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| No Flutters! Be Aggressive! |
Oh yeah, and it will be interspersed with awesome art and repeated sayings of "America, F**k Yeah!"
-edited for gratuitous grammatical/spelling errors
Independence Day knowledge:
Not so July fourth as much as July fourth-ish...
Funny thing about July 4th is that the Declaration of Independence specifically mentions it, and that is really the only reason why we celebrate it. July 2nd is the day that the declaration was actually adopted and John Adams spoke of it in colorful terms. Thomas Jefferson said he signed it on July 4th, but at the same time many scholars think it got finished signing on August 10th. The British parliament didn't get news of the adoption until August 30... which at that time was amazingly fast.
Independence was either a fantastic idea, or total suicide.
New Englanders had more than enough of the British military governors and some of their taxes and heavy handed ways and saw independence as the only real solution for a very long time. But the debate on whether or not to actually secede was very hot. It was only after a couple battles and "The Olive Branch Petition" that was sent by the moderates in the continental congress to the British parliament did independence gain any steam.
The Olive Branch Petition was very moderate (and also written partially by Thomas Jefferson), asking that the British government allow the American colonies to re-negotiate some of the tax laws that had been passed. In the greatest example of a self-fulfilling prophecy ever, John Adams argued against the petition because he thought it was pointless and that war was inevitable. He sent a letter stating this to a friend, and mentioning that a navy ought to be raised. The British intercepted the letter and sent it to London, where it was read the same day as the Olive Branch Petition. The British parliament therefore concluded that the petition was not sincere, and John Adams got what he wanted. When did the Olive Branch Petition get signed? July of 1775, only a year earlier.
There was a lot of fear that independence brought, and it was crystal clear to a lot of the signers that it would mean war, and death. Ben Franklin had seen terrible poverty and famine in Ireland in 1771 by poor, incompetent, or simply spiteful English rule. The subjugation of Ireland and Scotland were not far from his mind when the British parliament began passing laws without consent, and used military governors to enforce their will in the colonies. Similar actions in Scotland had been done and the Scotts rebelled but were defeated. The British / English conducted a brutal campaign against the Scottish highlanders that involved executions, mass arrests, and burning of property. The English had a nasty habit of setting property on fire in the colonies too, making Franklin's concerns ever more serious. Additionally, Britain's Army and Navy were easily the finest in the world, they had troops on the ground in the colonies, and as far as tactical realities were concerned, the British really hadn't been openly defeated except at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. By July of 1776 they had either won, had Pyrrhic victories, or simply withdrawn. The colonists had shown they could fight, but not that they could, or even would, win.
Of course, this was not at all how the colonials felt. From what they had seen, the militia had turned the tails of the redcoats at Lexington and Concord (stands to reason when you see that the militia had strong defensive positions and outnumbered the British by almost 2-1), they had achieved a glorious victory at Bunker Hill (really Breed's hill, and the British did seize the high ground), they had won several small naval skirmishes, and driven the British from Boston (being surrounded by militia, having heavy artillery placed on Dorchester Heights aimed at them, and having the city of Boston supporting an open rebellion... means that the British really had no good damn reason to stay). So the continentals passed this declaration on what they thought were the heels of victory.
Independence did not make things better... in fact, things went horribly wrong.
You'd think 1776 should go well, if you were a colonial. Unfortunately, the colonials had never met General Howe. As soon as the month of August came around the whole revolution went wrong. The Colonials were badly mauled by the British at the Battle of Long Island. The Colonials presumed that they could repeat the Bunker Hill tactic, but the British flanked them and the militia broke and ran. The British followed them and fired at their backs while the colonials ran through a swamp to escape. Washington, showing off his adaptability took his broken army across the river, to the surprise of the British who thought he would behave more like the British officer he was, rather than a clever rebel like he was becoming. If he had not gotten across the river that night, Washington and the whole of the continental army would have been captured. Then it got even worse, Fort Washington and Fort Lee were captured by the British, depriving most of the Army of it's artillery pieces. New York was captured, mostly to the jubilation of New Yorkers. Washington was at one point on the route from New York only 30 feet away from being captured himself after what appeared to be a bit of a mental breakdown, and may have been suffering from some kind of depression from all of the losses and failures. He sent a letter to the continental congress stating that they could not be defended if attacked, which fled and also called for his removal. The British had instituted a kind of amnesty plan to local governments in New York and New Jersey in order to have them swear allegiance back to the crown. By December, several of the signers of the Declaration had sworn allegiance to the crown, had lost all of their property, or were fleeing for their lives. This was followed up by a brutally cold winter at Valley Forge, mass desertion, and the end of almost his entire army's enlistment by New Years... So yeah, 1776 was actually the worst years for the revolution, and maybe the country as a whole.
But see, ending it right there just isn't the 'American Way'. Instead of sulking, Washington took one of the biggest gambles of his life, and of his men's lives and prepared to attack. Not just once, but twice defeating Hessian units at Trenton and Princeton, seizing their weapons, food, ammunition and other logistical necessities. Just from those relatively minor skirmishes, he was praised as the savior of the revolution, and by the end of winter, had New Jersey and standing with the rebellion. Also, just before the crossing, the Author Thomas Pane wrote "The American Crisis" by candle light, and on a drum head. It began with the line:
"These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
That shit right there? That's American.
Transitioning to the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg, let me tell you that in 1863 the siege of Vicksburg was going on in the western theater of war at the same time. Vicksburg had been besieged and it's inhabitants had fled the town into nearby caves and by this time were living in starving and deplorable conditions. The confederate commander, not even having much left to feed himself or his troops decided that he would surrender the city on July 4th, 1863 in order to get good surrender terms from General Ulysses S. Grant. Although the confederate flag was lowered that day, the resentment of the cities inhabitants did not. According to Ken Burn's "The Civil War": Vicksburg, Mississippi did not celebrate July 4th until 1944, one month after the invasion of Normandy in World War 2. Although it is alleged that Vicksburg did celebrate July 4th in 1907 and in 1877. It is for a time clear that Vicksburg refused to celebrate July 4th, and considering that some of the citizens of the town supported secession, were besieged for months, lived in caves for months, starved, were forced to surrender, and then lived under an occupying force... you could probably guess why.
On to Gettysburg!... said no one ever
The battle of Gettysburg was a total surprise to everyone involved. General Lee's forces were scattered, and he would need a place to bring his forces more together IF the Union Army showed up, since he didn't know where they were either. One of his Generals, General Heath, led his division there because one of the storehouses reportedly had some supplies of shoes, which his men would need for marching. The Union Cavalry were already reconnoitering the town when they stumbled into Heath's Division, and set up a delaying action to deprive Heath of... what ever the hell Heath wanted. They're at war, remember? See enemy, shoot enemy. On July 1st, the union attacked from the south pushing north, and the confederates attacked from the north, pushing south.
Bitter fighting at every turn.
Gettysburg had massive casualties due to the ferocity of which the combatants were fighting. The Union forces did poorly on the first day and were forced from the outer heights north of the town, to the heights south of the town. All of the confederate forces were being aggressive and giving their troops little or no time to rest as they came to the battle. There was a proposal for a night attack to seize the not so famous "Culp's Hill" and drive the union from their newest ground. And a lot of people have argued that the confederates should have. However, the confederates were well aware of the danger of night fighting, the confederate corps that attacked on the 1st day used to belong to "Stonewall" Jackson, who was killed by one of his own men earlier that year from the confusion at night. Also, I've personally seen the view from Culp's Hill, there's no attacking force in the world that wouldn't second guess a decision to attack that hill at night, with exhausted troops. It's thick with old growth trees, covered by boulders, and is steep. It'd be a struggle just to walk up it, much less fight up it. That being said, the Union fortified it that night, and the confederates unsuccessfully assaulted it on the second and third days.
The second day was far more crazed, 'The Peach Orchard', 'Devil's Den', 'Little Round Top', the fighting at these places was absolutely furious. Union General Sickles moved his army over a mile ahead of any supporting troops to be aggressive in his own right, but when Confederate General Longstreet attacked, Sickle's aggression cost him a lot of his men, and his own leg. The fighting retreat that followed was murderous through the Peach Orchard, but absolutely chaotic through the massive six foot tall boulders in Devil's Den, and if you want to know how fierce the fight for Little Round Top was, read a damn book.
The third day included the last offensive on Culp's Hill, a feign against Big Round Top, a cavalry battle against the two best cavalry commanders in the entire war (Gen Stuart v. Gen Custer), and Picket's charge. Pickets charge can easily be explained by this feature from "The Civil War": http://video.pbs.org/video/1832543409/
The casualties from the battle are still enormous by any calculation. Although not technically as bloody as the battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, The concentration of losses in this three-day battle are some of the most enormous, a kind of daily loss which would easily surpass or rival any after it, with the only exceptions being Stalingrad and Leningrad where thousands of men would die nearly every day. When the battle ended, the confederates had lost too many men they could not replace, they had seized no objectives in the North, they could not take Harrisburg, Washington DC was by now nearly impregnable, and Confederate General Robert E. Lee was so broken by the experience he sent a letter of resignation to President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy. Jefferson's response was that he could not fight the war without Lee.
The Aftermath
The Gettysburg address is something to re-read every once in a while, and a must read if you're an American that never listened to it. At the time, his speech was panned for it's short six minute delivery. Only one single civilian casualty had actually occurred during the battle, although if you decide to take a trip there for yourself, you'll notice that the towns still have some buildings that are covered with bullet holes, and one building that still has a cannon hole. There have been a few presidential speeches in Gettysburg, most about reconciliation and the fact that the nation survived such a brutal and violent war. Lyndon Johnson used it for the purpose of advocating his civil rights at the centennial. On my own trip to Gettysburg, I will say what is startling to me is that such a beautiful and quiet place in the middle of nowhere could have held so much carnage. After my time in the Marine Corps, I've come to learn that such a thing is actually common.
Okay, lesson over:
Time for poniez:
Alright, have fun, eat greasy food, and blow stuff up. You know, a normal American holiday.
-SEMPER FILLY
