For each question, answer the question completely using proper English and make sure to proofread! You must also respond to at least one other student post to receive full credit.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Chapter Seven- Accounting: "Our Responsibility to the Dead"
What are some of the similarities and differences between the North and South's reburial efforts after the Civil War? Of the two sides, who do you believe honored their dead more successfully? Why?
After the Civil War, the North and South’s reburial efforts were similar in some aspects, as well as very different in others. Chief among the two side’s similarities was the obligation to provide their fallen soldiers with as many aspects of a “Good Death” as possible. The idea of allowing the unidentified bodies of their soldiers to rot on the field could not have been less appealing to either side. The most basic solution to this problem was to at least give all of the slain soldiers’ remains a decent burial, as well as identification. While both the North and South strove to accomplish this task, they went about doing so in very different ways. The North’s reburial efforts were largely funded and organized by the Federal Government, while “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not.” While their means of reburial were clearly different, another similarity is that women played a large role in the reburial process in both the North and South. When looking at those who were responsible for the majority of reburial for both sides, women undoubtedly claimed the majority. Another difference however, is the areas in which the North and South buried their dead. In the North, large federal cemeteries provided most Union soldiers with their final resting place. This was not the case in the South. Confederate soldiers were commonly buried in smaller, more private cemeteries. Without a doubt, the North and South’s reburial efforts contained both similarities and differences.
I strongly believe that the North honored their dead more successfully than the South. I believe this because the North went about accounting and providing their dead with decent burials much more efficiently than the South. By doing so, they allowed for the burial and recognition of countless more soldiers than the South. However, I feel it is necessary to take into account the huge advantage federal support posed for the North. The Northern reburial effort was much more organized, and much more well funded than in the South. This does not change the fact however, that the North obviously honored their dead more successfully than the South.
The North and the South made many attempts to honor their deceased in the post-war years. With battles no longer being fought, “the fallen could be honored without encroaching on the immediate and pressing needs of the living” (212).
The “legislative branch joined the military in the disposition of the Union dead” (223). Military commanders were assigned areas of land to collect the dead and ensure proper burial. Many were told to note “details about the location and condition of graveyards, the state of relevant records, and officers’ recommendations for the protection and preservation of remains” (219). There was realization that the “longer bodies were left without proper burial, the more vulnerable they became to depredation and the less likely they were to be identifiable” (214). Orders were made to get all Union remains out of the South in an attempt at restoring the dead’s dignity and preventing desecration from enemies. Some even buried Confederate soldiers in an attempt to clean up land, but mostly the Rebel soldiers were left to rot above ground as display of dishonor. Many free African Americans and former slaves were active in the burial of Union soldiers “as a gesture of political assertiveness as well as a demonstration of gratitude and respect” (227) for Northern cause. Casualty lists were a major focus, as several people attempted to document as much as possible. National cemeteries were created where Union soldiers were respectfully buried in ranks and regiments. The records of the dead were complete to the best of the government’s ability. There was a “general sense of obligation toward the dead” (217) as the United State’s government and volunteers seeking closure worked to honor the fallen after the Civil War.
In the South, it was upon the shoulders of the women and men affected by the war to care for their dead. The “absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast” (237) to those of the North. Like in the North, bodies were located and honorably interred. Graves were “carefully tended, with identities listed” (225) and records were completed as much as possible. Many women dutifully “mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). They founded memorial foundations that like the North focused on honoring the dead’s “valor and sacrifice” (247). Unlike the North, the South was more based on sectionalism instead of nationalism. Soldiers were buried amongst other soldiers from their state instead of all Confederates being buried together. Both the North and the South honored their soldiers in such a way that made them “the instruments of the dead’s immortality” (248). So they could be remembered forever.
I believe that the North was more successful in their attempt at honoring the dead towards the war’s end. The support of the Federal Government also meant access to national funds. More money gave Union soldiers the best burials money could provide. Southern efforts were only supported through “private donations, through contributions from legislatures of other former Confederate states” (240). Such minimal funding made it more difficult for each soldier to get the quality burial that every Union soldier had. I believe governmental involvement and support greatly impacted the amount of time and money spent to ensure honorable burials to the dead.
Nick- You made a very good point when you mentioned the focus on identification. Both sides strongly believed that the destruction of war should not erase a soldier’s identity, so they strove to ensure that a name was placed to remains. I agree with you the governmental funds gave the North an advantage when burying their dead, and also that the Northern efforts were much more organized than the South’s. Thus being realized, the Union was able to accomplish honorable burials much more efficiently than the Confederacy. Very good points.
The north definitely did a better job of caring for its dead but the lack of federal funding to the south is a mark of how far they had to go in order to provide unity to the country again the south should have been supplied near equal funding so that they would feel part of the US again instead this bias would make the road to reconstructions a hard and bitter road that was a nightmare for those still recovering from the rigors of the war. I can’t blame the north however they wanted the south punished for its treason and would have been furious if equal funds were given to the south. Honoring the dead is family practice each with its own rules and regulations. Perhaps it was the government’s job to step back and let the grieving care for their loved ones and worry about uniting the country.
After the Devastation of the civil war had subsided, the North and the South worked to rebury their dead. Each of the work forces had similarities and differences.
Both of sides agreed on the importance of burying bodies that had been left on the field. They felt a moral sense of wrong against the idea. But the similarities seemed to end there.
The North's reburial efforts revolved around the help that the government lent. As Nick mentioned, the reburial efforts were largely funded and organized by this involvement. "... with Legislative authorization and funding to create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union Soldier" (217-8). The collections of the dead reached extensive efforts in order to give information to the families. Men were sent down to the southern battlefields to receive the fallen there as well. "It was our solemn duty to find every solitary Union's soldier's grave that marked the victorious path of our men in the pursuit of the enemy" (217). While the enemy soldiers were left to rot on the grass. Grave sites were organized in the form of Ranks and Regiments. The North also worked to obtain a casualty list.
The South's reburial process was tiny in comparison. Mostly funded by the mothers and families of the deceased, it lacked the organization & size that the North boasted. The bodies that were reburied were mostly by personal family members rather then an entire search by many. Soldiers were buried by those from the same state rather then their ranking. But they too, cared for the graves in order to make them neat and organized. The fallen were honored for their acts of bravery in fighting in the war. As done in the North, the South worked to establish a Casualty List, which they too worked to fill to the best of their abilities.
I personally believe that the North had honored their dead more successfully. The North's reburial worked through the funding of the government. The South's lacked it and, in the end, their absence of so many graves showed it. "about two miles from Savannah, in a corner of the 'Negro Cemetery' lay seventy - seven 'graves of colored soldiers' in four neat rows. All but three were identifiable, all in very good condition, and all marked with good painted headboards." (227). Union men had buried all of these seventy seven men, and had cared for each of the graves. From all that I have read, I agree with everyone above that the North honored and reburied their dead much more successfully then the South.
The North and South’s burial efforts were similar and different in many ways. Among the two side’s similarities was an obligation to provide their fallen soldiers with as many aspects as possible. Allowing their soldier’s bodies to rot in a field was not a very proper burial for either side during the war. The least that either side could do was to give the fallen soldier a name and a decent burial wherever they could put the remains. Though both sides sound like they did the same processes, both had their own unique ways of doing the tasks at hand. In the North, the burial efforts were funded and organized by the government. Women had played a huge role in the burial and reburial of soldiers on both sides. When looking to see who had done most of the reburying, the women had clearly done the majority of the work. Another huge difference was where the graves were put. The North had large federal cemeteries was where most union soldiers were lay to rest. The South had a different idea; southern soldiers were often buried in smaller and more private cemeteries. Both ideas were similar and different in many ways.
I believe that the North had honored their dead a lot more efficiently than what the South had done with theirs. The North had followed through with decent burials, which had worked better than the South’s efforts. Because of this the North was able to bury more soldiers than the South could. The North’s efforts were a lot better in terms of burial grounds, coffins and the number of men they could bury because they had support from their government, who had funded the burial of thousands of Northern soldiers. The North’s burial efforts were also a lot better thought out and organized better than South’s was. Even though that doesn’t change that the North had honored their dead better than the South did.
I agree with Nick. The North just had a better plan on where to bury, the number of soldiers they could bury, and they had government funding. The North just had the support to do what they did, the South had no financial help from their government so most soldiers weren’t even buried properly.
There were a couple of similarities and differences between the North and South's reburial efforts after the Civil War. They both had ways to give the honor back to the soldiers that who had fought for their cause and after had fallen were disgraced till after the war had been finished.
There were a couple of similarities that both the North and South in their reburial efforts. They both wanted to give the aspect of a “Good Death” their fallen soldiers. The “Good death” goes into many littler similarities. They would make sure every deceased soldier would have a proper burial. They would do this because these soldiers in the opinion did not give up their lives fighting for the country to be left out on the battlefield or in a trench with many others. They felt that this would honor their fallen comrades. These men died in ways not common in this time so they should at least get a proper burial were a reason to do it. They both would make list of all deaths for the soldiers during the war. The last thing they did was to build in a way cemeteries to honor those who had fought and sallen during the duration of the war. Those are the similarities between the North and South's reburial efforts after the Civil War.
There were not as many differences than the similarities between the North and South. The north’s first thing they did was to make sure that all the soldiers that had fallen in the South to be brought back and given a proper burial in the North. During the cleanup off the northern soldiers the collectors would just leave the Confederate soldiers still on the battlefield to dishonor even though they were in a sense “brothers” because they fought on the other side. In the South they had not as big of a burial as the North had because of the shorter funds. Those funds were mostly family members of the deceased. Even though they both had cemeteries for the soldiers the North’s cemeteries were a lot bigger in comparison to the one in the South. The South was just not as good as the North was at reburial of the deseaced soldiers that fought for their cause.
In my own opinion I believe that the North honored their dead more successfully than the South. I believe that going in a big effort to get the fallen soldiers back from the south to give them a proper burial in the north. I believe that their reburial service wan much bigger than the ones in South made it better in that way. I think that bigger cemeteries were better than the smaller ones in the south. I also think that burying the soldiers with the regiment they fought with in the war was a good idea.
I agree with this comment you wrote. Your first paragraph when said “The North and the South made many attempts to honor their deceased in the post-war years. With battles no longer being fought, “the fallen could be honored without encroaching on the immediate and pressing needs of the living” (212)” was good. I like that you used a lot of quotations but the best was “details about the location and condition of graveyards, the state of relevant records, and officers’ recommendations for the protection and preservation of remains” (219). Saying that the North was more successful with this was good.
I agree that the North's take on reburial efforts was far more successful than those of the South. I agree with your comment made in the last paragraph, "I believe that going in a big effort to get the fallen soldiers back from the south to give them a proper burial in the north". The fact that they went to great lengths in order to get their deceased back was very important. As you said they both worked to honor those who had fallen. But the North better accomplished it.
Once the Civil War ended, there were a many similarities and differences in the North's and South's reburial efforts. A main similarity was that the North and South wanted to give their soldiers a proper burial. They wanted to ensure their soldiers have the "Good Death" that everyone wants. To give their lives for their country was too great a sacrifice to let them rot in piles. While the South buried all they could, the Union wanted "knowledge and record of every grave."(219) The North scoured the lands asking locals about graves and cemeteries, and found a huge number of their fallen, made a record of them, and properly buried them. They did not want to miss any soldiers, "Locating the many graves...required Whitman to seek information from local citizens."(226) "No residence or person was to be passed without inquiry."(226) The South could not do this as well because they didn't have that much funds, and relied more on volunteers and fundraisers. Another big similarity was to make lists of all the dead. For a soldier to die without a name and people knowing of his death was terrible. They marked all their burials and helped tell families as best they could. Again, the North was able to spread over far more ground then the South. They marked more graves, and listed more soldiers. The South still listed many and did well for the resources they had. Also, they would leave the opponent's bodies to lay in dishonor above ground. Although they both did this, the North was able to retrieve most of their Union soldiers unlike the South. The South was short sided in funds after losing the war and couldn't achieve the goals that the North did.
It is clear that the North was able to honor their dead more successfully. They had much more money from their factories and most of the support from the government. It was "arguably the most elaborate federal program undertaken in nearly a century."(219) They were able to build bigger better cemeteries, and bury more soldiers than the South. They had bigger reburial services and left much less soldiers nameless. Their funds and support allowed the North to honor their dead much more successfully than the South.
I agree with your post. You said, "I agree with everyone above that the North honored and reburied their dead much more successfully then the South." The North did honor their dead more successfully. Their government support and organization allowed them to find, list, and properly bury many, many more soldiers than the South did. The North had actual search parties to scour the land for any Union soldier, whereas the South had volunteers and family search around. The South could not go very far to find their soldiers and lacked the money to pay for large cemeteries and nice headboards. The North was lucky to have the size and funds that they did and honored many more soldiers.
After the Civil War, the North and the South proceeded in reburying the deceased. Their reburial efforts contained many similarities and differences. However both sides definitely worked hard in honoring and giving the respect that the dead deserved.
One of the largest similarities between the opposing sides is that both wanted to give the fallen soldiers a proper burial and they both felt an obligation to the dead soldiers whose bodies had been left rotting in the battlefields. They also wanted to provide their soldiers with the concept of a "Good Death".
However one of the large differences was the funding of this process. In the North the government funded much of this process. The North strived to find, name, and bury all soldiers who died during the war. "...Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs ordered every Union commander to submit a report of 'all interments registered during the war.'" These records eventually transformed into the Roll of Honor. These lists contained the names and burial places of each fallen soldier. However the amount of registered burials was less than a third of estimated Union fatalities. Northerners then proceeded to search the lands looking for deceased soldiers. "Locating the many graves...required Whitman to seek information from local citizens." The Union believed in finding "knowledge and record of every grave." The South lacked the funds that the North received. They were forced to rely on volunteers, fundraising, and families of the deceased. The South buried as many soldiers as they could. Both sides left opponents’ bodies to rot on the open battlefields, because they were very concerned with their own dead, as Tanner pointed out. Similar to the North, the South also listed their dead.
The Union honored their dead more successfully than the South largely because of the resources they were privileged with. The South, however, still did well considering how strong limits on assets were. I believe that if the South would have had the resources they would have been just as successful in reburying their dead after this devastating war.
Larissa- I agree with your comment that "Both sides strongly believed that the destruction of war should not erase a soldier’s identity, so they strode to ensure that a name was placed to remains." I too believe this. Any soldier who died for his country deserves a proper burial, credit, respect, and most importantly their identity.
During the aftermath of the war, the main problem that both sides faced was the burial of the dead. There were so many deceased scattered across the nation that reburial efforts for both sides would be a cumbersome task. The burial efforts of the North and the South were similar, yet differed in some ways.
By similar, I mean having the same goal. Both sides wanted to honor their dead and pay respect to the brave souls that fought in the Civil War. With reburial efforts underway, each side wanted to organize their dead in proper cemeteries and keep a list of all the casualties that were found. They also wished to bring the properties of the “Good Death” into their burial endeavors.
Even though their goals were similar, their process for burying the dead greatly differed. The North’s first task was to transport all fallen soldiers from all over the country (including from the prison camps in the South) back up to the North. From there, the bodies would be identified, cataloged, and buried in national cemeteries all over the North. The cemeteries would be organized by rank and regiment. They also set up “Colored” cemeteries throughout the North. “Each body was placed in a separate coffin, its original burial site recorded and its final destination by cemetery section and grave number.” (235) The North relied on government support and funding in order to reach its goal of locating and burying every Union soldier who had fought in the Civil War.
The South’s effort was small in comparison to the North’s massive government-funded burial process. The search for the fallen soldiers was left to the families of those soldiers. With little government support and funding, women were in charge of burial procedures. If a soldier was found, the body would have been transported to his home state and buried in a cemetery there. Despite all of the problems, people tried to keep a record of those who had perished.
Personally, I think that the North honored their dead more than the South. Due to the strong support and funding from the government, more of the deceased were able to be safely recovered and buried. The war survivors cared for and looked after the graves of their fallen comrades. Even the Colored troops were cared for. I believe that both sides honored their dead to the best of their ability, and that, made all the difference.
Nice point. If the South was part of the Union again, then shouldn’t they get equal funding too? You are right in saying that they were getting punished for treason, but I think that they should have had the same burial rights as the North. If you think about it, the Confederate soldiers were technically American soldiers and should have been buried like American soldiers.
After the end of the war both sides had very similar ideas for reburial they were also verey different in a lot of ways too. The major similarities between the two was the i dea to Provide thier fallen with a "good death". The idea of fallen loved ones rotting on some field was a less than perfect of an idea. Both sides wished to bury and identify the fallen. But they set out in different ways of doing this.
The Norths effort was well funded,well organized and largely supported by the Federal Government. This meant more of a chance to identify and bury a larger amount of fallen.
The souths effort was mainly backed by private supporters and women. which ment less than sufficient funds to deal with the large amount of fallen soldiers.
I think that the North had a much better system just because it was backed by the Government. Which ment more people more money and more organization. This helped get much more done and more families happy that they new what happend to their loved ones.
I like the point you made about botrh sides working to the best of their ability to provide decent burials for their fallen soldiers. The south should have also of had support from the Federal Government but didnt so they did what they could for their fallen.
The North and the South both honored their dead after the war with reburial of their lost soldiers. Althought there were some differences in the ways this was accomplished, both sides did their best to provide the soldiers with a hint of the "good death". On both sides, women played a huge role in the reburial of soldiers. However, women had a slightly larger role with this in the South. Women set out to do the tasks that many others would not or could not do. In the North, a huge reburial system was developed. This was made possible with the funds that government provided.They worked hard to identify soldiers and bury them in cemeteries, as did the South. The North and the South did not bury their men in the same cemeteries. The North reburied their fallen soldiers in large cemeteries paid for with federal money. The South did this same task, but the cemeteries were often much smaller and private due to the lack of money. While both sides had the same goals regarding reburial, the North did a better job accomplishing them because of the funds that were provided to them. It is difficult to say whether the North or the South did a better job honoring their dead. While I understand that the North did a better job identifying men, I think that the South did the best that they could do with their given resources. The North appeared to have a better opportunity in honoring their dead, which is why their system was more effective. However, the South made a great attempt to accomplish the same task. I believe both the North and the South honored their dead as equally as possible.
I agree with your statement. I do believe that the government in the North did a much better job providing for their lost men. It is true that this mad it much easier for the North to honor their dead. It is also true, however, that both sides did the best of their ability to accomplish the same task. This really did "make all the difference", as you put it.
Among the North and South's reburial efforts, there are a few similarities and a few differences. One aspect that both of the sides did, was to get every soldier to have a "Good Death.” Another similarity was that every soldier was, "...recognizing the ties of duty that bind any soldier." (238). In other words, every soldier was realizing that every fallen man was a person just like themselves, which bonded both sides with their reburial efforts. Also, both the North and South cities claim to have invented Decoration Day and Memorial Day in honor of all the fallen soldiers.
Some differences of the two sides were that the South would usually not re-bury their enemy if they had fallen on their side. The South chose not to honor their enemy with a so called "Good Death." The North decided to honor the other side's comrades and buried them. Even though the Union was questioning why they should honor a man who wanted to destroy them, they still found a way to bury them. Another difference was that the North’s reburial efforts were official and professional, “…they put aside geography and bureaucracy…” and reburied many soldiers after the Civil War. Where as the South cared for the Confederate dead and they believed it was a necessity to care for their people first.
I believe that the North was the most successful with honoring their dead. The reason for that is the South was selfish with burying only their soldiers. I know that both sides helped a lot, and it was much appreciated. I just think that the North’s system of reburial was more effective with identifying and accounting for the dead.
I also believe that the North’s idea of burying fallen soldiers with their regiment was a very good idea. The relationships that soldiers form through the trials and tribulations of battle are incredibly unique. I know that if I was killed in war, I would want to be buried by the men that had fought and died at my side.
The North and South had some similarities, and some differences when it came to their reburial efforts. Both sides wanted their soldiers to be buried properly. The differences begin when talking about how each side went about their burial efforts.
"The northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort... it was the work-and expense-of the Quartermaster Corps, the U.S. Army and the federal government," (241). On the other hand, the South did not have any kind of official organization, and it was the responsibility of the white people to care for the dead. Another important difference is the burying of the enemy. The South chose to disrespect Northern soldiers by not properly burying them. The North's efforts were "removed by both geography and bureaucracy," (241). The North would bury any soldier, regardless of their allegiance.
I agree more with the North's reburial efforts. They used a very systematic approach and had the financial and work force to efficiently accomplish tasks. The South wasn't as organized and relied mostly of the efforts of individuals.
After the Civil War had ended there was still a common problem for both the North, and the South. This problem of course was the need for a proper burial for the deceased. Both the North and South had different ways of accomplishing this task, but there were also a few similarities in what they did as well.
There seemed to be two important similarities between the North's actions and the South's actions. The primary one being that both had the same common goal. Both the North and South wanted to give proper burial to the soldiers and had intentions of giving each soldier that closest thing to a "Good Death" that they could offer. With this they also wanted to identify each body they found, and went to great lengths to accomplish that goal. The other similarity was that women were the primary group of people working to accomplish this gruesome task for both the North and the South. Clearly the goal and intentions were the same, and obviously each just wanted to do the humane thing.
With these similarities, there also came differences between the two processes. First off the North's efforts were government funded where as the South's efforts were not. Second, the North was able to be far more efficient in identifying bodies thanks to their government funding. Finally a large difference between the two was the burial process. In the North soldiers were often buried in large military cemeteries, and the Confederate soldiers were buried in smaller and less populated cemeteries. Each side accomplished great amounts, but clearly backed by government funding the South just doesn’t compare.
I believe the North was far more successful in the burial of bodies simply because they were able to do it far more efficiently. When it comes down to it the North was very committed to giving a proper burial to their soldiers. Today we still can see the graves of those fallen heroes and for that reason I have to say the North did an exceptional job when it came to giving every soldier they could a "Good Death."
After reading your post I definitely agree with what you are saying about how the South probably should have been funded by the government. Like you said the North probably just wanted to punish the South, and I think they are somewhat just in that. However, at the end of the day they seemed to forget that it wasn't like they were funding the confederate army, they would have just been helping honor another man’s death. I agree that they at least owed that to the families of the deceased to give a little.
The South and the North had the same goal in mind after the end to the Civil War, they were concentrated on burying the fallen. The they both had the same goal in mind but they had differences.
One similatrity between the two sides was that they both wanted to provide as many soldiers as possible with a proper burial, a "good death". The North and South both listed deaths.
Though the two sides were similar they were also very different. The North was provided with funding in order to burial as many soldiers as possible. They were given orders to submit all burials, this included the slodier's name and burial place. On the other end the South had to to rely on families, volunteers and donations. Many times they had to fundraise.
I beleive that the North did a better job in honoring their dead. They did so because they were supplied with more resources and were financally sound where as the South was struggling to find money and resources to bury their dead.
It is hard to pick a side that did a better job becuase if both were given the same amount of resources thay could have done equal jobs. "While I understand that the North did a better job identifying men, I think that the South did the best that they could do with their given resources." -Kendra LaFonte. I agree that South did the best that they could with what they had.
At the end of the Civil War both the North and South tended to their fallen soldiers. But they worked in a couple of different ways even thought they were trying to provide each soldier that was killed with a good death. The North's reburial efforts were supported by the government. Also the North already had services working hard to help soldiers. Also the north had alot of resources and manpower for this task. An the South on the other hand didn't. The south worked just as hard as the North did, but the South was devastated. They didn't have much of a government left to support their efforts. So it was up to the civilians to finish the reburial efforts. the also din't have much resources at the time but they used what they had or could afford.
I think the North's reburial efforts were much better than the South's efforts because of the government support, resources, and manpower to complete at a faster rate. Even though each side was striveing for the right purpose and to honor their fallen soldiers.
I agree with your opinion on how the North was stong financialy wise and also had the resources unlike the South. It was hard for the South to honor their dead because they used most of their resources to help fight off the Union armies, but still lost the war in the end.
Both the Union and the Confederacy honored their dead, and in some ways it was similar, but there were also differences. The Union long with the Confederacy believed that each of their fallen soldiers deserved a proper burial and they deserved to be remembered. The Union wanted a “…comprehensive system of national cemeteries to include all Union dead” (232). The Confederates wanted the same thing, but the means of gathering the slain was different. Along with the efforts of veterans of the war, Whitman, and many others in the Union, the federal government was a huge supporter of relocating their dead and it funded the reburial process. 4 million dollars was spent on finding dead union soldiers. 54 percent of the soldiers were also identified because the Union had the means to do so. In the Confederacy, they had to find another way to honor their dead. “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). The funds to bury the Confederate dead came from civilian donations. The main difference between Union and Confederate burial was this: “the northern reburial movement was an official, even professional effort, removed by both geography and bureaucracy from the lives of most northern citizens; it was the work-and expense- of the Quartermaster Corps, the U.S. Army, and the federal government. In the South care for the Confederate dead was of necessity the work of the people…” (241). Memorial associations were everywhere in the South to help with the reburial effort. The reburial efforts North and South made it possible for families to find their slain loved one.
Another similarity between both the Union and the Confederates were the disregard and hatred toward the dead of the opposing side. The Union left the dead Confederates unburied, and the South did the same to the Yankee soldiers. They would leave them lying in the battlefield and disregard them. In the South, “a road was built over Union graves…” (225). The Union also showed the same disrespect to rebel graves.
I agree with everyone else that posted that the North’s reburial efforts honored the dead better. This is mainly because they had the funds to do it right and the organization to find the names and identities of many. Both honored the dead the best they could but the North was able to rebury more bodies and restore many identities to the fallen.
The reburial efforts of the North and South were similar in a couple ways but different in many. Both the North and the South wanted to make sure their fallen soldiers did not lay on battlefields left to rot. They wanted their families and friends to be able to visit, and place flowers on the graves of loved ones. The last similar thing the North and South did was to give coffins, and try to identify and give headboards for as many soldiers as possible.
There was also many differences in the North and South's reburial efforts. The North moved Union soldier's into large National cemeteries whereas the South moved Confederate soldiers into smaller cemeteries near battlefields. The South's effort was made up of women who created volunteer organizations , who had to raise the little money they had. The North's effort was made up of soldier's and men, and was funded by the government. One extra thing the Norht did that the South did not was go to the South and ask people about Union graves and bodies and took Union dead from South to their national cemeteries.
I believe the North and South tried very hard to honor the dead and each were successful in their own way. Given the circumstances, the South did all they could with the volunteers they had and the lack of funding, and I respect that. But, I believe the North did better in honoring the dead because of the large national cemeteries created for deceased soldiers. Also, "When the reinterment program was completed in 1871, 303,536 Union soldiers had been buried in seventy-four national cemeteries."(236)
Golight, You make a great point by saying “the northern soldiers… would just leave the Confederate soldiers still on the battlefield to dishonor even though they were in a sense “brothers” because they fought on the other side.” It really is sad that they would dishonor the other side jus because they fought against each other. Many probably were even friends or had family that was on the other side but they still disregarded the fallen soldiers of the enemy.
You make some good points in your post. That both the North and South made lists od the dead, that was a very hard thing for them to do, but they tried best they could. A very good point you made was that the North could cover more ground because of more help and funding from the government. The South accomplished alot but they "couldn't achieve the goals that the North did," like you said.
Your post was well written, I agree with your statement about how they both made lists of their dead and that there were similarities. I also think that the North did a better job of burying their dead because they had mor resources and were "financially sound", whereas the South wasn't.
The North and South had both similarities and differences in their reburial efforts. They both had "lists of names and burial places" (page 213) of their soldiers. Both sides wanted to properly bury all their soldiers so that they wouldn't be left out to be broken down by the elements of nature. They gave their fallen soldiers headboards and coffins as much as possible. North and South alike honored their dead, leaving flowers at their graves as a show of respect.
The goal of the North was to "create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries" (pages 217-218). The North had resources and money to help them in their efforts to bury their dead Union soldiers, and they were extremely successful. "The morthen reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort" (page 241).
The "transformative underaking" to bury soldiers only applied to Union soldiers, and "The absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast" (page 237). Therefore, "care for the Confederate was of necessity the work of the people" (page 241) and "The goal of returning every Southern soldier to the south was never realized" (page 247).
Although both sides did the best job they could at burying the dead in the aftermath of the Civil War, I think the North did a better job. This is because the South lacked the resources and money to bury their fallen as well as the North.
The reburial effort for north and south were similar with the same intentions but were very different in how it was handled. The north got goverment funding and help. They would go and search for their dead and good land. They would inspect the graveyards. This was all taken care of by the military insuring that every fallen soldier had a proper respactful burial. In the south it was left to the civilians to rebury their dead. They had no help from their government or military. They had little money to help and little orginization. I believe that the north treated their dead with much more respect. That is also because they were able to. they had the recources. I do believe that the south would have treated their dead the same if they were better equiped to do so.
The North and South had some similarities and differences of the reburial efforts. They both wanted to give the soldiers proper burials. Also they both respected the dead by leaving flowers at their graves.
I agree with the North's reburial efforts because they seemed to be more organized about it and the North had more money to do decent burials than the South did.
I agree with you saying that the South did all that they could with the resources they had, but the North was more organized and had the resources and money to do the burials.
Both the north and south tried to honor their dead by burying them after the civil war took place. The south, I believed, was at a disadvantage at this point. The North had the help of the federal government, whereas the south was basically on their own. Also, the North had less soldiers dead, and more people to help bury them than the south. The south tried the best they could to honor their fallen soldiers, but, since the north had more money as well as more help, I would have to say the north did a better job at honoring their soldiers.
In response to Mark Miller I agree that "The south worked just as hard as the North did, but the South was devastated" The south had much more dead to bury, so they couldn't be as carful and organized about it.
Both sides idea of reburial were both similar and very different at the same time. They both wanted their soldiers to be buried properly and not have them rot in the middle of a field.
Some differences were that the North had a much stronger foundation and was supported by the federal government. The South was backed up by mainly private citizens.
I believe the North was much more succesful because the had more money and could help more people.
I agree with Mary Harris. ibelieve the North did a better reburial job than the Sount too. But I think that is because they had more money. I believe both sides tried their best to get the job and both sides made many families happy.
Both the North and the South put much into their reburial efforts after the Civil War. Because the North had a more organized process that was supported by the Federal government, it was more quickly and efficiently completed than the South’s reburial efforts. Southerners relied on the many associations formed by southern women to obtain information about the missing dead soldiers, whereas northerners had many resources at their fingertips. This made the process of obtaining the information much more successfully than the South’s process. Some ways that the North obtained information was by asking soldiers of their accounts of where people were buried and putting notices in the newspapers that information of the whereabouts of soldiers was greatly needed for their reburial efforts. The South relied on physically searching for the bodies and waiting for the information to come to them, which delayed their process greatly.
In response to Chandler Cerveny: It is very true that "They both wanted their soldiers to be buried properly and not have them rot in the middle of a field." This assertion makes me question why the South did not exercise every possible resource that they had to identify and locate their fallen Confederates bodies. I am sure that they would have made the process speedier and they would have obtained many more volunteers to help them in their substantial quest.
Both the North and the South made successful attempts at rendering many of the fallen men honor and keeping them from just rotting out on the fields or being devoured by wildlife. The ways in which they carried out this mission was not exactly the same, though. Firt of all, the North's efforts to provide their soldiers with a correct burial were funded by the federal government while the South was forced to undertake this difficult job without such funding. The Northern soldiers were also buried in specified Federal cemeteries while in the South their men were buried in public cemeteries.
I believe that the South was less effective in honoring their fallen soldiers but not due to anything other than the lack of more Federal help, which was something the North did rely on. It is my opinion that, thanks to the many women who voluntarily decided to be of aid to this good cause, the South did a decent job considering that the Federal government failed to fund their actions or even provide the cemeteries for the soldiers. Both sides did go on to honor many of their men but the North was just more organized and counted on more help to achieve this efficiently.
I agree with you because it does seem selfish that when the South found some of their enemy's men on their side they decided not to give them proper reburial. The North did accomplish to do this, showing more integrity and decency. This and the efficiency of the North's burial system proved to honor their men more successfuly and with more decorum.
When the Civil War had ended, there was a great need in both the North and the South to give the dead a proper burial. Neither side wanted to leave their dead to rot on a field.
Both sides went about burying the dead in different ways. In the North, the Federal Government funded the burials and identification of the dead. But in the South, it was mainly women doing the burying and identifying.
I feel the North did a better job at honoring the dead. They had a better, more organized and funded system than the South. Even though both sides tried their best, the North was better.
You make a very valid point when you say that the south was at a great disadvantage. They had no funding, more bodies, and less manpower. Considering the circumstances, they did a great job. However, the North still honored their dead better.
Once the civil war was over there were many similarities between the North and South. Both tried to rebury their fallen soldiers. Both north and south wanted to have their soldiers buried in national cemeteries. The north had the financial support of the Government and tried top identify as many soldiers as possible, while the south only had the associations of southern women and just buried their soldiers without trying to identify them. I think the north honored their dead much better than the south because they tried to identify the fallen soldiers.
The North and South both did their best to honor the dead; however their means of approaching that were drastically different. Bodies were rampant across the country, “Many soldiers lay unburied, their bones littering battlefields across the South” (212). The two sides felt a strong obligation to clean up the country and honor the dead.
The North had a massive “reinterment program” dedicated solely towards honoring the dead. There was “an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries.”(218). This program was very successful, yet expensive, “303,536 Union soldiers had been buried in seventy-four national cemeteries, and the War Department had expended $4,000,406.26 on the effort to gather the dead.”(236). The program was a combined effort within the government, for “the legislative branch joined the military in the disposition of the Union dead.” (223). The government accepted accountability towards the dead and felt compelled to give the soldiers who gave their life to save the nation a notable burial.
While the South was financially weaker than the North and had didn’t have the government on its side, it was still successful. They assumed responsibility without anyone pushing them to do so. Southerners were upset that the government was not giving equal respect towards Confederate dead, for they too gave their life fighting for what they believed in, “The absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast, even in the eyes of some northerners.” (237). Southerners argued that “If the Confederate soldier ‘does not fall into the category of the Nation’s dead he is ours-and shame be to us if we do not care for his ashes.’” (238). Nearly all of the work done by the South was from “Southern civilians, largely women, [who] mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not. (238).
Although I greatly respect the South and their efforts to honor the dead with as little finances as they had, I believe the North was more successful. How could it not be with its vast resources? The Northern burial program was far more intricate and detailed than the South’s, and because of this it was far more successful.
I agree that “the North and the South tried very hard to honor the dead and each were successful in their own way.” While the Union burials were work of the government, the South united and did their best, even with a lack of resources. I also agree that “the North did better in honoring the dead because of the large national cemeteries created for deceased soldiers.” While southerners supported themselves financially through donations, the North was assisted by the government and was able to provide a superior respect towards the dead.
It is true that at the end of the Civil war, both sides greatly sought to honor the dead by giving them a proper burial and identifing them. The difference was that the North had government help when identifying and burring the dead. This help made the process easier and allowed for more people to help bury. The South on the other hand had the labor force of women. Denied federal help, Mrs. Willaim Farland of the Hollywood Memorial Association of women sent out a request for help directed at Southern women.
I feel that the North was more succesful in their quest to identify and bury the fallen. They had Federal money and man power backing them, allowing for quicker burrial and nicer cemetaries. The South's lack of funding an workers disallowed grand cemetaries.
The North and South’s reburial efforts were in some ways much the same, but in others they differed a lot. Both sides wanted to give their soldiers a proper burial in a cemetery. They were also very adamant that the soldiers of both sides not be buried together. However, the North had support from the government, unlike the South. The reburial efforts of the South were mainly headed by women, many of whom volunteered. The North went about their work thoroughly and relatively quickly because the army and African Americans helped; it only took a few years for them to complete the reburial process. In the South it took much longer and the process was more drawn out.
I believe the North honored their dead more successfully. They were much more organized and went to great lengths to ensure all of their soldiers were in a national cemetery. You can’t overlook the fact that the North had great advantages over the South, but the North’s efforts honored their fallen soldiers much more successfully.
In response to Brent- I agree with you that both sides wanted to honor the dead by giving them a proper burial. I also agree that The North could Honor the dead better because of their federal finacial support and man power. These two factors allowed them not only to to bury the dead, but also to help attempt to identify too.
After the war the North and South both had several similar goals, bury their dead with dignity and identifying the dead. The North buried their dead in mass cemeteries where the dead where buried as close to their comrades as possible. Their was a sense of pride in the North and these graves where highly memorialized and respected. In the South burying the dead went mainly to volunteers and families. Most soldiers were buried in private ceremonies and private graves. These differences in burying were mainly because of the economic situations present i n the two sides of the country. the north was economically stable and thus was capable of recognizing their dead better, whereas the South was failing economically and their was no firm government to organize burial efforts. The North is obviously the most successful in this aspect.
I agree with what you are saying in your post. The North had the financial means to ensure many soldiers received a proper burial. However, I think it is easy to overlook the South's efforts. After just losing a long and brutal war, it would be hard for the South to create a organization with financial backing. People knew that soon Confederate money would be worthless. So with what the South was given to work with, they did a decent job of honoring their soldiers.
To everyone, It is important to note that even after the war, when the country was supposably "reunited" the South was still being punished by the federal government and thus could not afford to properly bury their dead. A mistake that has hurt the memories of those who fought in the South.
Comparing and contrasting the burial efforts of the North and South is like comparing the Denver Broncos to a little league football team. Without question the large, professional, and well funded organization is going to be more successful in the quantity of work it can do. But I think there is an important qualitative issue here. By the end of the war, the resources of the South were almost wiped out. Its currency was almost worthless. The South had no means by which to raise any funding or support to carry out its goal of providing its soldiers with a decent and proper burial and the honor of a “Good Death”. The fact that the Southern reburial efforts were all done by volunteers says a tremendous amount about the South honoring its dead. Anyone can provide an honorable ceremony for someone if given enough funding to do so. But when volunteers can provide decent and proper burials for only a handful of their dead with no resources whatsoever to work with, it shows the incredible uninhibited honor the Southern women paid to those soldiers who were killed in battle.
I do not mean to belittle the reburial efforts in the North. Even with Federal funding it would have taken a great deal of effort and professional organization to "create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries" (217-218). It certainly was a huge task that the North performed effectively. But it is not fair to compare the efforts of a Federally funded organization to an organization that had next to nothing in resources. By creating a situation where the “absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast” (237) to the North, the United States Government missed a huge opportunity towards rebuilding a shattered union. By not providing at least some funding for burial efforts in the South, the Federal Government sent a very contradictory message to the South. To say, “welcome back to the union, and by the way, all your loved ones who died are not worth our time and trouble to honor with an identity and proper burial” would not have had me jumping for joy to be part of the United States again. Thankfully, the North’s burial efforts were “removed by both geography and bureaucracy,” (241) and the northerners would occasionally bury Confederate soldiers just to keep the land uncluttered. Thus, the North’s actions in burying any soldier were more honorable and more unifying for the nation as a whole than the funding actions of the Federal Government.
Both the North and the South alike wanted to have “each body …. placed in a separate coffin, and its original burial site recorded” (235) rather than leaving the bodies to rot in dishonor scattered among various sites of combat. Both the North and South wanted to provide decent and proper burials. Both sides had very similar goals for honoring their dead. The main difference was the resources available to do the job.
The North did a valiant job of identifying the soldiers’ remains, and placing them in National cemeteries where they could be revered and honored by many citizens for generations to come. In sheer numbers, the South could not possibly have done as well. Yet given the economic and emotional turmoil of the time, the fact that the South was able to raise any financial support or any volunteer help at all to honor its dead is incredible. The South showed unsurpassed honor to its dead simply because the Southern efforts were made possible from the heart rather than from an endless purse full of Federal money.
When the war had ended, both the North and South had a definite need to give their deceased soldiers proper burials. The North had government funding to identify the dead and give proper burials to their soldiers. The South on the other hand was not on the government's good side (for the seceding and the war and all). Because the government wasn't happy with the South, Southern women did most of their burying.
I think that the North did a better job honoring their soldiers with proper burials. On the other hand it is admirable that Southern women put effort into burying confederate soldiers.
RE: Erin Erin, I just wanted to say that I thought your account of the burial process was very fair to both sides. Certainly Quartermaster Meig did a phenomenal job of organizing and staffing the Northern efforts to locate, re-inter, and show due honor and respect to the deceased. The book states that this was about as well as any Federally funded program had ever been run. But the volunteer efforts of the Southerners were equally amazing. I think your final paragraph really summed it up very well.
“…The Union honored their dead more successfully than the South largely because of the resources they were privileged with. The South, however, still did well considering how strong limits on assets were. I believe that if the South would have had the resources they would have been just as successful in reburying their dead after this devastating war…”
When considering the vast disparity of available resources, how do you pick one side doing a more effective job than the other? I think we have to say hats off to both North and South for an extraordinary job well done at identifying and honoring their dead. You provided a very good write-up on this issue.
You made a valid point about how much better the North was when you said, "How could it not be with its vast resources?" The government made it so much easier for the north to bury all of their soldiers; there is no comparison.
After the war, the North and South both tried to give proper burials to the dead. Although, the North and South I feel had very unfair circumstances for burying the dead. The North had funding for burying the dead and identifying them, while in the South, mostly the women had to do this themselves while still trying to maintain a good death for the soldiers,
I feel as if the North did a better job in honoring the dead, but I do think that the South could have done equally as well if they had funding to do so. The South definitely put more heart into the burying process because they didnt give up even without the funds, and the North had a much easier method of doing this.
Chandler- You must keep in mind when you say, "I believe the North was much more succesful because the had more money and could help more people." that as many other people have stated, The South didn't have governmental support like the North did, so their efforts should at least be commended.
Sevan- I agree with what you said to Chandler. The South didn't have funding from the government and it was mostly the women, burying their own family and friends which would be hard enough. I feel its very unfair to the South to not get money or support from the North even, they suffered just as much, if not more because they lost.
Thanks Matt, I enjoy the point you make that "Even the Colored troops were cared for." that is a great point and a market of the progress in society. I also agree when you say “I believe that both sides honored their dead to the best of their ability, and that, made all the difference." if one thing was done right it was the Soldiers getting the respect they disserve.
The North and South had the same ideas of giving their soliders and loved ones a proper burial. They both wanted to give them a "good death" and give them their peoper idenity. The Norht had much larger funding. This gave them a definate chance to identify and bury many soliders. Even though they could not identify an amount of the soliders they still had buried them. The South was much smaller. They did not have as large of a fund as the North. The North's fund were of governmental help but the South had the funding of citizens and the help of women in the near towns. The South had not been able to bury as many soliders as the North but still were able to help. They both were not able to stand the sight of their fallen soliders deteriate on the battlefields in which they had passed away on.
I believe that the North had done a better job with honoring their dead. They not only did an admirable job buring a vast amount of their dead but had the funding to help with it. The North and the South both had their heart's in the right places but one could not provide as much as the other. I understand how much work the South went through to even bury the amount of soliders they did get to bury and identify. They both had the heart to bury them because it was their loved ones and I do not think one had more heart than the other.
I do agree with Brian because the North was much more successful. Their economis status was much higher in which helped them get a lot more soliders buried and identified. The South's government was not organized and not successful in the aspect of buring and identifing the fallen soliders.
During the efforts after the civil war of the south and the north to rebury the dead, the north definitely did a better job than the south because “the northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort” (241). So the North just tried harder than the south to help bury and honor the dead. Also in the south they thought of it as work to bury the dead not as their duty unlike the North. For the South it may have been harder because of the much larger number of dead compared to the north but the North still did a better job than the South.
Jenni I agree that the north did a better job and one of the main reasons was because the government helped support them which helped there reburial movement greatly,also the north had much more resources than the south which helped them greatly.
After the Civil War, the North and South’s reburial efforts were similar in some aspects, as well as very different in others. Chief among the two side’s similarities was the obligation to provide their fallen soldiers with as many aspects of a “Good Death” as possible. The idea of allowing the unidentified bodies of their soldiers to rot on the field could not have been less appealing to either side. The most basic solution to this problem was to at least give all of the slain soldiers’ remains a decent burial, as well as identification. While both the North and South strove to accomplish this task, they went about doing so in very different ways. The North’s reburial efforts were largely funded and organized by the Federal Government, while “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not.” While their means of reburial were clearly different, another similarity is that women played a large role in the reburial process in both the North and South. When looking at those who were responsible for the majority of reburial for both sides, women undoubtedly claimed the majority. Another difference however, is the areas in which the North and South buried their dead. In the North, large federal cemeteries provided most Union soldiers with their final resting place. This was not the case in the South. Confederate soldiers were commonly buried in smaller, more private cemeteries. Without a doubt, the North and South’s reburial efforts contained both similarities and differences.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that the North honored their dead more successfully than the South. I believe this because the North went about accounting and providing their dead with decent burials much more efficiently than the South. By doing so, they allowed for the burial and recognition of countless more soldiers than the South. However, I feel it is necessary to take into account the huge advantage federal support posed for the North. The Northern reburial effort was much more organized, and much more well funded than in the South. This does not change the fact however, that the North obviously honored their dead more successfully than the South.
The North and the South made many attempts to honor their deceased in the post-war years. With battles no longer being fought, “the fallen could be honored without encroaching on the immediate and pressing needs of the living” (212).
ReplyDeleteThe “legislative branch joined the military in the disposition of the Union dead” (223). Military commanders were assigned areas of land to collect the dead and ensure proper burial. Many were told to note “details about the location and condition of graveyards, the state of relevant records, and officers’ recommendations for the protection and preservation of remains” (219). There was realization that the “longer bodies were left without proper burial, the more vulnerable they became to depredation and the less likely they were to be identifiable” (214). Orders were made to get all Union remains out of the South in an attempt at restoring the dead’s dignity and preventing desecration from enemies. Some even buried Confederate soldiers in an attempt to clean up land, but mostly the Rebel soldiers were left to rot above ground as display of dishonor. Many free African Americans and former slaves were active in the burial of Union soldiers “as a gesture of political assertiveness as well as a demonstration of gratitude and respect” (227) for Northern cause. Casualty lists were a major focus, as several people attempted to document as much as possible. National cemeteries were created where Union soldiers were respectfully buried in ranks and regiments. The records of the dead were complete to the best of the government’s ability. There was a “general sense of obligation toward the dead” (217) as the United State’s government and volunteers seeking closure worked to honor the fallen after the Civil War.
In the South, it was upon the shoulders of the women and men affected by the war to care for their dead. The “absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast” (237) to those of the North. Like in the North, bodies were located and honorably interred. Graves were “carefully tended, with identities listed” (225) and records were completed as much as possible. Many women dutifully “mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). They founded memorial foundations that like the North focused on honoring the dead’s “valor and sacrifice” (247). Unlike the North, the South was more based on sectionalism instead of nationalism. Soldiers were buried amongst other soldiers from their state instead of all Confederates being buried together. Both the North and the South honored their soldiers in such a way that made them “the instruments of the dead’s immortality” (248). So they could be remembered forever.
I believe that the North was more successful in their attempt at honoring the dead towards the war’s end. The support of the Federal Government also meant access to national funds. More money gave Union soldiers the best burials money could provide. Southern efforts were only supported through “private donations, through contributions from legislatures of other former Confederate states” (240). Such minimal funding made it more difficult for each soldier to get the quality burial that every Union soldier had. I believe governmental involvement and support greatly impacted the amount of time and money spent to ensure honorable burials to the dead.
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ReplyDeleteNick-
ReplyDeleteYou made a very good point when you mentioned the focus on identification. Both sides strongly believed that the destruction of war should not erase a soldier’s identity, so they strove to ensure that a name was placed to remains. I agree with you the governmental funds gave the North an advantage when burying their dead, and also that the Northern efforts were much more organized than the South’s. Thus being realized, the Union was able to accomplish honorable burials much more efficiently than the Confederacy. Very good points.
The north definitely did a better job of caring for its dead but the lack of federal funding to the south is a mark of how far they had to go in order to provide unity to the country again the south should have been supplied near equal funding so that they would feel part of the US again instead this bias would make the road to reconstructions a hard and bitter road that was a nightmare for those still recovering from the rigors of the war.
ReplyDeleteI can’t blame the north however they wanted the south punished for its treason and would have been furious if equal funds were given to the south. Honoring the dead is family practice each with its own rules and regulations. Perhaps it was the government’s job to step back and let the grieving care for their loved ones and worry about uniting the country.
After the Devastation of the civil war had subsided, the North and the South worked to rebury their dead. Each of the work forces had similarities and differences.
ReplyDeleteBoth of sides agreed on the importance of burying bodies that had been left on the field. They felt a moral sense of wrong against the idea. But the similarities seemed to end there.
The North's reburial efforts revolved around the help that the government lent. As Nick mentioned, the reburial efforts were largely funded and organized by this involvement. "... with Legislative authorization and funding to create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union Soldier" (217-8). The collections of the dead reached extensive efforts in order to give information to the families. Men were sent down to the southern battlefields to receive the fallen there as well. "It was our solemn duty to find every solitary Union's soldier's grave that marked the victorious path of our men in the pursuit of the enemy" (217). While the enemy soldiers were left to rot on the grass. Grave sites were organized in the form of Ranks and Regiments. The North also worked to obtain a casualty list.
The South's reburial process was tiny in comparison. Mostly funded by the mothers and families of the deceased, it lacked the organization & size that the North boasted. The bodies that were reburied were mostly by personal family members rather then an entire search by many. Soldiers were buried by those from the same state rather then their ranking. But they too, cared for the graves in order to make them neat and organized. The fallen were honored for their acts of bravery in fighting in the war. As done in the North, the South worked to establish a Casualty List, which they too worked to fill to the best of their abilities.
I personally believe that the North had honored their dead more successfully. The North's reburial worked through the funding of the government. The South's lacked it and, in the end, their absence of so many graves showed it. "about two miles from Savannah, in a corner of the 'Negro Cemetery' lay seventy - seven 'graves of colored soldiers' in four neat rows. All but three were identifiable, all in very good condition, and all marked with good painted headboards." (227). Union men had buried all of these seventy seven men, and had cared for each of the graves. From all that I have read, I agree with everyone above that the North honored and reburied their dead much more successfully then the South.
The North and South’s burial efforts were similar and different in many ways. Among the two side’s similarities was an obligation to provide their fallen soldiers with as many aspects as possible. Allowing their soldier’s bodies to rot in a field was not a very proper burial for either side during the war. The least that either side could do was to give the fallen soldier a name and a decent burial wherever they could put the remains. Though both sides sound like they did the same processes, both had their own unique ways of doing the tasks at hand. In the North, the burial efforts were funded and organized by the government. Women had played a huge role in the burial and reburial of soldiers on both sides. When looking to see who had done most of the reburying, the women had clearly done the majority of the work. Another huge difference was where the graves were put. The North had large federal cemeteries was where most union soldiers were lay to rest. The South had a different idea; southern soldiers were often buried in smaller and more private cemeteries. Both ideas were similar and different in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the North had honored their dead a lot more efficiently than what the South had done with theirs. The North had followed through with decent burials, which had worked better than the South’s efforts. Because of this the North was able to bury more soldiers than the South could. The North’s efforts were a lot better in terms of burial grounds, coffins and the number of men they could bury because they had support from their government, who had funded the burial of thousands of Northern soldiers. The North’s burial efforts were also a lot better thought out and organized better than South’s was. Even though that doesn’t change that the North had honored their dead better than the South did.
I agree with Nick. The North just had a better plan on where to bury, the number of soldiers they could bury, and they had government funding. The North just had the support to do what they did, the South had no financial help from their government so most soldiers weren’t even buried properly.
There were a couple of similarities and differences between the North and South's reburial efforts after the Civil War. They both had ways to give the honor back to the soldiers that who had fought for their cause and after had fallen were disgraced till after the war had been finished.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of similarities that both the North and South in their reburial efforts. They both wanted to give the aspect of a “Good Death” their fallen soldiers. The “Good death” goes into many littler similarities. They would make sure every deceased soldier would have a proper burial. They would do this because these soldiers in the opinion did not give up their lives fighting for the country to be left out on the battlefield or in a trench with many others. They felt that this would honor their fallen comrades. These men died in ways not common in this time so they should at least get a proper burial were a reason to do it. They both would make list of all deaths for the soldiers during the war. The last thing they did was to build in a way cemeteries to honor those who had fought and sallen during the duration of the war. Those are the similarities between the North and South's reburial efforts after the Civil War.
There were not as many differences than the similarities between the North and South. The north’s first thing they did was to make sure that all the soldiers that had fallen in the South to be brought back and given a proper burial in the North. During the cleanup off the northern soldiers the collectors would just leave the Confederate soldiers still on the battlefield to dishonor even though they were in a sense “brothers” because they fought on the other side. In the South they had not as big of a burial as the North had because of the shorter funds. Those funds were mostly family members of the deceased. Even though they both had cemeteries for the soldiers the North’s cemeteries were a lot bigger in comparison to the one in the South. The South was just not as good as the North was at reburial of the deseaced soldiers that fought for their cause.
In my own opinion I believe that the North honored their dead more successfully than the South. I believe that going in a big effort to get the fallen soldiers back from the south to give them a proper burial in the north. I believe that their reburial service wan much bigger than the ones in South made it better in that way. I think that bigger cemeteries were better than the smaller ones in the south. I also think that burying the soldiers with the regiment they fought with in the war was a good idea.
Larissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with this comment you wrote. Your first paragraph when said “The North and the South made many attempts to honor their deceased in the post-war years. With battles no longer being fought, “the fallen could be honored without encroaching on the immediate and pressing needs of the living” (212)” was good. I like that you used a lot of quotations but the best was “details about the location and condition of graveyards, the state of relevant records, and officers’ recommendations for the protection and preservation of remains” (219). Saying that the North was more successful with this was good.
Golight
ReplyDeleteI agree that the North's take on reburial efforts was far more successful than those of the South. I agree with your comment made in the last paragraph, "I believe that going in a big effort to get the fallen soldiers back from the south to give them a proper burial in the north". The fact that they went to great lengths in order to get their deceased back was very important. As you said they both worked to honor those who had fallen. But the North better accomplished it.
Once the Civil War ended, there were a many similarities and differences in the North's and South's reburial efforts. A main similarity was that the North and South wanted to give their soldiers a proper burial. They wanted to ensure their soldiers have the "Good Death" that everyone wants. To give their lives for their country was too great a sacrifice to let them rot in piles. While the South buried all they could, the Union wanted "knowledge and record of every grave."(219) The North scoured the lands asking locals about graves and cemeteries, and found a huge number of their fallen, made a record of them, and properly buried them. They did not want to miss any soldiers, "Locating the many graves...required Whitman to seek information from local citizens."(226) "No residence or person was to be passed without inquiry."(226) The South could not do this as well because they didn't have that much funds, and relied more on volunteers and fundraisers. Another big similarity was to make lists of all the dead. For a soldier to die without a name and people knowing of his death was terrible. They marked all their burials and helped tell families as best they could. Again, the North was able to spread over far more ground then the South. They marked more graves, and listed more soldiers. The South still listed many and did well for the resources they had. Also, they would leave the opponent's bodies to lay in dishonor above ground. Although they both did this, the North was able to retrieve most of their Union soldiers unlike the South. The South was short sided in funds after losing the war and couldn't achieve the goals that the North did.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that the North was able to honor their dead more successfully. They had much more money from their factories and most of the support from the government. It was "arguably the most elaborate federal program undertaken in nearly a century."(219) They were able to build bigger better cemeteries, and bury more soldiers than the South. They had bigger reburial services and left much less soldiers nameless. Their funds and support allowed the North to honor their dead much more successfully than the South.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post. You said, "I agree with everyone above that the North honored and reburied their dead much more successfully then the South." The North did honor their dead more successfully. Their government support and organization allowed them to find, list, and properly bury many, many more soldiers than the South did. The North had actual search parties to scour the land for any Union soldier, whereas the South had volunteers and family search around. The South could not go very far to find their soldiers and lacked the money to pay for large cemeteries and nice headboards. The North was lucky to have the size and funds that they did and honored many more soldiers.
After the Civil War, the North and the South proceeded in reburying the deceased. Their reburial efforts contained many similarities and differences. However both sides definitely worked hard in honoring and giving the respect that the dead deserved.
ReplyDeleteOne of the largest similarities between the opposing sides is that both wanted to give the fallen soldiers a proper burial and they both felt an obligation to the dead soldiers whose bodies had been left rotting in the battlefields. They also wanted to provide their soldiers with the concept of a "Good Death".
However one of the large differences was the funding of this process. In the North the government funded much of this process. The North strived to find, name, and bury all soldiers who died during the war. "...Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs ordered every Union commander to submit a report of 'all interments registered during the war.'" These records eventually transformed into the Roll of Honor. These lists contained the names and burial places of each fallen soldier. However the amount of registered burials was less than a third of estimated Union fatalities. Northerners then proceeded to search the lands looking for deceased soldiers. "Locating the many graves...required Whitman to seek information from local citizens." The Union believed in finding "knowledge and record of every grave." The South lacked the funds that the North received. They were forced to rely on volunteers, fundraising, and families of the deceased. The South buried as many soldiers as they could. Both sides left opponents’ bodies to rot on the open battlefields, because they were very concerned with their own dead, as Tanner pointed out. Similar to the North, the South also listed their dead.
The Union honored their dead more successfully than the South largely because of the resources they were privileged with. The South, however, still did well considering how strong limits on assets were. I believe that if the South would have had the resources they would have been just as successful in reburying their dead after this devastating war.
Larissa-
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment that "Both sides strongly believed that the destruction of war should not erase a soldier’s identity, so they strode to ensure that a name was placed to remains." I too believe this. Any soldier who died for his country deserves a proper burial, credit, respect, and most importantly their identity.
During the aftermath of the war, the main problem that both sides faced was the burial of the dead. There were so many deceased scattered across the nation that reburial efforts for both sides would be a cumbersome task. The burial efforts of the North and the South were similar, yet differed in some ways.
ReplyDeleteBy similar, I mean having the same goal. Both sides wanted to honor their dead and pay respect to the brave souls that fought in the Civil War. With reburial efforts underway, each side wanted to organize their dead in proper cemeteries and keep a list of all the casualties that were found. They also wished to bring the properties of the “Good Death” into their burial endeavors.
Even though their goals were similar, their process for burying the dead greatly differed. The North’s first task was to transport all fallen soldiers from all over the country (including from the prison camps in the South) back up to the North. From there, the bodies would be identified, cataloged, and buried in national cemeteries all over the North. The cemeteries would be organized by rank and regiment. They also set up “Colored” cemeteries throughout the North. “Each body was placed in a separate coffin, its original burial site recorded and its final destination by cemetery section and grave number.” (235) The North relied on government support and funding in order to reach its goal of locating and burying every Union soldier who had fought in the Civil War.
The South’s effort was small in comparison to the North’s massive government-funded burial process. The search for the fallen soldiers was left to the families of those soldiers. With little government support and funding, women were in charge of burial procedures. If a soldier was found, the body would have been transported to his home state and buried in a cemetery there. Despite all of the problems, people tried to keep a record of those who had perished.
Personally, I think that the North honored their dead more than the South. Due to the strong support and funding from the government, more of the deceased were able to be safely recovered and buried. The war survivors cared for and looked after the graves of their fallen comrades. Even the Colored troops were cared for. I believe that both sides honored their dead to the best of their ability, and that, made all the difference.
Re: pstidwell
ReplyDeleteNice point. If the South was part of the Union again, then shouldn’t they get equal funding too? You are right in saying that they were getting punished for treason, but I think that they should have had the same burial rights as the North. If you think about it, the Confederate soldiers were technically American soldiers and should have been buried like American soldiers.
After the end of the war both sides had very similar ideas for reburial they were also verey different in a lot of ways too. The major similarities between the two was the i dea to Provide thier fallen with a "good death". The idea of fallen loved ones rotting on some field was a less than perfect of an idea. Both sides wished to bury and identify the fallen. But they set out in different ways of doing this.
ReplyDeleteThe Norths effort was well funded,well organized and largely supported by the Federal Government. This meant more of a chance to identify and bury a larger amount of fallen.
The souths effort was mainly backed by private supporters and women. which ment less than sufficient funds to deal with the large amount of fallen soldiers.
I think that the North had a much better system just because it was backed by the Government. Which ment more people more money and more organization. This helped get much more done and more families happy that they new what happend to their loved ones.
Matt-
ReplyDeleteI like the point you made about botrh sides working to the best of their ability to provide decent burials for their fallen soldiers. The south should have also of had support from the Federal Government but didnt so they did what they could for their fallen.
The North and the South both honored their dead after the war with reburial of their lost soldiers. Althought there were some differences in the ways this was accomplished, both sides did their best to provide the soldiers with a hint of the "good death". On both sides, women played a huge role in the reburial of soldiers. However, women had a slightly larger role with this in the South. Women set out to do the tasks that many others would not or could not do. In the North, a huge reburial system was developed. This was made possible with the funds that government provided.They worked hard to identify soldiers and bury them in cemeteries, as did the South. The North and the South did not bury their men in the same cemeteries. The North reburied their fallen soldiers in large cemeteries paid for with federal money. The South did this same task, but the cemeteries were often much smaller and private due to the lack of money. While both sides had the same goals regarding reburial, the North did a better job accomplishing them because of the funds that were provided to them.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to say whether the North or the South did a better job honoring their dead. While I understand that the North did a better job identifying men, I think that the South did the best that they could do with their given resources. The North appeared to have a better opportunity in honoring their dead, which is why their system was more effective. However, the South made a great attempt to accomplish the same task. I believe both the North and the South honored their dead as equally as possible.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement. I do believe that the government in the North did a much better job providing for their lost men. It is true that this mad it much easier for the North to honor their dead. It is also true, however, that both sides did the best of their ability to accomplish the same task. This really did "make all the difference", as you put it.
Among the North and South's reburial efforts, there are a few similarities and a few differences. One aspect that both of the sides did, was to get every soldier to have a "Good Death.” Another similarity was that every soldier was, "...recognizing the ties of duty that bind any soldier." (238). In other words, every soldier was realizing that every fallen man was a person just like themselves, which bonded both sides with their reburial efforts. Also, both the North and South cities claim to have invented Decoration Day and Memorial Day in honor of all the fallen soldiers.
ReplyDeleteSome differences of the two sides were that the South would usually not re-bury their enemy if they had fallen on their side. The South chose not to honor their enemy with a so called "Good Death." The North decided to honor the other side's comrades and buried them. Even though the Union was questioning why they should honor a man who wanted to destroy them, they still found a way to bury them. Another difference was that the North’s reburial efforts were official and professional, “…they put aside geography and bureaucracy…” and reburied many soldiers after the Civil War. Where as the South cared for the Confederate dead and they believed it was a necessity to care for their people first.
I believe that the North was the most successful with honoring their dead. The reason for that is the South was selfish with burying only their soldiers. I know that both sides helped a lot, and it was much appreciated. I just think that the North’s system of reburial was more effective with identifying and accounting for the dead.
Golight
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the North’s idea of burying fallen soldiers with their regiment was a very good idea. The relationships that soldiers form through the trials and tribulations of battle are incredibly unique. I know that if I was killed in war, I would want to be buried by the men that had fought and died at my side.
The North and South had some similarities, and some differences when it came to their reburial efforts. Both sides wanted their soldiers to be buried properly. The differences begin when talking about how each side went about their burial efforts.
ReplyDelete"The northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort... it was the work-and expense-of the Quartermaster Corps, the U.S. Army and the federal government," (241). On the other hand, the South did not have any kind of official organization, and it was the responsibility of the white people to care for the dead. Another important difference is the burying of the enemy. The South chose to disrespect Northern soldiers by not properly burying them. The North's efforts were "removed by both geography and bureaucracy," (241). The North would bury any soldier, regardless of their allegiance.
I agree more with the North's reburial efforts. They used a very systematic approach and had the financial and work force to efficiently accomplish tasks. The South wasn't as organized and relied mostly of the efforts of individuals.
After the Civil War had ended there was still a common problem for both the North, and the South. This problem of course was the need for a proper burial for the deceased. Both the North and South had different ways of accomplishing this task, but there were also a few similarities in what they did as well.
ReplyDeleteThere seemed to be two important similarities between the North's actions and the South's actions. The primary one being that both had the same common goal. Both the North and South wanted to give proper burial to the soldiers and had intentions of giving each soldier that closest thing to a "Good Death" that they could offer. With this they also wanted to identify each body they found, and went to great lengths to accomplish that goal. The other similarity was that women were the primary group of people working to accomplish this gruesome task for both the North and the South. Clearly the goal and intentions were the same, and obviously each just wanted to do the humane thing.
With these similarities, there also came differences between the two processes. First off the North's efforts were government funded where as the South's efforts were not. Second, the North was able to be far more efficient in identifying bodies thanks to their government funding. Finally a large difference between the two was the burial process. In the North soldiers were often buried in large military cemeteries, and the Confederate soldiers were buried in smaller and less populated cemeteries. Each side accomplished great amounts, but clearly backed by government funding the South just doesn’t compare.
I believe the North was far more successful in the burial of bodies simply because they were able to do it far more efficiently. When it comes down to it the North was very committed to giving a proper burial to their soldiers. Today we still can see the graves of those fallen heroes and for that reason I have to say the North did an exceptional job when it came to giving every soldier they could a "Good Death."
In Response to pstidwell
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post I definitely agree with what you are saying about how the South probably should have been funded by the government. Like you said the North probably just wanted to punish the South, and I think they are somewhat just in that. However, at the end of the day they seemed to forget that it wasn't like they were funding the confederate army, they would have just been helping honor another man’s death. I agree that they at least owed that to the families of the deceased to give a little.
The South and the North had the same goal in mind after the end to the Civil War, they were concentrated on burying the fallen. The they both had the same goal in mind but they had differences.
ReplyDeleteOne similatrity between the two sides was that they both wanted to provide as many soldiers as possible with a proper burial, a "good death". The North and South both listed deaths.
Though the two sides were similar they were also very different. The North was provided with funding in order to burial as many soldiers as possible. They were given orders to submit all burials, this included the slodier's name and burial place. On the other end the South had to to rely on families, volunteers and donations. Many times they had to fundraise.
I beleive that the North did a better job in honoring their dead. They did so because they were supplied with more resources and were financally sound where as the South was struggling to find money and resources to bury their dead.
Kendra LaFonte-
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to pick a side that did a better job becuase if both were given the same amount of resources thay could have done equal jobs. "While I understand that the North did a better job identifying men, I think that the South did the best that they could do with their given resources." -Kendra LaFonte. I agree that South did the best that they could with what they had.
At the end of the Civil War both the North and South tended to their fallen soldiers. But they worked in a couple of different ways even thought they were trying to provide each soldier that was killed with a good death. The North's reburial efforts were supported by the government. Also the North already had services working hard to help soldiers. Also the north had alot of resources and manpower for this task. An the South on the other hand didn't. The south worked just as hard as the North did, but the South was devastated. They didn't have much of a government left to support their efforts. So it was up to the civilians to finish the reburial efforts. the also din't have much resources at the time but they used what they had or could afford.
ReplyDeleteI think the North's reburial efforts were much better than the South's efforts because of the government support, resources, and manpower to complete at a faster rate. Even though each side was striveing for the right purpose and to honor their fallen soldiers.
In response to Tori Kelly
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion on how the North was stong financialy wise and also had the resources unlike the South. It was hard for the South to honor their dead because they used most of their resources to help fight off the Union armies, but still lost the war in the end.
Both the Union and the Confederacy honored their dead, and in some ways it was similar, but there were also differences. The Union long with the Confederacy believed that each of their fallen soldiers deserved a proper burial and they deserved to be remembered. The Union wanted a “…comprehensive system of national cemeteries to include all Union dead” (232). The Confederates wanted the same thing, but the means of gathering the slain was different. Along with the efforts of veterans of the war, Whitman, and many others in the Union, the federal government was a huge supporter of relocating their dead and it funded the reburial process. 4 million dollars was spent on finding dead union soldiers. 54 percent of the soldiers were also identified because the Union had the means to do so. In the Confederacy, they had to find another way to honor their dead. “Southern civilians, largely women, mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not” (238). The funds to bury the Confederate dead came from civilian donations. The main difference between Union and Confederate burial was this: “the northern reburial movement was an official, even professional effort, removed by both geography and bureaucracy from the lives of most northern citizens; it was the work-and expense- of the Quartermaster Corps, the U.S. Army, and the federal government. In the South care for the Confederate dead was of necessity the work of the people…” (241). Memorial associations were everywhere in the South to help with the reburial effort. The reburial efforts North and South made it possible for families to find their slain loved one.
ReplyDeleteAnother similarity between both the Union and the Confederates were the disregard and hatred toward the dead of the opposing side. The Union left the dead Confederates unburied, and the South did the same to the Yankee soldiers. They would leave them lying in the battlefield and disregard them. In the South, “a road was built over Union graves…” (225). The Union also showed the same disrespect to rebel graves.
I agree with everyone else that posted that the North’s reburial efforts honored the dead better. This is mainly because they had the funds to do it right and the organization to find the names and identities of many. Both honored the dead the best they could but the North was able to rebury more bodies and restore many identities to the fallen.
The reburial efforts of the North and South were similar in a couple ways but different in many. Both the North and the South wanted to make sure their fallen soldiers did not lay on battlefields left to rot. They wanted their families and friends to be able to visit, and place flowers on the graves of loved ones. The last similar thing the North and South did was to give coffins, and try to identify and give headboards for as many soldiers as possible.
ReplyDeleteThere was also many differences in the North and South's reburial efforts. The North moved Union soldier's into large National cemeteries whereas the South moved Confederate soldiers into smaller cemeteries near battlefields. The South's effort was made up of women who created volunteer organizations , who had to raise the little money they had. The North's effort was made up of soldier's and men, and was funded by the government. One extra thing the Norht did that the South did not was go to the South and ask people about Union graves and bodies and took Union dead from South to their national cemeteries.
I believe the North and South tried very hard to honor the dead and each were successful in their own way. Given the circumstances, the South did all they could with the volunteers they had and the lack of funding, and I respect that. But, I believe the North did better in honoring the dead because of the large national cemeteries created for deceased soldiers. Also, "When the reinterment program was completed in 1871, 303,536 Union soldiers had been buried in seventy-four national cemeteries."(236)
Golight,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point by saying “the northern soldiers… would just leave the Confederate soldiers still on the battlefield to dishonor even though they were in a sense “brothers” because they fought on the other side.” It really is sad that they would dishonor the other side jus because they fought against each other. Many probably were even friends or had family that was on the other side but they still disregarded the fallen soldiers of the enemy.
Tanner Corah,
ReplyDeleteYou make some good points in your post. That both the North and South made lists od the dead, that was a very hard thing for them to do, but they tried best they could. A very good point you made was that the North could cover more ground because of more help and funding from the government. The South accomplished alot but they "couldn't achieve the goals that the North did," like you said.
Tori Kelly-
ReplyDeleteYour post was well written, I agree with your statement about how they both made lists of their dead and that there were similarities. I also think that the North did a better job of burying their dead because they had mor resources and were "financially sound", whereas the South wasn't.
The North and South had both similarities and differences in their reburial efforts. They both had "lists of names and burial places" (page 213) of their soldiers. Both sides wanted to properly bury all their soldiers so that they wouldn't be left out to be broken down by the elements of nature. They gave their fallen soldiers headboards and coffins as much as possible. North and South alike honored their dead, leaving flowers at their graves as a show of respect.
ReplyDeleteThe goal of the North was to "create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries" (pages 217-218). The North had resources and money to help them in their efforts to bury their dead Union soldiers, and they were extremely successful. "The morthen reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort" (page 241).
The "transformative underaking" to bury soldiers only applied to Union soldiers, and "The absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast" (page 237). Therefore, "care for the Confederate was of necessity the work of the people" (page 241) and "The goal of returning every Southern soldier to the south was never realized" (page 247).
Although both sides did the best job they could at burying the dead in the aftermath of the Civil War, I think the North did a better job. This is because the South lacked the resources and money to bury their fallen as well as the North.
The reburial effort for north and south were similar with the same intentions but were very different in how it was handled. The north got goverment funding and help. They would go and search for their dead and good land. They would inspect the graveyards. This was all taken care of by the military insuring that every fallen soldier had a proper respactful burial. In the south it was left to the civilians to rebury their dead. They had no help from their government or military. They had little money to help and little orginization. I believe that the north treated their dead with much more respect. That is also because they were able to. they had the recources. I do believe that the south would have treated their dead the same if they were better equiped to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe North and South had some similarities and differences of the reburial efforts. They both wanted to give the soldiers proper burials. Also they both respected the dead by leaving flowers at their graves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the North's reburial efforts because they seemed to be more organized about it and the North had more money to do decent burials than the South did.
Kristine Ayre-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you saying that the South did all that they could with the resources they had, but the North was more organized and had the resources and money to do the burials.
Both the north and south tried to honor their dead by burying them after the civil war took place. The south, I believed, was at a disadvantage at this point. The North had the help of the federal government, whereas the south was basically on their own. Also, the North had less soldiers dead, and more people to help bury them than the south. The south tried the best they could to honor their fallen soldiers, but, since the north had more money as well as more help, I would have to say the north did a better job at honoring their soldiers.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Mark Miller
ReplyDeleteI agree that "The south worked just as hard as the North did, but the South was devastated" The south had much more dead to bury, so they couldn't be as carful and organized about it.
Both sides idea of reburial were both similar and very different at the same time. They both wanted their soldiers to be buried properly and not have them rot in the middle of a field.
ReplyDeleteSome differences were that the North had a much stronger foundation and was supported by the federal government. The South was backed up by mainly private citizens.
I believe the North was much more succesful because the had more money and could help more people.
I agree with Mary Harris. ibelieve the North did a better reburial job than the Sount too. But I think that is because they had more money. I believe both sides tried their best to get the job and both sides made many families happy.
ReplyDeleteBoth the North and the South put much into their reburial efforts after the Civil War. Because the North had a more organized process that was supported by the Federal government, it was more quickly and efficiently completed than the South’s reburial efforts. Southerners relied on the many associations formed by southern women to obtain information about the missing dead soldiers, whereas northerners had many resources at their fingertips. This made the process of obtaining the information much more successfully than the South’s process. Some ways that the North obtained information was by asking soldiers of their accounts of where people were buried and putting notices in the newspapers that information of the whereabouts of soldiers was greatly needed for their reburial efforts. The South relied on physically searching for the bodies and waiting for the information to come to them, which delayed their process greatly.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Chandler Cerveny:
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that "They both wanted their soldiers to be buried properly and not have them rot in the middle of a field." This assertion makes me question why the South did not exercise every possible resource that they had to identify and locate their fallen Confederates bodies. I am sure that they would have made the process speedier and they would have obtained many more volunteers to help them in their substantial quest.
Both the North and the South made successful attempts at rendering many of the fallen men honor and keeping them from just rotting out on the fields or being devoured by wildlife. The ways in which they carried out this mission was not exactly the same, though. Firt of all, the North's efforts to provide their soldiers with a correct burial were funded by the federal government while the South was forced to undertake this difficult job without such funding. The Northern soldiers were also buried in specified Federal cemeteries while in the South their men were buried in public cemeteries.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the South was less effective in honoring their fallen soldiers but not due to anything other than the lack of more Federal help, which was something the North did rely on. It is my opinion that, thanks to the many women who voluntarily decided to be of aid to this good cause, the South did a decent job considering that the Federal government failed to fund their actions or even provide the cemeteries for the soldiers. Both sides did go on to honor many of their men but the North was just more organized and counted on more help to achieve this efficiently.
Danielle,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because it does seem selfish that when the South found some of their enemy's men on their side they decided not to give them proper reburial. The North did accomplish to do this, showing more integrity and decency. This and the efficiency of the North's burial system proved to honor their men more successfuly and with more decorum.
When the Civil War had ended, there was a great need in both the North and the South to give the dead a proper burial. Neither side wanted to leave their dead to rot on a field.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides went about burying the dead in different ways. In the North, the Federal Government funded the burials and identification of the dead. But in the South, it was mainly women doing the burying and identifying.
I feel the North did a better job at honoring the dead. They had a better, more organized and funded system than the South. Even though both sides tried their best, the North was better.
Mary Harris
ReplyDeleteYou make a very valid point when you say that the south was at a great disadvantage. They had no funding, more bodies, and less manpower. Considering the circumstances, they did a great job. However, the North still honored their dead better.
Once the civil war was over there were many similarities between the North and South. Both tried to rebury their fallen soldiers. Both north and south wanted to have their soldiers buried in national cemeteries. The north had the financial support of the Government and tried top identify as many soldiers as possible, while the south only had the associations of southern women and just buried their soldiers without trying to identify them. I think the north honored their dead much better than the south because they tried to identify the fallen soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThe North and South both did their best to honor the dead; however their means of approaching that were drastically different. Bodies were rampant across the country, “Many soldiers lay unburied, their bones littering battlefields across the South” (212). The two sides felt a strong obligation to clean up the country and honor the dead.
ReplyDeleteThe North had a massive “reinterment program” dedicated solely towards honoring the dead. There was “an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries.”(218). This program was very successful, yet expensive, “303,536 Union soldiers had been buried in seventy-four national cemeteries, and the War Department had expended $4,000,406.26 on the effort to gather the dead.”(236). The program was a combined effort within the government, for “the legislative branch joined the military in the disposition of the Union dead.” (223). The government accepted accountability towards the dead and felt compelled to give the soldiers who gave their life to save the nation a notable burial.
While the South was financially weaker than the North and had didn’t have the government on its side, it was still successful. They assumed responsibility without anyone pushing them to do so. Southerners were upset that the government was not giving equal respect towards Confederate dead, for they too gave their life fighting for what they believed in, “The absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast, even in the eyes of some northerners.” (237). Southerners argued that “If the Confederate soldier ‘does not fall into the category of the Nation’s dead he is ours-and shame be to us if we do not care for his ashes.’” (238). Nearly all of the work done by the South was from “Southern civilians, largely women, [who] mobilized private means to accomplish what federal resources would not. (238).
Although I greatly respect the South and their efforts to honor the dead with as little finances as they had, I believe the North was more successful. How could it not be with its vast resources? The Northern burial program was far more intricate and detailed than the South’s, and because of this it was far more successful.
In response to Kristine,
ReplyDeleteI agree that “the North and the South tried very hard to honor the dead and each were successful in their own way.” While the Union burials were work of the government, the South united and did their best, even with a lack of resources. I also agree that “the North did better in honoring the dead because of the large national cemeteries created for deceased soldiers.” While southerners supported themselves financially through donations, the North was assisted by the government and was able to provide a superior respect towards the dead.
It is true that at the end of the Civil war, both sides greatly sought to honor the dead by giving them a proper burial and identifing them. The difference was that the North had government help when identifying and burring the dead. This help made the process easier and allowed for more people to help bury. The South on the other hand had the labor force of women. Denied federal help, Mrs. Willaim Farland of the Hollywood Memorial Association of women sent out a request for help directed at Southern women.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the North was more succesful in their quest to identify and bury the fallen. They had Federal money and man power backing them, allowing for quicker burrial and nicer cemetaries. The South's lack of funding an workers disallowed grand cemetaries.
The North and South’s reburial efforts were in some ways much the same, but in others they differed a lot. Both sides wanted to give their soldiers a proper burial in a cemetery. They were also very adamant that the soldiers of both sides not be buried together. However, the North had support from the government, unlike the South. The reburial efforts of the South were mainly headed by women, many of whom volunteered. The North went about their work thoroughly and relatively quickly because the army and African Americans helped; it only took a few years for them to complete the reburial process. In the South it took much longer and the process was more drawn out.
ReplyDeleteI believe the North honored their dead more successfully. They were much more organized and went to great lengths to ensure all of their soldiers were in a national cemetery. You can’t overlook the fact that the North had great advantages over the South, but the North’s efforts honored their fallen soldiers much more successfully.
In response to Brent-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that both sides wanted to honor the dead by giving them a proper burial. I also agree that The North could Honor the dead better because of their federal finacial support and man power. These two factors allowed them not only to to bury the dead, but also to help attempt to identify too.
After the war the North and South both had several similar goals, bury their dead with dignity and identifying the dead. The North buried their dead in mass cemeteries where the dead where buried as close to their comrades as possible. Their was a sense of pride in the North and these graves where highly memorialized and respected. In the South burying the dead went mainly to volunteers and families. Most soldiers were buried in private ceremonies and private graves. These differences in burying were mainly because of the economic situations present i n the two sides of the country. the north was economically stable and thus was capable of recognizing their dead better, whereas the South was failing economically and their was no firm government to organize burial efforts. The North is obviously the most successful in this aspect.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jared Jeselnick
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying in your post. The North had the financial means to ensure many soldiers received a proper burial. However, I think it is easy to overlook the South's efforts. After just losing a long and brutal war, it would be hard for the South to create a organization with financial backing. People knew that soon Confederate money would be worthless. So with what the South was given to work with, they did a decent job of honoring their soldiers.
To everyone,
ReplyDeleteIt is important to note that even after the war, when the country was supposably "reunited" the South was still being punished by the federal government and thus could not afford to properly bury their dead. A mistake that has hurt the memories of those who fought in the South.
Comparing and contrasting the burial efforts of the North and South is like comparing the Denver Broncos to a little league football team. Without question the large, professional, and well funded organization is going to be more successful in the quantity of work it can do. But I think there is an important qualitative issue here. By the end of the war, the resources of the South were almost wiped out. Its currency was almost worthless. The South had no means by which to raise any funding or support to carry out its goal of providing its soldiers with a decent and proper burial and the honor of a “Good Death”. The fact that the Southern reburial efforts were all done by volunteers says a tremendous amount about the South honoring its dead. Anyone can provide an honorable ceremony for someone if given enough funding to do so. But when volunteers can provide decent and proper burials for only a handful of their dead with no resources whatsoever to work with, it shows the incredible uninhibited honor the Southern women paid to those soldiers who were killed in battle.
ReplyDeleteI do not mean to belittle the reburial efforts in the North. Even with Federal funding it would have taken a great deal of effort and professional organization to "create an enormous and comprehensive postwar reburial program intended to locate every Union soldier across the South and inter all within a new system of national cemeteries" (217-218). It certainly was a huge task that the North performed effectively. But it is not fair to compare the efforts of a Federally funded organization to an organization that had next to nothing in resources. By creating a situation where the “absence of official concern for the Confederate dead stood in stark contrast” (237) to the North, the United States Government missed a huge opportunity towards rebuilding a shattered union. By not providing at least some funding for burial efforts in the South, the Federal Government sent a very contradictory message to the South. To say, “welcome back to the union, and by the way, all your loved ones who died are not worth our time and trouble to honor with an identity and proper burial” would not have had me jumping for joy to be part of the United States again. Thankfully, the North’s burial efforts were “removed by both geography and bureaucracy,” (241) and the northerners would occasionally bury Confederate soldiers just to keep the land uncluttered. Thus, the North’s actions in burying any soldier were more honorable and more unifying for the nation as a whole than the funding actions of the Federal Government.
Both the North and the South alike wanted to have “each body …. placed in a separate coffin, and its original burial site recorded” (235) rather than leaving the bodies to rot in dishonor scattered among various sites of combat. Both the North and South wanted to provide decent and proper burials. Both sides had very similar goals for honoring their dead. The main difference was the resources available to do the job.
The North did a valiant job of identifying the soldiers’ remains, and placing them in National cemeteries where they could be revered and honored by many citizens for generations to come. In sheer numbers, the South could not possibly have done as well. Yet given the economic and emotional turmoil of the time, the fact that the South was able to raise any financial support or any volunteer help at all to honor its dead is incredible. The South showed unsurpassed honor to its dead simply because the Southern efforts were made possible from the heart rather than from an endless purse full of Federal money.
When the war had ended, both the North and South had a definite need to give their deceased soldiers proper burials. The North had government funding to identify the dead and give proper burials to their soldiers. The South on the other hand was not on the government's good side (for the seceding and the war and all). Because the government wasn't happy with the South, Southern women did most of their burying.
ReplyDeleteI think that the North did a better job honoring their soldiers with proper burials. On the other hand it is admirable that Southern women put effort into burying confederate soldiers.
RE: Erin
ReplyDeleteErin, I just wanted to say that I thought your account of the burial process was very fair to both sides. Certainly Quartermaster Meig did a phenomenal job of organizing and staffing the Northern efforts to locate, re-inter, and show due honor and respect to the deceased. The book states that this was about as well as any Federally funded program had ever been run. But the volunteer efforts of the Southerners were equally amazing. I think your final paragraph really summed it up very well.
“…The Union honored their dead more successfully than the South largely because of the resources they were privileged with. The South, however, still did well considering how strong limits on assets were. I believe that if the South would have had the resources they would have been just as successful in reburying their dead after this devastating war…”
When considering the vast disparity of available resources, how do you pick one side doing a more effective job than the other? I think we have to say hats off to both North and South for an extraordinary job well done at identifying and honoring their dead. You provided a very good write-up on this issue.
In response to C.J.
ReplyDeleteYou made a valid point about how much better the North was when you said, "How could it not be with its vast resources?" The government made it so much easier for the north to bury all of their soldiers; there is no comparison.
After the war, the North and South both tried to give proper burials to the dead. Although, the North and South I feel had very unfair circumstances for burying the dead. The North had funding for burying the dead and identifying them, while in the South, mostly the women had to do this themselves while still trying to maintain a good death for the soldiers,
ReplyDeleteI feel as if the North did a better job in honoring the dead, but I do think that the South could have done equally as well if they had funding to do so. The South definitely put more heart into the burying process because they didnt give up even without the funds, and the North had a much easier method of doing this.
Chandler-
ReplyDeleteYou must keep in mind when you say, "I believe the North was much more succesful because the had more money and could help more people." that as many other people have stated, The South didn't have governmental support like the North did, so their efforts should at least be commended.
Sevan-
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said to Chandler. The South didn't have funding from the government and it was mostly the women, burying their own family and friends which would be hard enough. I feel its very unfair to the South to not get money or support from the North even, they suffered just as much, if not more because they lost.
Thanks Matt,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the point you make that "Even the Colored troops were cared for." that is a great point and a market of the progress in society. I also agree when you say “I believe that both sides honored their dead to the best of their ability, and that, made all the difference." if one thing was done right it was the Soldiers getting the respect they disserve.
The North and South had the same ideas of giving their soliders and loved ones a proper burial. They both wanted to give them a "good death" and give them their peoper idenity. The Norht had much larger funding. This gave them a definate chance to identify and bury many soliders. Even though they could not identify an amount of the soliders they still had buried them. The South was much smaller. They did not have as large of a fund as the North. The North's fund were of governmental help but the South had the funding of citizens and the help of women in the near towns. The South had not been able to bury as many soliders as the North but still were able to help. They both were not able to stand the sight of their fallen soliders deteriate on the battlefields in which they had passed away on.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the North had done a better job with honoring their dead. They not only did an admirable job buring a vast amount of their dead but had the funding to help with it. The North and the South both had their heart's in the right places but one could not provide as much as the other. I understand how much work the South went through to even bury the amount of soliders they did get to bury and identify. They both had the heart to bury them because it was their loved ones and I do not think one had more heart than the other.
I do agree with Brian because the North was much more successful. Their economis status was much higher in which helped them get a lot more soliders buried and identified. The South's government was not organized and not successful in the aspect of buring and identifing the fallen soliders.
ReplyDeleteDuring the efforts after the civil war of the south and the north to rebury the dead, the north definitely did a better job than the south because “the northern reburial movement was an official, even a professional effort” (241). So the North just tried harder than the south to help bury and honor the dead. Also in the south they thought of it as work to bury the dead not as their duty unlike the North. For the South it may have been harder because of the much larger number of dead compared to the north but the North still did a better job than the South.
ReplyDeleteJenni
ReplyDeleteI agree that the north did a better job and one of the main reasons was because the government helped support them which helped there reburial movement greatly,also the north had much more resources than the south which helped them greatly.