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% Most impressively, The Civil War manages to convey the horror of war in understated words. After the calamity of George Pickett's charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, General Lee asked the shaken commander to regroup his division to repulse a possible counterattack. "General Lee," Pickett replied, "I have no division now." Following one bloody battle, a Massachusetts soldier's diary was discovered with this entry: "June 3, 1864, Cold Harbor, Virginia. I was killed." With American soldiers poised to fight once again, vignettes like these strike the strongest chord of all.
