Search Results for: emancipation

One Comment

Journalist Sidney Blumenthal Pens Foreword for “Lincoln: The Fire of Genius”

  By

David J Kent and Sidney BlumenthalAs mentioned last time, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius is now open for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). I’m honored that journalist Sidney Blumenthal penned the Foreword for the book.

Blumenthal is arguably one of the most astute political observers in the nation. He is also a highly regarded (and highly successful) biographer of Abraham Lincoln. The first three volumes of his planned five-volume treatise on The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln have won many accolades for his depth of research, insight, and writing style. Each volume has won numerous writing awards, including the Lincoln Book Award from the Abraham Lincoln Institute and the Book Prize from The Lincoln Forum.

Previously a staff reporter for The Washington Post and a Washington editor and writer for The New Yorker, Blumenthal has also had commentary routinely published in Vanity Fair, Salon, The Guardian, and many other media outlets. In addition to his highly regarded Political Life of Abraham Lincoln series, it was his July 17, 2020 article in Washington Monthly that caught my attention. On that date I was just about to push the “Send” button to get my final proposal for The Fire of Genius to my literary agent for presentation to publishers. I immediately sent off an email to Blumenthal, who quickly agreed to write a Foreword for the book. I had previously spoken with Blumenthal about the concept, and he had encouraged me to write it, noting that “a full book on Lincoln’s interest in science and technology was needed.” Given my long career in science combined with my lifetime independent study of Abraham Lincoln, I was the perfect person to write it. With his approval, I added his name to my proposal and sent it off. A few months later I had a signed contract with Rowman & Littlefield, for publication under their Lyons Press imprint.

In his Washington Monthly article, Blumenthal argued that “Lincoln’s commitment to science was central to his rise, who he became, how he won the Civil War, and to the United States becoming a modern nation.” This is exactly the theme of my book, so it was almost ordained that he write the Foreword.

He ends his Foreword for the book with the following paragraph:

It became more than an accident of time and sheer coincidence that an ocean apart Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day, February 12, 1809. The child born to a poor dirt farmer in Kentucky and the one born into a wealthy English family wrought revolutions and emancipations. Lincoln was the vindicator of liberal democracy of, by and for the people. Darwin was the scientific voyager of The Origin of the Species and The Descent of Man, of evolution, natural selection and the diversity of life. But in Lincoln’s case the division between statesmanship and science is unnatural. David J. Kent’s invaluable history shows us how Lincoln’s fire of genius was to fuse those elements in order to create a “new birth of freedom.”

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius tells the story of how science and technology gradually infiltrated Lincoln’s remarkable life and influenced his growing desire to improve the condition of all men. It’s a story of how we became a modern nation.

Pre-order is now open on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). The price will inevitably drop before the final shipment, and any pre-orders will automatically get charged the lower price at fulfillment. Pre-ordering now helps the publisher get a sense of the interest, which could mean a bigger print run. So please go ahead and pre-order without worries. While you’re there, check out my other books.

The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. That will also ensure you get informed of the release date AND will let you try for one of ten free hardcover copies of the book that I’ll be giving away this summer. I’ll also be giving away as many as a hundred e-books. [And yes, the book will also be put out on audio]

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

[Photo: David J. Kent and Sidney Blumenthal, author photo]

No comments

Lincoln the Philanthropist

  By

Emancipation Proclamation with LincolnFew people know that Abraham Lincoln was also a philanthropist. We remember him for saving the union and the Emancipation Proclamation, but he also was a big donator to charity. On December 17, 1863, he sent a letter thanking the Sanitary Commission of Chicago for a watch that was sent to him for his contributions. He wrote:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 17, 1863
To James H. Hoes
My Dear Sir,

I have received from the Sanitary Commission of Chicago, the Watch which you placed at their disposal, and I take the liberty of conveying to you my high appreciation of your humanity and generosity, of which I have unexpectedly become the beneficiary. I am very truly yours

A. LINCOLN

So why was he receiving a watch?

The managers of the Northwestern Soldier’s Fair at Chicago had earlier written to Lincoln, noting:

`Among the many remarkable incidents of our recent Fair, not one has been more pleasant, than the duty that devolves upon us, of consigning to you, on this National Thanksgiving Day, the accompanying watch; of asking you to accept it, as a memorial of the Ladies N. Western Fair. During the progress of the Fair, Mr. James H. Hoes, Jeweller of Chicago, a most loyal and liberal man, after giving very largely himself, in order to stimulate donations from others, proposed through the columns of the Tribune, to give a gold watch to the largest contributor to the Fair. . . . Emancipation Proclamation . . . was sold for $3,000, the largest benefaction of any individual. . . .”

In a nutshell, Lincoln had handwritten a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation to donate to the Fair. The two-week fair was the first of many Sanitary Fairs designed to raise money to support the care of wounded and sick soldiers. The fair was entirely organized by women, and the managers that sent the letter to Lincoln were indeed Mrs. Abraham H. Hoge and Mrs. David P. Livermore. Most of the crafts, food, and entertainment for sale at the fair were created and provided by women. Dignitaries such as Lincoln donated documents, lithographs, and other items for sale and auction. The Chicago Fair brought in $80,000 (roughly $1.7 million today). Many hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised in subsequent fairs held around the country through the end of the war.

Lincoln’s contribution garnered the greatest gain for the Fair, hence the watch. What became of the watch is unknown, but perhaps he donated to the next Sanitary Fair.

On a related note, a printed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation but signed by Lincoln was sold at auction in 2012 for $2.1 million. They buyer was modern philanthropist David Rubinstein, who has donated millions of dollars to renovations of Lincoln-related buildings around Washinton, D.C. A total of 48 printed copies were made in 1863, with Lincoln signing all of them and donating them to the Sanitary Commission for auction.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

2 Comments

Lincoln’s Scientific Approach to Military Strategy

  By

Lincoln testing a SpencerLincoln took a scientific approach to military strategy. The Anaconda plan’s focus was on securing the coastlines and the Mississippi River. Recognizing New Orleans as the hub of the cotton trade and commerce, Lincoln saw it as the first port to be targeted for blockade. He also hoped to block southern ship traffic from Charleston, South Carolina to cut off Confederate attempts to woo Great Britain and France to their side. Helping him make this happen was Alexander Dallas Bache and the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey had been authorized by Thomas Jefferson, and Bache, who was Benjamin Franklin’s great-grandson, was quick to send nautical charts of the Chesapeake Bay to Lincoln. He also forwarded two terrestrial maps produced by the Survey that had far-reaching influence on Lincoln’s decisions on emancipation and military strategy.

The first map was of the state of Virginia. A relatively new technique of color-coded shading was used to show the percentage of enslaved population in each county based on the 1860 census. The darker shaded counties reflecting higher percentages of enslaved persons were primarily in the tidewater region and toward the southern part of the state. The mountainous western counties held only small percentages of enslaved. That told Lincoln the western counties were less likely to support the insurrection, and indeed, those counties rejoined the Union as the new state of West Virginia.

The second map showed the entire slaveholding portion of the country. Lincoln quickly recognized that the four “border” states—Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware—had relatively few slaves in most of their counties. That fact helped inform Lincoln’s strategies to retain the border states in the Union, including proposals for gradual compensated emancipation in an effort to stimulate the process of freeing the enslaved. The map also clearly showed that eastern Tennessee had relatively few slaves, which again allowed him to target that region for initial military and diplomatic forays in the hope many of the residents would retain their Union sentiments. Also clear was that the highest densities of enslaved populations were in the cotton belt of the deep South and along the Mississippi River borders of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, where over 90 percent of the populations of some counties were enslaved. The map reinforced the importance of capturing New Orleans to cut off the main supply and transport line for the Confederate economy. Controlling the Mississippi was the key to the war, which “could never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” It also reinforced the belief that the deep South was so dependent on slavery it would never willingly give it up. Lincoln found this second map especially fascinating, according to Francis Carpenter, who spent six months at the White House preparing his famous painting, “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln.” Carpenter added the southern slavery map to the lower right corner of his painting, reflecting its significance to the decision-making process.

But there is more…much more!

[Adapted from my book, The Fire of Genius, coming from Rowman & Littlefield in 2022]

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

2 Comments

Lincoln and McClellan’s Fatigued Horses

  By

Tired and Fatigued horsesI have just read your dispatch about sore tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything? A. LINCOLN

General George B. McClellan was at it again. Or not at it, in a sense. McClellan had a habit of overestimating the enemy troop numbers and underestimating his own ability to attack. Lincoln was constantly frustrated.

In September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into western Maryland. Following their victory at a second battle of Bull Run, Lee moved his army north to a point near Sharpsburg, alongside Antietam Creek, where they took up defensive positions. With surprising aggressiveness, McClellan’s Army of the Potomac attacked Lee’s forces on September 17. The first assault came from Union General Joseph Hooker on Lee’s left flank, while General Ambrose Burnside later attacked the right. A surprise counterattack from Confederate General A.P. Hill helped push back Union forces. Eventually, Lee’s troops withdrew from the battlefield first. He moved his remaining army back across the Potomac into the safety of Virginia.

Always overly cautious, McClellan made no effort to follow. Lee had committed all of his 55,000 men, while McClellan only ordered a portion of his larger 87,000-man force into the fray. This numerical imbalance allowed Lee to create and exploit tactical advantages he should not have had. When questioned by Lincoln about his failure to pursue Lee, McClellan complained that his army and horses were sore-tongued and fatigued, and thus required rest. Lincoln responded tersely by telegram:

Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?

Antietam was destined to be the single bloodiest day of battle in American history. The casualties for both armies totaled a staggering 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.

Despite Lincoln’s frustration, Antietam stood out as an important battle in the fight for freedom. Although essentially a draw, the fact that Lee withdrew from the battlefield first allowed the North to record Antietam as a victory, something that Lincoln had been needing for some time. A few days later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

No comments

Lincoln and Me Tour Harpers Ferry

  By

Harpers FerryPresident Lincoln took a special train to Harpers Ferry on October 1, 1862. I drove my car to the National Park Service visitors center on October 1, 2021. Lincoln reviewed the troops on Bolivar Heights. I climbed to the overlook on Maryland Heights. One hundred and fifty-nine years separated us, but I still felt his presence.

Lincoln was anxious about his commanding general, George McClellan. McClellan had brought a military success, of sorts, near Antietam creek just a few weeks before. More of a draw than a clear-cut victory despite McClellan’s staff finding Confederate General Lee’s plans wrapped around three cigars, it had been enough for Lincoln to issue his Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd. Lincoln was not pleased with McClellan’s overall performance. McClellan complained incessantly that the enemy had decisively more troops, even when it was McClellan with the distinct numerical advantage. So Lincoln was coming to talk to McClellan in person.

Around 6 a.m. on the first day of October, Lincoln and entourage left Washington on a special train. Joining him were General McClernand, Ward Hill Lamon, Ozias Hatch, John Garrett (president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad) and others. Arriving at Harpers Ferry at noon, Lincoln meets with General Sumners until General McClellan finally arrives in the early afternoon. McClellan and Lincoln visit the troops at Bolivar Heights. That night, Lincoln spends the night in Harpers Ferry. The next morning he visits more troops on the Maryland Heights and moves to McClellan’s headquarters for a strategic discussion and critical job review. While there, several iconic photos are taken by Alexander Gardner. A month later, Lincoln would finally relieve McClellan from command, permanently this time.

My visit began around 8 a.m. for a drive of just over an hour. The day was about as perfect as could be, with no clouds and a high temperature in the low 70s. A fog enveloped the valley as we approached, but quickly disappeared once I arrived in the lower town of Harpers Ferry. John Brown’s Fort was getting a paint job as I headed for the Maryland Heights trailhead. Not only is Harpers Ferry the intersection between Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, it’s also where three trails intersect – Maryland Heights,  the C & O Canal Towpath, and the Appalachian Trail. The railroad and foot bridges over the Potomac River (with the Shenandoah River sliding in from the right) lead into the gaping maw of the tunnel under the heights. A short walk up the towpath brought us to the trailhead. A constant uphill hike of about 1200 feet elevation gain brought us to the Heights overlook, where we snacked and replenished electrolytes before hiking back down to the town. A delightful lunch on the patio of the Coach House Grill capped a perfect visit.

A week earlier I had toured Williamsport and Falling Water, another area not far away that had hackled Lincoln. After the decisive Union victory in Gettysburg, Lincoln was displeased with General George Meade for his failure to attack and destroy Lee’s army, giving it time to cross the Potomac River upstream from Harpers Ferry. Lincoln wrote a blistering letter berating Meade, his failure prolonging the war another two years instead of ending it in late 1863. Lincoln never sent the letter. Having spewed his anger onto the page, he rethought the wisdom of chewing his arguably one of his better generals. Luckily for us, he saved it for posterity “never signed, never sent.”

Eventually Lincoln would find likeminded generals in Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and Philip Henry Sheridan, along with Meade, who would be key to closing out the rest of the war. But his trip to Harpers Ferry and Antietam was to reassess his commander. McClellan was found wanting, and Lincoln fired him.

Unlike Lincoln, my trip to Harpers Ferry was a total success, and despite the sore muscles afterward, a wonderful experience.

[David J. Kent has been “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” for the last several years, with the COVID pandemic putting much of it on hold. With most responsible people now vaccinated, David will be doing more road trips on the trail of Lincoln. Stay tuned.]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

2 Comments

Mrs. Lincoln’s Corsets, and Other Abraham Lincoln News

  By

Mary LincolnOn this auspicious date in 1844, Mrs. Lincoln bought material to make corsets. Six yards of “gimp,” which was a strong twisted silk, wool, or cotton (not to be confused with the plastic form of gimp I used in Boy Scouts), along with ample amounts of lace. Presumably she already had whalebone or simply used over-starched fabric for stiffness. As critical as this was for containing the spreading remnants of Robert’s birth the previous year, this was only one of many important events happening on this day in Lincoln’s life.

August 26th seemed to be a good day for speeches. In 1844, a 35-year-old first term Congressman Abraham Lincoln spoke at the Rough and Ready Club in Rockville, Maryland. In 1852, Lincoln rebutted Stephen A. Douglas’s speech at the Scott Club in Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, Lincoln gives his first speech on the Kansas-Nebraska Act at the Whig Party Convention in Winchester, Illinois. The local paper reports “His . . . masterly effort . . . was replete with unanswerable arguments, which must and will effectually tell at the coming election.” In 1858, Lincoln gets an ambrotype photograph taken in Macomb, IL, before heading out to Amboy, where he makes a short speech that night.

President Lincoln turns to writing in 1863. He declines an invitation to speak in Springfield, IL, noting that such a trip was impossible in the midst of the Civil War. Writing was has become a famous letter to James C. Conkling, he lays out his rationales for his actions to save the Union:

There are those who are dissatisfied with me. To such I would say: You desire peace; and you blame me that we do not have it. But how can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways. First, to suppress the rebellion by force of arms. This, I am trying to do. Are you for it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second way is, to give up the Union. I am against this.

He also called out those white men who disdain his emancipation measures, noting:

Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time. It will then have been proved that, among free men, there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and that they who take such appeal are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost. And then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it.

This day also brings some personal news related to my forthcoming book and my role as president of the Lincoln Group of DC.

Regarding my book, I’ve been waiting for the publisher to get back to me with edits, expecting that the book would be released around February of 2022. I’m now told that the release date has been scheduled for September 2022. This changes my planning considerably. In the interim, I’ve decided to move forward with another book I’ve been working on related to a dialogue I had last year on Confederate monuments. I’ll have more information on that one soon, but I hope to publish it on the Amazon framework by the end of this year.

The Lincoln Group of DC has also been active. In October, I’ll be joined by immediate past-president John O’Brien and distant past-president Ed Steers in teaching a course on Abraham Lincoln via Encore Learning. We’ll be tackling Lincoln’s Youth (Ed), Lincoln as Politician (Me), Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief (Me), and Emancipation and Legacy (John). Here is more detailed information about the course. More info about Encore Learning.

The Lincoln Group is also planning for the Centennial of the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated in 1922, the 100th anniversary will be celebrated with an entire month of programs in May 2022. The Lincoln Group will have a ceremony with music, speakers, and much more on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We’ll also be sponsoring Lincoln-associated events with the American Film Institute in Silver Spring, MD, a possible discussion on the Memorial and the Civil Rights movement with the National Archives, and a possible luncheon with speakers at the Willard Hotel. Keep up on the plans via our new Lincolnian.org website.

[Photo from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9702761]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

No comments

Abraham Lincoln Meets with Frederick Douglass

  By

Lincoln Douglass DebateOn August 10, 1863, Abraham Lincoln met with Frederick Douglass in the White House. Douglass had arrived unannounced, accompanied by Kansas Senator Samuel Pomeroy. They found the waiting room filled with people seeking an audience with the president, so Douglass, dressed in a dark suit on this sweltering August morning, assumed he would have a long wait. Instead, Lincoln’s secretary John Hay came quickly out to greet him and usher him into the inner sanctum.

Douglass described the meeting in his memoir:

“I entered [the room] with a moderate estimate of my own consequence, and yet there I was to talk with, and even to advise, the head man of a great nation. Happily for me, there was no vine pomp and ceremony about him. I never was so quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man, than in that of Abraham Lincoln….The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it, the president included, appeared to be much overworked and tired.”

After describing the “long lines of care” already “deeply written on Mr. Lincoln’s brow,” Douglass writes that:

“As I approached and was introduced to him, he rose and extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the presence of an honest man – one whom I could love, honor, and trust without reserve or doubt.”

Douglass then told him of the object of his visit, which was to assist in the raising of African American troops for the war effort, an option now available after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. Douglass reported that Lincoln “listened with patience and silence to all that I had to say.” He asked pertinent questions and answered Douglass’s complaints with respect and honesty.

John Hay notes the meeting in his diary, adding that Douglass “intends to go south and help the recruiting among his people.” Later that day, Lincoln endorsed the idea as set forth in a letter signed by Secretary of the Interior and Senator Pomeroy indicated that Douglass is “a loyal, free, man, and is, hence, entitled to travel, unmolested. We trust he will be recognized everywhere, as a free man, and a gentleman.” The trip fell through for lack of a commission and intransigence among military leaders, but three of Douglass’s sons served in the Union army.

Douglass would visit Lincoln twice more in the White House. The final time was on the day of Lincoln’s second inaugural speech, which Douglass professed to be “a sacred effort.”

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

One Comment

Lincoln and Native Americans – A Panel

  By

Abraham Lincoln ChicagoOn March 30, 1861, Abraham Lincoln writes to Illinois State Auditor Jesse K. Dubois, who is “sorely disappointed” that Lincoln did not name J. P. Luse to head Minnesota’s Indian Affairs office. The letter gives a glimpse into the difficulties Lincoln faced dealing with our historical treatment of Native Americans. In the letter, Lincoln writes:

I was nearly as sorry as you can be at not being able to give Mr. Luce the appointment you desired for him. Of course I could have done it; but it would have been against the united, earnest, and, I add, angry protest of the republican delegation of Minnesota, in which state the office is located. So far as I understand, it is unprecedented, [to] send an officer into a state against the wishes of the members of congress of the State, and of the same party. Your friend as ever A. LINCOLN

Dubois had served for many years as a fellow Illinois state legislator alongside Lincoln, and was eager for Lincoln to use his patronage to get a position as Indian agent in Minnesota for his son-in-law, James P. Luse. Lincoln explains that control over the appointments is up to U.S. congressmen representing the local Minnesota populace, and that his hands were largely tied. This had always been the case, and would continue for many years to come.

The treatment of Native Americans during the Civil War has recently been offered as part of the rationale for questioning why we honor Lincoln with statuary and school namings. Most notably, San Francisco considered removing the names of Lincoln and many others from school buildings (they have since put the idea on hold). Chicago has initiated a review of 41 statues they deem potentially offensive, including five of the city’s most iconic Lincoln statues.

Which gets me to a program I’ll be participating in next month. On April 13th at 2:00 pm ET, the Illinois State Society (ILSS) is sponsoring a panel discussion entitled “The Case for Honoring Lincoln.” Organized by Rod Ross, a member of the ILSS and the Lincoln Group of DC, the panel consists of myself, current Lincoln Group President John O’Brien, and current Lincoln Group Vice President of Special Events Debbie Jackson. After our short presentations, I’ll moderate a Q&A for the panel. A link for the event will be sent around shortly.

My portion of the program will focus on Lincoln and Native Americans. Specifically, I’ll address Lincoln’s role in the “Dakota 38,” where 38 Dakota were hanged for their part in an uprising that resulted in the deaths of 800 or more settlers. While Lincoln commuted the death sentences of 265 of those convicted, the 38 remain the largest mass execution in U.S. history. I’ll put the incident, and two others, in context with the history of the “Indian System” that had been in place for decades.

Following me will be John O’Brien’s discussion of Lincoln and Emancipation in response to questions about whether Lincoln thought “black lives mattered.” Debbie Jackson will bring the topics together with an overview of why we honor Lincoln despite the fact that he wasn’t infallible.

ADVANCED REGISTRATION FOR THE ZOOM MEETING IS REQUIRED. SEE LINK BELOW. The panel discussion and Q&A will be recorded and is intended as a resource for the Chicago and San Francisco review commissions, plus will be made available to organizations, schools, groups, and anyone else who would benefit from a rational discussion of Lincoln’s roles in these issues.

Please RSVP with link below

Advance Registration Required

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_esVKJb0eSty1gsF3F1BREA

[Photo by David J. Kent, Lincoln in Chicago]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me for updates on my Facebook author page and Goodreads.

No comments

Lincoln Fires General-in-Chief George B. McClellan, But Keeps Him Anyway

  By

George B. McClellanOn March 11, 1862, everyone was thinking about George B. McClellan. Lincoln’s cabinet met and groused about their chronic dissatisfaction with the General. Frustrated with McClellan’s “slows,” Lincoln issued War Order No. 3, which fired McClellan as General-in-Chief but retained him as commander of the Army of the Potomac. He spent the rest of the day explaining his decision. War Order No. 3 stated:

Major-General McClellan, having personally taken the field, at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, he is retaining command of the Department of the Potomac.

 

Ordered further: That the two departments now under the respective commands of Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under General Buell as lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi; and that, until otherwise ordered, Major-General Halleck have command of said department.

McClellan had been an irritant from the beginning. The embarrassing loss at the first Battle of Bull Run sent Winfield Scott to retirement and left Lincoln desperately searching for a military leader. With few options, he turned to a young George B. McClellan for his next General-in-Chief. The Ohio-born McClellan had exhibited strong leadership in two small skirmishes in western Virginia, and he came highly recommended by Ohio Governor William Dennison and Ohio native Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.

McClellan masterfully outfitted and drilled his raw recruits into a skilled Army of the Potomac, yet he consistently refused to put them into action. He repeatedly claimed the Confederates vastly outnumbered him, even though he had up to twice as many troops at his disposal. His soldiers loved him, but McClellan’s overabundance of caution led to Lincoln’s significant frustration. Adding insult, McClellan arrogantly considered himself vastly superior to the President, referring to Lincoln in letters home to his wife as “nothing more than a well-meaning baboon” and “a gorilla.”

Peninsula Campaign

Despite his position as General-in-Chief, McClellan rarely communicated his strategy or progress. His insubordination included ignoring the President and retiring to bed after Lincoln had sat patiently in McClellan’s parlor for an hour waiting for him to return from an evening out. Continuing to press his generals to fight, Lincoln suggested that the well-trained army make a frontal assault on Confederate forces between Washington and Richmond. McClellan disagreed, eventually counter-proposing a complicated plan to take the Confederate capital of Richmond from the South, which was in direct opposition to Lincoln’s strategy to defeat armies, not take territory.

After several months of obsessive planning, in March 1862 McClellan began shipping troops down the Potomac River to the Virginia peninsula between the James and York Rivers. The size of the troop movement was unprecedented, with more than 120,000 men, a dozen artillery batteries, and tons of equipment all ferried into place at the base of the peninsula. To Lincoln’s chagrin, further overland movement toward Richmond was painfully slow because of bad weather, mud, and McClellan’s exaggerated opinion of enemy troop strength. The Union forces negated the advantage of surprise, and by the time they advanced toward Richmond the more mobile Confederate army had positioned itself to defend the southern capital. Meanwhile, McClellan, against Lincoln’s wishes, had left the Union capital woefully unprotected.

By any measurement, the Peninsula Campaign was a disaster. The Union survived its critical blunder only because of Lincoln’s strategic decision-making. McClellan, of course, blamed Lincoln for supposedly meddling. A frustrated Lincoln demoted McClellan. This left the president once again in desperate need of a military leader. Generals Henry Halleck, Ambrose Burnside (whose trademark facial hair was the inspiration for the term “sideburns”), Joseph Hooker, John C. Fremont, John McClernand, John Pope, George Meade, and others were all considered by Lincoln but ultimately found wanting. Sitting in the wings were Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, western generals who had not yet captured the president’s eye.

McClellan’s demotion was short-lived. In utter desperation and after several disastrous Union losses in the summer of 1862, Lincoln once again turned to McClellan as his General-in-Chief.

At the time, Lincoln was experiencing personal heartbreak in addition to the pressure of mounting Union soldier casualties. In February, Mary Lincoln had planned a grand open house to show off the dramatic and expensive improvements she had made to the aging and neglected White House. By the night of the party, however, Lincoln’s two youngest sons had become severely ill. While guests gathered downstairs, Lincoln and Mary repeatedly slipped upstairs to check on their ailing children. Diagnosed with what was likely typhoid fever, Willie progressively worsened. On February 20, 1862, he died. Tad recovered, but never really understood the sudden loss of his older brother and constant playmate.

Mary was devastated, and for the rest of her time as First Lady (a term she coined to refer to her position) she wore nothing but black. Relying even more on her trusted confidante, former slave Elizabeth Keckley, Mary became an even greater burden on household staff and the growing list of Washington insiders who despised her. Lincoln mourned as well, coping by throwing himself more deeply into the continued struggle to save the Union. One part of that struggle was the hugely important battle of Antietam.

Antietam

In September 1862, Confederate General Robert E. Lee led his Army of Northern Virginia into western Maryland. Following their victory at a second battle of Bull Run, Lee moved his army north to a point near Sharpsburg, alongside Antietam Creek, where they took up defensive positions. With surprising aggressiveness, McClellan’s Army of the Potomac attacked Lee’s forces on September 17. The first assault came from Union General Joseph Hooker on Lee’s left flank, while General Ambrose Burnside later attacked the right. A surprise counterattack from Confederate General A.P. Hill helped push back Union forces. Eventually, Lee’s troops withdrew from the battlefield first. He moved his remaining army back across the Potomac into the safety of Virginia.

Always overly cautious, McClellan made no effort to follow. Lee had committed all of his 55,000 men, while McClellan only ordered a portion of his larger 87,000-man force into the fray. This numerical imbalance allowed Lee to create and exploit tactical advantages he should not have had. When questioned by Lincoln about his failure to pursue Lee, McClellan complained that his army and horses were sore-tongued and fatigued, and thus required rest. Lincoln responded tersely by telegram:

Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?

Antietam was destined to be the single bloodiest day of battle in American history. The casualties for both armies totaled a staggering 22,717 dead, wounded, or missing.

Despite Lincoln’s frustration, Antietam stood out as an important battle in the fight for freedom. Although essentially a draw, the fact that Lee withdrew from the battlefield first allowed the North to record Antietam as a victory, something that Lincoln had been needing for some time.

He issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation a few days later.

[Adapted from my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Image Credit: U.S. Signal Corps/National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me for updates on my Facebook author page and Goodreads.

13 Comments

The Misguided Idea of Targeting Abraham Lincoln and Other Statues

  By

Abraham Lincoln ChicagoSan Francisco targets Abraham Lincoln schools for renaming. Chicago targets Abraham Lincoln and other statues for possible removal. DC Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduces a bill to remove the Emancipation Memorial statue in Washington, D.C. These efforts are severely misguided, based on political expediency rather than an informed discussion of Lincoln and other past American leaders.

I’ve been addressing the issues surrounding removal, and consideration of removal, of Confederate statues across the nation. There is a rational case for removing Confederate statues. There is no rational case for removing Abraham Lincoln statues.

The motives are understandable and I strongly encourage an open and honest discussion of problematic statues. In my “rational case” post I explained that there are three time periods reflected by, and must be considered, for every statue: the subject, the motive and timing of erection, and the present. Norton’s bill to remove the Emancipation Memorial statue is based almost entirely on the present perspective. While many believe that present perspective overrides the two earlier perspectives, proponents of removing the statue are obligated to make that case in a public forum, not by arbitrarily passing a bill by politicians without any interest in the discussion or the outcome, i.e., 99%+ of the House Representatives and Senators who would vote on the bill. Norton would better serve her constituents by using her power to garner news coverage, input from the city, from the National Park Service (who owns the statue, hence the need for a law before it can be removed or augmented), and a much needed discussion of the larger issues beyond the presence of the statue. This last point is critical and I’ll return to it shortly.

While the Emancipation Memorial is controversial because of its inherent design elements (Boston removed its copy of the statue for this reason), the actions by San Francisco and Chicago have no such controversies stimulating their actions. Instead, they are acting based on misrepresentation of Lincoln’s attitudes and actions.

San Francisco has every right to name, or rename, schools within their jurisdiction. Their far-ranging list of names they want to move away from includes several U.S. Presidents, the current California Senator (who was once Mayor of San Francisco), environmentalist John Muir, and many others. While some of the reasons are potentially persuasive, others border on the ridiculous.

Regarding Abraham Lincoln, the chair of the renaming committee argued that “Lincoln, like the presidents before him and most after, did not show through policy or rhetoric that black lives ever mattered to them outside of human capital and as casualties of wealth building.” This comment is simply absurd. Lincoln was literally murdered because his assassin listened to Lincoln argue for black voting rights. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved people and brought African Americans into the armed forces, which played a large role in why the Union won the Civil War. As the Spielberg movie Lincoln dramatically documented, Lincoln acted aggressively to ensure passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery. African American leaders like Frederick Douglass recounted their personal experiences with Lincoln, all saying that he treated them like any other American. As historian Jonathan White explains in Smithsonian, Lincoln most certainly believed black lives mattered.

The spreadsheet outlining the reasons for renaming noted that Lincoln was “not seen as a hero” among Native Americans “as the majority of his policies proved to be detrimental to them.” By this standard, every American president before Lincoln – and since Lincoln – would not be acceptable for naming schools, including Ronald Reagan. The country has a long history of maltreatment of Native populations; Lincoln neither enlarged it nor shrunk it during his time in office. Given he was faced with the most critical existential crisis of our nation’s history, the Civil War, which did not end until the time he was assassinated, it is unrealistic to expect that he would have to time to reverse long-standing attitudes and policies that virtually no one in the country was acting to change. And yet in his last two annual messages to Congress he did call for a reevaluation of the government’s treatment of Native Americans, something he had planned to deal with in his second term after the war was over if he had lived to do so.

Chicago, yes, even Chicago, has also recently called for the reevaluation of 41 statues and monuments within the city as part of their “racial healing and historical reckoning project.” Again, the focus of the Lincoln statues is because the committee “determined Native Americans were mistreated during his administration.” The points made above apply to Chicago’s actions as well. Part of this idea is a misunderstanding of Lincoln’s role in the “Dakota 38,” which resulted the hanging of 38 Dakota Native Americans in Minnesota in 1862. I’ve discussed this misunderstanding in depth here.

Which gets me back to the idea for a much needed discussion of the larger issues beyond the presence of the statue. Removing these statues and renaming schools does not make these larger issues – white supremacy, systemic racism, continuing disadvantaging of BiPOC individuals suddenly disappear. In some ways it may exacerbate them, especially when the reasons presented for removal are based on misrepresentation and misunderstanding of history, along with unrealistic expectations of perfection in our past leaders. These are not Confederates who literally chose to divide America, they are leaders who fought hard to create, protect, and bring America closer to the ideal of a more perfect Union. They were human, like all of us, and should be treated as human, not as some idealistic “god” of humanity who aren’t allowed not be perfect.

So rather than simply remove statues by edict for political expediency, current day leaders should take advantage of the opportunity our more recent awareness affords us and lead public discussions across America. Rather than pass a resolution to rename schools on misinformation, use the school names as a focal point for deep public education. Neither San Francisco, nor Chicago, nor Washington, D.C. involved historians in their debates. How is that even possible? Historians expert on each of the historical figures are happy to participate in discussions with school boards or monument commissions. They, we, are happy to sit down with the public and policy-makers to help everyone better understand the relevant history. That’s what we do.

Ultimately, it is up to those responsible communities to decide how they will proceed. Undoubtedly there are some historical figures that we will, and should, choose no longer to honor. But that discussion should be done in the open. Beyond that, the discussion must include the larger issues that remain even after statues and school names are removed. Leaders have an opportunity to lead; they must embrace this opportunity, not hide from it by making arbitrary decisions.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Follow me for updates on my Facebook author page and Goodreads.