Christina Aguillera on the grave of Robert E. Lee...
What next?
Cher on the grave of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted on 07/14/2003 7:32:25 AM PDT by yankeedame
Christina Aguillera on the grave of Robert E. Lee...
What next?
Cher on the grave of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was Bruce Catton's biographies of Grant (completing Lloyd Lewis's work begun in "Captain Sam Grant") that finally put to rest much of the rubbish published about Grant being "a drunk". Try picking up those or any modern biography (Joseph Edward Smith's "Grant" is recognized as the best one-volume study of the man published in modern times).
There is not one proven incident of Grant "drinking". It is widely believed that he did, indeed, resort to drink when he was posted to a remote California outpost at Fort Humboldt, and that due to loneliness after being separated from his wife and newborn son. The officers present with him at the time suggest the commanding officer (a pretentious martinet) was merely trying to make an example of Grant, and they themselves wrote in their own personal accounts that Grant was not a habitual drunk, was never unfit for duty, and, in fact, encouraged him to fight any charges the commanding officer was going to bring against him. Grant resigned, instead, because he wouldn't have any such charges brought against him, and he could not endure separation from his family any longer.
It was that one incident that started the military gossip that followed him his whole career, but, in fact, there is not one other recorded incident that stands up to scrutiny.
So I don't know what "history" books you're referring to but they obviously aren't the product of any kind of modern scholarship...and I certainly hope they're not Shelby Foote's books...he was a novelist and his books were based primarly on second hand sources...and are filled with inaccuracies. He repeats whole-cloth the story told by Sylvanus Cadwallader about Grant going on a "bender" during the Vicksburg Campaign, a story that is shredded by scholars.
So like I said, open a book, and not some weepy moonlight & magnolia tome written by a "Lost Cause" adherent.
Grant may have once engaged in drink, but beyond California there's no evidence he ever did. Did Grant drink? Almost certainly. As did every other officer in the army. I'm sure Grant had a drink here and there, and I don't see what bearing that has on the man at all. According to accounts Sherman could put away a quart of whisky a day.
All accounts about Grant are that he couldn't handle liquor at all. One drink would make him slur his words, two or three would make him "stupid". He had no tolerance for alcohol. And the accounts of various visitors to his camp, his subordinates, and those who encountered him throughout the war - in battle or not - speak to his gentle manner, quiet intelligence, "exceptional conversational" ability, and complete sobriety at all times.
If you knew anything about Grant you'd also know that he suffered intense migraine headaches throughout his life, induced by stress. He was, in fact, suffering one the night before April 9th, 1865. When his wife was with him, she would give him compresses for his head, and foot baths and such to help relieve his headaches. Those who saw this took this as signs of "hangover".
There is almost nothing to the rumors of Grant's drinking, and countless first hand stories and accounts that bear out this fact.
Recovered from what? Grant didn't fall on the battlefield, he died of throat cancer after his presidency.
I love Paul Harvey's news and "Rest of the Story", but he has been known to recycle an urban legend or two.
His body was taken to New York, his funeral procession wound six miles through the city, and he was placed in a temporary mausoleum until the permanent structure "Grant's Tomb" was built.
But the General and his wife are certainly there...and his descendants were so upset a few years ago at the condition of his tomb, and how the city of New York had let it fall into disrepair, that they threatened to disinter him and his wife and move them to Galena, IL.
Personally I wish they would move him. Grant had no association with New York, and it's disgusting that his body lies in that filthy, wretched park.
Grant was a westerner, and he should be buried in Illinois, Missouri, or Ohio, where he lived. Sherman thought so too.
I don't give a rat's ass about Grant, but that line needs to saved somewhere under the heading of Greatest One Line Put-downs.
Before this thread, I never knew who Beyonce Knowles was (although I had heard her name). I am unhip, you see. Once I saw the photo, I now know why she chose a name that is similar to "Bounce-y"
Grant kicked your a@@ and you "Unreconstructed Rebs" have never gotten over it.
Remember, he beat the South and he whipped Bobby Lee.
And he's the only reason that Bobby Lee wasn't tried for treason and hung in public.
Grant is the man that put his honor on the line, to defend Lee and the southern high-command from being tried for treason by the Johnson administration.
Lee had already been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury and it was only Grant's direct intervention that stopped Lee from being arrested, tried and hung.
So remember that when you see to demean the man.
It always amuses me that southerners feel the need to reinforce their bruised pride at having been whipped, by demeaning the man who whipped them as a "drunk".
Is it better to believe that you were whipped by a great general who was a brilliant strategist, or is it better to believe that you were whipped by a besotted drunkard? What does that say for your southern pride?
Do you think you elevate your side by demeaning the other?
Here's Lee's own words when someone at Washington College attempted to demean Grant in his presence:
"Sir, if you ever again presume to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this University."
And here's Robert E. Lee's words about Grant when someone suggested Grant was a "military accident" who had only won due to amassing overwhelming numbers:
"Sir, your opinion is a very poor compliment to me. We all thought Richmond protected, as it was, by our splendid fortifications and defended by our army of veterans, and could not be taken. Yet Grant turned his face to our capital and never turned it away until we had surrendered. Now, I have carefully searched the military records of both ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general. I doubt his superior can be found in all history."
Just get over it. Grant wasn't a drunk, and he whipped your Rebel behinds blue. He gave you a thorough whipping, your behind's still smart from it, and you have never gotten over it.
He won, you lost, and you lost to one of the most brilliant General's in history.
Read J.F.C. Fuller's "Grant and Lee" for a thorough understanding of the difference between the two men, and why Lee lost to Grant.
Her dad in Houston kept throwing out other members in Destinys Child replacing them with family members so as not to upstage Beyonce. (who he considers to be like Diana Ross)
Then Beyonces first single tanked from Austin Powers and her back up singer from her former group had a huge hit with Nelly so she has to go full out sexwise to get attention
The old joke is: Grant, his wife and a bartender.
Grant whipped ya, and he whipped ya by out generaling your Bobby Lee, and that sting is still there, ain't it?
I don't need to look up "rhetorical" but you might want to lookup "rationalize"...
Funny thing...I never felt the need to "demean" Lee in order to elevate Grant. I only feel the need to constantly remind "Unreconstructed Rebs" that they lost, who they lost to, and why they lost to him.
And your argument about northern industrial might is a joke, and a thin argument that's been shredded by historians like Gordon C. Rhea (a southerner, I might add). If all that was needed to destroy Lee was numbers, then explain Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
The north had all the numbers and might they needed and outnumbered Lee nearly 3 to 1, the largest numbers the north would bring to bear until 1865.
And Lee beat 'em.
But then Grant shows up, and has fewer numbers (due to the expiration of 3 year enlistments, something Rhea points out but which most historians until modern times have overlooked) and an army that is shedding thousands of men a week, and goes up against Lee and puts him on the defensive and then corners him, effectively removing him from the war.
And the, suddenly, the numbers supposedly make a difference?
Your argument doesn't stand up, and historians like Rhea have shredded it.
But keep going...I'm having fun watching the spin...
Guess who comes out number one for all of them?
(though one of them must have been smoking something that day because he includes "Butler" on the list...)
Straightening perm onto of a weave on top of a color is unhealthy!
I agree!
And most hair-care practioners know not to apply these procedures so close together, so as not to damage the hair or scalp.
If all the black women I know went natural they would have afros and locks or short hair.
Of course, this is true, ... but it's not all or nothing.
I repeat, ... most African-American women manage to maintain a hairstyle which, allows them some modification on what nature has provided, all with no negative effect to their hair or scalp.
As in most things ... moderation is the key.
From aspirenow.com:
"When Lincoln appointed Ulysses Grant as General of the Army in March of 1864, the selection bypassed over 200 senior generals. For the North, the Civil War was not going as well as Lincoln thought it should – Grant was winning battles, the other generals were not."
"When one of the President’s aides pointed out that he had picked a man who was well known for his alcohol consumption, the President said “Find out what brand he drinks and send a barrel to all our other generals.” "
"Lincoln chose Grant because of his strengths. A general’s job is to decide which battles to fight, best organize his resources to fight them, and win. Grant passed this test."
"Lincoln ignored Grant’s drinking, and perhaps-other shortcomings as well. The President knew that whoever he selected would have his own shortcomings. So Lincoln made his decision based on Grant's strengths. "
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