Civil War!

This is coolbert:

On this day 150 years ago it began in earnest.

The American Civil War.

The bombardment of Ft. Sumter, the commencement of armed hostilities.

The War Between the States, The American Civil War, the War of Southern Secession, The War of Northern Aggression. Whatever you want to call it.

Four years of very bitter, hard fought and protracted struggle, the Union side eventually unconditionally triumphant, the cost in life very high, 600,000 soldiers estimated killed total, Northern and Southern combined.

A portion of the United States, those southern states in rebellion, laid waste to an extent where recovery was not fully achieved for almost a hundred years later!!

Read in entirety from today this item from the Opinion page of the Chicago Tribune. A reprint of a much previous Tribune editorial - - April 13, 1861 - - with an eloquence I could hardly muster:

"War inaugurated!" "By the act of a handful of ingrates and traitors, war is inaugurated in this heretofore happy and peaceful Republic! While we write, the bombardment of Sumter is going on; and the blood of the few gallant defenders of the glorious old flag which yet, we hope, floats over that fortress is being poured out for their fidelity to the Constitution as it is, and the Union as our fathers made it!"

"The people know the cause of the fratricidal strife. The party, which, in the interests of a barbarous institution, has governed the country for the last 40 years, was beaten in the November election. The verdict of the people which does not touch a single one of the rights of any man, guarantied by the fundamental law, forbids the extension of that barbarous institution into national territory as yet uncursed by its blighting presence. This is the cause of the rebellion which months of effort has ripened into the bloody strife this day commenced! This and nothing else — this determination of a meagre minority to rule a powerful majority — this deification of Human Slavery as the guiding principle and polar star of a free people — are the dragon's teeth which, sown in a pestilent soil, have produced armed men."

"While we write, the issue of the conflict, which is yet going on, is doubtful. Major Anderson contends against fearful odds. His men are few and weary of prolonged confinement, and perhaps awed by the portentous preparations of the enemy. The fleet has not come to his aid. Only the Harriet Lane is in the offing. The accounts of the fray are from the traitors, in whose hands the telegraph is. They represent that a breach has been made of the fortress and that two of its great guns have been already dismounted. Tomorrow will tell us more; meanwhile we pray that treason may have its reward."

"The duty of the Government from this moment is plain. The resources of the Republic must be put forth with no grudging or tardy hand. The strife must be short — the war quick, sharp and decisive. Whatever ample means, courageous men and universal patriotism can do, must be done at once. Our fathers fought seven long years that the Constitution might be framed. We, their descendants, can afford any sacrifices, any exertion, that their labor may be preserved to the world for the blessing of mankind. Now, men of the North, for the struggle!"

Thank you Tribune!

coolbert.