War Crimes Against Southern Civilians
by Walter Cisco
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Book Summary Information
Author: Walter CiscoEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-30
ISBN: 158980466X
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Book Reviews of War Crimes Against Southern Civilians
Book Review: "Even in war...murder is murder."
Summary: 5 Stars
"War Crimes Against Southern Civilians" by Walter Cisco is a U.S. history book about how a majority of human beings living in the southern states during the time of the American Civil War were mistreated by some of the soldiers in the United States Military.
What you will find on Mr. Cisco's papers are a bunch of short stories. Overall, it's an historical compilation that features a collection of various pieces of old letters, memoirs, police reports, court marshals, journal entries, newspapers articles and interviews from magazines. These were all written by various kinds of different people who lived in the United States of America during the time of The American War Between the States. Cisco narrates through text and explains who these folks were and what the exact topic of their writings were about. There are also some very nice photographs from the period, as well as drawings, endnotes and an index.
I was worried at first that instead of just reporting the stories to the reader, the author would express his own personal opinions through out his book and even tell readers his opinions as if they were the exact truth. Luckily for me, he did not for the most part. The only time he really did was at the beginning when he titled the American War of 1861 to 1865 as being "Mr. Lincoln's war". I disagree with that title. I believe it takes two to do the tango.
Mr. Cisco's book is really not very political. Meaning it is not Pro-Confederate/Anti-Union. It's not just for the Neo-Confederate reader either. I think anyone can enjoy it. It is somewhat anti-government however. All and all, it is more about the mistreatment of human beings and people just trying to survive a terrible war. I think the research Mr. Cisco shares with his readers proves how little life has changed and it's a shame most humans cannot learn from our past mistakes. It seems like we as a society go through circles and each generation repeats the same mistakes a previous generation committed and of course, each generation always thinks they are the first generation to experience what we experience. Technology and trends may change, but human emotions are forever and sadly so are some of the human errors.
Getting back to the book: I was concerned that the author was going to try and portray all Unionists as bad men, but there are plenty of times that the author will present something that a U.S. soldier wrote describing the actions of his fellow soldiers towards people and being generally disgusted by them. I hope readers will understand that not ALL the men in the United States Military at that time were evil and if you do the research, you will discover there are some great stories where Union troops showed nothing but kindness and compassion towards southern civilians, black and white, free and slave.
There are also stories in this book of southern civilians who are sympathetic towards the North and openly support them, but despite that they are still robbed and sometimes murdered by some Federal troops. So again, this book is not really Anti-Union at all.
Also, it's not like these men were committing the crimes they were committing in the name of the Union. Most of these men were criminals before the war and brought their bad habits they had up North or in Ireland or other parts of Europe and brought them down south. Some men also became evil as a result of hardships of war, but I suspect any man who committed crimes already had it in him, but it took being around evil to bring that out.
Religion is brought up sometimes in Mr. Cisco's book. It's mentioned that General Robert Edward Lee of the Confederate Army did not want his men to behave how some of their Federal counterparts were behaving because of his Christian belief's and encouraged his men to act like gentlemen. It's also mentioned a few times in stories where some U.S. soldiers declare themselves being atheists to some southern Christian civilians and would tell them that they do not not believe in God, heaven, or hell. There are also some stories were some U.S. troops would tell civilians that General Sherman was the real God. All this could be consider anti-atheist by some and I really wish that more Christians would understand that there are good and bad atheists just like there are good and bad Christians. I hope all readers will understand and get that and be aware that those men who did those things did not do so in the name of atheism, but because of what kind of men they were.
I am not going to deny that this is not the first time I posted a review of this book. The review you are reading now is an edited review of my original work. My original review supported what was done to southern civilians. Needless to say, it caused some debate. However, after going back and rereading this book and rethinking some things, I believe it was wrong of me to typed what I typed. I am a big fan of Union General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain who fought against the rebels and I highly doubt he would agree with what I posted. Even though I denied I wasn't being an online troll when I posted my review the first time, I admit now that I was trying to be a troll somewhat.
I have always had an interest in the Insurrection against this great country, but I can admit that for a long time....in some cases, not always, but I sometimes have had an almost childish view of certain things. Because it does not and has not ever personally effected me, it's real easy for me to sit back and have these strong opinions about this and that and be okay with people in the south being tortured and killed.
Yes, I admit I have this boyish fantasy of belonging to the U.S. army and destroying some town and sleeping with all the women like I'm Genghis Khan, but it's only a childish and silly fantasy. It's like playing a video game where you kill characters. I honestly don't know if that is something I could do in real life, especially if I was facing a group of scared, crying children and women, begging me for mercy. Could I see myself stealing things, burning and destroying stuff? Maybe. If I knew I could get away with it that is. I honestly don't know. I think my conscience would get the better of me and I couldn't do it. Now could I see myself murdering or raping someone? Heck no.
I also think when sometimes discussing the Great Rebellion, I've been guilty of treating some of the people that were apart of it like they were not even human. Like it's all some comic book or big TV show or something, but when I actually started reading books this year, I think I truly discovered.....yes, these were real people. This was no joke. This was real. This was not pretend, these were not characters and they were not just actors. These were real people who lost their lives and for what? It doesn't matter how long ago it was. These were human beings and they deserve respect.
I had to honestly ask myself: How would I really view the War to Save the American Union if I was actually alive at that time and there to witness a lot of it? No more of this fantasy stuff. As soon as I took a real good honest look, I knew the answers.
I think if I was not being asked to fight in the war, I'd have the views I have now, but if I was expected to partake of it, I believe I would not think the U.S. going to war with the South would be worth it. It would be senseless and stupid. Why lose so many lives all so the South couldn't have it's own nation? Slavery is wrong, but I do not think so many people dying to end it was worth it. I could not see myself wanting to go to war all to free slaves. I think slavery would have faded away in due time. England and plenty of other countries were able to end slavery peacefully. Why couldn't we? Why was a war needed? As far as secession goes, I do not support it, but to go to war over it would be asking too much out of me personally.
I am NOT admitting the South is right, nor am I taking their side. I am only on the side of the United States of America. I do not always agree with it, but I would never resort to treason and I think the Southern leaders from the 1860's were VERY quick to jump the gun and are just as guilty for starting the war and causing so many lives to be lost, including their very own people.
I sympathize with many of the southern civilians who were abused by our military during the War of the Rebellion. However, when I read about the mistreatment of North Vietnamese civilians committed by some U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, I also feel sympathy for some of them. That does not mean that I support the side innocent people in North Vietnam happen to have found themselves on at that time. I have the same feelings when I read about the mistreatment of southern civilians committed by some of the U.S. soldiers during the rebellion.
I love the U.S.A. very much and sometimes I hate the enemies of this country so much that it's easy for me to not care about the innocent civilians of our enemies because ignorance is bliss. i.e. If I don't know what is going on and if I am not the one doing it, why should I care? I suspect in real life, it might be different.
What some of our troops did to these people was completely unnecessary. Hurting innocent civilians did not help the Union cause at all in my view. By the time the Federal Army really began committing these actions, the South was whipped. These men did what they did not to try to help Uncle Sam win the war, but for pure pleasure. Nothing more.
"This is an Army! Not a rabble!"
When it comes to murder during the American Civil War, I believe it's not about North or South and which side was right or which side was wrong, or who is a Christian and who is not. Murder is wrong and war is stupid.
"War Crimes Against Southern Civilians" is a wonderful book. It's very well written and one of the best books I've ever read. It has some amazing and touching stories in it. It's entertaining, interesting, memorable and educational. I honestly was not bored once and really enjoyed reading it. It is one of my favorite books.
If you are interested in the War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, rather you wave Old Glory or Old Dixie or both, or if you are neutral, I believe you will enjoy reading this book. Thank you for reading my review.
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