Uncle Billy and Roadside Bombs
Last night I finally got around to watching the History Channel's excellent special on Sherman's March. A fascinating anecdote related to Confederate troops mining the roads on Sherman's path. When Sherman is brought to a wounded union soldier whose foot was blown off by a mine, Sherman angrily called for Confederate prisoners to be brought to the front. They would go first from now on and dig up the mines in the road. The rebels balked, but Sherman was furious and insisted they do it, telling them he didn't care if they blew up. However he also dispatched a prisoner to seek out the Confederate general in the area to tell him that rebel prisoners would be tasked with mine removal and walk in front from now on. There were no more minings.
We can't draw too close a parallel between Sherman's roadside bombs and the ones killing our troops in Iraq. We can't strap Guantanamo detainees to the front of Humvees, and even if we could, it wouldn't even slow the terrorists down to think of taking a few of their own down along with some Americans.
What I think this does remind us of though is just how far we've come in 140 years in terms of respect for our enemies, and just how barbaric our new enemies have become.
We can't draw too close a parallel between Sherman's roadside bombs and the ones killing our troops in Iraq. We can't strap Guantanamo detainees to the front of Humvees, and even if we could, it wouldn't even slow the terrorists down to think of taking a few of their own down along with some Americans.
What I think this does remind us of though is just how far we've come in 140 years in terms of respect for our enemies, and just how barbaric our new enemies have become.
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