Men See Things Late, And It May

History Does Not Usually Make Real Sense Until Long Afterward.

What A General Could Do, Thomas Did; No More Dependable Soldier For A Moment Of Crisis Existed On The North American Continent, Or Ever Did Exist... Thomas Comes Down In History As The Rock Of Chickamauga, The Great Defensive Fighter, The Man Who Could Never Be Driven Away But Who Was Not Much On The Offensive. That May Be A Correct Appraisal, Yet It May Also Be Worth Making Note That Just Twice In All The War Was A Major Confederate Army Driven Away From A Prepared Position In Complete Rout - At Chattanooga And At Nashville. Each Time The Blow That Routed It Was Launched By Thomas.

And There Is The Headlight, Shining Far Down The Track, Glinting Off The Steel Rails That, Like All Parallel Lines, Will Meet In Infinity, Which Is After All Where This Train Is Going.

Beneath Everything Else, North And West, There Ran A Profound, Unvoiced, Almost Subconscious Conviction That The [american] Nation Was Going To Go On Growing-in Size, In Power, In Everything A Man Could Think Of-and In That Belief There Was A Might And A Fury That Would Take Form Instantly At The Moment Of Shock.

What Began As A Bitter Dispute Over Union And States' Rights, Ended As A Struggle Over The Meaning Of Freedom In America. At Gettysburg In 1863, Abraham Lincoln Said Perhaps More Than He Knew. The War Was About A New Birth Of Freedom.