The line in defense of our nation is the 1 i want to be apart of. Thats the 1 im proud to be apart of so the next time you see that brand new private or lieutenant, no that they were among that our society had to offer. They had more ability and potential than most of their peers and they still chose to put that uniform on and to help the sacrifices that come with it. They are tomorrows generals and command sergeant majors. They are the future of our nation. I thank you again for the honor of being here to stand in this hollow ground with all of you and to remember this chapter in our history and the people who lived in it and people who died in it. Have a great day. God bless america. [ applause ] our benediction this morning will be given by reverend rick gre greenwood. I fail to mention with pastor lions are gillfield. Both churches represented here this morning were war time congregations here in petersberg. Again, this morning our benediction reverend greenwood. May god the earth
Theyre really quite intelligent, very intelligent, but are trained in a way that theyve been trained differently from the way we have so that they are interested in, you know, the impact visually and what people hear. And the overarching story or theme or thesis they want to put forward. And so whenever they come to historians, its not as theyre writing the work. It is usually after theyve already worked out in their mind what the opening scene is going to look like and the rest of it. And the story holds together well for them, for what they like to portray in one way. And then on the other side of it is working with the producers to find out whether theyll finance so you have to take into consideration what the producers want to see in this film, too. So they kind of are very collaborative and were only one piece, a small piece of the collaboration because they do come in with this. And its interesting because i want to know whether or not Steve Mcqueen actually shot the opening sequ
Worth mentioning. 1848 is this wonderful moment where people like Thaddeus Stevens, Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Steven are all young, rising whigs who are supporting taylor and working together. It was stevens who was one of the confederate peace commissioners lincoln is dealing with in the end. When we thing of the civil war in military terms, we talk about the mexican war as a precursor, a prelude, but the congress that lincoln served in has Horace Greely and Alexander Stevens and sidelines waiting to enter. This is part of lincolns story. Its a preview for him of what is to come. You know, i dont imagine that tony kushner or Steven Spielberg could have worked all this background in somehow to the movie. Im not complaining they didnt, but all this background is important to understand what is really going on. And the details matter. They know the details matter. If you look back at the Lincoln Movie, youll realize the purpose of the scene in the kitchen is to give lincoln credit fo
Kind of oversaw the fortifications during most of the war, as they redid and reconstructed some of these forts, he decided new guns would go in and help cover this which it wasnt doing before. So your plans for the fortifications, the system of fortifications did change over the four years of the war. Coming back, i told you we would stop and i would show you what some of the 360degree angle guns look like. See, the carriage is a little bit different, but this shows you, and you notice the bottom, that gun could be turned 360 degrees so you can fire. Now, if the gun is mounted, basically youre probably only going to want about 180degree turn, but it could be fired the other way if needed. So that gives you a good idea. But you can see the abatee. Notice the abatee coming up, the pointed stakes that i mentioned on the outside. So its in the ditch on the outside to try to keep enemy from coming in. But you can see that it is clear field of fire in front. This is ft. Stevens which is one
Directed the American Heritage Rivers Initiative at the White House Council on environmental quality. Today miss newman will discuss the post war impact on the forts, on the surrounding neighborhoods in washington and their evolution into parks. And kim elder. Miss elder is the National Parks Services Program manager for civil war defenses of washington. She is responsible for the management, the Oversight Program development of 16 for 16 of the remaining forts and batteries opened and operated by the National Parks service. So today ms. Elder will highlight the parks today and provide us with a preview of this weekends activities at fort stevens. So let me begin now with dr. Cooling. [ applause ] good afternoon, folks. Pleasure to be back in this lovely facility even if every time i come here i go in the wrong entrance to the National Archives. As a researcher, i became very accustomed over 30 years or more of going in the other side. Well, you dont want to hear about that today. Ill