Sunday, October 30, 2011

Single action

Single action refers to a firearm in which the trigger performs only a single action: to release the cocked hammer or striker. If it isn't cocked, nothing happens when the trigger is pulled. A single action revolver must be manually cocked between each firing.

In a double action revolver, the trigger performs both the act of cocking and of releasing the hammer or striker. This means that the piece will fire every time the trigger is pulled, although the trigger pull becomes longer.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Wrapping it up: A final Gettysburg overview


A summary and comments on the three-day Battle of Gettysburg.
---------

The Battle of Gettysburg was a famous battle of the American Civil war. It took place over July 1-3, 1863 at a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The American Civil War was fought between the northern "Union" states and the 11 secessionist southern states. The secession of those 11 states was not recognized by President Abraham Lincoln or the rest of the American government. The Confederate States of America was never recognized as an independent nation by any country.

Both sides had several armies. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought between the Army of the Potomac (north) and the Army of Northern Virginia.

Both armies were organized into several large groups called corps. In turn, corps were made up of divisions. Divisions were made up of brigades. Brigades consisted of regiments and regiments were made up of companies, the smallest unit of organization. Corps were usually simply assigned Roman numerals, and were also known by the name of their commander. Divisions and brigades were usually simply referred to (by Civil War historians) by the name of their commanding officer. Regiments were named after the states that raised them, preceded by a number; companies were almost always simply known by letters. Some had unofficial or official nicknames.

At Gettysburg, the Army of Northern Virginia was commanded by Robert E. Lee. The Army of the Potomac was commanded by George G. Meade.

The invasion of the North by the Army of Northern Virginia began in early June, 1863, when that army crossed the Rapidan river and began their march north toward Pennsylvania. Coincidentally, the new state of West Virginia was admitted to the Union effective June 20 while the Confederates were marching north across part of it.

The Army of the Potomac crossed the Rappahannock shortly thereafter and also began marching north, shadowing the Army of Northern Virginia, staying generally between Lee's army and Washington City. The armies continued north, paralleling each other. Lee's cavalry also proceeded northward, but (with Lee's permission) moved, on June 26, to the east of the Army of the Potomac, then resumed northward between the Union Army and Washington. Those three brigades of Lee's cavalry (Stuart) left the main army on June 26 and rejoined it on July 2.

The march northward took most of the month of June. There were some major encounters between the two armies as they proceeded northward.

With relation to the town of Gettysburg, Lee's army columns ended up marching to the west of the town, and the Union army to the east of the town. One corps of Lee's army was sent further north past Gettysburg. Lee's cavalry, still farther to the east, also proceeded farther north than Gettysburg. The original plan was for II Corps (Ewell) and Lee's Cavalry (Stuart) to link up and perhaps take Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state capital, but both were recalled south to Gettysburg when it became obvious to Lee that a major battle would be fought at Gettysburg.

On the last day of June, elements of the two armies sighted each other when a forward unit of Lee's army, intending to enter the town of Gettysburg, encountered a group of Union recon cavalry. The Confederate party returned to their main body after this brief encounter.

The next morning, on July 1, a larger force of two confederate divisions (Heth, Pender) were sent into Gettysburg with the intent of driving out the Union cavalry. The Union cavalry resisted the Confederate advance into Gettysburg, and held the forward units of the Confederates long enough for the Union I Corps (Reynolds) to begin arriving from the south. Lee immediately ordered concentration of his entire army at Gettysburg. The morning battle at Gettysburg intensified as more and more units from both sides began to arrive and engage.

Meade did not receive word of the large engagement taking place at Gettysburg until later in the morning, at which time he, too, sent out orders to all his corps commanders to come to Gettysburg, and notified the War Department in Washington. He also dispatched General Hancock, the commander of the Union II Corps, ahead to organize and align the Union troops as they arrived at Gettysburg, until Mead himself could come up. The furthest distant, the Union VI Corps (Sedgewick) in Maryland, did not receive Meade's orders until near midnight, but the large 16,000-man corps was mobilized immediately and was force-marching to Gettysburg by 3 a.m.

After initial Union success in the morning of day one, more and more of the Confederate army began arriving and made fine progress before the bulk of the Union arrived on site and got in line. The Union I Corps (Reynolds/Doubleday) units were driven back and back until they were routed, pursued through the streets of Gettysburg, to Culp's hill, up Culp's hill and Cemetery Hill. Many Union prisoners were taken.

The above describes the state of the battlefield as of late afternoon on day one. There was plenty of light left, as it was July 1.

Confederate II Corps (Ewell) declined to pursue.

End of day one.

During the night, the Confederates could hear the sound of axes and picks and shovels as the Union troops labored through the night on fortifications, and, corps by corps, the rest of the Army of the Potomac, except the distant VI Corps, arrived on the field. General Meade arrived on the field at about 3 a.m., assumed personal command of the field (from Hancock), and set up headquarters. Come daylight of day two, it was a very different sight indeed which greeted Confederate eyes.

On the morning of day two, Lee ordered a simultaneous assault on both flanks of the Union line.

[Note: the Union right flank or northern end of the Union line, closest to the town of Gettysburg, would have been on a Confederate soldier's left. The Union left flank or south end of the Union line, would have been to a Confederate soldier's right.]

Lee's intent was (apparently) an enveloping action, but was not coordinated simultaneously. Because of this failure to attack both flanks simultaneously, Meade was able to use troops from the center of his line to reinforce first his left flank, then (to a lesser extent) his right simply by moving some troops back and forth. A coordinated attack by Ewell and Longstreet on both flanks at once (as Lee had apparently envisioned) would have (perhaps) denied Meade the ability to reinforce both of his flanks.

For his own reasons, Longstreet (Confederate I Corps) did not choose to begin his assault on the Union's left flank (south) until 4 p.m. or shortly thereafter (but, contrary to lore and even some history books, Lee had not ordered Longstreet to attack "at dawn" or at any other specific time; Longstreet was given the discretion to engage at will, when ready; and Ewell was to attack the other Union flank when Longstreet's artillery opened.) Nevertheless, the Federals used the extra time to continue digging in. Lee might have preferred earlier, but he was well aware of Longstreet's deliberateness. When Longstreet finally opened on the Union left flank, the attack was fierce, with some of the bloodiest fighting seen so far. American military lore is filled with odd names from that afternoon: Little Round Top. Devil's Den. The Wheatfield. The Peach Orchard. Longstreet saw some results and gained some ground, yet he was not successful in taking the high ground from the Federals, or in fully turning Mead's left flank.

Ewell did not attack exactly simultaneously (as previously pointed out) at the sound of Longstreet's guns, but did begin his own (poorly reconned) bombardment at about 5 p.m. - which the superior Union artillery answered, immediately and emphatically, pounding Ewell's guns until their position on bald and vulnerable Benner's Hill became untenable and the Confederate artillery commander requested permission to withdraw. Thus, at about 7 p.m., with only 4 guns remaining in support, Ewell attacked the Union right at Culp's Hill with Johnson and, later, near nightfall, Cemetery Hill with Early.

The Federals (though thinned by Meads taking much of his right to reinforce his south flank) held Culp's Hill, driving the Confederates back down the hill and into the trenches they themselves had recently occupied. As for Cemetery Hill, attacked even later, Early met with more success and made it to the top of the hill, where Howard's XI Corps panicky "Dutchmen" broke and ran again. However II Corps (Hancock) sent reinforcements and (along with the XI Corps "returnees") drove Early back down again and retained control of Cemetery Hill when the fighting ended at about 10:30 that night. The fighting was sure to resume at daybreak or before.

With the cessation of firing of both muskets and artillery, quiet descended over the field, the light of the full moon illuminating the corpses lying helter skelter on the hillsides and valley. Soon, the only sounds were the sobs and moaning of the wounded, begging for assistance and for water from their comrades, combined with the noises of the maimed and dying horses. Those still alive on both sides were becoming used to that sad sound, that continual wail. But attempts at aid would likely only lay them dead next to the already fallen.

At nightfall on day two, there weren't nearly as many participants of either side still standing, but the Union, thinner on the flanks, and reinforced as needed from the center, still held the high ground on the east.

And so ended day two at Gettysburg. Day two had been a blood bath, but nothing had been decided. Day three would be do or die for both sides. Day three would decide the Battle of Gettysburg, and, some say, it decided the future of the United States.

Day three saw the battle for Culp's Hill and the Federal right flank resume before daylight. General Lee had given Ewell instructions to resume the attack on the Union right in the morning. But while Ewell slept, the decision-making for the hour of resumption passed from Ewell to the Union Army. During the night, between the time of the cessation of fighting at 10:30 p.m. and the wee hours of the morning, while Ewell slept, Slocum (Union XII Corps) had been positioning big guns along Power's and McAlister's Hills, commanding the valley before Culp's Hill. Before Ewell stirred, at 3:45 a.m., with the Confederates still asleep in the trenches below, with the faintest hint of dawn in the sky, Union Brigadier General John W. Geary drew his service pistol and fired a single shot in the air. At the signal, the Federal guns began to belch fire and molten metal down on the Confederates still clinging to the hill and in the trenches.

Throughout the mind-numbing 7-hour battle for Culp's Hill, Ewell continued to order frontal assaults. The Union troops on the hill were veterans and poured down deadly concentrated musket shot into the attackers. Still they came. In the end, the Confederates would be calling it "Death Hill." It is hard to describe the terrible casualties inflicted on the Confederates during those unimaginable 7 hours. For example, the 3rd North Carolina started with 300 muskets and ended up with 77 men, or about a 75% loss. Finally, at about 11 a.m., both armies were utterly exhausted. The fighting died down, as if by mutual consent. What was left of the Confederates retired. The Union did not pursue. Both sides were in shock. In subsequent years of analysis, the battle of Culp's Hill would be acknowledged as the scene of some of the most determined fighting of the war.

As the Federals ventured out, Kane's brigade found 500 dead Confederates in its front. "Somewhere among them was a squat little man, Wesley Culp, a private in Company B, 2nd Virginia, of the Stonewall Brigade. He was twenty-four and because he was only five feet tall, Colonel Douglas had had a special gun made for him. Where he fell he could look at the house where he had been born. He had gone to Virginia to sell Gettysburg carriages and Southern eyes made him stay."

The carnage of day three wasn't over by far. Day three would also see a full frontal assault of the Union center by three divisions of the Confederate army. Across that open three-quarter mile area between Seminary Ridge and the long Union line, entrenched on the opposing heights, and fortified by scores, hundreds, of fire-breathing cannon, marched the men of Pickett, Pettigrew (replacing Heth) and Trimble (replacing Pender.) Truly it was the Valley of Death. The world now knows the result of that fateful charge, in which 12,500 Confederate soldiers were repulsed with over 50% casualties, but what must it have been like to be there, to feel and hear the booming and crashing and screaming, and breathe the acrid gunsmoke and be a part of that battle? I don't know. The following words come to mind:

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."

After the repulse, General Lee told Pickett to regroup his division.

"General, I have no division."

---------

=========

Today:

Sunday, October 23, 2011

News Corp. will save our schools

Rupert Murdock shakes hands with former New York City schools chief (and now News Corp. Employee - by a remarkable coincidence) Joel Klein.

HALLELUJAH!

The future of education has arrived.

Rrrrrupert is Rrrrready. Ready to enter the U.S. education "market", that is. Americans can soon leave their damnable and degrading dismal dumbness behind if Rupert has his way. Virtual classrooms are the answer. No traditional classrooms, desks or chalkboards. Just computers. Computers running Rrrrrrupert's Rrrrremarkable Rrrrrevolutionary software, of course.

Rupert has been quietly developing virtual-learning and technology-driven products which are now apparently ready to unveil at a K-12 school near YOU!

Students rounded up into cubicle corrals like a Pakistani ShamWOW call-fulfillment center, staring intelligently at monitors and going at their own speed. It's learning in the fast lane, I tell ya, college by age 7 for some. Jebeezus but it is hard to sit still as I write this.

What do we want? "EDUCATION!"

When do we want it? "NOW!"

Who da man? "RRRRRRUPERT!"

Who gonna pay? "YOU ARE!"

Who gonna make money? (All together now) "RRRRRRRR---"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Banned, burned, bad books

In 1931, China banned "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" because the story portrays animals and humans on the same level. It was believed that animals should not use human language.

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

- On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

Recommended previously banned reading list from Relax Max to you:

The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple Alice Walker
A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Beloved: A Novel Toni Morrison
Slaughterhouse - five, or, The Children's Crusade Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies William Golding
Native Son Richard Wright
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
The Call of the Wild Jack London
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
---------

Ok, so you say you are open-minded and don't believe in banning and/or burning books. How about the following? It is the American Library Association Council's "Library Bill of Rights." Do you agree with it? All of it? For all books? Even the age part?

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948, by the ALA Council; amended February 2, 1961; January 23, 1980; inclusion of "age" reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Models of clarity

Favorite book title I've run across today:

The War on Terror Narrative: Discourse and Intertextuality in the Construction and Contestation of Sociopolitical Reality (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics) (Paperback)

Does that title not want to make you run out and buy this book?

Fellow writers take hope: Publishers don't have a clue as to how to present and sell books. At least this one doesn't. Of course, if you have a captive audience of enslaved readers, then I guess it doesn't matter.

I don't care if it IS companion reading to a university course. Think of a better title. Shall I write to this university press? Do you think they would understand my simple one-syllable words? Often of only 4 letters? What if I write in the voice of Donald Duck? Wak! Wak!

Would you like me to tell you the titles of some of the companion books that Tower Books suggests you should buy, if you like this one? Hmmmmm?

Friday, October 7, 2011

Gettysburg personalities: Richard Ewell

After the death of Lt. General Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville in May of 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia was reorganized into three corps. Prior to Jackson's death, Lee's army had consisted of two large corps, commanded by Jackson (II Corps) and Lt. General James Longstreet (I Corps.)

After the reorganization, Longstreet retained command of the changed I Corps, and two of Jackson's division commanders were promoted from Major General to Lt. General and were given command of the other two corps. II Corps' new commander was Richard S. Ewell and A.P. Hill became the commander of the newly formed III Corps. Ewell was promoted Lt. General with a date of rank one day earlier than Hill, thus becoming the third-highest ranking officer in the Army of Northern Virginia, behind only Longstreet and Lee.

There were several differences between Stonewall Jackson and Richard Ewell. For one thing, Jackson was pious, took his religion seriously, started each battle by raising his left arm heavenward, as if blessing the battlefield or perhaps beseeching the Almighty for victory. He never explained, that I could find, and I suppose none had the courage to ask. He continued this odd practice until a Yankee bullet or piece of shrapnel violated his middle finger in mid-blessing one day. Jackson refused to have the finger amputated.

Ewell, on the other hand, was unabashedly profane; one can easily visualize clouds of blue smoke emanating from his mouth as he cursed that proverbial blue streak. Of course, even so, he couldn't hold a candle to his fellow division commander, Major General Jubal Early, who worked in profanity the way Michelangelo had worked in marble. Jube was the acknowledged master in that area. Early and Ewell had been division commanders under Jackson, and it might be possible (I only offer this as conjecture from my reading) that Ewell was a bit under the influence of the brash Early, even after he became Early's commanding officer. I ask you to keep this thought in mind as we later speak of the end of day one at Gettysburg.

Perhaps the most important difference, in my mind at least, between Ewell and Stonewall Jackson was this: Jackson was an intuitive commander of large numbers of men on the battlefield, used to making independent decisions and able to adapt to rapidly changing conditions with the ebb and flow of battle. Jackson was as close to Robert E. Lee as perhaps any other general when it came to being able to see the big picture and being able to form reactive strategies. Lee was a person who gave open-ended orders to his corps commanders, and gave them leeway to do what they did best. Lee did not micromanage his commanders. This worked well with Jackson and Longstreet (also a legendary self-starter.)

Ewell, in contrast, wouldn't do anything major without specific orders. Ewell was a fine soldier and tenacious in battle when given a task to accomplish on the battlefield. That shouldn't be doubted. But he was also a "consensus man" who sought advice from his division commanders, especially Jubal Early.

A third difference between Jackson and Ewell is probably not relevant to Gettysburg, but bears mentioning. Ewell, though profane, was compassionate with his soldiers, took care of them whenever he could. Jackson drove his men to the point of exhaustion, sometimes marching them barefoot in the snow and reprimanding brigade commanders for resting them. Jackson was much more like Grant was on the Northern side, I think, with regard to being willing to take casualties. Gettysburg, however, was not a place for compassion or for avoiding casualties.

But it was Jackson, on his deathbed, who recommended Ewell to General Lee, and it is probably unlikely that Ewell would have been given command of II Corps and promoted to Lt. General, had it not been for this recommendation; Lee hadn't known much about, or at least not thought about Ewell that much before Jackson's recommendation. Jackson's recommendation was, however, gold to Robert E. Lee, and so it came to pass.

Richard Stoddert Ewell was - bar none - the most bizarre senior officer in the Confederate Army; the word "eccentric" simply doesn't do him justice. Wounded countless times, given to chronic illness - both real and in his mind - profane almost beyond belief, a man who had convinced himself he was being eaten up inside by something and would eat little else but a gruel of grain and milk; a man so nervous and high strung that he couldn't bear sleeping in a bed lying flat and spent nights curled around a camp stool; a man with an annoying quavering shrill voice and pronounced lisp which grew greater the more excited he got, which was frequently; who was given to carrying on conversations with himself, often stopping in mid-sentence when speaking to others to observe such things as - "I wonder why Davis made me a general?" - before continuing as if nothing were unusual in talking like that; a man who walked with a wooden leg, having lost his leg to amputation after being severely wounded at Second Bull Run (Second Manassas); a former expert horseman and dashing calvary commander who now went to battle in a buggy.

After his amputation, Ewell had been nursed back to health for several months by his first cousin, a well-to-do widow from Tennessee by the name of Lizinka Brown. Ewell and Lizinka had flirted as teenagers but she had married Mr. Brown and nothing came of the flirtation. Circumstances were different now, however, and, during Ewell's months-long convalescence, love was rekindled in the crusty heart of the lifelong bachelor. Near-death, which often brings solemn (if sometimes short-lived) promises to God, coupled with new-found love and marriage, tempered General Ewell. At least it cleaned up his mouth and calmed him down to where he was only greatly abnormal. Even so, he would often still introduce his new wife, absentmindedly, as "Mrs. Brown," and still held forth with his internal conversations. But he was quieted, and "...no longer came crashing from the trees on horseback or jumping his horse into rivers without first seeing how deep the water was."

Thus, newly married and fitted with a wooden leg, just days after the death of the great Stonewall Jackson, did the new commander of II Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, the new Lt. General Richard Ewell, report back for duty to General Lee. A month or so later he would be in Gettysburg.
---------

The above is my summary of Ewell, gleaned from reading several books, some written by his contemporaries. Below are a few descriptive excerpts from some far greater writers (actual historians!) than the equally quirky Relax Max.
---------

Larry Tagg:

Rather short at 5 feet 8 inches, he had just a fringe of brown hair on an otherwise bald, bomb-shaped head. Bright, bulging eyes protruded above a prominent nose, creating an effect which many likened to a bird—an eagle, some said, or a woodcock—especially when he let his head droop toward one shoulder, as he often did, and uttered strange speeches in his shrill, twittering lisp. He had a habit of muttering odd remarks in the middle of normal conversation, such as "Now why do you suppose President Davis made me a major general anyway?" He could be spectacularly, blisteringly profane. He was so nervous and fidgety he could not sleep in a normal position, and spent nights curled around a camp stool. He had convinced himself that he had some mysterious internal "disease," and so subsisted almost entirely on frumenty, a dish of hulled wheat boiled in milk and sweetened with sugar. A "compound of anomalies" was how one friend summed him up. He was the reigning eccentric of the Army of Northern Virginia, and his men, who knew at first hand his bravery and generosity of spirit, loved him all the more for it.

Larry Tagg, The Generals of Gettysburg

Misc:
During the winter of 1861 - 1862, Lizinka Campbell Brown, one of the richest women in America, went to visit her son in the Confederate army in northern Virginia. He was the chief aide to Gen. Richard S. Ewell, a lisping, pop-eyed, beaked-nosed, baldheaded man who also happened to be Lizinka's cousin and love interest. Ewell courted and proposed to Lizinka during her stay, but she coyly refused to commit herself.

Misc:
Ewell was known for his odd sense of humor. He was worried that he might be killed in Pennsylvania, specifically at Cashtown, where he thought the great battle would be fought. "It isn't that I mind getting killed," he said. "It's the idea that my name will go down in history as being killed at a place called Cashtown."

Misc:
On June 6, 1862, after a violent skirmish with Union cavalry, Ewell revealed a previously unseen, tender side to his surly character - he personally loaded each of his wounded into ambulances. When he finished, he dug into his meager purse and gave most of his money to a local farmer, who had volunteered to house the injured. The funds were to be used for whatever his men might need.

Misc:
Had two horses shot out from under him in battle at Mexico City. Was wounded fighting Apaches under Cochise. When not fighting Indians, Ewell worked a small silver mine he had come into possession of, to no avail. Had nearly-spent bullets bounce off his chest two times during the Civil War.

Misc:
While riding down from Seminary Ridge in late afternoon of Gettysburg day one, with some of his officers, was shot in the leg by a Union sharpshooter. They were shocked. He laughed. It was in his wooden leg.

Misc:
Seriously considered that Stonewall Jackson was insane and never backed off that belief. "He (Jackson) is as crazy as a March Hare. But he has method in his madness." [ The reason Ewell pronounced Jackson insane was because Jackson refused to season his food with black pepper because he claimed it weakened his left leg. Ewell thought that was enough evidence that Jackson wasn't all there. Oddly, Ewell thought his own quirks were quite normal.]

Misc:
Born in Washington D.C. Graduated 13th in his class at West Point. Nicknamed "Baldy."
---------

Glenn Tucker (paraphrased and abridged by RM for this blog post):
By the morning of June 24th, the good citizens of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania had become somewhat used to the Confederate soldiers marching through their town. So far, some 10,300 soldiers had been counted, presumably for the purpose of reporting it to some Federal official, should any appear and ask the number. Soon, they lost count. To the tune of "The Bonnie Blue Flag," Rodes' entire division appeared, marching past the town square. Then, about a half hour later, the curious citizens watched as a carriage pulled by two horses pulled up in front of the Franklin Hotel, followed by a group of horsemen. A thin, sallow-faced man emerged slowly, assisted by some of his escort. The gathered crowd saw that he had a wooden leg and walked with a crutch. He entered the hotel, aided by the other officers, took over the large front parlor, ran up the Confederate flag, and established the headquarters of the Second Corps of Lee's army. General Richard S. Ewell's first order prohibited the sale of intoxicants in the town, and a guard was placed on all stores of liquor. One of the Confederate officers engaged in procuring supplies was one Major Todd, brother of the wife of President Lincoln.
---------

I'm going to leave out the anecdote of Ewell running off a group of Union cavalry in the middle of the night, cursing them insanely as he chased them down the street wearing only his underwear. Or perhaps I didn't leave it out after all.

Ewell lived on his wife's Tennessee estate after being released from prison after the war, and lasted to age 54, not that bad for all he went through. He is buried in Nashville.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Culling the vast wasteland, part 7

Relax Max surfs the web. Max tries not to stop and read questions and answers on the web. Sometimes his attention is sucked in before he can move on. Oddly pathetic and compelling at times however Max senses he is becoming dumber by the hour. Please send suggestions for help. god bless and thx u.

Entered Max's brain today at 1:12 am:

Question:

rugged686: What exactly does annotation mean im stuck on us history please help writing a report not sure what annotation means

vicegrip88: I dont know what annotation mean

Best Answers:

trove882: Do you know what a dictionary is?

Google Adwords: Learn Spanish in 10 Days.

Question:

cabs32: PLEASE HELP. My daughter was stuck by a used needle! reply prompt please (March, 2007)

Best Answers:
(2009) mma_mom: Maybe she should see a doctor.

mr_no: A little bit more information is needed. Did patient jump?

funny_444: which you the best of luck. God bless u

Google Adwords: Become a Certified Phlebotomist! Day & Evening Classes. Accredited.

Question:

lentil267: Transmission Indicator Stuck. The orange indicator light on my 2007 Ford Focus is stuck in drive. It still goes into the gears properly.But just the little indicator on the floor doesn't move.So I have to count the gears.

Best Answers:

mactiti: The indicator is broke off. It must be taken apart and replaced.

lentil267: That's exactly what the man at the shop said. But $500.

mactiti: wow thats alot. i would just keep counting

Google Adwords: Free Quote on Extended Car Warranty
---------

Fade to black...




LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails