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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 11/19/13 at 5:45 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 11/19/13 at 5:45 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 19 November 1863
It was the day of dedication for the new National Military Cemetery at Gettysburg. As was expected on such a solemn occasion, the greatest orator of the day, Edward Everett, was engaged to speak. He delivered a brilliant performance, declaiming for two hours on the history of war from ancient times to now. After he was done, the President of the United States rose to the podium. His voice, often described as thin and reedy, was not a match for Everett's. Some in the crowd, unable to hear, pushed forward, or complained that he should speak louder. About the time they got within earshot, President Lincoln sat down again. Newspaper reviews the next day were very mixed. Lincoln-who had left a gravely ill child and very nervous wife back in Washington-and who was not feeling very well himself, headed at once for the train station and home. Below is one version of the speech, read today by many who think it is more dedicated toward the "freedom" of the struggling Southern states at the time, than the despotic Northern invaders bent on forever banishing states' rights from the Constitution.
"The Bliss Copy"- Ever since Lincoln wrote it in 1864, this version has been the most often reproduced,
notably on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. It is named after Colonel
Alexander Bliss, stepson of historian George Bancroft. Bancroft asked President
Lincoln for a copy to use as a fundraiser for soldiers (see "Bancroft Copy" below).
However, because Lincoln wrote on both sides of the paper, the speech could
not be reprinted, so Lincoln made another copy at Bliss's request. It is the last
known copy written by Lincoln and the only one signed and dated by him. Today it
is on display at the Lincoln Room of the White House.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a
new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any
nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a
final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will
little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what
they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us --
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863
General Hampton and General Thomas L. Rosser returned to Fredericksburg, Virginia, from an expedition into Culpeper County. On Tuesday night last they crossed the Rapidan with detachments from Rosser's, Gordon's, and Young's brigades, all under the immediate command of General Rosser, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the enemy on the other side. After marching all night over a desperate road, they succeeded, about daylight on Wednesday morning, in locating the pickets of the enemy. That being accomplished, General Rosser immediately ordered a charge, which was executed by his brigade in the most gallant style, driving the advance back upon the main body, which was encamped a short distance in the rear. Here the enemy had formed a line of defense; but, in defiance of a heavy fire poured into his command, General Rosser pressed forward, and soon drove the entire force (the Eighteenth Pennsylvania cavalry) through their encampment, and pursued them some miles beyond, in the direction of Stevensburg.
The result of this exploit was the capture of sixty prisoners, among them an adjutant and one lieutenant, two flags, one hundred horses and mules, a number of tents, all the wagons, baggage, etc., of the encampment. The enemy fled through the woods in every direction, many of them without having completed their toilet for the day. Having located the enemy, (the original object of the expedition,) and obtained other valuable information, the command was withdrawn, by the way of Germanna Ford, to the other side of the river, where the prisoners and other captures had been previously forwarded.
A detachment, composed of companies G, H, I, and K, of the Fifty-eighth regiment of Illinois infantry, with a portion of the Second Illinois cavalry, under the command of Captain Franklin B. Moore, pursued Faulkner's Rebel partisans to a point on Obion River, four miles from Union City, Tennessee, where, in attempting to cross the river, the Southerners were fired on, and eleven of their number killed. The Federals captured fifty-three prisoners, a wagon load of small arms, thirty-three horses, and four mules. Their casualties were one man wounded and five horses shot.
Large and spirited meetings were held in all the wards in Boston, Massachusetts, last night, to encourage volunteering. Committees were appointed, and the work was pursued with energy. A similar movement was made in cities and towns throughout the State.
It was the day of dedication for the new National Military Cemetery at Gettysburg. As was expected on such a solemn occasion, the greatest orator of the day, Edward Everett, was engaged to speak. He delivered a brilliant performance, declaiming for two hours on the history of war from ancient times to now. After he was done, the President of the United States rose to the podium. His voice, often described as thin and reedy, was not a match for Everett's. Some in the crowd, unable to hear, pushed forward, or complained that he should speak louder. About the time they got within earshot, President Lincoln sat down again. Newspaper reviews the next day were very mixed. Lincoln-who had left a gravely ill child and very nervous wife back in Washington-and who was not feeling very well himself, headed at once for the train station and home. Below is one version of the speech, read today by many who think it is more dedicated toward the "freedom" of the struggling Southern states at the time, than the despotic Northern invaders bent on forever banishing states' rights from the Constitution.
"The Bliss Copy"- Ever since Lincoln wrote it in 1864, this version has been the most often reproduced,
notably on the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. It is named after Colonel
Alexander Bliss, stepson of historian George Bancroft. Bancroft asked President
Lincoln for a copy to use as a fundraiser for soldiers (see "Bancroft Copy" below).
However, because Lincoln wrote on both sides of the paper, the speech could
not be reprinted, so Lincoln made another copy at Bliss's request. It is the last
known copy written by Lincoln and the only one signed and dated by him. Today it
is on display at the Lincoln Room of the White House.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a
new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any
nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a
final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not
hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will
little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what
they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us --
that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall
have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863
General Hampton and General Thomas L. Rosser returned to Fredericksburg, Virginia, from an expedition into Culpeper County. On Tuesday night last they crossed the Rapidan with detachments from Rosser's, Gordon's, and Young's brigades, all under the immediate command of General Rosser, for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the enemy on the other side. After marching all night over a desperate road, they succeeded, about daylight on Wednesday morning, in locating the pickets of the enemy. That being accomplished, General Rosser immediately ordered a charge, which was executed by his brigade in the most gallant style, driving the advance back upon the main body, which was encamped a short distance in the rear. Here the enemy had formed a line of defense; but, in defiance of a heavy fire poured into his command, General Rosser pressed forward, and soon drove the entire force (the Eighteenth Pennsylvania cavalry) through their encampment, and pursued them some miles beyond, in the direction of Stevensburg.
The result of this exploit was the capture of sixty prisoners, among them an adjutant and one lieutenant, two flags, one hundred horses and mules, a number of tents, all the wagons, baggage, etc., of the encampment. The enemy fled through the woods in every direction, many of them without having completed their toilet for the day. Having located the enemy, (the original object of the expedition,) and obtained other valuable information, the command was withdrawn, by the way of Germanna Ford, to the other side of the river, where the prisoners and other captures had been previously forwarded.
A detachment, composed of companies G, H, I, and K, of the Fifty-eighth regiment of Illinois infantry, with a portion of the Second Illinois cavalry, under the command of Captain Franklin B. Moore, pursued Faulkner's Rebel partisans to a point on Obion River, four miles from Union City, Tennessee, where, in attempting to cross the river, the Southerners were fired on, and eleven of their number killed. The Federals captured fifty-three prisoners, a wagon load of small arms, thirty-three horses, and four mules. Their casualties were one man wounded and five horses shot.
Large and spirited meetings were held in all the wards in Boston, Massachusetts, last night, to encourage volunteering. Committees were appointed, and the work was pursued with energy. A similar movement was made in cities and towns throughout the State.
1
Posted on 11/20/13 at 4:20 am to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 20 November 1863
At yesterday’s dedication ceremony of the new National Military Cemetery at Gettysburg, Edward Everett, the noted orator, had spoken for some two hours. He was followed by President Abraham Lincoln, who spoke for less than two minutes. The newspapermen in attendance, not all of whom had even been able to hear the President clearly, had been exceedingly lukewarm to harsh in their opinions of his address. This morning, however, it was Everett who sent Lincoln a letter of congratulations on his speech. Lincoln had better grasped “the central idea of the occasion,” he said. Lincoln, modestly, wrote back to Everett his thanks. “I am pleased to know that, in your judgment, the little I did say was not entirely a failure.”
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, eager to return to sea duty in the Gulf, informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles from New York that the USS Hartford and Brooklyn "will not be ready for sea in less than three weeks, from the best information I can obtain. I particularly regret it, because I see that General Banks is in the field and my services may be required." The Admiral noted that he had received a letter from Commodore Bell, commanding in his absence, which indicated that there were not enough ships to serve on the Texas coast and maintain the blockade elsewhere as well. Farragut noted that some turreted ironclads were building at St. Louis and suggested: "They draw about 6 feet of water and will be the very vessels to operate in the shallow waters of Texas , if the Department would order them down there." Three days later, the Secretary asked Rear Admiral Potter to "...consider the subject and inform the Department as early as practicable to what extent Farragut's wishes can be complied with." Porter replied on the 27th that he could supply Farragut with eight light drafts "...in the course of a month" and that "six weeks from today I could have ten vessels sent to Admiral Farragut, if I can get the officers and men..."
The Solicitor of the War Department, Mr. William Whiting, in a letter to a gentleman in Boston, wrote as follows: There are several serious difficulties in the way of continuing an exchange of prisoners. One is the bad faith of the enemy in putting into active service many thousands of paroled prisoners, captured at Vicksburg and elsewhere, without releasing any of our soldiers held by them. But another difficulty of still grater importance is the peremptory refusal by the enemy to exchange colored soldiers and their white officers upon any terms whatever. It is well known that they have threatened to sell colored captured soldiers into slavery, and to hang their white officers. The Government demands that all officers and soldiers should be fairly exchanged, otherwise no more prisoners of war will be given up. The faith of the Government is pledged to these officers and troops that they shall be protected, and it cannot and will not abandon to the savage cruelty of slave-masters a single officer or soldier who has been called on to defend the flag of his country, and thus exposed to the hazards of war. It has been suggested that exchanges might go on until all except the colored troops and their white officers have been given up. But if this were allowed, the rebels would not only be relieved of the burden of maintaining our troops, but they would get back their own men, retaining their power over the very persons whom we are solemnly bound to rescue, and upon whom they could then, without fear of retaliation, carry into execution the inhuman cruelties they have so basely threatened. The President has ordered that the stern law of retaliation shall, without hesitation, be enforced, to avenge the death of the first Union soldier, of whatever color, whom the enemy shall in cold blood destroy or sell into slavery. All other questions between us may be postponed for future settlement, but the fair exchange of colored soldiers and of their white officers will be insisted on by the Government before another rebel soldier or officer will be exchanged.
At yesterday’s dedication ceremony of the new National Military Cemetery at Gettysburg, Edward Everett, the noted orator, had spoken for some two hours. He was followed by President Abraham Lincoln, who spoke for less than two minutes. The newspapermen in attendance, not all of whom had even been able to hear the President clearly, had been exceedingly lukewarm to harsh in their opinions of his address. This morning, however, it was Everett who sent Lincoln a letter of congratulations on his speech. Lincoln had better grasped “the central idea of the occasion,” he said. Lincoln, modestly, wrote back to Everett his thanks. “I am pleased to know that, in your judgment, the little I did say was not entirely a failure.”
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, eager to return to sea duty in the Gulf, informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles from New York that the USS Hartford and Brooklyn "will not be ready for sea in less than three weeks, from the best information I can obtain. I particularly regret it, because I see that General Banks is in the field and my services may be required." The Admiral noted that he had received a letter from Commodore Bell, commanding in his absence, which indicated that there were not enough ships to serve on the Texas coast and maintain the blockade elsewhere as well. Farragut noted that some turreted ironclads were building at St. Louis and suggested: "They draw about 6 feet of water and will be the very vessels to operate in the shallow waters of Texas , if the Department would order them down there." Three days later, the Secretary asked Rear Admiral Potter to "...consider the subject and inform the Department as early as practicable to what extent Farragut's wishes can be complied with." Porter replied on the 27th that he could supply Farragut with eight light drafts "...in the course of a month" and that "six weeks from today I could have ten vessels sent to Admiral Farragut, if I can get the officers and men..."
The Solicitor of the War Department, Mr. William Whiting, in a letter to a gentleman in Boston, wrote as follows: There are several serious difficulties in the way of continuing an exchange of prisoners. One is the bad faith of the enemy in putting into active service many thousands of paroled prisoners, captured at Vicksburg and elsewhere, without releasing any of our soldiers held by them. But another difficulty of still grater importance is the peremptory refusal by the enemy to exchange colored soldiers and their white officers upon any terms whatever. It is well known that they have threatened to sell colored captured soldiers into slavery, and to hang their white officers. The Government demands that all officers and soldiers should be fairly exchanged, otherwise no more prisoners of war will be given up. The faith of the Government is pledged to these officers and troops that they shall be protected, and it cannot and will not abandon to the savage cruelty of slave-masters a single officer or soldier who has been called on to defend the flag of his country, and thus exposed to the hazards of war. It has been suggested that exchanges might go on until all except the colored troops and their white officers have been given up. But if this were allowed, the rebels would not only be relieved of the burden of maintaining our troops, but they would get back their own men, retaining their power over the very persons whom we are solemnly bound to rescue, and upon whom they could then, without fear of retaliation, carry into execution the inhuman cruelties they have so basely threatened. The President has ordered that the stern law of retaliation shall, without hesitation, be enforced, to avenge the death of the first Union soldier, of whatever color, whom the enemy shall in cold blood destroy or sell into slavery. All other questions between us may be postponed for future settlement, but the fair exchange of colored soldiers and of their white officers will be insisted on by the Government before another rebel soldier or officer will be exchanged.
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