TR and Homework for week of Feb 23

"Unless men are willing to fight and die for great ideals, including love of country, ideals will vanish and the world will become one huge sty of materialism...ALL of us who give SERVICE, and stand ready to SACRIFICE, are the torchbearers...The torches whose flames are brightest are borne by the gallant men at the front...These are the torchbearers, these are they who have dared the great adventure." Theodore Roosevelt


Go to homepage of washingtontimes.com and write in "war in Afghanistan" in box at top right of page that says "find a story..." You will find MANY articles on the war in Afghanistan - choose ANY 5 articles, read them, and write a brief summary on each article. If you read an editorial, include your opinion of it in your summary - BRING YOUR SUMMARIES TO CLASS TO TURN IN NEXT WEEK MARCH 2

Look up the following names of the American heroes/units who served in WW I -- read about them and write a brief summary about their lives and actions during the war. BRING YOUR SUMMARIES TO CLASS TO TURN IN NEXT WEEK MARCH 2

Corporal Alvin York

1st Lieutenant Deming Bronson

1st Lieutenant Samuel Woodfill

Captain Eddie Rickenbacker

The Lost Battalion of the 77th Division

Cher Ami (you won't believe this one -- incredible!)


Continue to read and summarize your books - if you need a book see me...

Veteran's History Projects are due MONDAY APRIL 13

Ford's Theatre Trip -- Tentaively set for Saturday May 9

HW for Feb 9 - 23, "O Captain and Tolstoy"

Look at each of the following websites and write a brief summary of at least 2 articles from EACH...Do as many as you want extra for additional credit. Also, this week many shows will be on TV honoring the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth - watch at least one and write a brief report on it (do others for extra credit)
Feb 9 - The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln PBS - 10 pm
Feb 10 - Re airing of above - 1 pm
Feb 11 - Looking for Lincoln - PBS - 9-11 pm
Feb 12 - CNN, Fox News and other news stations should have programming for many events throughout that day...

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/19frm.htm (on this site, read the last two articles on the right side of the page)

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/slavery/index.html

http://abrahamlincolnblog.blogspot.com/


Continue to read and do 30 page summaries ( contact me for new books or book ideas)
Continue to prepare and work on your Veteran's Project

Abraham Lincoln, Matthew Brady's photo of the President's Box at Ford's Theatre - April 15, 1865, current views of the box, Booth, and the derringer pistol Booth used to kill the president

FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT, SEE THE POEM AND STORY BELOW



O Captain, My Captain ( a poem by Walt Whitman in 1865 on the death of Abraham Lincoln)

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

A story told by Leo Tolstoy, the great writer of his day, on Abraham Lincoln's Legacy in the World:

In 1908, in a wild and remote area of the North Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy, the greatest writer of the age, was the guest of a tribal chief “living far away from civilized life in the mountains.”

Gathering his family and neighbors, the chief asked Tolstoy to tell stories about the famous men of history. Tolstoy told how he entertained the eager crowd for hours with tales of Alexander, Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon.

When he was winding to a close, the chief stood and said, “But you have not told us a syllable about the greatest general and greatest ruler of the world. We want to know something about him. He was a hero. He spoke with a voice of thunder; he laughed like the sunrise and his deeds were strong as the rock…His name was Lincoln and the country in which he lived is called America, which is so far away that if a youth should journey to reach it he would be an old man when he arrived. Tell us of that man.”

“I looked at them,” Tolstoy recalled, “and saw their faces all aglow, while their eyes were burning. I saw that those rude barbarians were really interested in a man whose name and deeds had already become a legend.” He told them everything he knew about Lincoln’s “home life and youth…his habits, his influence upon the people and his physical strength.” When he finished, they were so grateful for the story that they presented him with “a wonderful Arabian horse.”

The next morning, as Tolstoy prepared to leave, they asked if he could possibly acquire for them a picture of Lincoln. Thinking that he might find one at a friend’s house in the neighboring town, Tolstoy asked one of the riders to accompany him. “I was successful in getting a large photograph from my friend,” recalled Tolstoy. As he handed it to the rider, he noted that the man’s hand trembled as he took it. “He gazed for several minutes silently, like one in a reverent prayer, his eyes filled with tears.”

Tolstoy went on to observe, “This little incident proves how largely the name of Lincoln is worshipped throughout the world and how legendary his personality has become. Now why was Lincoln so great that he overshadows all other national heroes? He really was not a great general like Napoleon or Washington; he was not such a skilful statesman as Gladstone or Frederick the Great; but his supremacy expresses itself altogether in his peculiar moral power and in the greatness of his character.

“Washington was a typical American. Napoleon was a typical Frenchman, but Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world. He was bigger than his country — bigger than all the Presidents together.

“We are still too near to his greatness,” Tolstoy concluded, “but after a few centuries more our posterity will find him considerably bigger than we do.

“His genius is still too strong and too powerful for the common understanding, just as the sun is too hot when its light beams directly on us

HW for week of Feb 2

1. Continue to work on and finish your HW and reading assignments - I will collect notebooks and grade them next week so have then updated!
2. Study for CW Quiz 2 - study guide below
3. Read Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address below and write a summary of it - what do you think were the 3 main points Lincoln was trying to express to the nation...



Military History Study Guide for Feb 9 Quiz


Civil War Battle Units

Army - composes all forces under a single general command (sizes varied)
Corp - the largest section of an army - under the command of a major general in most cases - CW size usually about 20,000
Division - usually 3 divisions in a corp, about 6,000 in size. Usually commanded by a brigadier or major general
Brigade - about four to a division, about 1,500 in size. Usually commanded by a brigadier general
Regiment - usually 2 or 3 in a brigade, about 500-800 in size. Usually commanded by a colonel
Company - usually 5-8 in a regiment, about 100 in size. commanded by various officers

Armies consisted of 3 main parts

infantry - foot soldiers, march in regiments in column and deploy in line for attack or defense
artillery - ordnance/cannon - a battery of artillery consisted of 4-6 guns with 9-12 soldiers manning one gun
cavalry - horse soldiers - serve as reconnaisance (eyes and ears) and flank protection for army. Formed separately from other units and operate at the decision of the army commander

May 2-4, 1863 - Battle of Chancellorsville -- Union army of 130,000 against 60,000 Confederates. Gen. Hooker crossed his forces over the river and threatened both flanks of Lee's army. Lee and Jackson met in a counsel of war and Lee gave Jackson permission to take his entire corps on a flanking march and attack Hooker's right flank held by Gen. Oliver O. Howard's corps. Jackson's forces successfully executed the movement and caved in the Union right. The Union army eventually held, but was badly damaged and had to retreat back across the river to their original encampment. Jackson was shot by units of North Carolina infantry as he and his staff scouted out roads. Jackson's left arm was amputated (and is still buried in the area on the Lacy property) and Jackson died one week later on May 10, 1863. Gen. Hooker was relieved of command and replaced by Gen. George G. Meade just prior to the battle of Gettysburg. Union casualties at Chancellorsville - 17,000/ Confederate casualties - 13,000

July 1-3, 1863 - Gettysburg -- Gen. Lee decided to invade the north after the battle of Chancellorsville to take the war out of war damaged Virginia and into the north. His hope was to win a great victory on northern soil and cause European powers to recognize the south and have the north sue for peace. Lee's cavalry was away from the main body of the army and did not give Gen. Lee the vital info he needed regarding Union positions, strength, and terrain. The 3 day battle resulted in Lee's army being victorious on day one, but unsuccessful on day two and three in attempting to divide and destroy the Union army. Many of Lee's officers were killed or wounded and his army was never to take the offensive again. Casualties were abouy 22,ooo on each side for a total of 44,000 (some estimates go as high as 51,000) The town of Gettysburg was devastated and had to deal with dead and wounded for many months. In Novemeber 1863, President Lincoln's words dedicated the National Cemetery and became immortal words that reflected the meaning of the war to all.

May - July 4, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss. - General Grant and Union forces surround and lay seige to the vital river town of Vicksburg. After a month long seige, Confederate Gen. John Pemberton surrenders his entire force of over 30,ooo. Citizens of the town are living in caves and shelters to avoid shelling and are eating rats and squirrels to survive. When Union forces take the town, the Mississippi river is in Union control and the Confederacy is cut in half. The town is surrendered on July 4 (the day of Lee's retreat from Gettysburg)and for the next 81 years, the townspeople of Vicksburg do not celebrate the Fourth of July!

May 1864 - Wilderness and Spotslvania -- Grant is called east by Lincoln to take command of all Union forces. He is promoted to Lt. General - George Washington was the only other person to hold that rank up to that time. Grant and the 100,000 man Army of the Potomac cross the Rapidan River into the area of Virginia known as the Wilderness. Lee, with 60,000 decides to attack Grant as Grant's units are stretched out on roads through the heavily wooded area. Lee is initially successful, but Union forces counterattack and Lee holds the line - Gen, Lee himself comes to the front to rally his men. In the confusion of battle, Confederate Gen. James Longstreet is shot by his own men by accident in almost the exact spot that Stonewall Jackson was shot almost exactly one year before! Union forces lost 17,ooo in two days while Lee's forces lost only 8,000. Grant was badly battered, but disengaged and instead of retreating like all other commanders had done before him, turns east and south and advances deeper into Virginia. Lee moves his men to the crossroads of Spotslvania Court House knowing that Grant must strike him there. Lee sets up brilliant defensive positions and Grant attacks. Over one week, some of the fiercest fighting of the war takes place, with hand to hand combat and muzzle to muzzle rifle fire taking place at a bulge in Lee's lines known as "the mule shoe" (later "the bloody angle") in heavy rains. In two weeks time for May 4-20, 1864, Grant lost 36,000 while Lee lost 18,000. Both armies lost about 30% of their strength!

June 3, 1864 - Cold Harbor, Va - Grant disengaged from Spotslvania and continued south again to Cold Harbor, Va. Grant attacked with half of his army - 60,000 men at dawn on June 3 - Lee's defensive positions were brilliantly set up again and Grant's men were decimated. In 8 minutes, 8,000 men fell, 1,000 per minute or 16 per second - many with notes pinned on their backs with names and hometowns listed so their dead bodies could be identified. This was the bloodiest charge of the entire war and Grant called it his biggest mistake

June 1864 - March 1865 - Seige of Petersburg and Richmond, Va -- Grant moves southward again after Cold Harbor, fakes toward Richmond and continues south to Petersburg, surprising Lee for the first time. Grant eventually extends his lines and Lee has to do so also - this thins and weakens Lee's lines and Grant attempts a number of attempts to break Lee. One such attempt is a plan to dig a 500 foot tunnel under Confederate lines at Petersburg and pack an underground cave with explosives. This is done by Union soldiers from Pennsylvania who had been coal miners before the war - the explosion occurs and the confederate line is broken, but Union forces foolishly attack up and INTO the crater and are captured, wounded, and killed in large numbers ( about 4,000) It is at Petersburg that trenches are dug and trench warfare as a defensive position is created and used - this is largely a picture of what commanders will do 50 years later in WW I - Gen. Lee is ahead of his time!

July - Dec 1864 - Fall of Atlanta - in a series of battles around Atlanta, Union General William Sherman and his army surround and cut of Confederate Gen. John Hood's army. Gen. Sherman's forces break through and Hood must retreat - Atlanta, a key railroad and supply depot of the south has fallen! President Lincoln thinks up to this point that he will lose the election of 1864 because the war is going badly and is going on so long with so many having died, but after Atlanta falls, public sentiment changes and Lincoln is reelected in November of 1864, easily defeating old slowpoke General George McClellan!!

November - Dec 20, 1864 - General Sherman leaves Atlanta in flames on November 15 and heads with his 60,000 man army in two columns to the Atlantic coast. Two wide paths of destruction are left in his wake as he brings total war to the south. He is still a hated figure in much of the south today because of it. He reaches the coast at Savannah, Ga. on Dec 20, wiring President Lincoln with a note presenting him with Savannah as a Christmas gift. He then turns north and destroys much of South Carolina, including the capital of Columbia - 2/3 of the city is destroyed (remember SC was the first state to secede and the place where the war began at Fort Sumter)

April, 1865 - Appomattox Court House - Grant increases his pressure on Lee at Richmond and Petersburg and eventually breaks through Lee's thin lines - Lee must retreat to save his army and his supply line and thus he has to give up Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Lincoln visited Richmond a few days later! Lee's army is weakening and Grant follows, then surrounds Lee at the village of Appomattox Court House. Lee surrenders his army on April 9, 1865, saying, "That means I have to go see Gen. Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths." The nation sees the war as over at this point and celebrates wildly -- until President Lincoln is assassinated on April 14 and dies the next morning at 7:22 am. At his deathbed, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton watches Lincoln die, then says, "Now he belongs to the ages." Assassin John Wilkes Booth is on the run for 12 days and is captured, shot, and killed on April 26, 1865 at Port Royal, Va on the Garrett farm. That same day, the last main Confederate army in the field surrenders - the war is over...

Lincoln's funeral is held in the east room of the White House, the very room in which he saw the president dead in the White House in his prophetic dream. His body lay in state in the capitol rotunda, then returns to Springfield, Ill. by way of a 20 day trip by train. The body is viewed in many cities along the way and it is said that 7 million people see his casket - almost 1/4 of the entire population of the US at the time. Abraham Lincoln is finally laid to rest in a tomb on the edge of town - he has finally come home. Mary, his wife, is so upset, she is unable to make the trip. She spends the rest of her days (17 years) in mourning and dies in 1882 in her sister's home in Springfield

After the war,a period of RECONSTRUCTION takes place as southern states are allowed back into the Union, but there is a military presence in the south for 12 years until 1876 to help keep order. Southerners hate it. Blacks are given citizenship and the right to vote for black men, but they are still greatly mistreated and as the military leaves the south, blacks are subject to many laws that discriminate against them in many ways - they will not gain their full rights as citizens for another 100 years!!

LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Fellow-Countrymen: AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.	1
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.	2
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."	3
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.	4