Hidden History

Hidden Civil War #8
Henry Stanley: A deserter, I presume?

Famed explorer and journalist Henry Stanley, the same person who looked for Dr. Livingston and said, “Dr. Livingston, I presume?”, also served in the Civil War. But not only did he serve in the Civil War, he also served on both sides during the Civil War.

Henry Stanley never wanted to fight and during his years of service he never did fight a lot. Stanley started on the Confederate side as a private in the Dixie Grays, a volunteer company in the 6th Arkansas Infantry. After being captured at Shiloh, Stanley was placed in a prisoner-of-war camp outside of Chicago, where 6 weeks later he was given the opportunity to swear allegiance to the North and fight in their army.

However, he was hospitalized with dysentery and when he recovered he deserted instead of rejoining. After heading back home to England and then returning to New York, Henry Stanley then joined the Union Navy as a ship’s clerk onboard the USS Minnesota! It was during this time that he began to write more frequently and even had several detailed accounts of battles printed. However, Stanley again deserted and would eventually make his career in journalism. He is possibly the only man to have deserted both the Confederate and Union armies and the Union navy.
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In one of the last “battles” in the War of Currents, Nikola Tesla created the first hydroelectric powerplant in Niagara Falls. In the late 1800s, an international Niagara Falls Commission started a competition for a person to design a powerplant able to utilize the power of the falls. The man in charge of the competition was Lord Kelvin, who was once a supporter of DC until he visited the Chicago Exposition that was lighted using AC. The commission offered a large reward to the person who could design the most efficient system; however, every professional was rejected.

Lord Kelvin rejected an Edison design and instead hired Westinghouse and Tesla to build the powerplant. Men like J.P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor, W.K. Vanderbilt, and Lord Rothschild backed the project, but the long delays in building worried the project’s financiers. However, when the power was turned on, Tesla’s creation proved worthy and was soon powering major cities throughout New York. As the world learned of Tesla’s AC powerplant and its success, King Nikola of Montenegro conferred upon him the Order of Danilo, making Tesla one of a few Americans to receive the honor. Today, Tesla is honored through two statues near Niagara Falls, and one of the his powerhouses still stands.
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Elephants and the Civil War!

Most movies are based on books, and occasionally those books are rooted in historical happenings.

One such historical line up occurred in 1861, when the King Mongkut of Siam wrote to the president of the United States and offered him elephants. While written to President Buchanan, it was Lincoln who eventually and respectfully declined the very generous gift as the climate wouldn’t have been right, and that America had moved on towards steam power.

In 1956, “The King and I” premiered and in one scene this letter is seen being dictated, however, it is to Lincoln and not Buchanan. The letter and many other historical artifacts and writings are held in the National Archives. While Lincoln declined the elephants, other animals like bears, dogs, camels, badgers, and an eagle were used or kept as mascots. (The photo of the elephants is a fake photo used to show what it might’ve looked like should they have fought in the Civil War)

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On November 6, 1865, the final Confederate flag was surrendered after the CSS Shenandoah discovered that the Civil War was over.

However, it was in England not America that they surrendered. They discovered the news from a British vessel, and realized that they could be considered pirates now that the Confederacy no longer existed. The captain stowed all weapons below deck and even repainted the hull. He fled halfway across the globe to Liverpool, England, the same place the Confederacy secretly purchased the vessel in 1864.

The CSS Shenandoah captured or destroyed 38 ships, seized more than 1,000 captives and inflicted $1.6 million in damages. After surrendering to the British, the sailors were eventually released and the ship returned to the US government. The ship was later sold to the sultan of Zanzibar and sank in 1872.

This ship was not only the last Confederate ship to surrender, but also the only Confederate ship to circumnavigate the globe.

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Bass Reeves

In 1838 in Arkansas, one of the United States’ most legendary lawmen was born. Bass Reeves escaped slavery during the Civil War and became a freedman after the war was over. It was soon thereafter that Reeves became a US deputy marshal and carved his place in history.

Reeves stood at six feet two inches and was one of the few African Americans selected as a marshal. He was the first black US deputy marshal west of the Mississippi River. Reeves was known for his high moral standards and values and even arrested his own son after he was accused of murder.

Over his thirty-two years as a lawman, it is estimated that he arrested over three thousand people and killed fourteen outlaws without being wounded. Many times, Reeves utilized unique ways to capture the outlaws. He once faked being an outlaw to be accepted into the outlaw’s home for the evening and arrested the real outlaws during the night.

Some historians also believe that Bass Reeves was the inspiration behind the fictional character the Lone Ranger. However, there is no verifiable evidence to prove that Reeves was the inspiration, but many of Reeves’s real-life actions and experiences tend to fall in line with what the Lone Ranger experienced. Regardless of who inspired the Lone Ranger, Bass Reeves was one of the West’s greatest lawman and etched his place in history.

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During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to regulate the war throughout its jurisdiction. The “Truce of God” was initially instituted to prohibit fighting on Sundays and Feast Days and protect a large swath of the populace. It eventually only allowed fighting on about 80 days a year. The Truce of God existed in some form for roughly 200 years.

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“A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or reward that quality in its chosen leaders today—and in fact we have forgotten.”

——John F. Kennedy

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Image: Kennedy campaigning at the USC in 1960

THE MANY NAMES OF JAMES K. POLK

James Polk, the eleventh president of the United States, reduced tariffs, added new states and territories, and led the country during the Mexican American War. His hard work also led to many nicknames.

Because Polk was relatively obscure outside of political spheres, he was labeled a “Dark Horse” candidate, or someone not expected to win. His opponents used the slogan “Who is James K. Polk?” in an effort to remind the people he was not well-known. Polk eventually won the election with 49.5% of the popular vote.

James Polk was also given the nickname “Young Hickory.” His mentor, Andrew Jackson, held the nickname “Old Hickory,” and Polk’s nickname was an effort to tie the two together. What Jackson had in mind for the federal government, his protégé “Young Hickory” often carried out in the decisions he made as president.

One nickname of Polk’s that many people have forgotten is “Napoleon of the Stump.” In rural districts in the early 1800s, many politicians would give “stump” speeches. These speeches were often entertaining speeches that kept the crowd interested, and the speaker would often stand on a stump to be better heard. Polk’s short stature and his popular speeches in his early career is how he earned the nickname “Napoleon of the Stump.” Other nicknames Polk gained included “Polk the Plodder” and “Polk the Mendacious.”

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Unsung heroes of 9/11!

While many remember the bravery of the Americans at Ground Zero helping rescue people, many do not realize that there were almost two other casualties. Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney and her commanding officer, Colonel Marc Sasseville were tasking with taking out the passenger plane hurtling toward Washington D.C. However, their jets were not equipped with weapons and both immediately realized they would ram the plane if necessary. Sasseville stated he intended to ram the cockpit and Penney immediately replied that she would ram the tail.

Neither wanted to take out an airliner full of innocent passengers, yet, both were willing to sacrifice their lives to save the officials in Washington. Ultimately, they did not have to ram the passenger airliner, as the people aboard bravely decided to fight back, sacrificing their own lives for the safety of the nation. 9/11 was a major deal, that completely changed life as we know it and resulted in thousands of innocent people’s deaths.

MAY WE NEVER FORGET!

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Did you know that this iconic photo was almost never taken? The photographer, John Daniels, was so excited, that he almost forgot to capture the moment. Luckily, he did trigger the shutter as instructed, capturing Orville's ascent at precisely the right moment and capturing the most iconic photo of flight in the world.

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