Pages

Saturday, October 25, 2014

New Liberty Videos Review


We received Warriors of Honor from New Liberty Videos to review for the TOS Crew. Over the course of the past few months, we have explored some of America's history, including the time before the settlers, colonial times and moving on into the ages of the American Revolution. We have not yet reached learning about the Civil War, and likely won't get to it this year. My children are young, and we are exploring history through reading books, cooking old-fashioned recipes, looking at pictures of the houses people lived in and the clothes they wore, and by setting up themed small worlds to play in using Safari Ltd.'s figures (they have a TOOB for both the Union soldiers and the Confederates).

We have not yet gotten to the age where they are ready to watch a documentary and actually take something away from it, so I'll be reviewing this movie from a parent's viewpoint. Keep in mind that we are not religious, and this movie was made for and by Christian's. Now, I honestly prefer historical documentaries to not be overly religious and to simply state the facts and tell me what happened and why. However, this documentary goes into great detail of the lives of two generals and the battles, and I did certainly learn a lot more than I previously knew of the Civil War. As a bit of a history nerd, I am often fascinated by wars (because let's face it, history is littered by them and wars often change the world), but I have always kept my distance from the Civil War. I knew enough about it to get passing marks in school. I won't go into much detail as to my feelings, but I will say I am absolutely glad the north won.

That being said, this video was told almost entirely from the southern viewpoint. The two generals I mentioned earlier were none other than Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Both are regarded as heroes to the "Lost Cause". They were both devout Christians and their faith led their lives. Their lives, wives, children and death are all detailed in the video.

Robert E. Lee was the son of a Revolutionary War officer and commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Virginia had decided to leave the Union in 1861 and Lee went with his state, turning down an offer to become a Union commander. After his surrender to Ulysses S. Grant, and the end of the war, he went on to become the president of Washington University. He died in 1870.

Stonewall Jackson is the second best known commander on the Confederates side and served under Robert E. Lee in the Northern Virginia Army. He was one of the most skilled tacticians in American history. Confederate pickets accidentally shot him during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He survived with an amputated arm, but died shortly after from complications. His death created a major setback to the Confederacy, as well as the morale of the army and general public.

You'll learn many of the causes for the Civil War and about some of the major battles that took place between the Union soldiers and the Confederates. If you are taking notes during the video, you would be able to keep track of the dates, name of the battles, who were in command, how long the battle lasted and who won. This video leaned heavily on the viewpoints from southerners, but occasionally made a mention about someone from the Union side.

I personally do not plan to show this video to my children for several years, simply because they are not ready for a history documentary. I feel it would be more suitable for children in middle school and high school. History documentaries usually talk more about the Union side, but with this video you will learn more about what was going on with the Confederates.

Warriors of Honor is available for $19.95 from New Liberty Videos.

If you would like to read more reviews of New Liberty Videos from the TOS Crew, click on the banner below!

Click to read Crew Reviews


Crew Disclaimer

No comments:

Post a Comment