Grettysburg Visit

Back in August I took a trip to Gettysburg Civil War Battlefield. I took some pictures with a disposable camera. Why a disposable camera you ask? Well because I'm a bad tourist, I forgot my good camera. Anyway I'm posting some pictures from that trip.

This is a map of the Battle of Gettysburg.

From http://americancivilwar.com/civil_war_map/battle_of_gettysburg.jpg

Now my pictures of my visit.

This is MacPherson Barn as we look to the west. In this area know as MacPherson Ridge just west of the city of Gettysburg.
         
This barn is where the Battle of Gettysburg began at 8am July 1st 1863 when Union calavry confronted Confederate infantry heading east. The barn I believe was turned into a makeshift hospital during the battle.

This picture is Eternal Light of Peace Memorial just north of the west end of the city.

This is located north of Macperson Barn. From this hill Confederates forces under the command of Maj General Robert Rodes attacked Union forces at MacPerson Ridge and Oak Ridge at 1pm July 1st 1863.

This a veiw looking to the south from Eternal Light of Peace Memorial towards MacPerson Ridge and Oak Ridge.

This is along Oak Ridge is north of the west end city of Gettysburg and south of the hill where the Eternal Light of Peace Memorial.

This is where Union forces held strong against Rodes attacks but by 3:30pm July 1st 1863 the Union lines began to fall apart here and at MacPherson Ridge. The Union had to fall back to the south of the city to an area known as Cemetery Ridge which is at the south east of the city.

After the first day of battle Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee felt confident that his 70,000 man force could take on the Union's Maj. General George G. Meade 93,000 man force.

This is a view from Confederate lines along Seminary Ridge looking towards Union lines at Cemetery Ridge. Confederates set up on Seminary Ridge on July 2nd 1863.

These are views looking south east across the field that on July 3rd 1865 that Picketts Charge took place. This is a  Confederate position north from where Picketts Charge began which would come from the right of the photos.

This is the Virgina Memorial.

From here Picketts charge began.

This is a view from Confederate lines of Lt. Gen. Longstreet on Warfield Ridge looking across area known as the Peach Orchards, the Wheatfields and Devil's Den. In the back ground are two hills. The big one on the right is known as Big Round Top the little one on the left is known as Little Round Top. The Union forces were position on these hills as well as in the Peach Orchards, the Wheatfields  the Devil's Den.

On July 2nd 1863 at 4pm Longstreet attacked Union forces in the the Peach Orchards, the the Peach Orchards, the Wheatfield's and Devil's Den. As well as trying to attack the undefended flanks of the Union troops on the Round Tops.

This is a view looking down from Little Round Top towards Devil's Den.

This is a view from the Wheatfields looking up at Little Round Top.

This is a veiw from Little Round Top looking towards the north west across the Wheatfields and Peach Orchards. The statue is Union Officer Brig. Gen. Warren who was Gen. Meade's chief engineer who was first to alert Union officers about Confederate movements which allow the Union to bring reinforcements to defend postions.

As Union was defending thier flanks at Little Round Top they were also defending thier north east side at Culp Hill and Spangler's Spring.

This is the Pennsylvania Memorial.

From this area at Cemetery Ridge on July 2nd 1863 Union artillery held the Union line alone until late in the day when Gen. Meade was able bring in reinforcements from Culp Hill and other areas to strengthen Union center positions along the line.

By dusk of July 2nd 1863 the Union forces were able to repell continuous assaults by Confederate forces.
On July 3rd 1863 Confederate forces in the late afternoon committed an all out right assault on Union center lines in what would be known as the High Water Mark. Confederates sent a 12,000 man force to attack the Union center this was known as Pickett's Charge.

By the end of this three day battle the estimate of casualties of killed, wounded, captured and missing vary but one estimate is; Union forces about 23,000 and Confederate forces about 28,000.

As I visited this hallow field I stood in awe it is almost incomprehensible to even know what it was like to be here at the time of battle I cannot imagine what it would be like to be a soldier during these three days having cannon firing and blasting craters and shrapnel flying in all directions only to shred any human near by. Bullets flying thru the air ripping the bark off of trees and tearing thru the flesh of your friends. To feel that you have know control over your own fate and only trusting in God whether you will survive or not. Today many of us would choose to run and feel no shame in it but at that times honor was everything you would not want to be a coward not only would it bring shame on you but you family as well. But even worst would be abandoning you friends in arms and yes the same friends you may have to watch die during battle.

I also can’t imagine just being a witness to these events. To live in the city of Gettysburg or in a near by farmhouse. To listen to cannon fire and rifles. To hear the yells and screams of the soldiers. To see the wounded, the dead and dying. To see a landscape stripped and scar. But not just the sights, the sound but also smells of gun powdered and decaying flesh of the dead. Then once all the soldiers leave you have to rebuild.

Truth is the Civil War should not just be defined by its battles and its Officers but by the men who fought it. The majority of soldiers were not rich or owned slaves and many of them were poor immigrants and new to this country. Slavery may be the cause that we accept today as the reason for the Civil War but there were many more reason other than the Civil War that brought men to these battles.


See Gettysburg Battlefield Map


UR

What were the Founding Fathers Thinking?

Today there is much debate over the meaning of the separation of Church and State and part should religion should play in the government. What were the Founding Father’s view about religion especially Christianity in America. For me to understand the Founding Fathers and the views of separation of Church and State and to what extent religion should play in government, one must understand the politics and religious concepts of Europe in the 1700’s going back to the 1200’s.

The U.S. Constitution has it’s root with the Magna Carta. The original Magna Carta written in the 1215 and original had 63 clauses. This document was between the lowest level of nobility called Barons/Freeman and the King but really had little to do with the majority of the population (about 90% to 95%) known as peasants who were not considered free so this document didn’t apply to them. King John signed under duress, but as soon as rebel forces left London King John renounced it because of a clause (clause 61), which basically made him King in name only. This started a civil war in England. The Pope stepped in and backed King John. The Pope declared the Magna Carta as shameful document to be forced on a King with the threat of violence. The Pope saw this as an attack on the Church’s authority over the King and Church territory. The King was supposed to answer to the Pope and the Pope was God representative on earth.

King John died during the civil war in 1216 his young son became King Henry III. Representatives for young King Henry III sign a new version with the clause that upset King John taken out and more clauses taken out in 1217. Henry III in 1225 at the age 18 signed an even shorter version and the final version was signed by Henry’s son Edward 1st in 1297. Edward 1st was best known as Longshankes who re-imposed royal authority over his people including the Jews in England known as the “Statute of the Jewry”.
The only reason Edward signed the most recent version of the Magna Carta was not because he believed God gave men rights but because he need English Freemen and Nobles to support him and his fight with the Scots and William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

Now before the 1517 pretty much everyone in Europe was Catholic and the Pope and the Catholic Church had a lot of say even with the Royal houses of Europe. It wasn’t until the mid 1600’s did groups in England begun to assert the belief that the Magna Carta should represent all without distinction of class or status. But after that there were other documents enacting the will of God. In Britain the King or Queen of Britain was Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Elizabeth 1st who was a Protestant started this.

“Being by God's Ordinance, according to Our just Title, Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governour [sic.] of the Church, within these Our Dominions, We hold it most agreeable to this Our Kingly Office, and Our own religious Zeal, to conserve and maintain the Church committed to Our Charge, in the Unity of true Religion, and in the Bond of Peace;”

Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1563
Article XXXVII
Of the Civil Magistrates

“Where we attribute to the Queen's Majesty the chief government, by which titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended, we give not to our princes the ministering either of God's word or of sacraments, the which thing the Injunctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen doth most plainly testify: but only that prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly princes in Holy Scriptures by God himself, that is, that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by God, whether they be temporal, and restrain with the civil sword the stubborn and evil-doers.

The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England.

The laws of the realm may punish Christian men with death for heinous and grievous offences.

It is lawful for Christian men at the commandment of the Magistrate to wear weapons and serve in the wars.”

James the 1st of England (aka James the VI of Scotland) was a Protestant and for whom the King James Bible was commissioned by and is named after. King James 1st also wrote the Divine Right of Kings, which states that a king only has to answer to God and God detest rebellion.

True Law of Free Monarchies by King James in 1598,

“ As there is not a thing so necessary to be known by the people of any land, next the knowledge of their God, as the right knowledge of their allegiance according to the form of government established among them, especially in a monarchy (which form of government, as resembling the divinity, approacheth nearest to perfection, as all the learned and wise men from the beginning have agreed upon, unity being the perfection of all things), so hath the ignorance and (which is worse) the seduced opinion of the multitude, blinded by them who think themselves able to teach and instruct the ignorants, procured the wrack and overthrow of sundry flourishing commonwealths and heaped heavy calamities threatening utter destruction upon others.”

Kings are called gods by the prophetical King David because they sit upon God his throne in the earth and have the count of their administration to give unto him. Their office is "to minister justice and judgment to the people," as the same David saith; "to advance the good and punish the evil," as he likewise saith; "to establish good laws to his people and procure obedience to the same,"as divers good kings of Judah did; "to procure the peace of the people," as the same David saith.”

He goes on about a Kings position in society. King and the law and explaining that a King is like a father and his subjects are his children and so on. Then ends with the following.

“I grant, indeed, that a wicked king is sent by God for a curse to his people and a plague for their sins; but that it is lawful to them to shake off that curse at their own hand, which God hath laid on them, that I deny and may do so justly. Will any deny that the king of Babel was a curse to the people of God, as was plainly forespoken and threatened unto them in the prophesy of their captivity? And what was Nero to the Christian church in his time? And yet Jeremiah and Paul (as ye have else heard) commanded them not only to obey them but heartily to pray for their welfare.

It is certain, then (as I have already by the law of God sufficiently proved), that patience, earnest prayers to God, and amendment of their lives are the only lawful means to move God to relieve them of their heavy curse.”

“Next, in place of relieving the commonwealth out of distress (which is their only excuse and color), they shall heap double distress and desolation upon it; and so their rebellion shall procure the contrary effects that they pretend it for. For a king cannot be imagined to be so unruly and tyrannous but the commonwealth will be kept in better order, notwithstanding thereof, by him than it can be by his way-taking. * * *

I grant, indeed, that a wicked king is sent by God for a curse to his people and a plague for their sins; but that it is lawful to them to shake off that curse at their own hand, which God hath laid on them, that I deny and may do so justly. Will any deny that the king of Babel was a curse to the people of God, as was plainly forespoken and threatened unto them in the prophesy of their captivity? And what was Nero to the Christian church in his time? And yet Jeremiah and Paul (as ye have else heard) commanded them not only to obey them but heartily to pray for their welfare.

It is certain, then (as I have already by the law of God sufficiently proved), that patience, earnest prayers to God, and amendment of their lives are the only lawful means to move God to relieve them of their heavy curse”

In 1611 the King James Bible was finished. King James had a man the name of Thomas Helwys imprisoned for petitioning the King for separation of Church and state. Thomas died in prison in 1616.

In Europe you had Kingdoms that accepted certain religions as their official religion. France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were Catholics and Britain was Protestant. At this time in history it was common for countries to have an official religion. This was the history the Founding Fathers knew. This was the mixture of God and politics they knew. Until the influence of Enlightenment Movement.

The Age of Reason was in the 17th century which the sciences were on the rise and political debates were being made about the existence of God. Then the Age of Enlightenment that began in Europe somewhere 1680 1700 and ended around 1800. Both these periods were pushing religious theocracy out as well as Monarchy powers. The basic idea of the Enlightenment Movement is to humanize religion. Enlightenment philosophies rejected the idea of original sin. It rejects revealed religion principals. Philosophers introducing the idea that God maybe the creator of all thing but God does not interfere in mans life. Mans relationship with God is a private one.

Thomas Paine’s “Age of Reason” written 1792 and published 1794,

“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.

But, lest it should be supposed that I believe many other things in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”

Even though this was written about a year or two after the Constitution this was a view point that was circulating amongst some of the Founding Fathers as well as some of the people of the time.

The Founding Fathers were men of different beliefs and different understanding of God. They didn’t agree with each other on issues of politics and religion. The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment that began in Europe were in America and the Founding Fathers not only having knowledge of European history and but also were learning the ideas and philosophies of the Enlightenment period. Thomas Jefferson went as far as creating his own Bible which is known has the Jefferson Bible. Jefferson edited the New Testament, which he removed portions such as angels, Jesus’ miracles, Jesus’ genealogy, the trinity, prophesies and most importantly the resurrection.

From the “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” aka the Jefferson Bible

60: And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

61: Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

62: Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

63: There laid they Jesus,

64: And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

Jefferson ends it there with no resurrection. Much of what Jefferson edited is considered the foundation of Christianity. Jefferson wanted to eliminate what he considered religious dogma and the supernatural aspects. He basically wanted just the ethical teachings of Jesus to be important. Some of his contemporaries agreed with him but many disagreed him and yet tolerated his right to such views.

Founding Fathers understood the potential danger of a government or a leader who claims the will of God as reason for control the will of the people. This is why religion is separate from government and the Founding Fathers did not want to take any chances of allowing the government or leadership to fall under the concept of divine right of kings.

“As our president bears no resemblance to a king so we shall see the Senate has no similitude to nobles. First, not being hereditary, their collective knowledge, wisdom, and virtue are not precarious. For by these qualities alone are they to obtain their offices, and they will have none of the peculiar qualities and vices of those men who possess power merely because their father held it before them.” - Tench Coxe, September 28, 1787

UR

And The Controversy Still Continues

It’s been 145 years since the American Civil War and the controversy still continues. Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia while declaring April as Confederate History Month in Virginia made a speech, which he failed to mention slavery as the main issue for the war. This of course is a big mistake to make. McDonnell apologized and stated that slavery was the main reason for the Civil War. But for some it seem the real issue is that Confederate soldier are being remembered. I’ve recently read an article called “Were Confederate soldiers terrorists?” by Roland Martin, a CNN political analyst who stated,

“And I will never, under any circumstances, cast Confederates as heroic figures who should be honored and revered. No -- they were, and forever will be, domestic terrorists.”

But is it fair to lable all Confederate soldiers as "domestic terrorist"? Now I could bring up the fact there were the tariffs that were imposed on the Southern States by the Federal Government. Or the fact that even though Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery when he became President he wasn’t going to interfere with it. In fact when the Civil War broke out in 1861 President Lincoln ordered that Union Generals were not to free slaves even in captured area under Union control. In 1862 in a letter to New York Tribune Lincoln said,

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

Then a month later he issues the Emancipation Proclamation. But in 1863 Lincoln wrote a letter to James Conkling who was have a meeting of loyal Northern Unionist in Illinois, which at the time Lincoln could not come to the meeting and in his letter he addressed the frustration and anger about the length of the war and the Emancipation Proclamation that many Unionists had. Lincoln said,

“You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you; but, no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union. I issued the proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an apt time, then, for you to declare you will not fight to free negroes.”

This shows that even Northerners had issues about fighting to free slaves. Many Union soldiers went AWOL when Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation.

What’s my point? Well, the fact is that when we look at history we always make the mistake to put our views, values and morals of today on those of history yesteryears. Yes today we know slavery is evil and wrong and with strong convictions, even though it continues in many countries in the world today, but in the 1800’s it was a different mind set. Many Northern States took up to 50 + years after abolishing slavery in their State to actually eliminating it from their State and the elimination of slavery for several States was only 15 years before the war and I believe New Jersey still had slaves into the war.

First, back in those days cheap labor was important and a worker rights wasn’t. In the South slavery was the norm but in the North child labor was a norm. Children worked in factories and mines. Today we would say it was wrong. During the time before and after the Civil War the Government was in the West forcing Indians on reservations and those who refused were hunted down like animals. Today we say that is wrong. Plus during the Civil War Indians on reservations were shorted on supplies and money promised to them because the Government need to use it to fight the Civil War. Was that right?

Just to understand the majority of Southern Confederate soldiers did not have slaves. Slaves were a rich mans luxury. Yes many Officers in the Confederacy did have slaves and many Officers did not. Wealthy slave owners did not have to fight because they had slaves so they were exempt from fighting. Wealthy Northerners were able to pay to get out of the War. So this is why the Civil War was known as the poor man’s war. Many in boarder states had to chose sides and sometimes this divided families.

Why would poor Southerners fight in a war about slavery when they don’t own slaves? See whether you like it or not the culture of slavery was the norm for many of these men even though they didn’t own slaves, it was just the way it was to them. They didn’t know any better. The times were different then. For them they were fighting for what they saw as a States Rights issues and yes slavery was part of that States Right at the time. Another reason was conscription and draft. Even though many may have originally volunteered but their enlistments was extended. Then many were eventually drafted. In the beginning both sides thought it would be a short war, about a yearlong was the general view. But by 1962 both sides knew this was not going to be the case.

Another reason was out of State loyalty. We must remember in those days loyalty to ones State trumps the loyalty to the Federal Government. Most people of those days identified themselves with great pride by the State they came from. Your State was your home. Even Union Troops units were identified by their States. This was a custom that went back before the Revolution War with State militias. But after the end of the Civil War this custom people once had has became less and less the case.

We have to remember that in those days there was no radios, TV, Internet, Twitter, Blogging or any form of instant mass communication accept maybe telegraph. News from other parts of the country could take days to reach most people. Newspapers of those days were typically local and probably written by a local journalist who came from the same culture as the reader, that’s of course if you could read. Most information was word of mouth or it came from local politician or your local minister and typically their views reflect the normal cultural understanding of that community.

Not only is it important to remember the horrors that Blacks had to endure has slaves in the south but also as free men in the north. History should never be simplified, it needs be kept honest and kept in it’s proper context of time. History should be complex because it’s about people and people are complex.

The Civil War is one of the most important wars in American history. My solution to all this is simple instead of April being Confederate History Month it should be declared Civil War History Month and all aspect should be reviewed honestly whether it be good and bad for all this is an important part of American History.

UR