VOA标准英语2015--Reenactments Mark 150th Anniversary of US Civil War

Reenactments Mark 150th Anniversary of US Civil War

WASHINGTON—

In historic Appomattox, Virginia, reenactments marked a surrender that many historians believe effectively ended the U.S. Civil War 150 years ago. After Confederate troops were cornered by Union forces at Appomattox, the Confederate commander, Robert E. Lee, surrendered to the Union general, Ulysses Grant on April 9, 1865.

From 1861 to 1865, the Northern states — the Union — fought the South - the Confederacy, which had seceded¹ from the Union over several issues, including slavery.

The emotional end to the war, which took the lives of more than 700,000 Americans, occurred at a home in the tiny town of Appomattox, today a historical park.  

Waite Rawls, head of the Appomattox branch of the Museum of the Confederacy, said Confederate troops continued to surrender for about two more months.

“Other armies were still in the field,” he clarified, “So it took the surrender of other armies in North Carolina, in Texas to either disband or surrender.”

Solemn observance

In a colorful reenactment of the April 12 surrender of Confederate arms at Appomattox, Union troops marched in first, followed by weary and beaten down Confederates. In a formal ceremony, the two sides faced each other as the Confederates stacked their arms and left in silence.

For Bruce Blackmon of North Carolina, who played a Confederate colonel, and had an ancestor in the war, the reenactment had a special meaning.

“It’s a very emotional thing for those of us who maybe had ancestors at that surrender or ancestors in the Civil War,” he explained. “It evokes² a lot of feeling when you think about the number of lives lost on both sides of the conflict and the tragedy that it really was.”    

At this makeshift Union camp in the park, reenactor Henry Schmied considers how difficult the war must have been for both sides.

“As far as the Union, they must have felt like a large weight was lifted off their chest,” he said. “And on the Confederate side, the great sadness because they fought so hard for their cause, even though it was the wrong cause.”

In Appomattox there were black soldiers, some of the thousands of so-called “colored” troops who fought for the north. Seventy-one-year-old Union reenactor Leo Vaughan, who is African-American, said he has ancestors who fought in the Civil War, but on the Confederate side.  

“And they were white because my great, great grandfather was the plantation³ owner,” he said.

Lingering resentments⁴

At the Confederate camp in the park where some soldiers were cooking food on a campfire, a 26-year-old-said he believes the Union had no business attacking the Confederate states. “If I was put back in 1860 to 1865, I would have definitely picked up a musket⁶ and fought for my homeland, he said defiantly⁷.

After the surrender at Appomattox, President Abraham Lincoln advised General Grant not to be harsh on the Confederates. So Grant allowed many of them to keep their sidearms and horses if they abided by federal law.

Blackmon said the soldiers were given paper passes so they could safely return home.

“So if they were accosted⁸ or stopped by federal troops along the way home, they could show the pass, so they would not be arrested as prisoners of war," he said.  

To this day, the Civil War remains⁹ a sore point for some people in the southern states, where it is known as the "War of Northern Aggression¹⁰." Kevin Reynolds, a Confederate reenactor from South Carolina, said despite the bloodshed, it was important the country came together again.

“There’s still some resentment⁵, on one level or another,” he admitted. “But after everything that we’ve done, the greatest thing is that we were reunited as Americans.”

1 seceded   

v.脱离，退出( secede的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Republic of Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903. 巴拿马共和国于1903年脱离哥伦比亚。
• One of the states has seceded from the federation. 有一个州已从联邦中退出。 来自辞典例句

2 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

3 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

4 resentments   

（因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He could never transcend his resentments and his complexes. 他从来不能把他的怨恨和感情上的症结置之度外。
• These local resentments burst into open revolt. 地方性反感变成公开暴动。

5 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

6 musket   

n.滑膛枪

参考例句：

• I hunted with a musket two years ago.两年前我用滑膛枪打猎。
• So some seconds passed,till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired.又过了几秒钟，突然，乔伊斯端起枪来开了火。

7 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 accosted   

v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭

参考例句：

• She was accosted in the street by a complete stranger. 在街上，一个完全陌生的人贸然走到她跟前搭讪。
• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him. 他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。