Prince Paul Wilhelm of Wurttemberg leaves St. Louis and heads up the Missouri River. This was actually the second exploration of the American wilderness by the scientifically inclined German prince.
But a side note is what I find fascinating… Several years earlier, in 1822, the Prince had undertaken his first expedition into the west. To do so he needed the permission of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, William Clark of “Lewis and Clark” fame, who had originally explored the West.
Clark had a foster son, the son of an Indian girl who had greatly assisted the Lewis and Clark Expedition: Sacagawea. Her son, Clark’s foster son, was Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.
Clark was so impressed with the Prince that when the Prince completed his first expedition in 1822, he allowed Jean (age 16) to accompany the Prince to Europe.
The young Jean was the Prince’s constant companion as they toured Europe and North Africa. Jean learned French, German and Spanish and became quite cosmopolitan. The trip back to the wild of America in 1829 was taken in order to bring Jean back to his home with Clark.
An interesting story, and what I take from it is the impact of decisions we make on our fate and the fate of those around us. Sacagawea could have led out her life quietly; but she made a decision that led her son on an odyssey she likely could never have imagined.
Today in History, July 16, 1885: Sam finishes his book.
Sam had led a bit of a rough life. He saw great success, no doubt, but he was also an alcoholic. His father struggled with the demon for a time, and his grandfather had succumbed to it. In those days they didn’t realize it was often a family trait or a disease…it was simply a weakness. Sam had fought the demon his entire adult life. He was brilliant at is chosen profession. He quit it for a time because of his drinking and tried other jobs…farmer, realtor, shopkeeper…none worked out. As brilliant as he was, he had another weakness; he had a big heart and was much to quick to trust people with his money. So Sam spent most of his life broke.
Even with this, events in his life led him in a round about way to the pinnacle of success. He succeeded where others failed miserably due to his tenacity, his organizational skills and his ability to see the big picture. Yet through it all, no matter how much he achieved, his detractors never forgot, and certainly never let him forget, his demons.
Sam had made his fortune at last…but then, in his older years when there was little to no chance of building success anew, his other failure reared its ugly head again. The people he trusted with his money were scoundrels, and he found himself…and more importantly to him, his family, destitute once again.
Living on borrowed money, things got worse. One day while eating a peach his wife had given him, he felt as if he had been stung by something within it. He had no time for doctors and stubbornly toiled for months until the pain was unbearable to relent to his wife’s demands to see his physician. By then, it was too late. The mouth and throat cancer was advanced, and all that could be done was to provide him with pain killers until the end would come.
Sam’s father had been an inveterate braggart, a schemer and an incessant talker. It embarrassed Sam so that he became the exact opposite. Quiet and humble to a fault, it took everything he had to do what he had refused for years…to blow his own horn and tell his own story. But now it was the only way he could leave his wife and children with a means of support. So he threw himself into the task.
For over a year he wrote. He wore a muffler to cover the baseball sized tumor at his throat. Typical of his demeanor, he never complained of the excruciating pain that wracked him day and night…his family only saw him grimace from the pain when he was asleep and unable to hide it.
Sam worked with a purpose…he amazed his publisher by finishing 10,000 words in a day, written out. Mark couldn’t believe it…Mark was one of the most prolific story-telling authors of his time, and could never match Sam, who disliked the task of telling his own story. But now he had to…for his family…for his legacy because his old detractors were only too happy to repeat their own refrain, “See, we told you so.”
Fighting past the pain and past the fog of his medications, he toiled even when he could no longer write, and tortured himself to dictate his story to others.
Finally on July 16, 1885, Sam completed his autobiography. Mark had promised to publish it for a handsome price which would see to it that Sam’s family did not want for anything. It was suspected that Mark had ghostwritten the work…which he adamantly and angrily denied. His friend Sam had written the work…brilliant and surprising as usual.
Having won his last battle, he could let go now. Seven days later on July 23, 1885, Hiram Ulysses Grant, “U.S. Grant” due to an Army administrator’s error in his youth, Sam to his friends, a drunk to his detractors, an amazing horseman and hero of the Mexican-American War, General of the Army and President of the United States, passed from this earth.
Mark Twain saw that “The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant” was published and the family was treated fairly and well. Sam had found someone trustworthy this time. I’ve read General Grant’s memoirs, and they would be impressive if written by someone in perfect health. They are nothing less that heroic considering the suffering he endured during his final work.
Ironies of 19th century communication, or the lack thereof in the War of 1812.
On June 1, 1812, President Madison asked to declare war on Great Britain because Britain would not stop boarding US ships and impressing US sailors into the Royal Navy. By the 18th Congress had acted and President Madison signed the declaration of war.
The irony? Five days later on June 23, 1812, a new British government repealed the Orders in Council, deciding impressing US sailors was not in Britain’s interest, and created bad relations with America.
Neither nation knew what the other was doing.
The ships carrying the messages to the opposing governments likely passed each other on the Atlantic.
But the war was on.
Likewise, when the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, it took weeks for the message to reach the Americas. So on January 8, 1815, British General Packenham, hero of the war with France, attempted to take New Orleans with a large army.
American General Andrew Jackson defended New Orleans with an army of US soldiers, Indian allies, and pirate Jean Lafitte’s roughians. With tactics, artillery and folks that knew how to shoot, they decimated the British. 2,042 casualties for the British, including Packenham killed, to only 71 casualties for the Americans.
American hero Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, sits before the US Congress and encourages the US to remain neutral with Nazi Germany.
After his son was kidnapped and subsequently murdered, Lindbergh and his wife moved to Europe to avoid attention.
While there he became enamored with the German air superiority (at least warning America about that) and their “advancements”.
When he returned, son of a US Congressman, he sat before congress and denounced FDR’s administration, Jews, and the British, encouraging neutrality.
A fool on a fool’s errand? Perhaps.
Only history can determine whether he can be forgiven for his poor judgement after he flew 50 combat missions in the Pacific against the Japanese once the war began. He would die in Hawaii in 1974. Hero or traitor? We all make poor choices at some point in our lives, but can we obtain redemption?
Senator John J. Crittenden, former Kentucky Governor, US Representative, and US Attorney General, had put forth the Crittenden Compromise in a last ditch effort to prevent Civil War.
The nation had been arguing over the abomination of slavery since it’s inception; and “compromise” had been made before, with the Missouri Compromise which divided the nation north and south regarding which states would have slavery and which would not.
Then the Compromise of 1850, in which each new state got to decide.
During the 1850’s the Republican party was established with it’s primary platform being to prevent the spread of slavery.
Crittenden, a “Constitutional Unionist” suggested several Constitutional amendments that would bring things back to the Missouri Compromise levels since several states had already seceded due to Republican Abraham Lincoln’s election.
This time the Republican majority in the Senate said no to compromise and killed his bill.
As an aside, Crittenden’s grandson (and namesake), would be killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn with Custer.
American Major General Andrew Jackson’s forces (approximately 4,700) defeat British Major General Edward Pakenham’s forces (8,000).
The British were attempting to fight their way into New Orleans but first had to defeat the “Jackson Line” of defensive works lined with artillery, US Army regulars, Kentucky and Tennessee Militia, Freedmen, Native Americans and even the pirate Jean Lafitte and his men.
The British were confident of a quick victory, attacking in the morning under the cover of fog. But the fog cleared and Pakenham’s men were cut to pieces by grapeshot (anti-personnel artillery) and the marksmanship of the Americans.
Pakenham, a veteran of numerous campaigns, was knocked by his horse by grapeshot which struck him in the leg, then hit in the arm, and finally, as he climbed on his aide-de-camp’s horse was struck in the spine, wounding him mortally.
Most of the British officers were killed and their troops, not knowing whether to charge or retreat, were being decimated in the open field until another general arrived and ordered a retreat.
The battle was fought approximately 2 weeks after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, initiating the end of the War of 1812, but of course none of the parties in Louisiana knew that.
Jackson would ride the fame of the victory into the Executive Mansion.
The Battle of Stones River, south of Nashville, Tennessee, concluded after 3 days of hard fighting.
Union General William Rosecrans was tasked with securing central Tennessee, while Confederate General Braxton Bragg was tasked with defending the area.
Bragg went on the attack, but his forces were repelled repeatedly, and finally defeated.
The South lost 33% of their force, the Union 31%.
Together they suffered 25,000 casualties in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
If it can be taxed, a politician will find a way. And this is nothing new.
In 17th Century England, an “income tax” was greatly resisted…the people considered it to be an invasion of their privacy for the government to know what they possessed (sound familiar?)
So the government decided that the more windows someone had in their home, the more wealthy they must be.
Thus taxes were based on how may windows one had in their residence. This soon spread to Scotland and France also.
Of course then, as today, the wealthy knew how to avoid taxes…and that is why you will still find many ancient European buildings with their windows bricked up…fewer windows meant fewer taxes.
The tax would finally be repealed in 1851. Only to be replaced by income taxes….of course…..
As we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, I am always drawn to remember those who sacrificed so much so we could live in freedom.
In 1776 George Washington and his troops spent Christmas away from their families, crossing the Delaware to kick some Hessian derrière at Trenton, New Jersey.
In 1777 that same army spent Christmas at Valley Forge…starving, shivering without clothing or shelter while training for coming battles.
From 1861-1865 the nation was at war…families were separated and brother fought brother…General William Tecumseh Sherman sent a Christmas present to President Lincoln in 1864…Savannah, Georgia.
In 1914 a British soldier in the trenches listened to German soldiers singing Silent Night in the darkness and risked his life to stand up and join in. Soldiers from both armies spent Christmas exchanging gifts and playing ball…a small respite from killing one another.
In 1918 the entire world spent Christmas suffering through a flu pandemic which took millions of lives…at the same time they suffered the first mechanized war.
In 1944 the 101st Airborne and Patton’s 3rd Army spent Christmas fighting Nazis at Bastogne.
History gives us peace. Because if we know it, we know life goes on. If we know history and have faith, we know our travails are temporary and we will all be together soon enough with our savior.
God Bless you all. May you receive God’s strength and comfort.
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the Pacific Fleet during the Pearl Harbor attack, was relieved of his command. He would eventually resign his commission, ostensibly to avoid a court martial.
Much controversy has surrounded Kimmel.
He had a brilliant career, having worked for Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt in 1915, and continuing a successful career as a Battleship officer in the inter-war years.
He had not prepared well for the possibility of Japanese air attack, but then, neither had anyone else. Was he a scapegoat? Perhaps. Intel expected a Japanese attack, but most expected them upon Allied interests closer to Japan, such as the Philippines. Yet Douglas MacArthur did not face discipline, quite the contrary.
US Navy exercises had proven in the thirties that an air attack on Pearl Harbor was not only possible, but likely. As for a torpedo attack in a shallow harbor? While torpedoes normally drop to a lower depth before running their course, making attacks in shallow harbors difficult, the British had proven at Taranto in 1940 that a successful attack was possible when they sank an Italian fleet with obsolete biplane torpedo bombers.
There were many warnings preceding the attack…yet the devastating assault was very successful.
What normally is not mentioned as evidence of the obvious nature of the attack is that the tremendously successful (rightfully so) successor to Admiral Kimmel, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, was offered the Pacific Command before Kimmel was. He turned it down in favor of taking the also important post as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. Was Nimitz prescient? Did he know that CINCPAC would be sacrificed? Once that had happened, he accepted the important post. I’m not saying anything bad about Nimitz…far from it. He was the right man for the job.
In the midst of foreign wars in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a third term as US President. It had been a hard fought campaign.
Learning that the loser in the campaign, Wendell Wilkie, was headed to London to gain info on the war, FDR invited him to the White House. They chatted amicably, and FDR asked the Republican to deliver a handwritten note to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, giving him a letter of introduction, making him an emissary.
The note contained part of a Longfellow poem which FDR & Churchill, both Naval enthusiasts, would recognize immediately.
When Churchill gave a speech on February 9, 1941 he included the verse, crediting FDR and Wilkie.
…Sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
The verse recognized the troubles both nations were enduring.
I share this now reflecting on how good it would be in these contentious times if in the coming months the victor and the defeated of a presidential campaign could come together and help the ship of state to sail on. Lincoln also did it with his “team of rivals.”
While campaigning for Barry Goldwater to be president, actor Ronald Reagan gave a speech entitled “A Time for Choosing” which would come to define the American conservative movement for years to come. Reagan’s inspiring words would also show him to be the “Great Communicator” and launch him into the California governor’s office and eventually the presidency.
His words have often been recited and repeated as being pertinent to later times, and can be today as well. It is worth the time to listen.
Mark Loves History! 