dual personalities

In the spirit of my dual personality’s recent trip to Gettysburg, I wanted to share a north country Civil War story that I recently came across. It’s smaller in scope, of course, but compelling in its own way. Whenever I drive son #3 to or from his small Vermont college, I drive through the outskirts of St. Albans, a reasonably sized town a little removed from the northern shores of Lake Champlain. It seems like a typical Vermont town with a core of lovely old buildings, but a little down on its luck now.

Its green and buildings look a lot like  my village, albeit more Vermont-like than New York-ish, which is to say nicer.

Believe it or not, back in October 1864, the town was briefly subject to a Confederate takeover. According to the Smithsonian Magazine online, it happened like this:

“Late that afternoon, a tall, handsome man dismounted from a horse in front of the American House Hotel on Main Street in St. Albans, just 15 miles south of the Canadian border. His name was Bennett Young, and he had been staying in town for a few days, letting on little about himself beyond evident interests in the Bible and fishing. On that Wednesday, he drew a pair of Colt revolvers and said, “Gentlemen, I am a Confederate officer, and my men have come to take your town. Anyone who resists will be shot.” Young had been in Canada for months, recruiting escaped Confederate POWs to conduct raids on presumptively safe American towns. Now the northernmost raid of the Civil War was underway. Twenty-one raiders had entered St. Albans; while some of them held some townspeople prisoner in Taylor Park, others robbed the three banks of about $208,000. Some residents fired at the Confederates, fatally wounding one; one resident was killed in return. The fleeing Rebels tried to burn the town down, but their firebombs proved to be duds. American posses crossed into Canada and located many of the raiders, who were arrested by Canadian constables. The Canadians returned what money the raiders still had and charged Young and four of his men with violating Canada’s neutrality, but they dropped the charges a month later for lack of evidence. One of the three banks that were robbed, the Franklin County Bank, still stands (as a TD Bank branch), as does the American House.”

That must have caused quite the stir, to say the least. Fortunately, the Canadians didn’t  mind the border breech. Somehow, I don’t think they’d be very happy about it now.

And that, my friends, is the obscure history lesson for today.  Have a great weekend!

It’s the Ides of March and since you probably don’t need to worry about Brutus and his cohort knocking you off, you can spend the day enjoying Caesar’s Gallic Wars.

It’s a fabulous read once you get a handle on the many, confusing Gallic names and the inter-tribal politics.  Not only does he write with lapidary precision, but Caesar was a genius at subtle self-promotion, political calculation and leadership. And he was also great at logistics. Count how many times he wrote “I secured the corn supply” — you’ll be amazed at how careful he was about food. He makes himself look good (in the 3rd person no less), but he also makes the Gauls and Germans seem like real people, who are smart, if hampered by a certain cultural backwardness (compared to the Romans that is). Caesar’s attention to ethnography suggests that he was really interested in everything new he came across.

If you’re not in the mood for De Bello Gallico, then you could try some of Cicero’s letters. He and Caesar had a deep friendship, albeit they ended up on opposite sides in the Civil War (you can also read Caesar’s account of that, but it’s not quite up to the Gallic Wars). Cicero was a cool guy.

I remember our brother translating Cicero in Latin class and having deep conversations with our mother about him. It’s no wonder I ended up fascinated by the ancient world. How could I avoid it?

Of course, you can always opt for a more modern treatment like Shakespeare, but however you chose to do it,  remember Gaius Julius Caesar, one of the great, if more ambiguous, characters of western civilization.

Ave atque vale and all that… Have a good week!