History nerd moment of the week: so Im clicking through a story about some kinda history thing and come across a voice interview with a confederate soldier! Way cool! I knew there were photos, of course, and I knew there was some old grainy black and white footage of old soldiers marching, but I never knew there were interviews. I really didnt care what the guy had to say, I was just enthralled to be listening to somebody born in 1846! Frack, thats 170 years ago. Hes probably been dead 100 years. And here I am listening to him talk. About halfway through the 10-minute talk, he mentions seeing some union troops. Then he says something that really struck me. He tries to relate how far away they were or what time it was -- but the context didnt make sense to him. Back then, he says, we didnt concern ourselves very much at all with exactly how far away something was or exactly what time it was (paraphrased) And that makes sense. After all, why would you care whether it was 4:09 or 4:17? Or whether something was 100 yards away or 300 yards away (unless you were an artilleryman) ? If I say Ill come over and visit you tomorrow afternoon, youre expecting me to show up on my horse sometime after midday and before sunset. Its not like youre sitting around the house watching the 6:30 news wondering if Im going to show up before HeeHaw comes on. Interesting stuff. https://youtube/watch?v=KPiDqUB9k1I
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 17:16:06 +0000