Return to the Angle 150 years ago today, on a ridge just south of the small town of Gettysburg, the most deadly battle in American history came to an end. On that hot sunny afternoon at a point referred to as “The Angle”, the charge by General George Pickett’s Virginia Infantry failed. This spot now bears the nickname of “The High-water Mark of the Confederacy”, because it is the farthest north that Confederate troops ever advanced. Some four months after this bloodiest of battles, which cost nearly 53,000 killed or wounded, President Abraham Lincoln journeyed to Gettysburg for the dedication of the National Cemetery. He would deliver a brief speech, which may be one of the best known, and most powerful pieces of Presidential oratory in our history. The irony of this speech is that Lincoln was not even the featured speaker for the occasion, the featured speaker made a two hour long presentation before Lincoln spoke. The first draft of Lincoln’ remarks, which lasted about two minutes, were initially scrawled on the back of envelope. Perhaps, that is not the greatest irony in Lincoln’s remarks though. Lincoln said “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” While those may not have been his EXACT words, it seems we have made note of what was said, and at 150 years later we can call it a relatively long time that the speech has been remembered. Or, HAVE we remembered? The Civil war, as many have opined, was about ending slavery. However, it has often been neutralized by saying that it was a war over States Rights; in particular about the right of States to leave or secede from the Union. What would Lincoln think of our Nation today when politicians cavalierly throw around talk of secession? It just doesn’t sound like “an increased measure of devotion” does it? Division seems to run deep in the fabric our Nation these days, almost as deep as the divisions that threatened to permanently divide the country 150 years ago. One of Lincoln’s other famous quotes is “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Sometimes it feels like we are hell bent on proving Lincoln right. Sometimes it feels like we are going back, way back. To the Angle. …..or did we ever leave.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 02:44:15 +0000
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