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“Our Work Is Not Yet Finished”: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, 1865–1872

“Our Work Is Not Yet Finished”: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, 1865–1872 brian matthew jordan On May 23 and 24, 1865, beneath a "wonderfully beautiful sky," more than two hundred thousand men from the victorious Union armies paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue, past a reviewing stand teeming with elected officials, military officers, and the new president. Along the freshly paved footpaths lining the nation's avenue, thousands of civilian spectators jockeyed for a glimpse of the returning blue-coated soldiers. Never before had Americans witnessed such a dazzling display of military might. Private residences were festooned with American flags, while neatly lettered banners along the parade route avowed that the republic owed its victorious citizen soldiers an "unpayable debt." The entire procession seemed an appropriate end to the war--and a definitive announcement that peace had arrived. Yet, from the marching ranks, the Grand Review looked rather different. For men who had plodded over bone-strewn Virginia battlefields en route to Washington, the parade seemed little more than an "empty exercise" of martial splendor. The absence of slain comrades--not to mention their beloved "Father Abraham," martyred just blocks away only five weeks before--was palpable. The road ahead was unsure. Their perfectly dressed ranks and glinting muskets offered the illusion of confidence but cloaked a gnawing http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of the Civil War Era University of North Carolina Press

“Our Work Is Not Yet Finished”: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, 1865–1872

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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
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Copyright @ The University of North Carolina Press
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2159-9807
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Abstract

brian matthew jordan On May 23 and 24, 1865, beneath a "wonderfully beautiful sky," more than two hundred thousand men from the victorious Union armies paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue, past a reviewing stand teeming with elected officials, military officers, and the new president. Along the freshly paved footpaths lining the nation's avenue, thousands of civilian spectators jockeyed for a glimpse of the returning blue-coated soldiers. Never before had Americans witnessed such a dazzling display of military might. Private residences were festooned with American flags, while neatly lettered banners along the parade route avowed that the republic owed its victorious citizen soldiers an "unpayable debt." The entire procession seemed an appropriate end to the war--and a definitive announcement that peace had arrived. Yet, from the marching ranks, the Grand Review looked rather different. For men who had plodded over bone-strewn Virginia battlefields en route to Washington, the parade seemed little more than an "empty exercise" of martial splendor. The absence of slain comrades--not to mention their beloved "Father Abraham," martyred just blocks away only five weeks before--was palpable. The road ahead was unsure. Their perfectly dressed ranks and glinting muskets offered the illusion of confidence but cloaked a gnawing

Journal

The Journal of the Civil War Era – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Nov 21, 2015

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