Throughout the entire American Civil War (1861-1865) the Union fielded around 2,672,000 men – including 190,000 Blacks, 210,000 Germans, 60,000 British-Canadian, and 130,000 Irish foreigners. The CSA, over the same time-span fielded around 700-900 thousand soldiers and sailors – giving a troop advantage to the North of 3.34-1 over the South. By early 1963, the North had 900,000 men under arms – whilst the CSA had less than 600,000. With this small number of combatants – the Confederate government, Armed Forces, and civilian population worked wonders. There was much sacrifice, death, and destruction – as well as betrayal from within. Bravery under fire can only get you so far. Even a superior fighting spirit and belief in a cause cannot always negate the effects of a superior (material) productive industry. Of course, Blacks, Chinese, Native Americans and European foreigners (particularly English and French) fought for the Confederacy – but as the North inflicted a cultural-cleansing on the Confederate South after the war – many records were destroyed. Although the over-all numbers were smaller – the percentages of foreigners might well have been proportinally higher – or at least equal to those who fought for the North.
As part of the war effort, both sides targetted the rail system of the other. This was the original single rail system that had run throughout the USA prior to the start of the war, and which was split in half for reasons of sovereignty. Although I am no fan of the right-wing (racist) actor – John Wayne – the 1959 film entitled “The Horse Soldiers” covers the so-called “Battle at Newton Station” which unfolded on April 24th, 1863 – and took place in Mississippi. This involved the penetration of the South in the Western Theatre by Col. Benjamin Grierson (1826-1911) and his Union Cavalry Unit. The idea was to commit acts of terrorism and sabotage toward the CSA and its train network – so that it could not easily transport troops and supplies around the country. As Cavalry acted as a light and highly mobile infantry – these troops often turned-out to be highly effective in this role. The clip I have added above is from the film “The Horse Soldiers” and depicts Confederate troops arriving by train at the station and launching what they thought to be a surprise attack. From what records survive, it is said that the CSA lost around 25 men – but this number could have been higher. I am told that Confederate charges like this – from trains – did take place on more than one occasion.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 