Civil Warriors

Next month Super Bowl XLIV will be played.  One of the bloggers here roots for the Philadelphia Eagles, while another has seen his New York Giants win three Super Bowls … at which point that other blogger decides it might have been better to take up the Pittsburgh Steelers by themselves, instead of rooting for both Pennsylvania-based NFL teams.  Too late.  I’ll say nothing about the third blogger, who roots for a team based in Washington with a rather tasteless nickname.  I think they should be called the Lobbyists.

This year, Super Bowl XLIV will take place while the 44th president is in office.  Coincidence?  Of course.  But it’s a heck of a good excuse for the following blog, which decides which would prevail in a head-to-head matchup: the president or the game.

As a boy, I rooted for both the Jets and the Giants, and I recall Super Bowl III rather well (it’s far more difficult nowadays to root for both New York teams in any sport, although that was not an impossible feat before the New York Islanders began to challenge the New York Rangers in the NHL … but I digress).  One of the hallmarks of rooting for the Jets was hating the Raiders.  So I’m glad to report that Ulysses S. Grant prevailed over Super Bowl XVIII, in which the Raiders destroyed Washington.  Had it been Mosby’s raiders, instead of Al Davis’s Raiders, Grant might have had a tougher time of it.  But the true clash of titans involves Super Bowl XVI versus Abraham Lincoln: you’ll have to read the blog (and use the archives link on its right margin) to learn the outcome of that matchup.  Finally, the Giants’ 20-19 victory in Super Bowl XXV over the Buffalo Bills prevails over the last Civil War veteran elected president, William McKinley, who was, ironically, shot in Buffalo.  Scott Norwood was not quite as accurate.

The Department of History at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has posted its call for applications for the 2010 Summer Seminar on Military History. This three-week program brings together approximately two dozen junior scholars of military history (graduate students who have completed all but their dissertation are also eligible) at West Point to participate in a terrific program of seminars, lectures, and staff rides.

This is pretty much a mandatory experience for anyone who has aspirations as a military historian. When I did the program as a fellow in 1999, the guest lecturers included such great scholars as Fred Anderson, John Lynn, Don Higginbotham, William Skelton, Brian Linn, and Williamson Murray, while the staff rides were led by Carol Reardon (Gettysburg) and Mark (Antietam). On top of all the great stuff you get to do in the course of the program, participants receive a very generous stipend, as well as coverage of expenses. This year, it is scheduled to run 1-23 June.

Application packets consist of a completed application form, current curriculum vitae, a sample of academic writing, and a letter of recommendation. The deadline for applications is 1 February 2010. More information can be found here.