In our American Civil War, more than 600,000 fatalities occurred through combat, disease and Prisoner of War mistreatment. The cases were varied and complex.

It was a problematic issue that had been simmering for many years ending with the gloves off from both sides by the firing upon the Union garrison at Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina on the 12th of April 1861.

Previous administrations attempted to allay simmering southern discomfiture through compromise and appeasement; but rarely succeeded due to the diverse economies of both national entities – one of agriculture, mainly cotton, while the other, industrial. Eventually, both sides took opposing stances to save their livelihoods and ways of living. The south prepared to go its own way, wanting only to be left alone to ply its field economy, but the northern faction opposed this boding attempt at division with President Lincoln declaring that a nation split asunder could not survive.

So, we went to war and the country suffered from 1861 to 1865 that culminated in a northern victory. The defeated south then experienced 12 years of post war occupation by Yankee troops, that the victors labeled as reconstruction. Within the rebellious states, that only exasperated southern pride and resulted in decades of mostly silent bitterness.

But time has a way of healing many wounds, and as we segue to the present, we witness a reversal of fortunes of both economies. The once humbled south now has many industries rivaling or bettering its Yankee competitors. Thus drawing a considerable drain of technology experts and other skilled forces from the northern states, including the need for hands on laborers for the grunt and sweat demands. In a way illustrating that old statement – the south did indeed “rise again.”

Now one would think that after a century and a half, any rancor over this long gone blood shedding above and below the Mason-Dixon line would be mostly gone, or at least muted. But this was not to be. You see the southland had over the years erected monuments honoring its officers, politicians, and campaigns of that bygone era commemorating those influential through leadership and deeds in fomenting the rebellion. And now a decade and a half later, a small but boisterous contingency want, nay demand, that these be relegated to a scrap heap. It did not go unnoticed and some of these memorial structures were covered, moved, or destroyed in an attempt at appeasement.

It seems to me, that if you find something within your mind, that gives rise to some long ago perceived grievance, all one has to do is just complain and grouse. Such a pity for this country.

I can hear Joan Baez singing the plaintive tune: The night they drove Old Dixie down and sorrowfully reminisce within those lyrics.

Ralph Burke is a Dunkirk resident.