The 1860 Election Became A Referendum On

The Present Moment Is Nice But It Does Not Last. Living In It Is Like Waiting In A Junction Town For The Morning Limited; The Junction May Be Interesting But Some Day You Will Have To Leave It And You Do Not Know Where The Limited Will Take You.

The Enduring Realization That When A Great Challenge Comes, The Most Ordinary People Can Show That They Value Something More Than They Value Their Own Lives. When The Last Of The Veterans Had Gone, And The Sorrows And Bitterness Which The War Created Had At Last Worn Away, This Memory Remained.

The 1860 Election Became A Referendum On The Southern Way Of Life.

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.

A Singular Fact About Modern War Is That It Takes Charge. Once Begun It Has To Be Carried To Its Conclusion, And Carrying It There Sets In Motion Events That May Be Beyond Men's Control. Doing What Has To Be Done To Win, Men Perform Acts That Alter The Very Soil In Which Society's Roots Are Nourished.