THE UNITED STATES ARMY BUILDS MEN — Recruitment poster, circa 1919, designed by Herbert Paus, published by Niagara Litho. Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
It isn’t possible to tell the story of the American Civil War without recourse to the million photographic images that were created.
Watch and learn about the Battle of Crooked Billet, which took place on May 1, 1778, as in today.
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Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885), the Civil War general and 18th President of the United States. Portrait engraving by John Chester Buttre, based on a photo by Barr & Young.
John James Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851)
TEN SEMI-RANDOM FUN FACTS ABOUT MARCUS GARVEY
- Garvey was born in 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay on the north coast of Jamaica.
- His full name is Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr.
- Over the course of his life, he lived in Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
- His father was a mason.
- He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Malcolm X’s parents, Earl and Louise Little, met at a UNIA convention in Montreal.
- In 1922, Garvey met with the Acting Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, causing backlash from other black leaders.
- He is buried the Marcus Garvey Memorial at National Heroes’ Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
- He has his own “ism”. According to Wikipedia, “The fundamental focus of Garveyism is the complete, total and never ending redemption of the continent of Africa by people of African ancestry, at home and abroad. It is rooted in one basic idea: ‘whatsoever things common to man that man has done, man can do’. Therefore, Africa can become as glorious and profoundly advanced in the scientific and technological realm as any, when Africans will it to be.”
- He was married twice.
- Rastafarians consider Garvey a religious prophet.
(Facts from UCLA African Studies Center, WNYC, and Wikipedia)
Ladies and gentleman, the new $100 bill. Take that, Bitcoin!
(Gawker)
THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO, April 18, 1847 — During the Mexican-American War, aka la intervención estadounidense en México, forces of the United States were on the march to Mexico City after capturing the port of Veracruz. Mexican troops under General Antonio López de Santa Anna stationed themselves at Cerro Gordo (near modern Xalapa) to block the path of the Americans. But a young Army captain by the name of Robert E. Lee found a mountain trail that snaked around Santa Anna’s position, allowing the gringos to outflank and defeat the Mexican army, reminiscent of the Battle of Thermopylae. When the Fourth Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry surprised Santa Anna with a quickly executed attack, the general was forced to flee without his artificial leg, which is now on exhibit at the Illinois State Military Museum.
Appomattox Court House, Virginia, 1865. Illustration by E.B. Webber. Lithography by J.H. Mumford Bufford & Sons.
RETREAT OF THE CONFEDERATES FROM SHILOH — April 7, 1862. At great loss, Union forces press a counterattack against Confederates in Hardin County, Tennessee. The thwarted rebels had to withdraw.
GENERAL SHERIDAN AT THE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS, APRIL 1, 1865 — This battle has been called the “Waterloo of the Confederacy.” Sensing that victory was within reach, Union General Ulysses S. Grant ordered Phil Sheridan’s cavalry to Five Forks, Virginia, a crossroads town 12 miles from Petersburg where Confederate General Robert E. Lee had most of his troops entrenched. Sheridan’s target was the South Side Railroad, the last line of supply into Petersburg. Just as Grant sensed victory, Lee knew that disaster was knocking, and he was less than satisfied with the performance of his divisional commander, General Pickett, in the bloody days leading up to the battle. In a dispatch to Pickett, Lee wrote:
Hold Five Forks at all hazards. Protect road to Ford’s Depot and prevent Union forces from striking the Southside Railroad. Regret exceedingly your forces’ withdrawal, and your inability to hold the advantage you had gained.
When Sheridan personally lead a cavalry charge into Pickett’s left flank, Pickett was not there to lead the defense. He was two miles away enjoying some baked fish. Lee was forced to abandon the lines around Petersburg. One week later, the South surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
(Illustration from Harper’s Weekly, April 22, 1865)
THE OCEAN YACHT RACE BETWEEN THE “FLEETWING” AND THE “HENRIETTA.”
From Harper’s Weekly, September 30, 1865:
The race between the rival yachts Fleetwing and Henrietta began on the 11th instant. At a little after 8 o’clock in the morning the yachts started from the lightship off Sandy Hook and were soon out of sight. The Henrietta led the race under a slight southeast wind, while the Fleetwing was rather to the windward. At first the breeze freshened, but it subsequently died completely away. The weather throughout the voyage was very fickle, and the contest proved to be what is called a ” drifting” race, and was thus deprived of much of the interest which would have belonged to it under other circumstances. Wednesday at noon the fleet-wing passed the lightship on its return an hour be-fore the Henrietta. The former vessel was there-fore declared the winner, though the voyage is by no means regarded as a decisive proof of the sailing qualities of either vessel.
The Fleetwing was docked off Hunter’s Point. She has just been built, and is owned by Mr. G. A. OSGOOD, son-in-law of Commodore VANDERBILT. Her length is 106 feet, beam 21 feet, and depth of hold 10 feet, with a tonnage of about 200 tons. The Henrietta, owned by Mr. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, JUN., has less length of bottom, and her entrance is not so sharp. Her appearance is strongly suggestive of strength and endurance. She was built three years since, but has recently been improved.
i read the entire thing.
Gold star. It’s good to know people are reading this stuff.
(via icebluegameboy)
Kentucky Mountain Bill Goes to Washington:
A delegation of Navajo representatives who traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1874 to discuss the provisions of the 1868 treaty with President Ulysses S. Grant. In actuality however, the purpose was to effect a land exchange by ceding the northern portion of the reservation bordering the San Juan River, where gold seekers were beginning to stake claims, for parcels of arid lands to the east and west.
President Grant met with the delegation on December 19, 1874, but the land exchange fell through, due mainly to the efforts of Thomas Keam, who had travelled to Washington at his own expense and shared the Navajos’ desire to hold onto their lands.
The delegation consisted of (left to right, front row): Carnero Mucho, Mariano, Juanita (Manuelito’s wife), Manuelito, Manuelito Segundo, and Tiene-su-se.
Standing: “Wild” Hank Sharp (Anglo), Ganado Mucho, Barbas Hueros, Agent Arny, Kentucky Mountain Bill (Anglo), Cabra Negra, Cayatanita, Narbona Primero, and Jesus Arviso, interpreter.
(Lapahie)
Scenes of life on the run in slavery-era America. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.
African-American servicemen at Naval Air Station Seattle, Washington, United States, 1944.
(WW2DB)
