Tuesday, January 1, 2019

On General Lee's General Order Number 72 Which Prohibited the Targeting of Civilians In Pennsyvania

It goes something like this - "The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace would befall the army and through it our whole people that a perpetuation of the barbarous outrages upon innocent and defenseless people and the wanton destruction of private property that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country. It must be remembered that we make war ONLY ON ARMED MEN and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrong our people have suffered without offending HIM to whom vengeance belongeth." - and, yes, when you compare it to the venal and barbarous actions and words of men like Sheridan and Sherman, Lee and his statue don't seem all that horrible, do they?

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