In the aftermath of the Battle of Chickamauga and countless battles like it across the nation, men, women, and children that today we lump under the term civilians, often paid a different price for the fighting. They may not have laid on the ground bleeding or dead, or have marched off the field in victory or defeat as the soldiers did. However, they often faced the real challenge of being displaced. Homes destroyed: by fire, fighting, looting, or use as field hospitals. Farms ruined: by trampling boots, the rip and thud of artillery shells and minie balls, the blood of thousands of young men. Lives turned upside down. In the case of Larkin Poe and his wife Sarah, their home burned to the ground during the Battle of Chickamauga. Sarahs parents, the Brothertons, lived just down the road, but their home too was ruined, covered in blood and surrounded by amputated limbs from use as a field hospital. With no home to return to, the Poes and other families were forced to live in tent camps while they looked to rebuild. Displaced people are not a thing of the past, however. A recently released report stated that there are more displaced people in the world today than at any time since World War II, with more than 50 million around the world. How can the experience of the Poes and others during the Civil War challenge us as we deal with displaced people today? Are refugees simply a fact of life and conflict, or can resolution be made to stop conflicts before the number of displaced people grows larger? (ws)
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 12:00:00 +0000
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