Buchanan Did Nothing, but Meant Well…

In his fourth annual message to Congress, President James Buchanan addressed the crisis of Secession and how he intended to handle it… the results were underwhelming and have forever relegated him to the “worst Presidents” list.   “The course of events is so rapidly hastening forward that the emergency may soon arise when you may

April 12, 1864: Fort Pillow

Originally posted on Almost Chosen People:
? ?  Northern casualties were more than 63 percent, and the number of black soldiers killed was disproportionately high. There is no doubt there was a massacre of some kind. But I think he (Forrest) did everything he could to stop it. Next day, when the Federals came in and shelled…

Civil War Grub: Feeding Billy Yank and Johnny Reb

Originally posted on Presidential History Blog:
“An army travels on its belly.” – Napoleon Bonaparte First…Some Numbers and Perspectives Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend plain-old numbers.  Like …more than 1,000,000 Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War – and more than 600,000 Rebels. Jiggling it into a more comprehensible picture: New York City,…

Jefferson’s Birthday

  Further proof that the trend of combining different commemorations into banker’s holidays… is truly foolish, look no further than Thomas Jefferson. Upon entering the executive mansion… citizens began petitioning him for the use of his birthday as a holiday, he gently reminded them, ‘The only birthday I ever commemorate, is that of our Independence,

Truman and Civil Rights

Harry Truman announced a bold plan to guarantee civil rights to all Americans regardless of race. He made the declaration to a special session of Congress on February 2, 1948. His plan divided his party’s convention that summer. “Today, the American people enjoy more freedom and opportunity than ever before. Never in our history has

March 20, 1917: Lansing Memorandum

Originally posted on Almost Chosen People:
? On March 17, 1917, President Wilson met with his Cabinet to consider the question of whether the US should enter the Great War.  Fortunately for historians of this period, Secretary of State Robert Lansing drafted a detailed memorandum of the meeting: ? ? The Cabinet Meeting of today…

President Ike and the Interstate Highway System

Originally posted on Presidential History Blog:
Ike – the WWI tank officer POTUS Ike: The Early Advocate Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Lt. Colonel in the US Army in 1917, when US participation in The Great War began. He was deeply disappointed that he was not assigned to active military service abroad; instead he was…

Lost Dog of the American Revolution: General Howe & George Washington

Originally posted on THE CHRONICLES OF HISTORY :
The story begins on a bloody battlefield one cold foggy morning in October. A huge battle rages all around in a small place called Germantown. Men by the thousands are engaged in the fighting. Chaos is everywhere among the muskets and canons. Washington has eleven-thousand men against the…

Governor Lincoln?

Originally posted on Almost Chosen People:
? ? Abraham Lincoln’s life had many twists and turns in it which ultimately led him to the White House in 1861 and immortality.  One of the more interesting “what ifs” in Lincoln’s career was in 1849 when he was offered by the Taylor administration the governorship of the…

Britain Lost the War of 1812

Why did the British lose the War of 1812… consensus history teaches that the Napoleonic wars kept mighty England from crushing the upstart Americans.  As expected, consensus historical lessons are wrapped too tightly, strangling the complexities from our past.  America won the war, but Britain lost it just as much.  We cannot pin this all