a few of those were leftover at yorktown but basically it was empty. mcclellan sends a message, i have seized yorktown and gets a response from congress. unexpected but quite welcome. a res susion commending him for securing yorktown with but little sacrifice. so just for a moment, he had good relations once again with the largely republican congress. mcclellan then from yorktown sent general franklin with forces up the york river toward west point to seize an advanced logistical base and then he sent other forces out towards williamsburg on the 5th of may those forces collided with confederate rear guard, people like longstreet, hill. and all of the union army held the field at williamsburg at the end of the day as the sun was going down and mcclellan could send another dispatch to washington in which he says among all of my generals, hancock was superb. winfield scott hancock was superb. giving hancock, of course, that hancock was superb that would last the rest of the war, all the generals north and south came out of that experience understanding th

we often think of course the american revolution ended october 1781, yorktown. with the surrender of general cornwallis to the franco american force under the command of washington. that was not the case. for even with the surrender of yorktown, the british army still occupied new york, savannah, georgia, charleston, south carolina, wilmington, north carolina, and a good portion of maine. and the navy, while it had been defeated at the battle of the capes during the yorktown campaign, their navy was still supreme. their navy was still mistress of the ocean. the british had hardly been beaten. no one understood this better than the commander in chief himself, general washington. he was fearful that the news and victory at yorktown would in fact diminish the american effort. shortly after the battle, he wrote to governor william nelson, the governor of virginia, he told governor nelson, quote, instead of exciting our exertions the victory at yorktown will produce such a relaxation the prosecution of the war as will prolong the calamities of it. he then wrote a few

indicates that student probably doesn't even know what yorktown was and why yorktown was important.if he or she doesn't know that, clearly she doesn't know much about the history of the revolutionary war. not knowing anything about the revolutionary war is a pretty serious flaw. and it indicates that maybe we're not educating our children as well as we should. there is no question about the historic ignorance among young americans. there is no question about it. it's been shown in countless studies and surveys. anyone who teachers or lectures or spends time on american or university campuses these days as i do knows that from firsthand experience. >> a recent statistic in "the washington post" is 57% of the children born in the district of columbia are born out of wedlock. you say in one of your speeches that history ought to be started at the dinner table. how can you ever start at the dinner table? >> it depends on how you allocate your time. how much time is that same family spending watching television? the average family spends three to four hours a day. average american family

even yorktown is a coin of opportunity. he happens to have a british army follow him up there. that's the more effective criticism of lee. what he should are have done is fought this fabian strategy and kept his army in one piece and used the confederacy's vast size to his advantage. so, this is, and we have other military for examples. what helps with napoleon? what big country does he invade? russia. it's the same. it's too big. you get more and more worn down and that's potentially a problem that can be used against the federals. who repeats professor lud will talk about this a lot. who repeats the french error in russia? nazis. >> it was actually the disadvantage to the confederates that they picked washington, not washington, richmond as their capital and not something further south. >> that is problematic, and your readings don't have, richmond is chosen probably because virginia is so important. it's the home state of so many presidents, including washington. virginia is var large in terms of population. richmond has the iron work, which is one of the few centers of conf

on may 9th, 1862, in his infinite wisdom, joe johnson in retreating up the peninsula from the yorktown line, abandoned norfolk. we can't hold norfolk if we're withdrawing up the peninsula. now, and abraham lincoln it was himself who was down at fort monroe and said, excuse me, guys, if they've abandoned norfolk, why don't we take it? it was the closest thing lincoln ever came to field command. in any event, the united states captures norfolk. this means the "merrimack," the "virginia" is a ship without a port and realized it's got to have coal in order to travel its little six knots per hour. so, on may 11th, i believe it was, the crew of the "virginia" had to scuttle her. this means the mouth of the james river is wide open. union troops or the union navy can sally up the james. and lee, you know, connects these dominos. you lose norfolk. you lose the "virginia." the james is open. and here come five union ships with the "monitor," another ironclad and some wooden ships and they're steaming up the james. lee it was who sent his son, custas, to command some troops at a place called dru

even yorktown is a point of opportunity. he happens to have a british army bottled up there and he choices to exploit that opportunity at times. that's the more effective criticism of lee. that what he should have done is fought this fabian strategy and kept his army in one piece and used the confederacy's vast size to his advantage. its master strategic depth so this is -- and we have other military historical examplesle what helps with napoleon? what big country does he invade? >> russia. >> russia and it's the same issue. it's too big. your lines of supply become further and further extended. you get more and more worn down and logistics become harder and harder and that's a problem that can be used against the federals. who repeats professor love will talk about this a lot. who repeats the french error in russia? >> the nazis. >> the nazis. don't invade -- right. >> sir, do you think it was the disadvantage to the confederates that they picked washington as their capital -- not washington, richmond as their capital and n

lawrence writes into the navy and says, again, i will destroy the merrimac, the jamestown, and the yorktown within 20 days of this date. $500,000 for the merrimac, $100,000 for the other vessels involved. wells is intrigued enough to say, well, state your plan. and he does so again. hamilton towle also has the same idea. he also says $500,000 for the merrimic. he sees wells personally and wells turns him down. so he he sasays, how about $10, now and $100,000 when i blow up the merrimac? he lessened his price. louis goldsboro writes to his friend saying, what has become of the $100,000 blowing up man? has his scheme collapsed or is the water too cold? secret inventions are also proposed. in fact, there are people who write in that say, my invention is so unbelievable, i can't tell you what it is. i can give you a rough outline, but i really can't tell you everything, although it can whip anything afloat. and they also insist that i will tell my idea to the president alone, or, if the president is not available, the secretary of war, maybe navy. in fact, louis winterbauer writes in and the na

we have the midway in san diego, yorktown, a longtime preserved in charleston. there's the hornet, intrepid, lexington, all those have been preserved. and it certainly true that a majority of enterprise veterans would've liked to seen their ship preserve, but there are a few such as allen crow man who wasn't air crewman of avenger torpedo bombers and became a very well regarded ivy league author and instructor. has said that he did not want to see his beloved ship basically turn into an amusement park. and i quote him in the book. it was a heartfelt statement that he would not like to see soda fountains and spilled trains and ice cream droppings and screaming kids running around. and really it's hard to argue with that attitude. but to me, taking the longer view in the current generation of world war ii, sailors were gone, all that would be left really is the ship. and i think it's a terrible loss. i just wish that the navy had given it a second thought. but in the meantime, 1961, the navy commissioned a second uss enterprise aircraft carrier, the first nuclear

then resigned as secretary, returned to the army and later distinguished himself at the battle of yorktown, which brought him back to some degree in washington's good graces. hamilton then left the army and was a congressman from new york. so hamilton then is given the assignment of addressing washington. i doubt that anyone really expected that general washington would join in any plot, but at the same time, they needed to test him out. how did he feel? hamilton warned washington that the army was on the brink of mutiny. he suggested to washington that the general might wish to control, direct the turret was his expression. he also went on to write something to washington which the general found insulting, if not hurtful. hamilton told washington there were rumors in congress, as well as in the army, his soldiers were disappointed with him. they accused the commander in chief of not doing enough for them in articulating their demands and their grievances. washington found that particularly hurtful. hamilton then suggested that washington talk with general knox. a very, very dangerous game

lawrence writes into the navy and says, again, i will destroy the merrimac, the jamestown, and the yorktown within 20 days of this date. $500,000 for the merrimac, $100,000 for the other vessels involved. wells is intrigued enough to say, well, state your plan. and he does so again. hamilton towle also has the s

at yorktown and can end the revolution in combat again. he had begun it in combat and then he was on washington's staff and now he gets to go back to the field. so even though they had this fight, washington is able to overlook that. boys will be boys. all right. he wants a field command. he is a good officer, i'll give it to him. and then who does washington turn to as his first treasury secretary? he turns to hamilton and backs him up. now, washington could have been his own secretary of state. and he could have been his own secretary of war. because he understood those things. he could not have been his own treasury secretary. very few people understood the area of finances. hamilton is one of the few there may be five or six other guys. so washington picks him for the guy and when the partisanship begins and the attacks led by fellow virginians, fellows of washington, washington sticks by his treasury secretary because he knows him, he trusts him, and he shares the same goals. he wants america to be prosperous. he sees what happens whe

and that's the reason cornwallis ends up that -- at yorktown. greene has been out of the careless. just a brilliant performance. and then he died shortly after the war, sunstroke. he was given a plantation in georgia, and that was the end of him. but another one, if we're doing military people, is there a lofty of monuments were in washington? lafayette was -- >> host: lafayette circle. with a statue. >> guest: well, certainly he deserves it. he was a great young man. we got the best of him. he was 19 years old when he came over here. he did it out of a pure idealism. he thought the what america was trying to do was something worth while and the world he wanted to help. he was never any trouble, no ego, did what he was told, competent officer. but just the devotion and the selflessness, quite impressive. >> host: patty lockwood blais e-mails to you, regarding the 110 rules for civility, with his deep knowledge of george washington and his guiding principles, are there one or two rules that mr. brookhiser would recommend that we should bring back in order to improve current society?

battle the enterprise group sank three of the four japanese carriers committed to that battle in yorktown which was lost in the battle that accounted for the fourth one so it was a huge strategic reversal for the japanese but for the aviators and the enterprise, it was to quote my friend who commanded the bombing squadron he said midway was revenge for pearl harbor. the i talions say it is a dish best served cold and by june it was six months cold. one of the recurring themes that you will see talking to the enterprise veterans is the midway was payback for pearl harbor and it fell discernibly by all hands. finally, midway, the japanese were forced on the defensive and it allowed the united states navy and marine corps and the army to initiate the first strategic offensive that america undertook during the war and the was a landing at guadalcanal and the islands in august enterprise was there and start to finish involved in the battles on the eastern solomons in august and about all of santa cruz fifa and her youngest sister the horn at had launched the 25 against tokyo in april some get

seth's >> a close look at the ride on interstate 80 in yorktown or an accident was reported a fan lockinges and while the centers do not indicate any all back up yet, and this has the attention to the, our first toss-up. >>mark: the man accused of a head this has with this police say they now know exactly is true he intended to target. here is video of a school administrator. police say he was angry at her after trying to get his tuition refund after he voluntarily left the school last fall. she was not on campus at the time of the shooting and has not commented on the incidence. will tran is live as with those university in selflessly if off >>will: free officers here have not left the scene for three days because they want to make sure that no one crosses the yellow tape so that they can bring in their lab techs to get as much evidence if not all of the evidence that they possibly can that mean that the universe hall will be shut down indefinitely. no one knows and syria at, if at all. on one house illness yesterday people were stopping by, placing flowers and writing letters. there is

donna on twitter posts -- and savannah on facebook -- next is a call from yorktown, virginia, mary is an independent. good morning, welcome. caller: good morning, thank you. the women's issues, mitt romney, every candidate has pluses and minuses. to think that he is the evil person between him and obama, my god, no. until a couple years ago i would never have voted for a republican. but the problem we are having with the democrats is those people out there working for a living are going to lose everything if it is up to obama, because he has this distribution of wealth. as far as women having there contraceptive rights, i don't want to pay for birth control parliament unless it is for health reasons. erectile goes for men's dysfunction medicines. when it comes to women, they want the rights for all the reproductive and having babies, but men don't have any rights when it comes to that. if a woman refuses to have an abortion, he has to pay for the child. you want it every way, but you don't want to give up anything? i am sorry, but you are not the only person in this world. host: all r