53: A Civil War Christmas with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

History That Doesn't Suck

ProfGregJackson

Education, History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2019

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“Our dispatches state that Lieut. Longfellow of First Mass. Cavalry was severely wounded.” This is the story of a son nearly lost and a poet in a dark place. Young, idealistic Charley Longfellow loves his country and is ready to fight and die for it. His father—the former Harvard College Professor of English and Literature, celebrated author, and grieving widower, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—fears losing his son in the Civil War and doesn’t want him to enlist. But Charley does. A bullet rips through the youth soon thereafter. 1863 has truly been a terrible year for Henry. Mourning the loss of his wife, praying for his son’s recovery, and anxious about the war-torn nation’s future, Christmas feels hollow as he listens to bells ring that day. But he believes better days are to come. He expresses his pain and hope for a future peace by penning a poem future generations of Americans will cherish as the Christmas Carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to take your crypto trading to the next level?
0:03.4	Look no further than Crack and Pro, the ultimate platform for traders.
0:07.1	Crack and Pro gives you access to advanced charting tools,
0:10.2	real-time market data, and lightning fast trade execution.
0:13.7	Plus with an intuitive interface and customizable layout,
0:16.8	you can tailor your trading experience to suit your needs.
0:19.7	Join millions of traders who trust Crack and Pro for their crypto trading needs.
0:23.9	Visit pro.crack and dot com to get started today.
0:26.6	Not investment advice, crypto trading involves risk of loss.
0:30.2	Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
0:32.8	As you longtime fans know, we've got a tradition of telling a Christmas story
0:36.4	that ties into whatever phase of American history we're currently covering.
0:40.2	Today, that means jumping ahead one year to 1863 for the touching, heart-wrenching,
0:45.8	but hopeful tale of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow channeling his personal pain and loss
0:50.8	to write one of the most famous poems slash Christmas tales ever penned by an American.
0:56.6	This is a Civil War Christmas.
0:59.0	Let's go.
1:11.6	Welcome to history that doesn't suck.
1:14.0	I'm your professor, Greg Jackson, and I'd like to tell you a story.
1:19.2	It's November 27, 1863.
1:22.2	The Union Army of the Potomac slowly marches across the muddy terrain
1:26.1	on the southern banks of the Rapidin River in Virginia.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from ProfGregJackson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of ProfGregJackson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.