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This seems a little like the MLK holiday, smoking in restaurants or gay marriage. Something that generates controversy at the time. But, in 10 or 15 years most opponents will just move on.
One difference between Lee and Sherman and Patton was that Lee broke his oath:
"I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles for the government of the Armies of the United States."
The above was the oath was in effect from the 1830's until 1862.
Lee was a disaster for VA and it took us 100 years to recover. He took a gamble, he lost; he deserves no place of honor.
General Sherman is more deserving of having a US military base named after him than any Confederate general.
Agreed, he helped saved the Republic and I say that as a proud Virginian who lives by the VA Creed:
“To be a Virginian either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one’s Mother’s side, is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign Country, and a Benediction from Above.”—Anonymous
I actually have some sympathy for the South in that I believe some things were done during the Civil War that shouldn't have occurred. Sherman's March to the Sea is an example. Another would be the Burning of Atlanta. There was also a lot of pillaging and thievery that occurred as Union troops occupied the South. The Union troops were there to suppress a rebellion, not destroy the economic infrastructure of the South.
That being said, I cannot see the argument why 155 years after the end of the Civil War that we have military bases named after Confederate generals. Why not name one instead after my uncle who died in the Navy fighting the Japanese off Guadalcanal? Is he not more deserving of this honor than say "Confederate General Hood" is?
What was honorable about rebelling against the duly elected government of the United States? What was the good that came out of practically tearing this country apart?
"Punitive Conditions of Peace?" I'm not sure exactly what these were. The South's leaders were not tried for treason. No financial indemnity was imposed on a state. Prisoners of war were promptly returned. The southern states gradually resumed their place in the Union. Reconstruction ended eleven years later after the election of Rutherford B. Hayes as President.
What I find bothersome is that to this day many people in the South justify the rebellion and try to downplay or ignore the role that slavery played in it. I would say it is these people who need to "get with the program" and leave the past behind.
A good start would be renaming all these bases.
You seem to forget that confederate troops required money and goods to spare various northern towns they invaded.
The "Lost Cause" argument to whitewash the sins of the Confederacy is a very interesting phenomenon.
I don't think that anyone wants to erase the past. We should never forget those not-so-great events that supported the perpetuation of injustice. And certainly never should we celebrate them.
I agree.
There is a difference between erasing the past and not celebrating the past.
You seem to forget that confederate troops required money and goods to spare various northern towns they invaded.
The "Lost Cause" argument to whitewash the sins of the Confederacy is a very interesting phenomenon.
Lee brought back free African Americans from the Gettysburg campaign. Estimates are that up to 1,000 were brought south and sent into the deep south as slaves. This would not have been difficult, slave hunting was an established system in the south. After the war, it morphed into an extra legal system of segregation enforcement through terror in organizations such as the KKK.
You seem to forget that confederate troops required money and goods to spare various northern towns they invaded.
The "Lost Cause" argument to whitewash the sins of the Confederacy is a very interesting phenomenon.
Let us also not forget the atrocities commited at the Andersonville Confederate Prison Camp. I am only posting a link to this picture of one Union soldier who survived Andersonville, so I can warn you in advance that the picture is shocking. It brings to mind the images of Jews who were rescued from German concentration camps at the end of WW II.
As shocking as this image is, we should also keep in mind how slaves could be treated by masters who wielded the power to beat, starve, and rape at their own discretion.
Let us also not forget the atrocities commited at the Andersonville Confederate Prison Camp. I am only posting a link to this picture of one Union soldier who survived Andersonville, so I can warn you in advance that the picture is shocking. It brings to mind the images of Jews who were rescued from German concentration camps at the end of WW II.
As shocking as this image is, we should also keep in mind how slaves could be treated by masters who wielded the power to beat, starve, and rape at their own discretion.
No, we must not ever "erase" the past.
Less known is Belle Isle in Richmond. Now a park, 30,000 Union soldiers lived and died on 54 acres (less than 1/10th of a square mile). On a day like today in VA, cold, wet and with a wind, it cuts right through you.
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