Civil War Myths: The Civil War in Four Minutes

Garry Adelman of the American Battlefield Trust details the most common misconceptions about the Civil War including why did soldiers fight, was George McClellan really that bad of a general and what is up with all of those Civil War ghost tours?

[jlhill]

General McClellan was great at managing his army (which was pretty huge) and whipping them into shape and making them into a strong fighting force. But he was not so good at leading them in battle. He was overly cautious and didn't like taking risks.

[Flashback]

I enjoyed that the only defense given of Braxton Bragg was that he "probably wasn't talking to himself all the time". Great video.

[gameoforbits]

don't know if this man is a historian but his passion to replace myths with facts is worthy and characteristic of historians

[HemlockRidge]

Shoes were manufactured in Hanover, the next town to the east of Gettysburg.

[benjaminbutler]

I think the reason McClellan gets flak isn’t because he was a terrible general, but because he was so pompous and arrogant. He genuinely thought he was the new Napoleon.

[bradfortson]

And also there is no such thing as ghosts

[manuelgchapajr]

My Family were Hispanic and owned a Ranch in South Texas. They fought for the South, their reason was the amount of taxes that they were being forced to pay on exporting beef to Mexico and to the Northern States was running them out of business. They has 20 ex-slaves working on the ranch as share croppers. My Great Great Grandparents bought all of their Freedom from other Ranchers in the area. I had contact with one of these Families up to the 1990’s.
The War was an economic as well as political issue for my Family all of the Ranch Hands Hispanic Irish and African Served with the Southern Army’s with Gen. Hoods Texas Brigade.

[skipcollinge]

Garry is one of my favorite video historians. I literally applauded sitting at my desk at the end of this video!

[MegaWillieo]

Brilliant organizer and discipline. I think his failure was he was afraid to fail. He was constantly out numbered and wanted to maneuver his opponent rather than fight. Burnside knew he wasn’t qualified to command an army, but forced to take command. The lack of bridges due to Halleck’s stupidity and failure to find fords across the Potomac doomed his campaign. The Mud March doomed his command. Yet he captured Roanoke Island and beat Longstreet at Knoxvillr

[snakeySnakeybakey]

bravo! I'm only a minute and a half in and I've already decided that this is the best 4 minute video on the civil war I've ever seen.

[SoCalYar]

Okay so there is NO shoe factory in Gettysburg, but there IS a basement in the Alamo!

[TermiteUSA]

Great job Gary. Especially glad to hear debunking of ghost tourism. The real war is way more fascinating than made up baloney!

[mattdignam]

Great video, Whenever Gary is doing the video I feel like I learn something new every time and if I already know it, he gives me a new way of looking at the events and people of the Civil War

[droidlittle]

Good rant! Some of the crap that gets perpetuated is just down right laughable! Keep up the good work guys!

[davidmerzig]

Great statement! Of course, all history is murky, two witnesses to an accident will sometimes give very different accounts of what “really” happened. But there’s a whole lot that is not murky, just complicated. Humans love easy answers to complex events. Thanks for reminding us all to be diligent.

[jamielancaster]

Of course the Gettysburg battle was fought over shoes - stilettos😏

[SgtMjr]

I like the observation on human intelligence. We are no more intelligent now than humans in the 19th century. The difference is knowledge and experience.

[jennhoff]

This is SO well said!!!! Everyone seems to think that everyone from the north fought bc they hated slavery and everyone on the south fought because they wanted slavery. But how many people do you know who signed up for a war because of one idealistic reason it started? Certainly everyone in WWI didn't fight because they were upset about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. And everyone who has gone to Iraq hasn't done so because they were making weapons (or had oil, or whichever reason you choose to believe it started). People sign up for all kinds of reasons, and those reasons are usually a lot closer to home than one ideal.

[MVelt]

Excellent video! Much of history gets altered or mixed up as we pass it down to the next generations. We owe it to them -- past and future -- to know truth from fiction, to better understand the reasons behind the decisions and events. This way we all learn to improve our society.

[keithmccormick]

Really good commentary on a war that has been misrepresented today for political purposes.