Clio Muses

There are several obstacles to achieving an understanding of a particular historic event or era. The first obstacle I will discuss is the lack of you own knowledge about the specific event or time period. Because that obstacle is relatively easy to overcome but often time-consuming one is tempted to take short-cuts. We have a tendency to read something and think that is “enough”. Too often we know only “enough” for an opinion but not “enough” for historical understanding or interpretation. The best place to begin our journey toward understanding the Vietnam War is by reading one or more general surveys of the war. Here we are in luck. Recently there has been a boom in Vietnam War histories. Below are the most recent and frequently recommended general surveys of the Vietnam War. The study of history reminds me of long distance running. I have been a runner most of my life but the first mile of every run is the most uncomfortable and far from enjoyable. However, once my body warms

Forty years ago America withdrew all of its soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen (except for the contingent of United States Marines at the American embassy) from South Vietnam. For the United States Armed Forces the war was over. Two years later the war was also over for South Vietnam. They were invaded and conquered by North Vietnam. Within a year the new, unified Vietnam was renamed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. For forty years, Americans have struggled to come to some sort of individual if not collective understanding of what the Vietnam War meant. Discussions about the meaning of the Vietnam War have in various fora including public media; literature; art; works of history; political parties and focus groups; classrooms; churches; veterans associations; the family dinner; and over the back fence. Most discussions have generated as much contention as consensus. Mark Lawrence in his recent survey, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History (Oxford University Press

The Battle of Gettysburg, 1-3 July 1863. One hundred and fifty years ago the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia clashed at a farm village that was also an important road junction in southern Pennsylvania, a few miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line. While Gettysburg, the most famous Civil War battle, was a tactical success for the Union, it achieved no Union strategic aim. However, the day after Gettysburg, 4 July 1863, the Union achieved its greatest strategic success of the war when General Grant forced the Confederate Army to surrender the important city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Once the Confederacy lost Vicksburg it no longer could win the war. Had Lee been able to defeat the Army of the Potomac enough to keep that huge Union army north of the Potomac River, it is possible the South could have hung on until the election of 1864; an election Lincoln may have lost. The loss of Vicksburg, however, cut off wheat, corn, and horses from Texas destined for the Confedera

I recommend an excellent book by Dr. Kenneth J. Heineman, Civil War Dynasty: The Ewing Family of Ohio (New York: New York University Press: New York) 2013. For anyone with an interest in Ohio history or politics, or Ohio’s important contribution to the Civil War, this well written and meticulously researched work will be a delight. The book chronicles the politically important and powerful Ewing family from Lancaster, Ohio. Thomas Ewing, the family patriarch, practiced law in Lancaster, Ohio, served as a U. S. Senator, the Secretary of Treasury, and the first Secretary of the Interior. Thomas Ewing’s three sons, Thomas Jr., Charles, and Hugh (all born in Lancaster, Ohio), served in the Union Army finishing the war as generals with highly distinguished careers. In 1829 Charles Sherman, a successful lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court and close friend of Thomas Ewing, died leaving his widow with 11 children and no inheritance. Thomas Ewing took in the 9-year old boy, William T