Category: Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address

by H. B. Auld, Jr.

I missed an important anniversary this past Saturday on November 19, 2022.  That was the 159th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, presented by President Abraham Lincoln.

The famous address by the 16th President of the United States was given to consecrate the newly designated National Cemetery at Gettysburg, PA.  One of the most famous battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought just four months earlier: July 1 – 3, 1863.  This three-day battle left almost 8,000 men from both sides dead and laying in the fields at the little town of just 2,500 people.  Faced with quickly disposing of the dead, a designation of a national cemetery outside the little town was quickly put together and dignitaries were invited to speak at its dedication.  The main speaker was to be a great orator of the time, Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours that day.  President Lincoln, whose invitation was almost an afterthought since it was believed he would not attend, spoke for just two minutes, giving a 272-word speech that has lasted the ages and is considered one of the most famous speeches ever given by anyone.

In addition to the more than 3,500 Union soldiers buried there, the cemetery contains the remains of American soldiers and dependents from the Civil War to the Vietnam Conflict.

According to the www.abrahamlincolnonline.org website, “There are five known copies of the speech in Lincoln’s handwriting, each with a slightly different text, and named for the people who first received them:  Nicolay, Hay, Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss.  Two copies apparently were written before delivering the speech, one of which probably was the “reading copy.”  The remaining ones were produced months later for soldier benefit events.  Despite widely circulated stories to the contrary, the President did not dash off a copy aboard a train to Gettysburg.  Lincoln carefully prepared all his major speeches in advance; his steady, even script in every manuscript is consistent with a firm writing surface, not the notoriously bumpy Civil War-era trains.  Additional versions of the speech appeared in newspapers of the era, feeding modern-day confusion about the authoritative text.

Bliss Copy

“Ever since Lincoln wrote it in 1863, 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. 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 in the Lincoln Room of the White House.”

The Bliss Copy of 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 battle-field 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

The 158th Anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg

by Guest Author: Tara Ross

On this day in 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg begins. Our nation should have been celebrating its 87th birthday that week. Instead, we were engaged in a brutal, 3-day battle that would end with as many as 51,000 dead or wounded.

At the time, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was fresh off a victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. He decided to head to Pennsylvania, with the intent of collecting more supplies. He also had another goal: Some northerners wanted out of the war. Perhaps he could encourage that sentiment by moving the fight to their own backyards.

In the meantime, newly appointed Major General George Meade led the Union army toward Lee’s troops. The two sides ended up clashing in Gettysburg when Confederate infantry ran into some Union cavalry, more or less by chance. The situation quickly took a serious tone, because Union commanders did not want to lose the town. Many roads converged there.

The fighting was intense. Confederate troops drove the Union cavalry down the streets of Gettysburg, pushing them back toward Cemetery Hill. At this point, Major General Richard Ewell made a choice that may have cost the Confederate army a victory. It was the end of a long day of fighting, and Lee had given him some discretion in the matter. Upon seeing Union artillery at the top of the hill, he declined to pursue the attack further. He thus failed to capture an important position before the first day of fighting came to a close.

More reinforcements arrived that evening. The fighting that had begun on July 1 continued into a second day. Then it continued into a third day. The battle finally swung decisively in favor of the Union army when the Confederate army launched an attack at the center of the Union lines. At least 12,000 Confederate soldiers marched across an open field in the attack known as Pickett’s charge. That attack lasted about an hour and ended miserably for the Confederate side. Half of the Confederate soldiers were lost, and the army soon began a hasty retreat toward Virginia.

Meade declined to pursue Lee, perhaps echoing the mistake that Ewell had made two days earlier. Some speculate that Meade could have ended the war then and there, if only he had taken up the pursuit. Abraham Lincoln certainly thought so. He wrote a letter to Meade (although he never sent it).

Lincoln wrote: “Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee’s escape—He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war—As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely.”

The aftermath of the battle was gruesome. One teenage girl, a resident of Gettysburg, later recounted what she saw:

“I fairly shrank back aghast at the awful sight presented. The approaches were crowded with wounded, dying and dead. The air was filled with moanings, and groanings. . . . [A]mputating benches had been placed about the house. I must have become inured to seeing the terrors of battle, else I could hardly have gazed upon the scenes now presented. . . . To the south of the house, and just outside of the yard, I noticed a pile of limbs higher than the fence. It was a ghastly sight! Gazing upon these, too often the trophies of the amputating bench, I could have no other feeling, than that the whole scene was one of cruel butchery.”

Only a few months later, the Gettysburg Address would be given on this battlefield. “The brave men,” Lincoln stated, “living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. . . . 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.”

It’s a resolve that bears repeating, isn’t it?

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Guest author, Tara Ross, is a mother, wife, writer, and retired lawyer. She is the author of The Indispensable Electoral College: How the Founders’ Plan Saves Our Country from Mob Rule,Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College, co-author of Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State (with Joseph C. Smith, Jr.), & We Elect A President: The Story of our Electoral College. She is a constitutionalist, but with a definite libertarian streak! Stay tuned here for updates on pretty much anything to do with the Electoral College, George Washington, & our wonderfully rich American heritage.

History posts are copyright © 2013-2020 by Tara Ross. Please use the share feature instead of cutting/pasting.

#TDIH#OTD#AmericanHistory#USHistory#liberty#freedom#ShareTheHistory

Civil War Began 160 Years Ago

by HB Auld, Jr.

On April 12, 1861,160 years ago, the American Civil War began.

“The bloodiest four years in American history began when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Bay.

During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000 rounds at the poorly supplied fort. On April 13, 1861, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort. Two days later, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern “insurrection.”

(Credit: The History Channel)

A Week of Remembrances

by HB Auld, Jr.

Today marks the beginning of the end for the Confederate States of America, 156 years ago today. (credit: Phil Galloway for the original post)

Back on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The army was down from nearly 100,000 earlier in the war to a mere 28,000 by then.

Union forces blocked the Confederate attempt to unite with General Joseph Johnston’s troops in North Carolina and so in order to prevent any further bloodshed in an unwinnable situation General Lee chose to surrender.

Although that major surrender is remembered as the official end to the war, that was not the end of the war however. Joe Johnston surrendered the largest Rebel army on April 26, some 90,000 men. General Richard Taylor surrendered another 10,000 in Alabama on May 4th and General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered in the Trans-Mississippi arena on May 26th. The final surrender of land forces occurred in Indian Territory on June 23rd when Cherokee Brigadier General Stand Watie threw in the white flag. The last Confederate unit to surrender was the CSS Shenandoah which had been at sea and had not received the news of the collapse. She gave herself up in August, thus bringing a close to a horrific war.

Today marks the beginning of a week of historical remembrances. The Civil War officially ended today, April 9, 1865. The start of the Civil War began on April 12, 1861, (160 years ago), with the firing on Fort Sumter. President Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865. He died the following morning on Saturday, April 15, 1865. The RMS Titantic struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

The Siege of Gettysburg

By Guest Writer Tara Ross

On this day in 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg begins. Our nation should have been celebrating its 87th birthday that week. Instead, we were engaged in a brutal, 3-day battle that would end with as many as 51,000 dead or wounded.

At the time, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was fresh off a victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. He decided to head to Pennsylvania, with the intent of collecting more supplies. He also had another goal: Some northerners wanted out of the war. Perhaps he could encourage that sentiment by moving the fight to their own backyards.

In the meantime, newly appointed Major General George Meade led the Union army toward Lee’s troops. The two sides ended up clashing in Gettysburg when Confederate infantry ran into some Union cavalry, more or less by chance. The situation quickly took a serious tone, because Union commanders did not want to lose the town. Many roads converged there.

In the meantime, newly appointed Major General George Meade led the Union army toward Lee’s troops. The two sides ended up clashing in Gettysburg when Confederate infantry ran into some Union cavalry, more or less by chance. The situation quickly took a serious tone, because Union commanders did not want to lose the town. Many roads converged there.

More reinforcements arrived that evening. The fighting that had begun on July 1 continued into a second day. Then it continued into a third day. The battle finally swung decisively in favor of the Union army when the Confederate army launched an attack at the center of the Union lines. At least 12,000 Confederate soldiers marched across an open field in the attack known as Pickett’s charge. That attack lasted about an hour and ended miserably for the Confederate side. Half of the Confederate soldiers were lost, and the army soon began a hasty retreat toward Virginia.

Meade declined to pursue Lee, perhaps echoing the mistake that Ewell had made two days earlier. Some speculate that Meade could have ended the war then and there, if only he had taken up the pursuit. Abraham Lincoln certainly thought so. He wrote a letter to Meade (although he never sent it).

Lincoln wrote: “Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee’s escape—He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war—As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely.”

The aftermath of the battle was gruesome. One teenage girl, a resident of Gettysburg, later recounted what she saw:

“I fairly shrank back aghast at the awful sight presented. The approaches were crowded with wounded, dying and dead. The air was filled with moanings, and groanings. . . . [A]mputating benches had been placed about the house. I must have become inured to seeing the terrors of battle, else I could hardly have gazed upon the scenes now presented. . . . To the south of the house, and just outside of the yard, I noticed a pile of limbs higher than the fence. It was a ghastly sight! Gazing upon these, too often the trophies of the amputating bench, I could have no other feeling, than that the whole scene was one of cruel butchery.”

Only a few months later, the Gettysburg Address would be given on this battlefield. “The brave men,” Lincoln stated, “living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. . . . 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.”

It’s a resolve that bears repeating, isn’t it?

Note from Tara Ross:

Gentle reminder: History posts are copyright © 2013-2020 by Tara Ross. I appreciate it when you use the shar e feature instead of cutting/pasting.

#TDIH #OTD #AmericanHistory #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory

The Anniversary of the Battle of Antietam

by Scott Auld, Guest Author

September 17, 1862. Antietam.

This was bloodiest day in United States history, with a combined tally of 22,717 Americans dead, wounded, or missing.

After pursuing Robert E. Lee into Maryland, George McClellan launched attacks against defensive positions behind Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn on September 17, Joseph Hooker’s corps mounted an assault on Lee’s left flank. Union assaults pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. In the afternoon, Ambrose Burnside’s Union corps entered the action, capturing a stone bridge over Antietam Creek on the Confederate right. Hill’s Confederate division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a surprise counterattack, driving back Burnside and ending the battle.

Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, while removing his battered army south of the Potomac River.

McClellan’s failure allowed Lee to shift forces and moving along interior lines. Despite ample reserve forces that could have been deployed, McClellan failed to destroy Lee’s army. McClellan’s persistent but erroneous belief that he was outnumbered contributed to his cautiousness throughout the campaign.

McClellan had halted Lee’s invasion of Maryland, but Lee was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia. McClellan’s refusal to pursue Lee’s army led to his removal from command by President Abraham Lincoln in November. With Lee’s withdrawal into Virginia, Lincoln had the confidence to announce his Emancipation Proclamation, which encouraged the British and French governments to drop plans to recognize the Confederacy.

This was all 157 years ago.


Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination Anniversary

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Today, April 15, 2019, marks the 154th anniversary of the death of the 16th President of the United States, President Abraham Lincoln.

President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, the previous evening, while he and Mrs. Lincoln and guests watched a performance of the comedy, Our American Cousin. His assassin was a Southern sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, who shot the President in the back of the head with a small Derringer pistol.

Following the fatal shot, Lincoln was carried across the street to a boarding house, where he died at 7:22 a.m. Saturday, April 15, 1865.

Booth died in a barn about two weeks later as he was surrounded by Union troops.

Rest In Peace, President Abraham Lincoln.


A Momentous Weekend

This has been a momentous weekend.

First, radio broadcasting pioneer Art Bell, died at age 72 on Friday, April 13, 2018.  Bell was the premier broadcaster of the paranormal.  His late-night radio program, Coast to Coast AM, covered the US on more than 600 radio stations for decades.  On his program, he interviewed common people from the full spectrum of unusual subjects, from UFOs to ghosts, to unsolved disappearances.   In 2013, he broadcast on Sirius XM satellite radio for a short time, following his retirement on July 1, 2007.  Repeats of his Coast to Coast AM broadcasts can still be heard on the Internet in the Somewhere In Time shows.

Sunday, April 15, 2018, marks the 153rd anniversary of the death of the 16th President of the United States, President Abraham Lincoln.  President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, the previous evening, while he and Mrs. Lincoln and guests watched a performance of the comedy, Our American Cousin.  His assassin was a Southern sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, who shot the President in the back of the head with a small Derringer pistol.  Following the fatal shot, Lincoln was carried across the street to a boarding house, where he died at 7:22 a.m. Saturday, April 15, 1865.   Booth died in a barn about two weeks later as he was surrounded by Union troops.

The British luxury ocean liner, RMS Titantic, sank in early morning hours of April 15, 1912, 106 years ago today, after colliding with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, New York.  More than 1,500 men, women, and children of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard the liner died in the tragedy.  Titanic struck an iceberg at about 11:40 p.m. the night before, four days after leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912.  The luxury ship went to the bottom of the Atlantic early the next morning on April 15.  Titanic was the largest ocean liner of its kind when launched, and was thought to be “unsinkable.”  One of those lost in the disaster was Thomas Andrews, the architect of the ship.

Today, April 15, 2018, is the 14th birthday of my grandson, Logan Auld.  Logan is a home-schooled bright young man with polite manners and a sweet disposition.  He is a joy to be around and I love and miss him, his mom and dad, his brothers and sisters, his cousins, and his uncles and aunts very much.  He makes me very proud to be his Granddaddy.