Constitution Day: Gus Kotka, Johnny Reb and Antietam 1862 ~ WCHU Series Finale on the Bryan William Brickner Blog

“Antietam and America’s Constitution share a bond of blood,” opened Bryan W. Brickner, “as well as a calendar date: 17 September.”

In Constitution Day: Gus Kotka, Johnny Reb and Antietam 1862, hosted on the Bryan William Brickner Blog, Yankee Doodle Dandies, the Spirit of ’76 and the signing of the US Constitution (17 September 1787) are honored from Antietam and Sharpsburg Maryland (17 September 1862).

The summer finale (10 of 10) of the War Cry Heal Union (WCHU) series notes the revolutionaries in rebellion (and battle) by utilizing a “spirited” dialogue between two Civil War soldiers, US Army Private Augustus (Gus) Kotka (KIA, 11 August 1864), 99^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and the composite Confederate Johnny Reb.

“Antietam not only took a toll on America’s innocence,” Brickner noted, “it gave life to other energies we are familiar with: The Emancipation Proclamation and American Red Cross.”

The National Park Service, Antietam Battlefield, has a monument dedicated to Clara Barton and the American Red Cross. “Antietam produced an overwhelming number of casualties,” continued Brickner, “the military couldn’t treat them all; citizens like Clara Barton joined in to treat the soldiers.”

“Antietam also produced a political opportunity,” Brickner closed, “one used by President Abraham Lincoln to issue The Emancipation Proclamation.”

Brickner has a 1997 political science doctorate from Purdue University and is the author of several political theory books, to include: The Promise Keepers (1999), Article the first (2006), and The Book of the Is (2013). The Bryan William Brickner Blog is an ongoing resource for the political science of constitutions and the biological science of receptors.

New: in October, look for Ew Publishing’s mini-series, Whiskey220: The Rebellion. Hosted on the Bryan William Brickner Blog, Whiskey220 honors the successful conclusion to a domestic insurrection 220 years ago by highlighting President George Washington’s personal notes while traveling to meet the assembled State militias ~ to include a meeting with Virginia’s Governor Henry Lee III. Whiskey220 begins Saturday, 11 October.