Abraham Lincoln Was But An Afterthought to the Organizers of the Gettysburg Battlefield Dedication November 19, 2010

Not Many Photos Exist From Gettysburg

Close up of above photo with only known image of Lincoln at Gettysburg

On This Date in History: I have a few words concerning the events of November 19. 1863 but anything that I could say would pale in comparison to the speech reprinted below. It is the the Gettysburg Address and it was delivered 146 years ago today. The president was not invited until about two weeks prior to the ceremony. He was not the main speaker. Edward Everett, a noted statesman from Boston and Harvard President, was given two months notice to work on his speech, which took about two hours to deliver. Mr. Lincoln’s speech was but 270 words. It has been accepted that Lincoln wrote the address on a scrap of paper while on the train to Pennsylvania because it was reported that way in a novel. However, historian Stephen B. Oates points out in his biography, With Malice Toward None, A Life of Abraham Lincoln that the train was too crowded and noisy for him to work on it. Instead, Oates says that he wrote part of it on White House stationery before he left and finished the rest on the morning of the event in Gettysburg.

Verbiage in Invitation to Lincoln Very Interesting

It has been reported that the president was sick. While I find nothing to confirm that he was ill during the proceedings, I suspect that people have made the assumption, perhaps accurate, because after he returned to the White House, he was diagnosed with varioloid, which has been described as a mild for of smallpox. I’m not sure about that one because it seems to me that a “mild form of smallpox” is akin to being “a little pregnant.” Also, it is widely reported that his speech was panned in newspapers across the land. The Chicago Times and paper from Harrisburg, PA certainly show that there were some. However, not all papers were non-plussed by his remarks. In fact, the Chicago Tribune was sharply in contrast to its rival and even Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune recognized the greatness of the speech. I believe I recall a quote from Edward Everett who remarked afterward, “Mr President, you were able to say in a few minutes what I could not in two hours.” This is probably not a direct quote but something reasonably close.

Words of Nov 19, 1863 Long Remembered

Harrisburg Patriot and Union: “We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the Nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.”

Chicago Times: “The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances.”

Chicago Tribune: “The dedicatory remarks by President Lincoln will live among the annals of man.”

Horace Greeley: “I doubt that our national literature contains a finer gem than that little speech at the Gettysburg celebration, November 19, 1863… after the close of Mr. Everett’s classic but frigid oration.”

Leaving Gettysburg For the Cemetery

I think what may be lost regarding the speech is what it shows. It is an early indication of where Mr. Lincoln was heading in terms of after the war. Even on a battlefield well north of Washington, Lincoln was confident of victory. What often gets overlooked is that on the same day, US Grant had forced the capitulation of Vicksburg which essentially gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River and effective cut the Confederacy in two. The victory at Vicksburg arguably sealed the deal for the outcome of the war. Mr. Lincoln was aware of that that and if you read carefully, you can see the hints of what his notions were regarding his intentions. He does not give a rah-rah victory speech with talk of retribution. He does not discriminate between the allegiances of the soldiers and speaks of the “unfinished business” and a “new birth of freedom.” Clearly he is talking about concluding the war but he is also referencing a nation of freedom for all. This speech is not just one of honor but also one of reconciliation. It has always eluded me of how differently our nation’s history might have been had the 16th president been allowed to conclude the “unfinished business.” How would he have handled Reconstruction and the reconciliation of the former enemies. John Wilkes Booth lives in infamy as the man who deprived the nation of “what might have been.” There are 5 known drafts of the Gettysburg Address. Each seems to have some variance. Here is a version of the Gettysburg Address:

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS: 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 cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 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.

Unfortunately, it seems that the youth of America seems to be as uninspired by Mr. Lincoln as did the organizers of the dedication at Gettysburg or some scribes who critiqued the President’s message.  Recently, I was at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC and I spotted several student groups.  It appeared as if the students thought that they were at some social gathering. Most were not paying attention to the tour guides, instead generally talking and cutting up while playing what my old football coaches used to call “grabass.”  There was no sense of reflection or respect for the memorial or the man to whom it was built.  It was only older visitors who took the time to read the words of the Gettysburg Address and the text of the President’s second inaugural speech which are etched forever in the marble.  Maybe I’m getting old, but that ain’t right.

Weather Bottom Line:  After a rather dreary and damp day, look for early fog to give way to loads of sunshine that will persist through the weekend..save for periods of darkness.  Conditions will be quite pleasant so get out and enjoy the great weekend weather.

Reagan Replacing Grant on the $50 Bill Ill-Considered March 9, 2010

Greatness of Grant is Obscured by History

US Grant with his horse, Cincinnati

On This Date in History:  There is a proposal being floated that President Reagan’s image replace that of US Grant on the Fifty dollar bill.  Most people are aware of President Reagan’s accomplishment but his legacy is still being formed.  Most people, however, know very little about US Grant and at least part of his history should be considered.   On April 27, 1822 a new baby boy came into the world near Point Pleasant, Ohio.  His parents gave him the name of Hiram Ulysses Grant.  Fortunately for the child, he was known to everyone by his middle name, Ulysses.  According to Grant biographer, William S. McFeely, when the young lad received an appointment to West Point, he “took advantage of his new start in life to tinker with his name.”    When he registered at Roe’s Hotel, he switched his names and signed the register as Ulysses H. Grant.  Now, his mother had been pushing for his appointment and Congressman Thomas Hamer had little time to make the appointment.  He had known the boy as Ulysses but was uncertain regarding his middle name.  Grant’s mother had been Jesse Simpson before she was married and Hamer knew of Jesse Grant’s maiden name.  So, he made the appointment for Ulysses S. Grant.  When Ulysses appeared for the initial registration, he found that there were two Grants listed.  One was Elihu from New York and the other was for Ulysses S. Grant from Ohio.  He chose the latter.  If he considered making a correction, he never followed through so well before his graduation and commissioning, he was thereafter known as Ulysses S. Grant.

Fort Donelson and Fort Henry Fell to Grant in February 1862

He didn’t do well academically at West Point but did graduate.  He served with some distinction in the Mexican War but left the army before the outbreak of the Civil War.  He did not find much success in civilian life and was working in the family business as a clerk in Galena, Illinois.  To that point, he had been a failure.  At the outset of the war, mainly due to his previous military experience, he became a colonel commanding the 21st Illinois Regiment.  When he first expected hostilities, Grant admitted that he was nervous.  But, when he found that the enemy had abandoned its position, it was then that he realized the enemy was as afraid of him as he was of them and from that point forth never had trepedation heading into battle.  He rose rather rapidly to the rank of Brigadier General and later commanded successful attacks on Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.  At that time, those were just about the only Union successes in the war.  While his commanding officer, Henry Halleck, consistently attempted to  throw up obstacles, Grant caught the eye of President Lincoln who was constantly looking for a general who could lead and who would fight.  He went on to lead a bloody but decisive victory at Shiloh.

Busy Vicksburg Fell to Grant on July 4th

Grant conducted a masterful and daring campaign against Vicksburg, MS which he put under siege.  It is an effort that is often overlooked by many history classes because the fall of Vicksburg happened coincidentally with the battle of Gettysburg.   While Gettysburg was monumental and marked the end of the northern extent of Confederate incursions, it can be argued that Grant’s securing of Vicksburg was militarily more significant than Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg.  By securing Vicksburg, the Union had gained control of the Mississippi River and effectively cut the Confederacy in two.  From that point, Grant led more bold victories in Tennessee.

Lee Surrendered in Best Dress Uniform; Grant Showed Up in Private's Coat

The rank of Lieutenant General had not been used in the military since General Washington held the rank.  I suppose the Lieutenant moniker indicates that the rank is second only to the President, who is the Commander in Chief.  President Lincoln urged Congress to reactivate the position and on this date in 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was advanced to the level of Lt. General…the highest ranking General Officer the nation had seen since General Washington.  At the presentation, Lincoln said, “General Grant, the nation’s appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now presented, with this commission constituting you you lieutenant-general in the Army of the United States.  With his high honor, devolves upon you, also, a corresponding responsibility.  As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you.  I scarcely need to add, that, with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own hearty personal concurrence.”

Grant Still on the $50 Bill...Some Want Ron to Replace him

Grant did go on to lead the Union to victory and became the 18th President of the United States.  We are often told in history of how he was a drunk, his administration was corrupt and he is typically listed near the bottom of most presidential listings.  Nevertheless, it was his delayed actions during Reconstruction that effictively destroyed the Ku Klux Klan in 1871 until it resurfaced in the early 20th century.  Consider that he was one of the most beloved men of his time.  He went on a two year world tour where he was greeted by thousands and welcome by the crowned heads of the world.  In 1881, he was a serious contender for an unprecedented third term.  I’ve always wondered why modern historians think he was so bad when the people who lived during his tenure in office would have even remotely considered him for another term.  Yet, now someone wants to replace US Grant’s image on the $50 bill with that of President Reagan.  That would be a mistake.  Grant needs to be recognized and remembered. 

Grant's Way of War Lives in 21st Century; Lee's Left in Ash Heap of History

Now, critics often point to Grant’s poor standing in his graduating class at West Point to illustrate his shortcomings.  But, at West Point,  the strategy and tactics of de Jomini (Napoleonic) were taught that called for the maintanance of supply lines and concentrating on key points of communication and supply.  Grant claims in his memoirs that he never read all of his books at West Point and that was a help.  He surveyed the situation and determined that his goal should be to use his overwhelming force to attack and annihaliate armies and supplies so that they are unable to continue to make war.  In general, these “Grantonian Tactics” were used by Rommel, Montgomery and today by the US military.  In my view, he was a 20th century man living in the 19th century and his legacy lives on in the 21st century.  US Grant  would recognize what the media came to call “shock and awe” because US Grant invented it.  Read more about Grant and you will find he was a much much greater figure in American history than he is given credit.

SPC Severe Threat Wednesday

SPC Severe Threat Thursday

Weather Bottom Line:  I told you for several days that there would be severe weather and yesterday there was a major tornado in Oklahoma.   The bulk of the severe threat will remain South of Louisville…the Arklatex looks like a good spot and also the Dixie states.  The main system is getting hung up but that means that we will continue to have mild conditions and increasing moisture.  So, rain on Tuesday night will give rise to some lingering showers on Wednesday morning followed by temperatures near 70 in the afternoon and then a threat for t’storms on Thursday.  At this point, as this guy comes out on Thursday, the main severe threat will be South but, I would suggest that its still possible, not necessarily probable, that we get some action around here.  There are several variables at play.  After the main system moves through, we cool down for the weekend but nothing too far from seasonal norms.  The excessive cold long wave pattern seems to have given way to a pattern that will be more supportive of an active spring-like pattern.

Gettysburg Address Example of How Less is More and Lasts Longer November 19, 2009

Not Many Photos Exist From Gettysburg

Close up of above photo with only known image of Lincoln at Gettysburg

On This Date in History: I have a few words concerning the events of November 19. 1863 but anything that I could say would pale in comparison to the speech reprinted below. It is the the Gettysburg Address and it was delivered 145 years ago today. The president was not invited until about two weeks prior to the ceremony. He was not the main speaker. Edward Everett, a noted statesman from Boston and Harvard President, was given two months notice to work on his speech, which took about two hours to deliver. Mr. Lincoln’s speech was but 270 words. It has been accepted that Lincoln wrote the address on a scrap of paper while on the train to Pennsylvania because it was reported that way in a novel. However, historian Stephen B. Oates points out in his biography, With Malice Toward None, A Life of Abraham Lincoln that the train was too crowded and noisy for him to work on it. Instead, Oates says that he wrote part of it on White House stationery before he left and finished the rest on the morning of the event in Gettysburg.

Verbiage in Invitation to Lincoln Very Interesting

It has been reported that the president was sick. While I find nothing to confirm that he was ill during the proceedings, I suspect that people have made the assumption, perhaps accurate, because after he returned to the White House, he was diagnosed with varioloid, which has been described as a mild for of smallpox. I’m not sure about that one because it seems to me that a “mild form of smallpox” is akin to being “a little pregnant.” Also, it is widely reported that his speech was panned in newspapers across the land. The Chicago Times and paper from Harrisburg, PA certainly show that there were some. However, not all papers were non-plussed by his remarks. In fact, the Chicago Tribune was sharply in contrast to its rival and even Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune recognized the greatness of the speech. I believe I recall a quote from Edward Everett who remarked afterward, “Mr President, you were able to say in a few minutes what I could not in two hours.” This is probably not a direct quote but something reasonably close.

Words of Nov 19, 1863 Long Remembered

Harrisburg Patriot and Union: “We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the Nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.”

Chicago Times: “The cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances.”

Chicago Tribune: “The dedicatory remarks by President Lincoln will live among the annals of man.”

Horace Greeley: “I doubt that our national literature contains a finer gem than that little speech at the Gettysburg celebration, November 19, 1863… after the close of Mr. Everett’s classic but frigid oration.”

Leaving Gettysburg For the Cemetery

I think what may be lost regarding the speech is what it shows. It is an early indication of where Mr. Lincoln was heading in terms of after the war. Even on a battlefield well north of Washington, Lincoln was confident of victory. What often gets overlooked is that on the same day, US Grant had forced the capitulation of Vicksburg which essentially gave the Union full control of the Mississippi River and effective cut the Confederacy in two. The victory at Vicksburg arguably sealed the deal for the outcome of the war. Mr. Lincoln was aware of that that and if you read carefully, you can see the hints of what his notions were regarding his intentions. He does not give a rah-rah victory speech with talk of retribution. He does not discriminate between the allegiances of the soldiers and speaks of the “unfinished business” and a “new birth of freedom.”  Clearly he is talking about concluding the war but he is also referencing a nation of freedom for all. This speech is not just one of honor but also one of reconciliation.  It has always eluded me of how differently our nation’s history might have been had the 16th president been allowed to conclude the “unfinished business.”  How would he have handled Reconstruction and the reconciliation of the former enemies.  John Wilkes Booth lives in infamy as the man who deprived the nation of “what might have been.”  There are 5 known drafts of the Gettysburg Address. Each seems to have some variance.  Here is a version of the Gettysburg Address:

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS: 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 cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 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.

Weather Bottom Line:  The bottom line is that the crappy weather is coming to an end.  That dry slot I had mentioned for Wednesday ended up being pretty decent because we ended up with some nice afternoon sunshine but the gloom returns all day today. Friday through Sunday though, as the pesky cut off low finally gets booted, look for a lot of sunshine seasonally cool conditions with lows in the upper 30′s and low 40′s and highs in the 50′s.

Iraq Gains Independence, November Gets a Holiday and a Hurricane Season Forecast October 3, 2008

Sea Surface Temperatures Oct 2, 2008

No change in the forecast which means no rain but pretty good weather. Our cooldown, as previously indicated, will not be long lasting. As I had suggested several days ago, I was not surprised to see outlying areas in the upper 30′s to near 40 on Wednesday night. I was a bit surprised at temperatures near freezing in low lying lake areas, though. Thursday night, look for something similar and then we go into a warming phase. Mid 70′s Fri, Upper 70′s Sat, Low 80′s Sun, mid 80′s much of the week ahead.

2008 Hurricane Forecast-Revised Aug

2008 Hurricane Season: Hurricane season ends November 30 and began June 1. Those great prognosticators of hurricanes had suggested a season of well above average numbers of storms. In May the government forecast was for 12-16 storms and then in August, they bumped it up to 14-18 storms with 7-10 hurricanes and 3-6 major hurricanes. All I can say is that the currently quiet North Atlantic better hurry up. So far, there have been 12 named storms. Laura was a “sub-tropical” storm and then was a tropical storm for a cameo appearance and then it went away. But, it still counts. Six of the 12 have been classified as a hurricane with Ike and Gustav as major storms. For the record, there is an average of 11 named storms with six becoming hurricanes and 2 becoming major hurricanes. A major hurricane is a cat 3 or higher. There is nothing out there on the horizon except for an area of disturbed weather in the western Caribbean. However, sea surface temperatures are plenty warm enough to support tropical cyclone activity from Africa all the way to the Texas coast.

CLICK HERE for a very interesting loop of Hurricane Ike. It is a series of graphics showing the windfield as it moved across the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico and inland through Texas. You can see the way the windfield expanded as it went into the Gulf. From this link, you will have access to other loops.

for a whole mess of photos and video relating to hurricane ike, CLICK HERE and scroll through the September 2008 archive.

Not the 1st Thanksgiving?

On This Date In History: We’ve all enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner and we all probably learned in grade school that the first Thanksgiving involved the Pilgirms and the native Indians of North America. But, the real first official Thanksgiving Holiday was proclaimed on this date in 1863 by President Lincoln, calling for an annual day of national Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. The president used the opportunity to thank the Union Army for the reversal of fortune in the Union effort by the victory at Gettysburg. President Washington had declared a “national day of thanksgiving and prayer” in 1789, but it didn’t become an annual event. In fact, Thomas Jefferson thought that such national events of demonstration towards a deity was not appropriate. Other presidents agreed until President Lincoln’s decree. President Franklin Roosevelt tried what I call a political move in 1939 when he moved the holiday to the third Thursday. However, I suppose its plausible to argue that Lincoln’s initial declaration was rooted in politics. Anyway, FDR was hoping to extend the Christmas shopping season. I guess he thought that by moving Thanksgiving he could pull the wool over American’s eyes and use the psychology of calling a different day Thanksgiving to get them to spend more money. Anyway, Congress had enough of the foolishness and in 1941 put the national holiday back to where President Lincoln put it in the first place.

A book on the Subject

On This Date in 1932 Iraq gained independence. The region had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire, which dissolved at the conclusion of World War I. Britain occupied the area and was given a League of Nations mandate to govern the region in 1920. They set up a monarchy and granted independence in 1932. That government maintained strong military and economic ties with Britain and that resulted in numerous protests. In 1941, a pro-Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan) movement took hold and the UK intervened causing the Iraqi government to agree to back the good guys in the war. The monarchy got over thrown in 1958 and for the next 20 years, Iraq was ruled by a series of civilian and military governments until Saddam Hussein became dictator in 1979….a position he held until 2003. Saddam has since left to try to rule another world. However, from its 20th century history, its easy to see why there are skeptics that a democracy can flourish in the region. But, the global political situation is not as it was nor is the politics of the region so one cannot use history as a prescription for the future.