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The Legacy of Our Civil
War Heroes
When I think about our Civil War heroes, I think
about their contributions to our nation and how they have
made a difference in our lives today. If not for their
valorous deeds in the face of adversity—their
commitment to fighting for the cause in which they
fervently believed—we would have fewer role models
by which we can shape our lives.
Our heroes help us define
ourselves as individuals. By learning about them and
their personal histories, we also learn something about
ourselves. What might we aspire to achieve in our lives
that will help us become better persons—not only for
the sake of bettering ourselves, but the lives of those
whom we hold dear? For each of us holds within ourselves
the capability to become a hero or heroine. When we
strive for what is noble, we cannot help but to live a
part of that nobility in our lives. In doing so, we
become living examples of what we perhaps admire in our
own heroes.
In the process of studying the lives of our
Civil War heroes, one often becomes curious about the
places where these admirable people lived or through
which they passed, because environments significantly
influence lives. To visit the home of a Civil War hero or
to tread upon the same soil on which he fought brings
alive the story of that soldier's life. We realize that this
is not just a face and name from a history book, or an
ancestor from a distant time. This was a person like you
and me who walked from room to room in a house; who
camped on the grounds of a battlefield that is now a part
of The National Park Service. With each passing breeze
these places still resound with the words of the mighty
and the brave; their very energy still permeates the
landscape upon which they struggled—upon which many
had been wounded or slain. Thus visiting the places from
their lives significantly enhances our education and
understanding of our Civil War heroes.
Sad to say, though some of
these places have been preserved, acres upon acres of
historic sites have already been lost to development, and
more sites faces the same fate of endangerment. What can we do to save a building or a battlefield?
We can be alert to what is going on in our own community
or to those areas that concern us. There are
organizations on the Web that help preserve historic
structures and battlefields, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Civil War Preservation Trust. We can take part in helping to save a
treasured structure or hallowed ground by spreading the
word to others and by writing to our representatives
whenever we hear, read or see something that involves the
endangerment of a place that interests us.
Our historical heroes are
only alive to us as long as we care to remember that they
existed. If we cherish their lives and ideals, and
embrace the legacies they left us—their deeds and
presence at the places they once inhabited—we owe it
to them and ourselves to preserve their memory. When we
lose an historic building or a battlefield to modern
development, we lose a part of our heritage, a part of
ourselves, forever. But when we preserve these places of
our heroes’ past, their memory and inspiration
continues to live on through future generations.
- "1st Dragoon"
January 2001
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Top right:
Union hero Joshua L. Chamberlain.
Middle left: Boyhood Home of Robert E. Lee (photo by
CNO), in Alexandria, Virginia. This historic home is no
longer a museum open to the general public. Due to a lack
of funds for restoration and repairs, this home was sold
to a private party in the Year 2000.
Middle right: Confederate hero Robert E. Lee.
Bottom left: Morris Island Lighthouse (photo by CNO) near
Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.
Morris Island, where the 54th Massachusetts met a
terrible fate in their struggle to take Fort Wagner, was
nearly sold to a developer for the construction of luxury
beachfront homes early in the Year 2000. The combined
efforts of historians, Civil War re-enactors, the general
populace, and citizens of other nations helped save this
hallowed ground. The words of these caring individuals
were read in letters of concern sent to city council
members, and their voices were heard at city council
meetings.
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