This Week In History
(From top: Apollo 13 blasts off; Fort Sumter is shelled; FDR; Vostok I; Thomas Jefferson; 1st Edition Webster's Dictionary; Lincoln's assassination; Titanic's sinking; Alexis de Tocqueville)
April 11
1970 - Apollo 13 radios: "Houston, we've had a problem."
April 12
1861 - Fort Sumter in South Carolina is shelled by forces under Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard, beginning the Civil War.
1945- FDR dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia (four months before the end of WWII).
1961- Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union achieves Earth orbit in a Vostok rocket, and becomes the first human being in history to enter space.
April 13
1743 - Thomas Jefferson is born.
April 14
1828 - Webster's Dictionary is first published on this day with 30,000 entries.
1865 - Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, on Good Friday, four years and two days after the attack on Fort Sumter begins the Civil War, and five days after Lee's formal surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House
April 15
1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies on this day.
1912 - The R.M.S. Titanic sinks on this day.
April 16
1859 - French chronicler of American democracy Alexis de Tocqueville dies on this day.
April 11
1970 - Apollo 13 radios: "Houston, we've had a problem."
April 12
1861 - Fort Sumter in South Carolina is shelled by forces under Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard, beginning the Civil War.
1945- FDR dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia (four months before the end of WWII).
1961- Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union achieves Earth orbit in a Vostok rocket, and becomes the first human being in history to enter space.
April 13
1743 - Thomas Jefferson is born.
April 14
1828 - Webster's Dictionary is first published on this day with 30,000 entries.
1865 - Abraham Lincoln is shot in Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, on Good Friday, four years and two days after the attack on Fort Sumter begins the Civil War, and five days after Lee's formal surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House
April 15
1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies on this day.
1912 - The R.M.S. Titanic sinks on this day.
April 16
1859 - French chronicler of American democracy Alexis de Tocqueville dies on this day.
posted by John | 8:15 AM
16 Comments:
Speaking of the Civil War and April...John, have you ever been down to Saylor's Creek Battlefield near Amelia Ct House, Virginia? It's not far from Farmville near the heart of the State.
That was where the last major battle of the Civil war took place. It was the deciding battle that lead to Lee surrendering to Grant.
That link above is a picture of me on that battlefied.
I always thought Lee called it quits after Gettysburg.
The thing that made that battle crucial was that Lee was heading to meet up with much needed supplies. On the way he and his troops were met by Grant's army. There were subsequent altercations between Saylor's creek and Appomattox, but they were minor. The Battle of highbridge was a minor squirmish but was also very helpful in keeping Lee at bay.
Gettysburg was nearly two years prior.
Also, if you ever get the chance, go visit Appomattox, Ct House. It is 3 miles north of the current town of Appomattox. (I think. My directions got all messed up out there.)
A little trivia on that subject. Maj. Wilmer McLean might well have said, as tradition has it, "The [civil] War began in my front yard and ended in my parlor."
He had retired to live near Manassas Junction. After the War started in his front yard, he decided to move--as far away from the war as he could and still be in Virginia. He move to RURAL Virginia. And it ended with Lee's surrender to Grant in the parlor of his home.
I have been in that home.
Well, Lee wasn't ready to call it quits after Gettysburg, but the battle there is often referred to as the war's turning point, and it was pretty much downhill from there for the Confederacy.
Saylor's creek is what made him cry "uncle".
Sorry to be a problem, but the last battle of the Civil War took place in Texas, almost two weeks after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.
The Confederates won. After the battle they learned that the war was over, so they took their horses, guns and equipment off the field and went to their respective homes. The Confederates in Texas never surrendered their colors or weapons.
OR our attitude ;-)
Yes, Phelonius, but you are still part of the Union. There were actually more than one battle fought after Lee surrendered to Grant. But a battle won does not always WIN the war.
As far as which side of the war I would have been on...let's look at the history of UTAH, shall we. The Mormon pioneers LEFT the United States--turned their back on it for a chance to live in peace. The Mormons arrived in the Utah territory in 1847. In about 1857-58 there was the Utah War. An army from the United States came to Utah to "put down" the "rebellion".
This was about the same time as Bleeding Kansas...which was a precurser to the Civil War.
This just goes to show you that no war is as cut-and-dried as many would like to think.
The factional, post-bellum violence in Iraq is quite typical of many reconstruction phases.
Wars take time to build up and time to cool down.
How much time did it take the United States to "recover" from the Civil War?
We are still arguing over States Rights (as one issue of the Civil War) and it took nearly 100 years for Blacks to get the real freedom granted by Lincoln during the War.
Well part of that issue of rights could be linked to the fact that after the Civil War, there were still slave states in the North. You see, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation only applied to those states that had actually rebelled.
Of course we are still part of the Union. I have ancestors that fought for the US independence from England, and I have ancestors that fought for Texas independence from Mexico. I have ancestors that fought for the Confederacy, the Union, in the Spanish American War. My grandfather lost a brother in the forest of Argonne in WWI, and I had a great Uncle as a radio operator in a B-17 flying over Europe in WWII. My grandmother lost a brother in the Pacific and one in Patton's Army in the same conflagration.
Let me be clear.
There is no case where the family honor was damaged in ANY of those conflicts. My confederate ancestors fought for an honorable cause and shed blood honorably. In Texas, yea, we were proud that we actually won the last battle of the war. However, their descendants shed their blood for Old Glory, and did so proudly.
I liked the "this week in history" entry because I am a history buff, unashamedly. And yes, one of the most shameful periods in US history was the attempted destruction of the Mormons in Utah. Ask my Choctaw ancestors how they felt about the US Federal Government and you would probably get a similar response!
Hey, James, I was pointing out things in jest.
I am also a history buff, as well. I have quite enjoyed this entry.
1- it has been a reprieve from everything else.
2- I LOVE history. I wish I paid more attention to it in high school. My year and a half in Virginia back in the 80s showed me history in a whole new light. I have delved into it since.
What I find fascinating is to look at what was going on at the same time as another aspect of history and how they could be linked. Everyone also has their own perspective of history.
This has been fun.
It's all good Kelly.
I am sensitive sometimes about things I should not be, but really all I was pointing out is that there are a lot of us in this country that have fought for lost causes or have been victimized to some extent. What matters is how you handle yourself in the day-to-day.
Honestly, I think you think I am mad about your posting in Sciolist, but nothing could me more wrong. I am not that sensitive, but for some reason, I have been more argumentative lately. I blame that on the kids.....
Actually, James, I hadn't even put two and two together about your comments here and your own post.
Although, I was concerned that you were a little upset about that.
But all in all, hey I'm cool. You're cool. I still think you are alright.
History is an enjoyable subject because we can look back with emotional detatchment. The here and now can sometimes be overwhelming...and sometimes the kids can get to us.
One thing that history does, however, is give us a perspective of the here and now. If we don't learn the lessons that history teaches we are apt to repeat it.
George Santayana.
John, I was trying to find that exact quote (and couldn't quite remember how it went):
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
George Santayana
Thanks!
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