One interesting letter came from a California reader, who objected to the use of the rousing Confederate anthem “The Bonnie Blue Flag” in Gods and Generals. He says the filmmakers changed the lyrics to put the Confederates in a better light. He says the lyric (in the film) that says:

We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil/Fighting for our Liberty with treasure, blood and toil.

…is a bowdlerization. The original lyric, he says, goes like this:

We are a band of brothers and native to the soil/Fighting for the property we gained by honest toil.

Slaves were property, of course. The reader accuses the filmmakers of “falsifying history” to downplay the fact that one thing the Confederates were fighting for was the preservation of slavery. Regarding the true lyrics, the reader says not to take his word for it, to look it up.

So I did — and I found both versions. Here’s the “liberty” version; here’s the “property” version. Which one was sung by the Confederates? Somebody let me know.