Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee Teaching I Teaching I
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The Meaning of Victory
THE MEANING OF VICTORY Beatrice Heuser Strategic Studies University of Reading (currently Paris) “Victories“? • Gulf War I • Afghanistan • Gulf War II • (and the many defeats in the Cold War) Debate about victory • General Petraeus: “This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home with a victory parade … It’s not war with a simple slogan. (11 Sept. 2008) • Robert Mandel • William Martel • Colin Gray • Angstrom & Duyvesteyn • Boone Bartholomees • Pres. Obama: “Let’s not talk about victory” (June 2011) The Age of the Napoleonic- Clausewitzian Paradigm • 19th century until 1945 (or even later, especially US armed forces – Col Harry Summers) • Obsession with victory for its own sake • Defined as: “imposing one’s will upon the enemy” (Clausewitz), negation of any give- and-take. • And… Pursuit of Victory at all cost • Brian Bond: The Pursuit of Victory from Napoleon to Saddam Hussein • American Civil War: unconditional surrender. • Franco-Prussian War: Peace “Diktat”, unaffordable Reparations, extensive humiliation of defeated party. Perceived injustice. • World War I: Versailles “Diktat”, unaffordable Reparations, extensive humiliation of defeated party. Perceived injustice. • World War II: unconditional surrender. By contrast: earlier thinkers… ARISTOTLE • The end of the medical art is health, that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. (Nicomachean Ethics I.1) • We are busy that we may have leisure, and make war that we may live in peace. … no-one chooses to be at war, or provokes war, for the sake of being at war. (Nicomachean Ethics X.7) Just War • Goes back to pre-Christian ROMAN concepts • Preconditions for Just War: – Just cause (self-defence or defence of another) – Just aim: the pursuit of peace – Was is the last resort – Carried out with moderation (proportionality), – And balance of consequences, i.e. -
Follow in Lincoln's Footsteps in Virginia
FOLLOW IN LINCOLN’S FOOTSTEPS IN VIRGINIA A 5 Day tour of Virginia that follows in Lincoln’s footsteps as he traveled through Central Virginia. Day One • Begin your journey at the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center housing the Civil War Orientation Center for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District. Become familiar with the onsite interpretations that walk visitors through the stages of the local battles. • Travel to Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters. Located in a quiet residential area, this Victorian house is where Jackson spent the winter of 1861-62 and planned his famous Valley Campaign. • Enjoy lunch at The Wayside Inn – serving travelers since 1797, meals are served in eight antique filled rooms and feature authentic Colonial favorites. During the Civil War, soldiers from both the North and South frequented the Wayside Inn in search of refuge and friendship. Serving both sides in this devastating conflict, the Inn offered comfort to all who came and thus was spared the ravages of the war, even though Stonewall Jackson’s famous Valley Campaign swept past only a few miles away. • Tour Belle Grove Plantation. Civil War activity here culminated in the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864 when Gen. Sheridan’s counterattack ended the Valley Campaign in favor of the Northern forces. The mansion served as Union headquarters. • Continue to Lexington where we’ll overnight and enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Day Two • Meet our guide in Lexington and tour the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The VMI Museum presents a history of the Institute and the nation as told through the lives and services of VMI Alumni and faculty. -
Civil War Generals Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery by James Barnett
Spring Grove Cemetery, once characterized as blending "the elegance of a park with the pensive beauty of a burial-place," is the final resting- place of forty Cincinnatians who were generals during the Civil War. Forty For the Union: Civil War Generals Buried in Spring Grove Cemetery by James Barnett f the forty Civil War generals who are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, twenty-three had advanced from no military experience whatsoever to attain the highest rank in the Union Army. This remarkable feat underscores the nature of the Northern army that suppressed the rebellion of the Confed- erate states during the years 1861 to 1865. Initially, it was a force of "inspired volunteers" rather than a standing army in the European tradition. Only seven of these forty leaders were graduates of West Point: Jacob Ammen, Joshua H. Bates, Sidney Burbank, Kenner Garrard, Joseph Hooker, Alexander McCook, and Godfrey Weitzel. Four of these seven —Burbank, Garrard, Mc- Cook, and Weitzel —were in the regular army at the outbreak of the war; the other three volunteered when the war started. Only four of the forty generals had ever been in combat before: William H. Lytle, August Moor, and Joseph Hooker served in the Mexican War, and William H. Baldwin fought under Giuseppe Garibaldi in the Italian civil war. This lack of professional soldiers did not come about by chance. When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787, its delegates, who possessed a vast knowledge of European history, were determined not to create a legal basis for a standing army. The founding fathers believed that the stand- ing armies belonging to royalty were responsible for the endless bloody wars that plagued Europe. -
“Never Was I So Depressed”
The Army of Northern Virginia in the Gettysburg Campaign “Never Was I So Depressed” James Longstreet and Pickett’s Charge Karlton D. Smith On July 24, 1863, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet wrote a private letter to his uncle, Augusts Baldwin Longstreet. In discussing his role in the Gettysburg Campaign, the general stated: General Lee chose the plan adopted, and he is the person appointed to chose and to order. I consider it a part of my duty to express my views to the commanding general. If he approves and adopts them it is well; if he does not, it is my duty to adopt his views, and to execute his orders as faithfully as if they were my own. While clearly not approving Lee’s plan of attack on July 3, Longstreet did everything he could, both before and during the attack, to ensure its success.1 Born in 1821, James Longstreet was an 1842 graduate of West Point. An “Old Army” regular, Longstreet saw extensive front line combat service in the Mexican War in both the northern and southern theaters of operations. Longstreet led detachments that helped to capture two of the Mexican forts guarding Monterey and was involved in the street fighting in the city. At Churubusco, Longstreet planted the regimental colors on the walls of the fort and saw action at Casa Marta, near Molino del Ray. On August 13, 1847, Longstreet was wounded during the assault on Chapaltepec while “in the act of discharging the piece of a wounded man." The same report noted that during the action, "He was always in front with the colors. -
The American Civil War: a War of Logistics
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: A WAR OF LOGISTICS Franklin M. Welter A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2015 Committee: Rebecca Mancuso, Advisor Dwayne Beggs © 2015 Franklin M. Welter All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Rebecca Mancuso, Advisor The American Civil War was the first modern war. It was fought with weapons capable of dealing death on a scale never before seen. It was also the first war which saw the widespread use of the railroad. Across the country men, materials, and supplies were transported along the iron rails which industrial revolution swept in. Without the railroads, the Union would have been unable to win the war. All of the resources, men, and materials available to the North mean little when they cannot be shipped across the great expanse which was the North during the Civil War. The goals of this thesis are to examine the roles and issues faced by seemingly independent people in very different situations during the war, and to investigate how the problems which these people encountered were overcome. The first chapter, centered in Ohio, gives insight into the roles which noncombatants played in the process. Farmers, bakers, and others behind the lines. Chapter two covers the journey across the rails, the challenges faced, and how they were overcome. This chapter looks at how those in command handled the railroad, how it affected the battles, especially Gettysburg, and how the railroads were defended over the course of the war, something which had never before needed to be considered. -
Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy
Civil War Book Review Winter 2020 Article 15 The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy Chris Mackowski Bonaventure University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr Recommended Citation Mackowski, Chris (2020) "The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy," Civil War Book Review: Vol. 22 : Iss. 1 . DOI: 10.31390/cwbr.22.1.15 Available at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr/vol22/iss1/15 Mackowski: The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Review Chris Mackowski Winter 2020 Keller, Christian B., The Great Partnership: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Fate of the Confederacy. Pegasus Books, 2019. HARDCOVER. $18.89. ISBN: 978-1643131344 pp. 328. The cover of Christian Keller’s latest book, The Great Partnership, features a Mort Künstler painting titled Tactics and Strategy. A fatherly Robert E. Lee, seated on a crackerbox, rests a bare hand on the gloved forearm of Stonewall Jackson, crouching beside him and looking attentively at his commander. The 2002 painting captures a key moment in their partnership: the campfire-lit evening of May 1, 1863, at Chancellorsville. The painting’s title suggests their relationship: Jackson the tactician and Lee the strategist. Ironically, Keller’s book argues a different relationship between the two men. “Lee’s mind, like [Jackson’s], was not limited to the tactical or even the operational objectives in his immediate line of sight,” Keller writes. “The army commander thought more broadly, strategically, in ways that signified a clear understanding of what had to be done to win the war....” (10) In this, Keller argues, Lee and Jackson were in near-perfect synchronicity. -
The Battle of Sailor's Creek
THE BATTLE OF SAILOR’S CREEK: A STUDY IN LEADERSHIP A Thesis by CLOYD ALLEN SMITH JR. Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2005 Major Subject: History THE BATTLE OF SAILOR’S CREEK: A STUDY IN LEADERSHIP A Thesis by CLOYD ALLEN SMITH JR. Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved by: Chair of Committee, Joseph Dawson Committee Members, James Bradford Joseph Cerami Head of Department, Walter L. Buenger December 2005 Major Subject: History iii ABSTRACT The Battle of Sailor’s Creek: A Study in Leadership. (December 2005) Cloyd Allen Smith Jr., B.A., Slippery Rock University Chair: Dr. Joseph Dawson The Battle of Sailor’s Creek, 6 April 1865, has been overshadowed by Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House several days later, yet it is an example of the Union military war machine reaching its apex of war making ability during the Civil War. Through Ulysses S. Grant’s leadership and that of his subordinates, the Union armies, specifically that of the Army of the Potomac, had been transformed into a highly motivated, organized and responsive tool of war, led by confident leaders who understood their commander’s intent and were able to execute on that intent with audacious initiative in the absence of further orders. After Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia escaped from Petersburg and Richmond on 2 April 1865, Grant’s forces chased after Lee’s forces with the intent of destroying the mighty and once feared iv protector of the Confederate States in the hopes of bringing a swift end to the long war. -
Meigs Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8—1861 [FEB.] 20TH. To Washington, where I had again the happiness of em- bracing my wife and children. Finding them all well and rejoiced, like myself, to be once more together. As I left Washington on the 22nd of October, I have been just 4 months absent, less 2 days. [FEB.] 21ST. To Engineer office. General Totten took me over to see the Secretary, 1 who received me most kindly. Complimented me upon my conduct and said he was glad to see me back again in Washington, in my right place. He told me that Floyd had told the cabinet that he had a long rigamarole of a letter from Captain Meigs, that pestilent fellow who got trouble wherever he went, and that it was perfectly ridiculous that he wanted men and guns to defend the Tortugas and some heap of rocks, perfectly indefensible. And the cabinet, not being prepared to expect false representations from one of their colleagues, believed him, thought me a silly fellow, and did not read my letters. Soon after Floyd’s exposure, General Scott 2 came. One of the first things he called attention to was the great importance of holding with sufficient garrison and stores the fortress of the Tortugas and of great asset. Then Floyd’s speech about my letters was told to him. He ad- vised them to read my reports, that he had a letter from me which was very much to the point and not at all rigamarole. On reading them, Mr. Holt says he is astonished at the vision they showed. -
"Rebels to the Core": Memphians Under William T. Sherman
"Rebels to the Core": Memphians under William T. Sherman By John Bordelon Tis idle to talk about Union men here. Many want Peace, and fear war & its results but all prefer a Southern Independent Government, and are fighting or working for it. Major General William T. Sherman 1 Memphis, Tennessee, August 11, 1862 Citizens representing various segments of Memphis society, from a southern judge to daring "lady smugglers," engaged in unconventional warfare against the occupying Union presence under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. White Memphians resisted Federal occupation and aided the Confederacy by smuggling goods, harboring spies, manipulating trade, burning cotton, attacking steamers, and expressing ideological opposition through the judicial system. In occupied Memphis, Sherman never confronted a conventional army. Instead, he faced relentless opposition from civilians sympathetic to the Confederacy. Previous scholarship on Memphis during the Civil War treats examines the city's experience from numerous angles.2 However, the extent of civilian devotion to the Confederacy and willingness to actively pursue their cause deserves further exploration. Focusing on the actions of pro-Confederate Memphians during one officers tenure in the occupied city allows for a more intimate understanding of the character of the city during wartime. Because of a shortage of extant writings of Memphians during the war, the correspondence of W T. Sherman provides valuable insight into the experience of the city in 1862. 1 W T. Sherman to Salmon P. Chase, August 11, 1862, as published in Brooks D. Simpson and Jean V. Berlin, eds., Sherman's Civil Wftr: Selected Correspondence ofWilliam T Sherman, 1860-1865 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1999), 270. -
General Grant National Memorial
both as a citizen and soldier. Allegorical figures by J. CAPTAIN SAM GRANT: The future commanding gen At Shiloh in April, when a Confederate surprise Massey Rhind representing Grant's youth, military service, eral of the Union armies and President of the United States attack threatened to overwhelm the Federal army, Grant civilian life, and death are between the arches of the ro was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822. regrouped his shaken forces and drove the Southerners tunda. Bronze busts sculpted by Mues and J. Juszko of sev Baptized Hiram Ulysses Grant, he found when he en from the field. The narrowly won victory was a giant eral of Grant's comrades-in-arms are in niches in the walls tered West Point in 1839 that his name appeared on the step forward in the North's conquest of the Mississippi of the crypt. In 1966 three mosaics, designed by Allyn Cox, records as Ulysses Simpson Grant. The record was al Valley. representing the battles of Vicksburg and Chattanooga and lowed to stand. To the other cadets his initials suggested Maintaining the initiative in the West, Grant the surrender at Appomattox, each a significant event in the nickname "Uncle Sam," quickly shortened to "Sam." achieved a major goal of Union war strategy on July 4, Grant's career, were placed in the lunettes of the rotunda. At West Point he distinguished himself in horsemanship 1863, when his capture of the Mississippi fortress of Vicks THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL: From the time of its and showed ability in mathematics. -
The Nuremberg Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
Portland State University PDXScholar Young Historians Conference Young Historians Conference 2014 Apr 29th, 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM The Nuremberg Trials and Crimes Against Humanity Katie A. Welgan St. Mary's Academy Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/younghistorians Part of the European History Commons, and the Legal Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Welgan, Katie A., "The Nuremberg Trials and Crimes Against Humanity" (2014). Young Historians Conference. 8. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/younghistorians/2014/oralpres/8 This Event is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Young Historians Conference by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The Nuremberg Trials and !Crimes Against Humanity ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Katie Welgan Portland State University Challenge: Modern European History December 15, 2013 !2 While Germany’s unconditional surrender to Allied forces on May 9th, 1945 marked the conclusion of physical conflict on Western Front, this transfer of power at the end of World War II created a new conflict of an administrative nature. As victors, American, British, French, and Soviet officials were responsible for the development of a system to address the crimes of Nazi leaders. While international law—and popular opinion in several Allied countries—favored executions without trials, prominent leaders including Joseph Stalin -
Right Intention and a Just and Lasting Peace
1 Right Intention and a Just and Lasting Peace Historically, the norm of right intention has been a constitutive part of the ad bellum phase of just war theory, and “aims to overcome the pos- sibility that a state may have a just cause, but still act from a wrong intention.”1 Wrong intentions aim or intend acts or effects (e.g., punishing the state one is at war with, using the resources of that state, causing more destruction than is needed, or pursuing a war longer than is neces- sary) that are not warranted by and do not serve to vindicate a state’s just cause. “Having the right reason for launching a war is not enough: the actual motivation behind the resort to war must also be morally appropriate; the only right intention allowed is to see the just cause for resorting to war secured and consolidated”2 Without the condition of right intention, “the connection between one’s action and the reason that justifies it remains contingent, and this allows for the possibility that just cause could be only a pretext or excuse for bellicose action aimed at some further goal beyond that which one’s justifying reason supports, or at some completely independent goal that can be pursued using the justifying reasons as a rationalization only.”3 Having a just cause does not necessarily entail that the state’s leaders and citizens will not have ulterior motives. However, as Joseph Boyle posits, “This does not mean that one cannot engage in war in anticipation of benefits that go beyond one’s justified war aims.