Mike, while I generally like Waterson’s portrayals of Lincoln, such as the Cooper Union speech, I’ve always felt the affectation of the phrase in question was more Waterson’s thoughts on what AL should have emphasized as opposed to an interpretation based on any kind of historical analysis of his writing or of speaking habits of the time. Your explanation makes complete sense to me.
I had orignially linked to the post you noted above, but didn’t want anyone bitching at me for leading them to an article that mentioned Beck.
It seems rather strange to combine images of dead Confederate soldiers with Lincoln’s address, which is of course dealing with Union soldiers’ sacrifices. Not that the average Gaming Commission official will know the difference.
Are you sure Lincoln didn’t intend to include the Rebels in the sacrifices? (It’s always annoyed me that just about the only pictures of the dead, many of them grotesque, are Rebels.
There were more Confederate dead photographed at Gettybsurg because (1) more Confederates died in the battle, and (2) the Federals held the field and quite naturally buried their own dead first. I doubt that we can attribute it to any triumphant frame of mind on the part of the photographers.
There were several dead Union soldiers photographed. The Gardner photo titled “A Harvest of Death” is (I believe) a picture of Federals and has always disturbed me.
Feel better now, Dick?
I doubt if the photographers felt triumphant, but I expect they knew that their editors would. It was a sure way to sell a picture. They even dragged some of the corpses around to make the pictures more dramatic.
Can’t blame them too much, I suppose. They rarely had access to Rebs, otherwise.
Life magazine, during WW2, often ran pictures of dead Japanese and Germans. They only did it once (IIRC) with an American—one dead GI partly covered by the sand of a Pacific beach from which the tide had receded. Raised a furor.
Hey There,
Thanks for your comments on the video. I produced/co-directed this video along with the 9.5 video used as testimony by No Casino Gettysburg.
For the record, each person interviewed on camera was asked to read the Gettysburg with their own style and inflections. Each one had their own perspective and emphasis on specific words. We edited based on the emotion of the reading, not the “correct” or “incorrect” inflections.
Regarding the dead of Gettysburg, Lincoln was never ever referring to only the union who died at Gettysburg. But unlike others who wanted him to give a speech about crushing the Confederacy, he chose to speak about a new birth of freedom. He never refers to THEM or US.
To me, this video is about an incredibly inspirational speech read by some of the best voiceover talent in the country, written by the greatest President and scored by one of the greatest composers. I hope you can all watch it for what it is.
“I am sending you these little incidents as I hear them well authenticated. They form, to the friends of the parties, part of the history of the glorious 21st. More anon.”
About
Hello! I’m Harry Smeltzer and welcome to Bull Runnings, where you'll find my digital history project on the First Battle of Bull Run which is organized under the Bull Run Resources section. I'll also post my thoughts on the processes behind the project and commentary on the campaign, but pretty much all things Civil War are fair game. You'll only find musings on my “real job” or my personal life when they relate to this project. My mother always told me "never discuss politics or religion in mixed company”, and that's sound advice where current events are concerned.
The Project
This site is more than a blog. Bull Runnings also hosts digitized material pertaining to First Bull Run. In the Bull Run Resources link in the masthead and also listed below are links to Orders of Battle, After Action Reports, Official Correspondence, Biographical Sketches, Diaries, Letters, Memoirs, Newspaper Accounts and much, much more. Take some time to surf through the material. This is a work in process with no end in sight, so check back often!
Harry: Even Glenn Beck(!) recites it right — http://blogs.sj-r.com/alo/index.php/2010/09/02/glenn-beck-and-the-gettysburg-address-part-ii-this-time-with-video/.
Thanks for the mention.
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Mike, while I generally like Waterson’s portrayals of Lincoln, such as the Cooper Union speech, I’ve always felt the affectation of the phrase in question was more Waterson’s thoughts on what AL should have emphasized as opposed to an interpretation based on any kind of historical analysis of his writing or of speaking habits of the time. Your explanation makes complete sense to me.
I had orignially linked to the post you noted above, but didn’t want anyone bitching at me for leading them to an article that mentioned Beck.
LikeLike
It seems rather strange to combine images of dead Confederate soldiers with Lincoln’s address, which is of course dealing with Union soldiers’ sacrifices. Not that the average Gaming Commission official will know the difference.
LikeLike
Are you sure Lincoln didn’t intend to include the Rebels in the sacrifices? (It’s always annoyed me that just about the only pictures of the dead, many of them grotesque, are Rebels.
LikeLike
There were more Confederate dead photographed at Gettybsurg because (1) more Confederates died in the battle, and (2) the Federals held the field and quite naturally buried their own dead first. I doubt that we can attribute it to any triumphant frame of mind on the part of the photographers.
There were several dead Union soldiers photographed. The Gardner photo titled “A Harvest of Death” is (I believe) a picture of Federals and has always disturbed me.
Feel better now, Dick?
LikeLike
No. It’s only the exception that proves the rule.
I doubt if the photographers felt triumphant, but I expect they knew that their editors would. It was a sure way to sell a picture. They even dragged some of the corpses around to make the pictures more dramatic.
Can’t blame them too much, I suppose. They rarely had access to Rebs, otherwise.
Life magazine, during WW2, often ran pictures of dead Japanese and Germans. They only did it once (IIRC) with an American—one dead GI partly covered by the sand of a Pacific beach from which the tide had receded. Raised a furor.
LikeLike
Hey There,
Thanks for your comments on the video. I produced/co-directed this video along with the 9.5 video used as testimony by No Casino Gettysburg.
For the record, each person interviewed on camera was asked to read the Gettysburg with their own style and inflections. Each one had their own perspective and emphasis on specific words. We edited based on the emotion of the reading, not the “correct” or “incorrect” inflections.
Regarding the dead of Gettysburg, Lincoln was never ever referring to only the union who died at Gettysburg. But unlike others who wanted him to give a speech about crushing the Confederacy, he chose to speak about a new birth of freedom. He never refers to THEM or US.
To me, this video is about an incredibly inspirational speech read by some of the best voiceover talent in the country, written by the greatest President and scored by one of the greatest composers. I hope you can all watch it for what it is.
LikeLike