Second Inaugurals

Lincoln's Second Inaugural was brilliantly discussed by Walt Whitman, but his words seem sad, and not a little prophetic.

When I look at the photos of the Second Inaugural, I remember only too clearly who was not there--our Colonel. He had worked so hard to elect Lincoln. He rode the famous Inaugural Express to Washington, protecting Lincoln and the First Family as he went. He, Hay, and Nicolay sat together in the crowd at the Capital to hear Lincoln repeat the oath of office, and later that evening, they went as a trio of bachelors to the Inaugural Ball, held in a large tent erected especially for the occasion.

I know Elmer Ellsworth was missed. I missed him today.

SAVING LINCOLN Update!!!

No image tonight, but excellent news:

The Kickstarter campaign for 

SAVING LINCOLN 

has already met its original goal, and more!

Thanks so much to everyone who donated. I will post more later, but check for yourself on the Kickstarter site.

HUZZAH!!!!!!!!  & a Tiger!

NOT How the West Was Won

I watched an interesting movie last week--How The West Was Won. It had a bunch of stars from earlier decades, and the Civil War was included. This fact was why I watched it, btw. Oh my!

First, it was news to me that the West was won without the involvement of any African-Americans, or Africans either. There were smatterings of Germans (once) and a long shot including Asians, but I don't remember any Irish or AAs. Oh--there were a few Native Americans, but not too many. Who does these things?

The Civil War part was pretty funny. Harry Morgan (MASH?) was Grant, and at least his memorable voice did the character some justice. Sherman--yep, tall, thin, gangly Sherman--was played by John Wayne. Please help me! This was just so wrong, on so many levels. Sherman is prolly still laughing.

So--long story short--just because a movie has "some Civil War stuff in it," don't just trust that this will make it worth watching. Ever. Really.

Winter All Over

Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2 [Winter]  by William Shakespeare   When icicles hang by the wall    And Dick the shepherd blows his nail And Tom bears logs into the hall    And milk comes frozen home in pail, When blood is nipp'd and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl,                         Tu-whit; Tu-who, a merry note, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. When all aloud the wind doth blow    And coughing drowns the parson's saw And birds sit brooding in the snow    And Marian's nose looks red and raw, When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, Then nightly sings the staring owl,                         Tu-whit; Tu-who, a merry note, While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

Cinnamon Hardtack & Coffee, Please!

I have several reenactor friends--Ok, I did that myself for years--and one of them on Facebook does a little something special to her hardtack for the holidays. Personally, I see this heartshaped for Valentine's Day. The first part is a recipe from Total Gettysburg, from a blog called (I think) Wedded To War.

So, my friend makes this recipe, but sprinkles sugar and cinnamon on top of the crackers. Aw!!!!!!!!

Dr. Caleb Lansing’s Hardtack

Wiping his glistening forehead with the back of his hand, Caleb looked through the haze of smoke at the rest of the camp. The men sat on the ground or overturned barrels, unwrapping small bundles of hardtack from their haversacks. He pulled out his own, placed it on a flat rock, and rammed a Sharp rifle butt onto it, breaking it into pieces. ~Wedded to War

Hardtack was a staple food in the Union soldier’s diet, but notorious for being either rock hard or full of weevils. Imagine drilling and marching for miles with very little but hardtack to eat!

Ingredients:

- butter for greasing the baking pan
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 TB baking powder
- 1 TB salt
- 1 2/3 cups water

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Grease the baking sheet. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and water. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. With freshly washed hands, squeeze the flour mixture with your fingers, this will be a very stiff dough. Flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch into a large rectangle. Using a knife, lightly trace lines into the dough to divide the pieces into 3 X 3″ square pieces.

Use a toothpick to prick holes across the entire surface in neat rows 3/4 of an inch apart. Be sure the holes go all the way through the dough to the baking sheet. Bake the dough about 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Remove the hardtack from the baking sheet with a metal spatula. Makes about 9 hard crackers.

Emancipation Proclamation

Much as I love old postcards, sometimes you gotta wonder just whose idea this was . . .
the postcard, not the Proclamation.