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The FReeper Foxhole Enjoys a Lazy Sunday and A Few WBTS Facts - May 22nd, 2005
see educational sources

Posted on 05/22/2005 1:03:03 AM PDT by snippy_about_it



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.



...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Some Civil War Facts




The War Between the States


• More than three million men fought in the war.

• Two percent of the population—more than 620,000—died in it.

• In two days at Shiloh on the banks of the Tennessee River, more Americans fell than in all previous American wars combined.

• During the Battle of Antietam, 12,401 Union men were killed, missing or wounded; double the casualties of D-Day, 82 years later. With a total of 23,000 casualties on both sides, it was the bloodiest single day of the Civil War.

• At Cold Harbor, Va., 7,000 Americans fell in 20 minutes.

• Senator John J. Crittendon of Kentucky had two sons who became major generals during the Civil War: one for the North, one for the South.

• Ulysses S. Grant was not fond of ceremonies or military music. He said he could only recognize two tunes. "One was Yankee Doodle," he grumbled. "The other one wasn’t."

• Missouri sent 39 regiments to fight in the siege of Vicksburg: 17 to the Confederacy and 22 to the Union.

• During the Battle of Antietam, Clara Barton tended the wounded so close to the fighting that a bullet went through her sleeve and killed a man she was treating.

• At the start of the war, the value of all manufactured goods produced in all the Confederate states added up to less than one-fourth of those produced in New York State alone.

• In March 1862, European powers watched in worried fascination as the Monitor and Merrimack battled off Hampton Roads, Va. From then on, after these ironclads opened fire, every other navy on earth was obsolete.

• In 1862, the U.S. Congress authorized the first paper currency, called "greenbacks."

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., future chief Justice, was wounded three times during the Civil War: in the chest at Ball’s Bluff, in the back at Antietam and in the heel at Chancellorsville.

• Confederate Private Henry Stanley fought for the Sixth Arkansas, and was captured at Shiloh, but survived to go to Africa to find Dr. Livingston.

• George Pickett’s doomed infantry charge at Gettysburg was the first time he took his division into combat.

• On July 4, 1863, after 48 days of siege, Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered the city of Vicksburg to the Union’s General, Ulysses S. Grant. The Fourth of July was not be celebrated in Vicksburg for another 81 years.

• Disease was the chief killer during the war, taking two men for every one who died of battle wounds.

• North and South, potential recruits were offered awards, or "bounties," for enlisting, as much as $677 in New York. Bounty jumping soon became a profession, as men signed up, then deserted, to enlist again elsewhere. One man repeated the process 32 times before being caught.

• African Americans constituted less than one percent of the northern population, yet by the war’s end made up ten percent of the Union Army. A total of 180,000 black men, more than 85% of those eligible, enlisted.

• In November 1863, President Lincoln was invited to offer a "few appropriate remarks" at the opening of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg. The main speaker, a celebrated orator from Massachusetts, spoke for nearly two hours. Lincoln offered just 269 words in his Gettysburg Address.

• Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest had 30 horses shot from under him and personally killed 31 men in hand-to-hand combat. "I was a horse ahead at the end," he said.

• The words "In God We Trust" first appeared on a U.S. coin in 1864.

• In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General, a rank previously held by General George Washington, and led the 533,000 men of the Union Army, the largest in the world. Three years later, he was made President of the United States.

• Andersonville Prison in southwest Georgia held 33,000 prisoners in 1864. It was the fifth largest city in the Confederacy.

•By the end of the war, Unionists from every state except South Carolina had sent regiments to fight for the North.

• On November 9, 1863, President Lincoln attended a theater in Washington, D.C., to see "The Marble Heart." An accomplished actor, John Wilkes Booth, was in the cast.

• On March 4, 1865, Lincoln was inaugurated for a second term. Yards away in the crowd was John Wilkes Booth with a pistol in his pocket. His vantage point on the balcony, he said later, offered him "an excellent chance to kill the President, if I had wished."

• On May 13, 1865, a month after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana became the last man killed in the Civil War, in a battle at Palmito Ranch, Texas. The final skirmish was a Confederate victory.

• Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first black man ever elected to the U.S. Senate. He filled the seat last held by Jefferson Davis.

Educational Sources;
www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/facts.html



FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links




TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: civilwar; freeperfoxhole; history; lazysunday; samsdayoff; veterans; wbts
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To: Valin
1964 LBJ presents "Great Society" (Well THAT worked real well)

Forty years later with a Republican House, Senate and Presidency, do you think we've finally figured out the RAT party? Some red states have.

Is the sun shining today? ;^)

21 posted on 05/22/2005 11:05:34 AM PDT by w_over_w (We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. ~Will Rogers)
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To: w_over_w
Imagination is a weak reed, for me as for others, but.....unavoidably delicious!!!!!!

Forrest had a true vision of how the Confederacy could prevail, I believe. (Sorry, SAM. Maybe I am just a romantic!!) A long shot, though.

The attrition war Lincoln sought could have been avoided by heavy attacks into deep rear areas, "Corps" level unhinging warfare. ("Operational Art" some call it these days.) As Federal logistics required the railroads, a Shermanesque, even Sheridan-in-the-Valley approach, that is, twist the hot rails around trees and burn everything burnable was in order. Go all the way to Buffalo. (By the way, this approach was advocated as the only hope by - ready? - Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.)

The war was pretty much over with the abandonment of Harper's Ferry. Stonewall could see that the Ohio headwaters and the B&O were the center of gravity in the North. Hold there, and maybe keep Kentucky. Then maybe contest navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi. Maybe Victory. Jackson had uncanny insight.

The loss of West Virginia was a crushing blow.

To forestall the possibility of Confederate success in Kentucky Grant moved on Forts Henry and Donelson. (Notice Bragg milled around like an idiot.) The war was lost in February 1962. Forrest was there, and boy, was he angry. That the CSA commanders were "drunken cowards" is the gist of his report.

One thing SAM has right is that every way the Confederacy could turn they had a serious problem with lack of heavy industry.

I don't see how the Confederacy could have dealt with the naval blockade.

Attempt the old dream of "the tactical defensive, the strategic offensive." Better yet, go with Robert Edward Lee when he asked Davis to sue for peace after the Seven Days. (The letter survives.) Ask the English to mediate. A Cease Fire in Place was possible, with relaxation of the Blockade. (I don't know this for sure, naturally.) Promise to come back into the Union, send Congressmen back, pull Lincoln's plug. Keep the Republic.

One of these days I am going to drive and walk the approach routes, railroads, etc. to Gettysburg and spend a few days walking the field. Most important piece of ground in North America.

22 posted on 05/22/2005 11:33:12 AM PDT by Iris7 (A man said, "That's heroism." "No, that's Duty," replied Roy Benavides, Medal of Honor.)
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To: snippy_about_it; bentfeather; Samwise; Peanut Gallery; Wneighbor
Good afternoon ladies. Flag-o-Gram.


Members of the Golden Knights parachute into Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Heaton Pavilion parade field at noon May 19. Bernard S. Little

OMG, they're coming from every direction size.


B y Bernard S. Little

May 20, 2005

Walter Reed patient Sgt. Paul Statzer receives the baton from the Golden Knights that they used during their jump at the medical center May 19.

Get a hanky size.

Read all about it.

23 posted on 05/22/2005 12:14:02 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: snippy_about_it
Just a quick note to let y'all know that I'm still alive. I have "inherited" my 3 year old niece, and let me tell you, taking care of a 3 year old takes up way more hours than there are in a day!
24 posted on 05/22/2005 12:15:57 PM PDT by aomagrat (Where weapons are not allowed, it is best to carry weapons.)
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To: Professional Engineer

Go Army!


25 posted on 05/22/2005 12:24:23 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., future chief Justice, was wounded three times during the Civil War: in the chest at Ball’s Bluff, in the back at Antietam and in the heel at Chancellorsville.

Lemme guess. He didn't need these?


26 posted on 05/22/2005 12:24:48 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: w_over_w

Worked about as well as FDR's "New Deal". /sarcasm

The sun shines, 10 minutes later it's cloudy for a hour. Can't make up it's mind.


27 posted on 05/22/2005 12:25:30 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
• In March 1862, European powers watched in worried fascination as the Monitor and Merrimack battled off Hampton Roads, Va. From then on, after these ironclads opened fire, every other navy on earth was obsolete.

Heh heh heh Good ole 'Mahr-ican know how!

28 posted on 05/22/2005 12:27:36 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: w_over_w

Wear your California warm weather clothes. It's hot in June and there is little shade on some of those open battlefields.


29 posted on 05/22/2005 12:28:21 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: bentfeather

Hi miss Feather


30 posted on 05/22/2005 12:31:18 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: Valin; Peanut Gallery
1849 Abraham Lincoln patents a buoying device


On May 22, 1849, Abraham Lincoln received Patent No. 6469 for a device to lift boats over shoals, an invention which was never manufactured. However, it did make him the only U.S. president to hold a patent. Shown here is his scale model at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

31 posted on 05/22/2005 12:38:22 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: snippy_about_it

Howdy ma'am

Business keeping you busy?


32 posted on 05/22/2005 12:44:16 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Ginger vs Maryann? Do you really think there is any doubt?)
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To: Professional Engineer
Business keeping you busy?

Not as much as I'd like. :-)

We are supposed to be headed for a dry spell and finally folks will be able to get out into their yards, then we'll be real busy.

33 posted on 05/22/2005 1:27:27 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; bentfeather; Darksheare; PhilDragoo; Matthew Paul; All
Good afternoon everyone!

To all our military men and women past and present, military family members, and to our allies who stand beside us
Thank You!

I hope y'all are having a wonderful, relaxing Sunday afternoon.


34 posted on 05/22/2005 1:58:02 PM PDT by radu (May God watch over our troops and keep them safe)
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To: Humal

If memory serves "Dixie" was Lincoln's favorite song.
/irony


35 posted on 05/22/2005 3:53:21 PM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: w_over_w

Is the sun shining today? ;^)

It is right now. Long range forecast shows.....(wait of it)....clouds and rain. OH BOY

Quack Quack...that's my other duck impersonation


36 posted on 05/22/2005 3:57:12 PM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: snippy_about_it

I was looking for something else, when I ran across this

An Englishman's Journey Through the Confederacy



Suave, gentlemanly Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards picked an unusual vacation spot: the Civil War-torn United States.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/acw/blenglishmans_journey/


37 posted on 05/22/2005 4:15:38 PM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: snippy_about_it

Off topic alert
Newsweek: America is dead (U.S. Flag Shown in Trashcan on Cover!)
Riding Sun Blog ^ | 5/23/2005 01:17:00 | GaijinBiker

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408214/posts

Posted on 05/22/2005 1:12:32 PM CDT by FreedomCalls

They're really doing a bangup job of pissing me off!


38 posted on 05/22/2005 5:14:42 PM PDT by Valin (The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.)
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To: radu

Howdy radu!!


How's it going today??


39 posted on 05/22/2005 5:22:15 PM PDT by Soaring Feather
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To: Valin

"If memory serves "Dixie" was Lincoln's favorite song.
/irony"

I'm not sure if it was his "favorite", but Lincoln had insisted that it be played the night he was shot. BTW, "Dixie" was composed by a Yankee. :-)


40 posted on 05/22/2005 5:28:57 PM PDT by Humal
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