Chroniclers report that the Civil War was the bloodiest
conflict in American history, with total casualties of at
least a million killed or wounded. Yet, at the outset, it
promised only the opportunity for great adventure, as
inexperienced young men (and boys) on both side could
hardly wait to march off to flying colors and the stirring
cadence of drums and fifes in search of fame and glory. It
was inevitable that such innocence would soon be shattered
in the horrors of war's reality. Thomas Wolfe, in his
explicit description of the Battle of the Wilderness (in
Beyond the Hills) wrote an eloquent line that went something
like this: There's no knowing what knowing "is" until you
know what knowing's "like." Iraq no exception. In the
future, wars should be fought on the battlefield by the
maniacs who start the wars.
