The Confederate Flag and Defending the Shaw (Massachusetts 54th) Memorial

What a difference a century makes.

The great Saint-Gaudens bronze on the Boston Common, depicting the white officer and black soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment, has become an iconic image of the struggle for freedom and serves as the starting point for the Boston Black Heritage History Trail.

In the wake of the controversy over the flying of the Confederate battle flag in the US south, many of us up here were shocked and concerned to hear that one of these emblems had been attached to the monument.

(Boston Globe)

It turned out, according to the Boston Globe, that the incident was entirely benign. A group of demonstrators had started to burn a Confederate flag, and when dispersed by police, decided to affix the remnants of the banner to Col. Shaw's sword in what they saw as a symbol of victory over the Confederacy and racism. It never occurred to one of the highly educated organizers, described as "a student in a joint program at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology," that anyone might take the  gesture differently.

As the article points out, the monument has occasionally been vandalized in recent years. As chance would have it, I had just recently acquired a little testimony to hostile sentiment about the 1897 sculpture when it was still relatively new.

It is a postcard from 1906, produced by the Metropolitan News Co. of Boston, which was active from 1905 to 1916. Like many other US cards of the era, it was printed in Germany. Prior to 1907, US postcards did not have divided backs: the blank side was reserved for the address, and senders wrote messages on the side of the card bearing the picture. In this case, the anonymous sender expressed revulsion at the sight of the Shaw Memorial, writing "Abominable!!"--with two exclamation points--below the caption.

The message is clear, yet it is puzzling: if the sender was revolted by the image, why buy it? Was the sender so angry that s/he just could not refrain from sharing the outrage?

Although the monument won plaudits from many contemporaries, including Henry James, clearly, not all felt this way. The card thus serves as a salutary reminder. Just over a century ago, some viewers found the memorial repugnant. Today, at even a hint of desecration, we rush to its defense. That is a useful reminder, as well.

Scenes From the First Official Amherst Black History Month Celebration, 2014

The weather on the occasion of the first official Black History Month celebration in Amherst last year could not have been more different from what we experienced this past weekend. In 2014, some of the roughly two dozen participants wore short sleeves as they listened to UMass student and Amherst Human Rights Commissioner Damon Mallory open the ceremony.

State Representative Ellen Story and State Senator Stan Rosenberg presented the Town with two documents from Boston. The first of these was a citation from the Legislature, honoring the founding of the Amherst Human Rights Commission.

 

Front row, left to right: NAACP member and former Select Board member Judy Brooks, Human Rights Commissioners Sid Ferrierra, Damon Mallory, Kathleen Anderson (also NAACP President), and Gregory Bascomb.

Back row, left to right: Civil War reenactor Charleston Morris, State Rep. Ellen Story, State Sen. Stan Rosenberg

The second document was a proclamation by Governor Deval Patrick in honor of Black History Month.

Proclamation By His Excellency Governor Deval L. Patrick 

Whereas During the month of February people gather together across the country to celebrate Black History Month and

Whereas Black History Month reminds us of the struggles and personal sacrifices of African Americans, and honors their outstanding contributions and achievements, especially in the advancement of civil rights and equality; and

Whereas Massachusetts African Americans have made a great imprint upon our country's landscape: Edward Brooke, the first Black Senator elected by popular vote; Crispus Attucks, the first causality of the American Revolution; W.E.B Du Bois, author, historian and civil rights activist; and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the first official black regiments of the Civil War; and

Whereas Our vibrant African American community continues to be a vital part of the Commonwealth's rich diversity by contributing significantly to all aspects of daily life, including education, medicine, commerce, agriculture, communications, public service and high technology,

Now therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim February 2014, to be,

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

And urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this eventand participate fittingly in its observance.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this twelfth day of February, in the year two thousand and fourteen, and the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and thirty-seventh. 

By His Excellency Deval L. Patrick

Another project of Black History Month in Amherst consisted of posters in local store windows, celebrating African American figures with a connection to the town. Two examples:

 Singer-songwriter Natalie Cole studied at the University of Massachusetts.

Prolific author and former UMass professor Julius Lester. On April 16, he

will receive the 2015 Award for Local Literary Achievement 

at the "Sammys," the new annual fundraiser of the Jones Library.

Springfield-area Civil War reenactors of the Stone Soul Soldiers, Peter Brace Brigade, provide an honor guard for the ceremony.

Second Annual Amherst Black History Month Celebration, New Select Board Proclamation

For the second year in a row, the Town of Amherst, responding to the initiative of residents, has celebrated Black History Month with a ceremony in front of Town Hall.

Black History Month word cloud logo on Town website, 

designed by our skilled GIS guy and all-'round IT expert Mike Olkin (@MikeOlkin)

Over three dozen participants--an impressive figure given that the thermometer stood at a bitter 8 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 C) with a wind chill of around -1--braved the cold to signal their commitment to Black history and human rights.

Community activist and former Select Board member Judy Brooks in both years played a crucial role in making this event happen. My fellow Select Board member Alisa Brewer (@avbrewer) took the initiative in coordinating the Town involvement and working out the details of our 2015 ceremony.

This year, likewise in response to requests from the community, the Town for the first time issued an official proclamation marking the occasion and calling upon all residents to join in celebration. It made perfect sense: after all, we annually issue a proclamation for Puerto Rican Day and Tibet Day, and just two weeks ago, we marked the first Irish Day. It was but logical that we formally acknowledge an event that has been celebrated around the country for decades.



From Negro History Week to Black History Month

Many of us are familiar in general terms with "Black History Month," but not with its origins. In 1926, historian and journalist Carter G. Woodson initiated Negro History Week as a means of calling attention to the struggles and success of African Americans. He chose the second week of February because it included the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass fell. Within a few years, most states acknowledged the event. In 1969, in the context of the political upheavals of the Civil Rights and peace movements, members of the Black United Students at Kent State University urged the expansion of the celebration to a full month, which took place the following year, (only months before the University gained notoriety as the site of the notorious killing of antiwar protesters). In 1976, President Gerald Ford lent the authority of the federal government to the new month-long celebration, which entered into public law with the Congressional Resolution of February 11, 1986. Since 1978, the United States Postal Service has issued commemorative stamps for Black History Month. Although referred to as "National African American History Month" in more recent US proclamations, "Black History Month" remains the more common popular term.

Amherst Black History Month Proclamation, 2015

Whereas, since the Bicentennial year of 1976, Americans of all walks of life have come together during the month of February “to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history,”

Whereas these accomplishments are the more remarkable for having been won at the cost of great struggle and sacrifice by men and women who came to these shores in chains, and by their descendants,

Whereas the authors of these accomplishments in Massachusetts history include:

• Phillis Wheatley, the first African American to publish a book of poetry in America; 
• Crispus Attucks, the first causality of the American Revolution; 
• Edward Jones of Amherst College, the second African American to earn a college degree; 
• Edmonia Lewis, the first professional African American sculptor, who learned her craft in Boston; 
• the members of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first and most famous unit of African American Union soldiers raised in the Civil War 
• Jan Matzeliger, inventor who revolutionized the shoe manufacturing industry; 
• W. E. B Du Bois, pioneering scholar and civil rights activist; 
• Edward Brooke, the first African American senator elected by popular vote; 
• Deval Patrick, the second elected African American governor in the nation 

Whereas captive Africans and free people of color were already part of the Amherst story in the Colonial era,

Whereas the African American residents of Amherst have fought for our collective defense and freedom from the Revolution and Civil War to the present,

Whereas the African American community—some of whose distinguished figures are depicted on the History Mural in West Cemetery—continues to contribute to the rich diversity and general welfare of both the Town of Amherst and the Commonwealth,

Whereas, to its shame, Massachusetts participated in the slave trade since 1638, but to its honor, in 1783 became the first state in the new nation to abolish slavery as “inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution," thereby demonstrating our determination to live up to our historical ideals as we strive to build a better common future,

Whereas, as President Barack Obama has proclaimed, “Every American can draw strength from the story of hard-won progress, which not only defines the African-American experience, but also lies at the heart of our Nation as a whole,”

Now, therefore, we the Select Board of the Town of Amherst, do hereby proclaim February 2015 as Black History Month, and urge all residents to mark this occasion, and to participate fittingly in its observance, beginning with a flag-raising ceremony to be held in front of Town Hall on February 14.

Voted this 10th day of February, 2015

Amherst Select Board

Aaron Hayden, Chair
Andy Steinberg
James Wald
Alisa Brewer
Constance Kruger 

Let our rejoicing rise / High as the listening skies

In 2015 as in 2014, a central feature was the raising of the African American flag, and the singing of "Life Every Voice and Sing," often referred to as the "Black National Anthem."

A member of the Massachusetts 54th reeenactors from the Springfield area

salutes the flag. What further commentary could be needed?

We were sorry that the press did not show up to cover the event, but all the more grateful that reporter Scott Merzbach (@scottmerzbach) managed to rush out an advance story on Black History Month in the Gazette, which probably did a great deal to boost turnout. We hope that next year the Human Resources/Human Rights Department in Town Hall will take charge of the event to emphasize its status as a Town-sponsored and regular observance.

Note: because I was participating in the ceremony, I could not take as many photos as I wished, but Larry Kelley offers a selection on his blog. Unfortunately, his post generated some ugly comments. I am appalled at (by not surprised by) the venom and racism. It is a real shame: he tried to report objectively on a town event, and the talkbacks are dominated by hate speech (and rebuttals).

* * *

Amherst Proclamation on Black History Month: the names

I was tasked with crafting the document for the Town. One course of action that was suggested--and it would have been the easiest--would have been simply to duplicate either the current presidential or recent Massachusetts gubernatorial proclamations. However, the former dealt with both more general and more contemporary matters, and the latter seemed, frankly, rather perfunctory as regards Massachusetts history, as well as lacking the eloquence of the former.
 
Some topics or individuals appear virtually de rigueur, but at the same time, one hopes not simply to reinforce the commonplace. For example, it seemed obligatory to mention the soldiers of the famed Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry--but, although they are among my personal historical favorites, the single-minded focus on this one regiment (an emphasis reinforced by the popularity of the Hollywood portrayal in "Glory") can tend to shortchange the Black soldiers who fought in other units: Of the 21 Amherst African Americans who bore arms for the Union, only 7 served in the 54th. Only 5 of the 21 identified by name are buried in West Cemetery, and only one of those is from the 54th. Our text therefore notes that the 54th was the first and most famous of these heroic units.

The 2014 Massachusetts proclamation listed only male politicians and military men, so I made sure to include figures from other fields--and women.

For example, many believe that the first Black US college graduate was from Oberlin--presumably because of the school's association with abolitionism--but the earliest Black college graduates were in fact all from New England: the first from Middlebury, in 1823; and the second, Edward Jones, from Amherst (1826). It seemed important to call attention to our local history, and to remind the public that innovation and inclusiveness at Amherst College have a long tradition. The inclusion of Jan Matzeliger, the self-taught inventor who solved the last and most difficult problem in the mechanization of the shoe trade, calls attention both to Black immigrants (he was from Dutch Guiana) and to the neglected but important role of African Americans in technology and industry. As Mass Moments explains, his invention made it "possible for working people to afford decent shoes" and "Today, all shoes manufactured by machine — more than 99% of the shoes in the world — use machines built on Matzeliger's model."

In the case of women in African American history, we often think of the political activists, such as famed abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who lived in nearby Florence. I chose to focus on the contributions to high culture: the eighteenth-century poet Phillis Wheatley is of course known to scholars of American history and literature but is not exactly a household name. Even less well known is Edmonia Lewis, the first professional African American sculptor. It was in Boston in the 1860s that she studied art and exhibited two sculptures of heroes of the Massachusetts 54th. Proceeds from sales of copies of her bust of Col. Shaw both supported Black soldiers and funded her relocation to Rome, where she won international acclaim.

Any short list is necessarily incomplete and subjective, but future proclamations can include further individuals and groups. One hopes that the proclamations and lists will provide an opportunity to educate our community about the African American contributions to our collective society and heritage. (See also the resources for further reading at the bottom of this page.)


A footnote:

After the ceremony, retired Amherst College physics professor and amateur historian Bob Romer buttonholed me to "quibble" with one aspect of the proclamation: The "abolition" of slavery, he said, hadn't actually eliminated the practice in Massachusetts. His research taught him that here, as elsewhere in New England, "slaves" continued to appear in lists of property and the like for some time afterward. That is true, but it's also irrelevant, and in two ways.

     First, although this fact may come as a revelation to some, it is not news to professional historians. As the Massachusetts Historical Society explains, "slavery did not disappear completely for some time. Slavery, often recast as indentured servitude . . . was not unheard of in Massachusetts through the end of the eighteenth century."

     Second, be that as it may, it in no wise diminishes the significance of the action, and to harp on it is therefore to misunderstand the nature of both historical action and contemporary commemoration.

The Massachusetts Constitution stated:

All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.

Two legal cases in the 1780s used this text to argue that slavery was illegal in the Commonwealth, and the Chief Justice agreed, writing, "there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational Creature ..." 

The Massachusetts Historical Society concludes, "Together with the Mumbet decision, the Quock Walker trials effectively ended slavery as a legal practice in Massachusetts." It therefore calls the 1783 decision a "monumental ruling."

One could make a comparable point about the Emancipation Proclamation, whose anniversary we recently celebrated. It applied only to the territories of the Confederacy not yet under the control of the Union. Secretary of State William Seward observed with bitter but exquisite irony: "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free." Nonetheless, as the National Archives says, "Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of African Americans, and fundamentally transformed the character of the war from a war for the Union into a war for freedom."

We can acknowledge the limitations of these two abolition measures and nonetheless hail them as landmarks.


Q.E.D.



Coming attractions:

Because I didn't manage to write at the time of last year's ceremony, I will now post some photos from that event.




Resources


The History of Black History Month

• President Gerald Ford's 1976 federal proclamation of Black History Month
• Barack Obama, Presidential Proclamation -- National African American History Month, 2014
• Barack Obama, Presidential Proclamation -- National African American History Month, 2015
• Mark Anthony Neal | NewBlackMan (in Exile), "Love in the Stacks: Some Thoughts on Black History Month"
• Eric Krupke, "A new generation of voices takes back Black History Month," PBS NewsHour, February 13, 2015

Historic Sites

• Events and sites: Black History Month 2015 in Massachusetts
• Museum of African American History, Boston and Nantucket
• Black Heritage Trail (from Museum of African American History)
• African American Historic Sites of Deerfield, Massachusetts Map & Guide (Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association)
•  W. E. B. Du Bois National Historic Site, Great Barrington

Further reading on some of the figures and events mentioned in our proclamation:


Phillis Wheatley

• John Wheatley Purchases a Slave Child, July 11, 1761, (Mass Moments)
• Phillis Wheatley – Boston’s Remarkable Slave Poet of 1772 (New England Historical Society)
• Peter Armenti, Phillis Wheatley (From the Catbird Seat: Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress)
• Tracy Potter, review of Vincent Carretta, Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (The Beehive: Official Blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society)
• Christopher Cameron, Phillis Wheatley and the Black Prophetic Tradition (US Intellectual History Blog, 14 June 2014)
• Freedom Rising: Reading, Writing, Publishing Black Books (exhibit at Museum of African American History, Boston, Jan.-Dec. 2015a)

Slavery and the Abolition of Slavery

• First Slaves Arrive in Massachusetts, February 26, 1638 (Mass Moments)
• Robert Romer, Slavery in the Connecticut Valley
• African Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts (comprehensive online exhibit from Massachusetts Historical Society)
• Jury Decides in Favor of "Mum Bett" Freeman, August 22, 1781 (Mass Moments)

Edward Jones

• A History of Amherst College
• Edward Jones (Dictionary of African Christian Biography)
• Edward Jones (missionary) (Wikipedia)
• The Edward Jones Prize from Amherst College for "an honors thesis that addresses a present or future issue of concern to black people in Africa and the Diaspora"

 54th Massachusetts Volunteers

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteers March Through Boston, May 28, 1863 (Mass Moments)
• Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment (Boston African American National Historic Site)
• Tell It with Pride (Massachusetts Historical Society exhibition, 2014)
• Written in Glory: Letters from the Soldiers and Officers of the 54th Massachusetts
• Exhibit: Mass 54th Casualty List (National Archives)
• Andrea Shea, Civil War's First African-American Infantry Remembered In Bronze (NPR, July 18, 2013)
• Massachusetts Civil War regiment to march in inaugural parade (masslive.com, Jan. 12, 2009)
• John Nieb, Springfield Armory program to focus on 54th Massachusetts Regiment (masslive.com, Feb. 10, 2014)
• Stone Soul soldiers (reports on Springfield area African American Civil War reenactors from masslive.com)
• Posts on the Mass 54th from this blog

Edmonia Lewis

• excerpt from Harry Henderson and Albert Henderson, The Indomitable Spirit of Edmonia Lewis
• Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Displays Work in Boston, November 11, 1864 (Mass Moments)
• Stephen May, The Object at Hand (Smithsonian Magazine, Sept. 1996)
• Edmonia Lewis (online exhibition from the Smithsonian)
• Exploring Freedom: Edmonia Lewis (PBS)
• Edmonia Lewis, An Artist With African and Native American Roots (the African American Registry)

 Jan Matzeliger

• Matzeliger Demonstrates Revolutionary Machine, May 29, 1885 (Mass Moments) 
• Jan Matzeliger (blackinventor.com via Harvard)
• Famous Black Inventors (about.com)
• Jan Matzeliger commemorative stamp (from Arago, Smithsonian Institution)

W. E. B. Du Bois

• W. E. B. Du Bois National Historic Site, Great Barrington
• W. E. B. Du Bois Center, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
• W. E. B. Du Bois Online Resources (Library of Congress)

Edward Brooke

• Senator Edward Brooke born October 26, 1919 (Mass Moments)
• Mark Feeney, Edward W. Brooke, who broke down barriers, dies at 95 (Boston Globe, Jan. 4, 2015)
• Edward Brooke, first black elected senator, dies at 95 (AP; Politico, Jan. 3, 2015)
• Megan R. Wilson, Edward Brooke, first African American elected to Senate, dies at 95 (The Hill, Jan. 3, 2015)
• Scott Neuman, Former Republican Sen. Edward Brooke Dies At 95 (NPR, Jan. 3, 2015)

"History Bites": Amherst History Lunchtime Lectures

The lunchtime lecture series of the Amherst Historical Society and Museum (also posted on the calendar associated with this blog) is now underway. All talks take place in the Museum (Strong House, 67Amity Street, Amherst).

Here, the description of the program and a schedule of topics:

History Bites Lunchtime Lecture Series

The Amherst History Museum is pleased to announce History Bites, a brown bag lecture series...

Short, informative and entertaining--these lunchtime presentations will provide just the break you need. The 30-minute lectures are scheduled every other Friday through May 11. We are pleased to have the participation of distinguished teachers and/or scholars as the presenters.

The first talk in the series will introduce you to Amherst in the 1770s. Streets you walk and drive everyday were the streets used over 200 years ago. Want to learn what it was like to be an English Puritan woman held captive by Native Americans during King Philip's War (1675-76)? Or how lavish the Simeon Strong House was in the early 1800s? Or learn about the travel experiences of Prof. Hitchcock's wife? We have the just the talk for you. Perhaps you are interested in the influential Northampton abolitionists, or how during the Civil War black soldiers and white officers worked together, or what wartime medicine was like during the Civil War? All of these are topics being presented.

Join us with your lunch in hand. We will provide coffee, tea or cider for you as you listen to the presentations. The program will begin promptly at 12:15 and seating and beverages will be ready just before noon. The lectures are free and everyone is welcome to attend. For updated information, check our website at www.amhersthistory.org

• Feb. 17 Martha Noblick Amherst in the Era of the American Revolution: A Social History

• March 2 Robert L. Herbert A Woman of Amherst: The Travel Diaries of Orra White Hitchcock, 1847 and 1850

• March 16 Bruce Laurie Rebels in Paradise: Sketches of Northampton Abolitionists

• March 30 Neal Salisbury Mary Rowlandson and Other Captives During King Philip's War

• April 13 Paul Berman Civil War Medicine

• April 27 Robert H. Romer Black Soldiers, White Officers- Amherst College and the Town of Amherst in the Civil War

• May 11 Marianne Curling Simeon Strong's Material Life

Admittedly, the series title—"History Bites"—is less than felicitous. I wonder: Were some of the more mature fellow Board members, perhaps trying, in their way, to echo the Gen X trendiness of "Reality Bites" (though that film is already nearly two decades in the past)? If so, they may not have understood the irony of that title, in which, among other things, the second term is a verb (sometimes connoting even worse than: sucks) rather than a noun. Oops.

Sometimes, it's hip to be square. Sometimes you're just out of touch.

Sometimes that doesn't matter.

Good talks on important topics in a congenial setting: always a good thing.

As they used to say in the '70s:  Be there. Aloha!

Honoring Amherst's African-American Civil War Soldiers: "Assault on Fort Wagner": "The Rush of the Garrison to the Parapet"

The following engraving (20 x 23.6 cm) appeared in The Illustrated London News of September 26, 1863:

The caption reads:  "The War in America: Assault on Fort Wagner, Charleston Harbour, on the Night of July 18—The Rush of the garrison to the Parapet. From a Sketch by Our Special Artist."

This was the dreadful assault made famous in our time by the 1989 film, "Glory." Although this engraving includes some iconic features in the evolving representation of the event such as the advance of the figure with the Union flag (cf., with variations, the lithographs by Currier and Ives [1863] or Kurz and Allison [1890]), it offers no indication that volunteers of the Mass. 54th—or, indeed, any African-American troops—took part.

The accompanying text on p. 317 (perhaps because written by reporters "embedded"—as we would nowadays say— on the Confederate side) speaks of the battle only in more general terms:

A Blockade-runner has brought us some sketches from our Special Artist in Charleston, two of which are engraved in the present Number. Respecting the Engraving on our first page--"The Assault on Fort Wagner on the night of July 18"—our Special Artist and Correspondent writes as follows:—"I returned from the south-west just in time to witness this most formidable of all attempts made by the enemy on the defences of Charleston. You are already doubtless aware that the Federals succeeded a fortnight since in effecting a lodgment of their forces on the islands forming the approaches to the city. A temporary success enabled them to throw up works in front of Fort Wagner, and to commence an advance on the last-named stronghold. In conjunction with their iron fleet, which took up an enfilading position seawards, they maintained a heavy fire of mortars.

Further reading on this site

• Mass 54th
• West Cemetery
• African-American Amherst

July Anniversaries: Lincoln Issues "Eye for an Eye" order, 30 July 1863

When we "celebrate" the anniversary of the Civil War, we do many things: we honor the courage of the soldiers, we commemorate the carnage, and we ponder the issues at the heart of the conflict and its legacy: first and foremost, slavery, race, and racial equality.

As the case of the Massachusetts 54th reminds us, African-Americans had to fight for the right to fight, and then fight for equal rights even within the Union Army.  Shortly after the now-famous engagement at Fort Wagner, in which the 54th took part, President Lincoln, reacting to Confederate enslavement and murder of Black Union troops, ordered reprisal in kind against Southern prisoners.

When I wrote about the anniversary last year, I was struck (among other things) that the Union would take such a strong stand, even as it did not offer its Black soldiers equal pay and equal opportunity for advancement. Although the retaliation order was never fully implemented, it highlights with unusual clarity the nature of the conflict, and it continues to prompt moral reflection on the nature of war.

Here is the original post, "Abraham Lincoln's Rules of Engagement."

Update

To flesh out this year's post, here is one contemporaneous report on the grim evolving policy, culminating in Lincoln's new order:

  The law of retaliation is formally announced by both the National and the Confederate authorities. Two Confederate officers were executed in Tennessee, June 9, by order of General Rosencrans, as spies found within our lines. The Confederates chose by lot, from among our prisoners at Richmond, two officers, and set them apart for execution, when ordered, in retaliation. Two officers of the enemy in our hands were then placed in close confinement, to be executed if the threats of the enemy were carried out. President Lincoln has also issued a proclamation declaring, in effect, that no distinction will be recognized in the treatment accorded to our white and colored troops who may be captured by the enemy. Every case of ill-treatment will be retaliated in kind: hanging for hanging, shooting for shooting, imprisonment for imprisonment. If a colored soldier, taken prisoner, is sold into slavery, a Confederate prisoner will, in return, be confined at hard labor in some prison until the colored prisoner is set free.

(Harper's New Monthly Magazine, September 1863, p. 559)

Focusing Attention on Amherst's African-American Civil War Heroes

Because I was away on our Prague program, I missed Memorial Day in Amherst and was unable to take part in the parade or other commemorations, as I did last year.

As chance would have it, the marking of veterans' graves has recently been associated with some controversy. Last year, the problem was an epidemic of thefts of bronze grave markers (there were relatively prompt arrests but there have been no convictions to date). This year, it was the accidental failure to place holiday flags on the graves of African-American Civil War veterans. Retired Amherst College scientist and amateur historian Bob Romer both discovered and rectified the omission. There was no deeper meaning to the error, but the embarrassing incident did highlight the real problem—lack of public knowledge—which Town bodies, such as the Planning Department and Historical Commission, as well as private individuals, such as Bob (whom I first got to know when we were both on the Historical Commission) have been trying to address.

Here's the story by Scott Merzbach from the Amherst Bulletin. Scott reports on the holiday mix-up and Bob's plans for a formal ceremony later this year. He goes on to discuss related issues, such as the restoration of our Civil War memorial tablets. Although I was away as Scott was working on the story, we connected via email just as I returned, and so I, along with Planning Director Jonathan Tucker, briefly explained the Historical Commission's plans for restoration of the the historic 1730 West Cemetery, including the African-American section. In essence, our tentative proposal entails a landscape restoration and improvement, with the addition of some subtle memorial features.

Friday, June 24, 2011
Professor spurs effort to honor black soldiers who fought slavery

While Robert Romer was taking a walk the day before Memorial Day, he noticed that small American flags had been placed next to gravestones in the West Cemetery in honor of those who had served their country.

Conspicuous by their absence, though, were flags at the gravestones marking the final resting places of four black men who were Union soldiers during the Civil War.

Romer deduced that it was likely an oversight, not a slight, and quickly purchased flags for them at Hastings. But the incident got him thinking about how the town can better recognize the contributions that Amherst's African-American community made toward ending slavery.

It's a topic that holds great interest for Romer, a retired Amherst College physics professor who wrote the book "Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts." Now he's working to organize a ceremony, coinciding with the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War, to honor the black residents of Amherst who served in either the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment or the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry. More than 20 served; at least five lost their lives. Nearly 200,000 black soldiers and sailors participated in the Union's efforts overall.

"They were a large fraction of people who fought for the Union and this is a matter of how black men were willing to die for freedom," Romer said. "I think more people ought to be aware of it." (read the rest)

The newspaper story correctly notes that only four of our African-American Civil War veterans have marked graves. There is in addition a marker reading, "In Memoriam To Five Unknown Amherst Civil War Veterans."

One of the graves identified by name is that of Charles Finnemore, whose headstone, the report notes in passing, "was split in two, only recently being repaired." Finnemore, a Private in Company C of the Mass 54th, was wounded at the Battle of Olustee (or: Ocean Pond), the largest engagement fought in Florida (1, 2, 3).

When I made one of my periodic personal "inspections" of the Cemetery earlier this month—about two weeks after the news story appeared, and over 5 weeks after Memorial Day—I was pleased to see the flags still in place, here at Finnemore's grave.

The casual visitor will not be aware of how much work has already taken place in the cemetery, or what effort it took to get this single monument into this shape. Below is how it looked when I visited the section in April 2009, as we prepared to request funds for the aforementioned landscape improvements. (The Town had already authorized funding for headstone repairs, but the conservators had not yet reached this point on their priority list.)

Here, Civil War re-enactor Michael Coblyn stands next to the marker commemorating the unknown soldiers in the African-American section during a performance of "Conversations With the Past" for the Town's 250th anniversary celebrations, in May, 2009. The grave is honored with both bronze GAR markers and American flags, as is the custom in the spring, indicating that the absence of flags this year was indeed purely an oversight.

The Town secured the services of Monument Conservation Collaborative (MMC) of Norfolk, CT, which, using $ 145,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, was able to repair 249 of the most threatened stones in three sections of the oldest part of the Cemetery from 2008 through 2009. Cemetery conservation is a science, and one cannot casually clean or reconstruct historic funerary monuments. (Indeed, part of the work often consists in undoing the effects of bad earlier repairs.) Rather, one needs to take into account the material and integrity of the artifact, and the biological, chemical, and climatological threats to preservation. As MMC explains, contemporary practice has been "moving toward a 'conserve as found' approach," which seeks to to halt and mitigate any damage, but in the least intrusive way possible and without pretending to reverse all the effects of time. Accordingly, the Town's bid specifications were extremely detailed and of course included the requirement for appropriate documentation as well as treatment.

The case of Finnemore's gravestone nicely illustrates the process. The monument consists of a marble headstone (4 x 18 x 29 inches) and base. The conservators' first step had been to undertake a survey of the gravestones in the Cemetery, marking each on a grid map, assessing its current condition, and developing a conservation strategy.

Finnemore's grave is found at location Z.23, and assigned the index number 5.35 (representing Section 5, job number 35).

the blue arrow marks Finnemore's grave (in red)

the Finnemore gravesite seen from the air

The assessment, by MMC President Irving Slavid and Conservator and Partner Martin Johnson, classified the existing condition as category "2": "partial" damage (25-50%) in the form of separation from base, with breakage and some losses. The inscription was classified as "clear but worn." The conservation strategy consisted in reassembling and resetting the stone, and filling any gaps.

The inspection took place on July 7, 2008. Treatment, which comprised eight steps, began a year later, and took place over a full month, from June 2 through July 1, 2009.

1)  Conservators first removed old mortar and other debris from the setting surfaces of the headstone and base by hand and then treated them with "D/2 Biological Solution," a water-based biocidal cleaner intended to remove moss, algae, fungi, lichen, and other living organisms, and to prevent new growth. The stone is next "scrubbed with nylon brushes and water," and then "rinsed fully with water."
2) The setting surfaces are primed with Acryl 60 (diluted to 1:3), and "a relatively weak cement/lime-based grout (3/2/8) with fine aggregates (000)" is troweled on.
3) "Lower fragment is set plumb and level" on the base and braced for a minimum of 5 days.
4) The two broken (mating) edges of the headstone are treated with D/2 and rinsed.
5) The two halves are next attached to one another with Abatron A-5522 structural resin and "clamped and braced until cured." Any excess epoxy is then carefully removed by hand-chiseling.
6) In cases such as this, where the loss of some stone at the break could interfere with a proper fit and bonding, conservators fill cracks and gaps with color-matched RepliCal Marble filler.
7) The filled areas are misted with water to ensure a proper cure, and kept covered for a minimum of 3 days.
8) The partially cured filled surface areas are given a light acid washing (5% acetic acid or proprietary Limestone Afterwash, diluted to 1:4), and again thoroughly rinsed.

The result?

before

after

Resources

• The Town of Amherst website contains a page devoted to public cemeteries.  Entries include basic biographical information and a GIS map.

• As for Civil War veterans, the National Park Service has a wonderful resource in the form of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. The database of 6.3 million entries can be searched by side, name, state, rank, and branch of service. Results include a reference to the microfilm role with the original record.

• For all the reasons indicated above, cleaning historic gravestones is not something that one should undertake without proper training; it is too easy to do more harm than good. Fortunately, many government and private organizations sponsor workshops and training, particularly in the summer.

And, as it happens, because many American veterans lie beneath government-issued marble headstones, which are subject to staining and corrosion, the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) just last week issued new final guidelines on the best practices for the cleaning of these delicate monuments.  The new policies ban bleach-based cleaners and mandate the use of precisely the sort of gentle aqueous biocidal cleaners used in our West Cemetery conservation. A general explanation and downloadable guide (pdf) can be found here.

30 July 1863 Abraham Lincoln's Rules of Engagement

I was interested to note that several lists of historical anniversaries chose, among Civil War events for this date, not the well-known Union defeats at the Battle of Richmond and Second Bull Run in 1862, and rather, a military-political decision of the following year.

Both HistoryOrb and POTUS satellite radio chose to mention Abraham Lincoln's so-called "eye for an eye" order.  When the Confederate States began maltreating captured African-Americans from the Union Army—enslaving or even executing them—Lincoln responded with his General Order No. 252:

"It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its citizens, of whatever class, color or condition, and especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations, and the usages and customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person on account of his color, and for no offense against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a crime against the civilization of the age."

"The Government of the United States will give the same protection to all its soldiers, and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of his color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy's prisoners in our possession. It is therefore ordered, that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the law, a Rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a Rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works, and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war."

 On August 15, Harpers published the following cartoon:

HarpWeek explains, inter alia:

Lincoln's retaliatory order was difficult to put into practice. After a massacre of black soldiers at Fort Pillow (April 12, 1864), the president and his military advisors decided to punish the Confederates directly responsible, should they be captured, rather than to randomly execute a corresponding number of Confederate prisoners of war. Field commanders near Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina carried out the Union’s only official retaliations. When Confederates forced captured black soldiers to build fortifications in the line of fire, the Union officers made an equal number of Confederate prisoners perform similar work. Thereafter, the Confederates stopped the practice.

The Confederacy’s refusal to acknowledge captured black servicemen as legitimate prisoners of war halted prisoner-of-war exchanges in the summer of 1863. By the end of the year, the Confederacy was willing to discuss returning black soldiers who upon enlistment had been legally free as the Confederacy defined it (i.e., not under the Emancipation Proclamation). That position was not sufficient for top Union officials--President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and General Ulysses S. Grant--who remained steadfastly committed to ensuring the equal treatment of Union prisoners of war. Davis and Confederate officials finally relented in January 1865, agreeing to exchange all prisoners. A few thousand prisoners of war, including freed slaves, were exchanged by the Confederacy and Union until the end of the war in April.

What the Harper's website does not mention is that Lincoln came to his policy only after a period of inaction. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who viewed black recruitment in the northern war effort as a touchstone of equality, was dismayed that the government was slow in instituting it and even then, did not give the soldiers full equal rights. Concerning the southern threat of retribution, David Blight (now of Yale, formerly our colleague at Amherst College) explains:

The Union government’s apparent lack of response to this harsh treatment angered Douglass even further. In two editorials written sometime in late July, he viciously attacked Lincoln’s silence on Confederate killings of black prisoners, as well as threats of their enslavement. ‘The slaughter of blacks taken as captives,’ wrote an outraged Douglass, ‘seems to affect him [Lincoln] as little as the slaughter of beeves for the use of his army.' Douglass wanted an eye for an eye—one southerner put to death for every black soldier killed as a prisoner of war. Lincoln, like most northern leaders, had little stomach for this kind of retaliation, Douglass suggested, but these threats did not go unanswered. Two weeks after the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina (which occurred on July 18, 1863), where many black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts were slain or captured, Lincoln issued his retaliatory order. 

Be that as it may, I've always regarded the order as one of the most fascinating documents of the era, worthy to stand beside the far better-known Emancipation Proclamation as a milestone in the movement toward racial equality. It is a severe and imposing milestone, to be sure. Indeed, it reminds one of Robespierre’s belief that  "justice, prompt, severe, inflexible" was the order of the day in times of revolution and civil war.  (incidentally, Lincoln's opponents sometimes compared him to Robespierre.)  But at a time when even the 179,000 black Union soldiers were denied equal pay as well as the right to become officers, the order put into practice the principle of full equality by stating that the lives of blacks and whites were of the same value and it demanded that the Confederacy, too, acknowledge this—or pay the price. 

It is therefore interesting to consider, too, the biblical phrase, "an eye for an eye" (literally: an eye under an eye) which, as I often have to point out to students and others (sometimes: ministers), has long been misused to imply instinctive and primitive vengeance or "tit for tat" response.  Derived from several scriptural passages, it in fact is nothing of the sort. Rather, this so-called lex talionis, or law of retaliation (sorry, nothing to do with bloody talons or claws), represented a step up in the scale of moral sensitivity, in three regards.  First, it stood for the principle that the crime must fit and not exceed the punishment. Second, it was never intended to be taken literally, much less, applied in that manner. it was therefore a symbolic representation of the demand for appropriate monetary compensation. (1, 2) Third, as my old friend and medievalist colleague Richard Landes points out, even in this latter regard it was distinctive and unusually advanced in its day in that it was truly egalitarian.  Unlike other ancient and even medieval codes of justice (remember that paragraph on the weregild or wergeld from your high school or college history textbooks?), it provided for equal compensation for all, regardless of social class.  Understood in that context, then, the phrase as applied to Lincoln's order at least reflects the principle of equality that, in the mind of Douglass, it was intended to enforce.

Impossible, for better or worse, to imagine any leader of a major country publicly issuing such an order nowadays, even apart from the fact that Lincoln was acting before all the major international agreements codified and strengthened the customary laws of war (for example, the first Hague Convention dates from 1899, and the first Geneva Convention, on the wounded and the sick, from 1864).

Consider, too, these passages from Francis Lieber's pathbreaking "Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field," issued as Lincoln's Order No. 100, 24 April 1863:

Art. 27.
The law of war can no more wholly dispense with retaliation than can the law of nations, of which it is a branch. Yet civilized nations acknowledge retaliation as the sternest feature of war. A reckless enemy often leaves to his opponent no other means of securing himself against the repetition of barbarous outrage

Art. 28.
Retaliation will, therefore, never be resorted to as a measure of mere revenge, but only as a means of protective retribution, and moreover, cautiously and unavoidably; that is to say, retaliation shall only be resorted to after careful inquiry into the real occurrence, and the character of the misdeeds that may demand retribution.

Unjust or inconsiderate retaliation removes the belligerents farther and farther from the mitigating rules of regular war, and by rapid steps leads them nearer to the internecine wars of savages.

Art. 29.
Modern times are distinguished from earlier ages by the existence, at one and the same time, of many nations and great governments related to one another in close intercourse.

Peace is their normal condition; war is the exception. The ultimate object of all modern war is a renewed state of peace.

The more vigorously wars are pursued, the better it is for humanity. Sharp wars are brief.

Art. 30.
Ever since the formation and coexistence of modern nations, and ever since wars have become great national wars, war has come to be acknowledged not to be its own end, but the means to obtain great ends of state, or to consist in defense against wrong; and no conventional restriction of the modes adopted to injure the enemy is any longer admitted; but the law of war imposes many limitations and restrictions on principles of justice, faith, and honor.

Here we see the jurist and philosopher wrestling with the twin facts that humanity imposes new demands upon the makers of war even as war, though seen as exceptional and undesirable, has begun to become total war. In the words of Roza Pati, "this Lieber Code would come to constitute the roots of what was later called humanitarian law," for example with regard to humane treatment of prisoners.

Consider again these lines from Lieber:

Peace is their normal condition; war is the exception. The ultimate object of all modern war is a renewed state of peace.

The more vigorously wars are pursued, the better it is for humanity. Sharp wars are brief.

Almost impossible to imagine any major leader nowadays making that latter statement, either, but it brings home the paradox.  Today, we seem to face the prospect of endless low-intensity warfare.  New forms of war and new rules of engagement lead to new dilemmas concerning the conduct and ends of war, and the rights of soldier and civilian alike.

I am left with the question:  to what extent have we really advanced?  As so often, the dilemmas of Lincoln and his age seem very close to our own.

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• Frederick Douglass In Brooklyn: At Such A Time (hermenaut.org)

First Phase in Restoration of Amherst's Civil War Tablets Complete

Scott Merzbach recently published this report on the work of the Historical Commission.  I'll follow up shortly with a posting of my own.

from the Daily Hampshire Gazette:

Civil War plaques restored in Amherst but remain mothballed
By smerzbach
Created 06/04/2010 - 04:00

AMHERST - Restoration is complete of six memorial plaques recognizing more than 300 residents who fought in the Civil War, but how and when these tablets get put back on display remains uncertain.

For close to a decade, town officials and residents have planned to get the large marble plaques, which include the names of black soldiers who were part of the famous 54th Regiment, installed in a public place so residents can once again view them.

Historical Commission Chairman Jim Wald said Wednesday that this process can now start with hiring consultants who know how best to display the memorials.

"With the conservation process complete, we're trying to find a place to store them and to take the next step to get engineering studies under way," Wald said.

Town Manager Larry Shaffer, though, said getting to the point where they can be shown will not be easy, but it is essential that this happens.

"It's an important project from a historical perspective," Shaffer said. "If we're going to celebrate history, we want them out so the public can view them."

All the plaques were commissioned in 1893 by the local Grand Army of the Republic post, a veterans organization for the Civil War. After being in various parts of Town Hall for close to a century, including the basement when it was the town's police station, the plaques were moved during mid-1990's renovations and have been stored at the Ruxton gravel pit in North Amherst since.

Last year, Town Meeting appropriated $65,000 in Community Preservation Act money, of which $25,000 was set aside for the cleaning and restoration work done by Monument Conservation Collaborative of Norfolk, Conn., a company that specializes in such projects.

Wald said the Historical Commission will continue to explore both interior and exterior displays, though if the plaques are put outside, an enclosure will be needed so the tablets are protected from elements and vandals.

The restoration, Wald said, included cleaning the tablets of a yellowish tint that formed from tobacco stains and varnish, and now the bright white marble surface has been restored. A black acrylic paint was used to ensure all names on the plaques are visible.

Another $20,000, Wald said, was appropriated for an engineering analysis and researching the design for a secure installation, with the final $20,000 appropriated for actual installation.

The marble tablets each measure 56 inches by 75 inches and weigh between 600 and 800 pounds.

Despite their size, they are considered delicate. "They are both heavy and fragile," Wald said.

Historical Commission members Michael Hanke and Elizabeth Sharpe looked at spaces throughout Town Hall for placing the tablets and didn't find any suitable areas where all of them could easily fit.

Whether the CPA money for getting the tablets displayed is sufficient isn't known. Shaffer said he may look into whether the town can use money left over from a brick repointing project at Town Hall to help pay for the safe display of the plaques.

Shaffer, who had hoped to have them displayed in time for the town's 250th anniversary last year, said his idea is that a smaller introductory tablet and one of the larger tablets that describes the Civil War dead could be placed in the first floor lobby at Town Hall, covered in protective Plexiglas. The remainder would go elsewhere in the building.

If the Civil War plaques go on display, it will be the culmination of a long process that began with the late Amherst resident Dudley Bridges, in 2000, who proposed getting the plaques back in a visible location.

In 2001, the Select Board considered putting the tablets in front of Town Hall, but later agreed with Bridges that they should be placed in a monument display at the Gates Lot, next to Sweetser Park on Main Street.

The 54th regiment was the subject of the 1989 motion picture "Glory," starring Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick. Their fame came following a July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, S.C., where more than 100 men lost their lives.

[Postscript: I see that, as sometimes happens, I did not manage to do a follow-up at that time. Stay tuned.]

18 July 1863: 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Launches Assault on Battery Wagner

On this day in 1863, African-American members of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry took part in the bloody assault on Fort Wagner (also, or more strictly, known as Battery Wagner) outside Charleston.

Just as darkness began to close in upon the scene of the afternoon and the evening, General Strong rode to the front and ordered his brigade, consisting of the 54th Massachusetts, Colonel Shaw (colored regiment); the 6th Connecticut, Colonel Chatfield; the 48th New York, Colonel Barton; the 3d New Hampshire, Colonel Jackson; the 76th Pennsylvania, and the 9th Maine, Colonel Emery, to advance to the assault. At the instant the line was seen slowly advancing in the dusk toward the fort, and before a double-quick had been ordered, a tremendous fire from the barbette guns on Fort Sumter, from the batteries on Cummings’ Point, and from all the guns on Fort Wagner, opened upon it. The guns from Wagner swept the beach, and those from Sumter and Cummings’ Point enfiladed it on the left. In the midst of this terrible shower of shot and shell they pushed their way, reached the fort, portions of the 54th Massachusetts, the 6th Connecticut, and the 48th New York dashed through the ditches, gained the parapet, and engaged in a hand-to-hand fight with the enemy, and for nearly half an hour held their ground, and did not fall back until nearly every commissioned officer was shot down. As on the morning of the assault of the 11th inst., these brave men were exposed to a most galling fire of grape and canister, from howitzers, raking the ditches from the bastions of the fort, from hand-grenades and from almost every other modern implement of warfare. The rebels fought with the utmost desperation, and so did the larger portion of General Strong’s brigade, as long as there was an officer to command it.

When the brigade made the assault General Strong gallantly rode at its head. When it fell back, broken, torn, and bleeding, Major Plimpton of the 3d New Hampshire was the highest commissioned officer to command it. General Strong, Colonel Shaw, Colonel Chatfield, Colonel Barton, Colonel Green, Colonel Jackson, all had fallen. The 54th Massachusetts (negro), whom Copperhead officers would have called cowardly if they had stormed and carried the gates of hell, went boldly into battle, for the second time, commanded by their brave Colonel, but came out of it led by no higher officer than the boy, Lieutenant Higginson. (Harper's Weekly)

As noted in earlier postings, the 54th is very much present in our thoughts this year above all: Members of the current 54th, as well as re-enactors, marched in the inaugural parade of Barack Obama in January. Amherst residents fought and died with the Mass 54th. Some of these veterans are buried in the African-American section of West Cemetery. A soldier of the 54th is depicted on the Community History Mural, by artist David Fichter, in the Cemetery. And, finally, Amherst resident Sanford Jackson, who died of wounds suffered in the assault on Fort Wagner, was among the figures portrayed in "Conversations with the Past: The West Cemetery Walk," as part of our 250th anniversary celebrations in early May. A few days later, Town Meeting voted to appropriate Community Preservation Act funds to begin the restoration and installation in Town Hall of the antique marble tablets commemorating our Civil War veterans.

Further resources:

From the Civil War @ Charleston website:

• Battery Wagner

• 54th Mass.

"The Attack on Fort Wagner," Harper's Weekly, August 8 1863, p. 510 (from the American Antiquarian Society)