"We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours"

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie by Currier and Ives.

On this day 200 years ago - 10 September 1813, Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, United States Navy, won a resounding victory over a British fleet near Put-in-Bay, Ohio, in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812:

At dawn on the morning of September 10, 1813, a lookout spotted six British vessels to the northwest of Put-in-Bay beyond Rattlesnake Island. Immediately Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry issued a flurry of orders and made preparations to sail forth to engage the British. 
 

Oliver Hazard Perry by Gilbert Stuart

With Perry's fleet on Lake Erie the British supply route from Fort Malden to Port Dover had been severed. The British had to either fight, or abandon Fort Malden. The British squadron consisted of six ships with sixty-three cannons, while the American flotilla comprised nine vessels and fifty-four guns. The British were armed with long guns that could throw a cannonball approximately one mile, accurately to about one-half mile. The American ships primarily armed with carronades had less than half the range of a long gun. The carronades could inflict much more damage at close range. Perry needed the wind to his back to close within carronade range.

When the squadron sailed from Put-in-Bay harbor at 7 a.m. the American vessels were steering west-northwest; the wind was blowing from the west-southwest. For more than two hours Perry repeatedly tacks his ships in an effort to put the wind to his back, but with no success. The frustrated Perry, conceded to mother nature at 10 a.m., issuing orders to turn his fleet in the opposite direction. But before the order could be executed the wind suddenly shifted and blew from the southeast, placing the wind directly behind the Americans.

Perry's opponent, Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, was an experienced Royal Navy officer who had fought with Lord Nelson at Trafalgar in 1805, and two years later he lost an arm fighting the French. Barclay's options did not alter when the wind shifted, so the Scotsman pointed his bow sprits to the westward, and hove to in line of battle.

With the wind at his back and the British battle line finally revealed, Perry made his own tactical adjustments. The Schooners Ariel and Scorpion were placed off the flagship's weather bow to engage the first British vessel and to prevent the enemy from raking his fleet. The Lawrence, a 20-gun brig serving as Perry's flagship, was third in line and would engage the Detroit, Barclay's 19-gun flagship. Next in line floated the Caledonia, a small brig with only three guns. Fifth in the American line of battle was the Niagara, Perry's other 20-gun brig and the Lawrence's sistership.

The Niagara, captained by Master Commandant Jesse Elliott, would engage the 17-gun Queen Charlotte, the second largest British ship. Lastly came the smaller schooners and sloop; these would engage the smaller British vessels.

Just before the engagement opened Perry hoisted his battle flag to the flagship's main truck. The large navy blue banner was emblazoned with the crudely inscribed words, "DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP". For his battle slogan Perry used the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, a friend of the commodore who was killed on June 1, 1813. Perry's flagship was named for the fallen Lawrence, and the dead hero's inspiring words clearly indicated Perry's determination to prevail.

Perry's Battle Flag, "Don't Give Up the Ship"

U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD

[...]

By 2:30 p.m. the flagship was a floating wreck; every gun on her engaged side was disabled and four of every five men fit for duty were either killed or wounded. Perry was facing the dismal prospect of surrender.

Then, as he gazed across to the Niagara, still out of range and relatively undamaged, the commodore made a fateful decision. Collecting four unwounded men Perry manned the flagship's first cutter and rowed through a hail of shot to the Niagara. Miraculously Perry and his boat crew reached the Niagara unscathed.

Perry transfers (along with his battle flag) from the badly damaged flagship Lawrence to the unscathed Niagara.

[...]

The British, though they had pounded the Lawrence into a crippled hulk, had suffered terribly. During the engagement Barclay was severely wounded, plus the captain and first lieutenant of every British vessel was incapacitated. The English fleet was now commanded by junior officers - brave men, but with little or no experience maneuvering ships in the chaos of combat. When they observed the Niagara bearing down on their line the British attempted to wear ship - to turn their vessels around to bring the unused starboard broadsides to bear. Orders were issued, but amidst the tumult of battle the battered Detroit and Queen Charlotte collided, becoming helplessly entangled.

Taking full advantage of the enemy blunder, Perry steered the Niagara through the jumbled British battle line. Unleashing both broadsides, the American commodore ravaged the vulnerable British ships. As the Niagara pressed through the British line Perry backed the maintop sail, holding the Niagara stationary while her belching carronades decimated the enemy decks. The wind had also picked up by this time, allowing the sluggish gunboats to rush forward and rake the enemy from astern.

A few minutes after 3 p.m. the British bowed to the inevitable, the four largest vessels surrendering one by one. The gunboats Chippawa and Little Belt sheered off and tried to escape, but they were tracked down and snared by the Scorpion and Trippe. The entire British fleet had been captured.

The vessels anchored and hasty repairs were underway near West Sister Island when Perry composed his now famous message to William Henry Harrison. Scrawled in pencil on the back of an old envelope, Perry wrote, "Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem, O.H. Perry".   

The Battle of Lake Erie proved one of the most resounding triumphs of the War of 1812. The victory secured control of the lake, forcing the British to abandon Fort Malden and retreat up the Thames River. Harrison's army pursued, decisively defeating the small British army and its allied Indian force on October 5, 1813 at the Battle of the Thames. And later, during the peace talks, the dual victories of Lake Erie and the Thames insured that the states of Ohio and Michigan would remain the sovereign territory of the United States of America.

 

 Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial and a modern replica of the Flagship Niagara at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, during the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial celebrations over Labor Day weekend.

The blogger at Put-in-Bay for the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial, wearing his "Don't Give Up the Ship" battle flag tie from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co.

Don't Give Up the Ship!

Additional Online Resources:

Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial (National Park Service), Put-in-Bay, OH

Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial 

Battle of Lake Erie: Building the Fleet in the Wilderness, Navy Department Library

The Battle of Lake Erie: Building the Fleet, Alliances and the Battle
Oliver Hazard Perry
Flagship Niagara 
"Perry's Victory: The Battle of Lake Erie" - Toledo Museum of Art exhibition
"Perry's Victory: The Battle of Lake Erie" - Toledo Museum of Art exhibition (video)
"Perry's Victory: The Battle of Lake Erie" - Toledo Museum of Art exhibition (TV ad)

"Perry's Victory" (trad. folk song) sung by Roger McGuinn
"Perry's Victory" song lyrics

Fort Meigs: Ohio's War of 1812 Battlefield

Fort Malden (Parks Canada)

Battle of the Thames

Robert Heriot Barclay

William Henry Harrison

Tecumseh

Recommended Books:

A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812-1813 by David Curtis Skaggs and Gerard T. Altoff

Oliver Hazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie by Gerard T. Altoff

Oliver Hazard Perry: Honor, Courage, and Patriotism in the Early U.S. Navy (Library of Naval Biography) by David Curtis Skaggs

Perry's Lake Erie Fleet: After the Glory (PA) (The History Press) by David Frew

The Lake Erie Campaign of 1813: I Shall Fight Them This Day by Walter P. Rybka 

We Have Met the Enemy: Oliver Hazard Perry, Wilderness Commodore by Richard Dillon

Chasing Oliver Hazard Perry: Travels in the Footsteps of the Commodore Who Saved America by Craig Heimbuch

 

Scots Wha Hae

"Scots Wha Hae" is a poem written by Robert Burns that is supposed to approximate the speech Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, delivered to his troops prior to leading them into battle against the English under Edward II at Bannockburn. The poem was set to music and became one of Scotland's great anthems of national pride.

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;
Welcome to your gory bed,
         Or to victory!

Now's the day, and now's the hour;
See the front o' battle lour;
See approach proud Edward's power—
         Chains and slavery!

Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha can fill a coward's grave!
Wha sae base as be a slave?
         Let him turn and flee!

Wha for Scotland's king and law
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or freeman fa',
         Let him follow me!

By oppression's woes and pains!
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
         But they shall be free!

Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!—
         Let us do or die!

Battle of Bannockburn - 699 Years Ago Today

On this day 699 years ago - 24 June 1314, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, led his vastly outnumbered army into battle against the English under King Edward II at Bannockburn, near Stirling Castle, in Scotland. Edward had more than 2000 battle-hardened knights to Bruce’s 500 horsemen, and a force of 16,000 infantry to Bruce's 6000 foot soldiers.

It was Midsummer Day, the Feast of St John the Baptist.

The day before, an English knight, Sir Henry de Bohun, had seen the Bruce separated from the rest of his army and turned his war-horse to charge him. De Bohun thundered across the field levelling his lance at Bruce. The Bruce stood his ground and waited until the English knight was almost upon him, then stood up in his stirrups and brought his battle-axe crashing down, splitting de Bohun's helmet and skull in two.

The Bruce would own this day as well. 

 

 

The Scots had carefully chosen their ground at Bannockburn. They used the natural terrain to counter the threat of Edward’s heavy cavalry and dug small pit traps or ‘pots’ to defend their flanks and force the English to fight them head on. Disastrously, Edward ordered his men to cross the Bannockburn river onto boggy ground. Bruce ordered the Scots to push forward and a forest of spears sent Edward’s army crashing back upon itself. The Scots pushed Edward’s army back to the steep-sided Bannockburn until the river was filled with bodies. King Edward II fled the field, escaped to Dunbar Castle, and then sailed back to England. Others weren't so fortunate - the Scots killed or captured many of the greatest knights of England.

For the next 15 years - until the Bruce's death in 1329, the Scots held the upper hand over the English militarily, including a significant victory at the Battle of Byland in Yorkshire, in which a young, newly crowned Edward III was almost captured.

The ultimate result of Bannockburn was that the Scots had won their independence on the battlefield, an achievement that was to receive legal sanction a few years later when the Scots obtained papal recognition of their claim for independence as laid out in the Declaration of Arbroath (considered by many to be a forerunner to the American Declaration of Independence).

(Source)

Angry Old White Man

John McCain railing against Rand Paul's appeal to "impressionable" kids in dorm rooms is so politically tone deaf and out of touch that it makes Clint Eastwood look like a breath of fresh air by comparison. Yesterday, in a textbook example of EVERYTHING that is wrong about John McCain, just after scolding Paul on the Senate floor, McCain lamented the retirement announcement of 78-year-old Democrat Sen. Carl. Levin who has been in the Senate FOR 35 YEARS ... since the Carter Administration.

McCain's world: young upstarts inspiring people to take our liberties seriously and challenging the perpetual war establishment ... bad; crusty old farts clinging to power and enriching themselves on the public teet until they're octogenarians ... good.

Remember ... John McCain got absolutely SLAUGHTERED in a presidential campaign in large part because his opponent was able to inspire young people to turn out in droves for him. Apparently, "Maverick" hasn't taken the lesson to heart. He and his girlfriend Lindsey Graham represent the hyper-militarist, neo-con old guard of the GOP. Hopefully, they are a dying breed.

Society of Cincinnati Medal Belonging to Polish-Born Hero of American Revolution to be Auctioned in Cleveland

General Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a Polish-born hero of the American Revolution and the Chief Engineer of West Point. In Cleveland next Wednesday, there will be an auction of Kosciuszko's Society of Cincinnati medal.

Lot 156

Enameled Gold Order of the Society of the Cincinnati,

Enameled Gold Order of the Society of the Cincinnati, Designed by Major Pierre L'Enfant and Construction Attributed to Duval & Francastle, Paris, 1784. One of only 140 original eagles designed and conceived by Major Pierre L'Enfant for the inaugural members of the Society of the Cincinnati, the nation's oldest patriotic organization. The Society was founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army and their French counterparts who served together in the American Revolution. This particular eagle is believed to have belonged to Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish-born hero of the Revolution and Chief Engineer of West Point. In 1783, Kosciuszko was appointed Brigadier General and initiated into the Order by General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.

Gold insignia with eagle and wreath motif, both sides with head and tail feathers having white and black enamel, red enamel eyes, distinct eyebrows and black beaks. Obverse oval medallion showing Cincinnatus receiving a sword from two senators, originally with blue enamel sky and green enamel grass within inscription OMNIA. REINQT. SERVAT. REMPB. (He Forsook All Things to Serve the Republic), but now mostly lacking. Reverse medallion showing Cincinnatus with sun and palisade behind, originally with blue sky and green field enameling within inscription in black on white ground VIRT. PRAEM. SOCI. CIN. RUM. INST. A. D. 1783 (a Prize for Virtue - Society of the Cincinnati Instituted 1783), also mostly lacking. The wreath at top and lower crossed branches likewise originally decorated with green enamel and red berries, with double oval loop suspension ring. Without original blue and white ribbon and bow.

Provenance: Inherited by the consignor through direct descent of Stevens Thompson Mason (1760-1803), a U.S. Senator from Virginia, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Armistead (1760-1825), who were personally acquainted with Kosciuszko. According to family history, Kosciuszko was awarded the eagle, which he then gifted to Mary Elizabeth Armistead, for whom he had great affection. It has been passed down in the Mason family ever since. Kosciuszko biographer, Casimir Kajencki, references a documented meeting between Stevens Thomson Mason and Kosciuszko at the latter's apartment on Third Street South in Philadelphia over the winter of 1797-1798 (Thaddeus Kosciuszko: Military Engineer of the American Revolution, El Paso, Tex.: Southwest Polonia Press, 1998, pp. 202-203). Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817), to his friend Mary Elizabeth Armistead Mason (1760-1825), to her grandson Stevens Thomson Mason (1811-1843), to his sister Catherine Armistead Mason (Rowland) (1818-1884), to her son John Thomson Mason (1844-1901), to his son Stevens Thomson Mason (1880-1950), to his daughter Adelaide Houghton Mason (b. 1918), by descent to the present owner

Dimensions: h: 2.5 x w: 1 inch.

A few years ago, George Washington's Society of Cincinnati medal, which had been in the possession of the family of the Marquis de Lafayette (the medal had been a gift to Lafayette by Washington's adopted granddaughter, Nellie Lewis), sold for over $5.3 million.

The Society of Cincinnati is America's oldest patriotic organization, and was established by Major General Henry Knox in honor of George Washington. The Society took its name from Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the ancient Roman who left his farm to accept dictatorial powers during a war emergency, only to relinquish those powers and return to farming when the war was over.

Happy 281st Birthday to the Father of Our Country, His Excellency George Washington

This life-size statue of George Washington in the rotunda of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, is probably the finest and most accurate likeness of Washington ever made. It was sculpted by Jean-Antoine Houdon from measurements and life masks he took of Washington when the sculptor visited Mount Vernon.

In Memory of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins ( Micheál Ó Coileáin), Who Died 90 Years Ago Today (22 August 1922)

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.  
The Laughing Boy
by Brendan Behan

T'was on an August morning, all in the dawning hours,
I went to take the warming air, all in the Mouth of Flowers,
And there I saw a maiden, and mournful was her cry,
'Ah what will mend my broken heart, I've lost my Laughing Boy.

So strong, so wild and brave he was, I'll mourn his loss too sore,
When thinking that I'll hear the laugh or springing step no more.
Ah, cure the times and sad the loss my heart to crucify,
That an Irish son with a rebel gun shot down my Laughing Boy.

Oh had he died by Pearse's side or in the GPO,
Killed by an English bullet from the rifle of the foe,
Or forcibly fed with Ashe lay dead in the dungeons of Mountjoy,
I'd have cried with pride for the way he died, my own dear Laughing Boy.

My princely love, can ageless love do more than tell to you,
Go raibh maith agat for all you tried to do,
For all you did, and would have done, my enemies to destroy,
I'll mourn your name and praise your fame, forever, my Laughing Boy.



The death of Michael Collins from "Shadow of Béal na mBláth"
(music by Sinead O'Connor from the "Michael Collins" soundtrack)


The bark of a dog breaks the silence like a bitter last hurrah
And a raven spreads it's wings for flight over fields near Beál Na mBláth
With a rifle still clasped to his breast, but hanging low his head
A black August day in the County Cork, Michael Collins is dead

Hang out your brightest colours, his memory now recall
Each one wants a part of him but no-one wants it all

~ "The Ballad of Michael Collins" by Brendan O'Reilly



Tom Barry describes the scene in Kilmainham Jail
where he witnessed hundreds of Republican prisoners
on their knees praying for Michael Collins
after hearing the news he had been killed during the Civil War.


Historical footage of the funeral of Michael Collins
set to "Wrap the Green Flag 'Round Me" by The Wolfe Tones


Oh long will old Ireland be seeking in vain
Ere we find a new leader to match the man slain
A true son of Grainne his name long will shine
O gallant Mick Collins cut off in his prime

~ "Michael Collins" by The Wolfe Tones




“We bend today over the grave of a man not more than thirty years of age, who took to himself the gospel of toil for Ireland, and of sacrifice for their good, and who has made himself a hero and a legend that will stand in the pages of our history with any bright page that was ever written there. Pages have been written by him in the hearts of our people that will never find a place in print. But we lived, some of us with these intimate pages; and those pages that will reach history, meagre though they be, will do good to our country and will inspire us through many a dark hour. Our weaknesses cry out to us, 'Michael Collins was too brave.' Michael Collins was not too brave. Every day and every hour he lived he lived it to the full extent of that bravery which God gave to him, and it is for us to be brave as he was—brave before danger, brave before those who lie, brave even to that very great bravery that our weaknesses complained of in him.”

~ Richard Mulcahy, IRA Chief of Staff (and Collins' superior) during the War of Independence, who succeeded Collins as commander-in-chief of the Free State Irish Army, in his oration at Collins' funeral.


“. . . So tear up your mourning and hang up your brightest colours in his honour; and let us all praise God that he had not to die weakened by age and saddened by the disappointments that would have attended his work had he lived.”

~ Dublin-born playwright George Bernard Shaw in a letter of condolence to Collins' sister




‘‘He was the man whose matchless energy, whose indomitable will, carried Ireland through the terrible crisis; and though I have not now, and never had, an ambition about either political affairs or history, if my name is to go down in history I want it to be associated with the name of Michael Collins.’’

~ Arthur Griffith
Founder and leader of the original Sinn Féin (not its modern Marxist namesake) and President of Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament), whose work with Collins on negotiating the Treaty to end the Irish War of Independence, and whose untimely death at the age of 50 from either a heart attack or stroke just 10 days prior to Collins' assassination (thus depriving Ireland of yet another key leader in its political infancy) ensured that his name would, indeed, go down in history associated with that of Michael Collins


Michael Collins' brother, Johnny, at the rededication
of the Collins gravesite at Glasnevin Cemetery in 1939.
According to Collins and De Valera biographer, Tim Pat Coogan:
"It is a matter of record that for years Johnny Collins,
a civil servant, and thus very much at de Valera's mercy,
strove unsuccessfully to have a fitting memorial erected
over his brother, who, as the first Commander-in-Chief of
the Irish Army, lay in a military grave... Finally,
de Valera called Johnny in and stipulated that the cost
of the memorial should not exceed £300, and it should be
in limestone, not marble. He prescribed a formula of words
he wanted used on the cross and ordered that there be no
English on the front of it. The cemetery records show, that,
on July 31st, 1939, a few weeks before the world went to war,
Taoiseach de Valera took time out to sign personally the
certificate of authorisation for the design and erection of
the memorial cross over his old adversary... What the
certification does not show is the fact that de Valera forbade
Johnny to allow attendance at the dedication ceremony, either
by the press, the public, or by any member of the Collins family
apart from Johnny himself. Only the officiating priest and an
altar boy were permitted to be present. Had an outraged off-duty
gravedigger, who tended Collins's grave, not accidentally come
across the melancholy little ceremony and hailed a passing tourist
with a camera, there would have been no pictorial record of Johnny
standing alone, apart from the gravedigger, at his famous brother's graveside."

‘‘It is my considered opinion that, in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Michael Collins, and it will be recorded at my expense.’’

~ Eamon de Valera


For more on Michael Collins, see

General Michael Collins (website of the Collins 22 Society, of which I am a member)

Michael Collins - The Lost Leader

The Michael Collins Centre

The Michael Collins Web Page

An excellent and very comprehensive Michael Collins Site

A Man Against An Empire - History Net

Michael Collins Irish Leader - Economic Expert

Michael Collins - Military History Online

Michael Collins - University College Cork

The "Michael Collins" Official Movie Site

MICHAEL COLLINS - A Musical Drama

Michael Collins Irish Whiskey

Recommended Reading:

The Path to Freedom by Michael Collins

Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland by Tim Pat Coogan

Michael Collins: A Life by James MacKay

The Big Fellow: Michael Collins & the Irish Revolution by Frank O'Connor

Michael Collins : The Lost Leader by Margery Forester

Illustrated Life of Michael Collins by Colm Connolly

Michael Collins - A Life in Pictures by Chrissy Osborne

Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 by Ulick O'Connor

Michael Collins's Intelligence War: The Struggle Between the British and the IRA 1919-1921 by Michael T. Foy

The Squad: and the intelligence operations of Michael Collins by T. Ryle Dwyer

Michael Collins and the Making of the Irish State by Gabriel Doherty (Author), Dermot Keogh (Editor)

"Michael Collins' Ireland: Following In The Footsteps Of The Big Fellow From Dublin To County Cork", Chicago Tribune, March 7, 1999

Recommended Viewing:

"Michael Collins"
(1996 Neil Jordan film starring Liam Neeson in the title role - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

"The Treaty"
(1991 RTE/BBC production starring Brendan Gleeson as Michael Collins, in a much better portrayal of The Big Fella than that of Neeson - difficult to find, but a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Shadow of Béalnabláth"
(1991 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Colm Connolly - used VHS copies available on Amazon.com)

"Hang Up Your Brightest Colours"
(1973 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Kenneth Griffith; banned for many years in both England and Ireland - a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley"
(2006 Ken Loach film is a fictionalized drama focusing on the War of Independence and the ensuing Irish Civil War in Collins' native Cork - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Shake Hands with the Devil
(1959 film is a fictionalized drama starring James Cagney, Michael Redgrave, and Don Murray as members of the IRA battling the "Black and Tans" in 1921 during the War of Independence - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:85th Anniversary of the Death of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins

In Honor of Those Who Served: "In Flanders Fields"

In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blowBetween the crosses row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

Michael Sean Winters and National Catholic Reporter Celebrate Bin Laden's Death

Of all the responses in the Catholic blogosphere to Osama bin Laden's death, few have matched the sort of jingoistic and nationalistic bravado that we've seen in the secular media and on the streets of New York City and Washington, D.C. The overwhelming majority of Catholic bloggers have been quite circumspect and reflective upon the killing of America's public enemy #1, soberly asking themselves what is the appropriate Christian response to the sudden, violent death of the mastermind of 9/11.

The most prominent exception to this general rule - the one high-profile Catholic blogger who openly relished (indeed, encouraged celebrating) bin Laden's demise - came from what might seem like a surprising source. The National Catholic Reporter, the newspaper of record for the Catholic left, routinely excoriates the Catholic blogosphere for what it sees as pro-Republican, militaristic, and jingoistic nationalism. And yet, it was the Reporter's most high-profile blogger, Michael Sean Winters, who used his blog, the so-called "Distinctly Catholic", to do a tap dance on the freshly killed body of bin Laden:

... I do not normally take delight in the death of a fellow human being. Nor do I support the death penalty. But, if there was one man on the planet whom it was important to kill, not to just let die, it was Osama bin Laden. You should not be able to murder well nigh to 3,000 Americans and others with impunity. If you commit such a crime, you should fear every moment of every day that U.S. Special Forces will come crashing through the door to bring you to justice. I am sure bin Laden knew better than to be captured alive. (Given the legal nightmare of Guantanamo, thank God he was killed on the spot!) It took a long time to track bin Laden down, too long, and it is impossible not to think that we might have reached this happy day earlier if we had not detoured through Baghdad. But, this is no time for recriminations. It is time to celebrate.

As I write these words, images of young people streaming into the streets in front of the White House chanting “USA” and singing the National Anthem are coming onto the television screen. If it were not so late and I did not have an early morning, I would drive down myself. Vengeance is not a healthy emotion, I know. Assassination is against the law, to be sure. But, better to indulge and go to confession. I am glad Osama bin Laden did not die in his bed, as I am glad Hitler did not die in his bed and as I am distressed hat Stalin and Mao did. Men who commit such evil do not deserve normal considerations of human sympathy or civilized respect. The world is well rid of bin Laden. It is a great day to be alive.

I think many Catholic bloggers, upon hearing the news, struggled with feeling happy over the news of bin Laden's death. But, in blogging about it at least, few gave such full-throated approval to the notion of celebrating the macabre as did Michael Sean Winters.

There is much that is disturbing about Winters' piece, but the part that troubled me most was his acknowledging that giving into vengeful thoughts is sinful, but nevertheless stating explicitly that he would go ahead and engage in (and, indeed, celebrate) such thoughts anyway, and then afterward take advantage of the sacrament of confession.

Think about that for a moment. Serious sin. Willfully engaged in. But it doesn't matter because he'll just go to confession later and seek forgiveness for a sin for which he doesn't appear to be the least bit sorry. Presumption. What's more, Winters is presuming upon the Divine Mercy and grace of God for his own sins, while in the very next breath declaring that another of God's children "do[es] not deserve normal considerations of human sympathy" (on Divine Mercy Sunday, no less, which is when Winters wrote this).

Now, earlier in this post, I noted that this piece came from "what might seem like a surprising source". It might seem suprising, that is, unless you know anything about the writing of one Michael Sean Winters. On any topic on which there is a disagreement between Catholics on on a matter of interest to the Church, just find out what the official Democrat Party position is, or which view is more advantageous to the Democrats were it to prevail, and that will pretty much tell you where Michael Sean Winters stands. (You've heard of "Republicath" bloggers who allegedly substitute the Republican platform for Catholic theology and label it as the latter? Well, Michael Sean Winters is the Democath blogger par excellence.) Here, the death of Osama bin Laden is being celebrated by the Obama Administration and the Democrats because it happened on their watch instead of George W. Bush's, so Winters happily joins in.

Suffice it to say, however, had this happened with Bush in the White House, and had the streets filled with people chanting "U.S.A" and other slogans and singing the National Anthem, and had some blogger on the right side of the Catholic blogosphere written a piece celebrating not only the death of bin Laden but the over-exuberant reaction thereto, I feel fairly confident in believing Michael Sean Winters would be singing a different tune. But, as fate would have it, this happened on his guy's watch, so bravado, jingoism, nationalism, and celebrating the death of the enemy is all the rage.

Ironically, it's the folks at The American Catholic, who Winters has at various times criticized as "yahoos" and as being "kookie" (I guess that's like being "kooky"), and who one prominent left-leaning blogger has described as being guilty of "blood lust" and pushing a "theology of violence", and who other left-leaning Catholics have parodied as "fascists", who had the definitive post on the appropriate Catholic reaction to bin Laden's death. Contrast Michael Sean Winters paean to veangence to another Michael's (Michael Denton) thoughtful and charitable post, "The Catholic Response to the Death of a Murderer".

Vatican Spokesman on Killing of Osama bin Laden

From Catholic News Service:

... Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose.

In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred.

See also Michael Denton's well-written piece at The American Catholic, "The Catholic Response to the Death of a Murderer".

My Comments
Hopefully, the reaction to the news of bin Laden's death will become more reflective and the overexuberant reaction we've witnessed so far will be tempered. But at the same time, I'd like to see those who are condemning the jubilation (and I do not count the Vatican spokesman or Michael among them) show a bit more understanding and compassion for why people are reacting the way they are.

Yes, more people should put into practice the Church’s teachings on mercy and forgiveness and embrace the Church’s teachings on social justice. I am convinced, however, that one reason more do not do so is because the pious “tsk-tsking” and “tut-tutting” of the more vocal proponents of social justice, which seems to never account for the natural feelings of those impacted by such crimes, is so offputting.


UPDATE
What I've written above is especially apt in discussing the overjubilant celebrations we've seen among college-age students. I ask the harshest critics to put themselves in their shoes for a moment. Cut 'em some slack. They have grown up with bin Laden being the greatest menace the world faced (aside from George W. Bush). They've grown up with terror alerts, pat-down frisks in airports, and the horror of being children and watching the ultimate in man's inhumanity to man as those buildings came crashing down, turning living, breathing humanity into mere dust particles.

Think back to how we felt when the menace of our childhood ended as the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, and imagine how these young people feel. It's a catharsis for them to be able to experience SOME emotion over this monster other than the fear, grief, anger, and disappointment they've experienced for the last 10 years.

I Don't See Myself Blogging on This Topic Across Five Aprils

I suppose I shouldn't let April pass without making at least one comment on the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States. This will probably be it, though. The great conflagration that took over 600,000 lives just isn't really my cup of tea when it comes to American history. I find the entire topic to be altogether depressing. I'll never forget leaving Gettysburg completely overtaken by melancholy - a feeling of depression that didn't leave me for days.

If you really want some excellent commentary on the War, generally with some great insights from a Catholic perspective, then I recommend you follow the posts on the subject by my friend Don McClarey at The American Catholic.

For my part, I will just leave it at my general philosophy about the conflict between North and South:

I am, by virtue of having spent most of my life in those states, both a Texan and a Virginian, although I am now exiled to the land of Grant and Sherman. Nevertheless, I would like to think that, had I lived back then, I would have opposed secession. But once the decision was made, my loyalty would have been to my home states.

Of course, slavery and secession were unjustifiable blights on America's history. But, in my view, so was Lincoln's decision to make war against the populations of those states once they decided they no longer wished to be associated with the Union. There is nothing sacrosanct about an America undivided, and such an exalted notion does not justify making war against the populations of the Southern states.

I do not deny (nor am I proud of) the fact that the Southern states seceded to preserve the systematic enslavement of their fellow man. But I DO deny that the average Confederate soldier (or even General Lee and General Jackson, for that matter) was fighting for the preservation of slavery - they were fighting because what they considered their "country" (i.e. the states of their birth) had been invaded.

Easter Rising - 95th Anniversary

Birth of the Irish Republic by Walter Paget, depicting the General Post Office in Dublin during the shelling by British troops

"Cristiada" Movie Trailer

(Hat tip: Creative Minority Report)

For more on this movie, go to the official website.

¡Viva Cristo Rey y la Virgen de Guadalupe!

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Vivan Los Cristeros!

Me Gusta Mucho!

In Honor of Those Who Served: "In Flanders Fields"

In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blowBetween the crosses row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

120th Birthday of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins

"It is my considered opinion that, in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Michael Collins, and it will be recorded at my expense."

~ Eamon de Valera
Tomorrow - 16 October - is the 120th anniversary of the birth of one of my heroes - Irish patriot and statesman Michael Collins:

"One day he'll be a great man. He'll do great work for Ireland." -Michael Collins, Sr.

"Yet even the most grotesque subversions of history cannot outdistance the true facts of the story, of a country boy who became the first urban guerrilla, laid the foundations of a state and then negotiated its independence, was chairman of its Provisional Government, then commander in chief of its armed forces when it was plunged into civil war—all this before dying at the hands of his fellow republicans at the age of thirty-one." -A.T.Q. Stewart


Michael Patrick Collins was born on October 16, 1890, near Clonakilty in West Cork, Ireland. As described by Tom Barry, a future friend and colleague of Collins', West Cork "is a poor land, where bogs and mountains predominate, but there are fertile stretches, such as those along the valley of the Bandon and in the vicinity of the towns of Clonakilty and Skibbereen. Those rich areas were in the hands of a small minority, and the large majority of the people had a hard struggle for existence." Michael's father was 36 years older than his mother and this caused Michael to develop a sense of respect for his elders. Moreover, Collins was the baby in a family of eight children. The farm owned by the Collins family boasted ninety acres, an impressive share of land for Catholic farmers of the time.

"…Mary Anne was far advanced in her eighth and last pregnancy, complicated by a bad fall in which she saved the baby she was carrying but broke her ankle. The fracture was inexpertly set, leaving her with a bad limp for the rest of her days, but she struggled on with her chores. One autumn evening she milked her cows as usual, then did a large baking and attended to other household duties before retiring to her bed where, early on the morning of Thursday, 16 October, she gave birth to her third son" (James MacKay, Michael Collins: A Life).

"The care of the smaller children, particularly Michael, devolved upon the older girls. It is the inevitable, and often deeply resented, way with large families; yet from the first they lavished affection upon him. ‘We thought he had been invented for our special edification,’ is Miss Hannie Collins’s comment" (Margery Forester, Michael Collins: The Lost Leader).

Michael Collins as a young boy
When Michael was very young, his father passed away. But shortly before he died, he made a prediction that his son would go on to do great things for Ireland. Though Michael and his father did not have much time together, it is apparent that his words and his own intelligence had a favorable impact on the young boy. The senior Michael Collins had been fluent in several languages including Gaelic and had serious interests in a variety of subjects such as astronomy, construction, architecture, and math. The additional paternal influences in Collins’s life included one of his favorite teachers, Denis Lyons, and a local blacksmith, James Santry. Michael paid close attention to the stories they told and would think of the experiences they’d had whenever he needed a boost to stay motivated. Scholastically, Michael was a voracious reader and a lover of history. He studied the failed rebellions of the past and frequently read the works of authors like Thomas Davis, A.M. and T.D. Sullivan, Thomas Moore, and G.K. Chesterton.

"On the very day he himself was killed he reminisced about an incident when he was no more than five. His father was ill at the time, and for some reason it fell to the boy to pay the rent of £4 6s 8d. On his way to the land-agent’s office in Rosscarbery, Michael chanced to see, in a shop window, a football priced at a shilling. Oh, how he longed for that football, and he quickened his step in the hope that the agent would reward him for prompt payment by giving him a shilling discount, as was sometimes the case. But the man took the full amount, snapping nastily, ‘Tell your father he’s a fool to trust such a small lad with so much money.’ Right there and then, Michael vowed that there would be no land-agents in Ireland if he ever had his way. ... One thing appears to be lacking from Michael’s early boyhood; he seems not to have had any close friends of his own age. After his father died, he preferred his own company, often going for long solitary walks through the beautiful, wild countryside. … And, in turn, Griffith attracted the attention of the precocious schoolboy. In an essay written at the age of twelve, Michael extolled his new-found hero: ‘In Arthur Griffith there is a mighty force afoot in Ireland. He has none of the wildness of some I could name. Instead there is an abundance of wisdom and an awareness of things which ARE Ireland.’ This is all the more remarkable because, at that time, Griffith’s potential was recognised by very few politicians." (MacKay).

It was typical for children raised in County Cork to become postal workers and Collins followed this example by taking up residence in England. This process has been documented by noted Collins biographer, Tim Pat Coogan:

"There was at the time a tradition of recruiting for the British postal service in the Clonakilty area. When a baby boy was born, the neighbours' first comment on looking into the pram was 'musha 'tis the fine sorter he'll make.'"

Michael was no exception...

[Read more about the life of Michael Collins]

"Hang Up Your Brightest Colours: The Life and Death of Michael Collins"
This 1973 documentary, a biography of Michael Collins by Kenneth Griffith,
was banned that same year by both the British and Irish Governments.
The ban was not lifted until a quarter century after the film was produced.


Video showing actual footage of Michael Collins


This scene from "The Treaty", starring Brendan Gleeson as Michael Collins,
shows how the Big Fella was able to travel around Ireland in the open
and still evade capture by the British forces.


A scene from the movie "Michael Collins", starring Liam Neeson
in the lead role. (Brendan Gleeson, who played Collins in "The Treaty"
and who bears a closer resemblance to the Big Fella than does Neeson,
also appears in the movie as one of Collins' collaborators, Liam Tobin.)


Until very recently, no statue of Michael Collins existed
anywhere in the world. Tim and Dolores Crowley of the
Michael Collins Center and Traolach O’ Donnabhain of
Clonakilty Historical Society organized an effort to
rectify that. Sculptor Kevin Holland was commissioned
to make a seven foot bronze statue of Collins and it was
placed at the edge of Emmet Square in Clonakilty.
22 August 2002, the 80th anniversary of the Big Fella’s death,
was the date for the unveiling, and Liam Neeson travelled from
the U.S. to unveil the statue.


"Michael Collins" by The Wolfe Tones


"Michael Collins" by Johnny McEvoy


"The Ballad of Michael Collins" by Brendan O'Reilly


Video footage of "Michael Collins - A Musical Drama",
a fairly new musical on the life of Michael Collins
produced by the Cork Opera House


Promotional video for "Michael Collins - A Musical Drama"


‘‘He was the man whose matchless energy, whose indomitable will, carried Ireland through the terrible crisis; and though I have not now, and never had, an ambition about either political affairs or history, if my name is to go down in history I want it to be associated with the name of Michael Collins.’’

~ Arthur Griffith

For more on Michael Collins, see

General Michael Collins (website of the Collins 22 Society, of which I am a member)

Michael Collins - The Lost Leader

The Michael Collins Centre

The Michael Collins Web Page

An excellent and very comprehensive Michael Collins Site

A Man Against An Empire - History Net

Michael Collins Irish Leader - Economic Expert

Michael Collins - Military History Online

Michael Collins - University College Cork

The "Michael Collins" Official Movie Site

MICHAEL COLLINS - A Musical Drama

Michael Collins Irish Whiskey

Recommended Reading:

The Path to Freedom by Michael Collins

Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland by Tim Pat Coogan

Michael Collins: A Life by James MacKay

The Big Fellow: Michael Collins & the Irish Revolution by Frank O'Connor

Michael Collins : The Lost Leader by Margery Forester

Illustrated Life of Michael Collins by Colm Connolly

Michael Collins - A Life in Pictures by Chrissy Osborne

Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 by Ulick O'Connor

Michael Collins's Intelligence War: The Struggle Between the British and the IRA 1919-1921 by Michael T. Foy

The Squad: and the intelligence operations of Michael Collins by T. Ryle Dwyer

Michael Collins and the Making of the Irish State by Gabriel Doherty (Author), Dermot Keogh (Editor)

"Michael Collins' Ireland: Following In The Footsteps Of The Big Fellow From Dublin To County Cork", Chicago Tribune, March 7, 1999

Recommended Viewing:

"Michael Collins"
(1996 Neil Jordan film starring Liam Neeson in the title role - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

"The Treaty"
(1991 RTE/BBC production starring Brendan Gleeson as Michael Collins, in a much better portrayal of The Big Fella than that of Neeson - difficult to find, but a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Shadow of Béalnabláth"
(1991 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Colm Connolly - used VHS copies available on Amazon.com)

"Hang Up Your Brightest Colours"
(1973 documentary on the life and death of Collins by Kenneth Griffith; banned for many years in both England and Ireland - a DVD copy can be purchased here)

"The Wind That Shakes the Barley"
(2006 Ken Loach film is a fictionalized drama focusing on the War of Independence and the ensuing Irish Civil War in Collins' native Cork - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Shake Hands with the Devil
(1959 film is a fictionalized drama starring James Cagney, Michael Redgrave, and Don Murray as members of the IRA battling the "Black and Tans" in 1921 during the War of Independence - can be purchased via Amazon.com)

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
"The Spirit of Michael Collins"

In Memory of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins (d. 22 August 1922)

85th Anniversary of the Death of "The Big Fella", Michael Collins