“Star Trek” actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">LeVar Burton</a> was shocked to discover that one of his ancestors was a white <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/confederacy">Confederate</a> soldier.
The 66-year-old TV star was told the surprising fact about his lineage during an episode of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pbs">PBS</a> series “Finding Your Roots.” The former &#8220;Reading Rainbow&#8221; star told show host Henry Louis Gates Jr. that he didn’t know much about his family tree as he was estranged from his father, Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, since he was 11. Burton also mentioned that his mother, Erma Gene Christian, wasn’t forthcoming about the family’s background, <a href="https://people.com/finding-your-roots-recap-levar-burton-journey-made-him-feel-closer-to-father-he-hadnt-seen-8430586">according</a> to People.
“You grow up with just blanks, right? No information, no clue and no real way to overcome that blind spot,&#8221; Burton said of his family history, per the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-01-17/levar-burton-descendant-confederate-soldier-white-america-finding-your-roots">Los Angeles Times</a>. &#8220;This information is stuff that we need in order to feel whole.&#8221;
Gates told Burton that the team used a combination of a genealogist and DNA experts to come up with their findings about the actor’s past.
The “Star Trek: The Next Generation” alum had no idea one of his ancestors was a white man. Gates <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/levar-burton-discovers-hes-descended-024715272.html">told</a> Burton that his great-grandmother on his mother&#8217;s side, Mary Sills, was not related to the man she listed as her father on a Social Security application in 1940.
Her biological father was, in fact, a man named James Henry Dixon, a white farmer who was married with several children. &#8220;So Granny was half-white,&#8221; Burton said in surprise, per <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/levar-burton-white-confederate-ancestor-finding-your-roots-rcna133422">Today</a>.
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What’s more, Dixon, who was living in North Carolina, joined the Confederate Army after he turned 17, serving in the junior reserves.
“Are you kidding me? Oh my God, oh my God. I did not see this coming,” Burton said upon hearing the news. While Gates said it was likely that Sills never went into battle, the fact remained that he was aligned with the pro-slavery side of the Civil War. He later had a child with a woman born into <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/slavery">slavery</a>.
“I often wonder about white men of the period and how they justify to themselves their relations with black women, especially those in an unbalanced power dynamic. There has to be a powerful disconnect created emotionally and mentally,” Burton replied.
&#8220;The two major commercial DNA tests almost never have tested an African American who was 100% sub-Saharan African,&#8221; Gates told Burton. &#8220;We all have white ancestors.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s some conflict roiling inside of me right now,&#8221; Burton continued, per Today. &#8220;But oddly enough, I feel a pathway opening up. &#8230;Knowing what I know about the history of this nation, I&#8217;ve wanted, especially in this current time frame, I believe that as Americans we need to have this conversation about who we are and how we got here.&#8221;

LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton Reacts To Discovery That His Ancestor Was A Confederate Soldier

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General Grant

America’s Top 11 Generals: #3 Ulysses S. Grant

America's Top 11 Generals: #3 Ulysses S. Grant

Abraham Lincoln

American General

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West Point

WAR AND CONFLICT BOOKERA:  CIVIL WAR/LEADERS

America’s Top 11 Generals: #4 William T. Sherman

America's Top 11 Generals: #4 William T. Sherman

William T. Sherman

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
This series is about military prowess and those who excelled on the battlefield. The inclusion of any Confederates in this list should not be misconstrued as in any way supporting the cause of the self-described Slave-Holding Confederacy itself for which such men fought. The preservation of the monstrous injustice of slavery in North America and the stated goal of the seceding states had to be destroyed. But this does not diminish the achievements of certain Southern generals on the field of battle, which is solely what this series seeks to examine.
<h2>Thomas J. &#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson, 1824 &#8211; 1863 (Civil War)</h2>
Once again, I risk incurring the wrath of all good Union men and women when I include a Confederate on my list. But how can I not? Like Lee, the West Pointer and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) artillery instructor Thomas Jackson initially opposed secession, but when his home state of Virginia seceded, he opted to serve the Confederacy. His reputation and nickname “Stonewall” was forged on the river of gore at First Bull Run. During the height of the fighting, when the rebel lines began to waver, Jackson’s men held firm. Rebel Gen. Bernard E. Bee exhorted his own men by calling out, “There stands Jackson, like a stone wall!” And thus the legendary sobriquet was born.
<div id="attachment_649355" style="width: 373px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649355" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-649355" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-363x576.jpg" alt="circa 1850: Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824 - 1863), better known as Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Original Artist: By Desmaisons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="363" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-363x576.jpg 363w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-189x300.jpg 189w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274.jpg 646w" sizes="(max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px" />circa 1850: Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824 &#8211; 1863), better known as Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Original Artist: By Desmaisons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</div>
Although his sterling conduct in the first battle of the war earned him praise from a grateful South, it was Jackson’s brilliant Shenandoah Valley Campaign in the spring of 1862 that demonstrated just how formidable a military man the Bible-thumping, lemon-eating, eccentric Stonewall could be. The valley was a lifeline for the South, a vital corridor of provisions as well as a natural Union invasion route. As such, he was tasked with keeping the area out of Northern control. Husbanding his strength, the stern disciplinarian marched his men up and down the valley at such a grueling pace over such vast distances they were called “Jackson’s Foot Cavalry.” 
To his enemies’ chagrin, his small army would suddenly appear miles away from where his baffled Union adversaries would expect and inflict one punishing defeat after another, only to disappear and pop up again somewhere else. His fetish for secrecy was such that he would keep his officers in the dark as to his plans until the last minute, and often camp his men at roadway intersections to confuse any Yankee spies as to his destination. Throughout the course of some 48 days of the Valley Campaign, Jackson’s contingent rarely numbered 15,000 men, marched over 700 miles, and engaged and defeated three separate Union armies numbering a combined 80,000 enemy troops coming at him from several directions. Bewildered Union commanders believed that Jackson had to have more men, that it couldn’t be the same army striking them here, then there, then over there at all hours of the day and night in over a dozen battles. 
<div id="attachment_649377" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649377" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-649377" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-864x576.jpg" alt="UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1862: The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. &quot;Stonewall&quot; Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />UNITED STATES &#8211; CIRCA 1862: The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. &#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson&#8217;s Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)</div>
His exploits made him arguably the most famous general in the world; the very name Jackson became synonymous with an extremely dangerous phantasm who could be in several places at once and who struck fear in the Union ranks, as well as Washington D.C. Northern mothers would even threaten naughty children with “Jackson will get you if you misbehave.”
Not only did Stonewall demonstrate he understood how to get the most from his men and inflict the most damage with bodies of troops small enough to stay nimble and unpredictable, his campaign had the very real impact of preventing tens of thousands of Union reinforcements from leaving the valley to aid the Union general McClellan currently marching ever closer to Richmond. In June 1862, the wily Jackson then slipped away with his victorious army to join the new rebel commander Robert E. Lee in helping to repel the Yankee invaders from the gates of the capital during the Seven Days battle. His valley army would become Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. The partnership he formed with his commanding officer and the reliable and steady First Corps commander Gen. James Longstreet (who himself just missed making the list) became one of the most storied, and successful, in military history.
<div id="attachment_649357" style="width: 805px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649357" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-649357 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-795x576.jpg" alt="UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1862: Bull Run battlefield with the disposition of Union and Confederate forces. Union Gen. Pope's command faced that of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, unaware that Longstreet's command had arrived to reinforce Jackson's position. On the second day of fighting, an assault by Pope's forces was repulsed by Jackson's troops, while Longstreet attacked Pope's unprotected left flank. Pope was defeated, but was able to retreat across Bull Run with the bulk of his force intact. Hand Drawn Map (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)" width="795" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-795x576.jpg 795w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-300x217.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-768x557.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px" />UNITED STATES &#8211; CIRCA 1862: Bull Run battlefield with the disposition of Union and Confederate forces. Union Gen. Pope&#8217;s command faced that of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, unaware that Longstreet&#8217;s command had arrived to reinforce Jackson&#8217;s position. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)</div>
Jackson’s star continued to rise when in August 1862 he embarked on yet another series of forced marches up through central and into northern Virginia which landed his troops squarely in the rear of another Union army under the command of the bombastic Gen. John Pope. Once again, his Union adversaries found themselves racing this way and that across the sweltering countryside trying to locate the elusive Stonewall and his 28,000-man contingent. After raiding the federal depot at Manassas junction, he fell back to the old Bull Run battlefield and repelled a series of attacks by Pope while waiting for Longstreet’s corps en route to join him. Once reunited, the full power of the Army of Northern Virginia would face the Yankees at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run. A Union rout ensued and for the second time since June, a defeated enemy streamed back to the safety of Washington D.C.
When in September 1862 Lee took the victorious if weary and malnourished Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland, Jackson did his part. Taking almost two-thirds of Lee’s army on a long three-pronged march, one leg of which covered a grueling sixty miles back through now West Virginia, his men surrounded and captured Harper’s Ferry. He bagged 11,000 Union prisoners and scores of artillery pieces and other supplies. Never one for appearance, when the dejected Union garrison at Harper’s Ferry got a glimpse of the grey ghost who captured them, one Yankee was heard to say: “Boys, he may not look like much, but if we had him we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Then he re-joined Lee and Longstreet in time to fight at the Battle of Antietam. His line held firm through a series of powerful Union attacks, showing his capacity for defensive warfare when needed. After the battle was over, while eating a peach and surveying the scene of carnage that was the bloodiest day in American history, the pious warrior declared “God has been good to us this day.” 
Stonewall’s fierce reputation hit its zenith at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. With the Army of Northern Virginia caught between a Union pincer movement, outnumbered and outflanked, and missing Longstreet with several divisions on a forage mission, Jackson proposed to Lee that he take his entire corps, almost 30,000 men, on an arduous 12-mile march through the thick Wilderness and around the Union Army to hit them in their exposed flank. This left Lee with just a small force to face the brunt of the Union Army numbering some 100,000 men. It was a very dangerous plan for if discovered the Yankees could destroy the army in pieces. But Lee, trusting his subordinate’s judgment, gave him the nod. 
<div id="attachment_649371" style="width: 704px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649371" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-649371" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-694x576.jpg" alt="Illustration by William Ludwell Sheppard, captioned 'Lee and Jackson in Council on the Night of May 1,' first published in the four-volume series Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887�1888). It depicts Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville working through plans for the next day's fighting. Chancellorsville, Virginia, USA. 1 May 1863. (photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images)." width="694" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-694x576.jpg 694w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-300x249.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-768x638.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 694px) 100vw, 694px" />Illustration by William Ludwell Sheppard, captioned &#8216;Lee and Jackson in Council on the Night of May 1,&#8217; first published in the four-volume series Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887 &#8211; 1888). It depicts Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. &#8216;Stonewall&#8217; Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville working through plans for the next day&#8217;s fighting. Chancellorsville, Virginia, USA. 1 May 1863. (photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images).</div>
Late in the afternoon Jackson’s Confederates poured out of the woods and smashed into the Yankees’ exposed right flank, sending the shocked and terrified Union XI Corps racing to the rear. It was an outstanding success. But as darkness fell, Jackson carelessly rode out between the lines with a small entourage to investigate a night attack. When he tried to recross back into his own lines, jittery rebel pickets, believing his group to be Union cavalry, opened fire, severely wounding him in the left arm that would soon be amputated. When hearing the news, Lee lamented, “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right.” Although he appeared to be recovering after the operation, Stonewall Jackson took a turn for the worse and died of pneumonia a few days later.
<div id="attachment_649373" style="width: 980px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649373" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-649373" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-970x576.jpeg" alt="The death of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Currier &amp; Ives., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons" width="970" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-970x576.jpeg 970w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-300x178.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-768x456.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson.jpeg 1387w" sizes="(max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px" />The death of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Currier &amp; Ives., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</div>
There is much speculation in Civil War round tables about what would have happened at Gettysburg two months later had Jackson and not the timid Richard Ewell still been in command of the Second Corps. Some argue Stonewall would not have hesitated to take the commanding hills south of the town on the first day of the fight, denying the Union Army a defensible position and forcing it to retreat. Who knows? But what we can say is this: few generals had such an uncanny feel for battlefields and tactical situations — without the aid of GPS, aerial reconnaissance, or even accurate maps — as did Stonewall Jackson. Unlike Lee, there are no bloody missteps in Jackson’s record, no Malvern Hill, Antietam, or Gettysburg. Which is why I place him higher than his commander. His reputation is well-deserved.
One final thought. His more quirky eccentricities aside, Jackson had a dark, if fascinating, cold-bloodedness to him that belied his Christian values, and could intimidate those who served with him, yet might also be a clue to why he so excelled in waging war. When in December of 1862 he and Gen. Lee surveyed the destruction to Fredericksburg that the marauding Union troops left in their wake upon abandoning the city, Lee asked his deputy commander how they could put an end to this terrible war. “Kill them,” Jackson said. “Kill them all.”
* * *
America’s Top 11 Generals
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-11-curtis-e-lemay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #11 Curtis E. LeMay</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-7-robert-e-lee">RELATED: #7 Robert E. Lee</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-6-admiral-chester-nimitz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #6 Admiral Chester Nimitz</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad’s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Stonewall_Jackson_in_the_National_Portrait_Gallery_IMG_4519

America’s Top 11 Generals: #5 Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson

America's Top 11 Generals: #5 Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson

Thomas Stonewall Jackson

Veterans Day

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
This series is about military prowess and those who excelled on the battlefield. The inclusion of any Confederates in this list should not be misconstrued as in any way supporting the cause of the self-described Slave-Holding Confederacy itself for which such men fought. The preservation of the monstrous injustice of slavery in North America and the stated goal of the seceding states had to be destroyed. But this does not diminish the achievements of certain Southern generals on the field of battle, which is solely what this series seeks to examine.
<h2>Robert E. Lee, 1807 &#8211; 1870 (Civil War)</h2>
An officer who served with Lee once said of him: “His name might be audacity. He will take more desperate chances and take them quicker than any other general in this country, North or South.” This was an apt description of the man the Northerners came to know as “The Gray Fox.” Yes, Lee was fighting against the U.S. and not for it. However, he was still very much the product of the American military tradition, and it would be remiss to not include him for brilliance as a battlefield commander, even if his choice of political causes was disastrous. The fact is, Lee, as the historian Shelby Foote noted: “Is a great general on both the offense and the defense.” And few commanders have managed to fight so long and effectively while being so out-manned, out-gunned, out-fed, and out-supplied as Lee.
<div id="attachment_648329" style="width: 364px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-648329" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-648329" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-114951008-354x576.jpg" alt="American Confederate Army general Robert E Lee (1807 - 1870), Richmond, Virginia, 16th April 1865. (Photo by Mathew Brady/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images)" width="354" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-114951008-354x576.jpg 354w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-114951008-185x300.jpg 185w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-114951008.jpg 630w" sizes="(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px" />American Confederate Army general Robert E Lee (1807 &#8211; 1870), Richmond, Virginia, 16th April 1865. (Photo by Mathew Brady/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images)</div>
At the outset of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was America’s most prominent soldier. Son of the Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse Harry” Lee, he was from one of the first families of Virginia. Having turned down Lincoln’s offer to command the Union Army, Lee would end up taking over the premiere Confederate Army being pressed back against the capital of Richmond in June 1862 after Gen. Joe Johnston was wounded. Within two months Lee counterattacked Union general George McClellan’s advancing Yankees at the brutal Battle of the Seven Days on the outskirts of the city and sent him sailing back to Washington D.C., saving the rebel capital.
Then, while one Union army was effectively off the chessboard in transit, Lee pivoted north to face another threat. In a masterful campaign, he marched his army up northern Virginia to intercept, out-maneuver, and defeat a second Union army under Gen. John Pope at 2nd Bull Run (August 1862). In the three months he’d been in command, Lee had rescued the Southern capital, defeated two different armies while inflicting some 30,000 Union casualties, and cleared the entire state of Virginia of enemy troops. It was a remarkable turn of fortune that put the North on notice that a clever and dangerous foe was now in command of the South’s principal army.
<div id="attachment_648331" style="width: 892px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-648331" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-648331" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99645445-882x576.jpg" alt="An illustration of Thomas Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Bull Run, during the US civil war, circa 1863. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)" width="882" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99645445-882x576.jpg 882w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99645445-300x196.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99645445-768x502.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99645445.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px" />An illustration of Thomas Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Bull Run, during the US civil war, circa 1863. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)</div>
Although his vaunted Army of Northern Virginia was exhausted, ill-fed, and clothed from a poor supply chain and constant marching and fighting, Lee nevertheless gambled on an invasion of Maryland. Believing a Confederate victory on Union soil would convince Great Britain and France to form an alliance, his hopes were dashed when McClellan and his 87,000-man Army Of The Potomac, back from the peninsula and now infused with the remnants of Pope’s army, stopped him along the banks of the Antietam Creek in September 1862. In the bloodiest single day in U.S. history, Lee showed tactical brilliance in the field by holding off repeated attacks by a determined Union army twice his size, fighting McClellan to a stalemate. Nevertheless, Lee retired back into Virginia to recoup his losses and await the North’s next move.
In December 1862 a new Union commander, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, attempted to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg and march on Richmond. Lee was waiting and delivered the most one-sided victory of his command, laying waste to 12,000 Union troops with little loss of his own.
Burnside, like Pope and McClellan before him, was relieved of command and a new, confident Gen. Joe Hooker was next up as head of the Army Of The Potomac. This time Hooker surprised the Confederates with a well-conceived pincer attack, crossing the Rappahannock at several points to fall on both Lee’s flanks at Fredericksburg on the Confederate right and the Wilderness, a dense woods, on the left. Hooker confidently predicted that in the face of this squeezing attack, Lee would be compelled to either retreat or be destroyed in a pitch battle against overwhelming odds. Instead, the unperturbed rebel commander responded to Hooker’s boldness in kind and out-flanked the flanker. At the Battle of Chancellorsville (considered a military masterpiece) Lee divided his inferior army and took an enormous chance by sending half of it under his indomitable corps commander Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to hit Hooker seven miles to the west on his exposed flank amidst the impenetrable Wilderness. The attack was a complete surprise and rolled up the Union Army’s shattered flank. Hooker, like the preceding generals who’d attempted to outfox the fox, retreated.
<div id="attachment_648337" style="width: 831px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-648337" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-648337" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-821x576.jpg" alt="1863: The Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)" width="821" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-821x576.jpg 821w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-768x539.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3427049-2048x1437.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 821px) 100vw, 821px" />1863: The Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)</div>
Though bloody (Lee suffered 25% casualties) his stunning victory at Chancellorsville prompted Lee to head north again. This time, however, he faced an Army Of The Potomac now being led by the competent and cool George Meade. In July 1863, during a three-day struggle around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lee was dealt his worst loss of the war, losing some 27,000 out of the 75,000 men he brought north. He retreated back into Virginia, never to go on “the aggressive” as he called it again.
<div id="attachment_648559" style="width: 782px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-648559" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-648559" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99858355-772x576.jpg" alt="Confederate prisoners at Seminary ridge during the battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania circa July,1863. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)" width="772" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99858355-772x576.jpg 772w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99858355-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99858355-768x573.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-99858355.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 772px) 100vw, 772px" />Confederate prisoners at Seminary ridge during the battle of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania circa July,1863. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)</div>
By the summer of 1864, with no hope of foreign intervention, and lacking the strength for any more offensive actions in the face of an overwhelming Union superiority in manpower and industry, Lee would grapple with U.S. Grant, his final and most formidable foe. The two gifted commanders fought a series of brutal engagements across the Virginia countryside from The Wilderness and Spotsylvania (May 1864) to Cold Harbor (June 1864) and finally settling in for a siege at Petersburg that would last nine months. Although weakened, Lee saw that his situation was not so hopeless as it appeared. He’d effectively halted Grant’s thrust towards Richmond and now the two armies were at loggerheads southeast of the capital at Petersburg. And Lee had managed to inflict over 50,000 casualties on his Northern enemy.
Understanding that wars are political as well as military, General Lee realized that with the 1864 elections approaching, the high casualties the war weary North was suffering at his hands might be enough to vote out Lincoln and prompt a more pro-South Democrat administration which might welcome the rebellious states back into the Union, or even let the South go its own way. But due to the actions of another Union commander further up our list, this political upheaval did not come to pass. When Lincoln handily won re-election in November 1864, the South was doomed. A tired but resplendently-uniformed Robert E. Lee surrendered what remained of the surrounded Army of Northern Virginia to the mud-splattered Grant in April 1865.
<div id="attachment_648339" style="width: 798px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-648339" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-648339" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907-788x576.jpg" alt="Vintage illustration at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia depicts Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendering his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War." width="788" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907-788x576.jpg 788w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907-768x561.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907-1536x1123.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-1249715907.jpg 2025w" sizes="(max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px" />Vintage illustration at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia depicts Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendering his 28,000 troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the American Civil War. Keith Lance. Getty Images.</div>
Lee went on to head Washington College (later renamed Washington And Lee) and died in 1870 of a chronic heart ailment.
Robert E. Lee has been called a “marble man” for his stoicism and almost impenetrable personality; following the Civil War, he was idolized in the South to the point of being a demigod. But, Lee was just a man, like any other, and as such showed flaws…some of which could be quite detrimental to his cause. Most damning was his tendency to be profligate with his men’s lives. Indeed, the historian James McPherson calculated that Lee suffered the highest casualties as a percent of those under his command than any other army commander of the war, North or South. Lee’s confidence in the almost superhuman capacity of his troops to overcome all odds prompted him to send them into suicidal charges against well-prepared Union positions at Malvern Hill (June 1862) and again at Gettysburg a year later. It was, in fact, a very dangerous business fighting for “Marse Robert”.
Still, his men adored him. One man in the ranks declared, “I would charge hell itself for that old man!” So commanding a martial figure did Lee cut that once when the Confederates were marching through a Pennsylvania town, a brave loyal Union woman was brazenly waving the American flag before them. Then Lee rode up to her and looked down from his white horse Traveller. She dropped the flag, clasped her hands together and said of Lee: “Oh how I wish he were ours!”
Although Lee fought for an unjust cause in the preservation of slavery — one that had to be destroyed — there is no doubt that his campaigns will be studied in military academies as long as such institutions exist.
* * *
America’s Top 11 Generals
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-11-curtis-e-lemay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #11 Curtis E. LeMay</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad’s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Vintage Civil War photo of Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

America’s Top 11 Generals: #7 Robert E. Lee

America's Top 11 Generals: #7 Robert E. Lee

American Civil War

Robert E. Lee

Virginia Memorial Featuring General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg

Why The Destruction Of Statues Is A Proxy In The Overall War On American History

American History

Charlottesville

Matt Walsh

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> reportedly deported more than 60 Haitian nationals back to the Caribbean island on Thursday, a day after the U.S. State Department warned American citizens to flee the country amid ongoing civil unrest and political turmoil.
The deportation flight marks the second to Haiti this month, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/latino/4180930-ice-sends-deportation-flight-to-haiti-after-warning-us-citizens-to-evacuate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>. Just before 8:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, a plane left Alexandria, Louisiana, and reportedly arrived in Port-au-Prince shortly after 11 a.m.
Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigrant advocacy group in the U.S., <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article278818774.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> called the move from the Biden administration a &#8220;travesty&#8221; to The Miami Herald, condemning its decision to evacuate U.S. nationals while deporting Haitian migrants simultaneously.
&#8220;This is a travesty for the United States to be sending any deportation flights to Haiti right now,&#8221; Jozef said. &#8220;It should be viewed as a human rights violation and a potential crime against humanity.&#8221;
Jozef reportedly heard from advocates that the flight and another U.S. government-chartered flight were en route on Thursday. The group&#8217;s co-founder urged Biden officials to turn the deportation flight transporting 66 people around, although the report remains unconfirmed.
&#8220;We can only assume [the second flight is] going to support the evacuation of people who are of U.S. interest,&#8221; Jozef said. &#8220;They are themselves sending people to what they believe is danger. I don&#8217;t care who is on the plane at this point, whether it&#8217;s people being deported from the border or elsewhere.&#8221;
The U.S. Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert on Wednesday for American citizens to depart the island.
&#8220;Given the current security situation and infrastructure challenges, U.S. citizens in Haiti should depart Haiti as soon as possible via commercial or private transport,&#8221; a news release <a href="https://ht.usembassy.gov/security-alert-commercial-flight-options-from-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
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The statement added that Americans there should &#8220;use extreme caution in traveling around the country&#8221; and &#8220;avoid demonstrations and large gatherings of people.&#8221;
&#8220;If you encounter a roadblock, turn around and get to a safe area,&#8221; the embassy said.
Haiti has been experiencing ongoing civil unrest and political turmoil after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, according to reports.
Violence has surged in the capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas after armed gangs seized <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/haiti-port-au-prince-parishioners-killed-gang-members-protest-rcna102001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">up to</a> 80% of control.
According to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/number-people-killed-injured-kidnapped-haiti-rose-14-102836418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News</a>, United Nations officials said on Thursday that 1,860 people were reported killed, injured, or kidnapped in Haiti from April to June. The jarring number reportedly marks a 14% increase compared with the first three months of 2023.
&#8220;The judicial system remained dysfunctional due to the persistence of longstanding challenges, notably corruption, political interference, and recurrent strikes by judicial actors,&#8221; the report stated.
A State Department spokesperson told the Miami Herald that the Department of Homeland Security has been monitoring the situation in Haiti.
&#8220;At this time, removals of Haitian nationals encountered at our southern border and repatriation of Haitian nationals encountered at sea continue,&#8221; the spokesperson said. &#8220;Since January, more than 63,000 Haitians have been vetted and approved for travel and more than 50,000 have arrived. We encourage anyone seeking to migrate to the U.S. to do so via legal, safe pathways. Those interdicted at sea are subject to immediate repatriation, and those encountered in the United States without a legal basis to remain are subject to removal.&#8221;

TOPSHOT-HAITI-CONFLICT-CRIME-UNREST

Biden Admin Deports Haitian Nationals After Warning Americans To Flee Caribbean Island: Reports

Biden Admin Deports Haitian Nationals After Warning Americans To Flee Haiti: Reports

Biden Administration

Executive

Haiti

Haitian immigrants

World

A man recently made the discovery of a lifetime when he unearthed a massive cache of rare Civil War-era coins — the majority of them gold — on his Kentucky farm earlier this year. 
The incredible find, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/11/man-discovers-700-civil-war-coins-worth-millions-buried-at-kentucky-farm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dubbed</a> the “Great Kentucky Hoard,” could be worth millions of dollars. The unidentified man who found the coins recorded himself as he sifted through the dirt, pointing out the different types of gold coins he had discovered. The location of the discovery has not been revealed. 
“This is the most insane thing ever,” the man said in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JDUdmp-L3Q&amp;t=19s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a>. “These are all $1 gold coins, $20 gold coins, $10 gold coins and, look, I’m still diggin’ them out.”
The rare coins date between 1840 and 1863 and include eighteen 1863-P $20 Gold Liberty coins, which is the rarest year for that specific coin, <a href="https://www.govmint.com/great-kentucky-hoard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to GovMint, a coin dealer. These reportedly often fetch six figures. 
Additionally, “hundreds” of American gold dollars from 1850 to 1862 were discovered, as reported by the Numismatic Guaranty Company, a coin grading service. Roughly 95% of the hoard is made up of gold dollars, and some silver coins were also discovered. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A man from Kentucky unearthed a Civil War-era fortune of over 700 gold coins in his cornfield.
Now that’s a good day on the farm. <a href="https://t.co/Ayvkvxh4rH">pic.twitter.com/Ayvkvxh4rH</a>
&mdash; Gold Telegraph ⚡ (@GoldTelegraph_) <a href="https://twitter.com/GoldTelegraph_/status/1678548367897493505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The importance of this discovery cannot be overstated, as the stunning number of over 700 gold dollars represents a virtual time capsule of Civil War-era coinage, including coins from the elusive Dahlonega Mint,” rare coin dealer Jeff Garrett <a href="https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11795/kentucky-hoard-civil-war-coins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of the hoard.
The story behind the hoard is also interesting, as it’s often reported that wealthy Kentuckians buried much of their wealth to prevent it from being stolen from bootleggers and outlaws, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12287423/Kentucky-man-digs-700-rare-coins-worth-MILLIONS-know-youre-sitting-fortune.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>. Georgia Southern University archeologist Ryan McNutt <a href="https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/kentucky-man-finds-over-700-civil-war-era-coins-buried-in-his-cornfield" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Live Science, &#8220;given the time period and the location in Kentucky, which was neutral at the time, it is entirely possible this was buried in advance of Confederate John Hunt Morgan&#8217;s June to July 1863 raid.&#8221; 
Just a month after the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in 1861, Kentucky Democratic Governor Beriah Magoffin officially <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/house-divided-civil-war-kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> the state neutral, making Kentucky one of four slave states <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-war-glass-negatives/articles-and-essays/time-line-of-the-civil-war/1861/#:~:text=Four%20Slave%20States%20Stay%20in,kept%20these%20states%20from%20seceding." target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to secede</a> from the Union, despite divided loyalties among the citizenry. Two years later, after numerous successful raids of the Bluegrass State, Morgan and his men set out from Sparta, Tennessee, and made their way into Kentucky. His attack would go into Indiana and end in Ohio, and it cost the Union hundreds of thousands of dollars in both military and civilian property damages, <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/morgans-great-raid-1863" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the American Battlefield Trust. 
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McNutt told Live Science that because the coins discovered in the hoard were federal currency, it would “be wise to conceal from a Confederate raiding party.&#8221; He also said during this time period, many Americans &#8220;became experienced with hiding goods and valuables.”
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Great Kentucky Hoard Unearthing!" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0JDUdmp-L3Q?start=19&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Gold Coins

Man Discovers ‘Great Kentucky Hoard’ Of 700 Civil War-Era Coins

Archaeology

Gold

Kentucky

Money

Russia&#8217;s notorious Federal Security Service (FSB), which was previously the KGB, issued an arrest warrant for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Russia’s feared Wagner paramilitary group, and urged his soldiers to stop him after he effectively declared on Friday that he was going overthrow Russia&#8217;s military.
The dramatic escalation of events comes after Prigozhin accused Russia&#8217;s Ministry of Defense of attacking and killing his troops that were in Ukraine fighting against Ukrainian forces.
&#8220;Prigozhin&#8217;s statements and actions are in fact calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on the territory of the Russian Federation and are a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces,&#8221; the FSB said in a statement. &#8220;We call on PMC fighters not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forceful actions against the Russian people, not to carry out Prigozhin&#8217;s criminal and treacherous orders, and to take measures to detain him.&#8221;
Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev urged Wagner forces to prevent an all out &#8220;real civil war&#8221; from erupting in the country and to &#8220;come back to your senses.&#8221;
Prigozhin said in a video statement on Friday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had lied to Russian President Vladimir Putin about what was going on with Ukraine in order to stoke Putin into invading the country.
&#8220;The war was needed so that a handful of scumbags could have a blast and get PR attention showing how strong the army is,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvLiQysKPhQ">said</a>. &#8220;The war was needed not in order to return the Russian citizens to our bosom and not in order to &#8216;demilitarize and denazify Ukraine&#8217;.&#8221;
Prigozhin <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/06/23/site-of-alleged-wagner-camp-attack-recently-visited-by-war-blogger/">shared</a> a message on his personal Telegram channel that accused Russia of launching an attack on his soldiers.
“A missile attack was carried out on a PMC Wagner base,&#8221; the message said. &#8220;There are many casualties. According to the information of the fighters who are witnesses, the attack was carried out from a rear direction – that is, it was carried out by soldiers of the Russian Ministry of Defense.”
Prigozhin said that he had 25,000 men and they were going to &#8220;figure out why chaos is happening in the country.&#8221;
“The evil that the military leadership of the country brings forward must be stopped. They have forgotten the word justice, and we will return it,” he <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-shoots-down-russian-cruise-missile-barrage-9d9da03a">said</a> in an audio recording. “Anyone attempting resistance will be considered a threat and immediately destroyed. This includes all the checkpoints on our path and any aircraft above our heads.”
Russia responded to the threats by immediately deploying heavily armed military in Moscow and the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, which The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/23/world/russia-ukraine-news">reported</a> is near the front line in Ukraine where Prigozhin’s fighters were operating.
Russia accused Prigozhin of “organizing an armed rebellion” and the situation rapidly escalated to the point that authorities started shutting down websites like Google News to prevent information from spreading to the public.
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Russian State Media has announced that Security Forces in the Capital Region of Moscow have been placed into a State of High Alert with “Defensive Measures being Increased at Government and Military Sites across the City.” <a href="https://t.co/2VAVa8KVMe">pic.twitter.com/2VAVa8KVMe</a>
&mdash; OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) <a href="https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1672363986736537600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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BREAKING:
Military columns spotted on the streets of Moscow <a href="https://t.co/WGNzbpOsfN">pic.twitter.com/WGNzbpOsfN</a>
&mdash; Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1672418685133234181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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CENTER OF MOSCOW NOW
Prigozhin has called on the Russian National Guard to join his side to fight against the Russian Army. <a href="https://t.co/lljOXj3NvH">pic.twitter.com/lljOXj3NvH</a>
&mdash; Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) <a href="https://twitter.com/officejjsmart/status/1672363660834897920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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A Column of Russian National Guard Trucks reportedly spotted on the Highway just to the North of the City of Rostov-on-Don in Southwestern Russia; the Leader of the Wagner PMC Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that his Forces had Crossed the Border into the Rostov Region earlier… <a href="https://t.co/9ahIQSgZH9">pic.twitter.com/9ahIQSgZH9</a>
&mdash; OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) <a href="https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1672403216430948353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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BREAKING: Heavy helicopter activity over Rostov, Russia, as Wagner Group forces advance towards it. <a href="https://t.co/M2LLOUGo0o">pic.twitter.com/M2LLOUGo0o</a>
&mdash; The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) <a href="https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1672418919406243840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

RUSSIA-POLITICS-MILITARY-EDUCATION-DEFENCE

Russia’s Notorious FSB Issues Arrest Warrant For Wagner Boss Prigozhin, Urges His Troops To Stop Him

Global Politics

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Regional sources are reporting that the rival factions in an ongoing power struggle in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sudan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sudan</a> have come to a tentative agreement that could serve as a framework for a proper peace agreement.
The Sudanese military and a paramilitary organization known as the Rapid Support Forces have been negotiating in Jeddah,  a major port city in Saudi Arabia, since Saturday. The violence erupted on April 15 after a failed attempt to integrate the RSF into the command structure of the regular army — each force is led by a rival general and over 100,000 strong, and the groups had been sharing power since a 2019 coup deposed the previous Islamist government.
“The Jeddah Declaration affirmed that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces would refrain from any attack that would cause civilian harm,” Saudi based news outlet <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/05/12/Warring-Sudanese-military-factions-sign-preliminary-agreement-of-principles-in-Jeddah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Al-Arabiya</a> reported on Thursday. “They also agreed that the interests of the Sudanese people are a priority for them, and that the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces would take all precautions to spare civilians any harm.”
The conflict has killed <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sudan-death-toll-un-fighting-khartoum-de76a27db2d1f871430142d172829f6f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least</a> 604 people and wounded over 5,100 others, according to the World Health Organization. Another 500,000 have reportedly been displaced. Much of the violence was concentrated in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where RSF forces fought to seize control of military positions and vital infrastructure, catching many civilians in the crossfire.
The U.S. military <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-diplomats-evacuated-from-sudan-as-conflict-intensifies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evacuated</a> diplomatic personnel from the American embassy in Khartoum on April 22, although official efforts to evacuate civilians were slower and incomplete — as of May 4, the U.S. had evacuated 1300 citizens, although the State Department estimated that as many as 16,000 U.S. citizens may have been in the country. Citizens are not required to notify the State Department when they enter or exit the country, making precise estimates of the American presence in Sudan difficult.
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-24/japan-evacuates-45-people-from-sudan-closes-embassy#xj4y7vzkg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan</a>, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Egypt, and Sweden also took efforts to <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/countries-evacuate-diplomats-citizens-out-of-sudan/7063323.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evacuate</a> civilians and diplomatic personnel soon after the fighting began. The UN Food Programme also suspended operations in the country after three of their employees had been killed in the fighting. The UN reports that roughly ⅓ of Sudan’s population of 46 million face “acute food insecurity.”
The agreement comes in the wake of several false starts and failed ceasefires — early on in the conflict, the warring parties had agreed to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/us/politics/sudan-generals-peace-talks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several ceasefires</a> to allow civilians to evacuate contested areas and to create corridors for humanitarian aid to pass through, but those agreements fell apart <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230426_N03/#:~:text=The%20Sudanese%20armed%20forces%20and,flared%20up%20again%20within%20hours." target="_blank" rel="noopener">within hours</a>.
“Both the army and the Rapid Support Forces had put forward some demands and conditions, but the mediation postponed them to limiting the agreement to a cease-fire and the opening of safe passages for the delivery of humanitarian aid,” Al-Arabiya <a href="https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-world/2023/05/12/%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A6-%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
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The negotiations were brokered by the American State Department and the Saudi Foreign Ministry. The violent power struggle drew early condemnation from the United Nations and the Arab League, of which Sudan is a member, and international observers expressed concern that the outbreak of civil war could destabilize the entire region and draw other nations such as Egypt and Ethiopia into the conflict.

SUDAN-CONFLICT-EVACUATION

Warring Sudanese Factions Make Breakthrough In Peace Negotiations

Africa

Saudi Arabia

Sudan

Archeologists have discovered the remains of a 19th-century quarantine hospital and cemetery at a submerged island at Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida, the National Park Service (NPS) <a href="https://www.nps.gov/drto/learn/news/underwater-hospital-and-cemetery.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> in a press release last week.
In 2016, maritime archeologist Joshua Marano spotted a unique L-shaped pattern while flying over the Gulf of Mexico near the national park, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/09/dry-tortugas-tombstone-underwater-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Washington Post. After some initial research, Marano <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/us/underwater-cemetery-hospital-dry-tortugas-florida.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">learned</a> there was a cemetery for soldiers and a quarantine hospital on the submerged island. Six years after locating the pattern, Marano and a team of archeologists and students conducted a survey of the site.
“The very first thing we came across was a single post,” Marano <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/us/underwater-cemetery-hospital-dry-tortugas-florida.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “Basically like a pipe sticking out of the sand. Nothing around it. Nothing else nearby,” he continued, adding that they found additional pipes with spacing that matched the hospital’s build records. “This is a pretty good bet that this is that building.”
From 1860 to 1870, a yellow fever outbreak occurred at Fort Jefferson, which killed dozens as the population of the fort increased, according to the NPS. In response, multiple small quarantine hospitals were built on nearby islands to isolate the infected from the rest of the fort’s population, which “likely saved hundreds from a similar fate,” NPS says.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Check out this cool find! National Park archeologists found the remains of a hospital and cemetery underwater at Dry Tortugas National Park. 
NPS Photos C. Sproul 
Images courtesy of National Park Service <a href="https://t.co/GjVxpmfv6V">pic.twitter.com/GjVxpmfv6V</a>
&mdash; Dry Tortugas National Park (@DryTortugasNPS) <a href="https://twitter.com/DryTortugasNPS/status/1653136720265633792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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While Fort Jefferson was <a href="https://www.nps.gov/drto/learn/historyculture/fort-jefferson.htm#:~:text=The%20fort%20was%20also%20used,a%20coaling%20station%20for%20warships." target="_blank" rel="noopener">abandoned</a> by the Army in 1874, the discovered hospital was used while the U.S. Marine Hospital Service occupied the fort between 1890 and 1900, treating and isolating patients with yellow fever, the federal agency notes.
In addition to the quarantine hospital, the cemetery proved to be a fascinating find. The team was able to locate and identify a gravestone while surveying the site. The NPS says that of the dozens of people who were laid to rest at the cemetery, known as the Fort Jefferson Post Cemetery, many were military personnel and prisoners, in addition to some civilians. John Greer, who was a worker at the fort, died on November 5, 1861, and was buried at the cemetery. His gravestone was the only one identified by researchers.
“It was surreal,” Marano said of the find. “It’s the equivalent of finding a bell on a shipwreck with the name on it. It’s just something that you absolutely never hear of in underwater archaeology.”
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Archeologists made the discovery in August of last year and have been examining records to identify who John Greer was. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/09/dry-tortugas-tombstone-underwater-florida/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According</a> to The Washington Post, Greer worked on the scaffolding of the fort. This, along with a lack of a hospital record prior to his death, could mean that he died a sudden death, Devon Fogarty, an archeology student under Morano who first spotted the gravestone, speculated. No descendants of Greer have been identified or come forward yet, the Post reports.
The fort was <a href="https://www.nps.gov/drto/learn/historyculture/fort-jefferson.htm#:~:text=The%20fort%20was%20also%20used,a%20coaling%20station%20for%20warships." target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> as a military prison during the Civil War and held Samuel Mudd, a doctor who helped John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Lincoln. Mudd was convicted of conspiracy for his role and sentenced to life at Fort Jefferson.
According to Marano, the site of the hospital and cemetery is now federally protected as an archeological site.

Fort Jefferson, Florida

Remains Of 19th-Century Quarantine Hospital Discovered Underwater Off Florida Coast

Florida

Medical

Hundreds of civilians and paramilitary forces were killed or injured over the weekend in a series of airstrikes in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, as the Sudanese army bombed positions held by a rival military force in a power struggle that some international observers fear could ignite a full-blown civil war.
Fighting broke out in Sudan on Saturday between the army and Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary organization that had allied with the military to overthrow longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir following widespread popular protests against his regime in 2019. The two groups had shared power in the transitional government: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan headed the provisional government’s Sovereign Council while RSF commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo acted as deputy head.
While reports about the precise number of casualties differ, one doctor’s group told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sudan-military-rivals-fight-power-killing-least-25-2023-04-16/">Reuters</a> that at least 97 civilians had been killed and 365 had been injured since the fighting began. 
Previous reports from The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors claimed that at least 56 civilians were killed and 595 people (including combatants) were injured. The committee said &#8220;scores&#8221; of RSF fighters had been killed, although they did not provide precise data. 
<a href="https://www.emro.who.int/media/news/who-calls-for-protection-of-health-workers-and-patients-unrestricted-access-to-health-care-in-sudan.html">The World Health Organization</a> said 83 people were killed and 1,126 injured in the fighting since April 13, with most casualties occurring over the weekend.
The fighting has spread beyond the capital. The U.N. World Food Programme <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/world-food-programme-halts-operations-sudan-after-3-employees-killed-2023-04-16/">confirmed</a> that three of their Sudanese employees in Darfur were killed in the fighting and that they were halting all operations in the country. Roughly one-third of Sudan’s 46 million people are experiencing &#8220;acute food insecurity&#8221; and desperately need the aid, according to the <a href="https://www.wfp.org/countries/sudan">WFP</a>.
&#8220;While we review the evolving security situation, we are forced to temporarily halt all operations in Sudan,&#8221; WFP executive director Cindy McCain, the widow of former U.S. Senator John McCain, said in a statement. &#8220;WFP is committed to assisting the Sudanese people facing dire food insecurity, but we cannot do our lifesaving work if the safety and security of our teams and partners is not guaranteed.&#8221;
The fighting reportedly began after a disagreement over the integration of RSF forces into the regular armed forces as part of the planned transition to civilian rule. With the forces of the rival generals turning on one another, the prospects of the promised democratic government seem grim.
<div id="attachment_530633" style="width: 693px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-530633" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-530633" src="https://dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="683" height="455" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Sudan-Soldiers-Streets-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" />(Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
“We feel powerless,” Omar Farook, a resident of Khartoum, who participated in the anti-government demonstrations in 2019, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/world/africa/sudan-civil-war-khartoum.html">the New York Times</a>. “Everyone is worried this will go the way of Yemen or Syria. The ghost of civil war is here.”
Sudan has been wracked by internal strife for most of its history as an independent nation. Religious and ethnic conflicts between Arabs and blacks, as well as the Muslim majority in the north and Christian and animist communities in the south, have erupted into large-scale violence numerous times. Atrocities committed against the people of the region of Darfur by al-Bashir’s regime drew widespread international condemnation. They led to al-Bashir’s indictment by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Two multidecade conflicts (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) with the people of South Sudan led Khartoum to cede that territory entirely &#8211; South Sudan was granted independence in 2011. 
However, the current conflict is unique in that it is centered in the capital and the nation’s heartland rather than occurring primarily in its periphery.
The conflagration also threatens Sudan’s rehabilitation on the world stage &#8211; the country was designated a <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-sudan/">state sponsor of terror</a> by the United States in 1993 after an Islamist government under al-Bashir invited terror group Al-Qaeda into the country. Sudan remained Al Qaeda’s primary base of operations until 1996, when senior leadership relocated to Afghanistan.
Former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55300252">revoked</a> Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terror after al-Bashir was overthrown and the country <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sudan-government-united-states-israel-bc4d614bfe02df18b32ee1cf9e6718da">normalized relations with Israel</a>. The transitional government helped negotiate a peace deal with rebels in Darfur in 2020. However, the outbreak of violence threatens to reignite conflicts across the nation and the region and to undo much of the progress of reintegrating Sudan into the international community.
The U.N. Security Council, which has been fiercely divided since one of its permanent members, Russia, launched its invasion of Ukraine last year, issued a statement condemning the violence. The Arab League, which counts Sudan among its members, called an emergency meeting on Sunday to “stop the bloodshed.”
<div id="attachment_530631" style="width: 781px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-530631" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-530631" src="https://dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="771" height="514" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-863x576.jpg 863w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/04/Arab-League-Meeting-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" />(Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Despite this, propaganda from each of the rival generals has circulated across the country on the internet and television. Both claim to have the upper hand, and neither seems interested in negotiating.
At least 30 Egyptian soldiers and seven warplanes were seized by RSF forces at an airbase 125 miles north of Khartoum. Egypt said that the soldiers were in Sudan for a training exercise. A relative of General Handam told the New York Times that the soldiers were there to conduct air strikes on behalf of the Sudanese government. The dispute illustrates a crucial disparity between the rival armies &#8211; the regular army has access to air support while the RSF does not, but it also could drag Egypt into the war.

Clashes continue in Sudan

Chaos In Khartoum: Dozens Killed In Airstrikes As Civil War Looms In Sudan

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