Doyle,

In reference to your comment on wanton destruction on civilian populations, should we also consider the United States policy of carpet bombing German and Japanese cities in WW2 as wanton and uncalled for? Now I agree that in an ideal situation, civilians would be a hands off, but then again the individual soldier does not make that decision. While my ancestry is Confederate, I,as a retired warrior, see William T. Sherman's point of view. In order to destroy an army's ability to wage war, you must remove its base of support, i.e. the source of its food, clothing, weapons, and ammunition. That source being the population who produce those items. If our Air Force had not bombed Germany's factories and civilian population who manned them, Hitler's armies would have been continuously supplied by them and could have fought for a lot longer. The same may be said for the southern armies. Remember, a starving population is easily conquered. The best way to avoid large numbers of casualties to your own troops is to remove the threat against them. Sherman did this. As an Infantryman in combat my main concern was for my buddies. The lives of my enemies did not concern me.

Len