on location: south ❖
Days of
Blue and Gray
dave bodle n spring 1861 our nation and its territories entered a four-year conflict that would become the bloodiest war in our history. Regardless of your views on the causes of the Civil War—slavery, state’s rights or a combination of both—it remains our country’s darkest moment. The American Civil War took its toll on the lives of our citizens, destroying families and often pitching brother against brother. Approximately 620,000, or 13 percent of the nation’s men, perished in battle or from disease. Countless others were disabled and eventually died from their wounds. The cost of the Civil War in terms of human life exceeds the total of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican American
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War, Spanish American War, World War One, World War Two, Korean War and Vietnam War. This year our nation will examine the 150th anniversary of this tragic event’s beginning and continue the observance for four more years. Virtually every state and American territory were involved in the Civil War. However, with a few notable exceptions (Gettysburg and Antietam), most of the battles were fought on Confederate soil. To varying degrees, every Southern state will commemorate the war’s sesquicentennial. Virginia will begin its observance in July 2011 by remembering the first major battle, the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run. Richmond, Fredericksburg and the
In northwestern Georgia, the oldest Civil War national military park recalls the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, the last major Confederate victory.
Tennessee Department of Tourist Development
A drummer boy receives instruction at Shiloh battlefield in Tennessee.
Southern states and tour organizers are gearing up for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Georgia Department of Economic Development
26 April 2011
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