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Quote from: watcher1 on August 08, 2024, 09:59:41 PMQuote from: MissBarbara on August 08, 2024, 03:53:51 PMFun Fact: In March 1869, Johnson was so frustrated by being denied the Democratic nomination and Grant -- who Johnson considered an enemy -- winning the election, that he refused to attend Grant's inauguration. The was the last time that an outgoing president refused to attend his successor's nomination until January 20, 2021.Today, I was watching a history walking tour of the Antietam battlefield in Maryland, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. In 1867, there was a dedication of the cemetery , where some 4,000 bodies that had been buried throughout the battlefield, were dug up and reburied. President Johnson gave the speech dedicating the ceremony. But the plaque that was installed commemorating the cemetery did not have Johnson's speech. Instead, President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation speech was hung on the wall instead.I hope the guide leading that tour didn't say it was "the bloodiest battle of the Civil War." It was certainly one of the most important battles of the Civil War, but in terms of casualties, Gettysburg was, by far, the bloodies battle of the Civil War (51,000 combined casualties). In terms of casualties on both sides, Antietam ranks #8 (23,000 combined casualties). Antietam was the bloodiest single day of fighting in the Civil War, and perhaps that's what you meant.Because I'm a nerd, I tried to find the text of Johnson's speech. I couldn't find the full text, but I found this excerpt, which is very moving:"When we look on yon battle field I think of the brave men on both sides, who fell in the fierce struggle of battle, who sleep silent in their graves. Would to God we of the living could imitate their example, as they lay sleeping in peace in their tombs, and live together in friendship and peace."That would have been a perfect quote to put on the monument. However, by September 1867, Johnson had successfully alienated everyone in the country, Republican and Democrat, North and South. So, as kids today like to say, he can suck it.
Quote from: MissBarbara on August 08, 2024, 03:53:51 PMFun Fact: In March 1869, Johnson was so frustrated by being denied the Democratic nomination and Grant -- who Johnson considered an enemy -- winning the election, that he refused to attend Grant's inauguration. The was the last time that an outgoing president refused to attend his successor's nomination until January 20, 2021.Today, I was watching a history walking tour of the Antietam battlefield in Maryland, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. In 1867, there was a dedication of the cemetery , where some 4,000 bodies that had been buried throughout the battlefield, were dug up and reburied. President Johnson gave the speech dedicating the ceremony. But the plaque that was installed commemorating the cemetery did not have Johnson's speech. Instead, President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation speech was hung on the wall instead.
Fun Fact: In March 1869, Johnson was so frustrated by being denied the Democratic nomination and Grant -- who Johnson considered an enemy -- winning the election, that he refused to attend Grant's inauguration. The was the last time that an outgoing president refused to attend his successor's nomination until January 20, 2021.