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New York Strip Steaks!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

The Potter's Hand

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel."
—Jeremiah 18:1-3 (NKJV)

The Holy Scriptures affirm the sovereignty of God (Job 42:2; Ps. 33:10-11; Ps. 115:3; Is. 14:27; Is. 43:13; Is. 46:10; Dan. 4:35; Eph. 1:11). Besides, can the clay make and sculpt itself? Moreover, can the clay make itself in the image of the Creator whom he has not seen? The answer to both of those questions is obviously No. "Does not the potter have power over the clay?" (Rom. 9:21).

The Rebellious Little Pot

"Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands?'"
—Isaiah 45:9 (NKJV)

Let us hypothesize that the created thing that is being formed falls into a spirit of rebellion with his Creator. Granted, in the backdrop of this situation, the created thing has long affirmed and recognized the sovereignty of the Creator. In order for the Creator to make manifest the unequivocal dependence of the creature upon his maker, the Creator that is forming the pot momentarily lifts His hand from that which He is sculpting. It is at that moment that the little pot becomes troubled. Gradually, the little pot flings vehemently, if not violently, around the potter's wheel. And without the comfort and security of the sculpting hand of his Creator, the finite little pot senses its fate without the potter's hand, and finally screams "Help!" Just as the little pot is totally whipped out of shape, and on verge of complete deformity and it is about to be violently torn apart and flung off the potter's wheel — then the potter mercifully takes his hand upon it.

"The potter saves it, breaks it and forms it anew. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make."
—Jeremiah 18:4 (NKJV)

The pot then realizes its unequivocal and total dependence upon the Creator for sustaining and saving grace, and for the very perserverance so integral to its survival, its development, and its fulfillment of purpose.

God has an over-arching purpose for all believers: to conform us to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He also has a specific purpose for each of us that is His unique, tailor-made plan for our individual life (see Ephesians 2:10). And God will fulfill that purpose.
—Bridges, Jerry. Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1988. p. 46)

“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! (Jer. 18:6). Least we forget, grace is something given to someone not deserved. Let us never forget that! How totally dependent we are on the potter?

Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the thing made say of him who made it,
“ He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“ He has no understanding”?
—Isaiah 29:15-17 (NKJV)

God is working all things out for His purposes, in accordance with His perfect will. My hope, prayer and continual supplication is that God would mold and make me into an admirable man of God, and that He would give me the grace to endure further adversities and trials.

This aforesaid parable has been applicable to my life.

Surprised by Suffering
God has formed an inseperable link between suffering and our spiritual growth. The Apostle Paul says that "[W]e also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance..." (Rom. 5:3). The Greek Koine word translated tribulation here is actually (θλῖψις or thlip'-sis) which means "to press" as in often used to describe the act of crushing olives or grapes. In the allegorical context the Apostle Paul utilizes, he hints at the heavy pressures, anguish and troubles that afflict the life of the believer.

For those of faith, God prepares us like no one can prepare us. Without God's enabling we can do no good works — none whatsoever. In his tract Behind A Frowning Providence, John J. Murray reminds us:

Our lives resemble the workshop. We are in the place of preparation. My life has the chisel of God upon it. Our English word 'character' comes from a Greek word which means an engraving tool, a die for stamping an image. The trials of life can be God's toold for engraving the image of his Son on our character.
—Murray, John J. Behind A Frowning Providence (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1990. p. 28)

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

Solace in the Psalms
In my affliction, I found solace in the Psalms of David, and became circumspect about the lives of various Old Testament characters such as David, Jonathan, and Job. Consider the eruptions of sin in the lives of so many of God's saints in both the Old and New Testaments:

Abraham with his deceitfulness; David with his deceit and adultery; Job with his rash and hasty words; Moses with his hasty and intemperate anger; Asaph with his murmuring; Jonah with his rebellion; Simon Peter with his unfaithfulness; and Paul with his pride.

As John Calvin writes of David in Psalm 41:

David, while he was severely afflicted by the hand of God, perceived that he was unjustly blamed by men who regarded him as one who had already been condemned and devoted to eternal destruction. Under this trial he fortifies himself by the consolation of hope. At the same time, he complains partly of the cruelty, and partly of the treachery, of his enemies. And although he recognises the affliction with which he is visited as a just punishment of his sins, yet he charges his enemies with cruelty and malice, inasmuch as they troubled and afflicted one who had always endeavored to do them good. Finally, he records an expression of his gratitude and joy, because he had been preserved by the grace of God.

As the Psalmist declares of David:

"I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will."
—Acts 13:22 (cf. 1 Sam. 13:13-14)

David stumbled into sins that were unimaginable, and he fell time and time again, but his repentance was one of godly sorrow for his sins, which is why he was called a man after God's own heart. David acknowledged his transgressions: "I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned" (Ps. 51:3-4). God saw him favor, not because of who David was, or what he had done, but because of who God was, and the Lord's abundant grace and his mercy. The Apostle Paul admonishes us, "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Cor. 7:10).

Notices Regarding Images
Copyright (c) 2006 Puritanhead.com. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

I believe that I will be relocating soon, and begin making preparations in late summer or early fall. Principally, the move is for professional reasons, as my local economy is dead with double-digit unemployment and it is a veritable land of no opportunity. No one will convince me otherwise, or that there is hope for a turn-around. Ironically, the few posted salaried jobs in the newspaper are always public sector jobs, and that is always a bad economic indicator.

I am thinking about the deep south now on the Gulf Coast, principally Alabama or western Florida. I haven't ruled the Carolinas out.

Click the map graphic for an enlarged image.

The first battle of Manassas (or first battle of Bull of Run as northerners dub it) was the first major engagement of the War Between the States. Confederate troops had already arrived from as faraway as the Carolinas, Georgia, and even Texas. This multistate army was there to aid their Virginia brethren in the Commonwealth with the intent of holding northern Virginia and taking the fight to the invading enemy. The general staff of Virginians had begun to augment their troops, and dispatched new conscripts to northern Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the Union army under Gen. Irvin McDowell began to move on the undermanned Confederate position held by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Virginia. Beauregard himself was already waiting for belated reinforcements. Gen. Jackson had led the 1st Virginia on a forced march from Winchester, Virginia. As Dabney notes, Jackson's command "reached the Junction at dusk on Friday evening, and were marched, hungry, weary, and study, to the pince-coppices near Mitchell's Ford, where they spent Staurday in refreshing themselves for the coming conflict" (Dabney, p. 213).



The Confederate Order of Battle
In his book based on his memoirs, Confederate General James Longstreet wrote:

General Johnston came in from the Shenandoah Valley on the 20th with the brigades of Bee, Bartow, and Jackson. The brigades were assigned by Beauregard, the former two in reserve near the right of Blackburn's Ford, the latter near its left.

Beauregard's order for battle, approved by General Johnston, was issued at five A.M. on the 21 st,—the brigades at Union Mills Ford to cross and march by the road leading towards Centreville, and in rear of the Federal reserve at that point; the brigades at McLean's Ford to follow the move of those on their right, and march on a converging road towards Centreville; those at and near Blackburn's to march in co-operative action with the brigades on the right; the reserve brigades and troops at Mitchell's Ford to be used as emergency called, but in the absence of special orders to seek the most active point of battle.

This order was only preliminary, coupled with the condition that the troops were to be held ready to move, but to wait for the special order for action. The brigade at Blackburn's Ford had been reinforced by the Fifth North Carolina and Twenty-fourth Virginia Regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel Jones and Colonel Kemper. I crossed the Run under the five o'clock order, adjusted the regiments to position for favorable action, and gave instructions for their movements on the opening of the battle.
—Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America (Old Saybrook, CT: Konnecky & Konnecky) p. 218

Now, one should note this order was preliminary. The brigade at Blackburn's Ford had been reinforced.

The Confederates were poised for battle that weekend, though Beauregard was planning on making an advance on Centreville. Stonewall Jackson's illustrious Chaplain Robert Louis Dabney described the morning of the battle, which was on the Sabbath day, July 21, 1861:

The morning of July 21st dawned with all the beauty and softness befitting a summer Sabbath-day, and the birds greeted the rising sun with as joyous a matin hymn as though the lovely quiet had been destined for nought but the worship of the Prince of peace. But the invaders had consecreted it, with an impiety to their malice... The sun had not begun to exhale the dew, when along the Warrenton turnpike, every pleasing sound was hushed into terror by the rumbling wheels of a great park of artillery, and the hoarse oath of the officers hurrying it towards the extreme left of the Confederates. Columns of dust, rising into the quiet air in several directions, disclosed the movements of heavy masses of infantry.
—Dabney, Robert Louis. Life and Campaigns of Stonewall Jackson (Harrisonburg, PA: Sprinkle Publications, 1983) p. 214

The Confederates, under the auspices of Colonels Terry and Lubbock, Texans, on the brigade staff, signaled a reconaissance probe which revealed the march of Union columns toward the Conferate Left. Their report quickly reached hearquarters. "Colonel Evans, with a weak brigade of 1100 men, held the Confederate left, and watched the Stone Bridge" (Dabney, p. 215). Thereafter, McDowell's men moved toward the Stone Bridge with Tyler's division. Plumes of dust rising in the air revealed the Union march coming from the woods. McDowell's vast column crossed at Sudley's Ford around nine o'clock, engaging Nathan Evans men shortly before ten o'clock. Thereafter skirmishers began engaging one another. McDowell's troops, chiefly Hunter's division sparred with Colonel Nathan Evan's men. All that stood in the path of 6,000 Union troops on the road from Sudley Springs was Evan's reduced brigade of 1,000 men. As Longstreet notes, "Evan's infantry and artillery met the advance, and after a severe fight drove it back to the line of the woodland, when Burnside, reinforced by his other three regiments, with them advanced eight guns. The attack was much more formidable, and pressed an hour or more before our forces retired to the woodland" (Longstreet, p. 46). Beauregard's order of battle didn't seem like it was going according to plan and he quickly reconsidered his planned advance on Centreville. He improvised, and reinforcement from two other brigades under Barnard Bee and Francis S. Bartow were quickly called up. Jackson's Virginia Brigade arrived from the rear in the reserves.

[Jackson] hastened towards it, sending forward a messenger to General Bee, who had already reenforced Evans, to encourage him with the tidings, that he was coming to his support with all his force. It was indeed, in good time. For two hours, these two officers, with five regiments and six guns, had brested the [Union] advance, often nearly surrounded, but stubbornly fighting as they retired, inflicting and receiving heavy losses, until their commands were disheartened and almost broken. As Jackson advanced to their assistance, he met the fragments of Bee's regiment sullenly retiring, while the heavy lines of the [Union] were surging forward like mighty warves. [Jackson] proposed to that general to form a new line of battle, assuming the center for himself, while Bee ralied his men in the rear, and then resumed his place upon his right. The ground which Jackson selected for standing at bay, was the crest of an elevated ridge running at right angles to Bull Run, between Young's Branch and another rivulet to the eastward, which flowed by parallel course into the former stream. The northern end of this ridge overlooked the Stone Bridge... its top and western slopes were cleared of timber, and swept down in open fields to a valley, which divided Jackson at the moment from the advancing enemy; but the reverse side of the hill, towards the Confederate rear, was clothed with a tangled thicket of pines, impentrable save by two pathways, to artillery or calvary.
—Dabney, Robert Louis. Life and Campaigns of Stonewall Jackson (Harrisonburg, PA: Sprinkle Publications, 1983) p. 218

Gradually, the thin gray line of Barstow and Bee collapsed and the Confederate divisions fled in disorder toward Henry Hill. They fled in full run from their position on Matthews Hill, and the shattered rabble of brigades fled to the rear to rally around the officers. There was Thomas J. Jackson's 1st Virginia brigade. "The Enemy are beating us back," Bee is reported to have told Jackson, who replied, "Then Sir, we shall give them the bayonet!" Inspired by the cool-headed Jackson, Bee returned to his men and shouted, "There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians! " The immortal "Stonewall" Jackson had been born. Bee was mortally wounded shortly thereafter, as was Barstow. The Union tide reached a crescendo as the momentum was in their favor. They pressed onward, up the face of Henry House Hill. As soon as the Union troops crested the hill, they were face to face with the muskets of Jackson's men and they took a full volley with devasting effect. Jackson had instructed his first line of men to lay down in the prone positions ready to fire, and the second line was ordered to knell. This kept his casualties down at the onset of the engagement. The Union troops were hit hard and began to flee, and the Confederates pressed their advantage and preapred an advance. Generals Johnston and Beauregard then arrived on Henry Hill where they rallied the shattered brigades of Evans, Bee and Bartow. With fresh reserves entering the battle, the tide would eventually turn in the Confederates favor by mid-to-late afternoon.



Calvary Commander Jeb Stuart's Gambit Turned the Tide
Jeb Stuart was characteristically anxious for battle, and sat in the rear with a dim of the valley as the infantry skirmishers were in pitched. As biographer Burke Davis notes, "Stuart rode restlessly. At each infantry movement he sent courier to commander, advising him that the 1st Calvary was ready to act on flanks, or wherever needed. He got no encouragement until late afternoon" (Burke, p. 62). Eventually, Jackson called for Stuart, and with much anticipation Stuart led the charge. Upon arriving, he could barely make out the uniforms, and saw Red Zouave dress. Stuart's
Black Horse Cavalry were poised for battle and ready to strike hard. As he sought to verify that they were indeed Union troops,

...a breeze fanned out the flag of the strange regiment—the Stars and Stripes. Stuart ordered a charge... The New York Zouaves fired a volley and riderless horses rode off. Then the weight of Stuart's column struck and with clubbed carbines and savers cut the red line to bits. There was a second charge as the Zouaves moved rearward, and the scarlet uniforms scattered rapidly over the field...

Only five hundred riders begun a panic; Stuart had lost nine men and eighteen horses. The troopers had broken to the rear after their charges, but Blackford reformed them in a woods and led them back... Stuart began working with a pair of [artillery] guns borrowed from the infantry. He masked them in pine thickets and opened fire. [Union] soldiers fell in windrows; the enemy retreat became faster and more widespread.
—Davis, Burke. Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier (New York, NY: Wing Books, 1957), p. 64.

At the moment of Stuart's trepid daring, Heintzelman ordered up a Minnesota regiment to support the batteries, but they were hit hard by Confederate guns and recoiled along with the Zouaves.

The Aftermath
In the aftermath, the Union soldiers fled, and they outraced the Congressional delegations to get back to the safety Washington. A shelled carriage impeded the march back, as did the throng of civilians who came as observers. The war-worn rabble was fearful of a pursuing army, and Jeb Stuart's calvary gave pursuit for twelve miles but eventually turned around as dusk settled in. By July 22, most of the shattered Union army reached the safety of Washington. Afterwards, the "romance" of war with the idea of the genteel ladies of D.C. picnicing on the hilltops to watch the 'splendid little affair' was gone forever. It became clear to all, and particularly the Lincoln administration that this war was going to be long drawn-out affair. The war was not going to be an uneventful week-long parade of troops to Richmond, punctuated by some minor skirmishes, as many boasted. Initially, a morbid feeling of angst came over the city of Washington, and was felt throughout the north as word spread by newspaper and telegraph. Gradually, the tides of depression in the north cleared, and a resurgence of Unionist sentiment particularly in New England took hold. Volunteers flocked to the Union standard by the thousands.

After the debacle, McDowell was quickly replaced. Union General George McClellan was appointed directly by Lincoln to sit in McDowell's stead. In fact, McClellan assumed the role as general-in-chief of all the Union armies.

Incidentally, the hill held by the Confederates was named after Henry House. It was a two storey, mostly wooden structure, owned by appropriately Mrs. Henry who was regretably mortally wounded by Union shells during the battle.

Casualties

Confederate 2,896 (460 killed, 1,124 wounded, 1,312 captured/missing)

Union 1,982 (387 killed, 1,582 wounded, 13 missing)

Bibliography/Reference:
—Dabney, Robert Louis. Life and Campaigns of Stonewall Jackson (Harrisonburg, PA: Sprinkle Publications, 1983)
—Davis, Burke. Jeb Stuart: The Last Cavalier (New York, NY: Wing Books, 1957)
—Longstreet, James. From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of the Civil War in America (Old Saybrook, CT: Konnecky & Konnecky)

Related Web Sites:
First Bull Run - Answers.com
First Manassas - CWSAC Battlefield Summaries
First Manassas - Confederate Military History
Manassas Battlefield - The Civil War Preservation Trust

δικαιωθεντες ουν εκ πιστεως ειρηνην εχομεν προς τον θεον δια του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

Update:
This article has been relocated exclusively to the new political e-zine,
InternetPundit.com - A New Voice for the Old Right
—Ryan Setliff, 07/24/06

Exposing an Imposter! Bush is a Sham Conservative!

by Ryan Setliff


Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy by Bruce Bartlett. Hardcover: 320 pages. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 2006) Amazon Price: $16.38.

An Imposter, a Pretend Conservative!!
Bush came into office riding on a tide of popular backlash directed at the scandal-plagued Clinton administration. Bush even went so far as to present himself as the consummate Reaganite. Nonetheless, G.W. Bush’s last few years of leadership from foreign policy to domestic issues have been uninspiring and characterized by a profound increase of government spending, record budget deficits, an exploding national debt, a reckless interventionist foreign policy, and a post-9/11 barb-wiretapped police state that completely eviscerates the Bill of Rights.

The ill-conceived 2005 Bush nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court marked the dramatic opening of a fissure within Republican ranks over the sitting President. Miers had no judicial bench experience but was rather a lottery commissioner with questionable business dealings, and she was a financial contributor to the Democratic Party. In fact, many professed Republican stalwarts began to question Bush’s leadership once and for all after this lamentable move.

Click here for the rest of the article on InternetPundit.com

John Trumbull's famous painting below is often misidentified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, this painting actually depicts the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Second Continental Congress. Fortunately, the lithograph copy I have in my study doesn't misidentify this as the "Signing of the Declaration" as so many renderings do.


The Declaration of Independence
Two-hundred and thirty years ago, the Second Continental Congress of the United States adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain, though a formal Declaration of Independence is not adopted until July 4. Bear in mind, fighting had already broke out in 1775 at Lexington and Concord. Locales such as Mecklenburg, North Carolina had already declared their independence, as manifest in the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775.

On July 4, 1776, the United States, with the assent and ratification of each and every one of her sovereign states, formally inaugurated the highest act of interposition against the usurpations of King George, and effectively and formally declaring their act of secession thereby severing all ties and allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain.

Ironically, it was the acknowledged father of conservatism Edmund Burke, a Parliamentarian, in the United Kingdom, who offered the one of the forthright defense of the colonials in his "Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies."

July 2? America's Real Independence Day?
Though, many are not aware of the background leading up to the formal resolution. On July 2, the Congress adopted Richard Henry Lee's Resolution, which read:

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

That resolution was subsequently adopted, and Lee's Resolution become the core of the Declaration. Thus, Thomas Jefferson was not the only contributor, but an unsung American hero Richard Henry Lee made his contribution as well. That Lee family counted General Robert E. Lee among its posterity.

John Adams wrote his wife Abigail on July 3:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

The text of the Declaration formal resolution

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.—We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.—He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.—He has his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.—He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.—He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository or their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.—He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.—He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.—He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.—He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.—He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.—He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.—He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our legislatures.—He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.—He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:—For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:—For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:—For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:—For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:—For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:—For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:—For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:—For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:—For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.—He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.—He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.—He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.—He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.—He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, es and conditions. In every state of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.—

WE, THEREFORE, the REPRESENTATIVES of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally disolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.—And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The Bennington Flag - 1776

Related Reading:
1776 by David McCullough
The Constitutional History of Secession by John Remington Graham

On July 1, 1862, General Robert E. Lee launched a disjointed series of assaults in several waves on the well-entrenched Union position taken up at Malvern Hill. Lee had been aggressive throughout the Seven Days campaign, though Lee's daring and boldness often produced high Confederate casualties as a result. With Union forces on the run, Lee made a miscalculated and dangerous gambit to press his advantage in leading a charge up Malvern Hill. Rather than flank McClellan, Lee took him head on. D.H. Hill lead the assault at the Union center. Jackson stood on Lee's left flank. In the ensuing malaise of that bloody battle, the Confederates suffered more than 5,300 casualties without gaining any ground. Even with Union victory at hand, Union General George McClellan continued to withdraw back to the James River. Union forces later entrenched at Harrison's Landing on James River. There, McClellan's army was protected by a flotilla of Union gunboats. This battle climatically ended the Peninsula Campaign.

Related Web Sites:
The Battle of Malvern Hill - Answers.com
Glendale / Malvern Hill Battlefields - The Civil War Preservation Trust
Malvern Hill - CWSAC Battlefield Summaries
Malvern Hill - The Last of the Seven Days - MilitaryHistoryOnline.com
Malvern Hill : Civil War Podcast - CivilWarTraveler.com