5 questions for your consideration

          If you study the Civil War or just enjoy reading about it, you have read about the controversies surrounding the big moments of the conflict. The ‘What if’ stuff.

          Your loyal blogger enjoys debating the ‘What if’ questions although generally speaking, all that really matters is what actually happened. Determining what actually happened is hard enough, even after all this time.

          The traditional what ifs include: What if all of JEB Stuart’s cavalry force stayed with the main body of the Army of Northern Virginia during the entire Gettysburg campaign? What if Robert E. Lee stayed with the Union army instead of following Virginia into the Confederacy? What if the Union army won at the first battle of Bull Run, as it should have?

          The reader is invited to determine on his/her own whether the following questions are traditional what iffers or not. Regardless of that determination, the reader is asked to consider the following questions and develop answers. Your local blogger will provide a set of replies at a future date.

          Before the questions for consideration, your loyal blogger reminds that there are no right or wrong answers here. There are only ideas.

 

          QUESTION #1: If war had somehow been avoided, how long would the institute of slavery have remained legal in the United States of America?

 

          QUESTION #2: How different would American society have been during the 20^th century had Abraham Lincoln lived through the completion of his second Presidential term and seen to the start of Reconstruction?

 

          QUESTION #3: How would your life have been different if the Confederate states had secured their independence?

 

          QUESTION #4: In terms of action on the battlefields, who was the single most important individual in the fighting? No fair choosing one per side and no fair choosing the individual foot soldier as answers.

 

          QUESTION #5: No single event has had a bigger impact on American history than the Civil War. Study of the War era and the War itself offer educational opportunities on many social and historic topics. Should the War be reemphasized in K-12 classrooms?

          Think these questions over and, as you do, we thank you for reading.

The name game

            P. Allen Motes was born in Alabama’s Pike County on September 14, 1832 and started along his way to success.

            Whatever his first name was.  

A farmer, Motes married Mary Alice Godwin on March 12, 1854 and life went along. Things changed when Alabama joined the Confederacy. Presly enlisted in 1862, becoming a member of the 4^th Battalion of Hilliard’s Legion. He originally enlisted in the 4^th Battalion’s Company A, but later transferred to Company D.

            The Legion did not see combat action until September 20, 1863 when the Legion played a central role in the Confederate victory in the battle of Chickamauga. Motes, who was six days beyond his 31^st birthday at the time, was wounded in his left leg. One report has Motes breaking his leg, another says Motes was “shot through,” his left leg.

            Motes’ military career ended with the injury. He returned to Alabama and resumed farming. But Mary Alice died of the measles on May 6, 1870, leaving Presly with four children. No slacker, Presly married again on February 19, 1871. His second bride was Mary Elizabeth Head and she eventually out-lived her husband, although Presly and Mary Elizabeth did manage to have a child together.

            The Motes holdings grew to include 395 acres (200 improved, 195 wooded) with a cash value of $2,000. They had farm equipment valued at $50 and livestock worth $400 (1 horse, 2 mules, 2 milch cows, 2 working oxen, 3 other cattle and 15 swine).

            Presly Motes died October 30, 1908 at age 76 in Crenshaw County, Alabama. He was probably unaware that his name would one day leave researchers confused.

            Motes’ military service cards list his first name as Presly, but a report from the Adjutant General’s office decades after the war mentions in passing that some muster rolls for the Legion also have Motes’ first name spelled ‘Prisly.’

            It appears neither spelling was accurate. His tombstone spells his name ‘Presley.’

            No matter how his name was properly spelled, you’d have to agree that P.A. Motes had a busy life. And just think: He did it all without the internet.

 

            Thanks for reading.

FOR HEADLINE, SEE BELOW

It is shocking to me to see what has happened to headline writers. Even today, where the web is without the space limitations we had back in the day when newspaper editors had to make things fit, headline writers still can't get things right.

Hurricane Fay brushed some islands and began weakening over the weekend. It was downgraded to a tropical storm and drifted away from land, its power lessening as it went. So the most obvious headline of the year sat waiting...and went unused.

The headline should have read:

FAY DONE, AWAY

Remember you saw it here first.

It's the people, stupid

                Your loyal blogger recently finished Susannah Ural’s excellent book, “Don’t Hurry Me Down to Hades,” an outstanding research piece about the impact of war on the lives of people living during the Civil War era.

          The book is very good but this is not a book review. Perhaps this is a reflection prompted by reading the book.

          The Civil War is a people story. All wars are the same in that respect. In the case of the War Between the States, the people are fascinating. Ural’s book is a classic example of that simple fact.

          When we forget that it was people who had to fight the war or otherwise live through the era, we forget what really mattered: People were freed from enslavement because of the war. People fought, bled and died on the battlefields. People died of disease in the army. People had to rebuild shattered lives and live with battered minds and bodies after the war. People lost loved ones in the fighting and many people lost their livelihoods.

          Of course, it was people who started the war and people who went to war eagerly, expecting a short war with plenty of glory to go around.

          This writer took a history class in college a few decades ago. Two fellow students, big fans of computerized war games (such as they were at the time), approached the professor after a lecture and gleefully explained how they had fought the same battle in their game that the professor lectured about that day.

          The losing general, they explained to the professor, could have won the day by making some sort of movement. “He’d have only lost a few thousand more men,” the war gamers said.

          A few thousand lives, thought yours truly. A few thousand lives.

          Your loyal blogger is fond of studying the battlefield. What happened? Who made the key decision? Why was the decision reached? And how did those men, the ordinary grunts, keep moving in the face of mortal danger?

          When you have the answers to those questions, you have a story about people. If you miss that central fact, then you simply don’t understand history.

          And you’ll never learn from it.

 

          Thanks for reading.

JEB Stuart: Lots to think about

          Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi produced a book about JEB Stuart’s contribution to the battle of Gettysburg titled, Plenty of blame to go around, Jeb Stuart’s controversial ride to Gettysburg.

          There will be no discussion here of Wittenberg and Petruzzi’s conclusions about Stuart’s ride around and sometimes into the Union Army in late June/early July of 1863. Interested readers of this blog can read the book themselves and reach their own conclusions. The book was published by Savas Beatie.

          The book does give a reader plenty to think about as it covers Stuart’s ride and the difficulties his cavalry encountered along the way. If you begin reading with a negative opinion of Stuart or just think poorly of the decision to go marauding at the beginning of Lee’s invasion of the North, you’ll find plenty of ammunition in this book.

          If you lean toward a more positive opinion of Stuart’s ride, you’ll find plenty of chances to resupply your ammo, too.

          This book is more about the controversy than it is the event itself, which makes it a fun read. Bring your opinion with you when you begin to read this book. Keep it right by your side.

          The decisions made by Confederate leadership at Gettysburg have been debated for 151 years now. There is plenty to debate. However, whether you revere the memory of Confederate commander Robert E. Lee or dismiss him a defender of slavery, one thing is clear: The fight at Gettysburg was not his finest military performance.

          Allowing Stuart to attempt a ride around the Union army at a time when Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was committed to an invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania seems foolish today. Depending upon Stuart to stay in contact with the main Confederate force appears to be a colossal mistake today.

          And separating his army from the main portion of its cavalry arm at a time when he was leading his army into an all-or-nothing invasion of largely unknown territory? Hummmmm.

          Discussions of Stuart’s failure to be in the Gettysburg area on June 30 when his troopers were really needed must start with the decision to send him on a rompish ride to begin with and that permission came from Lee.

          Before you can opine that Stuart failed Lee, you must agree that Lee failed himself by not restraining Stuart’s desire for a ride around the Union army.

 

          Thanks for reading.

The Speedyleeway list of Civil War books

          Typically, this blogger looks for ways to reference yours truly without using the word I. Writers never want to be accused of having an ‘I’ problem. It is a challenge when writing something as potentially personal as a blog to avoid using the first person.

 

          Challenges, they say, help writers and this writer needs all the help he can get.

          So it is with an abundance of joy that I disregard the normal practice for this specific blog. I want to list my 10 favorite Civil War books.

          Before I do so, be warned that there are lots of Civil War books I have not read yet. There are a very few that I wish I had not read. There are some sitting around the house waiting to be read.

          There are no works of fiction on my list. Please feel free to put fiction on your list of Civil War faves, but my list is non-fiction works only.

          There is an Honorable Mention honoree: The Truth About Chickamauga by Archibald Gracie. The writing style makes this one difficult to read in spots, but it is a research classic. Be warned: Some experts refute some of Gracie’s conclusions.

          My list:

10. The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. There are several editors. I use it as a reference. Pretty smart, huh?

9. National Geographic Atlas of the Civil War, Neil Kagan and Stephen G. Hyslop.

8. Battle Cry of Freedom, James McPherson. This is a classic among Civil War books. Everyone should read it, if for no other reason than the understanding one can glean from it about our society.

7. After the War, David Hardin. An elegant look at the lives of some of the most interesting personalities of the war’s era.

6. Mosby’s Memoirs, John. S. Mosby. Obviously the battlefield information is engaging, but his post-war career and his relationship with U.S. Grant are fascinating.

5. Stand Fast Ye Boys From Maine, Thomas A. Desjardin. Just a well-written book about the Union’s far left on Little Round Top.

4. The Chickamauga Campaign, edited by Steven E. Woodworth. This is actually a compilation of papers about Chickamauga and Chattanooga. One very interesting paper is Bull of the Woods? about James Longstreet. An outstanding essay in a group of excellent papers.

3. Decisions at Gettysburg, Matt Spruill. For me, this book stands above others written about the controversies at Gettysburg. A very enjoyable read.

First runner up: Chancellorsville, Stephen W. Sears. This book gets a wow. Obviously, the story is well told. The writing is outstanding. This is a neat, neat work on an important battle. This was a fight full of interesting characters that were important in the narrative of the war. I’ve never been to Chancellorsville, but that is not a handicap when reading this excellent book.

1, 2: Yep, a tie. I cheated. First among equals is Carol Reardon’s brilliant work, Pickett’s Charge in history and memory. The title tells you the subject matter but it can’t give you a feel for the excellence of the writing nor the fascinating way the research is presented. Read this book.

The next equal is Gettysburg: A test of courage, by Noah Andre Trudeau. Think you know Gettysburg? Read this one, which includes plenty of maps with approximate time notations. Gettysburg was the Civil War’s battle royal and Trudeau gives it the royal treatment, a tremendous work.

The statisticians among you have counted and discovered 11 books on the list of 10. That’s because I now live in Big Ten country, where there are 14 member schools. Well, the idea is the important thing, right?

Thanks for reading.

 

The Toledo Mud Hens

          Remember the old television show MASH? The Corporal Klinger character’s back story was that he was from Toledo and he loved the Toledo Mud Hens minor league baseball team.

          If you grew up in California, you didn’t know for sure whether the Mud Hens existed. A script from the make believe world of sitcom TV is not generally a credible source of accuracy.

          Minor league baseball was a big part of the sporting landscape in California before the Dodgers ever made it west. No mystery there. But who knew if the Mud Hens really existed?

          Turns out they do. The Mud Hens are the Triple A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers and Thursday they played the Columbus Clippers, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Toledo won 2-1, a high-quality, professional baseball game that was completed in roughly two hours, 25 minutes. There were no television timeouts, not many pitching changes and no manager replay challenges.

They just played baseball.

Well, okay. Between innings there were all kinds of activities. They threw balls into the grandstand, had contests for kids, had KissCam on the scoreboard and had mascots running around making people happy.

Fifth-Third Park in Toledo seats 9,806 and the game with the Clippers was Toledo’s 14^th sellout of the year. Simply put, the people of Toledo like their Mud Hens.

Most of the Mud Hens fans stayed after the game to watch the huge fireworks display, so if you scooted out you could watch the fireworks from the parking lot and still beat the traffic to the highway. Call that California Training.

A single seat in row H of section 106 puts you three rows behind the home dugout and cost $10. There is a charge if you call and order on the phone with a credit card, but when you do that, you speak to an actual person who helps you find the seat you want. This is a very helpful organization.

Parking directly across the street costs $10, but you can park a block away for $5. Two hot dogs, a large soda and a bag of peanuts is a package deal that costs $7. Programs are free and score cards are free. If you happen to forget a pencil or pen, that’ll cost less than $2.

The entire evening cost $32 and could be cheaper by parking a block away and remembering a pen or pencil.

The park opens at 5:30 p.m., food sales start at 6 and the game starts at 7. You can watch batting practice, although you probably will not be able to watch infield practice.

This is a high-quality, family oriented, fun place to be. Try it, you’ll love it.

 

Thanks for reading.