River, north of Vicksburg. Within
12 minutes it sunk, then sat for over
100 years, mired in mud and silt, at
the bottom of the river until in 1977
it was recovered and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation in
the park.
This most horrendous of wars
which pitted brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor cost the
lives of 620,000, exceeding the na-
tion’s loss in all its other wars, from
the Revolution through Vietnam. It
could have been called The Boys’ War,
with more than 2,000,000 Federal
soldiers aged 21 or under, 800,000
under 17 and 300 under the age of
13. With no penicillin, no steriliza-
tion and rations of beans, hardtack,
salt pork and coffee, these young boys
were lucky to live to outgrow their
blue or gray wool trousers. Dozens of
Civil War “firsts” included: a workable
machine gun, a successful submarine,
a snorkel breathing device, the income
tax, “Taps”, a cigarette tax, the Medal
of Honor and battle photography.
