Gods and Generals

[Dave Martin]

Howdy....

First off, to Mr Bridge. I told ya six months ago that I would get back to this forum....don't know diddly about tile (well, enough to be dangerous) being a carpet guy, but I do LOVE history. I sleep with the History channel on. Thanks also for helping on my wife's and nephew's forum...You are a class act.

Sorry it took so long but I saw Gods and Generals last weekend and thought "I need hop on over and chat about this one!"Loved the movie....went by myself since in my family I am the only history buff....

Anyone else see it? I actually didn't know it was part of a trilogy that includes 'Gettysburg'. Can't wait for the third installment!

From a Yankees pov....I was almost awestruck with the personal fortitude that Gen. Jackson apparently had. Don't get me wrong, I always have had a great appreciation of his skills, but if that movie is at all accurate, us Yanks are sure lucky he didn't make the big dance in PN soon after his demise. The scene of his flanking the North's lines at the Wilderness were chilling.

I read a lot of guff about it not being acurate because it did not show enough blood and gore....well, duh....it was the cival war. Of course it was bloody. The rapid change in armaments and the slow tactical change to that situation meant blood. It did not need to be shown to me in full graphic form. I can fill in the blanks.....I'm seeing that enough on the internet and the news these days anyways.

Anyone else see the movie? If not, I recommend it. Take extra $ for popcorn and soda though...Four hours-ish long.

Dave

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[John Bridge]

Hi Dave, Glad you made it. Welcome aboard. :)

I have seen Gettysburg so many times I can hum the theme all the way through. ;) I haven't seen Gods and Generals, though. To tell you the truth, I don't keep track of movies, and I didn't even know it was out. I will make the effort. ;)

Most of what I know about American History trails off right after the War of 1812, and I don't even know a great deal about that war. I've homed in on the earlier events that formed the country. My favorite period is that which immediately followed the conclusion of the Revolution. I am, however, interested in the "Northern War of Aggression (Against the South)." :D

I honestly don't think the South ever stood a chance, but there certainly were some times when they caused the Yankee commanders a bit of stress. I wanna tell ya, there are still folks in Texas who talk of secession, so the thing may not be over yet. :D

[flatfloor]

Hi Dave, nope haven't seen G & G but now I will. Do you know what the 3rd part of the trilogy will be?

BTW John usually invites people to make your website link part of your signature. Mine was until he found out it was a porno site. :D

[Dave Martin]

Thank-you for the welcome JB and FF.

Actually I don't know what the third installment of the series is...I would imagine it would include Sherman's March....Seems to be the major event left imho... maybe other of the Western campaigns...dunno. Is it me or does there seem to be a lot of movie trilogies that are out of chronological order these days?

As for the 'Southern Rebellion' JB....well, I beg to differ. I must suspect that the idea of a negotiated truce must have crossed Lincoln's mind more than once with some of the d.a.'s he had for Generals. I'll admidt though, the cards were stacked resource-wise and GB sealed the election of 1864. Up til then from what I understand, toss a coin.

Very unique take on the Irish imigration issue surrounding the C-War in G&G. Did not know there was such a large Irish contingency on the South's roster....That was news to me....True?

As for linking my porn site....well, all in due time. I'll get to it. ;)

Dave

[flatfloor]

Dave take a peek at this http://allaboutirish.com/library/diaspora/ia-civilwar.htm

Have you seen that movie Gangs of NY? gives some insight into the draft during the civil and the Irish in the north.

BTW, John blackgaurd that he is, refuses to acknowledge that it was an Irish monk, St Brendan the Boisterous who founded what is now Houston. There is a famous mountain just outside Houston on which he had built a monastery. Little remains of the mountain which John refers to as Mt. Houston.

[John Bridge]

We do have a link to Dave's site in our links area: http://johnbridge.com/links4.htm

According to the legend, Brendan came across the North Atlantic in a leather boat. Supposedly, Irish monks did quite a bit of floating around on the briny back in the early days. The Irish have it that they beat the Vikings to North America. Of course, the Irish seem to have a patent on leprechauns and goblins, too. :D

About half of Mt. Houston is still there. They are building a new community college just beyond it. I'm sure all those college kids will join me in trying to save Mt. Houston.

[Dave Martin]

Well,.... the tool site is actually my nephew's, Eric Martin. My wife actually runs 2 other sites of which one is still under construction. She co-sponsors a small MB on the tool-site also. It's confusing...but it works. I will post a link to Becky's (my wifes)e-comm site with permission from Mr. Bridge if you wish. It concerns itself mainly post-installation products; area rugs, mats, cleaners and the such.

Me, I'm just a carpet-installer/history-buff that tries to get out and about in the online flooring community when I can.

Gangs of New York. Yes I saw it. That's where they put the blood and gore missing in G and G. ;) I thought it was a riveting movie though. Fictional, yes, but it sure gave a vivid picture of just how violent our roots are. The circumstacnes surrounding (immigration/draft riots) the movie seemed fairly accurate. It is hard to judge exactly how accurate the issues of prejudice were addressed when one considers all the influences on such an issue at that given time. They did a good job in boiling down such a macro-issue to a personal leval. mho.

Thanks for the link to allaboutIrish. Still, suprised that there was 40k Irish on the South's roster. I missed something along the way and love it when I discover something new. I can justify this hole in my knowledge by the fact that my heritage is for the most part English who imigrated to Northern parts of the US. My ancestors probably dismissed the reports of anything to do with the Irish or Southerners as propoganda :).....or I just wasn't paying attention in class.

Mount Houston? got a link?

Dave

[cx]

Does he have a link to Mt. Houston? Surely you jest! It's in really big print on his main web page (which nobody local ever visits:) Be prepared to make a donation, though. http://www.johnbridge.com/mount_houston.htm

Secession is never far from the hearts of lots of Texans, Dave. And, just as it was in the 1860s, it's an entirely legal option, just never got sufficiently popular. There was a group only a few years ago that started up the movement again. It fizzled, and I don't recall exactly how far they got with it in the courts, but it got some folks' attention. Maybe JB remembers some details.

I haven't gone to see a real movie in years, but I'll try to catch that one if ever I see it passing through. Is it a recent movie, or one recently revisited?


And don't pay too much attention to flatfloor and all his blustering about St. Brendon, he gets like that when he forgets his meds. It's a little fantasy, I think, like his porn site. :D

[John Bridge]

Dave,

I'll exchange links with anybody. :) And we don't fret when someone posts a link to another site. It's not as if folks are going to spend all their time here anyway. I figure they'll come back if they like what we have. :) Post as many links as you like.


If someone ran a contest for European peoples with the most tragic history, the Irish would certainly be in the running. No offense to Jim or anyone else, but I really don't know of anything good that ever befell those folks. The potato famine fits right into a collage of other unfortunate events. Good for the U.S. inasmuch as we got some fine people out of the deal, the likes of flatfloor notwithstanding. :D

[flatfloor]

Give me a minute or two and I'll have a snappy answer for that last sentence. :mad:

[Dave Martin]

Oh…maybe I shoulda looked around a little before I asked. The link from the Installer tools /Installerssource MB link page for John Bridge by jcordes goes directly to the forums. Sometimes I have a habit of not opening my eyes and wondering why I can’t see something. Doh!

Another heritage landmark shot down in the name of progress. Wonder what century it will be when we fill in the Grand Canyon for parking so we can see the Grand Canyon. Let’s not even start on the decimation of Civil War battle fields. I am anything but against progress, in fact my living tends to depend partly upon a healthy building industry, but there must be a respect paid to our heritage…. mho **dave falls off soapbox, lands on mouth**

Texas is seceding again??? You folks are just upset that the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans had a crappy season. ;)

I agree JB, I wouldn’t wish the Irish history upon anyone but because of those tragic events, I ended up with one helluva sister-in-law and a great mother to three outstanding nieces a century+ or so later. History is how we got to now.

Dave

Edit....ps

Oh yea JB, Eric and Beck share your belief about linking other sites. They view it as a community. Seems you do to. That's cool.

From over there:
“This Site supports free speech right down to its very commercial existence. Please use this area to post a link (anybody!) to any link you feel will help flooring installers. Yea porn and racist ect. sites will be busted, but this mb is for the benefit of installers. Hook up to other mb's if you like. No problem. “ .....Flatfloor....porn links are actually ok as long as everyone has their cloths on.

Link to Becky’s new e-comm site. Installersstore (http://www.installersstore.com/)

[flatfloor]

Dave, I was just kidding about the porn.:)

[John Bridge]

That's a pretty good looking site. We would, of course, be happy to exchange links.

We're getting away from history, but on a technical note. The free mats Becky gives away with the area rugs can harm stone tile floors. Check with one of our stone guys in the Pro Hangout. Brian Briggs mentioned the issue just the other day.

[Dave Martin]

Thanks JB. She has worked hard on it.

I appreciate the heads up on the rug underlayment. I will check that out.

Of course you were kidding Flatfloor....so was I.

OK...Back on topic !

As an interesting side not on G and G. Senator Robert Byrd actually has a role in the film as Confederate Gen. Paul J. Semmes. Considering that I looked up General Semmes and found out that he was in his 40's when he was kia and Byrd has got to be at least in his 80's....It does throw a bit of the films accuracy off :uhh: but it was only a small role.

Comparisons between his acting role in the film and his filibuster on the Senate floor in March would again lead us a bit OT again. But he is a spunky fella for being that age.

[John Bridge]

I think I mentioned that we own a copy of Gettysburg, and I've often remarked at the physical similarities between the actors and the characters. Too bad they had to drag old Byrd in there. ;)

Where can I see this movie, anyway?

[Bob M]

Greetings folks!
Just cruised on in here and was interested in this thread. I just thought that you might be interested to know that the third book in the series is named Killer Angels.
Two interesting persons to read about are Jeb Stuart and "Stonewall" Jackson. The best book I have read on Jackson is named 'Stonewall in the Valley'. Worth reading if you want some insight into the man and his tactics. Fought his battles similar to Chief Joseph of the Natchez Apaches ( whose tactics are studied to this day in most military institutions).
I firmly believe that if JB had gotten the message sooner,( he was up striking in the North at the time) the battle of Gettysburg may have ended differently.
As for the Irish, they have been on the short end of the stick for time immortal. I am of Irish descent and had several ancestors who fought on both sides of the war. In fact, recently found out that two of my ancestors fought each other at the first Battle of Manassass. Both were members,on opposite sides, of the original patrols that clashed and started the whole thing off!

[John Bridge]

Hi Bob, Glad to have you. :)

Not being a student of the Civil War, I'm wondering who "JB" is. :)

[flatfloor]

The month that saved the U.S.

Saw it last night on the History Channel, it's a 2 hour special they will probably run it again.

Interesting views of how the surrendar at Appomatox came about. I did not realize that it was NOT the formal end of the CW. Old Jeff Davis was all for continuing the war guerilla style.

Worth watching.