I think it's appropriate that I call this Holiday by its original name. It's time we remember what this nation went through to get where it is Today.
The Day had its origins on May 1, 1865, right after the end of the American Civil War. It was originally celebrated by freedmen, as the freed slaves were called. Appropriately enough for the holiday's Civil War roots, the day was founded in Charleston, South Carolina.
Decoration Day began three years later, at the order of Union General John A. Logan. The date for the celebration way May 30, 1868. A date that lasted for a hundred years, until Congress, in its usual boneheadedness, created the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, also known as the three day weekend law. This law didn't take effect until 1971. By the time I was in High School the damage had been done. Memorial Day was seen as nothing more than the beginning of the Summer Season. As I went to High School on Cape Cod, that was still a big deal, but nothing like what it really meant. A lot of people died so that we could open the beaches. (It really sounds crass when you put it that way, doesn't it).
Supposedly Memorial Day is supposed to honor "The Fallen" and Veterans Day "The Living", yet still, it missed the mark.
More that 3 million men fought in the war, over 620,000 died. If the nation had stayed divided, Slavery would have become an institution in the South to this day. Without a war, I still believe technology would have made slavery obsolete within 10-15 years (1870-75). But with the war, if the South had "won" (i.e. put up enough of a resistance to force the European Powers to intervene, created an arbitrated peace), the result would have been seen as a vindication of the Peculiar Institution, and it would have survived.
Enjoy the cookout, enjoy the Summer, but never forget the cost. The Civil War ensured that our nation would be around today, with freedom and liberty for all. Because of the slavery part of the story, the Civil War is the true "Forgotten War". Nobody wants to talk about it. In fact, there are people out there trying to rewrite the results at best, and purge the very memory of the war from our existence at worst. That is wrong. You don't learn from history if you try to pretend it didn't happen. God Bless You all, and God Bless America.
Showing posts with label The Civil War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Civil War. Show all posts
Monday, May 27, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Character Interview: John Lee Anderson
Don't let this get around, but writers have access to some of the most cutting edge technology out there. I mean, there would be a mad rush if everybody knew, but we have a Way-Back Machine. For this interview, we are going back to the "City" of Reno. I put that in quotes because there's only six thousand or so in the Whole of Washoe County. Now this is a kind of scoop for bloggers everywhere. Getting a one on one interview with the Minister of War of the Republic of Ansdale during their War of Independence against The United States. Minister of War John Lee Anderson.
CG: General Anderson, thank you for having me here today.
JLA: If an interview with an Eastern Newspaper will help put pressure on Washington to let us go our own way, then it is worth it (NOTE: I told him I worked for a newspaper. It's easier than explaining a blog to someone in the 19th Century.)
CG: How shall I describe you to my readers? Western Pioneer?, Mexican War Veteran?, Father of His Country?
JLA: I think that 'A Loyal Servant of His Country' would suffice.
CG: Some would think that strange coming from someone currently at war against his former country.
JLA: That would depend on your definition of country. Since 1855 I have considered my country to be Dakota, and by extension, the West.
CG: 1855, that would be President Pierce.
JLA: Correct.
CG: A review of your military career reveals only one gap, that of the civil war. Some would accuse you of disloyalty by sitting out the war when you were needed.
JLA: If President Lincoln had ordered Fort Ansdale to joint the fight, then I would have complied. Dakota was far outside the theatre of war, and I was not going to risk the lives of my men in a regional squabble that we had no cause to involve ourselves in. The Decision did make me many enemies, though.
CG: One of those enemies, George Armstrong Custer, recently met his untimely, though some would say not entirely unexpected end at Little Big Horn. Now history records the actions of Crazy Horse being responsible to the victory, but you have a different view.
JLA: Crazy Horse was involved, but I think it is unconscionable that the role of the Ansdale Native Cavalry was not recognized. Without their and various other Republican Troops, Custer and his troops would have triumphed, which would have been very bad for our cause. I know it is uncouth to feel no sorrow over the passing of a former soldier in arms. Perhaps if he was less of an ass I would.
CG: Back to the former Civil War. Since you are a native Kentuckian and having married a Southern Belle who was cousin to Jeff Davis himself, one might infer that your sympathies were with the South.
JLA: And they would be wrong. I am also brother to Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter fame. As to Susan, she was the loyal Army Wife and followed my choice. Sauf Asir was even used as a stop on the Underground Railroad, with the full approval of Mistress Davis (NOTE: Sauf Asir is the Davis Family Plantation near Mobile, Alabama)
CG: That may not clear you of suspicion, General. I know for a fact that you were not exactly a fan of Secretary of State Seward, at least as far as your brother is concerned.
JLA: Seward used Sumter as a pawn to placate the South, and he failed. There was a way to save both Sumter and Pickens, and he failed. Seward is dead, however, and I am not. I will speak no more of this.
CG: Certainly Seward couldn't be all that bad. He was responsible for the Alaska purchase.
JLA: In some sense he is the Father of The Republic. Alaska has been quite profitable to our cause in that respect.
CG: I feel its profitability is yet to be tapped, General. Getting back to the Southern rebellion, what is your personal view as to Slavery?
JLA: I am glad it is gone, but I am still convinced that the price was too high. If we could have been just a bit more patient, I am convinced that agricultural machines such as the McCormick Reaper would have caused slavery to wither and die in a couple of years.
CG: So your view on the Freedman's Bureau call for "40 Acres and a Mule"?
JLA: It is misguided. I am glad it has not been official policy for Lincoln, Johnson or Grant. You can not rectify a wrong by creating another wrong. We have already proved that with the so-called Reconstruction. The Rise of The Klan can be directly linked to the misguided attempts of the Radical Republicans to make the "South Pay" for the war.
CG: I know that your wife's family was a slave holding family, and I believe yours was as well. Wouldn't it be reasonable to say that you should have favored the Confederacy?
JLA: Not at all. Fewer than ten percent of Southerners owned slaves, and most of those were like Susan's family, which owned less than five slaves. While the war eventually revolved around the abolition of Slavery, it was initially about States Rights. Secession occurred to protest Federal Control of State affairs.
CG: Some feel that the last war settled the issue of secession forever?
JLA: I disagree. All it settled was slavery. And the fact that the side with the most guns will most likely win. We only have a few States out west, mostly we have territories. Until war broke out, we had a desire to be admitted to the Union as a State. If we were not in the Union, how can we be faulted for leaving it?
CG: For the sake of my readers, what are your reasons for separation?
JLA: There are many, but I will mention the most egregious. While the people of Alaska should have been admitted to all the rights and privileges afforded Citizens of The United States ten years ago, they had not even been afforded the most basic of civil laws. We had to act. Now we have war.
CG: The war is now entering its sixth year, already two years longer than The Confederacy held out. They say there is no end in sight. What is the secret to your success?
JLA: Success only comes with victory. The secret to our resistance lies in the fact that the Federals have been unable to control the field of battle. We are able to attack quickly and then withdraw into the frontier. It has been extremely disheartening to the Federals
CG: Is that all?
JLA: No. We have also gambled on new weapons. Our artillery has been assigned the Gatling Gun, and our navy has purchased a new invention which is called the torpedo. We are extremely pleased with the tests on this weapon and are eager to see how it performs in an engagement.
CG: It is interesting that you have used the word gamble, because I see that your middle son Robert is courting Leah Quantrill, who is quite the card shark.
JLA: And quite the Cavalry Officer. Yes, Yes, and the Daughter of Satan. Susan is still not quite sure how to act around her, but Robert is smitten with her, and she with him. On one of her trips through she gave me some plans for a series of gambling and music halls that she thinks would liven things up here. I admire her initiative, but I doubt that sort of business would amount to anything.
CG: I would not reject the proposal entirely, General. You could hide them from the general population, so as not to stir up much opposition. Perhaps the Nevada desert. At least if the idea is unsuccessful it will be lost in the desert sand.
JLA: An excellent idea.
CG: In closing, I heard your daughter Katherine recently got married. Congratulations.
JLA: Susan and I are extremely proud. I think we'll have to wait a while for any grandchildren, because Katherine is happy at Fort Republic in Alaska and Major Morgan is commanding the First Cavalry at Wyoming. Susan did an extremely fine job transforming Fort Republic into Mobile, except for the weather.
CG: General Anderson, thank you for your time
CG: General Anderson, thank you for having me here today.
JLA: If an interview with an Eastern Newspaper will help put pressure on Washington to let us go our own way, then it is worth it (NOTE: I told him I worked for a newspaper. It's easier than explaining a blog to someone in the 19th Century.)
CG: How shall I describe you to my readers? Western Pioneer?, Mexican War Veteran?, Father of His Country?
JLA: I think that 'A Loyal Servant of His Country' would suffice.
CG: Some would think that strange coming from someone currently at war against his former country.
JLA: That would depend on your definition of country. Since 1855 I have considered my country to be Dakota, and by extension, the West.
CG: 1855, that would be President Pierce.
JLA: Correct.
CG: A review of your military career reveals only one gap, that of the civil war. Some would accuse you of disloyalty by sitting out the war when you were needed.
JLA: If President Lincoln had ordered Fort Ansdale to joint the fight, then I would have complied. Dakota was far outside the theatre of war, and I was not going to risk the lives of my men in a regional squabble that we had no cause to involve ourselves in. The Decision did make me many enemies, though.
CG: One of those enemies, George Armstrong Custer, recently met his untimely, though some would say not entirely unexpected end at Little Big Horn. Now history records the actions of Crazy Horse being responsible to the victory, but you have a different view.
JLA: Crazy Horse was involved, but I think it is unconscionable that the role of the Ansdale Native Cavalry was not recognized. Without their and various other Republican Troops, Custer and his troops would have triumphed, which would have been very bad for our cause. I know it is uncouth to feel no sorrow over the passing of a former soldier in arms. Perhaps if he was less of an ass I would.
CG: Back to the former Civil War. Since you are a native Kentuckian and having married a Southern Belle who was cousin to Jeff Davis himself, one might infer that your sympathies were with the South.
JLA: And they would be wrong. I am also brother to Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter fame. As to Susan, she was the loyal Army Wife and followed my choice. Sauf Asir was even used as a stop on the Underground Railroad, with the full approval of Mistress Davis (NOTE: Sauf Asir is the Davis Family Plantation near Mobile, Alabama)
CG: That may not clear you of suspicion, General. I know for a fact that you were not exactly a fan of Secretary of State Seward, at least as far as your brother is concerned.
JLA: Seward used Sumter as a pawn to placate the South, and he failed. There was a way to save both Sumter and Pickens, and he failed. Seward is dead, however, and I am not. I will speak no more of this.
CG: Certainly Seward couldn't be all that bad. He was responsible for the Alaska purchase.
JLA: In some sense he is the Father of The Republic. Alaska has been quite profitable to our cause in that respect.
CG: I feel its profitability is yet to be tapped, General. Getting back to the Southern rebellion, what is your personal view as to Slavery?
JLA: I am glad it is gone, but I am still convinced that the price was too high. If we could have been just a bit more patient, I am convinced that agricultural machines such as the McCormick Reaper would have caused slavery to wither and die in a couple of years.
CG: So your view on the Freedman's Bureau call for "40 Acres and a Mule"?
JLA: It is misguided. I am glad it has not been official policy for Lincoln, Johnson or Grant. You can not rectify a wrong by creating another wrong. We have already proved that with the so-called Reconstruction. The Rise of The Klan can be directly linked to the misguided attempts of the Radical Republicans to make the "South Pay" for the war.
CG: I know that your wife's family was a slave holding family, and I believe yours was as well. Wouldn't it be reasonable to say that you should have favored the Confederacy?
JLA: Not at all. Fewer than ten percent of Southerners owned slaves, and most of those were like Susan's family, which owned less than five slaves. While the war eventually revolved around the abolition of Slavery, it was initially about States Rights. Secession occurred to protest Federal Control of State affairs.
CG: Some feel that the last war settled the issue of secession forever?
JLA: I disagree. All it settled was slavery. And the fact that the side with the most guns will most likely win. We only have a few States out west, mostly we have territories. Until war broke out, we had a desire to be admitted to the Union as a State. If we were not in the Union, how can we be faulted for leaving it?
CG: For the sake of my readers, what are your reasons for separation?
JLA: There are many, but I will mention the most egregious. While the people of Alaska should have been admitted to all the rights and privileges afforded Citizens of The United States ten years ago, they had not even been afforded the most basic of civil laws. We had to act. Now we have war.
CG: The war is now entering its sixth year, already two years longer than The Confederacy held out. They say there is no end in sight. What is the secret to your success?
JLA: Success only comes with victory. The secret to our resistance lies in the fact that the Federals have been unable to control the field of battle. We are able to attack quickly and then withdraw into the frontier. It has been extremely disheartening to the Federals
CG: Is that all?
JLA: No. We have also gambled on new weapons. Our artillery has been assigned the Gatling Gun, and our navy has purchased a new invention which is called the torpedo. We are extremely pleased with the tests on this weapon and are eager to see how it performs in an engagement.
CG: It is interesting that you have used the word gamble, because I see that your middle son Robert is courting Leah Quantrill, who is quite the card shark.
JLA: And quite the Cavalry Officer. Yes, Yes, and the Daughter of Satan. Susan is still not quite sure how to act around her, but Robert is smitten with her, and she with him. On one of her trips through she gave me some plans for a series of gambling and music halls that she thinks would liven things up here. I admire her initiative, but I doubt that sort of business would amount to anything.
CG: I would not reject the proposal entirely, General. You could hide them from the general population, so as not to stir up much opposition. Perhaps the Nevada desert. At least if the idea is unsuccessful it will be lost in the desert sand.
JLA: An excellent idea.
CG: In closing, I heard your daughter Katherine recently got married. Congratulations.
JLA: Susan and I are extremely proud. I think we'll have to wait a while for any grandchildren, because Katherine is happy at Fort Republic in Alaska and Major Morgan is commanding the First Cavalry at Wyoming. Susan did an extremely fine job transforming Fort Republic into Mobile, except for the weather.
CG: General Anderson, thank you for your time
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