145 Years Ago Lee Surrendered To Grant

On April 6, 1865, General Robert E. Lee was attempting to link up with General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee and go on the offensive.  On his way Sheridan's cavalry and elements of the II and VI Corps. cut them off and causing most of the 7,700 Confederates to surrender.  The delay prevented Lee from reaching the station by late afternoon on April 8, allowing Sheridan to reach the station, where he captured Lee's supplies and obstructed his path.

Following a minor battle in Cumberland Church and High Bridge, on April 7, Grant sent a note to Lee suggesting that it was time to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia.  General Lee sent a return note refusing the request, but asked General Grant what terms he had in mind.  On April 8, the Union cavalry captured and burned three supply trains waiting for Lee's army at the Battle Appomattox Station. 

With his supplies at Appomattox destroyed, Lee now looked west, to the railway at Lynchburg, where more supplies were waiting for him.  Now all that lay between Lee and Lynchburg was the Union Cavalry.  Lee hoped to break through before the infantry arrived.  He sent a note to Grant saying that he did not wish to surrender his army just yet but was willing to discuss how Grant's terms would affect the Confederacy.

At dawn on April 9, the Confederates under Major General John B. Gordon attacked Sheridan's cavalry and quickly forced back the first line Under Brig.General Ranald S. Mackenzie and George Crook.  Gordon's troops charged through the Union lines and took the ridge, but as they reached the crest they saw the entire Union XXIV Corps in line of battle with the Union V Corps to their right.  When Lee's cavalry saw this they immediately withdrew and rode off towards Lynchburg. Colonel Charles Venable of Lee's staff rode in and asked for an assessment, and Gordon gave him a reply he knew Lee did not want to hear.  "Tell General Lee I have fought my corps to a frazzle, and I fear I can do nothing unless I am heavily supported by Longstreet's corps."  After hearing this Lee finally stated the inevitable, "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths."

At 8:00 a.m., General Lee rode out to meet General Grant, accompanied by three of his aides.

General Grant received Lee's letter on the morning of April 9, 1865.  He replied to Lee, "General, Your note of this date is but this moment, 11:50 a.m. received, in consequence of my having passed from Richmond and Lynchburg road.  I am at this writing about four miles West of Walker's Church and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.  Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place."

It was a show of remarkable respect that he let General Lee choose the spot for his surrender.  Appomattox Court House, a small village of twenty buildings, was chosen as the location.  The brick home of Wilmer McLean was the site.

Dressed in an immaculate uniform, Lee waited for Grant to arrive.  Grant arrived in a mud-spattered uniform, government issue flannel shirt with trousers tucked into muddy boots, and no sidearms.  It was the first time the two men had seen each other face-to-face in almost two decades.  Suddenly overcome with sadness, Grant found it hard to get to the point of the meeting and instead the two generals briefly discussed their only previous encounter, during the Mexican-American War.

The terms of the surrender were recorded in a document completed and signed around 4 p.m. April 9, 1865.  The nightmare of a civil war fought between neighbors, brothers, relatives of all kinds, and citizens of the United States was finally over.

In reality, it was not until June 23, 1865 that the last confederates finally received word that the war was over, surrendered,  laid down their arms and went home.

"Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day"

Today, March 27, 2012, the U.S. Senate unanimously declared March 30th "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day".

On March 30, 1973, all U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.  They returned to a country that was tired of the war and hostile towards the soldiers that had bravely served their country.  It was horribly shameful how these soldiers, who were under the draft system, were shown no honor at all.  There were no crowds at the airports to welcome them home.  They were disrespected and called "warmongers".

Senator Richard Burr said, "I'm pleased that the Senate has agreed to set aside a day to give our Vietnam veterans a warm, long-overdue welcome home.  I strongly encourage communities throughout North Carolina and across the country to observe this day with activities and events that honor these veterans for their service.  It's time they receive the recognition they have earned and deserve.  This day also provides our nation with an important teaching moment.  Never again should our men and women serving in the armed forces receive the same treatment as those returning from Vietnam."

During the course of the Vietnam War 58,193 members of the United States Armed Forces lost their lives, and more than 300,000 were wounded.   Out of the 58,193 soldiers that were killed 51,968 were under the age of 30.  Eight were women.  These were boys and girls who went from the football field to the battle field.

On March 30 please make a special effort to thank all Vietnam Veterans for their brave service to this nation.

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans and thank you for your service from all of us at National Write Your Congressman.

On a personal note, this author still has her MIA (Missing In Action) bracelet from the Vietnam war.  Mine was Major Gregg Hartness whose plane went down on Nov. 26, 1968.  Major Hartness' remains were found and identified on July 2, 2005.  I want to personally thank Major Hartness and his family for their sacrifice.

History, The Olympics, Afghanistan

Looking forward to the Summer Olympic Games being played in London, one might reflect back to 1980 and the Games that did not happen for the U.S. Olympians because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Because the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter announced that the U.S. would boycott the Olympics scheduled to take place in Moscow that summer if the Soviets did not withdraw their troops by February 20, 1980.

The Soviet military invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to reinforce the country's communist regime against Islamic rebel forces. In a statement made after the invasion, Carter spoke out against the Soviet Union, specifically Premier Leonid Brezhnev, and said the invasion was a deliberate effort by a powerful atheistic government to subjugate an independent Islamic people that he called a stepping stone to Soviet control over Afghanistan's oil supplies. Brezhnev dismissed Carter's statements as "bellicose and wicked". The invasion threatened to revive the Cold War, which, during the late 1970s, had appeared to undergo a temporary thaw. President Carter said his opinion of the Russians had changed drastically since the beginning of his administration.

In addition to the boycott, Carter increased pressure on the Soviets to abandon the war in Afghanistan by issuing a trade embargo on two U.S. goods that the country desperately needed, grain and information technology. He also restricted Soviet fishing in American-controlled ocean waters. Carter called on the U.N. to provide military equipment, food and other assistance to help Afghanistan's neighbors, especially Iran and Pakistan to fight off further Soviet encroachment.

Canada, West Germany and Japan joined the U.S. in boycotting the games.  President Carter failed to convince Great Britain, France, Greece and Australia to also observe the boycott. When an international coalition suggested that the boycotting nations send athletes to compete under a neutral Olympic banner, Carter threatened to revoke the passport of any U.S. athlete who attempted to do so.  Reaction to Carter's decision was mixed. Many Americans pitied the athletes who had worked so hard toward their goal of competing in the Olympics and who might not qualify to compete in the next games in 1984. At the same time, the boycott symbolized commitment many Americans felt to fighting the oppressive, anti-democratic Soviet regime.

In retaliation for Carter's action, the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles.

Women Sacrifice During the Revolution

On March 12, 1776, in Baltimore, Maryland, a public notice appeared in the local paper recognizing the sacrifice of women to the cause of the revolution.  "The necessity of taking all imaginable care of those who may happen to be wounded in the country's cause, urges us to address our humane ladies, to lend us their kind assistance in furnishing us with linen rags and old sheeting, for bandages." 

On and off the battlefield, women were known to support the revolutionary cause by providing nursing assistance.  However, this was not their only form of aid or sacrifice to the cause.  The boycotts that united the colonies against British taxation required female participation far more than male. In fact, the men designing the non-importation agreements generally chose to boycott products used mostly by women.  Tea and cloth are the two best examples.

When we read of the bravery of the male colonists dressing up as Mohawk Indians and dumping large volumes of tea into Boston Harbor as a form of opposition to the Tea Act, few realize that women, not men, drank most of the tea.  Samuel Adams and his friends dumped the tea in the harbor, but they were far more likely to drink rum than tea when they returned to their homes.  Similarly, when John Adams and other men in power thought it best to stop importing fine British fabrics with which to make their clothing during the protests of the late 1760s, it had little impact on their daily lives.  Wearing homespun cloth may not have been as comfortable nor look as refined as their regular clothing, but it was Abigail Adams and other colonial women who were forced to spend hours spinning the cloth to create their family's wardrobes.

According to history, in 1776 Abigail begged John to remember the ladies while drafting the U.S. Constitution.  She was not begging a favor, but demanding payment of an enduring debt.

  

The Boston Massacre

On March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathered at the Customs House in Boston and began taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation.

British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building. The colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. The other soldiers began firing a moment later, and when the smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying—Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and James Caldwell—and three more were injured. The deaths of the five men are regarded by some historians as the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War.


The British soldiers were put on trial, and patriots John Adams and Josiah Quincy agreed to defend the soldiers in a show of support of the colonial justice system. When the trial ended in December 1770, two British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded with an "M" for murder as punishment.

The Sons of Liberty, a Patriot group formed in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Ace, advertised the "Boston Massacre" as a battle for American liberty and just cause for the removal of British troops from Boston. Patriot Paul Revere made a provocative engraving of the incident, depicting the British soldiers lining up like an organized army to suppress an idealized representation of the colonist uprising. Copies of the engraving were distributed throughout the colonies and helped reinforce negative American sentiments about British rule.

In April 1775, the American Revolution began when British troops from Boston skirmished with American militiamen at the battles of Lexington and Concord. The British troops were under orders to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington and to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord. Neither missions were accomplished because of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who rode ahead of the British, warning Adams and Hancock and rousing the Patriot minutemen. Eleven months later, in March 1776, British forces had to evacuate Boston following American General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights. This bloodless liberation of Boston brought an end to the hated eight-year British occupation of the city. For the victory, General Washington, commander of the Continental Army, was presented with the first medal ever awarded by the Continental Congress. It would be more than five years before the Revolutionary War came to an end with British General Charles Cornwallis' surrender to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.

We think of these men as Revolutionaries and signers of the Declaration of Independence, which gives you a vision of older men in white wigs. Born American, these young men in their 20s and 30s with great courage and conviction stood up against the government that had all the power over them.  There would be no more taxation without representation for them.  They were a new country called America battling against the tyranny of the home country of England.  It would be five more years before they won their freedom.

John Glenn An American Hero

Fifty years ago on February 20, 1962, a rocket blasted into orbit carrying Astronaut John Glenn into history.

During the Cold War there was a "race to space" competition between Russia and the United States.  In October 1957 the Soviets shocked the world by launching Sputnik 1 into orbit.  This was an embarrassment to the US and caused worry that they were falling behind in technology and defense.

NASA was signed into existence on July 19, 1958, and later President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to send a man to the moon by the end of the 1960s.  But still the US lagged behind the Soviet Union.

By 1962, NASA had sent Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom for short 15 minute journeys that did not enter orbit.  With a 1 in 6 percent chance of coming back alive, John Glenn was America's first man to actually orbit the earth.  His lift off was rescheduled 10 times due to bad weather and technical problems.

There was a lot riding on Freedom 7 and John Glenn.  The United States needed a big win in the space race.  On the morning of February 20, 1962 all eyes were on Cape Canaveral, Florida.  It was such a historic moment that it was shown on TV in homes that were filled with pride for America.

John Glenn's spacecraft went into orbit circling the earth three times at an altitude of 162 miles. Each orbit lasted 88 minutes and 29 seconds. The mission lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds, during which he travelled a total of 75,679 miles then splashed-down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.  It was not without some problems.  The reentry was made very tense by what they thought was a loose heat shield.  For four nervous minutes NASA was completely out of touch with Glenn until he was just miles above earth with the parachute open on the capsule carrying him safely to the water.

Astronaut John Glenn has lived to see an important legacy since his historic flight.  NASA has landed astronauts on the moon, sent teams to the International Space Station, driven rovers on Mars, and countless other trips into space.

Saint Valentine

Legend has it that in 270 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius II ordered the death of a priest named Valentine.  St. Valentine came to the attention of Claudius because of his secret interference with orders banning marriage.

Claudius II had been raging deadly campaigns but was having trouble getting soldiers to join his leagues.  He believed that their reluctance was because of their love for their wives and families.  Claudius' answer to the problem was to ban marriages and engagements in Rome.  Valentine dared to defy him and continued to perform marriages in secrecy.

When Claudius discovered Valentines actions he ordered him to be put to death.  Valentine's sentence was carried out on February 14, 270 AD.  He was beaten to death with clubs and beheaded.

After his great service the church named him a saint.

Truth be told, there are 3 Saint Valentines in the Catholic Encyclopedia who were all martyrs and were all put to death on February 14.  Thus, "as legend has it."

Saving Social Security

Over 50 million Americans receive Social Security benefits.  Nearly 9 out of 10 are at least 65 years of age.  Those of us who fall in this range are being asked to cover the deficit passed to us by the politicians of the 1960's and find a way to fund our retirement years without becoming a burden to future generations.

According to Scott Rasmussen, our biggest challenge is to get the Political Class to follow the lead of the American people.  Social Security, after 80 years, still remains the most lasting and popular legacy of FDR's New Deal.  Sixty Four percent of voters nationwide still view it favorably.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt explained he set up Social Security benefits the way he did by saying, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits.  With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."  It should also be noted he envisioned a program that would grow to include a combination of "compulsory contributions," supplemented by voluntary contributions made in exchange for increased benefits. 

By a three-to-one margin, American people believe that no matter how bad something is Congress can always make it worse.  With that mind set, protecting an unsustainable status quo is less risky for voters than trusting congressional reform.  Even if Congress crafted the perfect reform plan, and even if voters loved what they heard, popular support would be withheld because voters don't trust Congress. 

Accordingly, 64 percent of Americans believe that any proposed change to Social Security should be submitted to a vote of the people before it could be implemented. For more than seventy-five years, Social Security has been presented to voters as a contract between government and individual American Workers. To change a contract lawfully requires approval from both parties. If the government wants to change the contract, it should be required to get approval from those on the other side of the bargain.  With the final product being submitted to a vote of American people, the process would be protected from political gamesmanship.

When the program began only 2 percent of an employee's income was paid into the system.  The figure has risen to 12.4 percent today, a total paid half by the employee and half by the employer in to what is euphemistically called "contributions" in exchange for a promise of future benefits.  To pay all current promised benefits, Social Security trustees estimate the taxes will have to be raised to just over 14.6 percent. 

The problem is how to achieve this.  Most Democrats say all that's needed is one more Social Security tax hike and the problem can be solved.  Most Republicans say that the promised benefits need to be cut either by raising the retirement age or reducing the growth of future benefits.  A few on each side would like to go further.  Some on the left would like to see taxes raised even more than is needed to make the system solvent.  They want benefits for retirees to go up even higher.  On the right, many advocate privatization of the program so that individuals can opt out of Social Security.  Neither of these ideas are popular with voters.  According to Rasmussen, 34 percent of voters say the retirement age should be raised for future generations, 30 percent say taxes should be raised, and 15 percent want benefits to be cut.  However, just about everyone agrees that something needs to be done.

The shame of this whole problem is that it did not have to happen.  During the 1960s, when economic growth was strong and the retirement program was young, politicians missed an opportunity to address the shortfall caused by the first generation of Social Security recipients.  (The first recipient was Ida May Fuller who paid a total of $24.75 into the system and received a total of $22,888.92 in benefits)  Deceptive accounting practices were implemented by President Lyndon Johnson making it easier for those who wanted to provide short-term benefit hikes while ignoring long-term costs.  This accounting trick also helped President Richard Nixon's reelection in 1972 when he announced he had "signed legislation which constitutes a major breakthrough for older Americans, for it says at last that inflation proof Social Security benefits are theirs as a matter of right."  As we now know that was not the fact.  According to government documents, the Social Security trust fund has a long-term deficit of $17.9 trillion.  They claim the trust fund has enough reserves to keep paying benefits in full until 2036.

Sixty-five percent of voters believe individuals should have the right to select their own retirement age.  Only 23 percent disagree.  Over the long term, people choosing later retirement ages could cut the cost of Social Security nearly in half.   It is an acknowledgement that one-size-fits-all solutions don't make sense in a society as big and diverse as that of the United States. 

Statistically, most Americans support FDR's concept of setting aside money during the working years to earn benefits during retirement years.  With that said, most are not happy with the current mix of taxes and benefits.  Everyone is looking for a better way to make Social Security beneficial for today's worker.  Many, including 53 percent of seniors, believe by freeing people to make their own choices, the long-term cost of social security benefits will be reduced far more than anybody in Congress would dare propose.  On top of that, it would be accomplished with the consent of the governed and in a manner that improves everyone's confidence in Social Security.

**Statistics taken from Scott Rasmussen's book "The People's Money"