After being relieved by Lincoln, McClellan was recruited by the President's political enemies to run against him for the office in 1864. It didn't go well for him...
General Hooker is the reason why prostitutes are now known as "hookers" today- he permitted his men to consort with them freely.
The Hooker etymology is debated, as is Hooker’s general character. While fond of drinking and partying to some degree, he was an aggressive and talented commander who simply found himself overmatched by Lee at Chancellorsville.
A great retelling of a horrible episode of American history. I visited Antietam a few years ago while visiting family that lives in that general area. It's humbling to stand on the hill overlooking the field and imagine the scale of what it must have looked like to have so many soldiers marching at once, the magnitude of the violence, and, what always makes my skin crawl, the idea of two lines of infantry just lining up on either side and shooting at each other with no cover and defense to count on except cold and impassive probability that a bullet won't strike you. The natural beauty of the area makes it easy to forget just how steeped in blood it is.
It's also worth noting that the Blair Witch Project was filmed within spitting distance of Antietam and within walking distance of my relative's property and it really makes me wonder why they live there. The scenery is great but... I just wouldn't want to live next to a place where so many people met such a violent end. I have no doubt that kind of bloodshed leaves a tangibly intangible stain on a place.
5 hrs ago·edited 5 hrs agoLiked by Librarian of Celaeno
We use the word "insane" far too frequently, yet it is hard to conceive of the day retold here as other than a day suffused in mass psychosis. Yet this perspective cannot be sound for men led other men to their certain deaths on this day for uncertain ends.
Fortunately for us, citizens of the new millennium, it is not likely that any new civil war will involve much in the way of the soldier to soldier annihilation of the Civil War. Our national dissolution has become a rather halting and laborious effort, made possible by the pretense of continued functioning governmental existence. As neither bio-weaponry, financial chicanery, or direct attempts to assassinate, to name but a few tactics, have succeeded, one can only imagine what novel strategies will be next implemented.
Recent events within the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine unmistakably demonstrate that heretofore recognized ethical constraints -- the laws of war, often unironically called "humanitarian law" -- no longer serve as impediments to slaughtering others. Mass killings can be meted out as circumstances are believed to demand, by any means one might concoct, including feats of deadly technological cleverness.
This is not a world in which there exists much soundness of mind. In such circumstances, it helps to have thought-provoking pieces to read.
Antietam (or Sharpsburg, as we call it in the South) was probably the last possible chance for a “clean” Confederate victory. Gettysburg is a popular turning point, and I’ve even seen a well-constructed scenario about a possible late-war Confederate victory involving Hood never replacing Johnston, who eked out enough victories in the west to get the peace democrats elected up north in 1864. But Sharpsburg, in my opinion, was the last, best chance for a viable and not-so-easily-disputed Confederate victory (inb4 the historical determinists who like to ruin these kinds of discussions).
A decisive victory that close to Washington, combined with no Emancipation Proclamation, would have lent serious legitimacy to the CSA as an independent country. The British may or may not have been potentially persuaded, there’s debate as to how strong the anti-slavery feeling in the government really was, but the French probably could have been won over by that point. Of course, even if CSA won the war, winning the peace is another question. Who knows how they would have turned out as an independent country for a prolonged period of time.
By the time the war began slavery hadn't been legal in most Union states in decades. Various state constitutions and state laws had long since ended it, while Congress in 1787's Northwest Ordinance had pre-emptively banned slavery from what became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
There were just a few small Union states, such as Maryland, in which it was still legal when Lincoln issued the Proclamation. So the Proclamation did free the great majority of Americans still enslaved as on Jan 1 1863.
Pedantic reply, but I think his statement about the EP is that the 4 states not in rebellion weren't affected. Vast majority of slaves in the Confederacy were not freed until after the end of the war. The 13th Amendment was enacted prior to the end of the war. So, it helped to cause the end of slavery in the US, but for most slaves, the 13A was the actual legal instrument of abolition. Regardless, all part and parcel to the abolition of slavery in the US.
I was reacting to this statement: "While the reality remained that slavery was perfectly legal in the Union throughout the war..."
Slavery had not been legal, perfectly or otherwise, in the great majority of the Union states (including all the most-populous ones) since long before the Civil War.
I didn't say it was legal throughout the Union; I said it was legal in the Union throughout the war, which it was. The Emancipation Proclamation freed basically zero slaves when it was enacted and certainly didn't free those in Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, or Maryland. Each of those states was strategically significant, especially Kentucky and Maryland. The EP only mattered greatly in the last 18 months of the war, as Union forces made their way through the deep south. Lincoln's consistent position was that slavery could not be abolished absent a Constitutional Amendment, which is in fact what was put in place in 1866 with #13.
Amazing story. Thanks for highlighting this fascinating and horrific story of intelligence, courage, cowardice and slaughter. Very very sad.
It's hard to imagine that we'd have quality leaders in any future civil war. Just a bunch of McClellans trying to out-cower each other.
After being relieved by Lincoln, McClellan was recruited by the President's political enemies to run against him for the office in 1864. It didn't go well for him...
General Hooker is the reason why prostitutes are now known as "hookers" today- he permitted his men to consort with them freely.
The Hooker etymology is debated, as is Hooker’s general character. While fond of drinking and partying to some degree, he was an aggressive and talented commander who simply found himself overmatched by Lee at Chancellorsville.
Perhaps the "hooker" tagging was used as a form of slander...
A great retelling of a horrible episode of American history. I visited Antietam a few years ago while visiting family that lives in that general area. It's humbling to stand on the hill overlooking the field and imagine the scale of what it must have looked like to have so many soldiers marching at once, the magnitude of the violence, and, what always makes my skin crawl, the idea of two lines of infantry just lining up on either side and shooting at each other with no cover and defense to count on except cold and impassive probability that a bullet won't strike you. The natural beauty of the area makes it easy to forget just how steeped in blood it is.
It's also worth noting that the Blair Witch Project was filmed within spitting distance of Antietam and within walking distance of my relative's property and it really makes me wonder why they live there. The scenery is great but... I just wouldn't want to live next to a place where so many people met such a violent end. I have no doubt that kind of bloodshed leaves a tangibly intangible stain on a place.
America is full of similarly bloodstained places.
We use the word "insane" far too frequently, yet it is hard to conceive of the day retold here as other than a day suffused in mass psychosis. Yet this perspective cannot be sound for men led other men to their certain deaths on this day for uncertain ends.
Fortunately for us, citizens of the new millennium, it is not likely that any new civil war will involve much in the way of the soldier to soldier annihilation of the Civil War. Our national dissolution has become a rather halting and laborious effort, made possible by the pretense of continued functioning governmental existence. As neither bio-weaponry, financial chicanery, or direct attempts to assassinate, to name but a few tactics, have succeeded, one can only imagine what novel strategies will be next implemented.
Recent events within the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine unmistakably demonstrate that heretofore recognized ethical constraints -- the laws of war, often unironically called "humanitarian law" -- no longer serve as impediments to slaughtering others. Mass killings can be meted out as circumstances are believed to demand, by any means one might concoct, including feats of deadly technological cleverness.
This is not a world in which there exists much soundness of mind. In such circumstances, it helps to have thought-provoking pieces to read.
Wrong, it was January 6th.
:)
Great piece!
Antietam (or Sharpsburg, as we call it in the South) was probably the last possible chance for a “clean” Confederate victory. Gettysburg is a popular turning point, and I’ve even seen a well-constructed scenario about a possible late-war Confederate victory involving Hood never replacing Johnston, who eked out enough victories in the west to get the peace democrats elected up north in 1864. But Sharpsburg, in my opinion, was the last, best chance for a viable and not-so-easily-disputed Confederate victory (inb4 the historical determinists who like to ruin these kinds of discussions).
A decisive victory that close to Washington, combined with no Emancipation Proclamation, would have lent serious legitimacy to the CSA as an independent country. The British may or may not have been potentially persuaded, there’s debate as to how strong the anti-slavery feeling in the government really was, but the French probably could have been won over by that point. Of course, even if CSA won the war, winning the peace is another question. Who knows how they would have turned out as an independent country for a prolonged period of time.
This was amazing. Thank you.
Outstanding work!
Having just wrapped the Punic Wars, Lee strikes me as an American Hannibal.
Great read.
By the time the war began slavery hadn't been legal in most Union states in decades. Various state constitutions and state laws had long since ended it, while Congress in 1787's Northwest Ordinance had pre-emptively banned slavery from what became Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
There were just a few small Union states, such as Maryland, in which it was still legal when Lincoln issued the Proclamation. So the Proclamation did free the great majority of Americans still enslaved as on Jan 1 1863.
Pedantic reply, but I think his statement about the EP is that the 4 states not in rebellion weren't affected. Vast majority of slaves in the Confederacy were not freed until after the end of the war. The 13th Amendment was enacted prior to the end of the war. So, it helped to cause the end of slavery in the US, but for most slaves, the 13A was the actual legal instrument of abolition. Regardless, all part and parcel to the abolition of slavery in the US.
I was reacting to this statement: "While the reality remained that slavery was perfectly legal in the Union throughout the war..."
Slavery had not been legal, perfectly or otherwise, in the great majority of the Union states (including all the most-populous ones) since long before the Civil War.
I didn't say it was legal throughout the Union; I said it was legal in the Union throughout the war, which it was. The Emancipation Proclamation freed basically zero slaves when it was enacted and certainly didn't free those in Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, or Maryland. Each of those states was strategically significant, especially Kentucky and Maryland. The EP only mattered greatly in the last 18 months of the war, as Union forces made their way through the deep south. Lincoln's consistent position was that slavery could not be abolished absent a Constitutional Amendment, which is in fact what was put in place in 1866 with #13.