Share Spotlight: The Emancipation Proclamation

Read The Emancipation Proclamation

Since the Battle of Stones River has so much to do with the Emancipation Proclamation, in fact the only reason it happened was that Lincoln wanted a victory before it went into effect, I thought it would be a fitting Share Spotlight.

Now the Emancipation Proclamation didn't free a single slave (seriously, it "freed" slaves in territories not controlled by the Union) but it did provide for the raising of Colored Regiments, which meant that those enslaved people who freed themselves when the Union army came to town had a place to go and a way to fight to keep their freedom. When you see USCT on a Civil War era headstone, that's a US Colored Troop, many of whom built and are buried in the Stones River National Cemetery.

The Most Important Civil War Battle You've Never Heard Of

I’m doing a summer internship at the Stones River National Battlefield, so of course I have to do a post on the battle!

The Battle of Stones River (as the Union called it, apparently they loved naming things after rivers, including their armies. It’s the 2^nd Battle of Murfreesboro for the Confederacy) occurred from December 31^st, 1862 to January 2^nd, 1863. Those dates are pretty important because they tell you that something weird is up with this battle. If they can at all help it, armies don’t march in the winter. The reason this one did has to do with a document that should be pretty familiar to my readers, The Emancipation Proclamation.

A Typeset Copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln (Wikimedia)

The EP went into effect on January 1^st, 1863 and the Union hadn’t won a battle since Lincoln had announced it. Since the EP was issued under Lincoln’s authority as Commander in Chief of the US Army, the Army kind of had to be winning the war for the EP to mean anything.

Lincoln also knew that the war was losing favor with the public in the North. Midterm elections hadn’t gone well for the Republican party and people were getting to the point where they were willing to let the South go if it meant the war would end. Lincoln needed to win some battles to boost Northern morale and regain support.

Finally, England and France had been making motions like they were going to come in on the side of the Confederacy. If that happened, it would be nearly impossible for Lincoln to reunite the country. So he also wanted a victory to show England and France that the North would be winning the war and there was no reason for them to get involved.

So Lincoln sent General Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland (like the river, remember what I said about the Union and rivers?) out to find the enemy, in this case, General Bragg and the Army of Tennessee.They found them just north of the town of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a flat area made up of a patchwork of cedar brakes and crop fields.

My own picture of the Stones River Battlefield

The Union would very nearly suffer a devastating loss on the first day of battle. Luckily for Lincoln, they were able to hold on and over the next couple of days make it difficult enough for the Confederates that Bragg decided he would rather retreat than try to hold on to the field.

Thus Lincoln gets his victory, the EP goes into effect, Northern morale goes way up, England and France stay out of it, and the American Civil War continues for another two and half years.

Pretty important battle, right?

Updates

Hey everyone!
Sorry for the lapse in posts. All of my final projects caught up with me and I did not have a good stockpile of posts like I should have. I'll be working on making sure that I have a few reserve posts for when life gets crazy, but I thought I should give everyone an update on what's going on with me and what you can expect from the blog in the next few months.

I've finished my first year of Graduate School! Yay! I've started on my thesis and completed most of my research. This summer I will be working on writing it up, turning in a draft in the fall.

Meanwhile, I am spending the summer as an intern at Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee. I'm working in the museum a bit, but also working the front desk and giving tours! I really enjoy it, so I'll have to create at least one post, probably two on my experiences here.

In the future, I will continue to try to tighten up the theme of this blog. It's a bit all over the place, mainly because my interests are all over the place. I'm working with an international theme that includes culture, folklore, language, history, and current events. If you have any requests for topics or particular culture areas, let me know and I'll see what I can dig up.

I'll be trying to stick to the same schedule I have been, a new post on Friday and something interesting for you to check out on Tuesdays. Starting next Friday, I should be back on schedule, so look for a new post then.

Thanks to everyone who actually reads this blog. I know that I do it almost exclusively for my own enjoyment, to practice my writing and give myself an outlet for all those other topics that I love but will never make it into a school paper, but I have to admit that seeing that people are actually seeing my posts makes me warm and fuzzy inside. So thank you everyone.

Meanwhile, enjoy some recent pictures!

Share Spotlight: Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants

This week's Share Spotlight comes from the Civil War Trust.
Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants 

After last week's post about the White Elephant in Thailand, I thought I would share a related story. During the Civil War, the King of Siam offered to send elephants (though not White ones) to President Lincoln. You can read President Lincoln's response in today's Share Spotlight post.

What do you think of Lincoln's diplomatic refusal? How do you think Elephants could have been used in the Civil War? Does this change how you see the global perspective on the Civil War?

The White Elephant

We're in Southeast Asia again this week, this time for the story of the royal symbol of Thailand.

In Thailand, as well as Siam, Thailand's predecessor, the White Elephant is a symbol of the royal line. All White Elephants belong to the king and are ceremonially presented to him.

White Elephants, also sometimes called Pink Elephants or Auspicious Elephants, are not actually white. They are generally a light reddish-brown, sometimes turning pink when wet. The elephants are not actually albino and the determination of a White Elephant is made by palace experts.

A White Elephant at Naypyidaw's Uppatasanti Pagoda (Wikimedia)

White Elephants are found almost entirely among Indian Elephants and are extremely rare or nonexistent in African Elephants. 

Despite the English use of the phrase White Elephant, there is no evidence to support the idea that the King would give a White Elephant to someone in order to bankrupt them. In fact, all White Elephants belong to the King, so one would never have been given away.

To the people of Thailand, these White Elephants are priceless. A White Elephant even appeared on the flag of Thailand from 1855 to 1916, over 60 years.

The Flag of Thailand, 1855-1916 (Wikimedia)

In Buddhism, the dominant religion in Thailand, the Buddha's mother dreamed of a White Elephant on the night before the Buddha's birth. The White Elehphant is a symbol of wisdom and purity in Buddhism and of prosperity and good fortune throughout Southeast Asia.

The current King of Thailand owns 10 White Elephants, six males and four females. The male and female elephants are kept in separate facilities, since they are not allowed to breed.

There is currently only one confirmed White Elephant living in the wild. Called Sudu Aliya, which means white elephant, she lives in Sri Lanka. She is currently being monitored by the Center for Conservation and Research of Sri Lanka and was last seen in 2012.

I found the website of the Thai Elephant Conservation Center very helpful in writing this article. The Conservation Center cares for all of the royal White Elephants.

Share Spotlight: The Green Show

This week's Share Spotlight comes from BackStory with the American History Guys.
The Green Show

I found BackStory Radio through one of my classes. They American History Guys trace a topic through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries of American History.

This week, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, they did an entire show about how the color green is important in American history. They are always entertaining and the podcast is perfect to listen to on a busy commute or while preparing dinner. And better yet, you learn something in the bargain!

What do you think is the most important Green thing in American history? (Don't forget to add it to their comments as well.) What podcasts or radio shows do you enjoy listening to?