The good people in charge of amusement at the Lincoln Library and Museum have a website describing what they are up to.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will plunge you into a fully immersive theatrical experience ...
Over the top? You decide..
p.s. Why not have the new "Ghosts of the Library" show contain a segment with Lincoln spinning in his grave?
7/08/2004
JULY BOOKS | Scheduled for release this month: Sea Wolf of the Confederacy * Little Phil: A Reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan * High Tide at Gettysburg: The Campaign in Pennsylvania
7/07/2004
So you want to be in Civil War movies...
There's a documentary in the making featuring Early's raid on Washington. It's shooting near Boonsboro, MD, later this month. This story gives an overview of the project.
The film's website has a casting call section that suggests they still need more than a few extras.
If you look like Henry Wager Halleck, you stand a decent chance of landing the part. One would think.
The film's website has a casting call section that suggests they still need more than a few extras.
If you look like Henry Wager Halleck, you stand a decent chance of landing the part. One would think.
JULY BOOKS | Scheduled for release this month: Southern Daughter: The Life of Margaret Mitchell and the Making of Gone with the Wind * Colors and Blood: Flag Passions of the Confederate South by Bonner * With Lee in Virginia by Henty
7/06/2004
Madison Avenue claims historian's office
There is an history author you've never heard of. He has sold millions of books to a mass, popular audience and to critical acclaim; one title alone sold over 3 million copies. His best selling historical novels have covered topics like slavery and the Civil War.
His name is Christopher Collier; he is a retired professor who has served as Connecticut's state historian for two decades. His best sellers are for juveniles.
He's typically interested in and researches deeply (for himself) such stuff as the effects of Revolutionary War inflation and the historic links between Connecticut and the Hamptons; he says his aim in taking the unpaid state post was to "bring sophisticated history to the general public."
To "bring sophisticated history to the general public" is not a recipe for success in Civil War literature. So when he was not amusing himself with adult-level studies, Dr. Collier pitched historical fiction to schoolchildren. The children would get the sophisticated history.
This is quite unlike the James McPherson formula for success, where you drag post-graduate complexity down to a seventh-grade level for lazy adults. Collier took the "sophisticated history" to audiences of intellectually ambitious kids and was crowned with great success.
But the times move on:
The new state historian will be Walter Woodward, a former advertising executive. Perhaps he can use his promotional skills to tell Connecticut's great stories.
This seems like one of those cases where a model or rock star takes on a serious acting role. It certainly answers the animatronic/touristic challenges of history with which Richard Norton Smith so nobly grapples at the Lincoln Library.
The editors of the Hartford Courant put it in perspective:
But today, we salute Mr. Collier with the certainty that not a single journalist in the state will delete his phone number.
No offense intended to history-minded admen, you understand, but somebody ultimately has to write the words - or vett the words - in your tourist brochures.
His name is Christopher Collier; he is a retired professor who has served as Connecticut's state historian for two decades. His best sellers are for juveniles.
He's typically interested in and researches deeply (for himself) such stuff as the effects of Revolutionary War inflation and the historic links between Connecticut and the Hamptons; he says his aim in taking the unpaid state post was to "bring sophisticated history to the general public."
To "bring sophisticated history to the general public" is not a recipe for success in Civil War literature. So when he was not amusing himself with adult-level studies, Dr. Collier pitched historical fiction to schoolchildren. The children would get the sophisticated history.
This is quite unlike the James McPherson formula for success, where you drag post-graduate complexity down to a seventh-grade level for lazy adults. Collier took the "sophisticated history" to audiences of intellectually ambitious kids and was crowned with great success.
But the times move on:
The new state historian will be Walter Woodward, a former advertising executive. Perhaps he can use his promotional skills to tell Connecticut's great stories.
This seems like one of those cases where a model or rock star takes on a serious acting role. It certainly answers the animatronic/touristic challenges of history with which Richard Norton Smith so nobly grapples at the Lincoln Library.
The editors of the Hartford Courant put it in perspective:
But today, we salute Mr. Collier with the certainty that not a single journalist in the state will delete his phone number.
No offense intended to history-minded admen, you understand, but somebody ultimately has to write the words - or vett the words - in your tourist brochures.
7/05/2004
July the fifth
July 5, 1861: Lincoln signs a temperance declaration.
July 5, 1862: Keyes, Heintzelman, Sumner, Franklin, and Porter are nominated for the rank of major general, USV.
July 5, 1863: Pouring sheets of rain inundate the shelterless wounded at Gettysburg, hospital tents and equipment having been sent away before the battle.
July 5, 1864: Jubal Early, finding Harper's Ferry too strongly defended, begins operations against Washington, DC instead.
July 5, 1865: His work done, Major General George Cadwallader resigns his commission.
July 5, 1862: Keyes, Heintzelman, Sumner, Franklin, and Porter are nominated for the rank of major general, USV.
July 5, 1863: Pouring sheets of rain inundate the shelterless wounded at Gettysburg, hospital tents and equipment having been sent away before the battle.
July 5, 1864: Jubal Early, finding Harper's Ferry too strongly defended, begins operations against Washington, DC instead.
July 5, 1865: His work done, Major General George Cadwallader resigns his commission.
Gingrich book tour inches forward
After June 28, this seems to be the next promotional event for Grant Comes East:
The book signing will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Shellman House, 206 E. Main St., Westminster [MD]
William R. Forstchen, Gingrich's co- (ghost?) writer shares the limelight with two other authors.
The book signing will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Shellman House, 206 E. Main St., Westminster [MD]
William R. Forstchen, Gingrich's co- (ghost?) writer shares the limelight with two other authors.
JULY BOOKS | Scheduled for release this month: Memoirs of a Dutch Mudsill: The War Memories of John Henry Otto, Captain, Company D, 21st Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry by Otto * Ongoing Civil War: New Versions of Old Stories by Hattaway * Remember the Distance That Divides Us: The Family Letters of Philadelphia Quaker Abolitionist and Michigan Pioneer Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, 1830-1842
7/03/2004
More McClellan minstrels
SATURDAY | Before we leave the minstrels on the McClellan Poetry Day, I wanted to give another sample of how military personalities percolated into pop culture.
Wood's Mistrels was a rival to Dan Bryant's group (see last week's entry), and was also based in NYC.
In looking at this piece, consider the sequence of the generals named: Halleck, McClellan, Kearny. They appear in command order. Kearny is dead, so the piece was written after Chantilly. McClellan is in Dixie, which means he has crossed out of Maryland. The Library of Congress has dated the song "circa 1862." We can help them a little by narrowing the range to October 1862.
Civil War historians generally revile the McClellan of October, 1862. The minstrel shows were celebrating him.
I have been unable to find the music for this, but the repetion suggests a marching song.
Hold on Abraham, Uncle Sam's Boys Are Coming Right Along.
We're going down to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
We're going down to Dixie, To fight for the dear old Flag;
And should we fall in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
And should we fall in Dixie, We'll die for the dear old Flag.
Chorus:
Hold on Abraham,
Never say die to your Uncle Sam;
Uncle Sam's boys are coming right along,
Six hundred thousand strong
Our Flag shall float o'er Dixie, o'er Dixie, o'er Dixie,
Our Flag shall float o'er Dixie, the Red the White and Blue:
We'll ne'er give up 'till Dixie, 'till Dixie, 'till Dixie,
We'll ne'er give up 'till Dixie, sings Yankee Doodle Doo.
Our Halleck's bound for Dixie, for Dixie, for Dixie,
Our Halleck's bound for Dixie, with a million boys or two:
He'll never give up Dixie, old Dixie, old Dixie,
He'll never give up Dixie, 'till she's back in the Union true.
McClellan he's in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
McClellan he's in Dixie, and ready for the foe:
Do you think he'll give up Dixie, old Dixie, old Dixie,
Do you think he'll give up Dixie, oh, no no no no no no.
Bold Kearney fell in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
Bold Kearney fell in Dixie, While fighting for us all:
And there is Gen'ral Burnside, our Burnside, old Burnside,
And there is Gen'ral Burnside, he will avenge his fall.
And where is Gen'ral Butler, our Butler, old Butler,
And where is "Picayune Butler," he's gone to Dixie's town:
And there he keeps a stir'ing, a stir'ing, a stir'ing,
And there he keeps a stir'ing, the Secesh up and down.
Brave Corcoran's come from Dixie, from Dixie, from Dixie,
Brave Corcoran's come from Dixie, to speed the cause along:
He's going back to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
He's going back to Dixie, with a Brigade full and strong.
Our friends have gone to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
Our friends have gone to Dixie, to fight for the dear old Flag:
And we're all going to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
And we're all going to Dixie, to stand by the dear old Flag.
Wood's Mistrels was a rival to Dan Bryant's group (see last week's entry), and was also based in NYC.
In looking at this piece, consider the sequence of the generals named: Halleck, McClellan, Kearny. They appear in command order. Kearny is dead, so the piece was written after Chantilly. McClellan is in Dixie, which means he has crossed out of Maryland. The Library of Congress has dated the song "circa 1862." We can help them a little by narrowing the range to October 1862.
Civil War historians generally revile the McClellan of October, 1862. The minstrel shows were celebrating him.
I have been unable to find the music for this, but the repetion suggests a marching song.
Hold on Abraham, Uncle Sam's Boys Are Coming Right Along.
We're going down to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
We're going down to Dixie, To fight for the dear old Flag;
And should we fall in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
And should we fall in Dixie, We'll die for the dear old Flag.
Chorus:
Hold on Abraham,
Never say die to your Uncle Sam;
Uncle Sam's boys are coming right along,
Six hundred thousand strong
Our Flag shall float o'er Dixie, o'er Dixie, o'er Dixie,
Our Flag shall float o'er Dixie, the Red the White and Blue:
We'll ne'er give up 'till Dixie, 'till Dixie, 'till Dixie,
We'll ne'er give up 'till Dixie, sings Yankee Doodle Doo.
Our Halleck's bound for Dixie, for Dixie, for Dixie,
Our Halleck's bound for Dixie, with a million boys or two:
He'll never give up Dixie, old Dixie, old Dixie,
He'll never give up Dixie, 'till she's back in the Union true.
McClellan he's in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
McClellan he's in Dixie, and ready for the foe:
Do you think he'll give up Dixie, old Dixie, old Dixie,
Do you think he'll give up Dixie, oh, no no no no no no.
Bold Kearney fell in Dixie, in Dixie, in Dixie,
Bold Kearney fell in Dixie, While fighting for us all:
And there is Gen'ral Burnside, our Burnside, old Burnside,
And there is Gen'ral Burnside, he will avenge his fall.
And where is Gen'ral Butler, our Butler, old Butler,
And where is "Picayune Butler," he's gone to Dixie's town:
And there he keeps a stir'ing, a stir'ing, a stir'ing,
And there he keeps a stir'ing, the Secesh up and down.
Brave Corcoran's come from Dixie, from Dixie, from Dixie,
Brave Corcoran's come from Dixie, to speed the cause along:
He's going back to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
He's going back to Dixie, with a Brigade full and strong.
Our friends have gone to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
Our friends have gone to Dixie, to fight for the dear old Flag:
And we're all going to Dixie, to Dixie, to Dixie,
And we're all going to Dixie, to stand by the dear old Flag.
7/02/2004
Lincoln exchanging queens
Certain writers use a chess metaphor to explain Lincoln's mindset about defending Washington: Lincoln would not exchange queens with the Rebels. That is, he would not trade Washington for Richmond.
If the Civil War public ever heard and understood that metaphor, it was thanks to the newspaper coverage of the American prodigy Paul Morphy, a youth who challenged the chess world to achieve remarkable success.
My first exposure to the Civil War era, apart from John Wayne's Horse Soldiers, was through the study of the games of the great Paul Morphy of New Orleans, the uncrowned world champion who died the death of a Russian novel. The Civil War, I learned as a child, had killed his interest in the game as well as cut off his career at the height of his fame and power. The war eventually made him mad. Chess-playing American kids of my youth knew Paul Morphy's story, if not his games.
I remembered Morphy and Lincoln last night looking through Jeremy Silman's 1999 chess study, The Amateur's Mind. Silman was analyzing a game against one of his students. He has a harsh commentary style I like very much:
Also note his fear concerning the position of the White King. [...] Amateurs tend to panic in the face of any kind of kingside threat, and his comments show that he suffers from the same "King-safety" disease.
Lincoln, unfortunately, was not taking strategy lessons from chess experts and seems to have suffered more than a little "King-safety disease" in March/April 1862. Silman continues:
King safety is very important! But only worry if the enemy has some pieces aimed in your King's direction.
Think about the Eastern theatre in March and April, 1862.
In the present position, the only pieces Black has on the kingside are his f6-Knight and the e7-Queen; this can hardly be construed as a horde of attackers!
I'm picturing an pack of unsupported ragamuffins having a run up the Valley.
And, more disturbingly, I'm picturing Jefferson Davis consulting a Louisiana chess prodigy on strategy. There's some scary alternative history for you.
If the Civil War public ever heard and understood that metaphor, it was thanks to the newspaper coverage of the American prodigy Paul Morphy, a youth who challenged the chess world to achieve remarkable success.
My first exposure to the Civil War era, apart from John Wayne's Horse Soldiers, was through the study of the games of the great Paul Morphy of New Orleans, the uncrowned world champion who died the death of a Russian novel. The Civil War, I learned as a child, had killed his interest in the game as well as cut off his career at the height of his fame and power. The war eventually made him mad. Chess-playing American kids of my youth knew Paul Morphy's story, if not his games.
I remembered Morphy and Lincoln last night looking through Jeremy Silman's 1999 chess study, The Amateur's Mind. Silman was analyzing a game against one of his students. He has a harsh commentary style I like very much:
Also note his fear concerning the position of the White King. [...] Amateurs tend to panic in the face of any kind of kingside threat, and his comments show that he suffers from the same "King-safety" disease.
Lincoln, unfortunately, was not taking strategy lessons from chess experts and seems to have suffered more than a little "King-safety disease" in March/April 1862. Silman continues:
King safety is very important! But only worry if the enemy has some pieces aimed in your King's direction.
Think about the Eastern theatre in March and April, 1862.
In the present position, the only pieces Black has on the kingside are his f6-Knight and the e7-Queen; this can hardly be construed as a horde of attackers!
I'm picturing an pack of unsupported ragamuffins having a run up the Valley.
And, more disturbingly, I'm picturing Jefferson Davis consulting a Louisiana chess prodigy on strategy. There's some scary alternative history for you.
JULY BOOKS | Scheduled for release this month: Brush Men and Vigilantes * Fanatics and Fire-Eaters: Newspapers and the Coming of the Civil War * Into the Valley: A Historical and Tour Guide of Civil War in the Shennandoah Valley, 1861-1865
7/01/2004
Heritage tourism minus the heritage
James City, VA, is near the site of a settlement of 19th Century freed slaves. Despite all the archaelogical digging thereabouts, no one has come up with a single knick-knack from this old town.
County Director of Parks and Recreation Ned Cheely said most of the experts "felt like we should continue to look for the brass ring. But at the same time we should also interpret and celebrate what we've already found."
Heartbreaking. Not a single knick-knack.
Said Jim Dorsey, assistant site manager at nearby Jamestown Settlement:
"You're going to get a lot of people who will go there because of the location, regardless of what they find."
So there's hope! As long as we have a location, we can have tourism. But wait ...
"When you can put an X on the map, that's going to help you tremendously," said Curt Gaul, park ranger at the Jamestown National Historical Site.
Oh, so it's not just about artifacts ... we haven't even got a site yet. No site, no artifacts, and some word-of-mouth history. Are those enough elements on which to build an heritage tourism plan? Apparently so,
Robertson said the county should start working on educational components like signs and markers while still continuing to search for evidence in the ground.
And the educational markers will go where exactly? What sort of historical comments will they display?
James City is leading us into new dimensions in historic remembrance. It's the new, notional historic site.
County Director of Parks and Recreation Ned Cheely said most of the experts "felt like we should continue to look for the brass ring. But at the same time we should also interpret and celebrate what we've already found."
Heartbreaking. Not a single knick-knack.
Said Jim Dorsey, assistant site manager at nearby Jamestown Settlement:
"You're going to get a lot of people who will go there because of the location, regardless of what they find."
So there's hope! As long as we have a location, we can have tourism. But wait ...
"When you can put an X on the map, that's going to help you tremendously," said Curt Gaul, park ranger at the Jamestown National Historical Site.
Oh, so it's not just about artifacts ... we haven't even got a site yet. No site, no artifacts, and some word-of-mouth history. Are those enough elements on which to build an heritage tourism plan? Apparently so,
Robertson said the county should start working on educational components like signs and markers while still continuing to search for evidence in the ground.
And the educational markers will go where exactly? What sort of historical comments will they display?
James City is leading us into new dimensions in historic remembrance. It's the new, notional historic site.
Manet's Civil War painting is on tour
Here's quite a good commentary on Manet's famous painting "The Kearsarge and the Alabama."
The Battle of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama was Edouard Manet's first attempt to paint the sea.
He had not seen the exchange of fire between the two American ships, but, like everyone else in France, he had read accounts of it in the press. Working in his Paris studio from written descriptions, sketches, possibly from photographs, and above all from his imagination, he quickly completed his 4ft-square canvas. Speed was important because, by mid-July, less than a month after the battle, the picture was on public display in a shop window in Paris.
This is from John Keegan's paper, the Telegraph, and registration may be required.
The Battle of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama was Edouard Manet's first attempt to paint the sea.
He had not seen the exchange of fire between the two American ships, but, like everyone else in France, he had read accounts of it in the press. Working in his Paris studio from written descriptions, sketches, possibly from photographs, and above all from his imagination, he quickly completed his 4ft-square canvas. Speed was important because, by mid-July, less than a month after the battle, the picture was on public display in a shop window in Paris.
This is from John Keegan's paper, the Telegraph, and registration may be required.
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