This is a photo of a dead Union soldier at Fort Mahone, taken on April 3, 1865. More than 350,000 soldiers in blue died to preserve the Union. If they had not fought for their country, the United States would have become two nations, and in all likelihood neither would have been strong enough to become a global superpower. The effects that this would have had on later events (WWII, the Cold War, the global economy, culture, etc.) are mind boggling.
Have you done as much for your country as this guy? No you haven't, because you're alive and reading this.
Go vote. Now.
This image is from the Library of Congress. There's an interesting story about this photograph that I'll tell you about tomorrow.
Home to author Sean McLachlan and the House Divided series of Civil War horror novels. A Fine Likeness, the first in the series, is available now. This blog is dedicated to the Trans-Mississippi Civil War and historical fiction, and occasionally veers off into adventure travel when I go somewhere interesting.
Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Why you need to vote
Labels:
Civil War,
history,
military history,
photography,
Union soldiers,
war
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good motivator. We watch the US election returns from Canada, too. My roots are there, and after all, the US is our neighbor.
ReplyDeleteI know who I'm hoping for. I always vote, so I can complain if needed.
I voted!
ReplyDeleteI'm watching from Spain. Last election we didn't have results until 4am. I got my caffeine, got my live streaming on the computer, so I'm ready for an all-night election marathon!
ReplyDeleteYes! And I'll echo a friend's comment from today: all the Canadians encouraging Americans to vote today will hopefully vote in our next elections.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about voting. Since I am Canadian, it wasn't applicable to me with regards the U.S. election. Obama is in for another 4 years. On the same note, 3 days ago I received an email blast from a famous economist, who is predicting a terrible recession in the U.S. Indeed, he predicted the last 5 financial calamities with 100% accuracy. Hold on!
ReplyDelete