July, 2007

Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I visited the Antietam and Harpers Ferry battlefields a week ago today. I posted about the visit, and put up a bunch of photos, including one of my very favorite battlefield monument, the one to Sgt. William McKinley, for bravely serving coffee to the troops under fire and without orders. I called it–and quite rightfully–silly, but pointed out that it reflects McKinley’s enormous popularity at the time of his assassination.

One of McKinley’s living relatives wrote in and apparently took umbrage with my calling the monument silly. Sorry about that, Theresa. I certainly didn’t mean to offend, but given the incredible bravery demonstrated by so many soldiers under fire that day–such as John B. Gordon still leading his troops in the fighting for the Sunken Road in spite of having been shot in the face–that I find it pretty damned silly to erect a large monument to a soldier whose contribution to the Union victory at Antietam was bringing buckets of coffee to the front lines. It just seems preposterous to me.

That in no way is intended to suggest that McKinley was not a brave or competent soldier. In point of fact, he was. He was clearly a capable soldier, or he never would have made the leap from private in 1861 to major by the end of the war at the young age of 22. Obviously, there was a reason why he would received so many promotions, and that reason is competence. So, I’m not suggesting that the 25th President of the United States did not deserve recognition for his military exploits. I’m simply saying that the field at Antietam and the reasons for the monument are not especially appropriate.

Continue reading

Today is the 144th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. That means that the Town of Gettysburg is jam packed with tourists. It means that there are far too many people, too many cars, and too many motorcycles in town for the anniversary commemoration of the battle. Personally, I can’t imagine being there during this chaos. I’ve been there on the anniversary of the battle twice, and that was more than enough for me. I can’t imagine anyone WANTING to be there now–you can’t find a parking space, a table in a restaurant, or a quiet place to reflect on the meaning of the day. Consequently, I swore I would never be there on the anniversary of the battle again if I could help it, and I’m sitting here in my family room in Columbus as I write this. I’ll live the crowds and chaos to the others, including J. D., who enjoy being there at this time of year. Have fun, guys.

Continue reading

Please be sure to check out Ranger Mannie Gentile’s hilarious post about our Antietam visit last Sunday. It’s good for a belly laugh.

Continue reading

Intellectual property lawyer Larry Ebert put up a very interesting perspective on Carhart’s crappy book on his blog yesterday. I commend it to you.

Ebert discusses yet another review of this lousy book that points out just how little there really was in terms of novel content. It also points out how poor and how shallow Carhart’s research really was.

Continue reading