I recently finished reading "...Reminiscenses...Company H, 1st Arkansas Infantry" by Dr. Robert H. Dacus. In that short recounting of the Regiment, he discusses the battle of Cumberland Gap and the action near Richmond following that battle in which The Army of Tennessee (which included his company and regiment) captured General Nelson's army, etc. He gives great detail and then gives the REASON for giving such detail as follows:

"I have been thus particular in describing this battle because Barnes, in his school history, only refers to it in a foot note, as though it was of no importance whatever. (Page 228.) Now turn to page 273, same history, and read his description of the battle of Five Forks, April 1, 1865, and see what he chooses to call a brilliant affair. Where General Lee, with a little handful of ragged, half-fed men, lay behind their entrenchments, and General Grant, with five to one in his front, dared not attack him; but by throwing out a cavalry force under General Sheridan, almost equal to Lee's entire force, he marched around to General Lee's rear with this overwhelming force and compelled 5,000 of Lee's men to surrender; and this is what Barnes terms a brilliant affair. Now, with these facts before you, with your hand upon your heart, ask yourself this question: How can we be true to our Southland and place such a book in the hands of our children to study the history of the war between the states? If these were isolated cases it would not be so bad, but such is not the case. The whole history of the war is written by a biased mind and from a one-sided standpoint. He has utterly failed to see anything good or chivalrous done by the Southern army, while he lauds the other side on every possible occasion. This is a digression from the subject upon which I was writing, but I felt that I could not, in justice, pass it by in silence, and I feel that all who read this will pardon the digression, at least all fair minded people."

I especially like the question he asks of the reader and then his comments about the history of the war being written "by a biased mind and from a one-sided standpoint." There is so much about the war that we never hear about (like the property and tax issue following the war that started this thread) or things that we only hear about from the standpoint of the victors. As a descendant of men who fought on both sides of the War, my hope is that we will get it right...no matter what "right" means. I appeciate the comments I've read on this thread. It is heartbreaking to consider the devastation caused to the people of the South, not only in terms of property and material loss, but also in terms of the human cost. Think of the toll in terms of the thousands of widows and the multiplied thousands of fatherless children that were left to find their way.