Beard-O-Rama Bonus: St. Patrick’s Day Eve
Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, and it brought to mind my favorite photo of one of my favorite generals, Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson, killed at Spotsylvania Court House on May 10, 1864. Stevenson, a division commander in the Federal IX Corps, was a protege of his commander, Ambrose Burnside (although I doubt that’s why Stevenson has Burnside-like sideburns).
This photo always made me think of Stevenson as a pugilistic leprechaun. He could practically be on a box of Lucky Charms, for crying out loud.
So, in honor of Gen. Stevenson and his fine leprechaun beard, I wish you an early Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Pugilist Leprechaun me aching feet! He’s the spittin’ image of Paddy O’Rourke!
Chris, appreciate the St. Patrick’s Day post. On the subject of the Beard-O-Rama, I will be very disappointed if James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson are not included in the competition. Those are two great beards.
Oh, no! I’ll be honest, neither of them are in the competition. Neither got nominated this year. But if all goes well with this year’s tournament, perhaps we’ll repeat it next year and incorporate some of the lessons we’re learning this year. For instance, we didn’t actually define “beard,” but our readers have had strong feelings about what makes a beard a beard!
(Longstreet’s postwar beard is particularly incredible.)