Nothing was funny about the Civil War. More than 620,000 Americans and their allies died on battlefields, in camps, on marches, and aboard ships from New Mexico to France. And that does not count the thousands of civilians, mostly Southerners of all races, who suffered early death due to the hunger, disease, and stress associated with the Union's calculated destruction of the Confederacy's farms, crops, livestock, factories, warehouses, and urban infrastructure. No, nothing was funny, but it was finding humor amidst the devastation that kept soldiers marching forward into the face of the enemy. When a soldier saw the shallow grave of comrades or mounds of dead artillery horses, he reacted by making jokes about the situation. Confederates made fun of their officers and the men of other states, singing songs about the "Georgia militia eating goober peas." "Northerners sang about their fleeting bravery with lyrics like "to the rear I quickly flew." Some real battles and incidents were given amusing names, such as "the Buckland Races" and "Kilpatrick's Shirttail Skedaddle." Even so sober a figure as Robert E. Lee had a sense of humor. Paper 328 pages including Contents, Preface,Bibliography, and Index. |