Free Republic

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln headed on horseback through the streets of Gettysburg to deliver his most famous speech. He rode past the impressive gatehouse at the Evergreen Cemetery to the newly dug graves of Union soldiers that lay beyond it. The gatehouse was the home of a German immigrant family that had endured the battle and spearheaded the first burials after it ended.

Abraham Lincoln's Independence Day Address of July 7, 1863 Researched by James R. Heintze. All rights reserved. Abraham Lincoln's Independence Day address of 1863 in Washington is significant in that it was presented three days after the city had celebrated the holiday and represented one of only a few Fourth of July addresses given in Washington during the 19th century that were reprinted in newspapers outside the city. Perhaps not referred to as often as his other speeches, Lincoln's July 7 address is nonetheless important. Presented, apparently spontaneously, as a response to hundreds of persons who had gathered in front...

American Newspaper Article, Circa 1863: On the Influence of the Semitic Races in the History of Civilization On the Influence of the Semitic Races in the History of CivilizationBy Ernest Renan Posted in The Herald of Progress No. 198,Pages 5 & 6 Dated: December 05, 1863Select quotes: "The Arab, at least, and in a more general sense the Mussulman, are today further removed from us than they have ever been. The Mussulman (the Semitic spirit is especially represented in our day by Islam), and the European are, in the presence of one another, two beings of a different spe­cies,...

Surgeon: Pneumonia likely killed 'Stonewall' Jackson Legendary Confederate general died 150 years ago Friday Historians and doctors have debated for decades what medical complications caused the death of legendary Confederate fighter Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, felled by friendly fire from his troops during the Civil War. Shot three times while returning from scouting enemy lines in the Virginia wilderness, Jackson was badly wounded in the left arm by one of the large bullets the night of May 2, 1863. Blood gushed from a severed artery. It took at least two hours to get him to a field hospital, and Jackson...

Detainees or POWs? Ancient distinctions. By Mackubin Thomas Owens is professor of strategy and force planning at the Naval War College in Newport. His views do no necessarily reflect those of any agency of the U.S. government. January 24, 2002 8:55 a.m. as President Bush's decision launch a "war against terrorism" in response to September 11 now hoisted the United States on its own petard? That would seem to be the case as international organizations and even officials of allied countries such as Great Britain have intensified criticism of the United States concerning its treatment of captured al Qaeda and ...

The Rules of War Can't Protect Al Qaeda By RUTH WEDGWOOD NEW HAVEN — It makes no sense to win a trial but lose the war. With this in mind, a majority of the American public favors giving President Bush the option to use military tribunals against the Qaeda terror network. The tribunals are designed to permit a "full and fair trial" of war crimes without compromising our ability to track the network's future plans. Al Qaeda's skill at countersurveillance has made plain the need to protect sensitive intelligence sources at trial. But some international-law scholars suggest that President Bush's ...

Korea Delegation to China in 1863 The first photographs of Koreans are released to the public Thursday. The six pictures of the Korean delegation to China were taken at the Russian legation in Beijing in January 1863. Three members of the delegation appear in one of the pictures. A British missionary at the time collected the photos and took them to Britain. Recently, photography professor Park Ju-seok at Myongji University made them public after they came into his possession.

December 22, 2005, 8:57 a.m. Can You Hear the Bells? Christmas 1864. In the winter of 1864, an unexpected sense of optimism and good cheer settled on the northern states. The Civil War continued, but the news from the fronts was promising, and hope flourished that with spring the end would come and peace would return. New Yorkers in particular were in a festive frame of mind, of a like unseen since the before the war began. People skated in Central Park, and rode sleighs through the snowy fields. They stopped at shops for warm cider, confections, nuts and dried...

This past Sunday, the elderly gentleman who presides over our Sunday School class handed out copies of Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Day proclamation. After doing so, he pointed out the fact that if the ACLU had been around in 1863, it would likely have raised a stink about the proclamation. Thus is the state of modern America. Even in the mind of someone born roughly eight decades ago in the Deep South, our culture war has come to overshadow what people around here once called “the War of Northern Aggression.” In one sense, our Sunday School leader is right. Thanksgiving...

Minnesota officials yesterday rejected a Virginia request for the return of a Confederate flag taken by Union troops during the Battle of Gettysburg.     "The flag will remain in Minnesota and will be held by the [state] Historical Society on behalf of the people of Minnesota, and that is not going to change," said Patrick McCormack, deputy director of the society. "We have a clear legal right to possess the flag."     Virginia officials had asked the U.S. Army's Center of Military History to persuade Minnesota to return the flag, but a spokesman for the center said Virginia will need to fight...