edwardsPierrepont"I think, gentlemen, you saw he was telling a falsehood from the very expression of his face. For through his dull and horny eyes I could see lies generating perjuries in his brain, like flies in a rotting carcass, and then a slow stream of slimy larvae druled from his loathsome mouth, requiring more than all his 'patent pots' find 'patent disinfectants' to cleanse the air of the perjured and polluting odor. There was not a word of truth in anything he said."

Defender of Grant, prosecutor of an accused Lincoln assassin, Attorney General of the United States, populist proponent of Free Silver, Edwards Pierrepont led an interesting life, and contributed much to his country.  

 As fresh deeds of violence or new aggressions against the government were reported from the daily papers in the shop where I was then employed, some one who was not a "Lincolnite" would exclaim, in an angry tone; "I hope you fellows are satisfied now. I don't blame the South an atom. They have been driven to desperation by such lunatics as Garrison and Phillips, and these men ought to be hung for it." And, "I want to see those hot-headed Abolitionists put into the front rank, and shot first."  
 
Tempers ran hot up to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  Bravado was evident on both sides, with both sides believing the other would not fight.  But when the fighting did come, some with the most belicose stance faded behind the crowd and let others shoulder the burden and take the risk.  Oliver Wedel Holmes, Sr., father of the famous jursit, wrote an ode to these braggarts, entitled "The Sweet Little Man," that summed up the feelings of the Wide-Awakes and Rail Splitters.
 

"I speak the truth, painful, humiliating, and terrible as it is; and because I am bold and faithful to do so, am I to be branded as the calumniator and enemy of my country? Sir, it is because my affection for her is intense and paramount to all selfish considerations that I do not parley with her crimes." 
 
An inconvenient truth, which defies the modern race narrative, is that white, Christian men and women of strong faith planted the seeds of black emancipation finally harvested after the American Civil War, where 642,427 Union soldiers, sailors and marines became casualties to preserve the Union and end slavery.  What started as a trickle ended as a torrent as the demand from white citizens for black emancipation grew strong enough to carry the Union though the bleakest days of the struggle.  William Garrison was ahead of the country on the matter of slavery, but through his work, and that of others who braved censure, beatings and worse, the nation caught up.
 

"Damn the torpedoes!" he shouted;" Go ahead!" Pointing between the threatening buoys, the order was given to move on, and with the foam dashing from the bows of his vessel, he swept forward, "determined," he said, "to take the chances."

David Glasgow Farragut was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy.  He is remembered for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, quoted above, which marked the start of a great victory.

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