This is the 150th anniversary of General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Many commentators are touting Lee’s surrender as a triumph for freedom. While it was a great blessing that slavery ended, the Civil War set precedents for ignoring atrocities that continue to bedevil America. Here’s a piece from the January issue of The Future of […]
Tag Archives | Civil War
Military History Now: Sheridan’s Scorched Earth Campaign — The Union Army’s Forgotten War Crime
Nathan Millet, the editor of MilitaryHistoryNow.com, today posted my article on Sheridan’s 1864 burning of the Shenandoah Valley. MilitaryHistoryNow.Com, February 2, 2015 Sheridan’s Scorched Earth Campaign — The Union Army’s Forgotten War Crime by James Bovard GEORGE ORWELL WROTE in 1945 that “the nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his […]
American Tariffs and Wars From the Revolution to the Depression
Mises Institute / Mises Daily American Tariffs and Wars From the Revolution to the Depression by James Bovard Fair trade is once again a rallying cry for many Americans. Many contemporary leftists believe that the U.S. government should impose restrictions or tariffs on imported goods that are alleged to have been produced by underpaid or […]
FFF: How Tariffs Helped Cause the Civil War and Other Disasters
from the Future of Freedom Foundation’s monthly magazine, July 2014 – – (The first part of this analysis was published by FFF here). For a far more detailed examination of the role of tariffs and the Civil War, see Michael Griffith’s excellent analysis here. The full text of the February 1861 New York Times editorial […]
Counterpunch: The Civil War & 150 Years of Forgotten Atrocities
COUNTERPUNCH, October 7, 2014 Sheridan’s Scorched Earth Campaign The Civil War and 150 Years of Forgotten US Military Atrocities by JAMES BOVARD George Orwell wrote in 1945 that “the nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” The […]
Wash. Times: Shenandoah Burning – Forgetting Atrocities Breeds New Wars
Washington Times, October 1, 2014 Lessons for today from the Shenandoah’s Civil War flames When civilian atrocities are forgotten, war and its injustices become more likely By James Bovard This is the 150th anniversary of one of the Civil War’s most destructive and controversial campaigns. After Confederate armies had used the Shenandoah Valley to launch […]
Anniversary of Hanging of Mosby’s Men in Front Royal, Virginia
This is the 150th anniversary of the execution of six of John S. Mosby’s Rangers by Union forces under the command of Gen. George S. Custer. The hills and mountains I roamed as a boy was previously known as “Mosby’s Confederacy”- thanks to the courage and savvy of the guerillas led by Col. John S. Mosby, the […]