The Age Of War

I'm reasonably knowledgeable about the War between the States. I'm no Shelby Foote or anything... I doubt Ken Burns will choose me to interview just in case he does a 2nd Civil War series... But I know more than most. I just realized an error in my thinking that has me reeling a little.

I always thought of the officers in that war as terribly old men. Ancient wizened warriors, with huge beards and flowing mustaches who held the knowledge of eons within their grasp.

What a shock it was to me, when just the other day I realized that I am older now than most of those men were at the beginning of the war. Sure, they had experience and schooling in the art of war... Sadly a lot of what they knew had been surpassed by the weapons they now possessed... But for the most part, they were very young men.

The venerable white haired old Robert E Lee was only 54 at the war's inception. Offered the command of first the US forces and then the Army of Virginia he was only 13 years older than I am now.

George McClellan was a much younger man than that when he accepted command of the army of the Potomac... In fact he was much younger than I... A young man of 35, he was intrusted with the military might to hold the union together.

Thomas Jackson was a professor at Virginia Military Institute when the war started. Only 37 years old, he never saw the end to the conflict and was accidentally killed by his own men at the age of 39.

Even U.S. Grant, eventually the President of the United States had yet to reach the ripe old age of 40 at the start of the war that he saw ended at Appomattox with the surrender of the Confederate forces in 1865.

James Ewel Brown Stuart, known to his contemporaries and thousands of history buffs since as Jeb, was a mere lad of 28 when he donned the grey and led his cavalry on exploits that became the stuff of legends... And only 31 when he was killed in combat.

And lastly my own kinfolk... My Great Uncle Brig. Gen. Lawrence S Baker Namesake of his grandfather, a Revolutionary War General was only 31 at the beginning. My Great Grandfather enlisted at the age of 31 (Sadly no picture in uniform) and turned down the position of captain in the infantry to be a private in the 4th NC Cavalry. And, here I am... An old man at 41... Advanced beyond the age when these men fought great fights and did great deeds... Deeds that shaped a nation. Fights that I, and thousands of others don uniforms and reproduce en masse for they were that important and wonderful and horrible no one should forget. And I still think of them as old men. Maybe they were made old by their fights and deeds... maybe I feel young because I haven't been through the fire.