The Colorado Index

Gettysburg Thoughts For Independence Day

With the recent Ben DeGrow and A Watcher essays on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and the 20^th Maine during the battle of Gettysburg, I wanted to chime in with some thoughts this Independence Day.

It is one of the great ironies of this country that its bloodiest internecine battle occurred July 1 through July 3, 1863. On July 1, the Confederacy took the advantage from the Union. July 2 was the day of the Battle of Little Round Top, where the 20th Maine repelled the rebel charge, eventually with bayonets.

From my 2006 trip to Gettysburg, here is the monument to the 20^th Maine on Little Round Top, slightly hidden in the woods. The 20^th Maine was the end of the Union line. Had the Confederate soldiers broken around the flank of the Union army, Gettysburg, and the Civil War, could have been lost.

The high water mark of the Confederacy occurred July 3. During the famous Pickett’s charge, Confederate General Lewis Armistead broke through the center of the Union line, before being beaten back. The following is a picture of the high water mark from my trip.

The Gettysburg National Military site describes the aftermath of Pickett’s charge and the end of the Battle of Gettysburg this way:

Lee realized his army could no longer remain in Pennsylvania. Returning to his headquarters, he dictated orders for the army to withdraw, retreat to the Potomac River, and return to Virginia. "Too bad, too bad," a staff officer heard the general say in his discouragement. "Oh, too bad." 

Storm clouds blackened the early evening sky. A heavy rain soon fell, symbolically washing the land of the carnage wrought by three days of bloody battle.

On July 4, 1863 and in the weeks and months that followed, the citizens of Gettysburg tended to the dead and wounded.

Some small government advocates still blame President Abraham Lincoln for the increased role of the federal government during and after the Civil War, the purpose of which was to preserve the Union. Ben DeGrow deconstructs this argument in great detail. However, Lincoln’s speech at the Gettysburg National
Cemetery dedication (The Gettysburg Address) provides a message that rings true 145 years after Gettysburg (and 232 years since the founding of America).

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Happy Independence Day.

by Civil Sense

 

UPDATE: Unbeknownst to me at the time, Josh Sharf at View From a Height posted an essay earlier this morning commenting about the events surrounding July, 1863.

Be Amazed That We Know As Much As We Do

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, the day we celebrate as Independence Day.

Compared to all of the other periods in our history, we really know very little about the Revolutionary period.  After the Civil War, for example, the Army created a thorough history of the war. It had 128 volumes and was still in libraries in my youth.  Now it is on line:

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION:  A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES

Many of the generals, including Grant wrote their own histories. 

That wasn't done after the War for Independence.  There are many reasons for that. 

There wasn't an official military history because the Continental Army was disbanded.  At one point in the mid 1780s, it had a total strength of 86 men commanded by a Major.  Their job was to guard two armories, not to write books.

Also, there wasn't a market for books.  Most of the population was illiterate.  That changed when our system of public education was established.

Official records in that era were very skimpy.  The record of the day that the Continental Congress authorized the calling of what became the Constitutional Convention was distilled into one paragraph.  Congress, by the way, only authorized the convention to produce amendments to the Articles of Confederation.

Even those short records were put in peril when the British captured Philadelphia.  The congressman who was responsible for their safe keeping lost his nerve and entrusted them to a quaker farmer, who buried them.

When the British evacuated Philadelphia, that farmer was one of two men hanged by the Americans as collaborators.  Sounds dumb, doesn't it?  That is a story for another day.

There are some fine books coming out about the period, but many rely on private letters. 

Some rely on 80 reels of microfiche pension applications.  When Congress got around to authorizing pensions for veterans of that war, it had no records.  It solved the problem by requiring veterans making claims to write about their service, who they served under, what battles they fought in, a description of the battles, etc.

Those applications are being mined for information now.  There is a new book out on the battle of Trenton which explains how Washington achieved tactical surprise even though the Hessians had been warned to expect an attack.

We've been told that the Hessian commander ignored the warning.  It turns out that he didn't. 

We probably owe our liberty to a half dozen angry militiamen who, acting on their own, chose that night to avenge the death of one of their comrades.  They killed a single Hessian soldier.  The Hessian command mistook their extremely small scale operation as the attack about which they had been warned, not guessing that Washington was still hours away.

As you enjoy the holiday tomorrow, think back to that time and wonder what we don't know about the people and events.  Be amazed at how much we do know and are still learning.  Unlike other wars, the information wasn't systematically saved.

Added:  George Will enlightens us further about what we don't know, or didn't know.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

A tip of the hat to Ben DeGrow who commented today on the anniversary of the battle for Little Round Top.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of my two personal heroes, George Washington being the other.  If either hadn't lived, or had died at an inopportune time, our nation would be different than the one we know.

Ben's excellent review left out at least two references books one might read.  Killer Angels is an easy book to read that tells the story of Gettysburg and not a lot else.  Bayonet's Forward is Chamberlain's autobiography.  Unfortunately, it is written in the flowery language of a well educated 19th Century man, making it at best hard to read.

Chamberlain won the Medal of Honor at Gettysburg, although it wasn't issued until 1890.

Grumpy Liberal Rewrites Declaration of Independence

The Denver Post’s Ed Quillen is an aging liberal curmudgeon. Semi-retired, he used to conceal his politics better. Now, Ed Quillen seems to have a full-blown case of Bush Derangement Syndrome as he rewrites the Declaration of Independence to reflect the perceived loss of liberties within the Ed Quillen universe:

"When in the Course of human Events it becomes necessary for the Unitary Executive to dissolve the Political Restraints which have constrained him from assuming, among the Powers of Earth, his proper role as the Decider, a total Disrespect for the Opinions of Mankind means that no Explanation is required.

In the Quillenverse, obviously the Executive should be less equal than that of the Legislature or the Judiciary.  Is he also advocating governance via opinion poll? This is why we have elections. He continues:

"Nonetheless, the Unitary Executive holds this Truth to be of divine Origin, that the Executive Branch of Government enjoys certain unalienable Rights, that among these Rights are Spying upon Citizens without a Warrant, the Rendition of Captives unto foreign Despotisms, the Invasion and Occupation of other Nations upon false Pretenses, and the Employment of Torture to gather Evidence to be used in secret Courts.

While the civil libertarian in me is suspicious of government surveillance, the fact is that no one can expect complete privacy rights when one literally or virtually crosses any international border. The captives were captured on the battlefield. False pretenses for a war only means reasons that Ed Quillen dislikes. Quillen also failed to mention that while waterboarding was used only three times on our enemies, the military uses this technique on its own soldiers as a training exercise. Finally, military tribunals are hardly secret courts.

His lack of coherence then devolves into lunacy. Quillen’s parody of the original statement of grievances borders on the ridiculous.

"The citizens have refused to obey Laws, such as the Prohibition of the Cultivation of Hemp, which are most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

While the drug war is a terrible waste of resources for our government, and marijuana is not nearly as harmful a drug as the government claims, the prohibition of marijuana is a law duly passed by Congress, not imposed by the President.  Certainly, this President is not the first to enforce marijuana laws.

"They have called together Legislative Bodies which have complained about the Deployment of their Militia to a foreign Land by the Unitary Executive.

Grandstanding Democrats carped about the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq for months prior to the invasion of those countries. The “Legislative Bodies” (Congress) authorized these actions.

"They have pressured their Representatives and Senators to oppose the granting of retroactive Immunity to Corporations which in the public Spirit assisted in the Eavesdropping upon private Citizens without a Warrant.

Here, Quillen must refer to the Obama supporters/Daily Kos crowd. Should the government allow trial lawyers to sue private companies who cooperated with the government? 

"There are among them many who have refused to agree that the Right to Life ends at Birth.

Because the Executive is killing people?  Is this a statement on the war?  Military deaths are lower in real numbers than in peacetime in the 1980’s. What is Quillen’s point to all this.

The actual Declaration of Independence was a historic document stating universal freedoms and actual grievances with a government that allowed no representation from the colonies. Ed Quillen’s petulant revised declaration is only fit to paper the bottom of the cats’ litterbox.

by Civil Sense

A Necessary Economics Class in a Time of Economic Illiteracy

The Independence Institute has an excellent course offering called Free People, Free Markets: The Foundations of Liberty. People of any age can take it either for college credit or just to bolster their own economic knowledge. Classes begin Saturday, July 12, and will meet for five consecutive Saturdays.

From Jon Caldara’s blog:

Our Free People, Free Markets class! A class that features so much “intellectual diversity,” it has a disclaimer that reads, “if you live, or have lived in Boulder, please be aware. What you hear in the classroom might induce a conniption fit or make your head explode.”

For those thinking of attending, don’t think, just do it. It will change your life. The class will take place for five consecutive Saturdays here at the Institute, from 9am to noon, beginning July 12th and going to August 9th. You can reserve your spot by either calling Kay at 303.279.6536 or emailing rsvp@i2i.org.

I took this class at the Independence Institute last winter and learned more about economics in those five weeks than in high school or four years of college. The pre-course work includes Commanding Heights, a PBS film available to watch online that covers economic history from the collectivist Keynesian economics of the mid-twentieth century to the “Free to Choose” economic theories of Milton Friedman.

John McCain should visit the Independence Institute for this economic refresher course. This could help prevent the potential "Conservative" President problem that A Watcher detailed earlier today.

Barack Obama would benefit even more from this class. However, with Obama’s firm grounding in Marxism and radicalism, it would likely challenge his assumptions too much.

A Watcher opined about Obama:

It is interesting that Barack Obama would like to claim Kennedy as his presidential model when Obama is a on the lunatic fringe of liberalism. Kennedy was never as far left as Obama is.

This is true. Some believe that Obama is more akin to a Jimmy Carter presidency.

I believe that Obama will be more like Clement Attlee, the Labor Prime Minister of the United Kingdom immediately following World War II. His position was that since centralized planning won World War II, then the government should plan the peace. During that time, the UK nationalized utilities, the steel industry, and the health care industry.

It is amazing that after seeing the failure of nationalizing industries for more than sixty years, Barack Obama’s platform is to return to those failing policies. The Free People, Free Markets class will provide intellectual ammunition against the resurgence of Keynesian economic policies.

by Civil Sense

"Conservative" Presidents in My Lifetime

This was written two weeks ago and never published.  In the time since it was written, John McCain has picked Eisenhower as the model for his presidency should he win that office.  I haven't changed a word:

Having made sixty plus trips around the Sun, I have a memory of every President since Eisenhower.

While Dwight Eisenhower certainly wasn't a liberal, he wasn't a conservative either.  He was more of a caretaker president, confused about his politics.  He played golf less and got criticized by the press more for playing golf than any other recent President.

John F. Kennedy was much more conservative than either of his brothers.  There is at least an even chance that a modern JFK would be a Republican if freed from the money and influence of his father.

Richard M. Nixon was a flaming liberal, more liberal than JFK.  He gave us the 55 mph speed limit and the only wage and price control scheme the nation has had since WWII.  It failed miserably.

Gerald Ford picked Nelson Rockefeller as his Vice President under the brand new Constitutional amendment allowing him to do so.  He doesn't qualify as a conservative.

Ronald Reagan was a conservative before the country knew what it really meant to be a conservative.  Even so, he wasn't as conservative as many would like to believe or claim today.  His strength was in national defense and the people he surrounded himself with.

George H. W Bush signaled that his Presidency would be a disaster when he gave his inaugural and promised a "kinder and gentler" brand of conservatism.  His lack of core values allowed the Democrats in Congress to run over him and then blame him for raising taxes.  He was bewildered when voters punished him for his Read My Lips - No New Taxes speech.

George W Bush also lacks core values.  He may have wrecked the Republican party with his ill-advised decision to veto nothing in his first six years but a stem cell bill.  That policy made it seem that he was a captive of social conservatives while simultaneously totally ambivalent about fiscal conservative issues.   

It is interesting that Barak Obama would like to claim Kennedy as his presidential model when Obama is a on the lunatic fringe of liberalism.  Kennedy was never as far left as Obama is.

Happy Memorial Day!

Here are the editorials from the Post and the Rocky Mountain News this Memorial Day. This paragraph from the News sums up the day well.

But those who remain faithful to the meaning of Memorial Day are not asking a lot - indeed, they are asking what is rightfully due - when they suggest all of us should pause this weekend, and especially today, to honor and reflect on the over 43 million who have served in our military in a long distinguished line going back to the American Revolution - and to the more than 1 million who have died in that service.

The Colorado Index would like to thank all veterans for their service as we honor those who sacrificed everything for their country.

by Civil Sense

Random Thoughts

Today is December 7th, a day that, as Franklin D. Roosevelt put so aptly, will live in infamy.  He couldn't have guessed that it would live in infamy among the conspiracy theorists.

Well after the end of the war, conspiracy theorists were observing that the Japanese diplomatic and naval codes had been broken and therefore FDR knew that the attack would happen in time to warn the military.  History shows that there was no smoking gun here. 

Yes, the last diplomatic message before the war was deciphered hours before the attack, but it's meaning was unclear, even to the diplomats who were to deliver it. 

The war department had told the command in Hawaii and elsewhere to be on a heightened state of alert.  No one understood that the threat might be naval aviation.  The concern was saboteurs from the Japanese population on the island. 

Consequently, the planes on the airfields that might have provided defense against air attack were parked close together for easy destruction.  If the military had understood the threat, they would have been dispersed.

History shows that we always try to fight the last war, and Pearl Harbor was no different.

Random Thought #2  FDR was the first "initial" President.  Since then, we have had JFK and "W."  Other Presidents have three or four initials, but weren't routinely referred to in the press by them.  If Hillary manages to become President, she will be the first one name personality.

Random Thought #3  This isn't really a random thought, as we've offered to make a presentation to a select audience on the issue.  This blog appears to have been surprisingly effective in turning events, more effective than this author would have guessed a few months ago.  We can't and won't ever write about our successes because that would make us less effective.

Those who would emulate us would do well to keep two words in mind:  Persistence and ethics.  Bloggers who lack either are almost wasting their time.  Note that we "ate crow" yesterday.  The easy thing to do would have been to ignore our obligation to set the record straight.  Few would have known that we had that obligation.

Random Thought #4  In the history of human conflict, no organization, army, or country has ever won employing a purely defensive strategy.  High citadel walls have weak foundations.  Attackers who remember to attack the foundations and ignore the imposing walls will always beat those who try to build the walls ever higher.

That is a message that is applicable on so many levels, to so many American readers.  The word "conflict" was chosen carefully.  It applies to business, politics, and war.  It even applies to legal ethics reform.