(American) Civil War Soldiers Spread Lies to Keep Spirits Up

[TechBear_Seattle]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Civil War Soldiers Spread Lies to Keep Spirits Up

Rumors were spread among Confederate soldiers to keep morale high while the Civil War wasn't going their way, a new study suggests.

Circulation of the optimistic "news" — such as false reports of Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's death — kept up throughout the war and became more and more outlandish as the Confederate South progressively lost ground, said the study's author.

"Even towards the end of the war, most of their rumors were positive and false—weird stuff like talk of a world war in which England and France would join alongside the Confederates," said Jason Phillips, a Mississippi State University historian.

...

While Phillips researched the rationale behind the "never say die" attitude in the South, he found evidence of the tall tales and misguided information in the soldiers' personal letters, journals and newspapers.

"The larger question that I asked was how could reasonable Confederates expect to win the Civil War after so many turning points," Phillips told LiveScience. "And what I found was that the losing side just persisted against all hope—a common theme you see all the time during conflict. As a human being whose life is on the line, you're drawn to the information that's hopeful."

The article continues at http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071023/sc_livescience/civilwarsoldiersspreadliestokeepspiritsup

[raccoon]

1. Thanks for the heads up. nt

[PATRICK]

2. And worse after defeat

wild fantasies and blame shifting seek scapegoats other than the victorious soldiers. People who betrayed them from within. Even the general staff such as Germany's last commander in WWI harbored grotesque RW constructs in response to defeat. The roots of future wars in the lies of the old.

[mvccd1000]

3. And the tradition continues into this century...

.... anybody remember this guy? He was a riot! :)

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. I was thinking more of this guy

Or perhaps this guy


This guy, definitely


This isn't a guy, but she should be on this list, too


Remember: the worse they are losing, the more outrageous the lies become.

[Sadie4629]

5. That was possible in the 1860's

but not so today. Even on the front lines, people have access to Internet, TV, radio. We live in the Information Age. Our news is instaneous.

[DefenseLawyer]

6. We're turning a corner in Iraq

Freedom's on the march... Things are great in Iraq but the liberal media won't report the good news... A few dead-enders... the insurgency is in its last throes... Yeah, thank god we live in the information age so ridiculous stories about how things are going in Iraq aren't possible.

[Sadie4629]

7. Yes, and some of us know the truth

because we choose to stay informed. We would not have had that choice 150 years ago.

[NorthernSpy]

8. if our news is instantaneous, then our lies are instantaneous...

However fast the truth can spread, lies can spread faster still. And this is because so many of these lies satisfy psychological needs that the truth leaves unsatisfied.

That was possible in the 1860's but not so today. Even on the front lines, people have access to Internet, TV, radio. We live in the Information Age.

The most dangerous delusion of all. The belief that you -- and we -- cannot be fooled.

[Individualist]

9. It certainly is the most dangerous delusion

The majority of people in this country believe everything their teevees tell them. Although they have access to the same information we do, they're either too disinterested or too lazy to take the time to find out the truth about this administration.