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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Dumb Question Time

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Jul 9 2009, 2:00 PM ET Comment

One of the cool things about having really smart commenters is that you can lean on them when you're stumped.

So as everyone knows, I've been doing a ton of reading about the Civil War. Marching, obviously, keeps coming up. There's a lot about the concept of marching, forming the line and forming ranks that is simply flying over my head, as I've never read much about war, or served in the military. Can I ask a few of you to talk some about the importance of forming a line in the Civil War? Also, can someone talk about the importance of staying in ranks, and why marching together is so important?

There are some obvious answers that come to mind, but I sense that I may be missing some more important reasons.


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