Cosmic America EXCLUSIVE! Gary W. Gallagher on His New Book - The Union War

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Gary W. Gallagher, the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia and author of The Confederate War, Lee and his Generals in War and Memory, and Causes Lost, Won, and Forgotten has given me the honor of the very first interview on his new book - The Union War.

I am really looking forward to this, as I am sure you are too. We had a nice chat, some good coffee, and I learned all about his upcoming book. Be sure to get your copy - it should be out in March, 2011.

Peace,

Keith

Cosmic America's Civil War: Office Hours at the Best Fish Taco in Ensenada

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Today's Office Hours was fun as usual - Lance from Colorado wanted to know what happened after the 54th Massachusetts Infantry confronted the Rebs at Ft. Wagner. If you remember, the film Glory left the 54th after their ill-fated frontal assault on the fort (or rather...battery) near Charleston, South Carolina. It turns out that they went on to fight in some other engagements. Addie from Arkansas wanted to know more about my Civil War ancestry - thanks for caring Addie :) here you go...

Today we met at the Best Fish Taco in Ensenada - curiously named because it is in Los Feliz...but I will let them slide. The fish tacos were indeed pretty damn good...and the price was right. So, if you should find yourself in Los Angeles driving down Hillhurst and you get the munchies - I say stop in. And get the hot mango salsa. It's not really that hot but very tasty.

Peace,

Keith

Gary W. Gallagher and the Americans' Fascination with the Civil War

Greetings Cosmic Americans!
I was thinking about posting something on Americans' fascination with the Civil War era - and then I found this. Gary W. Gallgher, who was my dissertation adviser at the University of Virginia, pretty much captures my sentiments as well. And he does it in only about three minutes. Nice...short and to the point.

But here's a idea that he only touches on - one I think deserves a bit of elaboration. Many Americans have a personal connection with the conflict, and we grew up hearing the older members of the family telling the war stories - passed down from generation to generation. This is what did it for me. My Civil War ancestors (that I know about) fought in the 16th Alabama and the 27th Georgia Regiments. One - Andrew Jackson Holbert, was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, walked home to Lawrence County Alabama, recovered and rejoined his unit. From what I understand...he had seen enough of war and his reenlistment was not a mutual decision.

I am quite sure the stories were romanticized, elaborated upon, and all the other stuff that undoubtedly distorted what really happened with my family - but the point is...I was sold on the history, and have since dedicated a significant part of my life to the study of the war.

People that I cross paths with in this field tell me similar stories. This personal connection to the national story of the war - from both sides - is what I believe keeps the war alive in the hearts and minds of American citizens. Northern, Southern, black and white - we see the legacy of the war everywhere. In a sense it is still very much a part of us.

Peace,

Keith

Alexander Gardner, Matthew Brady, and the Dead at Antietam

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

There are about a zillion Civil War era pictures floating around out there. Since the invention of photography earlier in the nineteenth century, the notion of a war correspondent has taken on a whole new meaning.

Most pictures are pretty ordinary...a soldier or group of soldiers standing about displaying their weapons or relaxing in camp. Most are posed, and as far as I know, battle photographs are virtually non-existent.

But there is nothing ordinary about Alexander Gardner's Antietam series. The citizens of the United States certainly didn't think so. Gardner arrived at the battlefield shortly after September 17th, 1862 - just in time to photograph the grim work of war. Most of his shots were "stereographs" which means he took two images (with a special two-lens camera) of the same view to be shown through a special viewing device creating a 3-d image.

But here's the real kicker. His images were reproduced and spread throughout the states - where they became all the rage. Matthew Brady's gallery in New York City displayed Gardner's original images for public viewing - a showing that created quite the stir. Americans (civilians, anyway) had never really glimpsed the horrors of war in such a realistic fashion. For the first time, the war hit home. New Yorkers were shocked and appalled. The New York Times stated that Brady was able to "bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and along streets, he has done something very like it…"

War photography, what most would consider part of our daily dose of the world beyond our immediate surroundings, is everywhere and readily available to all. This was not the case in 1862.

Peace,

Keith

Grover Cleveland and the Confederate Flag Controversy

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

With all the whoop-dee-do about Confederate flags these days I thought I might revisit an episode in the flag saga writ large. No, we are not dealing with Rebel flags flying above statehouses in the South, or kids wearing Confederate t-shirts to school.

This story has to do with the president of the United States returning captured Confederate battle flags to their previous owners - former Rebels who many considered traitors. Here's a snippet from my upcoming book on Civil War veterans regarding this troubling affair:

The plan, spearheaded in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland, the only Democrat elected to the White House between Lincoln’s election in 1860 and the election of Virginia-born Woodrow Wilson in 1912, suggested a reconciliatory gesture on the part of the federal government. Cleveland was already at odds with Union veterans – especially with the comrades of the GAR. Having avoided military service by purchasing a substitute – a Polish immigrant named George Brinski – Cleveland spent the war years practicing law safely in Buffalo, New York. This did not sit well with veterans who had faced death on the battlefield. Further, suspecting corruption within the veterans’ pension lobby, Cleveland vetoed a number of allegedly dubious pension bills, actions that did not win him support from the veterans of the GAR, MOLLUS or any other Union veterans’ organizations.

But nothing rankled the veterans more than Cleveland’s proposal to return Rebel flags to the South. Members of the GAR, including Commander-in-Chief Lucius Fairchild, turned vicious. Cleveland even received threats of physical violence. In June 1887 a group of Ohioan veterans resolved that the order to return Confederate flags was “a Dastard outrage and Disgrace to all Patriotic American citizens.” Although Cleveland eventually reconsidered his plans, he could not turn back the clock. Quite possibly, considering the narrow election results in 1888 and the number of voting GAR comrades, Cleveland’s actions in this regard might have cost him reelection.

Any indications that Confederate flags, considered treasonous emblems by many Union veterans, would be returned to southern states fueled bitter opposition. A few disparaged the flags’ very existence. One Union veteran even suggested destroying the treasonous banners. “I confess a regret that we did not burn them up 40 years ago,” he lamented, “They are about as valuable as confederate money.” Early in the twentieth century, when President Theodore Roosevelt and reconciliationist members of Congress once again proposed reuniting former Confederates with their captured colors, GAR men and other veterans fired away with bitter rancor. One collection of post minutes suggest discussions in unanimous agreement concerning what many considered no less than a diabolical scheme to honor treason. Reporting on an address given to Brooklyn Post, 233, Department of New York, by department commander Alan C. Baker, the post recording officer noted in March 1905 that the congressional bill supporting the return of Confederate flags “was in every way a most reprehensible thing to carry out.” For an organization where “No discussion or controversy of partisan political character, or of nature to impair harmony [was] permitted,” veterans took a decidedly partisan stance.

So, as you can see...the whole flag controversy thing has been around for quite a while. And I don't see it going anywhere soon.

Peace,

Keith

Cosmic America's Civil War: Office Hours at Ye Rustic Inn December 31, 2010

Greetings Cosmic Americans! Well...you ask the questions, and I provide the answers - just like I promised. And what's great...sometimes I slip up a little. Just watch the video and you'll see what I mean. Military historians should be ready to jump on me here but let me assure you - I am quite familiar with the position of the Union line at Gettysburg on all three days. I have walked the lines many times. What can I say - it was a weird New Years Eve.

At any rate - in this episode we get to hear all about Lee's Plan A for day three at Gettysburg and a tidbit regarding enlistment bounties. So check it out.

By the way - it is great to be back at Ye Rustic in Los Feliz...the original meeting place for Office Hours. They make a mean burger!

Peace,
Keith

Union Veterans and Robert E. Lee - the GAR Has Its Say

Greetings Cosmic Americans! And Happy New Year - I hope this very first post of 2011 finds you all healthy and happy.

In an effort to bring some of my yet unpublished research to the world at large, I thought I would post a snippet here and there of interest. Some of the subjects I am sure you will find controversial - so comments are welcome. For example - during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Union veterans had a few choice words for their enemies - like Robert E. Lee. Enjoy...

Lee’s legacy suffered a long and enduring attack at the hands of his former adversaries. Union veterans remained determined to praise only the Union heroes who saved the country, rather than a Rebel who had tried to destroy it. The praise allotted to the rebel chieftain that was taking place all over the country wore Grand Army of the Republic veterans particularly thin. One Collier’s Weekly article citing Lee as America’s most “noble citizen” especially drew fire from the GAR’s patriotic instructor, Robert Kissick of Iowa. “If Lee was all you claim, then the men I represent were wrong in fighting to preserve the nation he fought to destroy.” Further arguing that “Lee did not follow his state out of the Union,” but rather, “his state followed him,” Kissick lambasted the Confederate hero and heaped much of the blame for upper South secession on Lee’s shoulders. As decades past, few Union veterans could stomach the praise of Robert E. Lee. In 1922, when the American Legion attempted to honor Lee’s birthday, veterans of the Pennsylvania GAR shuddered at the idea that anyone would “place a premium on Disloyalty to the Flag and our Country.”

Union veterans embraced reconciliation – but on their own terms. They made sure to remind Americans (as did Confederate veterans) of exactly who, from their perspective, was right and who was wrong. Stay tuned - I'll be posting more of these little tidbits over the next months. Don't worry...each side will have their say.

Peace and Happy New Year,

Keith