Minutes
October 2009 Meeting by Travis Fuqua
Mark Shapiro presented The Curious Case of Ambrose Bierce on October 21, 2009. Ambrose Bierce was a soldier in the Civil War who later went on to have a colorful literary career. His wirings show his contempt for the leadership during the Civil War as well as the horrors of battle told in all of its brutality and other stories told in great realism.
Bierce was born in Ohio on June 24, 1842 and was the tenth of thirteenth children. He was not close to his father and he had had a very poor relationship with his mother. His parents were poor, but literate and wished him to take an interest in books and writing, which he would later develop after the war. Upon the outbreak of war, he enlisted with the Federal army soon after President Lincoln’s call for volunteers, and was one of the first to do so in his county. He saw extensive service in the war and fought in several battles. He was involved in the Battle of Shiloh and in Sherman’s March and on June 23, 1864, he was shot in the left temple by a Confederate sniper. Luckily for him, considering the medicine of the time, he survived, but the bullet remained in his temple and he suffered severe headaches for the rest of his life and even the slightest exertion would make them worse. His head wound ended his fight in the Civil War.
Amrose Bierce and "the Skull of a Former Freind"
After the war, he continued in the army and went out to San Francisco where he later resigned with the rank of brevet major. He remained in California in San Francisco where he married in 1871. He had two sons and a daughter, of whom he outlived the sons and divorced his wife in 1904 after her questionable conduct several years before. His headaches were further complicated by his constant asthma.
After settling in California, Bierce began his literary career. Around that time, he made friends with Mark Twain with whom he was about as close as possible for a man with his personality. An early piece that brought him to prominence was an editorial he wrote in 1887 as a response to the Secretary of War’s efforts to return captured Confederate flags to their owners. Many objected, but Bierce did not see the need of the hatred and support the return, stating it was his place to voice and opinion as he helped to capture the said flags. Such editorials brought him to the attention William Randolph Hurst and he later went to work for his paper, the San Francisco Examiner where he wrote a regular editorial.
Bierce was very confrontational and had a distaste for authority figures such, editors, despite being for a time. His dislike of authority figures was reflected in his writings. Bierce often attacked other writers, politicians, and even those who tried to be close to him. He even attacked Oscar Wilde and his work when the he visited San Francisco. Wilde and the public did not pay attention and Wilde remained vastly popular with the locals. Although his attacks were usually at people and might be seen as humorous by some, other writings were very discriminatory, such as one piece which was strongly anti-Semitic. His harsh criticisms earned him several nicknames including “Diabolical Bierce” and the most popular, “Bitter Bierce”, and his favorite, “The Wickedest Man in San Francisco”.
Bierce’s work about the war was quite shocking for its day and remains so today. He described the battles very vividly and described all the horrors of battle. One description that distinguished Bierce was his description of the Battle of Shiloh. Bierce began writing about the war at a time when scholars were just beginning to take interest in the war, since it had only ended a couple of decades before. Another piece by Bierce that gained notoriety was An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge which was published in 1891. In the story, a Confederate sympathizer is about to be hanged for the sabotage of a railroad bridge for which he was not responsible. As he was to be hanged, the rope broke and he was able to escape under fire. He manages to make it back home undetected, but when he arrives, he feels a strong pain in his neck and all goes black. It turns out that he never escaped and was actually hanged in reality. This twist ending has become famous and has been repeated numerous times. It has been said that this story is a precursor of post-modern literature.
Another famous work by Bierce is the Devil’s Dictionary which he complied over several years. This book takes the form of a regular dictionary, but its definitions are a satire. Below are some sample definitions:
- Acquaintance, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. A degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor or obscure, and intimate when he is rich or famous
- Education, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
- Mayonnaise, n. One of the sauces that serve the French in place of a state religion.
- Politician, n. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared. When he wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared with the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.
Bierce’s personality led to several clashes and his severe criticisms of other writers led their own against him. He took to carrying a loaded pistol with him at all times and on his desk he kept a human skull which he said came from a former friend. He was not close to many people and as a person would become closer to him, he would push them away again. One writer who was fond of Bierce received severe criticism from him. The author was Stephen Crane and his book, The Red Badge of Courage, was about the adventures and troubles of a soldier in the Civil War. Crane wrote realistically about war despite having been born after the war and never having been in combat. This fact and the fact he became more famous than the genuine veteran Bierce’s realistic descriptions gained Crane severe criticism from the former.
Bierce was well known amongst authors for his literary work, but with the public, he was better known for his editorials as this was the days of sensational yellow journalism. One of his poems did, however, gain him national attention, albeit negative. In 1900, the governor of Kentucky was shot and killed and Bierce published an editorial in Hearst’s paper about the event. In the editorial, Bierce wrote that no one could find the bullet that killed the governor as it was on its way to killing President McKinley. There was little stir at the time, but when McKinley was shot and killed the following year, there was outrage against Hearst and his paper. The poem ended Hearst’s efforts to become president, but despite the setback. Hearst did not reveal Bierce as the author nor did he apologize for the incident. In actuality, Bierce’s poem was meant to show dismay rather than a call to kill McKinley.
Dr. Shapiro Speaking About the Life of Ambrose Bierce
Bierce’s death was perhaps one of the most interesting events in literary history. In his seventy-first year in 1913, Bierce made a tour of his former battle sites from the Civil War and then headed to Mexico to observe Pancho Villa (before his murderous rampage in New Mexico in 1916) and watch the Mexican Revolution as it happened. He was not heard from again after December of 1913 and his fate remains unknown. Some say that he came back to kill himself at the Grand Canyon and others state that he was a spy for the Federal Government on Mexico—neither of which seem plausible nor have been proven.
Bierce was one of the most controversial writers of his generation, but his realistic writing style foreshadowed that in the years after his death. He was a major influence on Ernest Hemmingway, both of whim did not like their mothers and were wounded in battle. In retrospect, many scholars argue that Bierce’s writings about his experiences in the Civil War are among the best on war, even better than those of Hemmingway and Stephen Crane’s work of fiction.
June Meeting by Travis Fuqua
The SDCWRT was honored to have author Larry Tagg present on his book, The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln on June 17, 2009. His book is amongst the first of its kind to discuss the popularity of President Lincoln during his presidency. For those who grew up and were educated in the years after the Civil War, not a day goes by where we do not encounter the image of Lincoln, the demi-god. He is on our currency, in our monuments, and even in many of our hearts as among the best presidents we ever had—perhaps second only to the great General Washington himself. During his presidency, however, he was one of the most reviled men in the nation. His unpopularity in the Confederacy is a given, but he was no more popular in the North. The following is an account of the public’s perception of Mr. Lincoln in the North as seen mostly through newspaper editorials and other written accounts.
Mr. Tagg Presenting on His Book "The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln"
President Lincoln’s unpopularity began long before his time in the White House. It begins with the manner in which presidential candidates were selected in the years before 1972. In those days, there were no primary elections as there are now, but party bosses would gather and select a candidate who would in turn be that party’s nominee for the presidency. In the days before the Civil War, the nation was ablaze with the question of slavery and many parties found it difficult to nominate the famous candidates as their opinions on slavery would cause more controversy. This led to many mediocre candidates and presidents such as Franklin Pierce and James Buchannan, who has often been called the worst president ever for his handling of the secession crisis of 1860-1861. By the time of the 1860 election, many were cynical about the mediocrity of the candidates. The Republicans picked a relatively unknown candidate by the name of Abraham Lincoln who was a lawyer and had been in the House of Representatives some years ago and an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate. The only image that people had of him was the “rail splitter” and rural “man of the people” image that had been circulated. He did not speak during the campaign and did not actively campaign either, but nonetheless, he was elected in November of 1860. His unknown status was the first issue people had with him.
The Election of 1860 had two candidates who split the Democratic vote along with a third independent candidate almost ensuring Lincoln’s victory. He only won with 39.8 percent of the vote, which is worse than the loser in many other presidential elections. As soon as he won, the South panicked and there were fears of what Lincoln would do as president. Many in the South feared that he would fill the government with abolitionists through the spoils system and then use these people to bring about greater pressure to end slavery. Others feared that Lincoln would be the culmination of the mediocre presidents of the previous decade and lead the United States to a path of decline. There were even others still who derided his appearance saying that he was too tall, too thin, to awkward, and even too ugly. People called him a “huge skeleton in clothes”. They criticized his posture, movements, and even the size of his hands and feet. There was little in the new president that people liked. To make matters worse, Lincoln did not take much care in his appearance and his clothes were often unkempt and people never failed to take note of such. This and his manners alienated the educated and cultured people of the East. The harsh comments about his appearance would be unthinkable today and make the editorials of today’s newspapers look sedate.
By the beginning of 1861, President-Elect Lincoln had many obstacles before him other than the public’s perception of him. Several states in the Deep South had seceded from the union and President Buchanan’s actions (or lack of them) worsened the situation by the day. By the time Lincoln made it to office, the nation was very near to shattering and it needed another George Washington, not Lincoln, who they perceived as utterly incompetent. Lincoln’s popularity took an even further dip when he came to the City of Washington for the inauguration and slipped into the city under cover the of darkness to avoid a potential assassination plot. Even at that time, he was unpopular enough to have to worry about assassins. Many saw this secrecy as cowardice and many more editorials derided Lincoln for slipping into Washington. Upon his inauguration, Lincoln was just as unpopular coming into the office as President Nixon was upon resigning the office in the fallout of the Watergate Scandal.
The war did not help with Lincoln’s popularity. The failure of many Federal campaigns cost him even more in popularity and many people openly felt that he was completely incompetent and unable to properly preside over the nation during the time of crisis. Following the Federal victory at the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It was obviously poorly received in the South, but it was just as poorly received in some areas of the North. Many felt that the war had been over the status of the union and not really slavery, but Lincoln’s attempt at emancipating the slaves would further drive the Confederate states away and further drive the nation apart. In addition, many people feared that such a declaration during a century when the president’s power was limited would undoubtedly lead to further despotism by Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation and further military losses later in the year were a blow to Lincoln and the Republicans as they lost many seats in Congress during the midterm election in November of 1862.
When President Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation official on January 1, 1863, the divide became even greater. Many states in the North that relied upon slavery and the South began to question Lincoln and openly considered joining the Confederacy. Lincoln was threatened with the loss of many Midwestern states to the Confederacy and much of their support for the war effort dried up. This divide in the North allowed for the Democratic Copperheads to rise in power and question the Republicans’ management of the war. Also, due to a lack of manpower as a result of the Midwestern states lack of support, Lincoln had to create a draft program, which caused the Draft Riots in New York City in July of 1863. It may have seemed that the division of the nation in 1861 was the greatest danger to the country, but now many considered Lincoln was the greater threat. They saw his removal of rights and liberties as a threat to the Constitution and they feared that the nation and its Constitution would fracture and fail. Lincoln was only saved by the Federal victory at Gettysburg in July of 1863.
Lincoln’s reprieve would not last. Following the reversals during the Wilderness Campaign in May of 1864 and others, Lincoln’s popularity dipped again. The nation began to fear that the war would never end. As the election neared, the Wade-Davis Manifesto was issued which spoke out against the despotism of Lincoln. Lincoln was re-nominated at the Republican Convention, though, but it was through his manipulation of the spoils system that he obtained such. His competition in the election was General George McClellan who called for peace. Lincoln began to worry about his chances of winning the election and August of 1864 was perhaps his lowest point. The fall of Atlanta in September of 1864 helped morale and helped Lincoln immensely. He was still worried about his chances of winning and helped Nevada join the union as it was loyal to him. It was feared that their state constitution would not reach Washington in time for the election if it was sent overland. Just over a week before the 1864 election, Nevada had its 16,500-word constitution telegraphed to Washington at the cost of $4,300, making it one of the longest and costliest telegraph transmissions ever. By the time of the election, however, conditions had changed for President Lincoln and Nevada’s impact on the election was negligible. In addition, for the first time, soldiers in the field were allowed to cast votes for president in some states and their votes greatly assisted Lincoln as he had gained their support with the draft. Lincoln ended up winning the election with a little over half of the votes.
The beginning of 1865 began to look brighter for Lincoln and there were many signs that the war would end sooner than later. People began to attribute the turnaround to Lincoln, but there were those who did not. There were even those who feared another four years of Lincoln and began to call for ways to get rid of him—even through assassination. The war did finally end beginning on April 9, 1865 with General Lee’s surrender and Lincoln’s popularity began to rise. His moderate views on Reconstruction in the heated times did not help his popularity however. On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot in the head by southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth and died at 7:22 the next morning. He was the first president to be assassinated. Even in death, Lincoln was hated by some as they were happy he was gone so they could proceed with their more harsh Reconstruction schemes while others were glad the tyrant was dead.
President Lincoln was largely unpopular throughout the whole of his presidency. He was saved by his assassination which caused people to see him as a martyr. They saw him along with Moses not being able to see the Promised Land of a free and reunited nation. In one popular print he was supposedly lifted to heaven by the great General Washington. Lincoln came to symbolize freedom while his southern assassin came to represent treachery. His funeral train back to Springfield, Illinois became a symbol of the fanaticism of Victorian mourning. Only then did Lincoln become the president that we adore today as a savior of our country and a symbol of freedom. Lincoln was a capable president according to Mr. Tagg, because he did more with the least political capital than any president before or since. He truly was a great politician.
Mr. Cooper Presenting Mr. Tagg with a Certificate of Appreciation After His Presentation
May Meeting by Travis Fuqua
Gene Armistead
Gene Armistead presented Equines in the Civil War on May 20, 2009. This month’s presentation was about the roles that equines—horses, mules, and donkeys—played in the Civil War from the cavalry charge to the quartermaster’s wagon train. When we think of horses and war, we often think of romantic and daring cavalry charges, but equines played a far more important role in the war. The Civil War, of course, took place in the days before automobiles, trucks, and tanks, and thus everything that could not be moved on the limited railroad network had to be moved by equines. Men had to charge into battle on the backs of horses.
As mentioned before, the most famous image of equines is that of the cavalry. The cavalry in the Civil War was harsh as the horses and the men were constantly in the line of fire. Generals often had more than one horse to ensure that a fresh one was always ready for him. Sometimes, an officer lost a horse in battle and had to find a replacement and sometimes, he could even loose several horses in battle. The life of cavalry horses was very harsh and their survival rate was only about four months. Given this and the number of cavalry regiments, there was a need for almost two and a half million cavalry horses during the war.
Another important use of horses in the war was that of artillery horse. Some artillery horses pulled the artillery pieces to the field of battle and the others pulled the supplies necessary for the field pieces. Artillery horses often found themselves under fire as it was a sure method to cripple the enemy’s artillery by immobilizing it. Artillery horses fared better than their cavalry counterparts and lasted an average of seven and a half months. Given this expectancy and the number of artillery units on both sides, there was a need for almost a half a million artillery horses.
Gene Armistead talking Civil War equines up
Perhaps the most important use of equines in the war was in supplying the army. The quartermaster needed tremendous numbers of mules to supply the armies and the ratio of mules to men varied depending on the roads and the severity of the campaign, but by 1864, the Federal army overall needed one animal for every two men. The horses themselves also had great supply needs for feed and water. Mules were found to be better than horses as they could work better with cheaper and less feed. Horses were also used to pull ambulances and pharmacies and mules were even used to carry wounded soldiers when an ambulance was unavailable or inconvenient. The Civil War created a need for almost four million horses and mules. This is compared to the combined Federal and Confederate army of three and a quarter million men.
Paying for and supplying the animals was another question. Most horses and mules ranged in price form about one hundred dollars to two hundred. Sometimes, wartime inflation and the fame of the horse could drive the price as high as $4,600, which was the appraised price of General Lee’s famous horse, Traveller. By the end of the war, the Federal Army had spent 130 million dollars on horses and mules. Each side always needed more horses than it could ever hope to obtain. There were no specific breeding programs given the sudden nature of the war and neither side was particular about the breed of horse it required, although certain units specified certain colors or types of horses, but mostly for a dramatic effect.
The Federal government set up six horse depots throughout the country to obtain and distribute horses, but there were notorious cases of corruption and incompetence and many horses that were acquired by the Federal government were unusable. When the supply depots could not manage, men often had to scour the countryside and take whatever equines they could find. Confederate forces had even more difficulty given that Confederate officers were supposed to supply their own horses in addition to the general lack of resources in the Confederacy. Whenever Confederate forces were in the north and took northern farm animals, they found that they were better suited for pulling plows rather than riding.
Bill Cooper presenting Appreciation Certificate to Gene Armistead
Many horses and men in the war developed a relationship and other horses became almost as famous as their masters. The aforementioned horse, Traveller, of General Lee began its life before the war named after a Mississippi Congressmen by the name of Jefferson Davis. “Jeff Davis” later ended up with Lee after a series of owners and was renamed Traveller. He died in 1871 and his skeleton was placed on display before being buried in the 1970s. Some other general’s horses from both sides of the war have either been entirely stuffed or have had parts stuffed and are currently on display. One could argue that these stuffed remains are the last survivors of the Civil War. The horses that served in the war were in some ways equally as brave as those who rode them into the field of battle.
April Meeting by Travis Fuqua
Pedro Garcia’s presentation “Lee, Stuart, and the Road to Perdition” from April 15, 2009
Pedro Garcia
April’s presentation was about a somewhat controversial topic, J. E. B. “Jeb” Stuart and how his actions affected the Battle of Gettysburg. Stuart has long been a controversial figure. In the spring of 1863 General Lee told the Confederate government that the best military policy was for the Confederacy to become the aggressor and take the war to Federal soil. In order to accomplish his goal, Lee had to first march through the Virginian mountain and remain undetected long enough to position his army. Not long before Lee was due to depart, Federal cavalry caught Confederate cavalry off guard at Brandy Station in northern Virginia. General Stuart was successful in getting the Federal army to quit the field, but he won at a great cost. Not only did he lose many men, but he was humiliated for being surprised and he was constantly under attack by the Confederate press.
Pedro Garcia presenting "Lee, Stuart, and the Road to Perdition"
After his surprise at Brandy Station, Stuart was placed in charge of protecting Lee’s army from Federal forces as they crossed the Potomac River into Maryland. Stuart did well in this capacity and the Federal army lost track of Lee for nine days until he was in Pennsylvania. Lee’s orders for Stuart are a source of speculation as Lee told Stuart to guard the Confederate army and to later cross the Potomac River and then meet with General Ewell’s right flank in Federal territory. The controversy in Lee’s orders is over the route that Stuart should have taken as there seems to have been ambiguity. Since Stuart was in search of glory and rehabilitating his reputation after Brandy Creek, he decided to march east through the lines of the Federal army and then go through Maryland and meet with Confederate forces in Pennsylvania. His route to the east was contrary to what Lee had intended him to do.
Stuart and his three brigades left Salem, Virginia on June 25, 1863, but he soon met the south east part of the Federal army under General Hancock. This forced him to the east even more and Lee was without both cavalry and the ability to scout Maryland. Upon meeting and defeating Hancock at Haymarket, Stuart sent a portion of his cavalry after him, but when that detachment later came back to meet Stuart, he was gone. The detachment then assumed that Stuart had gone to the northwest across the Blue Ridge Mountains as Lee had and they left in that direction. Stuart, meanwhile, had crossed into Maryland and captured a Federal wagon train, consisting of 125 wagons laden with supplies and mule teams near Rockville. Soon after, Stuart came dangerously close to the City of Washington, but did not enter on account of his tired horses. As Stuart continued through Maryland, he added to the supplies, but the slow mule teams and the long wagon train turned into a hindrance as it halved the distance that Stuart could travel in a day and stretched out his forces. On June 30th, Stuart met Federal cavalry in Hanover, Pennsylvania and was defeated and retreated to Dover, which he reached on July 1st as the Battle of Gettysburg began. Stuart then went north to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, hoping to find Ewell there and reunite with him as per Lee’s orders, but he found out that Lee was thirty miles to the south at Gettysburg. Stuart raced southward and arrived at Gettysburg on July 2nd. At Gettysburg, Stuart was supposed to help hold Confederate lines, but he was defeated by General Custer. The wagon train that had been a hindrance to Stuart proved useful in the retreat from Gettysburg.
Stuart was used as a scapegoat for the Confederate failure at Gettysburg and he was scolded heavily by General Lee, but he was never formally disciplined. Historians have often debated about the role that Stuart may or may not have played in the Battle of Gettysburg. In the end, Stuart was killed the following year. Mr. Garcia notes that he was more like a knight of the days of old than a modern general.
Bill Cooper presenting Speakers Award to Pedro Garcia
April Minutes
This is the minutes from the previous meeting