AMC's "Hell on Wheels", a brief background
Introduction
November 6th, 2011 brought in the series premiere of AMC's "Hell on Wheels". Here's the official description from the series website: "Hell on Wheels tells the epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on a Confederate soldier (Mount) who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who have killed his wife. His journey takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time. The series documents the railroad's engineering and construction as well as institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience, and the plight of newly emancipated African-Americans during Reconstruction. Hell on Wheels chronicles this potent turning point in our nation's history and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be." (amctv.com).
The year is 1865, in a war ravaged post-Civil War America. The thing you'll want to keep in mind is that there is still tension between the Union and Confederate states, and a war that affected the entire nation will linger for awhile.
In the opening scene, we see a Union soldier stepping into a confessional booth at a cathedral to confess his sins. During his confession, he mentions his partaking in "Sherman's march south" and the evil that came of a particular battle, the Battle of Meridian. He was so guilt-ridden over these events he refuses to confess his sins for this. The "priest" (who is actually Bohannon) asked him what he knew about Meridian? This sets the stage for the rest of the series, over events (the killing of Bohannon's wife) that transpired in Meridian, Mississippi. Historically, however, what are those events about and what actually happened there?
Where is Meridian?
The first thing that would help to know is where exactly Meridian, MS is located at:
The city of Meridian was a strategic military strike for the Union army, due to the "important railroad center, military hospitals, weapon stockpile, and prisoner-of-war stockade." (rootsweb.ancestry.com).
Who is William T. Sherman?
William Tecumseh Sherman was a Union army general who became famous for his military tactics, specially what is referred to as "total war"--
A new way of conducting war appeared during the Civil War. Instead of focusing only on military targets, armies conducting total war destroyed homes and crops to demoralize and undermine the civilian base of the enemy’s war effort. (civilwar.org). Even though he is not considered to be the founding father of the term, he is a modern example of it. Here's a biography of General Sherman: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sherman.htm.
(General Sherman)
Prior to Sherman's famous "March to the sea" the Union army, under Major General Grant and General Sherman, won their campaign against Vicksburg, MS and Jackson, MS, and thus afterwards General Sherman took his men and headed east towards Meridian.
The Battle of Meridian
In February, 1864 General Sherman's army reach Meridian and began their attack. The attack on Meridian by General Sherman and his troops was a military tactic to dismantle the Confederate army not only physically, but also mentally. Thus, we understand why he used "total war" tactics when attacking during this campaign to Savannah, GA--he was trying to kill the Confederate's will to fight. Sherman is noted to have said, “10,000 men worked hard and with a will in that work of destruction, with axes, crowbars, and with fire, and I have no hesitation in pronouncing the work as well done. Meridian, with its depots, store-houses, arsenal, hospitals, offices, hotels, and cantonments no longer exists.” (http://mshistory.k12.ms.us).
Conclusion:
AMC's "Hell on Wheels" is a very well produced series that I look forward to reviewing every week and seeing exactly where they take it--both in the story line and historically. The American Civil War produced many, many casualties and almost destroyed this nation. The second episode premieres tonight, 10/9c on AMC.
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