MAY 31 — 1988 Reagan/Gorbechev summit ends; 1862 Battle of 7 Pines; 1868 Memorial Day/Decoration Day; 1819 Happy Birthday Walt Whitman
MAY 31
1988-Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Moscow ends.
…Good ol’ Rawhide Ronald Reagan traveled to Moscow in May 1988. General Secretary Gorbachev was hoping to use the Summit as an opportunity for Reagan and Gorbachev to agree to the START Treaty, but soon after Reagan arrived it became very clear that Reagan was not interested in further arms control agreements. Reagan spent most of the summit, instead, talking about human rights.
The Summit is probably best remembered for Reagan’s statement to reporters, outside the Kremlin, declaring that he no longer thought of the Soviet Union as an Evil Empire. The May 1988 summit meeting was a victory of style over substance.
Both Reagan and Gorbachev kept up positive fronts in their public statements, but in fact, the meeting had been a great disappointment for both sides. No further progress on arms limitation was made, and Reagan’s efforts to push the human rights issue met a frosty response from Gorbachev.
The summit indicated that despite the progress made in improving U.S.-Soviet relations in the past years, serious differences still existed. Nothing the Great Communicator couldn’t take care of, however. In Civil War news…
1862 – The Battle of Seven Pines begins.
…George McClellan and the Army of the Ppotomcac v Joseph E. Johnston and GW Smith and the Army of Northern Virginia. The result: inconclusive.
Yesterday I mentioned how General Joseph Johnston tried to overtake a couple Federal corps he believed to be left wide open just south of the Chick hominy River. Even though the attack was, shall we say, not very well planned out, it did manage to push the Union army back. So now, here came the reinforcements, and as usual during the civil War, there was serious blood loss on both sides.
Finally Maj. D.H. Hill’s men were able to outflank the IV Corps and forced them to retreat to Williamsburg Road. Johnston successfully moved three brigades against the IV line being held near Fair Oaks Station. Reinforcements came in to help out the II Corps on the Union side, and held the line. But in the evening, Gen. Johnston was hit by a bullet in the right shoulder and was hit by shrapnel that went into his chest. General Robert E. Lee took over for Johnston, and the fighting continued, ending in a draw.
1868 – The bloody deaths of the Civil War
…eventually led to May 31 as being Decoration Day, to commemorate the Union and confederate soldiers who died. In Gettysburg, there’s a four-day Blue Gray reunion featuring parades, reenactments, and speeches from a host of dignitaries. Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notable in the mountain areas.
People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with relatives and others. There often is a religious service and a picnic-like dinner on the ground, the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the Memorial Day idea.
Class, for extra credit you can visit Arlington Cemetery and lay down some flowers.
1819 – Happy birthday Walk Whitman! He was an American poet, essayist and journalist. As a humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works.
Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.