Homes....
Dust Covered Glory.
Because my Dad was an amateur American Civil War historian (He could claim the title “Civil War Historian” if he would finish his book! *nudge*), my siblings and I grew up pretty well steeped in Civil War history (among others, my Mom is an amateur historian as well.) My sister and I are the only people I know who put in the Ken Burns Civil War series because for some reason, we find the documentary of out nations bloodiest conflict….comforting.
In short, we’re weird.
It’s hard for people to look at this conflict objectively. Not that slavery wasn’t the greatest blight on the American liberty and honor, it most certainly was. But to find respect for the military, the men and their leaders, on both sides of the conflict is still a difficult thing. Go to any message board where it is under discussion and you find extremists still at work, even now 140 years later. Yet the article What Price Glory by Fergus Bordewich in the most recent Smithsonian Magazine manages to convey the greatest sacrifices and honor from both the men in blue and the men in grey.
The Battle for Ft. Wagner, as immortalized by the film Glory , is famous for being the place where the 54th Massachusetts, America first black regiment, took the pivotal role of the vanguard in the attack on the Fort which protected Charleston Harbor, disproving the doubts of most of America held about black courage, discipline and honor. While the attack did not change the course of the war, it did change the course of American culture by respecting the right of the disenfranchised to fight for themselves, which allowed them a self respect that helped them finally defeat Jim Crow in the 1950’s and 60’s.
(On an interesting note that the film didn’t relate, and I never realized, was that two of Fredrick Douglass’ sons, Charles and Lewis, were members of the 54th.)
But the battle is remarkable for another reason. For 58 days a force of 1,000 Confederate soldiers held off a besieging Union force of 11,000 troops, artillery and the Union navy, preventing them from taking the Island, and thereby allowing Charleston time to fortify. Had Charleston, the South’s biggest shipping port and birthplace of the Secession, fell it’s would have both a huge material and spiritual loss. The troops held out through overwhelming odds and brutal conditions. “I ain’t afeared of hell no more. It can’t touch Wagner” one Confederate defender was heard to say. But their stubbornness, and by consequence Charleston’s strength, is what kept the Confederacy going as long as it did.
It’s refreshing to read an article that gives just due to the men on both sides of the conflict.
Many of the tactic and technologies; trenches, long-range artillery, searchlights, etc. used in the siege of Ft. Wagner were precursors to the type of warfare predominant in WWI.
This article also highlights a crisis hitting many Civil War battlefields: Development. A company wants to build 20 luxury homes on Morris Island, the site of Ft. Wagner, one of which is planned over a Confederate encampment.
As a historian, I would love to see all historical sites protected, especially when they have as much cultural impact as Ft. Wagner does. But one must also be realistic, the human population, whether we want it to or not, is steadily growing by leaps and bounds and space must be developed for us to live in. However, I certainly don’t believe “Luxury” homes, which are simply a money makers and not for the good of the people, is the way to go on this. I would like to see the space we currently occupy develop more efficiently before we move out to develop wildness areas and historical parks. In fact, I think this is imperative given the pressure we put on the environment when we destroy habits and ranges, as well as the historical importance of some places.
But this is a problem that Europe has been dealing with the centuries. Human’s have been in residence in Europe for so long that it’s impossible to building anything in the major cities of Europe without disturbing some archeological site. Heck, even when new graves are dug, they usually must remove the bones of those that were buried there up to hundreds of years before. Usually when the construction encounters the inevitable, the city sends in a team of archeologists to fully excavate the site before construction continues. It’s a reasonable compromise and it happens all the time.
However, as the story of the Rose (here's a little history), the theatre that many Shakespeare’s plays first appeared on, shows; sometimes History takes precedence over human development. I believe that Ft. Wagner is just such a case. It’s impact on American history and culture is enormous. If it is razed for humongous track homes with microwaves and satellite dishes, how will the American living in them understand and appreciate where their nation came from, thereby knowing how to live their lives forward as Americans?
On a related note….
This Time The Left Screws Up.
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes
Now, my understanding is that the displaces residents are given “fair market value” for their condemned property, but please tell how an upscale riverfront hotel, a health club and privately owned office buildings are “for public use”, as stipulated in the 5th Amendment?
Why does this sound like the beginning of a bad 80’s vigilante movie?
I don’t think I have to outline how many ways this ruling can be abused. I don’t have to tell you how the Left leaning Supreme Court Justices just played into the neo-conservatives hands…
Fuck. >:(
On a better note...
U.S. Acknowleges Torture at Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, Afghanistan: U.N. Source
I love my country. I love my country because I belive that America was founded on the highest principles of liberty and honor, I love America because I belive that Americans stand for what it right and just, and I think the accursed assholes who commited these acts and the twice accursed assholes that ordered them done should be stripped naked and shoved out a helicopter 30 feet over the streets of Mosul.
Not only was it fundamentally wrong, it was utterly useless. Remember that Osama bin Laden guy, whatever happened to him anyway?
Now if the U.N. will just have the balls to do something about it.
Left and Right. Robbie Gordon Fans Rejoice!
NASCAR goes to Sonoma this weekend for the years first road course race. Best of luck to the 8, 6 and 38 teams and have a safe race!
Because my Dad was an amateur American Civil War historian (He could claim the title “Civil War Historian” if he would finish his book! *nudge*), my siblings and I grew up pretty well steeped in Civil War history (among others, my Mom is an amateur historian as well.) My sister and I are the only people I know who put in the Ken Burns Civil War series because for some reason, we find the documentary of out nations bloodiest conflict….comforting.
In short, we’re weird.
It’s hard for people to look at this conflict objectively. Not that slavery wasn’t the greatest blight on the American liberty and honor, it most certainly was. But to find respect for the military, the men and their leaders, on both sides of the conflict is still a difficult thing. Go to any message board where it is under discussion and you find extremists still at work, even now 140 years later. Yet the article What Price Glory by Fergus Bordewich in the most recent Smithsonian Magazine manages to convey the greatest sacrifices and honor from both the men in blue and the men in grey.
The Battle for Ft. Wagner, as immortalized by the film Glory , is famous for being the place where the 54th Massachusetts, America first black regiment, took the pivotal role of the vanguard in the attack on the Fort which protected Charleston Harbor, disproving the doubts of most of America held about black courage, discipline and honor. While the attack did not change the course of the war, it did change the course of American culture by respecting the right of the disenfranchised to fight for themselves, which allowed them a self respect that helped them finally defeat Jim Crow in the 1950’s and 60’s.
(On an interesting note that the film didn’t relate, and I never realized, was that two of Fredrick Douglass’ sons, Charles and Lewis, were members of the 54th.)
But the battle is remarkable for another reason. For 58 days a force of 1,000 Confederate soldiers held off a besieging Union force of 11,000 troops, artillery and the Union navy, preventing them from taking the Island, and thereby allowing Charleston time to fortify. Had Charleston, the South’s biggest shipping port and birthplace of the Secession, fell it’s would have both a huge material and spiritual loss. The troops held out through overwhelming odds and brutal conditions. “I ain’t afeared of hell no more. It can’t touch Wagner” one Confederate defender was heard to say. But their stubbornness, and by consequence Charleston’s strength, is what kept the Confederacy going as long as it did.
It’s refreshing to read an article that gives just due to the men on both sides of the conflict.
Many of the tactic and technologies; trenches, long-range artillery, searchlights, etc. used in the siege of Ft. Wagner were precursors to the type of warfare predominant in WWI.
This article also highlights a crisis hitting many Civil War battlefields: Development. A company wants to build 20 luxury homes on Morris Island, the site of Ft. Wagner, one of which is planned over a Confederate encampment.
As a historian, I would love to see all historical sites protected, especially when they have as much cultural impact as Ft. Wagner does. But one must also be realistic, the human population, whether we want it to or not, is steadily growing by leaps and bounds and space must be developed for us to live in. However, I certainly don’t believe “Luxury” homes, which are simply a money makers and not for the good of the people, is the way to go on this. I would like to see the space we currently occupy develop more efficiently before we move out to develop wildness areas and historical parks. In fact, I think this is imperative given the pressure we put on the environment when we destroy habits and ranges, as well as the historical importance of some places.
But this is a problem that Europe has been dealing with the centuries. Human’s have been in residence in Europe for so long that it’s impossible to building anything in the major cities of Europe without disturbing some archeological site. Heck, even when new graves are dug, they usually must remove the bones of those that were buried there up to hundreds of years before. Usually when the construction encounters the inevitable, the city sends in a team of archeologists to fully excavate the site before construction continues. It’s a reasonable compromise and it happens all the time.
However, as the story of the Rose (here's a little history), the theatre that many Shakespeare’s plays first appeared on, shows; sometimes History takes precedence over human development. I believe that Ft. Wagner is just such a case. It’s impact on American history and culture is enormous. If it is razed for humongous track homes with microwaves and satellite dishes, how will the American living in them understand and appreciate where their nation came from, thereby knowing how to live their lives forward as Americans?
On a related note….
This Time The Left Screws Up.
Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes
Now, my understanding is that the displaces residents are given “fair market value” for their condemned property, but please tell how an upscale riverfront hotel, a health club and privately owned office buildings are “for public use”, as stipulated in the 5th Amendment?
Why does this sound like the beginning of a bad 80’s vigilante movie?
I don’t think I have to outline how many ways this ruling can be abused. I don’t have to tell you how the Left leaning Supreme Court Justices just played into the neo-conservatives hands…
Fuck. >:(
On a better note...
U.S. Acknowleges Torture at Guantanamo Bay and Iraq, Afghanistan: U.N. Source
I love my country. I love my country because I belive that America was founded on the highest principles of liberty and honor, I love America because I belive that Americans stand for what it right and just, and I think the accursed assholes who commited these acts and the twice accursed assholes that ordered them done should be stripped naked and shoved out a helicopter 30 feet over the streets of Mosul.
Not only was it fundamentally wrong, it was utterly useless. Remember that Osama bin Laden guy, whatever happened to him anyway?
Now if the U.N. will just have the balls to do something about it.
Left and Right. Robbie Gordon Fans Rejoice!
NASCAR goes to Sonoma this weekend for the years first road course race. Best of luck to the 8, 6 and 38 teams and have a safe race!
posted by KiplingKat | 3:28 PM
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