11November 2010
NOVEMBER PROGRAM
Alexis de Toqueville wrote, ” There are two things a democratic people will always find very difficult, to begin a war
and to end it.” The forces at work in the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the firing of Fort Sumter is the topic of Pedro Garcia’s program tonight.
Pedro is a longtime SDCWRT member and two time winner of POT, Pedro will seek to show what America was in 1860, and what it was becoming.
October 2010 Meeting
Rich Marcell Presenting with a Picture of the Young Lee
Written by Travis Fuqua with Photographs by Bob Batten
On October 20, 2010, Rich Marcell presented “Another Look at Robert E. Lee”. Mr. Marcell’s purpose in giving this presentation was not to give another full biography or try to change one’s opinions on General Lee, but to give a new look at his character and endeavor to portray him not in a hagiography or to vilify him, but to place him in a realistic light.
General Robert Edward Lee was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807 to Major General Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III, a hero of the Revolution and Anne Hill Carter. Major General Henry Lee was famous for his eulogy of the immortal General Washington in 1799 when he said: “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen”. Young Robert’s father died in disgrace when he was eleven in 1818. With the help of the infamous South Carolina statesman John C. Calhoun, Robert E. Lee was granted admission to West Point in 1824 and began his studies there in 1825. Lee did well and graduated in 1829 second in his class and became a brevet Second Lieutenant in the Cops of Engineers.
Lee’s mother died later that year. On June 30, 1831, Lee married Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and thus Lee joined the family of the immortal General Washington. Initially, the bride’s father was reluctant to give his daughter away to the son of the disgraced Major General Henry Lee, but he later consented. Lee continued as a junior officer until the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846. He served along with General Winfield Scott in his landing at Vera Cruz where he distinguished himself throughout the campaign and was promoted to brevet Colonel with the permanent rank of Captain. It was here that Lee also worked with the future General Grant under Scott as well as many other junior officers who would later distinguish themselves in the Civil War. While with Scott in Mexico, Lee learned the art of being a gentleman and officer.
At the same time, Colonel Lee did acknowledge slavery as an evil, but as typical for many of his class and time, only saw the inhumanity of it for the masters but never deeply considered the immense suffering of the slaves. In a letter to his wife in 1856, he stated: “I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former.” It has been claimed with these words and similar ones that Lee was anti-slavery, but his views were hardly as such and were similar to those of his class and he still believed that bondage was necessary to build them morally, socially, and politically. Given his deep Christian faith, Lee also believed that slavery existed at the will of God and his will would end it as well. He also felt the North had no authority to bring an end to slavery.
When the secession crisis began in December of 1860, Lee continued to support the Union and felt secession was revolution against the Founding Fathers. In March of 1861, Lee accepted his promotion to Colonel by Lincoln. General Scott, leader of the Federal Army, was eager to have Lee in a leading position for the Union. After the Battle of Ft. Sumter, Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, 1861. At the same time, Scott was eager to have Lee made a Major General, but upon hearing the news of Virginia’s secession, Lee declined Scott’s offer as he could not fight against his home state since Virginia was his “country”. Thus, Lee resigned from the Federal Army on April 20, 1861.
Lee had relatives in the Federal Army and did not advise them to resign the Army on account of him, but they did, nonetheless. The newspapers in Virginia realized how valuable Lee would be to their forces and Lee accepted a command in Virginia on April 23 to command all of Virginia’s military and naval forces. Lee never regretted leaving the Federal Army to fight for Virginia, but he did not harbor any unrealistic optimism about the prospects of the Confederacy. He also realized that the majority of the fighting would be in his home state and the Union would not give up easily.
Mr. Marcell
Early in the War, Lee gained little fame fighting against younger politically appointed officers. Lee came to command an actual army at the Battle of Seven Pines in June of 1862 when Lee and President Davis were observing the battle and when the Confederate leader was killed, Davis appointed him commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The Army of Northern Virginia had the luxury of stable and competent leadership, unlike the Army of the Potomac, but suffered from poor supplies and other problems. In command, Lee was criticized for being too cautious and out-of-date. Federal General, George McClellan, believed Lee’s appointment worked in the favor of the North. Lee’s fame grew as he managed to halt the Federal advance towards Richmond during the Peninsular Campaign, but failed to destroy McClellan’s army.
As a commander, Lee did not hold any councils of war and did not interfere with his subordinates which may have been detrimental since he was criticized for being too kind and amiable when it was not always to his or the army’s advantage. Lee’s reason for his relaxed command was his deep religiosity in that he believed the fate of his army to be in the Hands of God. Lee knew his weaknesses and instead placed his faith in the immortality of General Washington and God. Lee told his sons to “Do your duty in all things.” General “Stonewall” Jackson said Lee was the only man whom he would follow blind.
When the war drew to an end and the Army of Northern Virginia was defeated, Grant offered Lee the ability to surrender. When Lee enquired as to Grant’s terms, Grant said that he had but one—Confederate men could not take up arms against the Union again. Lee was determined not to surrender unless there was a guarantee of peace. Grant knew that Lee was very clever, but could not legally offer him peace. Lee also had the option of engaging in a guerilla war with Grant, but decided against it as it would have taken the war to the people. Lee decided to surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the surrender, Lee issued a farewell address to the Army of Northern Virginia where he said that as a Christian people, the South must accept their situation.
Not long after the War, Lee came to be idolized in the South. There is a 12-ton statue of him in Richmond with the simple inscription of “Lee”. Lee himself also sought to write about his experiences in the War before his death. Confederate General Jubal A. Early said Lee was the best general of the war, better than Grant, and Virginia was the most important theatre of the war. Early’s statements led to the foundation of the “Lost Cause” in the South where the South had not been fairly matched with the North since they had superior leadership, but were simply overwhelmed by the North. Lee became the hero of this “Lost Cause”. Lee thus came to have a status in the South second only to that of the immortal General Washington. It has only been in recent times that Lee has been examined more realistically. While Lee was a great figure, he nonetheless fought against the legal government of the United States to uphold this country’s most reprehensible institution.
Mr. Marcell ended his lecture by quoting about Lee: “Noble he was. Noble he became.”
September 2010 Meeting
Written by Travis Fuqua. Edited by Gregory Wilson. Photographs by Bob Batten
On September 15, 2010, the San Diego Civil War Round Table announced the winner of the Presentation of the Year for 2009-2010. The winner was Mark Shapiro for his October 2009 presentation: “The Curious Case of Ambrose Bierce”. The SDCWRT extends its sincere gratitude all presenters for their fabulous presentations.
Dr. Shapiro Presenting
This evening, Mark Shapiro presented “Antebellum Fear: Nat Turner Uprising” about the 1831 Virginia slave rebellion led by the slave Nat Turner. This was the largest slave rebellion in history and had the greatest political consequences.
Nat Turner was born October 2, 1800 on the plantation of Benjamin and Elizabeth Turner from whom he received his surname. His mother was brought from Africa at the end of the eighteenth century while the slave trade was still legal in the United States. His Father’s origins are unknown since he escaped from the Turner plantation when Nat was young. The Turner Plantation was in Southampton County, Virginia, near the border with North Carolina, not too far removed from the coast in a swampy area. The staple crops were apples, corn, and tobacco. In this county, which was predominantly black with 6,500 whites to 7,700 blacks, the main religion was Methodism, which was something of a paradox for a county with such a ratio of blacks to whites. The early Methodist church spoke out against slavery and called for manumission. However, a general backlash against this Methodist doctrine had arisen in the slave states, and by the time of the Nat Turner uprising, the Methodist church had largely reversed its opinion on slavery.
As a child, Turner was rather precocious and was liked by both his fellow slaves as well as whites. He had several bumps of an unknown origin on his head and chest which according to African tradition meant that he would be a leader. Another mystery of his childhood was the fact he could read, but it is not known how he became literate. It was claimed he was brought a Bible and simply knew how to read it. This literacy, however, from the standpoint of his owners, would have limited his usefulness—as literate slaves traditionally proved somewhat troublesome to their masters. At the age of ten, Nat was moved to the plantation of Benjamin Turner’s son, Samuel, who was a strict disciplinarian. Two years after that, Samuel sent the precocious Nat to the monotony of the fields. When Nat was 21, Samuel Turner hired an overseer to make his plantation more productive in the wake of the Panic of 1819. Nat did not do well with the overseer and was whipped which prompted Nat to run away. Curiously, Nat returned after a month and later claimed that the Holy Spirit had visited him and commanded him to return to his earthly master.
Later Turner married a fellow slave and started a family. Not long after, Samuel Turner died without issue and Nat along with the other property at the plantation were sold. Nat was valued at $400 and his wife at a mere $40, and for the first time in his life, Turner knew his value in the eyes of his white masters. He was sold to the Moore Plantation. Turner was not happy on his new plantation, but was not defiant. Instead, Turner became known in his community and became religious as he claimed to be continually visited by the Holy Spirit. At the time, slaves were still free to worship together which was the closest they came to freedom. In this environment, Turner gained freedom of movement to be an itinerant preacher. Later, Turner supposedly had apocalyptic visions in which he was to have a part. One day, these visions led Nat to approach Moore himself, telling him that slaves should be free. Moore whipped Turner out of fear he would cause unrest amongst the slaves.
In the early nineteenth century, there was an ever-increasing fear of slave rebellion, as the ones that did occur became ever more violent. Some examples include the slave rebellion on the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue which led to the foundation of the nation of Haiti—the first for a slave rebellion to found an independent nation. There had been fears of a similar slave rebellion in the United States, which found itself in an increasingly isolated position as the other nations of the world outlawed slavery. In order to maintain order, the slave masters used the carrot-and-stick method whereby the slaves were given some freedom in return for their happiness but should they act out of order there would be severe repercussions. In addition to the local militias, the Federal government had the power to put an end to slave revolts.
In 1831, Turner was sent to yet another master, Joseph Travis. There was a solar eclipse on August 13, 1831 accompanied by an atmospheric phenomenon. Turner took this eclipse as a sign. The next week on August 21, Turner with some trusted fellow slaves and a few recruits met to discuss a plan for revolt. Turner showed up last to the meeting. The individuals present agreed to assault the county and its seat of Jerusalem and indiscriminately kill all whites along the way, but not to burn or ravish. Since Turner’s group was small, there was little chance of the plan being discovered which had been a shortcoming of many other rebellions.
On the morning of August 22, Turner and his followers proceeded to the Travis Plantation where they killed the entire family. Nat then went to the plantation of his former mistress, Elizabeth Turner, where she was summarily dispatched. Turner and his group continued killing and gaining followers so that soon he had about 60 supporters and visited 15 houses where his group killed 55 people. Not long after Turner began killing, the whites in the area became alerted and by the end of the day the local militia engaged Turner’s force. Nat Turner’s force was defeated and forced to retreat. The governor of Virginia, John Floyd, called for more militia and for whites to evacuate and prepare themselves. The following day, the 23rd, there were further reverses for Turner as his group dwindled under ambush and capture until by the end of the day, Turner was alone. Nat returned to the Travis Plantation where he dug a hole and hid with some provisions.
The retaliation by the whites was exceedingly brutal. Many blacks were killed or tortured on sight regardless of their affiliation with any rebellion. Between 120 and 220 blacks were wantonly slaughtered. On August 28, a proclamation was issued ending the bloodshed. Throughout the South, there continued to be fears of slave rebellions during August and September of that year. Nat Turner was captured on October 30, 1831 and brought to trial on November 5, where he was convicted and sentenced to hang. Nat Turner was executed on November 11, 1831. The retaliation against the blacks did not end as they continued to loose the few rights they had. Free blacks faced increased discrimination. The abolitionists of the north received increased criticism from the South despite the fact they had limited influence there. In fact, the majority of northerners were not in favor of ending slavery, and actually sided with the south until their harsh response to Nat Turner’s uprising. Northerners then began to question the future of slavery. Those northerners were not alone, as some in the South also began question the future of slavery.
In the beginning of 1832, there began an immense battle in the Virginia legislature as to the future of slavery in the state. This great debate was naturally caused by the recent Turner rebellion. Joseph Jefferson Randolph, the grandson of President Jefferson, offered a complicated emancipation plan that not only was lengthy in its process, but also deported the blacks from Virginia, thus ridding the State of Virginia of her blacks. This proposal demonstrated the fear and insecurity the whites felt as a result of Turner’s uprising. Governor Floyd supported this scheme until John C. Calhoun, the famous South Carolina statesman, convinced him otherwise. In fact, there was increased conservatism after the rebellion and there were increased endeavors to support and strengthen the argument for slavery. Slave codes were made more oppressive and abolitionist materials were banned, and if located, burned.
Mr. Cooper Presenting Dr. Shapiro with a Certificate of Appreciation
Surprisingly today, there is little physical evidence of the havoc wreaked in Southampton County during August 1831. Reliable literature on the subject is limited as the contemporary writings taken from an interview with Turner before his execution are heavily laden with white biases. The only physical reminder to the events which unfolded there 169 years ago is a road sign near the area reading: “Blackhead Signpost Road”. This was a site where a slave was killed during Turner’s rebellion and his head placed on a pike as a gruesome deterrent to others who might wish to follow in Nat Turner’s footsteps. Nat Turner’s legacy today mainly lives on in the actions the South took after his rebellion which led the nation further down the path to the Civil War.