Conference turris::womannotes-v3

    I found a brief (i.e. not kept for vary long, but certainly not due to
    any death or illness) diary in my grandfather's "archives", written by
    my great great (great?) grandmother.  It was only about 20 pages,
    written just as a man she had been courted by was about to go off to
    the Civil War.  She included a lot of prayers for his wellbeing, that
    he should come back well, etc.  A lot of faith was used back then, and
    a lot of resignation to the inevitability of the war, it seemed to me
    upon reading her words (my sister has the diary now, else I'd enter
    them -when I see her next I'll try to procure it....).  
    
    Happy ending, this time.  He returned and they married two years later.
    
    -Jody
    

    In an interview after the first episide, Ken Burns, the film maker,
    mentioned that he has carried a copy of the letter with him for
    the entire five and a half years the project has taken.  He said
    whenever he lost sight of why he was doing what he was doing, he'd 
    take out the letter and re-read it, and his original vision was
    restored.
    
    					andrew

Any clips or quotes from the letter available?

D!

    	On a bike trip to Maine last week, my partner mentioned
    	this series. It lasts through Thursday evening for a
    	total (I believe) of 11 hours.
    
    	I was so engrossed it took a couple of rings of the
    	phone before I answered it.
    
    	Ken Burns is from Walpole, NH. He talked last night about
    	the great people they had to do the voices.
    
    	I hope to see it all.
    
    	Scott

RE:  .0

I also found the letter very awesome!  I'd love to see it in print so
I could reread it...

john

    I believe the series is also available from the PBS catalog "Signals"
    on videotape (VHS).....
    
    -Jody
    

    There is also supposed to be a book that serves as a companion to the
    series.
    
    -- Mike

    
    Well, if any of you buy the book or the tape, I too would love to see
    a transcript of the letter if you have a minute to enter it....
    
    'gail

    Writing from a friend's account, this is really Dick Binder.
    
    Ken Burns said in an article before the series started that his
    involvement with it was so intense that when the team were in the
    cutting/editing process on the Lincoln assassination scene there came a
    moment when they just all of an accord turned away and shut the
    machine down.  He said they felt that if they went on, they'd have
    killed Lincoln themselves.  It took them a while to finish the scene
    and kill the President.
                                    
    The letter cited in .0 had me in tears, too.  I am now immensely glad
    I've been taping the series.  When I have time I will transcribe the
    letter and post it here, if someone doesn't beat me to it.
    
    -d

    
    re: .11  Thank you!  I heard the letter read and almost cried.
    
    CQ

    
     re .11, .12
    
    I read the letter, and I did cry...
    All over my desk.
    
    'gail

    
    How lucky we are to have wars to inspire such deathless poetry.
    
    D.

    re .14, I know, I couldn't help but think that it was a shame he had to
    be facing death before he realized how much his wife meant to him.  It
    was nicely written though.
    
    Lorna
    

	RE: .15 what makes you think he didn't realize how much his wife meant
	to him before the war? It seems to me that he must surely have known
	and concidered how much both his wife and his cause meant to him
	before he went to war.

			Alfred

I'm not sure this was mentioned before - he died on the battlefield a
week after he wrote the letter.

john

    re .16, because he said that he wanted to make sure he wrote down how
    much he loved her in case he was killed, so she would know.  This led
    me to believe that perhaps he hadn't spent a lot of time telling her
    before.  He also mentioned something about having done foolish things
    before.  (I wondered if maybe this meant taking her for granted in the
    past, or maybe even cheating on her....)  It just seemed like he wanted
    to make sure he said it before he died, so I figured maybe he hadn't
    said it a lot before.
    
    Lorna
    

    re .17, yeah, I thought it definitely sounded like he really thought he
    wasn't going to make it.
    
    Lorna
    

    Actually, what I found astounding was the amount of casualties in this
    war....incredible and so tragic!
    
    -Dotti

    re .20, have you seen the movie "Glory"?  The battle scenes are
    appalling, and if an accurate portrayal of the way they actually fought
    it's no wonder so many died.  I cried for an hour after that movie
    ended, and that's why I couldn't bring myself to watch much of this
    show.  
    
    Lorna
    

    A lot of casualties in the Civil War came AFTER the battle, from
    illness, lack of medical treatment, exposure to the elements, etc.
    too....
    
    And of course, if you want to revel in the "wonders" of war, read the
    story by (I think it was) Ambrose Bierce called "Chickamauga"....
    
    *shudder*
    
    -Jody
    

re .22

Yes, that is by Ambrose Bierce.

    RE: the discussion on why he needed to tell her.

    I can understand apologising for things I've done to someone I loved.
    I'm human, I make mistakes, do stupid things. I can see many reasons
    other than evil and disregarding her on his part. Wanting to make one
    last attempt to show your love. Are we all so perfect we always treat
    our loved ones as we should? Never get angry, never say hurtful things?

    This letter cried to me in sincerity. And I cried helplessly on hearing
    it. It says all I could ever hope to on the "sad necessity" of a war
    you believe is right no matter that you don't want to be there at all.
    liesl

    re .26, Liesl, I didn't say anything about "evil" in the letter.  My
    comment was more in line with - too bad we don't appreciate what we
    have until it's gone, or almost gone - type thing.  I thought the
    letter was beautiful and I thought that I would like to have someone
    say those things to me.  But, then I thought, I wouldn't want him to be
    killed a week later, though, and then I thought, why is it that it
    usually takes something like approaching death to inspire people to say
    such beautiful things to each other?  That's all.  It wasn't meant as
    an attack on Sullivan Ballou as an individual.  I think we're all like
    that.  We usually don't take the time to say the type of thing he said
    to his wife in that letter in the normal course of daily life. 
    Wouldn't it be nice if she could have read that letter and then been
    able to live with him for another 10 yrs. knowing how much he loved
    her?  
    
    I still think it's good that he wrote it.  (better late than never)
    I'm sure that if she did get to read it that it helped her deal with
    his death a little better.
    
    Lorna
    
    

    I, too, never realized the extent of casualties in the Civil War until
    I saw "Glory" - they actually lined up across from each other and kept
    shooting til there was no one left. It was horde after horde of men
    just falling.  The tragedy depicted left me numb.
    

    The concept of war - any war - is sad and very tragic.  I cried for the
    soldiers of the Civil War and I still cry today for all the other wars
    we've endured.
    
    
    I've not seen Glory, I don't know if I want to see all the gore.
    
    -Dotti.

    the saddest part, the very saddest, was the bit at the end about the
    civil war vets as old men.  It's not sad that they met, forgave
    eachother, remembered.  It's sad that some of them said they missed the
    war.
    
    There's a thing that happens to people under the stress of life and
    death, at least in war; it has been discussed elsewhere in wn (and mn?).
    They are ALIVE! and they know it with a keenness that seems to
    transcend everyday awareness.  Joseph Campbell brings this out in
    several ways.
    
    I guess the sadness is that it takes that threat of death to make the
    awareness so strong; everyday living drowns it out.
    
    Maybe this is why Sullivan Ballou wrote that letter to Sarah.

RE:  .-1

Yes, now how can one make this extraordinary awareness every day
awareness!?!  Hopefully, we don't need a war for it!  Perhaps just
knowing that every moment could be the last, that every moment is
alive, totally new, unlike any other.  That our selflessness that we
can occasionally express to other people, to this earth is what's
important and not our opinions, views, self-images, and self-centered
desires and needs.

I was very moved by last night's show.  The previous nights I found
myself getting drawn into the story in an abstract way, wanting to see
how the troops were positioned, and also rooting for "my side".  I found
that the pictures of dead men abstract, distant.

It wasn't until they showed Lee and Grant meeting for the Lee's
surrender that it all broke through.  I was moved by the respect that
the two men had for one another and that the fact that they could meet
as human being to human being after all that hatred, death, and
destruction.  And then all the death, wounds, hatred, and tremendous
suffering really hit me and I found myself with tears in my eyes for
the rest of the show and a feeling of deep sadness and identification
for the tremendous suffering of our country during the war and the
continuing suffering for human beings as a people.

I wish I had infinite wisdom and knowledge so that I could say that
the war could have been avoided or that absolute pacifism is right or
that wars for your country are always right.  I don't know the answers
to such questions and I wonder if we can ever know.

The best I can hope for right now is to understand things right now
and hope that when called upon, I will know what is the right course
to follow.

I'm so weary of another kind of war, notes wars especially the war
between the sexes here.  Now, there seems to be a war between those
that say no war is right and those that say some wars are right!
And in defense of our opinions and ideas, the situation is immediately
polarized into two camps.

What is the common ground that we all share as human beings!?!

<sigh>
john

    Another insight into why Ballou could have felt a strong premonition of
    his own death came from a snippet I watched last night (I didn't watch
    the whole thing, though I'd have liked to):

    After the brutal battle of (I think) Cold Harbor, Virginia, on one dead
    soldier was found a blood-spattered diary.

    The last entry in the diary read something like:

	"<the date> - On this day, I died"

    The implication was that he wrote that just before the charge.

    .-1: I thought he wrote that as he died, not just before the battle. 
    could'a been either way.
    
    Before one of the other battles, I forget which one (there were so
    many, tragic and bloody), the soldiers wrote their names and home
    addresses on paper, and pinned them inside their clothing, so that they
    could be identified and their fates made known to their families.
    
    

    >the saddest part, the very saddest, was the bit at the end about the
    >civil war vets as old men.  It's not sad that they met, forgave
    >eachother, remembered.  It's sad that some of them said they missed the
    >war.      
    
    It had a different effect for me. My great-grandfather may have been
    one of those old men in the film clip of the 50th reunion of the
    battle of Gettysburg, because that's where, ironically, he died.
    I felt I was seeing part of his life through this series, and through
    the wonderful letters, which I found more powerful than the images. I
    haven't heard such sharp observations about how war looks and feels
    before...Really an amazing series.
    
    -roger
    
    
                                                                   

One of the most unusual events in the Civil War was the near-riot by a bunch of
women in Richmond who were close to starvation. The series touched on this
briefly.

The series said that 3,000 women (I believe) started massing in the
streets of Richmond and had become a mob. Jefferson Davis had to go out and
talk them out of whatever they were contemplating. They got some action: Davis
gave the citizens bigger food rations.
    
What is interesting to me is that, although the Confederate government never
had a great amount of support from its citizens, this women's mob was the
closest it came to really losing control during the war.
                                                                   
Vicki Meagher

On Saturday I was passing Royal Books in Arlington, and I noticed they had 
a window display of books on the Civil War. Probably because of the recent 
TV series, I thought. Having nothing better to do, I decided to count them, 
just to see how many different books the store had on this one war.

I counted 21 ...                              

This is the same store whose manager, when I asked him not long ago why 
they don't have any section for women's books or women's studies, told me 
they "don't have enough space."

Dorian

  Yup, another obvious example of sexism at work, carefully ferretted
  out by our reporter on the scene.

  What you're not telling us, of course, is how much call this par-
  ticular book store has had over the past few years for "women's
  books" versus how much call there's been over the past few weeks
  for books about the Civil War.  As I'm sure you know, the *ONLY*
  job of that book store manager (in our capitalist society) is to
  maximize the income to the owner(s) while obeying the various ap-
  plicable laws.

  Besides, all the people who might buy "women's books" probably
  only shop for them in "Women's" bookstores.

                                   Atlant

  > Besides, all the people who might buy "women's books" probably
  > only shop for them in "Women's" bookstores.
    
    Speak for yourself.
    
    And remember the problems book dealers have with book distribution.
    
    							Ann B.

    
    	RE: .37  Atlant
    
    	Dorian didn't mention sexism.  She merely commented on the
    	difference in the numbers of books between the two subjects
    	(and the store owner's explanation about why he didn't have
    	books on one of those subjects.)
    
    	It would be wonderful if such comments could be aired here
    	without anyone feeling the need to be sarcastic or disagree-
    	able about them.
    
    	Know what I mean?

    
    re .37:
    
    Sorry, Atlant.  You are way off base.
    
    I live out in the 'burbs and there aren't any women's bookstores
    out here.  There are two bookstores in my town.  I *always* patronize
    the one that has a women's book section first (for any reason) before
    trying the other one.  The reason is not just the women's books
    section, but that this bookstore is better on service all the way
    around, which definitely includes the women's book section.
    

  .41:

  Correct.

 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  I believe that Dorian's point, spoken or unspoken, was her usual
  point:  That this is another blatant example of the sexism of
  the male-dominated oligarchy, etc. etc...  (Others will doubtless
  see other interpretations.  I hope Dorian will clarify her meaning
  for us all.)  And in evidence, she is giving us about half the facts.

  So I'm merely suggesting a few other facts and possible possible facts.

                                   Atlant

    
    	RE: sarcasm
    
    	This seems to have been overlooked:
    
    	.39> It would be wonderful if such comments could be aired here
    	.39> without anyone feeling the need to be sarcastic or disagree-
    	.39> able about them.                      ^^^^^^^^^
    
    	The sarcasm was noted long ago.  It wasn't necessary nor
    	appreciated (as far as I'm concerned.)
    

    
    	RE: .43  Herb
    
    	Since you were wrong about the sarcasm being ignored, you can
    	take back your accusation of sexism now.
    
    	thanks.
    

>                     <<< Note 398.46 by GEMVAX::KOTTLER >>>
>                             -< oh hey, forget it >-

Dorian:

  I don't understand your note.  What should we forget?

                                   Atlant