Grant's Insight

As a Jew, I try not to get too excited about dead anti-Semites. I read Dostoevsky and listen to Wagner. I make an exception for Hitler. Which brings me back to Ulysses S. Grant.
He had a great insight at the beginning of the war. During his first engagement with the Confederate army, he noticed that the Southern commander was as afraid as he was. It made him think of the enemy as less than invincible. As he told his staff in 1864,"Let's stop thinking about what Lee will do. Let us think about what we will do." He took that knowledge and used it to accomplish his victories in the West and later to final triumph in Virginia.
Grant seemed to do few things well (being President wasn't one of them). Waging war was definitely one of his skills.
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Civil War Blooper-God Bless Those Tiny Feet

Confederate Colonel Alfred Rhett suffered capture by the Union Army. His exquisite pair of boots became an immediate subject of interest to his captors. They pronounced the boots an immediate spoil of war. Unfortunately for them, no one could use them since they were too small for Yankee feet.
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Grant's Order-A Date of Infamy

On this day in 1862, Ulysses S. Grant did little to cover himself in glory. He issued his Order No. 11 expelling all Jews from his military department by the Mississippi River. The order caused a great deal of suffering among the Jews who had to leave the area before it was rescinded by President Lincoln.

However, I think it's important to put the order in perspective. It was the first and perhaps only act of overt anti-Semitism by an arm of the U.S. Government. In our country, most of the anti-Semitism emerged from private sources and entities. In Europe, the anti-Jewish actions were overt and explicit. Anti-Semitic political parties emerged in the late 19th century. One of the mayors of Vienna, Karl Lueger, was reelected multiple times on an anti-Semitic platform. There was the Dreyfus Affair in France. Then of course came the Nazis and the Holocaust. Though America has a strong anti-Semitic past, the U.S. has not been too bad in comparison to what Jews suffered elsewhere.

Let's put down General Grant's order to an excess of drink, shall we?
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Miscellaneous Joke

A member of Team Tiger came to Mr. Woods's desk and showed him pictures of the women who have admitted and those who have claimed to have slept with him. Tiger Woods took one look at those who claimed it and said,"Damn, I wish I'd slept with them."
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Civil War Blooper-Retreat

Union Colonel Edward Baker informed his eager men that they could find the war if they followed the plume of his hat. They took his admonition seriously when he led them over a cliff during a retreat.
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The Dubious Joys of Civilian Oversight

Today in 1861, Congress passed the legislation creating the Committee on the Conduct of the War. Set up as a reaction to the defeat at Ball's Bluff, the body remained in existence for the rest of the war. This was an early example of Congress asserting its oversight power over the Executive and the military. On its face, it must have seemed like a good idea. In reality, the Committee played little constructive role in the war. Congress, in general, was largely a nonplayer in the Civil War.

Civilian oversight can play a constructive role in wartime. This was especially true for the Truman Committee during World War II. General George C. Marshall told then-Senator Truman, "Your committee was worth two divisions to me."

So civilian oversight can help a war effort. It just depends on who does the overseeing.
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The Portable Bible

Today in 1861, the American Bible Society produced a noteworthy report on its activities. Funded by private donations, the Society had sent 7,000 copies of the New Testament each day to the soldiers. It became noted that the most of the troops carried two objects: their Bible and a deck of playing cards. That is one combination of the sacred and the profane. However, upon the onset of battle, the soldiers dropped their decks on the ground on the theory that the gates of Heaven would narrow if their Maker found the cards on them. What would have happened if the Lord somehow stumbled on the incriminating evidence?
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