignty and individual rights bad. The Confederacy seceded from the Union for the latter reasons. The federal government under Lincoln literally attacked them based on the former.
@@les3449 Looking back at my post, I agree that I nailed it. LOL I still have moments of clarity. When the North conquered the South, they destroyed the last great conservative check on the government.
@@dvrmteyou are on point with that. I have been reenacting American history of the 1776 to 165 era since the 1970s. Currently I have had to relegate my hobby to research through books. In that I have found several tomes that are useful for researching and defending the South's secession from the Union as well as who the REAL instigator of the War Between the States was. I think you know who I am referring to. There ARE books and writers out there who KNOW the truth and publishers who are willing to print it. Keep putting the TRUTH out there!
So sad. At the same time another war was going on in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay (in Brazil we call it "Paraguay War". So many young lives were lost. With all my respect.
They didn't give their lives - they had them taken. Neither did they do it for people of today. I'm sure future generations were the last things on their minds. What clichéd garbage people talk.
I am a student of history and I paused the video at each photo to study and think about the person or persons in the photo. I wish it was possible to know what happened to those listed as surviving the battle. Did they die in future battles ? Did they survive the war to tell their children and grandchildren about their exploits ? I have the highest respect for each and every one shown in these photos and all who fought bravely throughout this entire horrible war. Had the war ended differently we may now be two separate countries.
You look at these men, and I imagine them friends … laughing … under different circumstances. The war was avoidable IMO. And how can anyone believe these men charged shot and shell, marched 20 miles a day, slept on the ground, ate terrible food when available..all to defend slavery? Because they didn't. They fought for their friends, family, and State. The Fire Eaters in the South and the Radical Republicans in the North are to blame. IMO.
ALL war is "avoidable', except politicians do not go out of there way to avoid it if it serves their political agendas. True in ancient times-true today. Few if any Union soldiers fought in the war to "free the slaves". Most had probably never even seen an actual slave. Having hundreds of thousands of slaves in the South was a strategic manpower asset to the Confederacy. To "kill" the Confederacy the North realized it had to "kill" slavery- one way or another. Thus, "emancipation" of slaves( inside the CSA) became a strategic imperative. It was not done through altruism or "the milk of human knindness". It was just one of the ways to re-unite the USA, along with defeating the CSA on the battlefield and isolating and then wrecking their socio- economic slave based economy. It was one of the worlds first "modern" (total)wars."'
They were not defending slavery, slavery was a minor issue back then and the VAST majority of people in the South never owned a slave. It was a war of succession , most people in the north could have cared less about blacks, in fact at the end of the war if Lincoln wasn't assassinated, most blacks in the South would have been shipped off to Central America, South America and Liberia.
B Johnson for what it’s worth, 94 per cent of southerners never owned a slave and the vast majority were poor sharecroppers who were conscripted. Mountain folk had never even seen African slaves and most despised the confederacy and were fervently pro union and shot confederate conscription agents. Jones county Mississippi was referred to as the “kingdom of jones” when they refused to become part of the confederacy. When slavery was abolished, it was only for states “ in rebellion” and northern states and border states were allowed to keep their slaves and they did so quite happily until abolished at a later date. Slavery was despicable but nearly every state allowed it at one time. The southern states huge mistake was not outlawing it as soon as the northern states did. That delay allowed northern states to take the moral high ground and a holier than thou attitude that persists even now. All of our ancestors were involved directly or at least very indirectly in that dirty business of slavery. The easy way to view this issue is good states vs bad states thereby simplifying a complex issue, a readers digest version of the war between the states. War is bad, slavery is bad
This is great> Thank-you so much for posting this. I can't read the second line on most pictures The yellow blends in with the background so can't tell what happened to the soldier
My 3x great grandfather was there, Richard Nathaniel Ward, CSA member of Poque's Battalion out of Albemarle County, Virginia. He survived to surrender at Appomattox and married the daughter of a man that he served with. He died in the late 1920s near White Hall Virginia.
Beautiful sequence and choice of music for one of the most important few days in American history. As an aside, please, the color choice and size of font made details quite difficult to read. Thank you for creating and uploading this.
A lot has been said of how the Civil War was a war of father vs. son or brother vs. brother and that is true. But as you see here not only did men wage war against people they grew up with and knew their whole lives, they also fought along side people they grew up with and knew their whole lives. I think this is something we often forget all this time later. I served in the US Army and more importantly I have been around veterans who did far more than I ever did in service to this country most of my life. Many of the WWII veterans and some of the Vietnam/Korean War veterans I grew up around had bad drinking problems. Self medication for PTSD! They felt their guilt that often follows a soldier home from war which was another reason they drank. I see veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and how they are treated by the VA for PTSD and I am not so sure that it is better than alcoholism and "self medication". I can only imagine just how much worse that PTSD and guilt for the surviving soldier who returns home from war would be back in those times when units were formed locally and you went off to war with friends and family you knew your whole life. I can't even imagine what it would be like to see a brother or cousin or your father or son suffer a horrific wound and die right in front of you like so many of them saw. I can't imagine the guilt one must have felt when they returned home after the war and on a daily basis they saw the loved ones of fallen comrades. I think this is part of the reason why so many of the veterans from the North and South alike took part in the mass migration to the west after the war. Seeing the those loved ones and having to tell them lies about how they really died must have been unbearable. When they would give you a look I imagine it would have ran through your mind what they were really thinking. Even if they weren't blaming you some how or wondering why it is you made it home and their loved one didn't I imagine often these veterans thought that is what these people were really thinking on top of pondering that themselves. It had to be unbearable at times. God bless them all! I don't care if they were Yankees or Confederates God bless them all for what they endured. Tough men! Real warriors that have earned their respect.
Rubbish. Just men caught up in a conflict that they didn't choose and would have preferred to avoid. They didn't sacrifice their lives they had them taken from them.
Actually most rifled muskets were 58 caliber and the smoothbores were 69 caliber. Military tactics are necessarily behind technology. Many of those so-called "antiquated tactics" are in use today. Flank movements, concentrating firepower, and trench warfare, are still in use today. If a large army was headed towards your manufacturing sector with the intention of destroying it, how would you stop it using mostly single shot muzzleloaders and artillery? You would do just as they did back then - put your men in line to mass firepower and make flank movements when possible.
It's one thing to read the histories of these battles with the comments on casualties. It's another to see the faces. The very last picture of the two veterans; there seems to be still some animosity in the face of the Union vet.
There were still CSA vets living in my time, who would never acknowledge the government in Washington, or consider crossing the Mason-Dixon line to go north!
I really appreciate this video. I know you couldn't put ALL the photos up.... My ancestor was a Union Colonel from New York and let a battalion that was very key in winning the battle at Gettysburg, on the second day of the three day battle he was killed by a cannon ball that took off his face . He was only 35. His wife had his body returned to NY to be buried. There is a big memorial by his graves telling about the battle, etc. There are several photos of him on the internet, and on find a grave .oc His name was COL. GEORGE LAMB WILLARD... he's ON MY PATERNAL grandmother's SIDE.
"God rest these brave souls north and south i am obsessed with the american civil war what get me these people realy meant what cause what they were fighting we are all slaves to system . DO YOUR OWN RESARCH AND HOPEFULLY THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT "greetings u all from the uk "
I always enjoy these old pictures! I question to myself that at the instant of their picture, they were alive. What was in their mind at the time. We’re they think of family, future or even mundane like what will they have for dinner, etc.
I believe the only civilian killed in Gettysburg was his love interest. She was working in her kitchen when a bullet pierced the kitchen door. I believe the door and the bullet hole are still there?
@@badguy1481 That would be Jennie Wade. There's a hilarious little movie called "Route 30" that plays with Jennie Wade's story. Where was she shot? In the back or in the ass? This movie contends that it's impossible to die if you are shot in the ass.
Enigma Chicago did 600,000 southern men fight for that? Look at the whole scenario and it doesn't rightly appear that either side would fight over those things in the way of a civil war.
Toby O'Neil, 600,000 Southern men fought to preserve the right to have slaves. Case closed. Let’s not couch that conflict in romantic terms. The South seceded in expectation that Lincoln would free the slaves, even though he PROMISED not to. Case closed. Some have tried to reshape the South’s treasonous act into some higher form of righteousness, but nope, no other reason exists. You want me to look at the whole “scenario”? What whole scenario? Man, what are you talking about? “It doesn’t RIGHTLY appear that either side would fight over those things in the way of a civil war”? But they DID... Slavery was a hot issue when the Constitution was signed! Sooooo you’re saying that they felt that as long as they didn’t see a war coming, that it was alright? Dude, you’re killing me... LOL!
Toby O'Neil , It doesn’t matter what motivated each and every Southern soldier, as he defended the South. All of their victories translated into PRESERVING THE “RIGHT” (LOL!) to enslave others, whether they could individually afford it or not. Stop being stupid.
Enigma Chicago "It doesn't matter what motivated each and every southern soldier" It does if you are trying to say WHAT THEY FOUGHT FOR. "All their victories translated in PRESERVING THE "RIGHT" (LOL!) to enslaves others" So your saying that the default victory was always for preserving slavery? So the men and women of the south can't be looked on badly because they were fighting for something which created, with every victory for their original cause, outcomes for something they weren't fighting for? So they didn't fight for slavery but slavery would be affected regardless? So again those that fought were indirectly supporting something they weren't fighting over and they wouldn't fight over, so they are bad? Ramifications and outcomes are always positive and negative. Throughout history. What we would call the "good guys" are not victims of this. American revolution, each victory fought for the creation of a land that would fight the natives and create a massive slave country. First World War, every victory was for the destruction of Europe and the creation of nazi germany. Every victory was for the power struggle in the Middle East. Second World War, every victory was for the rise of communist powers and western influences, creating the Cold War and threat of nuclear war. The gulf war, every victory was in support of further disunity in the Middle East and the creation and use of extremist groups. They didn't fight for those things but they fought and caused or bolstered those things growth by fighting and winning. I acknowledge the impacts a southern victory would have on slavery but I don't just stop there and say "that's the story". I also don't attribute that, to why they (those who fought) were bad. A lot went into this whole saga. Judgement is easy for whole of the two sides but when it gets lower and is more individual, then what ever judgment was present for the two groups should be better fought. "Stop being stupid." So you've said they fought for something and that makes them bad for fighting for it but then say it doesn't matter what they actually fought for because they indirectly fought for it, which still makes them bad. That's silly. And heh, to borrow your own words, stupid. Sorry bro, history at this point acknowledges what both sides did and why they did it. History says that 600,000 white southerners didn't enlist or get conscripted to fight for slavery or knowingly fight to support it. Hate them because they were slavers and left the United States to kept it alive. But to hate them and critics them for fighting for something which had indirect impacts on things they weren't meant to be fighting for is kinda not looking at everything but then again, you'd have to look at everything to see this but then choose to disregard everything you've seen to make a point of it. If you don't want to respond, that's cool, at this point in these comments it's useless to get people to see it different, so nothing lost if you go you're own way, with your opinions. But if you do reply I'll respond back.
The captioning particularly their age regiment etc. made it due to size and/or color made them very difficult to read. Quite disappointing. Seeing their faces brings more reality to those awful three days. Such tragedy.
10:46 This soldier is not from the 14th Virginia. He is from the 14th Brooklyn. Mark Maritato pointed this out and should be in contact with the NPS soon on this.
Those people today that are removing statues and other memories of the war because of there involvement in slavery should be ashamed of themselves I don't condone slavery but it was part of the history and should be protected for that reason you can't just erase it.
1st Minnesota saved the Union army at Gettysburg After General Sickles moved his men forward without orders! His actions opened up the left flank to be overrun by the confederates at Cemetery Ridge! General Hancock ordered the 1st Minnesota to charge the confederates to by time to get reinforcements! 1st Minnesota did it without hesitation knowing they are outnumbered by 5-1! 1st Minnesota held at the cost of 82% casualties and to this day still holds the worst loss by a Military company in U.S history! After the battle they moved what was left of 1st Minnesota to the safety of the center of the army! On the 3rd day Pickett’s charge aimed directly at the 1st Minnesota! This was one of the few spots in the line that didn’t budge during Pickett’s charge! The largest monument at Gettysburg is dedicated to the 1st Minnesota for their acts of bravery!!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Absolutely correct.. Like the Iron Brigade (made up of Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana volunteers), the 1st Minnesota were soldiers from the "western frontier", who were part of an eastern army but fought the hardest and died the most...in the east.
A gentle correction.. the photo of Col. Van Manning and wife has him listed as being with the 3rd Alaska... I am sure this was merely a typo and he served with the 3rd Arkansas.
That's a morbid and historically inaccurate song. The Emancipation Proclamation caused a spike in Yankee desertions and didn't free any slaves. The North was fighting to maintain the Union as it would've been illegal, untruthful, and treacherous to fight to free the slaves.
Very hard to read the printed matter. Nice historic pictures A lot of work with a major flaw. Gave up trying to read the names and what happened to them.
