Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Civil War

Stowe and Lincoln

Legend has it (as reported by her son some years later) that when Harriet Beecher Snow met Abraham Lincoln after he was president in 1862, he stated to her, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."  Whether true or not, this statement points to the influence this book had, especially in the North; but also as a mechanism of polarization with the South on the theme of slavery. 
The book was published as a book in 1852, and seen previously in magazines.  Stowe says one of her motivations for writing the book was the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. 
300,000 copies of the book were purchased in the North before the war.  In many parts of the South the book was illegal.  It was even more popular in England.  Even if England's political leaders had wanted to enter the war, the public opinion in England would have been very much against them, partly due to this book. 
Of course their were many causes for the war.  What this book did do was put a face on slavery.  Through the characters presented, people could see slavery.  Stowe especially talked about its effects on family groups.  It may very well be that we are seeing the effects of this disruption even today.  Another theme in Stowe's book is that through Christianity, you didn't have to give yourself to the hate which slavery could very well cause. 
Hardened abolitionist didn't think the book went far enough in crying for immediation abolition.  Other northerners saw it as a triumph for the human aspects it put on slavery.  Southerners thought it was for the most part outright lies. 
Stowe contended that even though the actual characters were fictional, they were based on  real life stories she had heard of. 
When Stowe wrote a defense of her book, "The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" she was even more staunch in her call for abolition.  
http://mmboebillywardle.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-uncle-toms-cabin.html

Book Review: The Tet Offensive

The Tet Offensive: We the People by Mary Englar, Compass Point Books, Minneapolis, MN, 2009.

This book does more to tell this story than I had ever heard before.  I remember the Tet Offensive as I was growing up, was the first indication that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were a dangerous opponent and even had an opportunity to win the war.  I remember we all thought they were pretty much crushed and defeated, and the Tet Offensive changed all that in our minds.  However, the Tet Offensive ended in an American, South Vietnamese victory.  Their enemies were not able to maintain a single city (they attacked 100).  Except for two northern battles, most of the fighting was concluded within a day.  I guess the victory was in the fact that they did attack. 

Places attacked included the U.S. embassy, radio station and presidential palace in Saigon.  Two Marines were killed in the attack on the embassy.  100 cities throughout South Vietnam were attacked.  On city was completely destroyed and the people fled.  However counter attacks cleared out the attackers.  In the northern part of South Vietnam, the American base of Khe Sanh where the American Marines were cut off, and much of their ammunition destroyed in an artillery barrage.  However they would hold on, and eventually the siege would be broken, but not for over a month.  This was done by carpet bombing the North Vietnamese held positions.  The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese would lose over 50,000 troops as part of the Tet Offensive. 

The other trouble spot was a city close to this battle, Hue.  This had been the Imperial Capitol at one time, and there was a large citadel.  The North Vietnamese were able to get into this citadel, and held a strong defensive position.  They executed many people, including soldiers, but also teachers and government officials.  The Marines had to retake the city a block at a time with very tough fighting.

This book gave me more information about this even in history than I previously had.  One warning, it does have some graphic pictures of war dead, including the Marines killed defending the U.S. embassy. 

Documentary Review: The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth (2007)

John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln April 14, 1965 as part of a plot to kill three prominent men, the President, The Secretary of State William H. Seward, and Vice-President Andrew Johnson.  In the case of Johnson, his attacker, George Atzerodt chickened out.  Lewis Powell was to kill Seward, and he invaded his home and, after his gun failed, made a vicious attempt by stabbing him repeatedly around the face and upper body.  Only a device he was wearing for a previously broken jaw prevented his jugular from being cut.  (Both these men would later be hung for their involvement.)  A third involved party (who was also later hung) was David Herold, who would travel with Booth in his escape, and assist Booth in his efforts.
Booth would not be caught for 12 days.  During this time he would keep a journal (although many pages are missing) as he avoided detection. 
Booth broke the fibula in his leg while when he jumped form the presidential booth to the stage after killing Lincoln.  He needed medical attention, and received this from Dr. Mudd.  They mostly stayed in the swamps, but had days of staying in houses.  Their goal was to cross the Potomac into Virginia.  Most of the search would take place in Booth's are of origin, Maryland, to the north. 
They tried to cross the river by night.  However they were disoriented, and ended up back on the Maryland side.  They were successful with the second crossing, and stayed with the the home of Richard H. Garrett, threatening him by gun point, and saying they were soldiers returning home.  The second night they were suspicious as they avoided the soldiers, so were asked to stay in the barn.  Garret's son locked them in, worrying they might steal their horses. 
Igt was here where the pursuers would find them early in the morning.  Herold would surrender, but Booth wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.  The federals set fire to the barn, and as Booth prepared to fire his weapon, he was shot in the neck by Sergeant Boston Corbett.  He was paralyzed, and would die about three hours later.
Booth had hoped to make himself a hero.  Instead he felt the wrath of the country as he followed the papers and heard form others.  He also learned of the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston, the last remaining Confederate force.  He was on the wrong side of the war.

The above mentioned people where hanged July 7, 1865 along with Mary Surratt, who provided a place at her boarding house for the men to plan their deed.  Others were convicted of conspiracy, including Dr. Mudd, and were sent to prison, but later pardoned by President Johnson in 1869.
Mysteries left of this event, did the get everyone involved?  They could not find evidence to charge President Jefferson Davis with conspiracy.  Did the missing pages of Booth's diary implicate others?

Documentary Review: Sherman's March to the Sea

This is one of those events in the history of the war which is seen, much as the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.  For those who were the victim, the action was one of cruelty and barbarity.  However, it is an action which brought about a quicker end of the war, and in so doing, saved many lived.
General William T. Sherman finally won a hard fought campaign for Atlanta.  At fist he fought against General Joseph E. Johnston, but his defensive, and fall back strategy frustrated President Jefferson Davis.  He finally replaced him with General John B. Hood, who was more rash.  He would pay for this rashness, as he used up his strength in attacked the Federal Soldiers south of Atlanta, and had no choice but to withdraw, leaving Atlanta to the Union.
Atlanta was an important rail hub and industrial center for the South.  When Sherman would vacate Atlanta, he would burn the industrial center, the warehouses and cotton.  The result would be a general destruction of the city.
While in Atlanta, Sherman had proposed to General Ulysses Grant that he take his 60,000 men, leave his supply lines, and march to the sea.
Sherman's strategy was to destroy anything which could be useful in helping the South carry out war.  His men also had to forage for food, as the had no supply line.  The men had been issued 20 days rations which they rolled up in their blankets.
Sherman divided his forces into two columns.  This is the part of the campaign which is so infamous.  They would often leave fires as they destroyed cotton and other items which could be used to conduct war.  They also confiscated food as they went.  Sherman responded to complaints about his tactic, "War is cruelty." 
Local militia at several points confront Sherman's forces, however with repeating rifles, and more men, and hardened soldiers, the Confederacy was not able to stop him. Joseph Wheeler commanded and cavalry brigade against Sherman's forces.  However they were to few to make a direct confrontation, except to attacking marauding groups.  The planted torpedoes (land mines) but Sherman countered this by making Confederate prisoners go in front of his men and remove the mines. 
Sherman's forces attracted many African Americans.  They followed his columns, while the men were recruited to help with making roads and bridges.  There is one scene in which one of Sherman's  columns is pressed by the Calvary.  They cross a river over a pontoon bridge.  As soon as they are across, the severe the bridge, leaving a large group of former slaves stranded.  Colonel Jefferson C. Davis (not the Confederate President) had ordered the bridge removed.  He was a known to have negative feelings towards the African Americans, but also the move made sense strategically.  Many tried to cross and were drowned, while only a few made it. 
As Sherman's forces made it closer to the ocean, their situation became more desperate.  There no longer was a sufficient supply of forage, and the men went hungry.  They had to meet supply ships on the coast as quickly as possible.  There were two choices, to go directly to Savannah which was well defended, or to follow the Ogeechee River to the ocean south of Savannah, which was defended by
Fort McCallister.  There had been a previous Union attempt to take the fort, which had failed.  however in this instance, the attack would come from the land side.  The fort had large cannon pointing towards the sea. 
However, there were few defenders, and the fort was overwhelmed in 15 minutes.  Sherman's campaign would be successful.  Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren was waiting o meet them with supplies and came into the harbor as soon as the fort was captured.
From there, they would march north to meet up with General Lee.  They would really punish South Carolina, burning homes generally and being more aggressive in their foraging.  They would also burn Columbia.

Conspiracy? Lincoln Assassination

This is a presentation from the History Channel.  It has a warning preceding and after the presentation that the information is controversial, and not necessarily true but presented to give people an opportunity to respond. 
Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone, or was he part of a broader conspiracy?  We know there was some coordination, because Oswald acted with others to decapitate the government.  There were other attacks the same night, against Secretary of State William H. Seward, and the Vice President Andrew Johnson (planned but not carried out). 
In addition to this, evidence of Oswald traveling to Canada, and there meeting members of the Confederate Secret Service, and after returning making a deposit of $1500 into his account, which money could be used to attract others to his plan.
One might say that the Confederacy would not be involved, that war was not made this way at that time.  However, after the Dahlgren affair, where a Union attempt to assassinate Jefferson was discovered, and after the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln was deemed as an open target.  
So the arguments are, Oswald acted alone, out of hatred for Lincoln and his own racial bigotry, or he was part of a plot, and some escaped prosecution.  That those working with Oswald were just a local group of near-do-wells.  And those were mopped up with the trials, which looked for further conspirators, including Jefferson Davis, but found no evidence.  The for executed and the other four prosecuted was all involved. 
The other argument is there is evidence pointing to a connection between Oswald and Confederate operatives in Canada who have a direct tie back to the Confederacy.

Documentary Review: Lincoln and the Flying Spying Machine

Lincoln and the Flying Spying Machine: Man, Moment, Machine, History Channel, 2006.
This documentary presents a part of the Civil War about which you don't very often get much detail.  Thaddeus Lowe approached President Lincoln, and introduced him to the idea of using balloons for observation during battle.  President Lincoln wrote him a letter of recommendation; he was looking for anything which might give the Union an advantage.  President Lincoln was inexperienced in matters of war, but he was Commander-In-Chief.  The generals weren't too keen on the idea.  In fact they weren't really put into use at the First Battle of Bull Run, and information about reinforcements may have made a difference in the outcome.
However, the balloons did go with General McClellan onto the Peninsula.  There were actually a series of balloons, and a balloon corp was established.  Lowe was commissioned to construct seven balloons.  The larger balloons could travel higher, and provide a better perspective.
The balloons were inflated with hydrogen and required a generator.  The had a basket below the balloon to carry the aeronaut.  They were tethered, and an electrical wire was run along the tether through which telegraph message could be sent. 
At the Battle of Fairview they played a pivotal role.  McClellan had drawn up just outside of Richmond.  When McClellan positioned three corps north of the Chickahominy River, and two Corps south, BS the river became swollen because of rainfall, General Joseph E. Johnston decided to make a move and attack, in an attempt to destroy the units south of the river.  The attack would have been a complete surprise without the intervention the the balloonist.  He was able to observe the Rebel preparations, and based on his view, the troops were prepared.  Also bridging the river was rushed, and reinforcements were able to arrive before the corps below the river could be destroyed.
The Confederates accomplished their objective of pushing the Union forces back, but they were not able to eliminate them.  In this battle General Johnston was wounded, and replaced by the man in charge of the defenses of Richmond, General Robert E. Lee.  
For what ever reason, balloons fell out of favor for the rest of the war, and were not used to a great degree, if at all after 1862.  The balloons were relatively safe.  They were hard to hit because of their altitude.  The bullets did not cause the balloons to explode, nor to deflate.  One time a cannon ball struck the basket, but Lowe was not injured.

Book Review: Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier, Jump at the Sun, New York, 2001.

This is a children’s picture book.  This illustrator used collage and water colors and the pictures are very effective.  It also uses Martin Luther King’s words in telling the story of his life.  Of particular note, “Hate cannot drive out hate.  Only love can do that.”   “When the history books are written, someone will say there lived black people who had the courage to stand up for their rights.”  “Love is the key to the problems of the world.”  And “I have a dream that one day in Alabama little black boys and black girls will join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

The book ends with telling the story of Martin Luther King’s death, but not before letting us know that King said even if he were taken down, the movement would go on.