No More

[matthew mckeon]

There are a couple of things I'm never going to post about again, because they're utterly irrelevant and a distraction.

Who owned Ft. Sumter?
This is a perennial favorite about some glitch in the title to the manmade island Ft. Sumter was on. How is it relevant? Even a little? Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, Major Anderson, Gen. Beauregard, Edward Ruffin, Gov. Picken, everyone concerned acted without reference to this supposed controversy.

And you know what? Whatever you think about "who owned Fort Sumter" both sides paid no attention and were absolutely right not to care, even if they knew about it at all. It is not germane to the issues in the winter and spring of 1861. Davis and Lincoln both had bigger fish to fry. Its about as significant as the color of Abner Doubleday's socks.

 

[matthew mckeon]

Two

Lincoln/Davis the tyrant.

As part of the general effort to smear Abraham Lincoln, partisan bring up all the stuff he did to suppress dissent in the North, closing newspapers, arrest political opponents in Maryland etc. Yankees come back with (1) you're exaggerating (2) What about all the stuff Davis did?

If you want to discuss Lincoln or Davis's domestic politics and possible extra legal measures, fine, its interesting. But neither one is a tyrant. Both are American presidents, and American presidents get enormous leeway and extra powers during wartime. Look at Wilson and Roosevelt during the world wars. And Americans are willing to "loan" them that authority in order to win the war, because they view their war powers as just that: temporary.

Did Lincoln and Davis go too far? Sure, you can make the case. But both continued to work within a constitutional framework. They can't be called "dictators" as we understand the term, unless you're an liar or ignorant.

 

[matthew mckeon]

"Robert E. Lee was a traitor." Or whatever other Confederate leader you want to stick in there. Shut up already!

Well obviously. Treason is making war against the United States, and Lee was really, really good at that. But the word is so negative and laden with moral disapproval. Its about the worse thing you can say about someone. Lee wasn't Benedict Arnold. He wasn't even like someone like David Twiggs. Lee was a traitor the way George Washington was a traitor. And we don't go around calling Washington a traitor, and not just because he won.

The problem(as far as I'm concerned) is not Lee choosing to fight for the Confederacy. Or how he chose, or how he fought. It's that the Confederate cause was a bad cause.

When people huff and puff about Lee being a traitor, you might as well be saying: "My brain is tired."

 

[matthew mckeon]

4
I once took a group of students on a hike around Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts. Walden is a fair sized pond, and railroad tracks go near one end. I'm embarassed to say I got so turned around in the postage stamp sized woods that when I saw the pond, it so far from where I thought it should be, I wondered if there wasn't a second pond right next to the famous one.

So NO MORE will I criticize Civil War officers for getting lost or arriving at the wrong place. Considering the terrain, the condition of the roads and the lousy maps, its a wonder the armies ever got close enough to have any battles.

 

[Nathanb1]

Bless you, my child.

I've been thinking about things I will do.

1) More threads on lesser known and obscure men--a number of whom were leaders in their states and communities and who showed great promise on the battlefield--only to stand up and get a bullet in the head at the critical moment of their career. Lee, Stuart, Jackson, Forrest--all of those guys are remembered because they lived long enough to be documented. What about all the ones who gave their lives before they got good press?

2) More threads on obscure battles and skirmishes that either led up to the big battles or happened somewhere nobody cared about (uh......like Missouri and Texas) but still were a part of the war. Sometimes people who become vastly more important later on emerge from these fights--and sometimes they're the fight that shapes their entire career

3) Hopefully more threads on events that shaped the road to war and the guys "behind the scenes." I've about had it blaming Lincoln and Davis for everything. I submit they were certainly the figureheads, but there were plenty of Wigfalls (who many of you have to admit you knew very little about until I started harping on him) poking and prodding and getting us into the war.

4) Finally, encouraging people who come here to become more active in posting and reacting to what's been written. Guys, if you just sit here and read, that's all very fine. But if you let four people dominate the conversation, that's not good enough. We need everyone's viewpoint, even if you just give a thumbs up or thumbs down occasionally. Give us your questions, comments, and your own special viewpoint. If Terry hadn't been brave enough to bring up the Pointer brothers, if Border didn't keep hitting us in the face with stories from the Trans-Mississippi, and if Diane didn't constantly amaze us with new facts about THAT GUY, we'd all be much poorer. What I find on this forum which attracted me in the first place is cameraderie, humor, tolerance and enthusiasm. I hope we'll continue to add to it. See, Matt? You inspired me!

 

[Borderruffian]

But color were Doubleday's socks? Who actually owned them (Abner or the Army?)? and did he ever have to deal with the loss of socks?

 

[1SGDan]

I hate politics but am all in favor of more threads on lesser known events

 

[Borderruffian]

2) More threads on obscure battles and skirmishes that either led up to the big battles or happened somewhere nobody cared about (uh......like Missouri and Texas) but still were a part of the war. Sometimes people who become vastly more important later on emerge from these fights--and sometimes they're the fight that shapes their entire career

Good luck. You can start threads like that and get 5 replies (generally from the same folks). Seems arguing whether or not NBF was cav or mounted rifle, and refighting G'burg and Franklin hold sway.

 

[Nathanb1]

But I'm a bullheaded Texan. So I'll keep on keeping on. Besides, every time I do something like that, I learn something, which was my ultimate #1 goal here anyway.

 

[Borderruffian]

Understood. Sometimes I just feel like I'm howlin at the moon with all the Trans-Miss stuff.

 

[Nathanb1]

No. You're educating me. Besides, we have lots of members who never comment or actually log on--they just read. So I always figure somebody is at least reading, if not actually jumping over the fence and commenting. Keep the faith!

 

[Borderruffian]

4
I once took a group of students on a hike around Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts. Walden is a fair sized pond, and railroad tracks go near one end. I'm embarassed to say I got so turned around in the postage stamp sized woods that when I saw the pond, it so far from where I thought it should be, I wondered if there wasn't a second pond right next to the famous one.

So NO MORE will I criticize Civil War officers for getting lost or arriving at the wrong place. Considering the terrain, the condition of the roads and the lousy maps, its a wonder the armies ever got close enough to have any battles.

Well that and Officers are Officers and we know they can't land navigate their way outta of a seabag without an NCO to use the compass, even now.

 

[1SGDan]

Well that and Officers are Officers and we know they can't land navigate their way outta of a seabag without an NCO to use the compass, even now.

Now GPS saves them. No more need for an NCO to point the right way. God help us ,officers with computer assistance.

 

[unionblue]

Well that and Officers are Officers and we know they can't land navigate their way outta of a seabag without an NCO to use the compass, even now.

Now GPS saves them. No more need for an NCO to point the right way. God help us ,officers with computer assistance.

1SGDan,

Just the updated version of officers with clipboards.

Unionblue

 

[1SGDan]

Just the updated version of officers with clipboards.

arghhhhh. will we ever be free of the know-it-all, never-done-nothing dumb donkey???????

 

[wilber6150]

Bless you, my child.

I've been thinking about things I will do.

1) More threads on lesser known and obscure men--a number of whom were leaders in their states and communities and who showed great promise on the battlefield--only to stand up and get a bullet in the head at the critical moment of their career. Lee, Stuart, Jackson, Forrest--all of those guys are remembered because they lived long enough to be documented. What about all the ones who gave their lives before they got good press?

!

Wow that would be a great thread... Great idea..

 

[wilber6150]

Well that and Officers are Officers and we know they can't land navigate their way outta of a seabag without an NCO to use the compass, even now.

"Nothings more dangerious then a dumb *** boot brown bar with a compass"...Words of wisdom spoken by a grizzled Gunny

 

[Nathanb1]

Good. I'm making a list and checking it twice (Mr. Freeman actually caused this, due to his insistence on writing about officers in battle, summing up their accomplishments in civilian and military matters, and pointing out that we'll never know what they might have done....) as I chug through Lee's Lieutenants again. Took a couple of days for recreational reading, then I'll get back to my task.

 

[Blessmag]

Understood. Sometimes I just feel like I'm howlin at the moon with all the Trans-Miss stuff.

Keep at it. I hope to add some Arkansas stuff as I study more about the 126th Illinois Infantry.

You understand Nate?

 

[Nathanb1]

Do I understand or does Border understand me? Or do you understand? Hmmmmm......