Walter Coffey's Blog, page 182

The Black Hills War

The U.S. government violated a treaty with the Sioux Indians by allowing prospectors to invade the Black Hills in search of gold. This encroachment led to a conflict that resulted in the Sioux losing their sacred land forever.

The Sioux Indians had long resented the westward U.S. expansion, particularly in the Powder River country where the U.S. military was building forts to protect settlers traveling along the Bozeman Trail. The dispute was ostensibly settled by the Treaty of Fort Laramie signed in 1868 by officials of the U.S. and the Lakota Sioux nation, Yanktonai Sioux, Santee Sioux, and Arapaho Indian tribes.

Under this treaty, the U.S. pledged to stop construction and abandon all military forts along the Bozeman Trail. The “Great Sioux Reservation” was established for the Lakota Sioux in present-day western South Dakota, and incentives would be provided to convert the Indians from hunters to farmers. The Powder River country was designated an “unceded Indian territory” for tribes choosing not to live on the reservation.

In addition, the Sioux were granted their traditional hunting grounds east of the Bighorn Mountains, and they were permitted to hunt throughout the Northern Plains without U.S. military interference. U.S. forces abandoned the military forts in accordance with the treaty. However, the treaty was violated within a year when the Northern Pacific Railroad expanded onto Sioux land. Sioux warriors such as Tatanka Yotanka (Sitting Bull) began preparing for another war with the U.S.

The large number of westward settlers prompted U.S. officials to seek the rich timber and minerals in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota). However, the Black Hills were part of the Great Sioux Reservation, and the Lakota Sioux considered the land sacred. When the Sioux were approached about possibly selling the land, Colonel John E. Smith said that this was “the only portion (of their reservation) worth anything to them…nothing short of their annihilation will get it from them.”

In 1874, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer led an expeditionary force into the Black Hills, which alarmed the Lakota Sioux. Under the Treaty of Fort Laramie, U.S. troops were required to keep settlers out of the region, but instead they facilitated settlement by announcing that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills.

When this discovery was confirmed a year later, it sparked a flood of migration to the region. Modest U.S. efforts to keep prospectors out of the area were unsuccessful. To accommodate the influx of settlers, the Northern Pacific Railroad illegally began construction through on the Great Sioux Reservation. The prospectors began demanding protection from Indian attacks, and President Ulysses S. Grant was being pressured to acquire the Black Hills from the Lakota.

A Sioux delegation met with President Grant in Washington to request that he honor past treaties and keep U.S. settlers off Sioux land. Grant instead informed them that Congress would pay them $25,000 if they left the region and resettled in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The Sioux refused. Another attempt to acquire the Black Hills in the fall of 1875 was also refused.

In response, Grant ordered army commanders to stop preventing prospectors from trespassing in the Black Hills, thus violating the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Indians were ordered to return to their reservation by January 1876 or face U.S. military action. Indian Inspector Erwin C. Watkins wrote, “The true policy in my judgement is to send troops against them in the winter, the sooner the better, and whip them into subjection.” Watkins declared that the Hunkpapa Sioux under Sitting Bull and the Oglala Sioux under Tasunka Witko (Crazy Horse) were hostiles who needed to be moved onto the reservation by military force.

When Sitting Bull’s tribe was slow to return to the reservation due to the harsh winter, Interior Secretary Zachariah Chandler announced that they had refused compliance and transferred the matter to the War Department. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse joined with the Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and various Sioux tribes to defend their land against U.S. settlers.

Major General George Crook, commander of the Department of the Platte, launched an offensive against Sioux and Cheyenne Indians that were not on reservations. A portion of Crook’s army under Colonel Joseph J. Reynolds attacked and burned an Oglala/Cheyenne village on the Powder River in the Montana Territory, but the Indians counterattacked and escaped. Crook arrested Reynolds for mismanaging the attack; he was convicted and sentenced to prison, but Grant commuted the sentence.

General Philip H. Sheridan, commander of all U.S. forces west of the Mississippi River, developed a plan for three armies to seek and destroy the Indians. Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry, commanding the Department of the Dakota, would advance west to the Yellowstone River. Colonel John Gibbon would advance east from Fort Ellis into the Montana Territory. George Crook would advance north from Fort Fetterman in the Wyoming Territory. Sheridan estimated that no tribe would contain more than 500 Indians.

Crook’s forces were attacked by about 1,500 Indian warriors under Cheyenne Chief Two Moons and Chief Crazy Horse in Montana north of the Platte River. The U.S. troops were nearly routed before finally repulsing the Indians in what became known as the Battle of Rosebud Creek. Crook’s force was rendered ineffective for the rest of the campaign.

Custer’s Last Stand

Crook had been trying to reinforce George A. Custer, whose 7th U.S. Cavalry was part of Terry’s command stationed near the Little Bighorn River. Gibbon was also moving to reinforce Custer, who was ordered not to attack until the reinforcements arrived. Custer disobeyed orders and advanced near Chief Sitting Bull’s village, unaware that thousands of Arapaho, Sioux, and Cheyenne warriors under Chiefs Crazy Horse, Gall, and Lame White Man were waiting.

Custer divided his force and attacked an estimated 2,500 Indians, the largest Indian force ever recorded in North America. In less than an hour, Custer and all of his 266 men were annihilated in the worst military defeat in U.S. history. The Battle of Little Bighorn became known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” News of the debacle enraged Americans and prompted U.S. officials to escalate the war. This was the Indians’ last major military victory against the U.S.

U.S. forces dispersed the Indians and began pursuing them across the Plains. U.S. officials also imposed new sanctions on Indian agencies to prevent the Indians stationed there to aid those at war. In the fall, Colonel Ranald Mackenzie’s 4th U.S. Cavalry attacked Northern Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife’s village while most Indians were sleeping. The U.S. troops forced over 1,000 Indians to flee, then destroyed their ponies along with their winter food, clothing, and shelter.

In early 1877, U.S. forces dealt the Sioux a crushing defeat in bitter cold at Wolf Mountain. Various bands began surrendering, while Sitting Bull and his Hunkpapa tribe escaped to Canada. Without supplies, the Northern Cheyenne surrendered in the hopes of being returned to the Great Sioux Reservation. They were instead sent to join the Southern Cheyenne in the Indian Territory. A new treaty was signed by the U.S. and the chiefs at the Indian agencies giving the Black Hills and most of the Great Sioux Reservation to the U.S. This broke the Indian alliance and ultimately led to U.S. victory.

Crazy Horse surrendered with his tribe in May 1877. When he escaped from the reservation, he was brought to Fort Robinson, where he was placed under arrest and killed while allegedly trying to escape. Sitting Bull eventually returned to the U.S. and appeared in Wild West shows until he was murdered by U.S. troops in 1890. The Black Hills War permanently destroyed any substantial resistance to U.S. authority on the Great Plains and played a key role in subjugating Native Americans forever.

The Civil War This Week: Oct 14-20, 1863

Wednesday, October 14

General Robert E. Lee’s leading Confederate corps under General A.P. Hill attacked the rearguard of the Federal Army of the Potomac near Bristoe Station, just south of Manassas in northern Virginia. However, Hill’s force was not large enough to break the strong Federal defenses. This clash gave General George G. Meade, commanding the Federal army, time to prepare defenses around Centreville.

Major General Christopher C. Augur replaced Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman as commander of the Federal Department of Washington, DC.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent a message to the Army of Tennessee: ”Though you have done much, very much yet remains to be done. Behind you is a people providing for your support and depending on you for protection. Before you is a country devastated by your ruthless invader…”

Federal expeditions began on the Big Black River and Natchez, Mississippi. Skirmishing occurred in West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, and the Indian Territory.

Thursday, October 15

The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sank a second time during a practice dive in Charleston Harbor. Hunley, the inventor, and seven men died. The vessel was raised again.

General Jo Shelby’s Confederate raiders fought at Cross Timbers, Missouri. Skirmishing occurred in northern Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Tennessee, Mississippi, and the Indian Territory.

Friday, October 16

In response to the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, the Lincoln administration combined the military Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee into the Military Division of the Mississippi. War Department officials summoned Major General Ulysses S. Grant, who was to leave Vicksburg and go to Louisville by way of Cairo, Illinois and Indianapolis.

Regarding northern Virginia, President Lincoln wrote General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, “If Gen. Meade can now attack him (Lee) on a field no worse than equal for us, and will do so with all the skill and courage, which he, his officers and his men possess, the honor will be his if he succeeds, and the blame may be mine if he fails.” When Meade was shown this letter, he replied that he would attack if the opportunity presented itself. But Meade saw no opportunity and instead remained on the defensive.

Jo Shelby’s Confederates fought at various points in Missouri. Skirmishing occurred in North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Saturday, October 17

Ulysses S. Grant left Cairo and arrived in Indianapolis. Grant accidentally met Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and the two men proceeded to Louisville together. Stanton gave Grant command of the new military division. Explaining the administration’s dissatisfaction with General William S. Rosecrans’s fecklessness at Chattanooga, Stanton gave Grant two options: keep the department commanders intact, or replace Rosecrans as commander of the Army of the Cumberland. Grant chose the latter, replacing him with General George H. Thomas, the “Rock of Chickamauga.”

In addition, Grant gave his old command in the Army of the Tennessee to Major General William T. Sherman. Major General Ambrose Burnside was to retain command of the Army of the Ohio at Knoxville.

In northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee saw no opportunity to penetrate the Federal defenses, and instead withdrew toward the Rappahannock River.

President Lincoln issued a call for another 30,000 volunteers for the Federal armies. Jo Shelby’s Confederates fought in Missouri. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi.

Sunday, October 18

Ulysses S. Grant assumed command of the Federal Military Division of the Mississippi, which gave him control of all Federal forces from the Alleghenies to the Mississippi River. Grant wired George Thomas, now in command at Chattanooga, to hold at all costs. Thomas replied, “We will hold the town till we starve.”

President Davis left northern Georgia and proceeded west through Selma, Alabama as part of his southern tour. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi.

Monday, October 19

In northern Virginia, Confederate cavalry under Jeb Stuart routed Judson Kilpatrick’s Federal cavalry at Buckland Mills in what became known as the “Buckland Races.” Stuart ultimately withdrew with the rest of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri.

Tuesday, October 20

The last of Robert E. Lee’s Confederates withdrew across the Rappahannock River, ending the Bristoe Campaign. In the 11-day excursion, the Federals suffered 2,292 casualties while the Confederates lost 1,381. George G. Meade was criticized by the Lincoln administration for lacking aggressiveness; he responded by planning to launch one more offensive before winter.

Ulysses S. Grant left Louisville to take personal command of the besieged Federals in Chattanooga. At Nashville, Grant wired orders to Ambrose Burnside in Knoxville.

Skirmishing occurred in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Primary source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)

Andrew Johnson and Civil Rights

President Andrew Johnson vetoed the first bill ever passed to nationalize citizenship and mandate equal rights for all Americans. Was his veto justified?

17th President Andrew Johnson

A year after the War Between the States ended, President Johnson was locked in a bitter struggle with Congress, which was dominated by the so-called Radical Republicans. The Radicals were northern politicians intent on punishing the South for daring to secede and granting U.S. citizenship to former slaves. Once they became citizens, the Radicals hoped to grant them voting rights so they may consistently vote for those who so generously conveyed such rights upon them.

In contrast, Johnson was a southern Democrat who had been installed as Abraham Lincoln’s vice president to unify North and South and Republicans and Democrats during the war. When Lincoln was assassinated, northerners were shocked that a southerner was suddenly president just as the North was winning the war. The Radicals asserted that Johnson cared nothing about the plight of former slaves. Johnson contended that Radicals only pretended to care so they could convert the freed slaves into Republican Party supporters.

In the spring of 1866, Congress passed a bill conferring citizenship on all people born in the U.S. (except Native Americans), regardless of “race, color, or condition of previous servitude.” The bill also entitled former slaves to the same privileges, immunities, and due process as whites regardless of “any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the contrary.” Penalties were imposed for anyone violating this law.

Johnson was advised by Secretary of State William H. Seward to veto the bill while endorsing the idea of granting citizenship to former slaves as a concession to Republicans. But the uncompromising Johnson vetoed the bill without issuing such an endorsement.

In his extensive veto message, Johnson explained that he couldn’t endorse citizenship for former slaves because conferring citizenship had always been a state, not a federal, function. According to Johnson, nationalizing citizenship defied “all our experience as a people” and was a “stride towards centralization, and the concentration of all legislative powers in the national Government.”

Johnson argued that this bill violated the Tenth Amendment because it would require federal law enforcement within a state’s borders. He also pointed out that the Republicans had prohibited the southern states from having any representation in Congress. How could Congress define citizenship in those states when they had no say in what Congress was doing to them? This was not representative governance, this was tyranny.

Shifting from constitutional concerns to race, Johnson argued that any attempt to create “a perfect equality of the white and black races in every State of the Union” went “infinitely beyond any (safeguards) that the General Government has ever provided for the white race.” He stated that “the distinction of race and color is by the bill made to operate in favor of the colored and against the white race,” which could “resuscitate the spirit of rebellion” and even encourage interracial marriage, something most whites strongly opposed at the time.

Most importantly, the bill diminished the relationship between individuals and their state governments because it would “transfer the entire care, support, and control of four million emancipated slaves to agents, overseers, or taskmasters, who, appointed at Washington, are to be located in every county and parish throughout the United States containing freedmen and refugees.” Such an influx of federal bureaucrats into every state would offer vast opportunities for corruption and mismanagement, which would endanger civil rights for everyone.

The veto reflected Johnson’s adherence to the balance of power between the federal government and the states. But it also reflected Johnson’s belief that blacks were inherently inferior to whites. This was not the first veto that Johnson had delivered, but it was the veto that enraged Radicals the most. Congressman Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts said that Johnson deprived “every friend he has of the least ground upon which to stand and defend him.”

For the first time in U.S. history, Congress gathered a two-thirds majority in both houses to override a presidential veto, and the law was enacted without Johnson’s approval. But the Radicals knew that the next obstacle would be the Supreme Court, which was sure to strike the law down as unconstitutional as soon as a case was brought forth. Thus, Congress hurried to codify the provisions of the Civil Rights Act into what became the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which cannot be overridden.

Neither the Civil Rights Act nor the Fourteenth Amendment provided equal protection under the law for blacks. Southern governments employed loopholes to relegate blacks to second-class citizenship status for nearly a century. Had the Radicals been sincere in their desire to grant former slaves freedom and equality, they would have placed more emphasis on protecting black rights and less on punishing former Confederates for the “sin” of secession.

In the end, Johnson proved prophetic. The Civil Rights Act indeed represented a major “stride towards centralization,” draining powers from the states that had once been guaranteed by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. It undermined the federalist principle of local self-government envisioned by the founders, and it was an important step in the gradual increase in federal power that continues to this day.

The Civil War This Week: Oct 7-13, 1863

Wednesday, October 7

Federal signalmen noticed unusual movement by General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia along the Rapidan River.

General Joe Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry continued skirmishing with Federal forces belonging to General William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland besieged in Chattanooga. President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson, “What news have you from Rosecrans’ Army…?”

Jo Shelby’s Confederates continued their invasion of Missouri. A Federal expedition began from Sedalia, Missouri. U.S. naval forces burned two steamers on the Red River. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

Thursday, October 8

President Jefferson Davis arrived in Atlanta as part of his tour of South Carolina and Georgia. A Federal expedition began from Olympian Springs, Kentucky as part of the eastern Tennessee campaign. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and near Chattanooga.

Friday, October 9

In northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee’s Confederates crossed the Rapidan River and moved northwest. Lee planned to turn the right flank of Major General George G. Meade’s Federal Army of the Potomac and position his army between Meade and Washington. Meade had sent 20,000 troops to Chattanooga, and he expected Lee to try exploiting the shortfall, even though Lee was still greatly outnumbered.

In Georgia, President Jefferson Davis traveled northward through Marietta en route to visit General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee besieging the Federals in Chattanooga. Southerners cheered Davis as he toured various cities and towns and praised Georgia’s war effort.

Joe Wheeler’s Confederates ended their cavalry raid by recrossing the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Jo Shelby’s Confederates skirmished in Missouri. Skirmishing also occurred in Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and Louisiana.

Saturday, October 10

Heavy skirmishing occurred in northern Virginia as Federals tried learning where Robert E. Lee’s Confederates were going. President Lincoln wired General Meade, “How is it now?” Meade responded that he thought Lee was heading for the Shenandoah Valley.

President Davis visited Braxton Bragg’s army in northern Georgia. Addressing the Army of Tennessee, Davis praised the men for their victory at Chickamauga but admonished them for criticizing their commander. Davis then met with Bragg and his corps commanders, listening to complaints even though he had previously assured Bragg that he would not be removed from command.

Three Federal expeditions began from New Berne, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; and Gallatin, Tennessee. Jo Shelby’s Confederates skirmished in Missouri. Other skirmishing occurred in Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Sunday, October 11

General Meade informed President Lincoln that he was withdrawing to the Rappahannock River: “The enemy are either moving to my right and rear or moving down on my flank.” Heavy skirmishing continued in northern Virginia.

Jo Shelby’s Confederates captured Boonville on the Missouri River. James Chalmers’s Confederates skirmished in western Tennessee as part of their raid of the region. Other skirmishing occurred in eastern Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

Monday, October 12

President Lincoln asked General Meade a third time, “What news this morning?” Northerners were becoming alarmed by press reports of a new Confederate offensive in northern Virginia. Lee moved west and north of Meade toward Manassas and Washington. Skirmishing occurred at several points.

Lincoln wrote to General Rosecrans in Chattanooga that he and General Ambrose Burnside, commanding Federal troops at Knoxville, now had the enemy “by the throat.”

Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished in Alabama, Jo Shelby’s Confederates skirmished in Missouri, and James Chalmers’s Confederates skirmished in northern Mississippi. Other skirmishing occurred in Kentucky, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

Tuesday, October 13

In northern Virginia, General A.P. Hill’s Confederate corps closed in on Manassas in much the same way as was done in the Battle of Second Bull Run in August 1862. General Meade skillfully withdrew his Federals to stronger positions along the Orange & Alexandria Railroads. Skirmishing occurred at various points.

Crucial state elections were held in Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. President Lincoln worried that victories for Peace Democrats would mean fading northern support for the war. Republicans campaigned on recent military victories, and Democrats campaigned on Lincoln’s abuse of civil liberties. In Washington, government employees from Ohio and Pennsylvania were granted leaves to go home and vote. Lincoln also arranged furloughs for soldiers from those states. Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase campaigned for Republicans in his home state of Ohio.

In Ohio, John Brough was elected governor on the “Union,” or pro-war Democrat-Republican fusion ticket. He defeated Copperhead Clement Vallandigham, who had been banished from the country by Lincoln for speaking out against the war. Vallandigham had campaigned from Canada and urged “peace at any price,” even if it meant retaining slavery or recognizing southern independence. In Pennsylvania, pro-war Republican Andrew Curtin was reelected as governor, defeating a Democrat who had been endorsed by popular former General-in-Chief George B. McClellan. Union candidates also won in Indiana and Iowa, and these victories emboldened the Lincoln administration to continue the war effort.

President Davis, after touring Chickamauga and conferring with Bragg and other officers, authorized Bragg to relieve General D.H. Hill as corps commander; Bragg and Hill had long despised each other.

Jo Shelby’s Confederates were defeated at Arrow Rock, Missouri. Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished in Alabama and Tennessee. James Chalmers’s Confederates skirmished in northern Mississippi. A Federal expedition began from Great Bridge, Virginia. Other skirmishing occurred in West Virginia.

Primary Source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press Inc., 1971)

The McCollum Memo

A memo written over a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor indicated that the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to get involved in World War II by provoking Japan into firing the first shot.

The McCollum Memo

In the fall of 1940, Germany had conquered most of Europe and was threatening Great Britain, and Japan was expanding its empire in Asia. Germany and Japan joined with Italy in forming a military alliance that threatened to conquer all of Europe, Africa, and Asia. These three countries were known as the Axis Powers.

The U.S. officially declared neutrality in what had become World War II, but President Roosevelt was under heavy pressure from the British to get involved. Roosevelt was also concerned that Japan may threaten U.S. interests in the Pacific. Thus, he explored ways in which the U.S. may intervene despite its neutrality status.

The main obstacle preventing Roosevelt from getting involved was the American public, which was overwhelmingly opposed to intervention. Most Americans remembered the flawed peace that came from the First World War and wanted no part of another. And 1940 was an election year, in which Roosevelt was seeking an unprecedented third term as president. While campaigning, he declared, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.”

So if Roosevelt was going to involve the U.S. in the conflict, he first needed to sway public opinion. One way to do this was to coax the potential enemy into attacking first.

In October 1940, Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum submitted a memorandum to his superiors. McCollum headed the Far East Asia section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency. In what became known as the McCollum Memo, he listed eight steps the U.S. could to take to provoke Japan:

Use British military bases in the Pacific
Use supplies in the Dutch East Indies
Supply aid to China
Deploy warships to Asian ports
Deploy submarines to Asian ports
Build up naval strength at Pearl Harbor
Persuade the Dutch to refuse Japan’s requests for oil and other resources
Impose a trade embargo on Japan

According to McCollum’s memo, “It is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado… If by (implementing the eight-point plan) Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better.”

There is no evidence that Roosevelt ever read the memo. However, he did implement each of the eight points in some form between October 1940 and December 1941. He especially favored points 4 and 5, even though Admiral Husband E. Kimmel said they were “most ill-advised and will result in war if we make this move.” According to Admiral James O. Richardson, Roosevelt said, “Sooner or later the Japanese would commit an overt act against the United States and the nation would be willing to enter the war.”

Regarding point 8, Roosevelt had already imposed embargoes against Japan on oil, gasoline, iron, steel, and other items the Japanese needed to fuel their war machine. This increased Japan’s desperation and the likelihood that Japan would attack the U.S. Roosevelt didn’t explain to the American public how enacting the points of McCollum’s Memo would provoke Japan, which is why so many Americans were shocked when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941.

While no evidence exists that Roosevelt knew of the Pearl Harbor attack beforehand, he certainly applied economic and military pressure on Japan to reduce its expansionism, which was sure to create animosity. Roosevelt also pledged not to get the U.S. involved in the war while desperately wanting to help Britain. Now that Japan was allied with Britain’s enemy, what better way to get Britain the help it needed by coaxing Japan into attacking the U.S.? If that was the plan, it certainly succeeded because most Americans quickly changed their non-interventionist stance by wholeheartedly supporting Roosevelt’s war effort.

The Civil War This Week: Sep 30-Oct 6, 1863

Wednesday, September 30

In Tennessee, Confederate cavalry under Major General Joseph Wheeler began raiding the lines of communication and supply belonging to General William S. Rosecrans’s Federal Army of the Cumberland under siege in Chattanooga.

Confederate salt works at Back Bay, Virginia were destroyed. Federals began a secondary bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee.

Thursday, October 1

President Abraham Lincoln was informed that all the Eleventh Corps and part of the Twelfth en route to Chattanooga had passed through Nashville. This was part of a major effort to transfer 20,000 fresh Federal troops from Virginia to assist the besieged Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga.

Lincoln advised Major General John M. Schofield, commanding the Department of Missouri: “Your immediate duty, in regard to Missouri, now is to advance the efficiency of that establishment, and to so use it, as far as practicable, to compel the excited people there to leave one another alone.”

In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished at Mountain Gap and captured a large Federal wagon train. Skirmishing also occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

Friday, October 2

Federal troops from the Army of the Potomac began arriving at Bridgeport, Alabama, just outside Chattanooga. Soon, about 20,000 men and 3,000 horses and mules under General Joseph Hooker reached Bridgeport, having traveled 1,159 miles in seven to nine days. However, William Rosecrans’s Federals in Chattanooga could hardly feed themselves, let alone 20,000 more troops. With the Confederates controlling the Tennessee River, the southern roads, and the road to Bridgeport, Federal supplies trickled along the last open route through the mountain passes.

An article in the Augusta (Georgia) Constitutionalist described the hardships of Mississippians trying to survive under Federal threat: ”If he takes refuge further East, he is censured for leaving home; and if he remains home to raise another crop in the Confederate lines, as soon as the Union enemy again presses forward, his supplies will once more be taken by the Confederate cavalry, and his cotton committed to the flames again!”

In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished at various locales. Skirmishing also occurred in Missouri and Arkansas.

Saturday, October 3

The Federal Army of the Gulf under Major General Nathaniel Banks embarked on a new campaign to capture eastern Texas after their failure at Sabine Pass last month. Banks dispatched Major General William B. Franklin to move westward from Berwick Bay and New Iberia, Louisiana. This became known as the Bayou Teche Campaign.

President Lincoln issued a proclamation of thanksgiving, calling for citizens “in every part of the United States… to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November” for “Thanksgiving and Praise… to our beneficent Father.” The holiday was intended to observe the blessings of the past year’s successes and recognize Federal heroism in the war “in humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience…” The idea of a national Thanksgiving holiday had been proposed by magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale and Secretary of State William Seward.

President Jefferson Davis wrote General Braxton Bragg, commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee laying siege to the Federals in Chattanooga. Davis was concerned about a petition submitted to him by about a dozen of Bragg’s subordinates urging Bragg’s removal: “Two weeks ago this army, elated by a great victory, was in readiness to pursue its defeated enemy. Today, it is certain that the fruits of victory of the Chickamauga have now escaped our grasp. The Army of Tennessee, stricken with a complete paralysis, may deem itself fortunate if it escapes from its present position without disaster.”

Davis wrote to Bragg, ”The opposition to you both in the army and out of it has been a public calamity in so far that it impairs your capacity for usefulness…” Davis urged Bragg to reinstate General Leonidas Polk, a popular corps commander who had been removed by Bragg for allegedly delaying an attack at Chickamauga. Bragg refused.

The secondary Federal bombardment of Fort Sumter ended after firing 560 shells. Confederate batteries on James and Sullivan’s islands responded sporadically. The Federal War Department ordered the enlistment of black troops in Maryland, Tennessee, and Missouri. In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished at various locales. Skirmishing also occurred in Virginia and Mississippi.

Sunday, October 4

It was apparent that the Federal Army of the Cumberland had to either break out of Chattanooga or surrender. President Lincoln urged William Rosecrans to attack, telling him, ”If we can hold Chattanooga and East Tennessee, I think the rebellion must dwindle and die. I think you and (Ambrose) Burnside (commanding troops at Knoxville) can do this…” However, Lincoln was becoming increasingly concerned that Rosecrans was incapable of leading a breakout. He noted that the commander seemed “stunned and confused, like a duck hit on the head.”

Jo Shelby’s Confederates launched a raid by advancing north from southwestern Missouri. In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates captured McMinnville. Confederate cavalry under James R. Chalmers began operating in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Federals began an expedition from Yorktown, Virginia. Skirmishing occurred near New Iberia, Louisiana.

Monday, October 5

The Confederacy initiated a new type of warfare by launching David, a steam-powered “semi-submersible” vessel that was barely visible above the waterline. This evening, David rammed her torpedo into the side of the Federal ironclad New Ironsides in Charleston Harbor. The blast did more damage to David than New Ironsides–two Confederate crewmen were captured and the other two managed to escape in the wounded vessel–but Federal officials expressed concern over this new innovation in naval combat.

A political rift was taking place between Radicals and conservatives in the Missouri Republican Party. A Radical delegation met with President Lincoln at the White House and urged the removal of General Schofield as department commander because of his alleged conservative ties. Lincoln refused to remove Schofield, telling the Radicals, “I hold whoever commands in Missouri, or elsewhere, responsible to me, and not to either radicals or conservatives.”

In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates destroyed an important railroad bridge near Murfreesboro, which temporarily broke the vital supply line to Federals in Chattanooga. Jo Shelby’s Confederates skirmished in Missouri, and James Chalmers’s Confederates skirmished in Mississippi. Skirmishing also occurred in eastern Tennessee and Louisiana. Federal troops began arriving from Memphis to aid William Rosecrans in Chattanooga.

Tuesday, October 6

President Davis left Richmond to visit South Carolina and northern Georgia, hoping “to be serviceable in harmonizing some of the difficulties” in Braxton Bragg’s army.

In Tennessee, Joe Wheeler’s Confederates skirmished at various locales. James Chalmers’s Confederates skirmished in northern Mississippi, and Joe Shelby’s Confederates skirmished in Missouri. Skirmishing also occurred in Virginia, Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kansas.

Primary source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)

The Truth Behind the Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance is considered the prime symbol of American patriotism, after all, almost every citizen can recite it verbatim. But did you know that the Pledge is rooted in socialism, which is the antithesis of the liberty that the American government is supposed to protect?

Francis Bellamy composed the original “Pledge of Allegiance” in 1892. Bellamy was a Baptist minister who had been removed from the pulpit for preaching that socialism was embodied in Jesus. Bellamy was the cousin of Edward Bellamy, whose book Looking Backward was the second-best selling novel of the 19th century behind Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Francis Bellamy

Looking Backward depicted an America in the year 2000 where government regulated every aspect of society, wealth was evenly distributed regardless of merit, and men were conscripted into the “industrial army” to serve the state. Fans of the book formed hundreds of “Nationalist” clubs, where members supported nationalizing the economy at the expense of the states and the people. Francis Bellamy was a founding member of the Boston Nationalists.

Francis Bellamy also expressed views that would be considered virulently racist today. He said, “Where all classes of society merge insensibly into one another every alien immigrant of inferior race may bring corruption to the stock… there are other races, which we cannot assimilate without lowering our racial standard, which should be as sacred to us as the sanctity of our homes.”

When Bellamy’s sermons were rejected, he began indoctrinating children who were not yet exposed to the fact that socialism does nothing but spread misery more evenly. Bellamy teamed up with editors of Youth’s Companion, a prominent magazine that was trying to increase subscriptions by selling American flags to public schools. They worked with President Benjamin Harrison to create a National Public School Celebration in the fall of 1892.

This was one of the biggest patriotic events of the late 19th century. The Celebration coincided with the opening of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World. In buildup to this event, Bellamy published his “Pledge of Allegiance” in a September issue of Youth’s Companion, intended to be ready for public schoolchildren throughout America to recite on Columbus Day, October 12.

The original Pledge read, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Bellamy explained his goal in writing a Pledge: “The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that patriotic education should begin in the public schools.”

Thus, Bellamy’s idea to instill patriotism in America was to compel children to proclaim their allegiance to a country in schools where attendance was mandatory. In keeping with his goal of indoctrination, Bellamy wrote the Pledge in language simple enough to be easily recited and remembered for children and adults alike. To achieve maximum impact, Bellamy pushed for all schoolchildren in America to participate. He lobbied “not only the superintendents of education in all the States, but also worked with governors, Congressmen, and even the President of the United States.”

Today, the words “under God” in the Pledge provoke the most controversy. Those words weren’t in the original Pledge; instead, the most controversial word at that time was “indivisible.” Bellamy explained he wanted to stress that America was one nation, and “to make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches.”

The word “indivisible” was intended to disavow prior state attempts to secede by declaring that the Union could not be broken. To Bellamy, the Civil War decided that states could not secede. But an “indivisible” Union was not part of the founding idea of sovereign states voluntarily joining a federal compact. And the “indivisibility” of the Union cannot be settled by force of arms. Might does not make right.

In addition, the ceremony in which the Pledge was to be undertaken eerily foreshadowed the totalitarianism of the 20th century. According to Bellamy, the principal of each school was to ensure that his “pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag.” The salute was “right hand lifted, palm downward,” until “the words, ‘to my Flag,’ the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, towards the Flag…” In the 1940s, this salute was changed to hand-over-heart because of its striking similarity to the Nazi salute to the German flag.

Since Bellamy’s original draft, courts have ruled that nobody can be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But the fact remains that a government composed of sovereign states should not be sanctioning a salute to the state written by an avowed socialist and nationalist.

Today, the main question is whether the words “under God” should be in the Pledge of Allegiance. But the real question should be, “Why would a country built to protect individual liberty even have a Pledge of Allegiance at all?”

The Civil War This Week: Sep 23-29, 1863

Wednesday, September 23

At a late night meeting, President Abraham Lincoln and members of his administration decided to send 20,000 men from the Federal Army of the Potomac to aid General William S. Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland under siege at Chattanooga. This new command would be led by General Joseph Hooker. Lincoln was reluctant to approve this plan, but he was assured that the troops could be transported in seven days.

In New York City, two vessels of the Imperial Russian Navy’s Atlantic fleet unexpectedly arrived, and four more ships arrived soon thereafter. Northerners hurriedly staged a massive welcome for the Russian visitors, mainly because it was hoped that Russia would support the Federal war effort. But the true purpose of the visit was to garner U.S. support in Russia’s growing conflict with Britain and France over the brutal Russian suppression of a revolt in Poland.

Nevertheless, the Russians were paraded down Broadway, and they were entertained at numerous social affairs. The Russians later visited Washington, where they were greeted at the White House by President Lincoln. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles said, “God bless the Russians.”

General George E. Pickett was given command of the Confederate Department of North Carolina. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Thursday, September 24

As William Rosecrans’s Federals were trapped in Chattanooga, General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee hurried to cut supply lines into the city. This included cutting the vital supply route through Stevenson, Alabama, which forced the Federals to create a new 60-mile route that took up to three weeks to transport supplies. Federal troops were soon relegated to half rations.

The transfer of Federal forces from the Army of the Potomac to Chattanooga began. President Lincoln wrote to the first lady in New York about the defeat at Chickamauga, “the result is that we are worsted.” Lincoln wrote to William Rosecrans that 40 to 60,000 men were coming to aid him.

A. Dudley Mann was appointed Confederate special agent to the Holy See in Rome. Federal expeditions in Louisiana began. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

Friday, September 25

In Washington, trains began moving to transfer 20,000 troops from the Army of the Potomac in northern Virginia to the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. In a remarkable logistical feat, trains departed every hour until all troops, animals, and supplies were shipped.

President Lincoln wrote a letter to General Ambrose Burnside, commanding Federal troops at Knoxville, but did not send it. Lincoln had been frustrated with Burnside’s inability to aid William Rosecrans; he wrote that he had been “struggling… to get you to assist Gen. Rosecrans in an extremity, and you have repeatedly declared you would do it, and yet you steadily move the contrary way.” Skirmishing occurred in West Virginia and Louisiana.

Saturday, September 26

Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi District, issued a proclamation after Federals had captured Little Rock: “Your homes are in peril. Vigorous efforts on your part can alone save portions of your State from invasion. You should contest the advance of the enemy, thicket, gully, and stream; harass his rear and cut off his supplies.”

President Lincoln was disturbed by the New York Post, which published the Federal troop movements to Chattanooga. General W.H.C. Whiting was given command of the Confederate District of Cape Fear and the Defenses of Wilmington, North Carolina. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri.

Sunday, September 27

President Lincoln wrote to Ambrose Burnside, “My order to you meant simply that you should save Rosecrans from being crushed out, believing if he lost his position, you could not hold East Tennessee in any event.” Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Missouri.

Monday, September 28

Confederate President Jefferson Davis informed General Braxton Bragg that the Federals were reinforcing Chattanooga. Federal Generals Alexander McCook and T.L. Crittenden were relieved of their corps commands and ordered to Indianapolis to face a court-martial for their conduct at the Battle of Chickamauga. Federals began a small bombardment of Fort Sumter. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee.

Tuesday, September 29

President Lincoln told the Sons of Temperance that “the reasonable men of the world have long since agreed that intemperance is one of the greatest, if not the very greatest of all evils amongst mankind.” Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Missouri.

The Misunderstood Lochner Case

Statists claim that the Supreme Court ruling in Lochner v. New York (1905) began an era in which courts valued big business more than the common man. But this was a triumph of economic freedom over government intrusion.

In the 1890s, immigrants were pouring into New York, and many of them opened small businesses such as bakeries. Established bakeries had trouble competing with these newcomers, so instead of trying to come up with ideas to expand their customer base, they formed a union that lobbied the state to impose regulations on the new bakeries.

Progressives sided with the unions in calling for more regulations, and they used the press to deliver their message that long working hours in bakeries were unfair and unsafe. This despite a report from the Brooklyn Commissioner of Public Health which concluded that charges of unsafe working conditions in bakeries were “greatly exaggerated and most of (them) absolutely false.”

Nevertheless, politicians insisted on using their police powers to interfere with the natural rights of employers and employees to freely contract. Immigrants were specifically targeted because, as the attorney general said, “There have come to (New York) great numbers of foreigners with habits which must be changed.” The state legislature passed the Bakeshop Act, which prohibited workers from working more than 60 hours in any week or more than 10 hours in any day.

Bavarian immigrant Joseph Lochner owned a bakery in Utica. The Utica Herald stated that because of the “neatness and the excellence of its products it soon won an enviable reputation among local consumers.” But Lochner made the mistake of allowing a homeless employee to live above the shop. The state counted the hours the employee stayed there as working hours and rejected Lochner’s request for an exemption from the law. Lochner was convicted of violating the Bakeshop Act and fined $50.

After several appeals, the case finally reached the Supreme Court. In a 5 to 4 ruling, the Court found that the state law was unconstitutional, and Lochner’s conviction was overturned.

Writing the majority opinion, Justice Rufus Peckham stated that the law was an “unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right and liberty of the individual to contract… the general right to make a contract in relation to his business is part of the liberty of the individual protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution.”

Peckham wrote, “The employee may desire to earn the extra money which would arise from his working more than the prescribed time, but this statute forbids the employer from permitting the employee to earn it.” This improperly limited freedom that was “necessary for the support” of workers and their families. “The freedom of master and employee to contract with each other in relation to their employment… cannot be prohibited or interfered with, without violating the Federal Constitution.”

The Court also discarded claims that bakery workers were exposed to unsafe working conditions: “To the common understanding, the trade of a baker has never been regarded as an unhealthy one… (there is) possible existence of some small amount of unhealthiness,” but not enough to justify the state exercising its police powers. Bakers “are in no sense wards of the State… (they) are… able to assert their rights and care for themselves without the protecting arm of the State, interfering with their independence of judgment and of action.”

Progressives and statists condemned the Lochner ruling because it struck down legislation trying to aid the downtrodden masses who supposedly had no ability to think or act for themselves without government intervention. Their notion that the state must regulate their behavior for their own good degraded their humanity and infringed on their natural right to freely contract with whomever they chose.

This was not a case of big business triumphing over the common man. Progressive legislation like the Bakeshop Act actually did more to hurt the common man by limiting the hours and conditions under which small business owners could produce. Progressive politicians naturally denounced the Lochner ruling because it deprived them of the opportunity to wield more control over the people.

Unfortunately, the Lochner Era ended in 1937 when the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s power to regulate economic activities was more important than personal freedom. And individual liberty has been continuously eroded by government intervention ever since.

The Civil War This Week: Sep 16-22, 1863

Wednesday, September 16

In northern Georgia, General William S. Rosecrans began uniting his divided Federal Army of the Cumberland near Lee and Gordon’s Mills on the Chickamauga Creek. After capturing Chattanooga, Rosecrans had advanced southeast, but General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee was preparing to counterattack.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote to General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, expressing hope that Bragg would recover Chattanooga and concern about the “inexplicable” loss of Cumberland Gap.

Thursday, September 17

In northern Georgia, both Federal and Confederate armies continued concentrating. Braxton Bragg and his officers exchanged blame for failing to attack the Federal units when they were separated. Bragg planned to turn Rosecrans’s left, force him into the mountains, and move between him and Chattanooga. However, Rosecrans hurried to protect the roads to Chattanooga.

Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Missouri.

Friday, September 18

In northern Georgia, Braxton Bragg’s Confederates began crossing Chickamauga Creek from Ringgold; they included portions of General James Longstreet’s corps transferred from Robert E. Lee’s army in Virginia. Heavy cavalry skirmishes erupted as Rosecrans shifted Federal troops to the northeast to block Bragg’s attempt to turn the Federal left. A major battle was imminent.

President Abraham Lincoln honorably discharged William “Duff” Armstrong from the army; before becoming president, Lincoln had defended Armstrong in a famous murder case. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Tennessee.

Saturday, September 19

In northern Georgia, Braxton Bragg’s Confederates converged upon the concentrating Federals in the woods around Chickamauga Creek, or what the Cherokee Indians called “River of Blood.” When General George H. Thomas sent his Federals on the left to probe for Confederates, they were met by General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s dismounted Confederate cavalry. More units joined the fray, and soon most of both armies were fighting along a disjointed three-mile line.

The fight surged back and forth until nightfall. The Confederates crossed the Chickamauga and fiercely attacked the Federal center under General Philip Sheridan, but the Federals repulsed the advance. Another Confederate attack by General Patrick Cleburne was also repulsed. Meanwhile, James Longstreet’s Confederates were hurrying to the scene from the Ringgold railroad depot, about 20 miles away. They did not fully arrive until after fighting ended at nightfall.

Troops slept on the cold ground that night; the Federals were especially thirsty because the Confederates controlled the Chickamauga. However, the Federals still controlled the roads back to Chattanooga. After holding a council of war, William Rosecrans decided to take a defensive stand the next day. Bragg planned to attack the Federal left, coincidentally the same part of the Federal line that Rosecrans had decided to reinforce. Through the night, Longstreet’s troops joined the Confederate ranks.

President Lincoln commented on the activity of General George G. Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, in northern Virginia. Lincoln had urged Meade’s Federals to attack Robert E. Lee’s Confederates now that James Longstreet’s corps had been dispatched to aid Bragg at Chickamauga. However, Meade believed that occupying the region between the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers would be an effective staging area for an advance on the Confederate capital of Richmond. In a letter to General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, Lincoln complained, “I have constantly desired the Army of the Potomac, to make Lee’s army, and not Richmond it’s (sic) objective point.”

In Chesapeake Bay, John Y. Beall and fellow Confederates captured a Federal schooner in a daring raid. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

The Battle of Chickamauga

Sunday, September 20

Fighting resumed in northern Georgia, but Braxton Bragg’s Confederate attack on the left was unsuccessful. However, William Rosecrans issued a vague order to a division commander to support another Federal unit. When the division shifted, a gap opened in the Federal line. James Longstreet immediately exploited this error by sending Confederates into the hole and splitting the Federal line. This aggressive action earned Longstreet the nickname “Old Bull of the Woods.”

Confederates routed the Federal right, but Federals under George H. Thomas held firm on the left. Thomas repulsed some 25 attacks while Rosecrans ordered a Federal retreat to Chattanooga. Rosecrans was told that Thomas was “standing like a rock,” which earned Thomas the nickname “The Rock of Chickamauga.”

Thomas slowly withdrew his troops, allowing the Federal army to avoid a rout. But this was still a significant Confederate victory. Yesterday and today were the two most terrible combined days of the war, and the worst battle fought in the Western Theater. The Federals suffered 16,170 killed, wounded, or missing, while the Confederates lost 18,454.

A Federal expedition began from Paducah, Kentucky to McLemoresville, Tennessee. Skirmishing occurred in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri.

Monday, September 21

Braxton Bragg, unaware of the extent of his victory at Chickamauga, refused pleas from his subordinates to pursue the Federals, who escaped to Chattanooga. Upon learning of the Federal defeat, President Lincoln wired General Ambrose Burnside, commanding the Federal Army of the Ohio in Knoxville, “Go to Rosecrans with your force, without a moments delay.” Lincoln wrote to William Rosecrans, “Be of good cheer. We have unabated confidence in you, and in your soldiers and officers… save your army, by taking strong positions.”

Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee.

Tuesday, September 22

In Tennessee, Braxton Bragg’s Confederates began establishing positions on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge outside Chattanooga. From these nearly impregnable positions, Bragg planned to starve Rosecrans’s forces into submission. Federal General-in-Chief Halleck ordered General Ulysses S. Grant to send three divisions from Vicksburg to aid William Rosecrans’s Federals trapped in Chattanooga. Ambrose Burnside’s Federals skirmished outside Knoxville, making it difficult for Burnside to come to Rosecrans’s aid.

Confederate cavalry led by Joseph O. “Jo” Shelby began a raid through Arkansas and Missouri. President Lincoln mourned the loss of his brother-in-law, Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm, who was killed at Chickamauga. Federals destroyed a salt works at Darien, Georgia. Skirmishing occurred in Maryland, Virginia, and Missouri.

Primary Source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)