What was Theodore Roosevelt's view of the American Civil War?

What was Theodore Roosevelt's view of the American Civil War?

When the Civil War broke out, Roosevelt was a boy, and the Roosevelt family was divided into two parts, north and south. His mother, "Mitty," came from a family with deep ties to the South, and although she had moved north, she feared that if her husband joined the Union Army, he might fight her allied brothers on the battlefield. Instead, the elder Theodore did much of what the rich New York did and hired a substitute. Historians say that as a young man TR regretted that his father did not serve, and the event helped shape his perception of military service. Instead, TR grew up listening to the war stories of his allied uncles, learning the basics of military strategy and tactics from their exploits.

Roosevelt was touched and impressed by their stories and exploits. He was so moved that Roosevelt was politically bogged down, for he wrote in one of his books that the men of the Confederacy were better at fighting than soldiers in the North. For New York politicians, this is no small matter.

Later, when Roosevelt ran for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt said he was "proud of the courage of those dressed in gray." Of course, this is not the only time in history that people admire the courage of the enemy.

But he never really understood the South, nor did he understand the hopes, ambitions, virtues, and limitations of Southern men and women. He may have been anxious to do so, but he never did. No president with the weakest understanding of Southern bias would make the mistake of inviting Booker B. Bush to do so. Dr. T. Washington made a huge mistake in dining at the White House, and Roosevelt deeply regretted it after making that mistake. No president who truly understood the worries of the South would insist, as Roosevelt did, on appointing a black man as a collector of the port of Charleston, South Carolina.

Finally, while serving in the Rough Knights, he served under a former Federal general.