Good
morning:
Quote
of the day:
After
hearing Van Morrison for the first time a music critic was asked to
describe what he heard. He replied, “Transcendental.”
I
read about a firefighter in California was out hiking with a friend
and had took off running after his dog that had ran away. They were
in a very remote area of the Rockies. The firefighter disappeared
and did not return to the trail head. His hiking partner found his
way back to the trail head and after a long while he called the cops
about his friend. Five days later the searchers found his corpse at
the top of a steep embankment. They had spotted the dog a couple of
times but it ran away from everybody. When the searcher returned to
the trail head a couple of days later the dog was sitting there
exhausted. At one time in my life I had a pack of beagles that I
used for rabbit hunting. One of them (Susie) was a wide ranging,
very fast animal but had a great nose. On one hunting trip I decided
to go home and called my dogs to the car and they all came...except
Susie. I called and called to no avail so I took off my hunting
jacket and laid it near where I parked my car. I went home, put the
dogs up and had supper. After about two hours I went back to where my
jacket was and there was Susie. I told you she had a great nose.
Here
is a telling moment in the history of the The United States. It is
believed that if the Confederates had prevailed here there would
have been a United States of America, Confederate States of America,
Republic of Texas and the Republic of California. God works in
mysterious ways.
The Battle of
Gettysburg
In
mid-June of 1863, CSA General Robert E. Lee convinced CSA President
Jefferson Davis that if the Confederate army were to capture at least
one United States city, preferably a state capital, then public
opinion would be strong enough to bring the United States government
to the peace table and the Confederate States of America would be
recognized. Lee chose Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as his first target.
Lee gathered up the Army of Northern Virginia, 74,000 strong, and
headed out of the Shenandoah Valley heading north staying on the west
side of the Blue Ridge Mountains using them to shield his movements.
He crossed the upper reaches of the Potomac River and eventually
crossed into Pennsylvania near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the location of
another great battle. Strangely, the Army of Northern Virginia was
following almost the same route as I-81. Eventually, the American
Army finally figured out what Lee was up to and sent The Army of the
Potomac, 94,000 strong, US Major General Joe Hooker commanding in
pursuit from the Washington, DC area. Rather than trying to follow
Lee, Hooker headed northwest hoping to intercept Lee before he
reached Harrisburg. About the time the lead elements of the Union
army were near Union Mills, Maryland, their presence was discovered
by a Confederate scout. By then Lee’s army was strung out from
near Carlyle, Pennsylvania to about 10 miles west of Cashtown, a
distance of about 45 miles. The Confederate army was divided into
three Corps with 2nd
Corp, CSA General Richard Ewell commanding, being in the lead near
Carlyle and 1st
and 3rd
Corps strung out to the southwest. The Confederate scout found 3rd
Corps commander, LT. General James Longstreet, and drew out a rough
map of where the Army of the Potomac was. Longstreet immediately
knew the danger here and went to Lee with the information. About
this time Lincoln lost faith in Joe Hooker and replaced him with
General George Meade. Lee decided to go to a small town east of
Cashtown and south of Carlyle to await the Union assault and called
all of his troop in that direction. The small town was Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. On June 30 late in the afternoon a Union cavalry unit,
US Colonel John Buford commanding, came through Gettysburg and
spotted a Confederate scouting party coming toward Gettysburg from
the west. Both parties saw each other and withdrew. The Union
Cavalry moved back into town for the night and the Confederate unit
went back to his command unit that was camped about 4 miles west of
Gettysburg. Buford sent a notice back to his commanding officer
telling what he had seen and knew that the Confederates would attack
in force the next morning. He was not wrong. The next morning the
Union cavalry unit dismounted and dug-in facing west. Buford sent a
small unit to the road that went north to Carlyle to be alert for
Ewell’s Corp. Just after daylight a division of Confederate
infantry commanded by CSA Colonel Harry Heth of Brig. General A. P.
Hill’s Corp, launched an artillery supported attack against the
about 2,500 dismounted Union cavalry. Heth’s division was repulsed
at first because they thought they were up against a small militia so
after getting their nosed bloodied, they backed up and began an
envelopment. But about that time US General John Reynolds showed up
with reinforcements and a bloody battle ensued. But as luck would
have it, CSA General Ewell and 2nd
Corps showed up coming down from the north and the Union infantry
knew they were flanked and hauled ass back southeast through
Gettysburg and established a defensive perimeter on a small ridge
south of town. During the retreat there was several sharp encounters
at Culp’s Hill and “the railroad cut” but the Confederates had
control of the town. During all of this action, the Union was
bringing up their infantry and artillery and finally established a
strong perimeter on the small ridge running south of town now named
Cemetery Ridge. At the same time the remainder of the Confederates
began gathering on a ridge about a mile west of Cemetery Ridge named
Macpherson’s Woods. The next day Lee decided that since not all of
the Union infantry had arrived, the best move was to attack the Union
left flank which was not completely manned. Lee gave this assignment
to CSA Lt. General James Longstreet who called upon Brig. General
John Bell Hood and his division of about 2,500 Texans and Alabamians.
The plan was to attack as quickly as they could across any open
field and reassemble in the woods that was between their positions
for a concerted attack on the Union left. In this advance three of
the sharpest fights ever fought occurred. They have names now. They
are “The Peach Orchard”, “The Wheat Field” and “Devils
Den”. After taking Devil’s Den, it is about 200 yards over to
where the end of the Union lines was. Again that place has a name,
“Little Round Top”. A Union General saw that the end of the
Union lines was vulnerable and called up a Regiment of 300 men from
Maine commanded by Col. Joshua Chamberlain. This immortal group is
forever known as “The 20th
Maine”. The 20th
Maine took positions and dug in while the line was under attack by
the 2,500 Confederates. The Confederates charged time and again with
the battle line ebbing and flowing like the tide. Finally the 20th
Maine was out of ammunition and Chamberlain knew that if their
position was overrun it was likely that the entire Union defense
would be compromised and the battle, if not the war, would be lost.
He ordered his troops to “fix bayonets” and then ordered a
bayonet charge into the advancing Confederates. The stunned
Confederates retreated and the line held, thus ended day two of this
struggle. Overnight the Union had gathered all of available infantry
and artillery and Cemetery Ridge was bristling with men, rifles and
cannon. The next morning General Lee believed that since the Union
lines had been attacked on both ends and the Union had probably
reinforced their flanks, the weak point would be in the center. Lee
ordered a frontal attack on the Union center and gave this assignment
again to General Longstreet to plan. Longstreet was opposed to the
attack on Little Round Top and certainly was against an attack on the
Union center knowing what he was facing. The actual attack was given
to Brig. General George Pickett commanding three divisions with a
total of about 12,500 men. About noon Longstreet ordered his
artillery officer to unleash a barrage with everything they had. The
artillery officer did not disappoint the mightiest artillery barrage
ever fired in North America resulted. The barrage relented after
about an hour and a half and the army of 12,500 Confederates stepped
out of Macpherson’s Woods and began their charge of about a mile
toward the Union lines. The Confederate line was about a mile long
but they closed in tighter as they drew closer to the Union lines.
The Confederates were delayed slightly when they had to cross a road
that was about half way between them. There was a fence on both
sides of the road. This slight delay allowed the Union artillerists
to adjust their aim and from then on it was a massacre. Eventually,
the Confederates made it to the Union lines and it was hand-to-hand
fighting for several minutes but the Confederates had lost too many
men and were unable to split the Union line and had to retreat. When
the survivors of “Pickett’s Charge” got back to Confederate
lines, General Lee rode out to meet them saying “It was all my
fault.” His men disagreed but it was indeed a disaster. Pickett’s
charge alone cost the Confederates about 7,000 men and they were
buried close to where they fell mostly near the fence that had
delayed them. That night Lee gathered his troops and during a
downpour headed back to Virginia leaving about 25,000 casualties on
the field. The Union army suffered near as many casualties but they
had men to spare, the Confederates did not. Thus was the end of The
Battle of Gettysburg. I have said it before, but for me if I sit
near the marker showing where Lee came out to meet the men returning
from Pickett’s charge and be real quiet, I can hear a low,
continuous moan.
I
normally do not dwell on such subjects but what has happened recently
has overwhelmed me I must comment.
First
is the Zimmerman/Martin fiasco down in Sanford, Florida. Why is this
event being expounded upon by the press? Is it to capture an
audience by suggesting a “hate crime” including racial prejudice?
This makes the media the racists of the first magnitude and not
worthy of my attention. What IS worthy of my attention is the gang
or drug war underway in Chicago. On one recent weekend there were 7
people shot and killed and 16 wounded. The locals say it is primarily
a “turf” war between the blacks and the Latinos for the drug
trade but there is also animosity between drug gangs of the same
race. Why is there not wall-to-wall coverage of a trial there like
there is in that small southern town of Sanford, Fl. Is it because
of it is a small southern town and involved TWO people of different
races? Are they dragging up the ill-perceived ideas that prevail
about the Civil War and are stirring up shit just to grab an
audience? Is the media suggesting that there is still racial
prejudice in the southern United States and making money from it?
Yes, racial prejudice does exist south of the 40th
parallel...and it also exists north of 140th
street in Harlem, in East Los Angeles, in East Saint Louis, all over
Chicago but primarily in the east and north, all over Detroit, in
central DC, downtown Atlanta, Mobile, Alabama and hundreds of other
small and large cites in this great nation. All you have to do is
pick which race hates the other the most or who has the most to gain
from maintaining the racial prejudice image. That sounds like the
media to me...but then there is always porno...it is all the same to
the media.
Then
there is the Paula Deen fiasco. All of this hullabaloo began when
she confessed in an interview the she had used the “N” word when
many years ago she was a bank teller and a thief came in, put a gun
to her head and demanded money. I was born in Greenville, SC in
1937. I do not remember anything before my 4th
birthday but from then until I was 18 years old except for 6 years in
Baltimore when my Dad worked in a shipyard during WWII. During all
of that time the “N” word was common in everyday conversations.
I do not remember the word being used as a racial slur, it was just
common. I am sure that I probably used the term myself but it was
not in a derogatory manner. In my 5th
and 6th
year my best friend was a black kid that lived behind our duplex.
Yes, it was a segregated community but we played together anyway. I
do not remember any change in the language in Baltimore except for
the accent. The only time I ran across the “N” word being
offensive was when I joined the Air Force at the age of 18. Times
and people change and I am using myself as an example. I feel a lot
cooler and way more laid back attitude than I used to be almost
daily. I am a hell of lot more tolerant and realize that time heals
all wounds...all it takes is patience. The only problem I have is
that I don't have a hell of a lot of time to spare...but it is better
than confrontation. So going by the condemnation of Paula Deen and
her admitted use of the abhorred “N” word somewhere in the deep
past, I should just go ahead and commit hari-kari because there is
not doubt that I did at one time or another even though I do not
remember it. But I do remember that ugly word being used by Richard
Pryor and Chris Rock...both were funny as hell. It sounds
hypocritical to me, but what do I know. I think it would be fair if
I would be ready to fight if someone called me a “honkie” or a
“cracker”...but I guess it would depend on who said it and how
long ago...but I forgot, it is time to be patient.
This
little known fact will further instill faith in our federal
bureaucracies. Before BP could drill the Deep Water Horizon oil well
they had to get a permit from the Department of the Interior. In
submitting the request for a permit BP had to include emergency
preparedness procedures. Nowhere in the procedures was there mention
of what to do during a hurricane and the permit was issued. Let me
understand this. They wanted to drill an oil well in water a mile
deep in a location know far and wide as “hurricane alley” and it
never occurred to either BP or the Department of the Interior
bureaucrats to consider this possibility. Does that indicate that
some of these stuffed shirts in Washington are in bed with big oil?
I think so.
A
while back our legendary Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina
struggled to find funding to keep all of the state’s bureaus afloat
in this time of need. Mark submitted a budget that called for
enormous cuts in said bureaus and he was trying to rescue them. I
think that his mind is not totally on his job. I wonder what could
have caused that?
Some
of you may not know this but the brown pelicans on the Gulf Coast
were nearing extinction but efforts by environmentalists and wildlife
experts brought them back from the brink. The recent oil spill has
pushed them back toward the brink once again. They are finding them
coated with oil unable to fly or breed. The ever present
environmentalists and others have been gathering up oil soaked brown
pelicans, cleaning them of oil and sending them to the Georgia coast
and releasing them. This past Wednesday 70 brown pelicans were flown
from Pensacola, Florida to the Georgia coast and released saving
their lives. What a freaking nightmare.
A
while back the South Carolina legislature saw fit to allow the
University of South Carolina Gamecocks flag to be flown atop the
state capitol building in recognition of winning the national
championship in baseball. It will be the Stars and Stripes, the
state flag and then a flag with an image of a crazed fighting
Gamecock.
The
world largest oil skimmer was on its way to the Gulf of Mexico from
Norfolk. This monster is a Taiwan flagged ship that is 450 yards
long and 100 feet tall from the water line. The ship is capable of
filtering 25 million gallons of water a day. It separates the oil
from the water and sends the clean water back into the sea. The EPA
has the say-so in the operation of this ship because the water it
puts back cannot help but have traces of oil in it. This scares me
because yet another bureaucracy will be involved. Be afraid, very
afraid.
This
Date in History July 2
1863
The second day at Gettysburg sees a simultaneous attack on the
right and left flanks of the Yankee army. It is the troops of CSA
General Richard Ewell attacking the right flank at Culp’s Hill on
the extreme north end of the Union lines. At the same time CSA
General James Longstreet attacked the extreme south or left flank of
the Union lines at a place called Little Round Top. I have been to
both places. Culp’s Hill is not very high but it is a jumble of
huge rocks making the way up for the Confederates very slow and
difficult. The Union soldiers there were up to the task and repulsed
the attack inflicting heavy losses to the Confederates. The attack
on the south end, or Little Round Top, was an epic struggle studied
to this day by military historians. Earlier in the day, the Union
division under US General Dan Sickles was in a good position on
Little Round Top but Sickles did not like the ground and pulled his
troops off and headed west through the woods. Sickles was a
politician from New York and got his command because of his political
influence. Anyway, about a mile and half west was the open ground of
a peach orchard. When Sickles and his troops emerged from the woods,
they were set upon by a large number of screaming Confederates and
was all but annihilated. All of this happened in view of the rest of
the Union troops on Little Round Top. After this, Longstreet
launched his attack with CSA General John Bell Hood and about 2.500
of his Alabamians and Texans. They first swept the Yankees off yet
another small, rocky hill called Devil’s Den which was about ½
mile from Little Round Top. After this a direct assault on Little
Round Top began. The slopes on this hill are very steep as you get
toward the top which slowed the Confederate advance. So the
Confederates began trying to flank the line by moving to the right
forcing the defenders to stretch and roll back their lines. The
Confederates were facing 300 men of the 20th
Maine. Even with 2,500 against 300, the Confederates were unable to
dislodge those Yankees. The battle reached a crisis when the Yankees
were out of ammunition and the Confederates were still coming. The
commander of the 20th
Maine, Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, ordered a bayonet charge even
though they only had only 160 combat ready men and down the hill they
went. The stunned Confederates beat a hasty retreat and the day was
saved. Had the Confederates been able to turn that flank it is
likely the war would have ended right there with there would be at
least two nations, the United State of America and the Confederate
States of America and others. Chamberlain received the Medal of
Honor for his actions on this day. There is a military guy in
Birmingham named Jim that understands the significance of all of
this. We were within a gnat’s ass of being a divided nation. Are
you listening, Jim?
1881 Same crazy
jackass named Charles Guineau showed up at a national event and
walked up to James Garfield and put two rounds from his pistol into
Garfield’s abdomen. One of the two shots lodged near Garfield’s
pancreas. It wasn’t long before Garfield developed a serious
infection and he died on Sept. 18. Charles Guineau had written an
acceptance speech and sent it to Garfield. Garfield did not read it,
of course, but Guineau felt like Garfield was elected due to his
writings and wanted the ambassadorship to France as his reward.
Garfield’s staff ignored his insistence and soon Guineau got fed up
and shot Garfield. There are a lot of crazies out there.
1937
On this date Amelia Earhart is on her way from Lae, New Guinea
to Howland Island in the middle of the Pacific. Amelia and her
navigator Fred Noonan are the only ones aboard. The USS Coast Guard
ship “Itasca” is in intermittent contact with Earhart who says
that she is lost and is looking for landfall. The Itasca puts out
miles of black smoke hoping she would see them to no avail. The last
contact was when Earhart called and said that she had 30 minute of
fuel and no land in sight. After that, there was no more contact.
After the largest search in history with no results, this remains an
eternal mystery.
1839 The Cuban
schooner Armistead departed Havana headed to the sugar cane fields of
Puerto Principe with a cargo of 30 African slaves. About half way
the slaves revolted and killed the captain and the first mate and
instructed the rest of the crew that it would be prudent if they took
this boat back to Sierra Leone in present today west Africa. The
crew obliged and headed east back to Africa. The only problem is
that when it became dark, the navigator headed the ship north rather
than east. After a couple of months the ship was spotted off the
coast of New York and sent to New London, Conn. After a series of
law trials the Supreme Court ruled that these men were unfairly
brought into slavery and were released. In 1841 abolitionists
financed the passenger vessel Gentleman
to take the slaves back to their homeland in West Africa.
1992
On this day the book “A Brief history of Time” by Stephen
Hawking hits the best seller list. Hawking is a professor of
theoretical physics at Cambridge. His book is an attempt to explain
the physics of the cosmos to the average man. I not only read this
book many times, but I read and studied it like it was a text book,
not a book of entertainment. It was and is a milestone in the
understanding of what is out there. Hawking has a severe case of Lou
Gehrig’s disease that was diagnosed many years ago with just a year
or two to live, but he prevailed. He is wheelchair bound and cannot
speak, but he can use his left hand and a sophisticated voice
synthesizer was installed. We now can reap the thoughts of one of
the most creative minds this world has ever known. Incidentally,
Hawking was born on the 300th
anniversary of the death of Sir Isaac Newton. Both were theoretical
physicists at Cambridge and both were/are Presidents of the Royal
Society, an organization of very smart people. Makes you wonder. On
one occasion the Pope asked Hawking to back off on trying to find the
origins of the universe because it would disrupt religion if he found
it. Again, religion should not have a part in the classroom for this
reason.
Births
and deaths:
1956 Texas born
model and ex-wife of Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, is born. She said
“Mick and I are good friends. We get together and talk all night
especially about nuclear disarmament.” Sure Jerry, maybe next time
you two can discuss Max Planck’s theory of quantum mechanics and
the operation of a particle accelerator.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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