James Longstreet 200 -- March 5, 2021

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James Longstreet, Lieutenant General, CSA, was born 200 years ago today, on 05-March-2021. He was a West Pointer who served honorably in the Mexican War. Longstreet met Ulysses S Grant at West Point and they remained friends for the rest of their lives. After the attack on Fort Sumter, he joined the Confederate States Army. When Robert E Lee became commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Longstreet became one of his corps commanders. Longstreet led his troops to many victories.

After the surrender at Appomatox, Longstreet became a pariah in the south because he supported the Republican Party, supported Reconstruction, and accepted offices from President Grant. Lost Cause advocates attacked Longstreet's record, claiming that the defeat at Gettysburg was his fault. 

I need to read his memoirs. 

Statues and RIPs -- June 22, 2020

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The protests inspired by the death of George Floyd and too many others has evolved into protests against America's historic racism.  In the south, people are pulling down Confederate statues. In Golden Gate Park, protestors pulled down the statue of Francis Scott Key, Key was an objectionable man, but the monument was paid for by James Lick and has stood in the park since the 1880s.  They went on to pull down a statue of Saint Junipero Serra near the DeYoung and a bust of Ulysses S Grant.  Why Grant?  His credentials as a practical abolitionist are unquestioned, but he did push the Indian Wars.

Art Curtiss, retired Muni Chief Inspector and longtime Coast Guard reservist, died this week after getting told he would live three more months in 2018.  He led a life dedicated to service and he was very good about sharing what he knew with transit fans.

David Perlman wrote for the Chronicle from 1940 to 2017. He was the science reporter for many years. He died at 101.

Vera Lynn, who was an icon of World War Two, died this week at 103.

Surrender of Lee and His Whole Army -- April 9, 2015

Robert E Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia.  The Civil War was not over, but it was close.  From the 10-April-1865 New York Sun. 

Happy Independence Day #7 -- July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July to all.

Actress Myrna Loy, one of my favorites, ignores the sign prohibiting fireworks.  From Motion Picture Magazine, August, 1928.
150 years today, on 04-July-1863, Confederate Lieutenant General John C Pemberton surrendered the fortified town of Vicksburg, a key point on the Mississippi River, to Union Major General Ulysses S Grant.  Grant  had besieged the city for six weeks and the defenders and the civilian population had become desperate.  Vicksburg, along with the just-concluded Battle of Gettysburg, was a turning point in the war.