Maine at War: July 2020
Here’s what our friend Brian Swartz was up to in July at his blog, Maine at War:
July 1, 2020: Sitting governor runs afoul Republican opponents, part 1
Refusing to kowtow to political shenanigans in his own party, Maine Republican Governor Abner Coburn runs afoul powerful politicians as he seeks re-election in 1863.
July 8, 2020: Disaffected Maine Republicans check their own governor, part 2
During their state convention held ironically on July 1, 1863, Maine Republicans toss their own governor, Abner Coburn, overboard and nominate a former War Democrat for the position instead.
July 15, 2020: Will the Confederate monuments at Gettysburg bite the dust?
As talk circulates on Capitol Hill about renaming military bases and removing Confederate monuments from national parks, Civil War buffs wonder how long the Southern monuments at Gettysburg will stand. Despite National Park Service assurances to the contrary, monument removal remains possible.
July 22, 2020: Teenager wants to scalp the Confederate that was a Yankee
Offended by the Confederate statue outside the Jessamine County courthouse, a Kentucky teenager petitions to have the statue removed and destroyed. Ironically, the statue was cast as a Union soldier, but wound up as a Confederate!
July 29, 2020: When blue lives mattered
Sometimes the past overlaps the present, particularly in Madison, Maine, where residents remembered that “blue lives matter” when dedicating the town’s Civil War monument in 1907.