The Trophies of Victory and the Relics of Defeat

Abstract

Civil War soldiers understood that what thy saved would help shape historical memories and influence public meanings for years to come. Civil War soldiers were always intrigued by the relics, but their craving for things of war became an obsession during the last weeks of the Confederacy’s existence when both sides were grasping for things to help them remember the past as they transitioned to a future without war.