Pat Buchanan: Válka Severu proti Jihu nebyla o otroctví
Otroctví versus svoboda, to je, o čem to celé bylo, často se nám říká. Ale jděte nahoru k Gettysburgu a zaparkujte za „union center“ (střední pozice armády Yankeejů druhý a třetí den bitvy u Gettysburgu). Podívejte se přes toto více než míli dlouhé pole a představte si 15 tisíc mužů a chlapců formujících se u linie stromů. Vidíte je pochodovat přes pole vstříc střelám z kanónů a pušek, přestože vědí, že se nikdy nevrátí, nikdy neuvidí znovu svůj domov. Devět z deseti z nich nikdy nevlastnilo otroka. Bojovali za věci, pro které muži vždy bojovali: rodina, víra, přátelé a vlast. Za hřbitovy svých otců a chrámy svých bohů.
(Patrick J. Buchanan)
Slavery vs. freedom, that's all it was about, they tell us. But go up to Gettysburg and park your car behind the union center. Look across that mile-long field and visualize 15,000 men and boys forming up at the tree line. See them walking across into the fire of cannon and gun, knowing they would never get back, never see home again. Nine of ten never even owned a slave. They were fighting for the things for which men have always fought: family, faith, friends, and country. For the ashes of their fathers and the temples of their Gods.
pozn. LP (překladatele): Pat tady naráží na třetí den bitvy u Gettysburgu třetího července 1863, kdy jižanský generál Robet E. Lee pověřil generála Jamese Longstreeta, aby vedl útok do prostřed seveřanské linie. Longstreet si však uvědomoval, že útok bude veden do svahu a více než míli nechráněným polem. Lee věřil, že jižanská dělostřelecká příprava silně pochroumá pozice Seveřanů. Ta však neměla očekávaný účinek, a tak 15 tisíc mužů především z brigády George Picketta šlo vstříc zranění a smrti vyslané z yankeejských kartáčů, děl a pušek. Tato scéna je krásně zachycena ve filmu Gettysburg.
Virgiňané šli vstříc smrti za svou vlast. Finální den bitvy přiklonil vítězství na stranu Yankeeů a Jižané se ještě dva roky bránili proti invazi ze Severu a totální vyhlazovací válce vyhlášené Lincolnem...Záběry z filmu Gettysburg a hudba americké kapely Iced Earth.
Armistead:
"We're almost there my boys!
I've never served with finer.
We must push forward boys,
And bayonet the Yankee tyrants!
To the copse of trees we charge,
To crush the Union center,
And when they turn and run
An open road leads us to freedom!"
Lee:
"It was very close, yesterday,
I thought for sure that they would break
But this attack, that I have planned
A massive strike across open land
In the center, they will break (will they break?)
But plan it well, everything's at stake
We'll hit 'em hard, not a silent gun
Before the infantry's begun.
"Execute it well. We risk everything"
"It's in God's hands now"
Longstreet:
"General Lee, I must tell you straight that
I believe this attack will fail.
No 15,000 men ever made
Will overtake that ridge today.
A mile charge over open ground,
With Yankee cannon gunnin' us down"
Lee:
"We do our duty, we do what we must.
And in my plan, you will trust"
(Thousands die, On this day)
"Execute it well,We risk everything."
"It's in Gods hands now"
[Music]
The rebel cannon break the silence.
150 guns make up their cannonade.
They must destroy the Union center,
Before the infantry can launch their grand assault.
The Yankees are returning fire.
(The earth shakes violently)
In Washington D.C. Lincoln feels the Earth shake.
What happens here this day.
The fate of this nation:
In the balance it will hang,
Consumed with the pain.
The courage of the blue,
The valour of the grey.
So very sad but true,
Consumed with the pain.
The Virginians are the chosen
In wait behind the trees on Seminary Ridge.
Longstreet's slow to give the orders.
The lines emerge, a mile, 15,000 men.
The charge begins in all its grandeur,
(To the copse of trees)
For many of these men, they know it is their last.
The slaughter now ensues,
Bodies fall like rain.
They valiantly pursue,
Yet doomed to remain.
At the double quick they charge,
The canister rips through them.
To the mouth of hell they march
Glory, the only gain.
[Music]
Armistead:
"We're almost there my boys!
I've never served with finer.
We must push forward boys,
And bayonet the Yankee tyrants!
To the copse of trees we charge,
To crush the Union center,
And when they turn and run
An open road leads us to freedom!"
Lee:
"It's over now we are retreating,
I never thought that we'd be beaten.
All this blood is on my hands,
The thousands dead due to my plan.
I am responsible, all of this is my fault,
I thought us invincible.
Is this God's will after all?
I look across this blood soaked land,
All this blood is on my hands.
God forgive me, please forgive me!
It's all my fault, the blood is on my hands!"