The Forgotten War

War of 1812 Monument, Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

December 7th.  Pearl Harbor Day.  A day that literally changed the course of history, if not for the world in general, certainly for the United States.  Even now, some 68 years later, there will be some mention of the “day of infamy” on local and national news broadcasts and in daily newspapers.  As expected, our local fishwrapper had a short story on page 1, focusing on survivors of the attack who are still alive and living in the Rochester area.  Each year there are fewer and fewer of these individuals.  The men mentioned in today’s article are all in their 90’s.  Soon, there will be no more.  I suspect, however, that the remembrances will continue long after they’re all gone.  Some things just seem to stick in the collective national memory.  Like the day JFK was assassinated or more recently, 9/11.

Events like these should be remembered, I suppose.  Not because they serve to unify us or because they become rallying cries for what happens next (as in “remember the Alamo” or “remember Pearl Harbor”), but because they contain hard lessons about what happens when things go horribly wrong in human affairs.  Violence like this doesn’t just happen.  There’s always a reason, and very often that reason isn’t a very good one.  Most often, in fact, they’re just plain dumb.

Not surprisingly, the Naval Academy campus has a number of monuments scattered across its grounds commemorating naval engagements in U. S. history.  Pictured above is one of them.  The plaque on the monument reads, in part:

Figure Head and 4 – 18 Pounders

Of The

British Frigate

Macedonian

Captured October 25th 1812

By The United States Frigate

United States

So here we have a memorial to a naval victory during the War of 1812, otherwise known as “The Forgotten War”.  And that’s what the status of this particular war should be – that is, “forgotten”.  If it has to be remembered, it should be remembered as an example of how not to conduct international politics.

In case you don’t remember, the War of 1812 was started by the very young United States because Britain was interfering with American merchant ships and, in some cases, “impressing” American seamen into service on British warships.  So to defend our commercial interests – not to mention our honor – we declared war. 

Now, from any number of perspectives this wasn’t a very smart move on our part.  We were tiny, had no real navy as yet, and Britain still ruled the seas.  Not to mention the fact that they were still smarting a little from the results of that little fiasco known as the American Revolution.  The only thing working in our favor was the fact that Britain was also involved in a war with France.  (That’s why they needed sailors.)

And what’s the first thing we do in a war having to do with maritime rights?  Well, invade Canada of course.  That makes sense, right?  Actually, this action gave away the real reason for going to war with anybody.  It was all about nationalism and expansion – kind of a precursor to Manifest Destiny.

So how did it all turn out?  While both sides claimed victory, the truth was that nobody won.  Absolutely nothing changed as a result of the war (regardless of what you were taught in 8th grade history class).  The treaty that ended the war simply restored the status quo.  Ironically, the biggest battle of the war – the Battle of New Orleans – was fought 15 days after the treaty was signed.  The only real effect of that battle, aside from the loss of life on both sides, was making Andrew Jackson famous and helping to get him elected President a few years later.

In short, this was one of those “dumb” wars.  It cost lives and money and resources and accomplished absolutely nothing.  Still, it might have been worth it if we’d learned something.  You know, one of those “hard lessons”.  But we didn’t.  And we still aren’t.  We still seem to be pursuing that Manifest Destiny thing.  Dumb.

     

The Tripoli Monument

Tripoli Monument, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis MD

From 1801 to 1805 the newly formed United States fought its first war, known, coincidentally, as the First Barbary War.  By today’s “standards” it wasn’t much of a war, but it did produce some casualties and some heroes.  To honor the heroes of this conflict, the monument shown here was carved in Italy in 1806.  Made of Carrara marble, it was transported to the United States as ballast aboard the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides).  It was originally placed in Washington, DC but was eventually moved to the Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1860.  It is the oldest military memorial in America.

When I was photographing the danged thing I knew none of this.  Some guy – apparently heading for the library – stopped and asked me if I knew the story of the Tripoli Monument.  Hell, at the time I didn’t even know it had a name. When I said that I didn’t know the story, he happily filled me in and said that it was one of the most photographed spots on the campus.  Finding the icons in an area seems to be one of my talents, even if they don’t look like icons.  Frankly, I wasn’t sure that he was telling me the truth until I looked it up for myself.  And he had it exactly right.

Another photograph, another story.  I figure that by the time I’m too old to take pictures anymore, I might actually know a few things about this world.  Not much, but a little.

Deep Shadows

Late afternoon, Severn River, Annapolis, MD

One of the few good things (in my opinion) about making images in this part of the country at this time of year is the remarkable shadows you get.  You can get them at almost any time of the day – if the sun’s out, obviously – but the best ones seem to appear late in the afternoon.  Remember, sunset in December in the northeast is between 4:30 and 5:00 PM.  Unlike summertime, it gets dark so fast it’s like someone turned off a switch.  One minute there’s light, the next minute it’s dark. 

This one was taken just below one of the bridges that crosses the river into Annapolis.

“Damn the torpedoes……..”

Stained glass image, Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, MD

On our trip to Annapolis, MD over the weekend, we decided to visit the campus of the U. S. Naval Academy there.  We’ve been to Annapolis a few times, but never really saw the campus except from outside the gates.  It’s an impressive place.  Not to mention all of the history wrapped up in the institution itself and the navy in general.  I wish I’d been able to spend more time there.

One place we did loiter a bit, though, was the Academy Chapel.  Renovated earlier this decade, the interior is striking.  As you enter, you can see a large open dome above the altar and a stained glass likeness of Christ walking on water behind it (hey, it’s the navy).  It is the stained glass windows in the chapel, in fact, that seem to generate the most visitor interest.  I believe that all of them were made by Tiffany.  Extremely detailed, you can spend a lot of time just admiring the colors and the designs in this beautiful glass.  Some of it is religious, of course, but much of it depicts U. S. naval history.  It is the mixture of the two, however,  that strikes me as a little “odd”.

The image above, for example, is part of what is known as the Farragut Window.  For those not well versed in U. S. naval history (which would include about 95% of all Americans), David Farragut was the first rear admiral in U. S. naval history.  His accomplishments were many, but his biggest claim to fame came during the Civil War in a naval action in Mobile Bay in 1864.  It was here, during some early and confusing moments for the Union fleet (one ship was sunk), that Farragut supposedly lashed himself to his ship’s rigging (so he could see over the smoke) and yelled, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!“.  At that time, by the way, “torpedoes” were like mines; they weren’t fired from submarines as they are now.  The fleet then moved through the torpedoes without sustaining any more damage and defeated the Confederate forces.  If you look at the picture, you can see Farragut lashed in the rigging leading his forces to victory.

Well, OK.  It is, after all, a chapel on a military installation.  What kind of bothers me, however, is the stained glass window directly above this one, in the balcony area.  Here it is:

The Archangel Michael leading the Fleet

Here we see the Archangel Michael “leading” Farragut’s fleet through the minefield and on to eventual victory.  Now, if I was a product of the American south and decided to get my education at Annapolis and perhaps have a naval career, I might possibly be offended by this.  Does this mean that God was on the Union side during the Civil War?  Were northerners better Christians than were southerners?  Were my ancestors, if I hailed from Mobile, Alabama, the “bad guys”?  Hey, I’m just asking……

Oh, one other historical note.  The body of John Paul Jones, the naval hero from the Revolutionary War, lies in a crypt below the chapel.  For some reason, though, this area was closed over the weekend.

Toys I Can’t Have

Aphrodite, Watch Hill Harbor, RI

During a recent visit to southern Connecticut, we drove the short distance to Rhode Island to revisit Watch Hill (one of our favorite spots along the southern New England shore).  Watch Hill is one of those places that simply says “Money”.  Lots and lots of money lives here.  Well, the people with the money don’t actually live here, I don’t think.  At least most of them don’t make this their permanent home.  This is where they come for summer vacations.  The rest of the time is probably spent in New York or Boston.  The multi-million dollar homes at the edge of the sea are vacation homes.  You know, the kind of place Bernie Madoff might have owned.

Like a lot of people, we go there to stare at the trappings of wealth.  We walk the streets – especially up around the Watch Hill lighthouse – and we wander around the harbor area.  We gawk at stuff that we couldn’t afford if we saved up for a thousand years.  We don’t do it to torture ourselves.  It’s kind of a game.  We say things like, “if we win the lottery next week, we’ll build a place just like that one” or “we’ll buy a boat like that one and take it to Key West for the winter”.  It’s sort of like playing Monopoly.  It’s not real, but it’s fun.

My “choice” for the day was this boat.  There were a number that were bigger, but this one, in my opinion, had far more class.  The upper structure was all wood (I’m not sure about the hull).  And it looked like it had been polished with a thousand coats of Pledge.  Not to mention the black hull.  All the other boats were essentially white and appeared to be made of fiberglass (great stuff for fighting off the effects of salt).  But the Aphrodite was different.  I mean, just look at this thing.  It simply stands out.  I know very little about such craft, but I’m guessing it’s about 125 feet in length, maybe longer.  I can’t imagine what the inside looks like.

I actually saw some guy moving around on the inside.  Maybe, I thought, if I stood there long enough with my tongue hanging out, he’d let me come aboard.  Nope.  Wasn’t going to happen.  I would forever be on the outside looking in.

Keeping the Faith

"Touchdown Jesus", Hesburgh Library, Notre Dame University

You may have heard some of these exchanges on recent TV ads.  I offer them up purely for your entertainment.

Moderator:  ”Who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?”

Contestant:  ”I don’t know”.

Moderator:  ”Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”

Contestant:  ”Sponge Bob Square Pants!”

Moderator:  (Pointing to an American flag fluttering in the breeze) “How many stars on the flag?”

Contestant:  “I don’t know; the wind’s blowing too hard for me to count them”.

Moderator:  “Who wrote Handel’s ‘Messiah’?”

Contestant:  “I don’t read books”.

Yes, these are ads for Jay Leno’s new show starting this September on NBC.  And yes, they could be “made up” (it is, after all, going to be a comedy show).  But I would suggest that even if they are fictional, they could easily be real exchanges.  I don’t know about you, but I personally know people who would probably respond the same way.  It’s not that they’re too stupid to know these things.  They’re probably very bright.  The vast majority of people in this country are reasonably intelligent and, as Cedric noted in a comment on my last post, they’re basically “good people”, just trying to make it from one day to the next.  Life ain’t easy, especially when the economy’s in the toilet.  But not knowing stuff like this is just flat – ass lazy.  This is the simple stuff.  What happens when something “hard” comes along?   

So what’s the point?  Just this.  Going through life minimally informed isn’t good enough.  Believing that what’s happening in Washington or in your own hometown doesn’t affect you is, to say the least, dangerous.  If your view of the world is based exclusively on headlines and sound-bites, or what you read on your favorite website, you’re no better off than the folks characterized in the exchanges above.   

If you know anything about Notre Dame or Notre Dame football, you’ll recognize “Touchdown Jesus” in the image above.  No, I didn’t go to Notre Dame (I only wish that I did, even though I’m not Catholic).  I’m one of those people they used to call “subway alumni”.  Touchdown Jesus, of course, can be seen from inside the football stadium; you don’t have to use a lot of imagination to believe that he’s signaling a touchdown (for the Irish, of course).

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone all that well for ND football fans the last few years.  They still fill the stadium for every game and people love to watch them on TV, but other teams no longer fear them.  Losing has become all too common.  But we’ll “keep the faith”.  Maybe this year will be different……

Longitude Lane

I didn’t take this picture – my wife did.  She very often finds some real gems with her Canon G7 that I never see.  I think that’s because she’s more likely to look down at things than I am.  I tend to look mostly at things at eye level or above.  The reason for that, I suppose, could be physical.  She’s about 5′ 1″ tall and I’m about 6′ 6″.  The ground’s a lot further away for me.  Or maybe she’s just more “grounded in reality” than I am.  Who knows.  Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t have seen this image in a million years.  And I really like it.

Every once in a while while we’re traveling, we come across a street name that we add to our list of “Addresses we wish we had”.  This is one of them.  I mean, wouldn’t it be neat to live on “Longitude Lane”?  In this case, not only is the name interesting, so is the street itself.  Of course, calling it a street is being kind.  While it’s not a one way street, there’s no way in hell that two vehicles could pass going in opposite directions.  It must make for some interesting situations from time to time.

It’s also one of those Charleston streets that, with a little imagination, can make you think you’ve stepped back in time.  The houses are all 18th or 19th century in origin.  And even though it runs off of East Battery (a heavily trafficked street), it gets very quiet very quickly as you walk down it.  Almost spookily quiet.  If I’d seen people dressed in 18th century garb staring back out the windows at me, I swear I wouldn’t have been surprised.

The Smoking Lounge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems to me that whenever I visit a place – whether it’s a city, a park, or even the local grocery store – there is always some kind of center of gravity.  There’s some spot that I seem to consistently return to, a “home base” if you will.  When you’re with someone, in a city that is not “home”, such a spot can make it easy to go your own way and then find each other again without having to draw a map. 

This was that “spot” in Charleston.  It’s a bench in front of the Gibbes Museum of Art on Meeting St.  We didn’t pick it because we’re lovers of fine art (we never entered the place) or even because it was centrally located (although it comes close).  Nope.  The reason was far more mundane than that.

My wife is the kindest, gentlest soul I’ve ever met.  But she has one really bad habit – she smokes.  She’s always smoked.  Nothing I’ve ever said or done has had even the smallest impact on that awful vice.  She knows the risks and she’s seen what it can do to people.  Doesn’t matter.  It’s an addiction I will never understand.  The ironic thing is that in my gut I have this feeling that she’ll outlive me, and I’ve never smoked a day in my life.  So much for statistics.

Anyway, this turned out to be the perfect spot for her to sit down, rest, and light up.  It was relatively quiet, out of the way, and out of the sun.  Others used it for the same reason.  So I dubbed it “The Smoking Lounge”.  If you look close, you can see butts on the ground around the bench.  If I wanted to go explore some street or alley and she didn’t, we’d just meet back here.  It was the perfect place.

Not surprisingly, cigarettes are much cheaper in the south.  In South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, she could buy a carton for about half what she pays here in NY ($40 versus about $80).  I don’t agree with a lot that the state of NY does, but they’re making it extremely difficult for people to smoke here – especially young people.  Hell, you can buy certain illegal drugs for less than a pack of cigarettes.  Of course, the tobacco industry is still strong in those southern states.  They’re not about to kill the golden goose.  While on the road, we stopped at a restaurant in Virginia and I was shocked when they asked, “smoking or non-smoking”?  I haven’t heard that in a long time.

Needless to say, she stocked up while we were there.  In a very twisted way, I guess that makes sense.

St. Michael’s

 St. Michael’s Episcopal Church is the oldest church in the city of Charleston.  Its cornerstone was laid in 1752 and the church held its first service in 1761.  Aside from an addition in 1883, the building is essentially the same as it was then (aside from normal maintennance and the occasional repair from weather and war).  The pulpit, in fact, is the original and still bears a scar from a nearby shell burst during the federal bombardment of 1865.

A slight digression here:  I had been under the impression that Charleston escaped significant damage during the Civil War (as implied in yesterday’s post).  While it’s true that Sherman spared the city from a full assault by his army, Charleston endured off and on artillery bombardment  for over a year.  Much of the city was left in ruins, although many historical sites (including this church) escaped major damage.  The picture below (from the national archives) is fairly convincing evidence that Charleston did not escape the war unscathed.  I don’t know the name of the photographer, but it supposedly was taken in 1865 from the grounds of the Circular Church (also still standing).

 Anyway, live and learn.  I also learned that St. Michael’s survived some major natural disasters along the way.  The steeple, for example, is over 193 feet tall (including the 7.5 foot weather vane).  In 1886, this part of the structure sank about 8 inches because of an earthquake (earthquakes in South Carolina?).

In 1938, the church was badly damaged by a tornado, resulting in repairs that took months to complete.

President George Washington worshipped here on a Sunday afternoon in May, 1791.  Seventy years later, Robert E. Lee did the same thing (in the very same pew).  In hindsight, one could conclude that Washington’s prayers were answered; Lee’s apparently were not.  If you take much stock in that kind of thing, that is.

If you’re driving toward Charleston from the James Island / Folly Beach area (on the 30 connector), you can see the spires of both St. Michael’s and St. Phillips rising above the old city.  For all practical purposes, they are the “skyline”.  There just isn’t anything very tall in the so-called historic district.

The Old Slave Market

Near one end of cobblestoned Chalmers St. stands the last remaining building in Charleston where slave trade took place before and during the Civil War.  During that period, the area between Chalmers and Queen St. contained a group of buildings, known as Ryan’s Mart,  that supported this lucrative business.  The only building left is the one you see here – to the right of the old firehouse.  It’s currently used as a “slave museum”.  The last actual slave auction in Charleston occurred in this building in November, 1863.

As most people know, slavery was an important issue in the war, but not the critical one.  The seeds of the conflict, as it turns out, took root in Charleston in a house on Meeting St., not far from Ryan’s Mart.  It was here that John C. Calhoun and others finalized the idea of “Nullification”.  It was the right of any state, they said, to “nullify” any law passed by the federal government.  This all took place before Calhoun died in 1850, nearly 11 years before the Civil War actually began.  As with so many things, it had mostly to do with money (tariffs).  Not surprisingly, military conflict almost took place then, but was avoided by a compromise.

The subsequent “Orders of Secession” in 1860 (also signed in Charleston) were largely based on Calhoun’s ideas and did lead to the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter (and the war) a few months later.  Calhoun is buried in Charleston (under a very large headstone).  

Interestingly, even though Charleston was considered the birthplace of the Confederacy, it was essentially spared during Sherman’s infamous march to the sea.  Many residents of Charleston had evacuated and gone to Columbia to avoid Sherman’s army.  Ironically, it was Columbia that Sherman’s forces leveled.  Why Sherman chose Columbia and spared Charleston is something of a mystery.  Some say it was because he had served there at Fort Moultrie and had a soft spot for the city.  Others claim that he may have had a “woman friend” there.  Or maybe he felt that an intact Charleston – with its harbor – had more strategic value than the inland Columbia.

Whatever the reason, one can only wonder what Charleston would be today if Sherman had made a different choice.