Radio War Nerd EP #386: The US Civil War, Part 15: Gettysburg Aftermath, Six Million Pounds of Rotting Meat

Listened to this while cooking dinner then sat down to eat right Listened to this while cooking dinner then sat down to eat right when you got to the bit about pulling horse carcasses in half when you got to the bit about rotting horse carcasses tearing in half

This episode reminded me of the epic iced earth trilogy on Gettysburg (they’re big on doing long trilogy songs) from the glorious burden album. https://youtu.be/_qd3ff1Rtio?si=_fzJ0aSmJhWIn6eL Fast forward to 2021, I find out their guitarist was involved on January 6 lololol. I want them to play “when the eagle cries” when he’s sentenced.

Great episode, gents!

A great episode. Reminded of the drop in price of used books during the siege of leningrad — it's those market effects that always hit home to me the scope of a war.

Ahhhh yeah! Some real morbidity! You coulda gone morbider!

You guys do an excellent job with this podcast.

that semiliterate union soldier would make a fantastic internet poster

"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." I'd say something nasty about Lee, but really Victorian Angloids were all insane. I mean all humans everywhere at all times are crazy, but Victorians really took it to another level.

There’s a real symmetry to the mass death creating a noxious landscape. Another great ep, thanks guys

Very much enjoying this episode while I have a hearty breakfast: eggs over easy, white sausage gravy over sourdough biscuits, bacon, grits, hash browns, corned beef hash, copious amounts of coffee, and a slice of rhubarb pie

According to the university of youtube, it's crows (or corvids) who also pick at corpses. Were there any of those?

Finished "Blood Meridian" (RIP Cormac McCarthy) a couple of weeks ago and I'm not surprised there was roaming gangs of scumbags going from battlefield to battlefield to pick through the remains of the dead.

Just noticed (slow on the uptake) your mailing address at the end of the newsletter - well played

There wouldn't be the same Human cleanup involved, but now I wonder what the water was like immediately following huge naval battles like the Battle of Sacheon (Imjin Wars) or Lepanto.

When I went to Gettysburg with my family we had a very nice private tour with a local historian who was patiently pointing out that not all the Union generals were incompetent particularly at Gettysburg to our confederate-washed minds. I also with his permission kept up a family tradition of visiting there and running Pickets charge from the bottom of the hill to the top, and it was astonishing not only because of how long and tiring it was compared to how it looked, but how relatively fresh the battlefield felt even after over 100 years. I could feel great metal lumps(that I assumed were cannonballs) in the ground and could see places where craters had just been grown over, not to mention the fences, which while I’m not sure were all original really seemed like it and seemed like they had just been damaged when going over or under them and hearing them creak. Seeing little roundtop made me feel for the poor people defending it because it just looked like a cliff practically that had been ravaged by impacts

Gives me a shiver to hear it took a severed hand touching the nurse for her to get a chill.