North Versus South One-Hundred-Fifty Years Later

One of the first things I learned when I entered the military (USAF) in 1956 was that our American civil War—also known as either The War Between The States, or The Northern Aggression—was still raging on.  

Yes, ninety-one years after General Robert E. Lee signed the formal surrender of the Army Of Northern Virginia to Ulysses Grant’s Army of the Potomac, there was still some doubt as to the outcome of that four-year struggle.

I had never been exposed to the Southern sentimentality before that time.  Heck, I hadn’t ever been below the Mason-Dixon line.  It took me only a short time to realize that there were some “foreigners” in our midst.  But then, come to think of it, I was the foreigner, since I took my boot camp at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas.  Texas was definitely a Confederate State from 1861 until 1865.

The reason I bring up the subject is that it ties into my topic for this week; and that topic is indirectly tied to a recent one that I posted, the writing of The Battle Hymn of The Republic.  I received a response to that column that linked to a website of vitriolic invective (whew, I love big words) regarding the penning of that famous song.

A fellow named Michael Dan Jones was the author, and he was highly critical of Julia Ward Howe and of the song she wrote.  I will include the link so that you can read his comments if you choose. http://www.plpow.com/Atrocities_BattleHymn.htm. 

It is apparent that the Civil War (or whatever you choose to call it) is still going on for some people, including Mr. Jones.

One of the more fascinating facts about The Battle Hymn of the Republic is that I have listened to several versions of it, and the word ‘transfigures’ is rarely pronounced as it should be, with the ‘ures’ sounding like the word ‘yours.’  Instead, it is pronounced as ‘ers.’ 

I got curious and looked up the word in the dictionary, since I really didn’t know the correct pronunciation or its meaning. Here is Webster’s definition:

1.      To change the form or appearance of

2.      To transform so as to glorify

(The dictionary doesn’t allow for the ‘er’ pronunciation, by the way) If I interpret that definition correctly, transfiguration is the change in appearance of Jesus so that his body actually glows and his head is encircled by a halo; he is beatified.  If that is so, then I suppose Julia Ward Howe actually believed that the Union soldiers would be transfigured as they fought their way south to defeat the Confederate forces.

I’ve never seen pictures of Ulysses Grant or William Tecumseh Sherman transfigured, so I surmise that Mrs. Howe was mistaken in her belief in the holy nature of the war.  But one thing we can surely say is that the battle rages on in some quarters.

It might interest you to learn that, since the ban on displaying the Confederate Battle Flag, I've seen more and larger ones displayed than ever before in my 9 years here in Augusta. Georgia.  No, the Civil War isn't over yet.