Let Them Eat Che

Much has been written about Hollywood’s obsession with Communist poster child and fashion icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Despite the protestations of those who actually knew and were tortured or persecuted by Che, the stories of hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles and a vast body of easily accessible knowledge on the failed state he helped create, the bad boy “Butcher of la Cabaña” still holds an unholy fascination with the historically-challenged. Though Che was opposed to free elections, freedom of religion, free speech, free press, freedom of assembly, and even freewheeling rock and roll, he has morphed into the ultimate freedom fighter célèbre. Is the phenomenon of the world’s wealthiest and most privileged paying homage to a destroyer of wealth and privilege unique? In a word: no.

In school, we’re told we learn history in order to prevent ourselves from repeating the mistakes of the past. If only that were true. For those who study history and pay attention to its warning signs, this is a particularly painful period in the annals of western civilization on many fronts; a virtual smorgasbord of willful ignorance and denial.

The warning signs are everywhere and have been reported in this blog and in major publications the world over. But, to Homo sibi destruens, such signs are, once again, patently ignored. Students of history’s flashing red warning lights debate: “Are we repeating all the worst follies of 1929, 1933, 1936 or a combination thereof?” While we’re at it, I’d like to throw another date into the ring: 1782.

That was the year a new play by Pierre Beaumarchais really began to make ripples in pre-revolutionary France. “Le Mariage de Figaro” was a clever comedy about the continuing exploits of The Barber of Seville’s main character, Figaro.

Thanks, tanuki.

One major diffeence I might point out. The best and the brightest of the young men of the French aristocracy joined up and came across the sea to help America win the War of Independence.

They were not fiddling while Rome burned. Check out the Sons of the American Revolution French Chapter and the Cincinnati Society.

This from Wiki:

The Society of the Cincinnati is a historic organization with branches in the United States and France founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of the Revolutionary War officers and to pressure the government to honor pledges it had made to officers who fought for American independence. Now in its third century, the Society is a nonprofit historical and educational organization that promotes public interest in the American Revolution through its library and museum collections, exhibitions, programs, publications, and other activities

Origins

The concept of the Society of the Cincinnati probably originated with Major General Henry Knox. The first meeting of the Society was held in May 1783 at a dinner at Mount Gulian (Verplanck House) in Fishkill, New York, before the British evacuation from New York City. The meeting was chaired by Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton, and the participants agreed to stay in contact with each other after the war. Membership was generally limited to officers who had served at least three years in the Continental Army or Navy but included officers of the French Army and Navy above certain ranks.

Later, membership was passed down to the eldest son after the death of the original member. Present-day hereditary members generally must be descended from an officer who served in the Continental Army or Navy for at least three years, from an officer who died or was killed in service, or from an officer serving at the close of the Revolution. Each officer may be represented by only one descendant at any given time, following the rules of primogeniture. (It was this primogeniture aspect which caused the society initally to be controversial, as primogeniture was associated with the rules governing European nobilities.)

The Society is named after Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who left his farm to accept a term as Roman Consul and then served as Roman Magister Populi (with temporary powers similar to that of a modern era dictator)- thereby assuming lawful dictatorial control of Rome to meet a war emergency. When the battle was won, he returned power to the Senate and went back to plowing his fields. The Society’s motto reflects that ethic of selfless service: Omnia relinquit servare republicam (”He relinquished everything to save the Republic”). The Society has from the beginning had three objects, referred to as the “Immutable Principles”: “To preserve the rights so dearly won; to promote the continuing union of the states; and to assist members in need, their widows, and their orphans.”

Within 12 months of the founding, a constituent Society had been organized in each of the 13 states and in France. Of about 5,500 men originally eligible for membership, 2,150 had joined within a year. King Louis XVI ordained the French Society of the Cincinnati, which was organized on July 4, 1784 (Independence Day). Up to that time, the King of France had not allowed his officers to wear any foreign decorations; but he made an exception in favor of the badge of the Cincinnati, and membership in the Society was so eagerly sought that it soon became as coveted as membership of certain orders of French nobility.

George Washington was elected the first President General of the Society. He served from December 1783, until his death in 1799. The second President General was Alexander Hamilton.

Its members have included many distinguished military and political leaders in the history of the country, beginning with 23 signers of the United States Constitution. The Cincinnati is the oldest military society in continuous existence in North America.

On June 19, 1783, the General Society of the Cincinnati adopted the Bald Eagle as its insigna. It is one of America’s first post-revolution symbols and an important piece of American iconography. It is the second official emblem to represent America as the Bald Eagle, following the Great Seal of the United States by 364 days. It was likely derived from the same discourse that produced the Seal.

The suggestion of the Bald Eagle as the Cincinnati insignia was made by Major Pierre L’Enfant, a French officer who joined the American Army in 1777, served in the Corps of Engineers and later become a member of the Society. He noted, in making his suggestion: “The Bald Eagle, which is peculiar to this continent, and is distinguished from those of other climes by its white head and tail, appears to me to deserve attention.” In 1783, L’Enfant was commissioned to travel to France to have the first Eagle badges made, based on his design. (L’Enfant later planned and partially laid out the city of Washington, D.C.)

The medallions at the center of the Cincinnati Eagle depict, on the obverse, Cincinnatus receiving his sword from the Roman Senators and, on the reverse, Cincinnatus at his plow being crowned by the figure of Pheme (personification of fame). The Society’s colors, light blue and white, symbolize the fraternal bond between the United States and France.

A specially commissioned “Eagle” worn by President General George Washington was presented to Lafayette in 1824 and had remained in possession of the Lafayette family, [1] until sold at auction on December 11, 2007, for 5.3 million USD by Lafayette’s great-great granddaughter. It was purchased by the Josée and René de Chambrun Foundation and will be displayed at Chateau La Grange, Lafayette’s home 30 miles east of Paris. The medal, believed to have its original ribbon and red leather box, will be displayed in Lafayette’s bedroom. It also might be displayed at Mount Vernon, Washington’s former home in Virginia.[2] This was one of three eagles known to have been owned by Washington. Washington most commonly wore the “diamond eagle,” a diamond-encrusted design that was given to him by the French matelots (sailors). This diamond eagle continues to be passed down to each President General of the Society of the Cincinnati as part of his induction into office.

The Cincinnati Eagle is displayed in various places of public importance, including the city center of Cincinnati, Ohio (named for the Society) at Fountain Square, alongside the U.S. flag and the city flag. The flag of the Society displays blue and white stripes and a dark blue canton (containing a circle of 14 stars around the Cincinnati Eagle) in the upper corner next to the hoist. Refer to the section below on “The Later Society” for the city’s historical connection to the Cincinnati.

In the years soon after the revolution, membership continued to expand. Members have served in all the major offices of the United States and many state governments. Some, including Thomas Jefferson, were alarmed at the apparent creation of a hereditary elite; membership eligibility is inherited through primogeniture, and excludes enlisted men and in most cases militia officers, unless they were placed under “State Line” or “Continental Line” forces for a substantial time period. Benjamin Franklin was among the Society’s earliest critics, though he would later accept its role in the Republic and join the Society under honorary membership after the country stabilized. He voiced concerns not only about the apparent creation of a noble order, but also the Society’s use of the eagle in its emblem as evoking the traditions of heraldry. It was in his writings on the Cincinnati Eagle that he also safely attacked its brother symbol, the Great Seal of the United States, without having to do so directly.

On January 26, 1784, in a letter to his only daughter, Sarah Bache, Franklin commented at length on the ramifications of the Cincinnati and the eagle’s image for national character. Because the image was to appear on the medallions of the Cincinnati, he wrote:

The Gentleman who made the Voyage to France to provide the Ribbands & Medals has executed his Commission. To me they seem tolerably done, but all such Things are criticised... For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly... [The eagle] is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country, tho’ exactly fit that Order of Knights which the French call Chevalieres d’Industrie. Influence of the Cincinnati was another cause for concern. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention were debating the method of choosing a president, James Madison (the secretary of the Convention) reported the following speech of Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts:

A popular election in this case is radically vicious. The ignorance of the people would put it in the power of some one set of men dispersed through the Union & acting in Concert to delude them into any appointment. He observed that such a Society of men existed in the Order of the Cincinnati. They are respectable, United, and influential. They will in fact elect the chief Magistrate in every instance, if the election be referred to the people. [Gerry’s] respect for the characters composing this Society could not blind him to the danger & impropriety of throwing such a power into their hands.

As the international firestorm during the Society’s early years subsided, the Cincinnati emerged in the 19th century as a pool of educated civil servants that would push America westward, while helping to build unity in Washington.

Members of the Society included Count Axel von Fersen the Younger (rumoured lover of Queen Marie Antoinette), Tadeusz Kosciuszko, John Brooks, William Eustis, Christian Febiger, Alexander Hamilton, Marquis de La Fayette, Charles McKnight, Baron Von Steuben, Josiah Harmar, Thomas Posey, Richard Butler, John Trumbull, Rufus Putnam, William Stacy, James Mitchell Varnum, David Ziegler, Ebenezer Denny, Richard Varick, John Paul Jones, John Barry, Thomas Truxtun, Nathanael Greene, Anthony Wayne, Horatio Gates, Benjamin Lincoln, Charles C. Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, the Piatt brothers Daniel, William and Jacob, John Sullivan, Thomas Truxton, Nathaniel Ramsey, Aaron Burr, Isaac Huger, William Stephens Smith, James Lingan, Henry Lee III, William Jackson (secretary) and several of the first U.S. Marshals, including Robert Forsyth and Allan Maclane.

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