It’s a fascinating book. Published three years after the end of the Civil War, The History of the Second Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, by Theodore Vaill, this regiment’s adjutant, is an obscure work that’s probably known to few. Brought to my attention by Virginia Shultz-Charette a historian in Winsted, Conn., this book tells the story of my ancestors’ and their comrades’ experiences during the War Between The States.

My great-great grandfather, William Addison Hosford, was among the many volunteers from the Winsted area who were killed or wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864. William’s brigade, which had never seen battle before, was selected to lead the first Union charge at this small village on the road to Richmond, Virginia.

Vaill wrote that as they reached the rebel defenses, “A sheet of flame, sudden as lightning, red as blood, and so near it seemed to singe the men’s faces, burst along the rebel breastwork…” A moment later a second rebel line appeared on the left and opened fire. In less than a minute over 250 volunteers from Winsted – including William — lay wounded or dead. Somehow William survived being hit by a musket ball that entered under one arm and exited under the other and he eventually rejoined his Company.

William’s older brother, Benjamin Franklin Hosford was less fortunate; he was the first Union officer killed at the Battle of Cedar Creek near the end of the war.   The book tells how William tried to carry his brother’s body away from the carnage but was forced to abandon it as Confederate troops overtook them. Though later recovered, all of William’s brother’s possessions – including his shoes — had been stolen.

Yet another of William’s brothers, Calvin, was captured at Drewry’s Bluff (also in Virginia) and imprisoned at the infamous Andersonville prison where he nearly perished from abuse, disease and starvation.

Reading this at a time when many Southerners are defending the Confederate battle flag as an important symbol of their “heritage” makes me think about my own family’s heritage of being killed, wounded and imprisoned to help free the slaves. Shouldn’t it be the winners who are celebrating their heritage, not the losers???

But then again maybe we ultimately were the losers. Though we won the shooting war, as Michael Lind recently observed on Politico.com, without the South the U.S. would be a more liberal, secular nation with far less racial and political polarization. Lind maintains that the influence of southern conservatism makes America “an extreme outlier” in the advanced world. In the South gun violence and racism are widespread, and unlike in other modern democracies, southern politicians routinely claim to speak for God, just as Islamic mullahs do.

Maybe Lind’s right. A veteran Republican politician, who began his career in Washington in the 1960s, recently told me that Americans don’t understand the inordinate influence southern politicians have had since the end of Reconstruction, adding that it’s the party’s southern base that has pulled it so far to the right today.

By not following through on their victory in the Civil War – by allowing Jim Crow, segregation, and lynchings to persist into the 1960s, the North allowed the Confederacy to live on. No wonder the Confederate battle flag was waved with such a sense of triumph at the nation’s capital a few years ago when Tea Partiers shut the government down. A century and a half after the Civil War it seems the Confederacy is ascendant, winning this time not through force of arms but instead through the regressive appeal its antebellum ideology has on many voters today.

The worst curse I’ve ever heard doesn’t invoke the fiends of hell or summon swarms of locusts. Instead it simply goes “may you live in interesting times.” On the surface those aren’t fighting words, but the longer I live the more I understand that “interesting times” are times of upheaval and that one way or another nearly everyone feels their impact.

Times are always “interesting,” but the past few weeks have brought bad news to an astonishing number of people. Those who believe that cutting taxes generates more revenue, for example, were upset when Kansas, which has been trying this for several years now, had to give up and raise taxes to help meet their gaping budget deficit. But those who believe taxes should be based on the ability to pay were disappointed that Kansas raised sales instead of income taxes since sales taxes disproportionally affect the poor.

Here in Nebraska supporters of the death penalty – including our Governor – have been rocked by the Legislature repealing it. And in Oklahoma those who believe the Ten Commandments should be displayed on public property are up in arms that their Supreme Court upheld the separation of church and state.

People who believe that saying nice things to Hispanics will win their votes have been appalled to hear Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump characterize most Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. And those who believe immigrants really are the worst elements of Mexican society are disappointed to see the other candidates reject Trump’s assertion.

People who believe God wants us to exploit both the planet and the poor for profit were upset to hear Pope Francis say that the amoral ravages of free market capitalism are endangering life on earth.  And everyone who believes people should be able to peacefully gather to study the Bible received the worst blow imaginable when a white supremacist murdered 9 black people in a Charleston, South Carolina, church. But as a result, supporters of slavery and hoop skirts suffered a setback as the display of their beloved banner, the Confederate flag, has come under fire, including in Southern states.

Those who believe that people can marry the person they love only if that person is of the opposite sex suffered a stinging setback when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that equal protection means gay people have a right to marry. Those who believe a few lines of ambiguous language in the 900 page healthcare bill should nullify it were nearly as upset when the court ruled against them as well. And politicians who owe their seats to the gerrymandering started panicking when the court ruled that non-partisan panels can legally draw district boundaries.

Those opposed to cruel and unusual punishment suffered a setback when the court ruled that an ineffective drug can be used to execute prisoners – despite some horrific recent failures. And everyone who breathes may have lost when the court ruled that clean air isn’t as important as coal company profits.

Each of these events on its own would be remarkable, but to have so many happen in such a short amount of time seems extraordinary. Whether they’re a blessing, a curse or a mixture of both depends on one’s perspective. But there’s certainly no denying that we’re living in very interesting times.