Present+Day+Connections

=Present Day Connections = =Artifacts=

The South wanted to break away from the US (at least in part) for federalist freedoms, which they felt the centralist North was holding from them. For this reason, the South holds an emotional connection to the Civil War and feels that it has not truly died. Because of this deep emotional connection, Civil War memorabilia is not rare. Many Southerners have their own artifacts. There are even antique shops in the South devoted only to Civil War artifacts.

The object (left) is a pewter cast Confederate saddle shield. It is stamped "CS" for the South. Because it is stamped and pewter, it is extremely rare.(CK)

=Camp Randall=

[[image:http://www.secondwi.com/fromthefront/2d%20wis/1861/camp_randall_1862_2.jpg width="385" height="204" align="right" caption="The Beloit Volunteer Riffles arriving at Camp Randall in Madison"]]
Camp Randall Stadium, home of the UW football team, was originally a POW camp during the Civil War. In 1862, over 1300 captured Confederate troops, mostly from the 1st Alabama Regiment, arrived at Camp Randall. The Camp was not warned that they would need to house POWs and as a result, the prisoners did not have any proper shelter. As a result, 139 captured rebels died at Camp Randall. Over the course of the Camp's run, they received 275 more sick men, two prisoners bribed a guard and escaped, a soldier received dysentery and that soldier's brother was shot for rudely complaining, and then in June of 1962, the prisoners were shipped out in a prisoner exchange, ending the Camp's run. (CK) [|Click for more detailed information] [|Click for a several accounts of Camp Randall]

The remnants of this camp are the Confederate grave stones in the cemetery next to West High and the canons of a small memorial left at Camp Randall Stadium. (CK)

Some students visited Camp Randall and took several photographs of the relics and replica cannons on display. [Please click on the pictures to visit the flick r photostream where you can comment on these pictures and view more pictures from the trip.]

==== The cannon replicas provide a concrete visual representation of items used during the Civil War. Visitors might feel more connected to //The Red Badge of Courage// as the relics and replicas at Camp Randall helped them visualize the scenery and camps of the Civil War era.

During the Civil War, a large number of captured Confederate soldiers were transported to Madison and held as prisoners at Camp Randall. One of the prisoners’ huts still remains at Camp Randall and is frequented by visitors. This hut is very short with very little square footage. As one walks around this hut they can get some sense of the very primitive conditions endured by soldiers held at Camp Randall.

(Photos and Description by JS)

= = =Forest Hill Cemetery=

Confederate Rest
The Confederate Rest at the Forest Hill Cemetery is the burial site of 140 soldiers from the 1st Alabama Regiment who were taken prisoners of war during the Battle of Island No. 10 near Cairo, Illinois and shipped by rail to Camp Randall. These soldiers died while in captivity in Camp Randall and their graves are viewable by the public. [Please click on the pictures to visit the flick r photostream where you can comment on these pictures and view more pictures from the trip.]



U.S. Soldiers Lot
Next to the Confederate Rest, there is a larger lot where several Union soldiers were laid to rest. An American flag regularly waves over the white grave stones at this lot. ==== After visiting these grave sites, one can feel more empathy for the main character in The Red Badge of Courage, Henry Fleming. In seeing the rows of white grave stones marking the graves of deceased soldiers, one gains a more immediate sense of the lives lost during the Civil War and how it must have felt to witness so many men die. Visitors also might get a sense of how frightened they would feel fighting in battles where so many were dying right beside them.

We strongly recommend that readers of Stephen Crane's //The Red Badge of Courage// visit the Forest Hill Cemetery, because it can give them a better understanding of characters and experiences in the novel.

(Photos and Description by JS)

= = =Film Connections=

Saving Private Ryan
Though war has changed very much in the 80 year period between the American Civil War and World War II, there are some aspects that never have and never will change. //The Red Badge of Courage// elaborately illustrates the real and uncelebrated parts of the Civil War making it a prime example of the war. //Saving Private Ryan// was praised for its shockingly realistic depiction of D-Day and World War II. Since both works depict war in the same manner, we felt that they would be fitting to connect. (CK) For more on realism and the style of The Red Badge of Courage... Many theorize that Stephen Crane wrote //The Red Badge of Courage// focusing on not only the Civil War, but war in general. It sure would seem that way. Stephen Crane’s novel is a fine example of realism, developing an unromanticized view of the war. As most authors would write about a heroic private running into battle and shooting down all the enemy combatants, Crane wrote about a nervous soldier who joined the army for immature reasons and gets cold feet marching out to battle. While many describe //The Red Badge of Courage// as the greatest war novel, many call //Saving Private Ryan// the greatest war film for its use of realism. Like //The Red Badge of Courage//, //Saving Private Ryan// features a truthful depiction of their respective wars. In the first battle scene of //Saving Private Ryan//, the US troops are landing on the beaches of Normandy on historic D-Day. It is the bloodiest and most realistic battle scene I’ve ever witnessed. The troops are forced to jump in to the water to avoid gunfire. No one is covertly sneaking into the Nazi bunkers and engaging in hand to hand combat with the gunmen; instead, American and Allied troops are being massacred on the open beach. The only sense of heroism that emerges is the realization that someone had to live through such a depressing, savage, and otherwise unheroic battle. This is reminiscent of //The Red Badge of Courage//, which shows a battle as bloody as any other in the Civil War. During battles like that, no one is truly a hero. Crane uses the bloodshed to make the reader make conclusions about the justification of war. That is the true power of realism—to show only the truth and persuade people with an unbiased description. However, this is where //The Red Badge of Courage// and //Saving Private Ryan// stray. Though both works portray realism, //Saving Private Ryan// opens and closes with patriotic images of a sepia-toned American flag waving. This could be to broaden the appeal of the film or because the director actually wanted to make an inspirational film, but either way, this makes //Saving Private Ryan// somewhat pseudo-realism and therefore an insult to the inferred morals of //The Red Badge of Courage//. (CK)
 * Chris' Connection**

300
The movie, //300// is based on the novel, //300// by Frank Miller. It’s about the Battle of Thermopylae. Sparta’s King Leonidas, took //300// Spartan warriors with him to fight Persia’s King Xerxes, who had over a million soldiers with him. Despite the tremendous advantage Persia had, King Leonidas refused to surrender to the Persian Empire. Although Persia seemed to have the upper hand in the battle, the Spartan’s warriors were superior; they were raised to be warriors. There was a tremendous disregard for human life in //300//. Not only did they annihilate there enemies ruthlessly, but they killed some of their own, too. In order to have the most elite group of fighters, the Spartans selected out of newborns. Newborns with any flaw would be discarded. In a way that was similar to how human life was disregarded in //The Red Badge of Courage//. Although it’s not the same way of lowering a life’s value, in //The Red Badge of Courage//, they believed that killing the opponents meant nothing. In //The Red Badge of Courage// Henry Fleming compares his image of war to the Homeric times. Henry considered the Greeks to be ruthless savages. He believed that war today had been enhanced to a more "humane" level. Yet, in his mind he paints this vivid picture of his lust for war. The image shows powerful Greeks, victorious at war. He did not realize that his situation's brutality was similar to that of the Greeks. This parallelism brings up today's perception of war. Many of us look back at how cruel the Spartans were in //300//, and how foolish the Civil War seemed, but we fail to realize that the war going on today is no different. Somehow, in our minds, we feel the need to reassure ourselves and our consciences that the war is necessary and justified. That mentality clouds reality: we are equal to the vicious Spartans and the violent Persians. In //300//, before King Leonidas’s wife sent her husband away to war she told him to "come back with your shield or on it." That meant if he didn't come back victorious, the wife would rather have him die gloriously in battle, than to suffer from shame and disgrace. That shows how important war and pride was at that time. The husband had to be courageous and win, and if he couldn’t, he would have to die with dignity. That’s similar to the courage that the soldiers and Henry demanded from themselves. We look at //300// and see a ruthless past that we believe we will never reenter. But it’s amazing to see the parallelism with today’s war and the wars fought in //300// and The //Red Badge of Courage//. Are we really that different from them ? -AC

Stephen Crane’s novel //The Red Badge of Courage//, base on the Civil War, and Zach Snyder’s motion picture //300//, based on a segment of the Greek and Persian wars of 480 BC, have many similarities. They both are stories based on true events, which are more realistic than not, which give a vivid details of the experience of these times of war. //The Red Badge of Courage// and //300// are similar for their writing style, and they are different from their visions of war. Both of these literary pieces of work have a very poetic style of writing. Both authors share a wide variety of vocabulary and visualize the settings of each part of the book with lively detail. For example, this following quote from //The Red Badge of Courage// shows great description//. “. . .His companions seemed ever to play intolerable parts. They were ever upraising the ghost of shame on the stick of their curiosity. He turned toward the tattered man as one at bay. . .// Also, this quote is from the movie //300// and has a very similar style//. “The immortals, they fail our king’s test. & a man who fancies himself a god, find a very human chill crawl up his spine.”// Even though the writing styles are close enough to be compared, the main character of each story are almost exact opposites. Henry, from The Red Badge Courage, spends most of the book conflicting within himself about his courage and his own bravery towards fighting in the war, when Leonidas, from 300, would dive into any battle without any hesitation or question. Coming from two totally different environments and shaped their views in separate ways from one another. Leonidas, being from the Spartans, a Greek territory in 480 BC who were known for their war skills, saw wars as a way of life and the most honored way of life. Being a male in Sparta during this time automatically made the male a warrior, and from the time you are born, you are taught the ways of being a warrior; making going into a battle, no matter how dangerous, seem like an everyday thing. However, Henry has never been in war, never had any training, never even thought he would actually be in war until the recent changes in the country. This would explain why he has mixed emotions about how to approach his situation of being dropped into this war. Just like with anything done in life; the more preparation and familiarity, the more likely to succeed without fear. (R.J.)

=Civil War Reenactments=

Aside from the already vast amounts of Civil War literature and poetry, the Civil War continues to inspire people hundreds of years later. Civil war reenactments are one manifestation of this. The reenactments can range from groups of fanatics who do it for a hobby to professionals who reenact battles for crowds of people. Either way, people love to see the old fashioned battles. Similarly to reading war novels like //The Red Badge of Courage//, reenactments allow viewers to transport back in time and really feel like they are experiencing the battles that they have learned about in history classes first hand. I find it interesting that many authors, including Stephen Crane, wrote novels with the purpose of exposing the somewhat barbaric truth about wars, we continue to glorify them through celebrations and reenactments. One of the main themes of //The Red Badge of Courage// is that every generation believes that their war is civil and justified and in no way barbaric in the way that "Greeklike struggles" were. Even in the 1800's, Henry thought that "secular and religious education had effaced the throat-grappling instinct." (8) The novel points out that humans from every point in history may have this belief, but in reality, we all still fight and have wars that will seem barbaric to future generations. Also, the novel shows the reality behind the glorification of war. Based on the popularity of Civil War reenacting, it is clear that we continue to glorify past wars and consider our current conflicts to be humane and justifiable, just as Henry did in the book. Crane hit on a brilliant idea that humans will always have these mixed ideas about war, and it is proven in how we act today. -(MR)

=Videos of Reenactments=

In the beginning, most of the action occurs in the distance down the hill. You will see the cavalry move in from the foreground to back up the retreating troops on the right. Towards the end, the troops on the left continue to advance and are followed by many more soldiers coming from the left to support them. The Confederate Army won this battle, one of the first battles of the Civil War. So the troops on the left who are advancing are probably the Confederate soldiers. In the video, you can get some idea of what a battle was like. You can see the clouds of smoke accumulating and imagine what Henry described; "A dense wall of smoke settled slowly down. It was furiously slit and slashed by the knifelike fire from the rifles." (118) It must have been very hard to be running, shooting, and trying to stay alive amidst all of the noise and smoke of the gunshots. In his account of battle, Henry describes the frustration he feels. "This advance of the enemy had seemed to the youth like a ruthless hunting. He began to fume with rage and exasperation. He beat his foot upon the ground, scowled with hate at the swirling smoke that was approaching like a phantom flood." (117) As a nameless foot soldier, he is trapped and forced to continue on, no matter what the conditions are. -(MR) ||
 * media type="youtube" key="HgrYNlOpZB4" height="344" width="425" || **Battle of Bulls Run**

In this battle you can see what like was like at camp, where they spent a lot of their time. Henry realizes soon after enlisting that war isn't all fighting all the time. "He had had the belief that real war was a series of death struggles with small time in between for sleep and meals; but since his regiment had come to the field that army had done little but sit still and try to keep warm." (p 8) This video also show more of how the soldiers move and march together when approaching a battle or moving to a new location. It also shows fighting close up, and you can see what Mr. Taylor was talking about when he said that combat was more personal back then. You had to be right in your opponents face when you were fighting them, and you were constantly surrounded by people dropping dead. The video shows how the soldiers had to step over and on dead bodies to keep advancing. -(MR) ||
 * media type="youtube" key="EDxrB9-7tHY" height="344" width="425" || **Battle of Gettysburg**

-(MR)

Corruption, Then and Now
Many Southerners believe that the South broke away from the North because the North was stealing their constitutioinal rights. Many connect this to the current thievery of rights currently going on in student council. //(more...)//