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Posted on 09/25/2004 2:56:46 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 American Civil War's Linguistic Heritage The American Civil War has been called the first modern war because of the appearance of numerous innovations. The war was also responsibe for introducing a number of words to our vocabulary that extend to today. The Civil War was, among other things, a war of firsts. It was the first war in which there was a draft. It was the first war in which an American was given the rank of admiral, the first in which ironclad vessels definitively replaced wooden ones, and the source of the first federal income tax.  Many of these firsts also gave us new vocabulary. Although "draft" had been used for conscription since the eighteenth century, draftee was invented during the Civil War, soon after the Confederacy (1862) and then the Union (1863) established a draft. And today we also use the verb more loosely, as in "He drafted two new players for the team." The need for fighting men was great but perhaps not as great as the need for money. In 1861 Congress established the first federal income tax, and not long afterward the Confederacy set up a similar tax. The federal government also authorized the use of greenbacks, legal-tender notes used as currency in place of gold or silver and so called because one side of each bill was printed with green ink. The color persists in American currency, and greenback today is widely used as a synonym for "dollar."  Also dating from the Civil War is the motto on our current coins, In God We Trust. It was first authorized by Congress in 1864 for use on the two-cent coin.  God was invoked in another sense by Union troops. When fighting in the heat and humidity of mosquito-infested Southern swamps, they referred to the North as God's country, a term still used for any especially beautiful area or for one's home locale.  Almost from the beginning of the war, the term antebellum came into use. Coming straight from two Latin words meaning "before the war," it still is used specifically in America to mean "before the Civil War." In the South the term is often attached to styles dating from before the war, such as antebellum architecture.  The South itself acquired the name Dixie, which actually originated shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. Its earliest recorded use was in a play of 1850 that featured a black character named Dixie, but it was popularized mainly through northern minstrel-showman Daniel Decatur Emmett's 1859 song, "Dixie's Land." According to historian Darryl Lyman, Dixie was a common name for black characters in minstrel shows, and Emmett said he often used the term "Dixie's land" to mean "the black (slave's) land," that is, the South. It has survived and also appears in such terms as Dixiecrat, coined for Southern Democrats who left the national party in 1948 because they opposed President Harry Truman's civil rights platform.  Once the South seceded, Southerners were known as "Rebels" and the Confederate soldier as "Johnny Reb." On going into battle Confederate troops often shouted a Rebel yell. This blood-curdling, high-pitched sound was said to be based on the cries uttered by Southern fox hunters. Another theory is that it imitated the war cry of one or another tribe of American Indians. The name was later applied to similar shouts in sports and other peacetime pursuits.  A name attached to the Civil War infantryman was doughboy. It was first recorded in 1865, but its precise origin has been lost. The name may have alluded to the large buttons on their uniforms, which resembled a pastry called "doughboy." Or, theorized H.L. Mencken, it alluded to pipe clay that became soggy and doughlike in rain and was used by Confederate troops to whiten the piping on their uniforms. In any event, the term survived, becoming very widely known during World War I. A similar term that has died out, however, was doughface, which meant a Northerner who sympathized with the Southern cause. Before 1861 it had meant a Northern congressman, usually a Democrat, who did not oppose slavery, but then it acquired a broader meaning. Presumably the "dough" here simply meant that a person was easily molded by others. Another name for Northern opponents of the war was Copperhead. Their fellow Northerners considered them traitors and therefore nicknamed them after the poisonous snake of the eastern and southern United States that gives no warning before it strikes.  Ironclad vessels were developed early in the 1800s but did not come into wide use until the midcentury. On March 9, 1862, two ironclads, the Union Monitor and the Confederate Merrimac, fought to a draw, and this battle marked the death knell of wooden battleships. The previous year President Abraham Lincoln had announced a blockade of the entire Confederate coast, and though Southerners at first laughed at it, the blockade became increasingly effective.  It not only cut off the Confederacy from needed goods from abroad but also prevented it from shipping its valuable cotton crop to overseas markets. Blockades were not new, but this blockade gave rise to the term blockade runner, for a vessel or person that evades or tries to evade a blockade and enter or leave a blockaded port.  The ironclads' resistance to gunfire enabled Union Flag Officer David Farragut to capture New Orleans and two years later to sail into Mobile Bay, heedless of danger from shore batteries and mines called torpedoes. When warned, Farragut allegedly uttered his famous words, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Soon afterward he was promoted to full admiral, the first American so honored. And we still use ironclad in the sense of "unbreakable" or "firm," as in "an ironclad alibi," "ironclad contract," and so on.  Incidentally, flag officer was the only naval rank above captain from 1850 to 1862, when the ranks of commodore and rear admiral were created, followed in 1864 by vice admiral. Although full admiral was not adopted until after the war, it was often applied to Farragut before he was officially promoted. Christine Ammer's new, expanded edition of Fighting Words From War, Rebellion, and Other Combative Capers (NTC/Contemporary Books) is now available in paperback. This article originally appeared in the Summer '99 issue of MHQ. For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of Military History Quarterly. by Christine Ammer      |
Interesting subject today Snippy. :-)
Good morning, Sam and everyone at the Freeper foxhole.
Someday people will read about the origins of the words "strategery" and "misunderestimate."
Good Morning all, hope you have a great flight back to the wilds of Oregeon.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Today's classic warship, USS Beaver (AS-5)
Submarine tender
Displacement. 4,737 t.
Lenght. 380'
Beam. 47'
Draft. 20'3"
Speed. 16.5 k.
Complement. 291
Armament. 4 5"
USS Beaver (AS-5) was launched 27 November 1909 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va. as the commercial steamship of the same name; purchased by the Navy 1 July 1917; converted to a submarine tender by Mare Island Navy Yard; and commissioned 1 October 1918, Lieutenant Commander J. A. Logan in command.
Beaver operated along the west coast until June 1919 and then convoyed a division of submarines to the newly established submarine base at Pearl Harbor. She then steamed to the east coast where she assisted in the salvage of S-5 during 1920. In 1921 she became flagship of Submarine Flotilla 3 and tender for Submarine Division 18, based at Portsmouth, N. H. During late 1921 and early 1922 she operated on the Asiatic Station. She returned to San Pedro, Calif., 14 April 1922 and operated in home waters until 1925 when she returned to the Far East. From 1925 to 1932 Beaver served as tender for Submarine Division 16 at Cavite, Philippine Islands and Tsingtao, China. She then served as tender for Submarine Squadron 4 at Pearl Harbor between 1932 and 1939. She returned to the west coast early in 1940 and spent most of the year at San Diego undergoing repairs and modernization preparatory to joining Submarine Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet.
Joining the Atlantic Fleet she served with Submarine Squadron 7 at New London, Conn., until October 1942 and then proceeded to Roseneath, Scotland, with Submarine Squadron 50. She remained there until returning to New York in July 1943. Beaver then returned to the Pacific and departed San Diego 20 September 1943 for Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where she tended Submarine Squadron 45 until mid-February 1944. During this time she assisted in establishing the base at Attu Island. She returned to San Diego 12 February 1944 to establish a submarine training school. She remained at San Diego until mid-June 1945 when she began conversion into an internal combustion engine repair ship (reclassified ARG-19, 25 June 1945). Departing San Diego 28 August, she steamed via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, to the Far East where she remained on occupation duty until 3 May 1946. She then returned to the west coast for pre-inactivation overhaul. Decommissioned 17 July 1946, she was transferred to the War Shipping Administration 5 August 1946. Beaver was sold for scrapping in August 1950.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on September 25:
1644 Olaus Rímer Denmark, 1st to accurately measure speed of light
1657 Imre Thokoly, Hungarian patriot, opposed Habsburg rule
1725 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot designed & built 1st automobile
1766 Armand-Emmanuel duc de Richelieu, French PM (1815-18, 1820-21)
1866 Thomas Hunt Morgan US, biologist (Nobel-1933)
1877 Plutarco El¡as Calles Mexican revolutionary, president (1924-28)
1897 William Faulkner Mississippi, author (Sound & the Fury-Nobel 1949)
1905 Red Smith Green Bay Wisc, sportscaster/columnist (Fight Talk)
1906 Dimitri Shostakovich St Petersburg Russia, composer (9th-1945)
1918 Phil Rizzuto Bkln NY, sportscaster/shortstop (NY Yankees-MVP 1950)
1920 Sergey Bondarchuk Belozerka Ukraine, director (War & Peace)
1926 Aldo Ray actor (God's Little Acre, Naked & the Dead, Green Beret)
1926 Sergei Filatov USSR, equestrian dressage (Olympic-gold-1960)
1931 Barbara Walters Boston Mass, newscaster (Today, 20/20, ABC-TV)
1936 Juliet Prowse Bombay India, actress/dancer
1943 Robert Walden NYC, actor (Joe Rossi-Lou Grant, New Doctors)
1944 Michael Douglas NJ, actor (Coma, Wall St, Jewel of the Nile)
1949 Anson Williams LA Calif, actor (Potsie-Happy Days)
1951 Mark Hamill Oakland Calif, actor (Star Wars)
1952 Christopher Reeve actor (Superman)
1961 Heather Locklear LA Calif, actress (Stacy-T.J. Hooker)
1965 Fresh Prince [Will Smith], rapper/actor (Wild Wild West, men In Black)
1967 Lezlie Lund Tolna ND, Miss ND-America (1991)
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:1-8
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21
Bible In One Year: Song of Solomon 6-8; Galatians 4
On August 28, 2003, my good friend Kurt De Haan, the former managing editor of Our Daily Bread, died of a heart attack while on his lunchtime run. When I learned the news, I said to myself, "He's in heaven," which brought me great comfort.
A few days later I was talking with my former pastor Roy Williamson, now in his eighties. I asked him about a man from our congregation. "He's in heaven," he said. I also inquired about another person. "She's in heaven too," he replied. Then, eyes twinkling, he said, "I know more people in heaven than I do on earth."
Later I was thinking about Pastor Williamson's words. He could have simply said, "He died," or "She died." But how reassuring to hear that those dear saints of God are in heaven. What joy to know that when believers in Christ die, they are instantly with Jesus! The apostle Paul put it like this: "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). No more pain. No more sadness. No more sin. Only peace. Only joy. Only glory.
We still grieve when a believing loved one dies. Grief is love's expression. But beneath it all is an unshakable joy, because we know our loved one is in heaven. —Dave Egner
Thanks for the vocabulary lesson Snippy.
Good morning, PE!
Awwwww nice Flag-o-gram today!
The first time I went to Washington DC, I visited the the National Archives and saw the original Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Article [III.] A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
"Maryland, My Maryland" was adopted as the State song in 1939 (Chapter 451, Acts of 1939; Code State Government Article, sec. 13-307).
The nine-stanza poem, "Maryland, My Maryland," was written by James Ryder Randall in April 1861. A native of Maryland, Randall was teaching in Louisiana in the early days of the Civil War, and he was outraged at the news of Union troops being marched through Baltimore. The poem articulated Randall's Confederate sympathies. Set to the traditional tune of "Lauriger Horatius" ("O, Tannenbaum"), the song achieved wide popularity in Maryland and throughout the South.
James Ryder Randall (detail from postcard, Jack Kelbaugh Collection of Civil War Photographs, MSA SC4325-52, Maryland State Archives).
II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My Mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life or death, for woe or weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!
III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!
V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And sing thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
Sic semper! 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back amain,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek,
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!
VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the shot, the blade, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the Soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!
IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! She burns! She'll come! She'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!
See you two later today, roughly 5 PM your time, 7 or 8 PM my time.
Hi miss Feather. Thanks
Congress Shall Make No Laws
"The 5 most wonderful words in Constitution"
George Will
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