This antiquarian and history stuff is useful for understanding how we got to where we are now, and also for predicting how the institution of the Army might act in the future when in similar circumstances. However, some years ago I had to part company with some Civil War buff friends when they began insisting that being obsessive about utterly trivial historical facts is evidence of a devotion to the greater cause of enshrining the Civil War in memory. History is nice, but only up to a point.