Michigan Civil War Blog

The Abolitionists

Caught up to the first episode of the award winning American Experience "The Abolitionists" last nite. Very well done, indeed. From its beginning scene of a South Carolina woman finding slavery unconscionable in 1829 to the last line in 1840 how "they had exposed the fatal weakness in the Union, and set the nation on course to the gravest crisis in its history", the show is informative and entertaining.

This TV show marks yet another Civil War-related eye-opener during the Sesquicentennial. Spielberg's Lincoln garnered 12 Academy Award nominations this week along with other honors, following on the heels of other ground-breaking shows like Death and the Civil War. Great books have emerged. The National Park Service has been doing their own excellent commemorations at battlefield sites. This has already been -- just a couple of years in -- a commemoration that is most comprehensive and inclusive. And that's cause for satisfaction.

Michigan had its own key role in the abolition movement. On the grounds of the old Ann Arbor News is this State Historical Marker contemporaneous with the events of Chapter 1 of "The Abolitionists":

"The founding meeting of the Michigan Antislavery Society was held in the First Presbyterian Church located on this site, on November 10, 1836. Delegates from six counties elected officers and adopted fourteen resolutions denouncing slavery. This convention led to the establishment in Jackson in 1839 of the American Freeman, the state's first antislavery newspaper and its successor, Ann Arbor's Signal of Liberty in 1841."

A search of the marker databases reveals a significant number related to Michiganders' efforts to fulfill the spirit of our very first Constitution, prohibiting slavery from ever existing in the Great Lake State.

Watch Michigan and the Civil War

Earlier this year yours truly appeared on the Jack Lessenberry show on WGTE Toledo. The video was uploaded to its website and is now available for viewing at Deadline Now

Coming to a PBS station near you, soon

The Michigan Experience: The American Civil War Years will begin airing on every PBS station in Michigan this month, November. Local airdates can be found here: MICW on TV  Tonite finds yours truly at the Michigan Historical Center premiere -- the promo materials certainly whet the appetite:

"As the Civil War constitutes a grave and pivotal point not only in our national history but that of Michigan as well, the story of Michigan's involvement is a story that needs and merits greater exploration and understanding. This documentary series will examine Michigan's role in the Civil War and provide a better understanding of the significant role and impact that Michigan's involvement had. Michigan sent 90,000 men to fight in the Civil War including specialized regiments of sharpshooters and engineers, and more cavalry per capita than any other northern state. At least 68 Michigan soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry on the battlefield during the Civil War. Michigan mines produced tons of iron ore used to make cannon, iron clad ships and rails in support of the Union. Michigan supplied horses, ambulances, lumber, agriculture and was a major contributing factor in the Civil War victory."

Presenting Station WKAR TV - Kent Wieland, Station Manager

Rodney Brown is producer/director. He has a master's degree in American Culture from the Rackham School of the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in communication from Stanford University. He is an award winning filmmaker and former senior executive producer at WFUM-PBS.

(Also, the Library of Congress has selected the website for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the American Civil War Sesquicentennial.)

Matthew Broderick and Glory

One of the best Civil War movies is Glory, based on the story of the 54th Massachusetts. Mr. Broderick played its commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. At the time, he had no idea that, on his father's side, he had a Civil War ancestor, whose name was also Robert. If you haven't seen it, this episode of Who Do You Think You Are is well worth the 45 minutes: Who You Are

You only have til February 5 to watch. The new season starts on the 4th.

Lincoln's Doctor's Dog ... ?

On Turner Classic Movies tonite was an evening full of Screen Directors Playhouse television shows that have not aired since the mid-1950s. Among them was a drama of this title, starring Robert Ryan as Lincoln and Charles Bickford as his doctor. It's February 11, 1863, and Lincoln is suffering from depression over a war that has not gone well, especially in the Eastern Theater. Without giving the plot away, a dog provides something of a cure for the "black dog" mindset that has beset the President.

It was a fascinating show, for several reasons. The story line itself wasn't all that deep, but the performances of the two stars, who many times played bad guys, were quite touching and made the drama sing. Or was it the viewer's own identification of the story line that Lincoln carried the weight of the Union on his heart during the War. Well, one only has to look at the photos of him during the four years to prove that fact.

What was also amazing was the vintage: this episode aired in 1955, nearly 56 years ago, and hasn't been seen since. It is as if a diary had been found again after being lost, or a letter from the front, or some other kind of historical discovery. Yes, it wasn't history ... but it was, since, in a real sense, the program itself takes one back over a half-century.

And, with no commercial interruptions!

Robert E. Lee on American Experience

When coming across the announcement of this PBS program late last year, it was with real excitement that I began to look forward to it. DVR'd it last nite and watched it tonite. I was not disappointed.

Lee is presented as a complex individual, not the 'Marble Man' of some historical interpretations. His personal bravery in the Mexican War, his inability to make Arlington a going business concern, his failure in western Virginia in 1861, his amazing command of the Army of Northern Virginia, all were portrayed in good accuracy along with numerous other chapters in a fascinating life. Debate still rages about whether his overall war strategy was the right one or whether he should have assumed the defensive as did Washington. It did seem there were a lot of references to "failure" at the end of the program, but that's the ultimate verdict on the war's outcome, so ...

It did seem so obvious how artillery was a major factor in Lee's most significant battleground defeats, at Malvern Hill and at Gettysburg. How did he not appreciate the effects that such concentrated fire would have on his assaults? He certainly underestimated the impact. Gratifying that Detroiter Henry Hunt was Lee's nemesis on both occasions.

The program mentioned how Theodore Roosevelt described Lee as "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth." Here we have it in a nutshell; TR finds the general-in-chief who lost to be the greatest of all time. In part, this is because of how TR perceived Lee after surrendering, in the light of reconciliation. TR: the warrior of San Juan Hill and the Great White Fleet whose own heart was later broken by the death of a son in WWI. Would he have admitted changing his mind?

Of such is the stuff of real history, not merely a simple right/wrong equation, because of the fact that people -- complex individuals with contradictory emotions and ideas -- are involved. Without the 3-dimensionality of people, there is no history, only stereotypes and fairy tales. Why, then, do we so frequently try to simplify? Perhaps because we prefer clarity, even if not completely true, over opaqueness. Opaque: now there's a word used to describe Lee, and it's a good one. RE Lee was no saint, in the classical sense. He was, rather, a human being, one who struggled to achieve a certain standard, never felt he had reached it, and who got frustrated when others failed as well. Another revelation in the program is the physical change in Lee over the four years of the war. Not quite comparable to Lincoln's, but dramatic nonetheless. Evidence that the man was human. Shocking.

As a 'kick-off' show during this Sesquicentennial year it was an excellent 90 minutes well worth watching by anyone above the age of 6 or 7. Some of us, after all, were 8 when we first got caught up in this era. And who, for the past half-century, have been enjoying the slow wade into the deep end of the pool.

Grant vs. Lee

Just got an alert from a favorite TV show -- American Experience -- saying this:

9pm on PBS (check local listings)

-Coming in 2011-

January 3 – Robert E. Lee

January 10 – U.S. Grant: Warrior

Can't wait ... though why the vanquished airs before the victor isn't readily apparent...

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Looking for Lincoln...

This past Wednesday, YT had the honor of giving some remarks at the Detroit Public Television "Looking for Lincoln" teacher training workshop. The PBS program of that title will air on Wednesday, February 11, to coincide with the Bicentennial of the 16th President's birth. The event was at the Charles Wright Museum of African-American History and was well attended despite another bout with what has become quite a winter in these parts.

Here's the text from that evening: Download Abraham Lincoln