A singular fact about modern war is that it takes charge. Once begun it has to be carried to its conclusion, and carrying it there sets in motion events that may be beyond men's control. Doing what has to be done to win, men perform acts that alter the very soil in which society's roots are nourished.

Even the most painstaking history is a bridge across an eternal mystery.

Like most Rebel soldiers, Sam Watkins owned no slaves.

The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than 3 million Americans fought in it, and over 600,000 men, 2 percent of the population, died in it.

The 1860 election became a referendum on the southern way of life.

Progress is the sum of small victories won by individual human beings.

The Confederate Constitution was almost identical to that of the United States.