Dec 7, 2010 (4 days ago)Soldiering Through History - The WBTSfrom Old Virginia Blog by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
From On the Field of Battle.
Soldiering Through History - WBTS - Trailer from On the Field of Battle on Vimeo.
". . . will equip and inspire boys to learn about the soldiers and battles of the past."
http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The SCV And The Politically-Correct "History" Channel
From The Southern National Congress:
The SCV and the Politically Correct "History" Channel
Posted Saturday at 11:35 PM on
by Al Benson Jr.
Lots of people, when they want to view something of a historical nature, turn to the "History" Channel on television. Unfortunately, in many cases, when it comes to real history, that is one of the last places they should go.
Over the years, on and off, I have watched some "History" Channel offerings. Many others I have shut off after the first five minutes. This channel takes a completely politically correct view on most historical subjects. Some of their programs, over the years, have questioned the truths found in Holy Scripture, and done it in such a way as to leave folks who don't really know much about the Bible with serious doubts. In this area they seem to take a thoroughly humanist, anti-Christian position. Of course they'd staunchly deny that, but I never recall seeing anything on that channel that defended Scripture--only things that questioned it.
They do exactly the same thing with programs dealing with the War of Northern Aggression (a term they'd never use). Three years ago, if I recall correctly, they broadcast an offering about Sherman's March through Georgia that neither my wife nor I could stomach after the first five minutes. It was pure pro-Sherman spin and little else. In my opinion the "History" Channel has no interest in promoting accurate history, but rather in propagating the standard propaganda you would expect to find in any government school "history" book.
As we approach the Sesquicentennial observance of the War of Northern Aggression this becomes all too clear. According to a press release on http://georgiascv.org for November 29th "The nationally syndicated cable television History Channel has made the controversial decision to force cable television companies, including Comcast and Charter to pull adds paid for by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Georgia commemorating the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the War Between the States...Vice-president Nancy Alpert of A & E Television, the parent company of the History Channel, gave the following explanation of her decision to ban the historical adds: 'The subject matter of each of the SCV ads, plus the actual language...is well beyond our guidelines for any advertising on AETN.' Alpert cited her opinion that the ads violated History Channel guidelines by quoting, among other things, a statement in one commercial that the war was 'Not a civil war fought to take over the United States, as it is called in history books today, this was a war...against an aggressive invasion by federal troops'." What, pray tell, is wrong with that statement? It happens to be the truth! It was not a war in which the South was trying to take over or conquer the United States--all the Southern states sought to do was to separate themselves from the United States via secession--which was not prohibited in the Constitution.
Ms. Alpert seems to have had problems with the wording of the ads, of which there were twelve. I have not seen all twelve of them, but I did take the time to view six of them. I could find no problem whatever with what they said or they way they said it. They told the truth, but it would seem that the truth is a little too strong for the "History" Channel. It appears that they would much prefer the watered-down drivel about how wonderful Sherman's humanitarian march was for the people and state of Georgia, or how the "Great Emancipator" "freed" all the slaves (he really didn't free any).
One of the ads I viewed dealt with the Morrill Tariff and how it penalized the South while helping the North. Another dealt with the obvious theological differences between North and South. This is a forbidden subject in history books today. Yet another ad noted the cultural differences between the two regions. All of this is stuff our current "history" books will not touch. It's the stuff of which real history is constituted, and it's just those kinds of things that the "History" Channel chooses not to deal with. I just wonder if the "History" Channel people gave the Georgia SCV their money back, seeing they opted not to run their ads.
Actually, in my opinion, the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans did an excellent job with this series of ads. They were succinct, well-done, and each presented a historical viewpoint that needs to be dealt with, and did it in 60 seconds flat. The subjects noted in each of these ads would be well worth doing a television presentation, prime time, so that people going into this Sesquicentennial year of the War could begin to see what the real issues were that the South fought over. I'm sure the liberal and socialist media will, for the next four years straight, hammer at us that it was all over slavery and nothing else.
However, if you are looking for an honest presentation of what the War was really all about, don't hold your breath waiting for the "History" Channel to provide it.
The SCV and the Politically Correct "History" Channel
Posted Saturday at 11:35 PM on
by Al Benson Jr.
Lots of people, when they want to view something of a historical nature, turn to the "History" Channel on television. Unfortunately, in many cases, when it comes to real history, that is one of the last places they should go.
Over the years, on and off, I have watched some "History" Channel offerings. Many others I have shut off after the first five minutes. This channel takes a completely politically correct view on most historical subjects. Some of their programs, over the years, have questioned the truths found in Holy Scripture, and done it in such a way as to leave folks who don't really know much about the Bible with serious doubts. In this area they seem to take a thoroughly humanist, anti-Christian position. Of course they'd staunchly deny that, but I never recall seeing anything on that channel that defended Scripture--only things that questioned it.
They do exactly the same thing with programs dealing with the War of Northern Aggression (a term they'd never use). Three years ago, if I recall correctly, they broadcast an offering about Sherman's March through Georgia that neither my wife nor I could stomach after the first five minutes. It was pure pro-Sherman spin and little else. In my opinion the "History" Channel has no interest in promoting accurate history, but rather in propagating the standard propaganda you would expect to find in any government school "history" book.
As we approach the Sesquicentennial observance of the War of Northern Aggression this becomes all too clear. According to a press release on http://georgiascv.org for November 29th "The nationally syndicated cable television History Channel has made the controversial decision to force cable television companies, including Comcast and Charter to pull adds paid for by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Georgia commemorating the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the War Between the States...Vice-president Nancy Alpert of A & E Television, the parent company of the History Channel, gave the following explanation of her decision to ban the historical adds: 'The subject matter of each of the SCV ads, plus the actual language...is well beyond our guidelines for any advertising on AETN.' Alpert cited her opinion that the ads violated History Channel guidelines by quoting, among other things, a statement in one commercial that the war was 'Not a civil war fought to take over the United States, as it is called in history books today, this was a war...against an aggressive invasion by federal troops'." What, pray tell, is wrong with that statement? It happens to be the truth! It was not a war in which the South was trying to take over or conquer the United States--all the Southern states sought to do was to separate themselves from the United States via secession--which was not prohibited in the Constitution.
Ms. Alpert seems to have had problems with the wording of the ads, of which there were twelve. I have not seen all twelve of them, but I did take the time to view six of them. I could find no problem whatever with what they said or they way they said it. They told the truth, but it would seem that the truth is a little too strong for the "History" Channel. It appears that they would much prefer the watered-down drivel about how wonderful Sherman's humanitarian march was for the people and state of Georgia, or how the "Great Emancipator" "freed" all the slaves (he really didn't free any).
One of the ads I viewed dealt with the Morrill Tariff and how it penalized the South while helping the North. Another dealt with the obvious theological differences between North and South. This is a forbidden subject in history books today. Yet another ad noted the cultural differences between the two regions. All of this is stuff our current "history" books will not touch. It's the stuff of which real history is constituted, and it's just those kinds of things that the "History" Channel chooses not to deal with. I just wonder if the "History" Channel people gave the Georgia SCV their money back, seeing they opted not to run their ads.
Actually, in my opinion, the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans did an excellent job with this series of ads. They were succinct, well-done, and each presented a historical viewpoint that needs to be dealt with, and did it in 60 seconds flat. The subjects noted in each of these ads would be well worth doing a television presentation, prime time, so that people going into this Sesquicentennial year of the War could begin to see what the real issues were that the South fought over. I'm sure the liberal and socialist media will, for the next four years straight, hammer at us that it was all over slavery and nothing else.
However, if you are looking for an honest presentation of what the War was really all about, don't hold your breath waiting for the "History" Channel to provide it.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Today In History: 6 December 1889--Jefferson Davis, First President Of The Confederate States Of America, Passes Away
From Confederate Catholic:
Dec. 6, 1889 Death of Jefferson Davis
inhisname01
December 6, 2010 at 4:37 PM
Tags: Confederate States of America, Confederates, Flag of the United States, Jefferson Davis, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, President of the Confederate States of America, United States
Categories: Catholic, Civil War, Louisiana, South, States Rights, True History, Uncategorized, War For Southern Independence
URL: http://wp.me/p6ijd-lh
President Davis was a true defender of freedom and liberty for all and saw the dark shadow of a centralization of power in DC.
On December 6, 1889, the Christmas Season in New Orleans was saddened when Jefferson Davis died of unknown causes at the age of eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South.
.
.
The body of Jefferson Davis laid in state at the city hall of New Orleans from midnight on December 6th to the 11th. He was dressed in Confederate gray and flowers adorned the city hall. Confederate flags and the Union flag were hung from above. Thousands of mourners came from out of town to join the residents of New Orleans to pay their respects to the man who once was the South's beloved leader. The men saluted their former leader and the women bowed their heads in prayer. Tears filled the eyes of young people who were born at the time Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy.
The church bells rang throughout the city. On December 11, 1889, twenty thousand people lined the streets of New Orleans as the body of Jefferson Davis was taken, by funeral carriage, to Metairie Cemetery in the crescent city. The funeral procession included those who wore the gray during the War Between the States.
All flags flew at half mast. It is sad that the War Department of the United States did not lower the United States flag in his honor. Jefferson Davis was the only former Secretary of War who had ever been denied the honor.
Read More
A Newspaper Article gives a further account.
Many Clergyman from the South were at the funeral to Officiate including Bishop Galleher of New Orleans and Rev. Father Darius Hubert of the Jesuit Catholic Church.
"A careful tally of the visitors shows that about 40,000 persons viewed the remains today, mostly women and children. The crowds included in respectful attendance, all conditions of whites, blacks, ex-Confederates, ex-Federalist, even Indians and Chinamen."
Dec. 6, 1889 Death of Jefferson Davis
inhisname01
December 6, 2010 at 4:37 PM
Tags: Confederate States of America, Confederates, Flag of the United States, Jefferson Davis, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, President of the Confederate States of America, United States
Categories: Catholic, Civil War, Louisiana, South, States Rights, True History, Uncategorized, War For Southern Independence
URL: http://wp.me/p6ijd-lh
President Davis was a true defender of freedom and liberty for all and saw the dark shadow of a centralization of power in DC.
On December 6, 1889, the Christmas Season in New Orleans was saddened when Jefferson Davis died of unknown causes at the age of eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South.
.
.
The body of Jefferson Davis laid in state at the city hall of New Orleans from midnight on December 6th to the 11th. He was dressed in Confederate gray and flowers adorned the city hall. Confederate flags and the Union flag were hung from above. Thousands of mourners came from out of town to join the residents of New Orleans to pay their respects to the man who once was the South's beloved leader. The men saluted their former leader and the women bowed their heads in prayer. Tears filled the eyes of young people who were born at the time Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy.
The church bells rang throughout the city. On December 11, 1889, twenty thousand people lined the streets of New Orleans as the body of Jefferson Davis was taken, by funeral carriage, to Metairie Cemetery in the crescent city. The funeral procession included those who wore the gray during the War Between the States.
All flags flew at half mast. It is sad that the War Department of the United States did not lower the United States flag in his honor. Jefferson Davis was the only former Secretary of War who had ever been denied the honor.
Read More
A Newspaper Article gives a further account.
Many Clergyman from the South were at the funeral to Officiate including Bishop Galleher of New Orleans and Rev. Father Darius Hubert of the Jesuit Catholic Church.
"A careful tally of the visitors shows that about 40,000 persons viewed the remains today, mostly women and children. The crowds included in respectful attendance, all conditions of whites, blacks, ex-Confederates, ex-Federalist, even Indians and Chinamen."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Member Of Jefferson Davis' Confederacy
From Old Virginia Blog:
4:30 PM (10 hours ago)A Member Of Jefferson Davis' Confederacyfrom Old Virginia Blog by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
Confederate soldier's Bible makes its way back home to Lynchburg:
The obituary of Confederate veteran Dewitt Clinton Guy in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian of Jan. 7, 1889 noted: “He was true to his colors and never apologized for the part he took in the lost cause.”
That final notation also confirms that Guy still considered himself “a member of Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.”
Complete story here.
From The Lynchburg News & Advance:
Bible makes exodus back to Confederate soldier's Lynchburg home
Credit: Jill Nance
A Bible belonging to a Lynchburg Civil War soldier has made its way from New York to the Lynchburg Museum.
By Darrell Laurant
Published: November 30, 2010
» 3 Comments
Post a Comment
The obituary of Confederate veteran Dewitt Clinton Guy in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian of Jan. 7, 1889 noted: “He was true to his colors and never apologized for the part he took in the lost cause.”
Guy’s part was to fight with the 11th Virginia Infantry throughout the Civil War, receiving wounds at the battles of Seven Pines, Gettysburg (where he may have been part of Pickett’s charge) and Drewry’s Bluff. By the end of the war, he was a prisoner at the notorious Point Lookout POW camp in Maryland. Forever after, he walked with a pronounced limp.
Only his name provides a clue to the ambivalence that Guy must have felt in taking up arms for the South. He was raised in upstate New York before moving to Lynchburg after the death of his father in a construction accident, and he was named for then-New York governor DeWitt Clinton.
“Maybe he just enlisted because of peer pressure, because everyone else was doing it,” said director Doug Harvey of the Lynchburg Museum. “I guess we’ll never know.”
What is known is that Guy carried a small brown Bible with him as he marched from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Maryland. And as of last week, that Bible has joined the ranks of the Lynchburg museum’s Civil War collection.
“It had been in my possession for quite a few years,” said Joan Steward of Spencerport, N.Y., DeWitt Guy’s great-great-grandniece by marriage, “and my mother had it for a long time before me. I didn’t want something to happen to me and have it sold at auction.
“My brother and I had a discussion about where to take it, and Lynchburg just seemed like the most appropriate place.”
Along with the Bible, Joan and her husband Doug brought some photographs of Guy and a short family history when they stopped in Lynchburg.
“I just got a phone call that was kind of unexpected,” Harvey said, “although I had received a letter about it a year or so ago.”
DeWitt Guy’s father had worked on the James River & Kanawha Canal, which originally brought him to Lynchburg. Later, he migrated north to help with construction on the Erie Canal, referred to by the more cynical New Yorkers as “Clinton’s Ditch.”
“He was killed by a cave-in while he was working on a lock in Lockport (N.Y.),” Joan Steward said. “After that, his family came back to Lynchburg.”
When the war ended, Guy returned to the small western New York town of Ogden to court and marry Martha Flagg, a young woman he had known before moving south. After the wedding, however, he and his bride traveled back to Virginia, where he became a partner in a wholesale grocery firm (Bigbie, Guy & Thaxton) and a Mason.
Even in death, Guy crossed the line between North and South. Buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg, he was eventually disinterred at the request of his sister-in-law and his body moved up to Spencerport to be buried next to that of his wife.
“It’s one of the few graves in a northern cemetery with a Confederate flag and insignia on it,” Harvey said.
Meanwhile, said Steward, her mother “was always fascinated by the story and tended his grave most of her life.”
The Bible is in surprisingly good condition (“We can exhibit it pretty much as is,” Harvey said), and some faded writing on the title sheet and the end page provides a small nugget of Guy’s war experience.
“The first date he has entered is the first day his unit saw combat,” Harvey said. “The last date was when he was in prison.”
That final notation also confirms that Guy still considered himself “a member of Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.”
(Hat tip to Kenny Rowlette of the National Civil War Chaplains Museum in Lynchburg, Virginia)
http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com
4:30 PM (10 hours ago)A Member Of Jefferson Davis' Confederacyfrom Old Virginia Blog by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
Confederate soldier's Bible makes its way back home to Lynchburg:
The obituary of Confederate veteran Dewitt Clinton Guy in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian of Jan. 7, 1889 noted: “He was true to his colors and never apologized for the part he took in the lost cause.”
That final notation also confirms that Guy still considered himself “a member of Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.”
Complete story here.
From The Lynchburg News & Advance:
Bible makes exodus back to Confederate soldier's Lynchburg home
Credit: Jill Nance
A Bible belonging to a Lynchburg Civil War soldier has made its way from New York to the Lynchburg Museum.
By Darrell Laurant
Published: November 30, 2010
» 3 Comments
Post a Comment
The obituary of Confederate veteran Dewitt Clinton Guy in the Lynchburg Daily Virginian of Jan. 7, 1889 noted: “He was true to his colors and never apologized for the part he took in the lost cause.”
Guy’s part was to fight with the 11th Virginia Infantry throughout the Civil War, receiving wounds at the battles of Seven Pines, Gettysburg (where he may have been part of Pickett’s charge) and Drewry’s Bluff. By the end of the war, he was a prisoner at the notorious Point Lookout POW camp in Maryland. Forever after, he walked with a pronounced limp.
Only his name provides a clue to the ambivalence that Guy must have felt in taking up arms for the South. He was raised in upstate New York before moving to Lynchburg after the death of his father in a construction accident, and he was named for then-New York governor DeWitt Clinton.
“Maybe he just enlisted because of peer pressure, because everyone else was doing it,” said director Doug Harvey of the Lynchburg Museum. “I guess we’ll never know.”
What is known is that Guy carried a small brown Bible with him as he marched from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Maryland. And as of last week, that Bible has joined the ranks of the Lynchburg museum’s Civil War collection.
“It had been in my possession for quite a few years,” said Joan Steward of Spencerport, N.Y., DeWitt Guy’s great-great-grandniece by marriage, “and my mother had it for a long time before me. I didn’t want something to happen to me and have it sold at auction.
“My brother and I had a discussion about where to take it, and Lynchburg just seemed like the most appropriate place.”
Along with the Bible, Joan and her husband Doug brought some photographs of Guy and a short family history when they stopped in Lynchburg.
“I just got a phone call that was kind of unexpected,” Harvey said, “although I had received a letter about it a year or so ago.”
DeWitt Guy’s father had worked on the James River & Kanawha Canal, which originally brought him to Lynchburg. Later, he migrated north to help with construction on the Erie Canal, referred to by the more cynical New Yorkers as “Clinton’s Ditch.”
“He was killed by a cave-in while he was working on a lock in Lockport (N.Y.),” Joan Steward said. “After that, his family came back to Lynchburg.”
When the war ended, Guy returned to the small western New York town of Ogden to court and marry Martha Flagg, a young woman he had known before moving south. After the wedding, however, he and his bride traveled back to Virginia, where he became a partner in a wholesale grocery firm (Bigbie, Guy & Thaxton) and a Mason.
Even in death, Guy crossed the line between North and South. Buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg, he was eventually disinterred at the request of his sister-in-law and his body moved up to Spencerport to be buried next to that of his wife.
“It’s one of the few graves in a northern cemetery with a Confederate flag and insignia on it,” Harvey said.
Meanwhile, said Steward, her mother “was always fascinated by the story and tended his grave most of her life.”
The Bible is in surprisingly good condition (“We can exhibit it pretty much as is,” Harvey said), and some faded writing on the title sheet and the end page provides a small nugget of Guy’s war experience.
“The first date he has entered is the first day his unit saw combat,” Harvey said. “The last date was when he was in prison.”
That final notation also confirms that Guy still considered himself “a member of Jefferson Davis’ Confederacy.”
(Hat tip to Kenny Rowlette of the National Civil War Chaplains Museum in Lynchburg, Virginia)
http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Feast Day Of St. Andrew And The Saltire Cross
From Confederate Catholic:
The Feast Day of St. Andrews and the Saltire Cross
inhisname01
November 30, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Tags: Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate States Army, Confederate States of America, Flags of the Confederate States of America, History, Joseph Johnson, P.G.T. Beauregard, St Andrews, Wars
Categories: Catholic, Civil War, heritage, Uncategorized, War For Southern Independence
URL: http://wp.me/p6ijd-kt
Today is the Feast Day of Jesus' First Apostle St. Andrews. St. Andrew is known as the apostle of the Cross on account of his martyrdom: like his brother Peter, Andrew suffered crucifixion, not in the same manner as Christ, but upon an x-shaped cross where he hung for days before his death.
St Andrew is crucified upon a saltire cross (from a Flemish Book of Hours).
The St Andrew's Cross was adopted by the Kings of Scotland as the Scottish flag and banner and later adopted by the Confederate States of America for its battle flag
General PGT Beauregard was one of the most famous Catholic Generals in the Confederate Army, there were 20 or so Catholic Generals in the CSA, along with Generals Joseph Johnson, and Gustavus Smith met to decide on a 'Battle Flag' for the the Army of the Potomac, to become the Army of Northern Virginia.
'The Battle flag is square, having a St Andrews. Gazkhan Cross of blue, edged with white, with thirteen equal white pointed stars; upon a red field; the whole bordered with white'. This flag was carried by the vast majority of the cavalry, infantry and artillery units in the Army of Northern Virginia.
This flag was supposed to come in three sizes; 48 inches square for infantry units; 36 inches square for artillery units; 30 inches square for cavalry.
The Feast Day of St. Andrews and the Saltire Cross
inhisname01
November 30, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Tags: Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate States Army, Confederate States of America, Flags of the Confederate States of America, History, Joseph Johnson, P.G.T. Beauregard, St Andrews, Wars
Categories: Catholic, Civil War, heritage, Uncategorized, War For Southern Independence
URL: http://wp.me/p6ijd-kt
Today is the Feast Day of Jesus' First Apostle St. Andrews. St. Andrew is known as the apostle of the Cross on account of his martyrdom: like his brother Peter, Andrew suffered crucifixion, not in the same manner as Christ, but upon an x-shaped cross where he hung for days before his death.
St Andrew is crucified upon a saltire cross (from a Flemish Book of Hours).
The St Andrew's Cross was adopted by the Kings of Scotland as the Scottish flag and banner and later adopted by the Confederate States of America for its battle flag
General PGT Beauregard was one of the most famous Catholic Generals in the Confederate Army, there were 20 or so Catholic Generals in the CSA, along with Generals Joseph Johnson, and Gustavus Smith met to decide on a 'Battle Flag' for the the Army of the Potomac, to become the Army of Northern Virginia.
'The Battle flag is square, having a St Andrews. Gazkhan Cross of blue, edged with white, with thirteen equal white pointed stars; upon a red field; the whole bordered with white'. This flag was carried by the vast majority of the cavalry, infantry and artillery units in the Army of Northern Virginia.
This flag was supposed to come in three sizes; 48 inches square for infantry units; 36 inches square for artillery units; 30 inches square for cavalry.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sam Davis: Boy Hero Of The Confederacy
From Confederate Digest:
Nov 29, 2010 (18 hours ago)
Sam Davis - Boy Hero of the Confederacy
This statue of Tennessee native Sam Davis, stands proudly in the shadow of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. Davis is memorialized for his heroic sacrifice his life in defense of his beloved Southland during the War Between the States - an act which earned him the title, Boy Hero of the Confederacy. A plaque at the base of the statue reads:
SAM DAVIS OF TENNESSEE
Born October 6, 1842, near Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Educated at the Western Military Institute at Nashville
Early in the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army
Company 1, First Tennessee Regiment.
In 1863 he was assigned to Shaw's Scouts, Cheatham's Division.
In November, 1863, when on duty,
Uniformed in Confederate butternut and grey,
Davis was captured in his native state, then within the Federal lines.
Important papers, descriptive of the Federal fortifications and forces,
Were found upon his person.
These papers had been given Davis by Captain Shaw
Who had also been captured and was confined to the same prison.
Davis was tried by court martial,
condemned to death and executed at Pulaski, November 27.
The Federal Commander offered Davis his life, if he would tell
who gave him the papers. To this offer, under the very shadow of
the gallows, Davis made his immortal reply:
"I would die a thousand deaths
Before I would betray a friend."
---
"Greater love hath no man than this,
That a man lay down his life for his friends."
Another plaque at the base of the statue offers this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
SAM DAVIS
When the Lord calls up earth's heroes,
To stand before His face,
O, many a name, unknown to fame
Shall ring from that high place;
Then out of a grave in the Southland
At the just God's call and beck,
Shall one man rise with fearless eyes
With a rope about his neck;
O Southland: bring your laurels,
And add your wreath, O North!
Let glory claim the hero's name
And tell the world his worth.
SAM DAVIS OF TENNESSEE
Born October 6, 1842, near Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Educated at the Western Military Institute at Nashville
Early in the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army
Company 1, First Tennessee Regiment.
In 1863 he was assigned to Shaw's Scouts, Cheatham's Division.
In November, 1863, when on duty,
Uniformed in Confederate butternut and grey,
Davis was captured in his native state, then within the Federal lines.
Important papers, descriptive of the Federal fortifications and forces,
Were found upon his person.
These papers had been given Davis by Captain Shaw
Who had also been captured and was confined to the same prison.
Davis was tried by court martial,
condemned to death and executed at Pulaski, November 27.
The Federal Commander offered Davis his life, if he would tell
who gave him the papers. To this offer, under the very shadow of
the gallows, Davis made his immortal reply:
"I would die a thousand deaths
Before I would betray a friend."
---
"Greater love hath no man than this,
That a man lay down his life for his friends."
Another plaque at the base of the statue offers this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
SAM DAVIS
When the Lord calls up earth's heroes,
To stand before His face,
O, many a name, unknown to fame
Shall ring from that high place;
Then out of a grave in the Southland
At the just God's call and beck,
Shall one man rise with fearless eyes
With a rope about his neck;
O Southland: bring your laurels,
And add your wreath, O North!
Let glory claim the hero's name
And tell the world his worth.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Procalamation: The Most Cynical And Hypocritical Speech Ever Delivered
From Lew Rockwell.com:
The Most Cynical and Hypocritical Speech Ever Delivered
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Recently by Thomas DiLorenzo: The Real Jefferson
Over the Thanksgiving holiday (decreed by Lincoln in 1863) one neocon Tabloid, National Review, reprinted Lincoln’s October 3, 1863 proclamation, highlighting Abe’s cynical reference to "the Most High God . . ." Another neocon Tabloid, The American Spectator, published the typical sappy, a-historical, fact-free, rhetorical mumbo jumbo about "Father Abraham" that Harry Jaffa and his fellow Lincoln cultists are known for.
The references to God in Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation, like all other such references in his political speeches, are breathtakingly cynical because of the fact that Lincoln never became a Christian (according to his wife and his closest friend and law partner, William Herndon); he never joined a church; rarely ever stepped foot into one; as a young man wrote an entire book that disputed Scripture; and was famous for his vulgar stories and language. But he studied the Bible as a political tool, just as today’s politicians study opinion polls.
Prior to 1863 Lincoln’s references to God and the Bible in his political speeches were mostly catch phrases and buzz words ("a house divided cannot stand"). But as more and more fellow American citizens were murdered by the thousands by his army, and as the war crimes mounted, Abe stepped up his Biblical lingo. By the time of his second inaugural he wrote a speech in which he absolved himself of all blame for the war ("the war [just] came," he said), blaming the whole bloody mess on God. Presuming to know what was in the mind of God, he theorized that the Lord was punishing all Americans, North and South, for the sin of slavery. He did not theorize on why God would not also punish the British, French, Spanish, and others who were responsible for bringing 95% of all the slaves to the Western Hemisphere. In other words, his Biblical language was always a diversion and a cover-up for the war crimes against American civilians (among other atrocities) that he was micromanaging.
The first sentence of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation is a real howler. The year 1863, he said, "has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies." What? Healthful skies?! As of the fall of 1863 there had been several hundred thousand battlefield casualties, including thousands of men in both armies who died of yellow fever and other dreaded diseases. There were more than 50,000 casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg alone, just three months earlier.
In the second sentence, Lincoln the non-Christian claimed that "we" are "prone to forget" that all of those "healthful skies" come from "the ever watchful providence of Almighty God." Speak for yourself, Abe!
This is followed by another howler, claiming that "peace has been preserved with all nations." He apparently forgot about the Confederate States of America that he was waging total war against.
It gets worse (and funnier). The next thing he says is that "order has been maintained." Stalin said the same thing about the Soviet Union. By that time Lincoln had imprisoned thousands of Northern political dissenters without due process since he illegally suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus. He had shut down hundreds of "unorderly" opposition newspapers, and deported poor old Congressman Clement Vallandigham of Dayton, Ohio, his most outspoken critic in Congress.
As Dean Sprague wrote in Freedom Under Lincoln (p. 299), under Lincoln’s "policy of oppression," the "entire judicial system was set aside" as "the laws were silent, indictments were not found, testimony was not taken, judges did not sit, juries were not impaneled, convictions were not obtained and sentences were not pronounced. The Anglo-Saxon concept of due process, perhaps the greatest political triumph of the ages and the best guardian of freedom, was abandoned."
Three months earlier there had been draft riots in New York City that one could hardly describe as "orderly." An eye witness to the riots was Colonel Arthur Fremantle of the British Army, who wrote the following about the New York City draft riots in his book, Three Months in the Southern States (p. 302):
The reports of outrages, hangings, and murder, were now most alarming, the terror and anxiety were universal. All shops were shut; all carriages and omnibuses had ceased running. No colored man or woman was visible or safe in the streets or even in his own dwelling. Telegraphs were cut, and railroad tracks torn up.
Lincolnian "order" was restored when Abe sent 15,000 troops to New York from the just-concluded Battle of Gettysburg. The troops fired indiscriminately into the draft protesters, killing hundreds, more likely thousands, of them according to Iver Bernstein, author of The New York City Draft Riots. (This scene was portrayed in the movie Gangs of New York, where Bernstein worked as an historical consultant to director Martin Scorcese).
But let’s not let historical facts get in our way. Let’s follow the neocon lead and swoon and weep and get chills up our legs over Abe’s Big Lie that "harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict."
The notion that there was "harmony" and "unity" in the Northern states during the war is one of the most outrageous lies in American history. Historian Ella Lonn described how Lincoln created "harmony" within the U.S. Army in the face of massive desertions by literally hundreds of thousands of Northern men in her book, Desertion During the Civil War. Draftees "were held like veritable prisoners" and Lincoln’s government "had no compunctions about shooting or hanging deserters," wrote Lonn. The murder of deserters achieved Nazi-like efficiency: "A gallows and shooting ground were provided in each corps and scarcely a Friday passed during the winter of 1863–64 that some wretched deserter did not suffer the death penalty in the Army of the Potomac. . . . The death penalty was so unsparingly used that executions were almost daily occurrences. . ." The "method of execution" was "generally shooting but hanging seems to have been used occasionally."
The Thanksgiving speech gets even worse. The very next uttering of Abe’s is that "the laws have been respected and obeyed." Well, not by Abraham Lincoln, certainly. Even his own attorney general, Robert Bates, stated that his suspension of Habeas Corpus was illegal and unconstitutional, as was the suppression of free speech throughout the North. West Virginia was illegally carved out of Virginia to form a new slave state as part of the union. And where in the Constitution is the president permitted to order soldiers to imprison and deport an opposition member of Congress without any due process? Or rig national elections and imprison duly-elected members of the Maryland state assembly without due process? Doesn’t the Constitution require presidents to see to it that the states have republican forms of government?
Indeed, Lincoln’s invasion of the Southern states was the very definition of treason under the U.S. Constitution. Article 3, Section 3 proclaims that: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort" (emphasis added). Treason under the U.S. Constitution consists "only" in waging war against "them," namely, the free, independent and sovereign states, plural. Lincoln redefined treason to mean any criticism by anyone of him or his administration. In fact, he even said that a man who stands by and says nothing while the war was being discussed was guilty of "treason."
Lincoln also violated international law and his own military code by intentionally waging war on American civilians for four years, killing more than 50,000 of them according to historian Jeffrey Rogers Hummel. Even pro-Sherman biographer Lee Kennett wrote in his book, Marching Through Georgia (p. 286), that "had the Confederates somehow won, had their victory put them in position to bring their chief opponents before some sort of tribunal, they would have found themselves justified (as victors generally do) in stringing up President Lincoln and the entire Union high command for violation of the laws of war, specifically for waging war against noncombatants."
All the "great things" that had happened since he became president, said Abe, were "the gracious gifts of the Most High God . . ." Therefore, he said, "we" should celebrate as "the whole American People" to give thanks to God with a national holiday. This was another very large contradiction: Lincoln never admitted that secession was legal, therefore, he always considered Southerners to be a part of "the whole American people" for political purposes. It is doubtful that a single Southerner, in 1863, would have heeded Abe’s advice and given thanks for all that he had done for them.
Lincoln concluded his Thanksgiving propaganda speech with more religious lingo, thanking the Lord for "the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility," and, get this – Union. The Union – always spelled with a capital "U" – was not just a practical political arrangement created by the founding generation mostly for foreign policy purposes, as Thomas Jefferson said it was. It was supposedly divine, the work of God. Lincoln the non-Christian knew this for sure. It’s what created The Divine Right of Lincoln, similar to The Divine Right of Kings during the Middle Ages.
This deification of the state echoed the words of the fanatical New England Unitarian preacher Henry W. Bellows, who worked in the Lincoln administration as its Sanitary Commissioner and whose son, Russell, was Robert Todd Lincoln’s Harvard classmate and best friend. (Lincoln’s son Robert spent the war years "fighting" for good grades at Harvard). Bellows authored a creepy, totalitarian-sounding book in 1863 entitled Unconditional Loyalty which declared that "the state is indeed divine, as being the great incarnation of a nation’s rights, privileges, honor and life" itself." Moreover, "the first and most sacred duty of loyal citizens" was "to rally round the president – without question or dispute."
In his new book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and Slavery (p. 265), Lincoln cultist Eric Foner informs us that "it is not surprising that Lincoln seemed to share this outlook." This "outlook" would have caused George Washington to reach for his sword and lead another Revolution against another despotic and dictatorial regime.
November 30, 2010
Thomas J. DiLorenzo [send him mail] is professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland and the author of The Real Lincoln; Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe and How Capitalism Saved America. His latest book is Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution – And What It Means for America Today.
Copyright © 2010 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
The Most Cynical and Hypocritical Speech Ever Delivered
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Recently by Thomas DiLorenzo: The Real Jefferson
Over the Thanksgiving holiday (decreed by Lincoln in 1863) one neocon Tabloid, National Review, reprinted Lincoln’s October 3, 1863 proclamation, highlighting Abe’s cynical reference to "the Most High God . . ." Another neocon Tabloid, The American Spectator, published the typical sappy, a-historical, fact-free, rhetorical mumbo jumbo about "Father Abraham" that Harry Jaffa and his fellow Lincoln cultists are known for.
The references to God in Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation, like all other such references in his political speeches, are breathtakingly cynical because of the fact that Lincoln never became a Christian (according to his wife and his closest friend and law partner, William Herndon); he never joined a church; rarely ever stepped foot into one; as a young man wrote an entire book that disputed Scripture; and was famous for his vulgar stories and language. But he studied the Bible as a political tool, just as today’s politicians study opinion polls.
Prior to 1863 Lincoln’s references to God and the Bible in his political speeches were mostly catch phrases and buzz words ("a house divided cannot stand"). But as more and more fellow American citizens were murdered by the thousands by his army, and as the war crimes mounted, Abe stepped up his Biblical lingo. By the time of his second inaugural he wrote a speech in which he absolved himself of all blame for the war ("the war [just] came," he said), blaming the whole bloody mess on God. Presuming to know what was in the mind of God, he theorized that the Lord was punishing all Americans, North and South, for the sin of slavery. He did not theorize on why God would not also punish the British, French, Spanish, and others who were responsible for bringing 95% of all the slaves to the Western Hemisphere. In other words, his Biblical language was always a diversion and a cover-up for the war crimes against American civilians (among other atrocities) that he was micromanaging.
The first sentence of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation is a real howler. The year 1863, he said, "has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies." What? Healthful skies?! As of the fall of 1863 there had been several hundred thousand battlefield casualties, including thousands of men in both armies who died of yellow fever and other dreaded diseases. There were more than 50,000 casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg alone, just three months earlier.
In the second sentence, Lincoln the non-Christian claimed that "we" are "prone to forget" that all of those "healthful skies" come from "the ever watchful providence of Almighty God." Speak for yourself, Abe!
This is followed by another howler, claiming that "peace has been preserved with all nations." He apparently forgot about the Confederate States of America that he was waging total war against.
It gets worse (and funnier). The next thing he says is that "order has been maintained." Stalin said the same thing about the Soviet Union. By that time Lincoln had imprisoned thousands of Northern political dissenters without due process since he illegally suspended the writ of Habeas Corpus. He had shut down hundreds of "unorderly" opposition newspapers, and deported poor old Congressman Clement Vallandigham of Dayton, Ohio, his most outspoken critic in Congress.
As Dean Sprague wrote in Freedom Under Lincoln (p. 299), under Lincoln’s "policy of oppression," the "entire judicial system was set aside" as "the laws were silent, indictments were not found, testimony was not taken, judges did not sit, juries were not impaneled, convictions were not obtained and sentences were not pronounced. The Anglo-Saxon concept of due process, perhaps the greatest political triumph of the ages and the best guardian of freedom, was abandoned."
Three months earlier there had been draft riots in New York City that one could hardly describe as "orderly." An eye witness to the riots was Colonel Arthur Fremantle of the British Army, who wrote the following about the New York City draft riots in his book, Three Months in the Southern States (p. 302):
The reports of outrages, hangings, and murder, were now most alarming, the terror and anxiety were universal. All shops were shut; all carriages and omnibuses had ceased running. No colored man or woman was visible or safe in the streets or even in his own dwelling. Telegraphs were cut, and railroad tracks torn up.
Lincolnian "order" was restored when Abe sent 15,000 troops to New York from the just-concluded Battle of Gettysburg. The troops fired indiscriminately into the draft protesters, killing hundreds, more likely thousands, of them according to Iver Bernstein, author of The New York City Draft Riots. (This scene was portrayed in the movie Gangs of New York, where Bernstein worked as an historical consultant to director Martin Scorcese).
But let’s not let historical facts get in our way. Let’s follow the neocon lead and swoon and weep and get chills up our legs over Abe’s Big Lie that "harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict."
The notion that there was "harmony" and "unity" in the Northern states during the war is one of the most outrageous lies in American history. Historian Ella Lonn described how Lincoln created "harmony" within the U.S. Army in the face of massive desertions by literally hundreds of thousands of Northern men in her book, Desertion During the Civil War. Draftees "were held like veritable prisoners" and Lincoln’s government "had no compunctions about shooting or hanging deserters," wrote Lonn. The murder of deserters achieved Nazi-like efficiency: "A gallows and shooting ground were provided in each corps and scarcely a Friday passed during the winter of 1863–64 that some wretched deserter did not suffer the death penalty in the Army of the Potomac. . . . The death penalty was so unsparingly used that executions were almost daily occurrences. . ." The "method of execution" was "generally shooting but hanging seems to have been used occasionally."
The Thanksgiving speech gets even worse. The very next uttering of Abe’s is that "the laws have been respected and obeyed." Well, not by Abraham Lincoln, certainly. Even his own attorney general, Robert Bates, stated that his suspension of Habeas Corpus was illegal and unconstitutional, as was the suppression of free speech throughout the North. West Virginia was illegally carved out of Virginia to form a new slave state as part of the union. And where in the Constitution is the president permitted to order soldiers to imprison and deport an opposition member of Congress without any due process? Or rig national elections and imprison duly-elected members of the Maryland state assembly without due process? Doesn’t the Constitution require presidents to see to it that the states have republican forms of government?
Indeed, Lincoln’s invasion of the Southern states was the very definition of treason under the U.S. Constitution. Article 3, Section 3 proclaims that: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort" (emphasis added). Treason under the U.S. Constitution consists "only" in waging war against "them," namely, the free, independent and sovereign states, plural. Lincoln redefined treason to mean any criticism by anyone of him or his administration. In fact, he even said that a man who stands by and says nothing while the war was being discussed was guilty of "treason."
Lincoln also violated international law and his own military code by intentionally waging war on American civilians for four years, killing more than 50,000 of them according to historian Jeffrey Rogers Hummel. Even pro-Sherman biographer Lee Kennett wrote in his book, Marching Through Georgia (p. 286), that "had the Confederates somehow won, had their victory put them in position to bring their chief opponents before some sort of tribunal, they would have found themselves justified (as victors generally do) in stringing up President Lincoln and the entire Union high command for violation of the laws of war, specifically for waging war against noncombatants."
All the "great things" that had happened since he became president, said Abe, were "the gracious gifts of the Most High God . . ." Therefore, he said, "we" should celebrate as "the whole American People" to give thanks to God with a national holiday. This was another very large contradiction: Lincoln never admitted that secession was legal, therefore, he always considered Southerners to be a part of "the whole American people" for political purposes. It is doubtful that a single Southerner, in 1863, would have heeded Abe’s advice and given thanks for all that he had done for them.
Lincoln concluded his Thanksgiving propaganda speech with more religious lingo, thanking the Lord for "the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility," and, get this – Union. The Union – always spelled with a capital "U" – was not just a practical political arrangement created by the founding generation mostly for foreign policy purposes, as Thomas Jefferson said it was. It was supposedly divine, the work of God. Lincoln the non-Christian knew this for sure. It’s what created The Divine Right of Lincoln, similar to The Divine Right of Kings during the Middle Ages.
This deification of the state echoed the words of the fanatical New England Unitarian preacher Henry W. Bellows, who worked in the Lincoln administration as its Sanitary Commissioner and whose son, Russell, was Robert Todd Lincoln’s Harvard classmate and best friend. (Lincoln’s son Robert spent the war years "fighting" for good grades at Harvard). Bellows authored a creepy, totalitarian-sounding book in 1863 entitled Unconditional Loyalty which declared that "the state is indeed divine, as being the great incarnation of a nation’s rights, privileges, honor and life" itself." Moreover, "the first and most sacred duty of loyal citizens" was "to rally round the president – without question or dispute."
In his new book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and Slavery (p. 265), Lincoln cultist Eric Foner informs us that "it is not surprising that Lincoln seemed to share this outlook." This "outlook" would have caused George Washington to reach for his sword and lead another Revolution against another despotic and dictatorial regime.
November 30, 2010
Thomas J. DiLorenzo [send him mail] is professor of economics at Loyola College in Maryland and the author of The Real Lincoln; Lincoln Unmasked: What You’re Not Supposed To Know about Dishonest Abe and How Capitalism Saved America. His latest book is Hamilton’s Curse: How Jefferson’s Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution – And What It Means for America Today.
Copyright © 2010 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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