Following A Question With a Question

Blogger Steve Layman asked a question on Independence Day.  Essentially, he asked, "What would the World be like today if Abe Lincoln had opted out of the Civil War?"

Now called Burnside Bridge, this is the iconic Antietam Creek bridge near Sharpsburg

I had pondered a similar question on July 3rd upon visiting Antietam Battlefield National Park with my youngest kids. 

A bridge southeast of the battlefield was the only practical escape route to the South for General Lee's army in September 1862.  The Union, under Burnside, had held the bridge late into the day of brutal fighting that still stands as the deadliest single day of war in American history.  However, small missteps, unfavorable geography, and bad luck--arrival of Confederate troops which made a 17-mile, day-long march from Harper's Ferry--caused him to lose the bridge back.

Lee was able to leave Sharpsburg and return to Southern soil.  Many have predicted the war could have ended right there but for one bridge.

I wondered out loud what would have happened had the Union held the bridge and then be able to defeat Lee, essentially bringing a 2.5 year earlier end to the War. 

Would Lincoln have still issued his partial Emancipation Proclamation?  Would McClellan, not Grant, have become the hero of the War?  Imagine the World had American Cousin not been playing at Ford's Theater when the war ended two and half years earlier.

Lincoln Was Wrong

Lincoln said, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." And for that he was wrong.

The Gettysburg Address is the most-remembered speech in history, given 150 years ago today, November 19, 1863.

Review: Lincoln, It's Personal

I saw Lincoln. Yes, it was the movie, but I came away as if I had seen the man.

Wow.

Though the politically-minded and historically-informed may gain a better experience, it's a movie all should see nonetheless.

I let my youngest kids join me despite the PG-13 rating. I'm glad I did. I believe they will remember the history and forget the bad language, racial overtones, and violence they saw.

I consider myself quite knowledgeable, even to the trivial, on Lincoln, but I learned some tidbits. Did you know Robert Todd Lincoln was at Appomattox? Where was Tad Lincoln when his father was shot? It checks out.

The key take away was the personal side, though. I feel like I gained an understanding of Lincoln, the man, that no mere books could give me before.

Lincoln was our greatest President for what he, personally, endured on our nation's behalf. That's the take away for me.

Spielberg found a way to take one month--January 1865--to tell a story about the personal side of so many important historical events. Amazing.

Daniel Day Lewis is not an actor, despite his awards, who had ever gotten my attention or box office gate before. He has now. If this guy doesn't sweep the next Academy Awards, there shouldn't bother being such things.

Early reports of a hidden, political message against Republicans are mostly unfounded. You have to be pretty Machiavellian to think Spielberg is that Machiavellian. Modern Republicans would benefit from a more pragmatic approach is the closet thing to a political agenda I could find. And I think that's right so I might have read into that anyway.

David Strathairn was a great Seward. Sally Field was right on too. Bruce McGill's depiction of Ohioan Edwin Stanton fit what I would have thought of that man too. I could go on and on.

Finally, an actor with Licking County connections, Hal Holbrook, deserves some accolades too. He, once again, proved to be an actor with wide appeal. He put personality to a character, Preston Blair, which few would have any historical context. He's his generation's Henry Fonda for sure.

Any doubt? Go see it. It's personal.

On This April 15 Date. . .

. . . is the traditional day when tax returns from the previous year are due.

It's also the anniversary of the 1865 day President Abraham Lincoln died from the gunshot womb inflicted by John Wilkes Booth the night before.

It's also the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

April 15 is a dubious sort of date.

150 Years of The Battle Hymn

February 1862 saw Atlantic Monthly publish the Battle Hymn of The Republic for the first time. Wars have produced lasting songs throughout history. None beats the Battle Hymn and it's 150-year run.

I can recall as a kid, when the Hymn was a mere 115 years old, listening to our church choir fulfill it's July 4th tradition of performing the Hymn at the end of Mass. The pipe organ's familiar bump, bump, bump at the start was a signal to wait and listen.

"Mine eyes have seen the glory. . ." started a stirring rendition from the Men and Boys Choir of St. Mary Massillon. Unforgettable.

Here's a 1976 recording posted on YouTube.

Liking Civil War Today App

I really like and recommend the app The Civil War Today. I, religiously, check the war news of 1861 every day. I learn something every day too.

Today had a most extraordinary map of Hampton, Virginia and Fortress Monroe.

Here's a capture of the 1860's map along with the location today via Google Maps. Roads, bridges, tunnels, and an airport stand out among the work done there in the last 150 years.

Ohio in 1861

I installed "The Civil War Today" app on my IPad.  Two things about Ohio stand out in my first glance through the app.

Here's what Ohio looked like in 1861 on one war-era map.

My town, Newark, shows up pretty prominently on here, showing that the war, alone, was not what put Newark on the map.  Newark was a stand out before then.

Today, Newark is among the top 20 largest cities, by population, in Ohio and remains a standout place.

It's also noteworthy that May 26, 1961 was when General McClellan's Department of Ohio crossed the Ohio River on it way to the first ground skirmish of the war in western Virginia.  So, yes, the movement of Union troops for the first ground engagement began in Ohio.

150 Years Ago Today

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the April 12, 1861 firing on Fort Sumter and the start of the Civil War.

The Fort would be re-occupied by the Union troops four years and two days later on April 14, 1865, the same day President Lincoln was shot.

Recommended reading:  Dispatch "A Look Back" Blog, a Republican-American piece, and an account written on MyCivilWar.com.