NEVER CALL RETREAT: Vol. 3 in the Centennial History of the Civil War. By Bruce Catton. Doubleday, 1965.

I read Vol. 2 earlier this year, and I couldn’t help but continue. Now I’ll have to buy Vol. 1.

This book covers about the mid-point of the American Civil War to its end.

The author does a good job of making me feel like I am getting a detailed picture of the events, and it is only when he covers things that I already knew a little bit about that I realize he is moving very quickly over things.

There were a few major lessons for me in this book:

1. As much as the abolitionists in the North were adamant that they wanted slavery outlawed, they were as uncertain as anyone about how the Black population would integrate into White society. They didn’t have real answers, just some good ideas, and the conviction that the institution of slavery just could not remain. Would they be surprised that we are still hearing about major issues in the news, as highlighted by the “Black Lives Matter” movement, 150 years later? No, I don’t think they would be surprised, and I don’t they they would have avoided doing what they did either. And I think they were right. The lesson is that when I don’t have all the answers for the future, it shouldn’t stop me from standing against present injustices.
2. Most of us think of the Civil was as having been fought to abolish slavery. It only actually became that near the end of the war. The author tells about Lincoln pushing through the 13th Amendment, and how it freed the North to ascribe new significance to those who had already given their lives. The lesson is that the significance of major struggles often only gets written once the struggle is either done or near-done.
3. Throughout volumes 2-3, I found myself impressed over and over with the quality of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s character. I found myself wanting to honour him in my heart as a fine Christian man, but I found myself struggling over the fact that he was fighting to defend the institution of slavery. In the end, however, it turns out that he was not. When resources were getting sparse for the South, and the situation was getting desperate, Lee championed the freeing of slaves and their families in exchange for their fighting on behalf of the South. The lesson is that we should not assume we know a person’s deepest motives or allegiances when we see their immediate commitments. Lee was committed to the honour of his home state of Virginia, which led him to fight valiantly, but it was only incidental to him that such a fight could have upheld the institution of slavery.
4. There were in the Civil War when “chance” had a bigger effect than anything. What would have happened if General Sherman had not “luckily” been able to capture Atlanta shortly before Lincoln’s second presidential election? Lincoln would have lost the election in a tide of Northern defeats and discouragement, and there probably would have been a settlement with the South. Similarly, there is another battle where Grant and Sherman make uncharacteristic errors in their reconnaissance, and they send 10’s of thousands of troops into a near-impossible situation. Strangely, once there, the troops sort of panic themselves into a major victory. Even the best generals cannot control all the details. The end result of all such human efforts is very much in God’s hands. That’s very important for us to remember this year, with people worked up about our current world politics.

It almost goes without saying that there are many examples of honour and courage, cowardice and foolishness throughout the book, on both sides. It is good for a heart to see these.