Mini-Series Review: Son of the Morning Star (1991)

Son of the Morning Star is a two-part TV adaptation of Evan S. Connell's non-fiction book of the same name, and also covers George Custer and his final battle at Little Bighorn. I was drawn to this film after watching the heavily inaccurate Errol Flynn as Custer flick They Died with Their Boots On. Unfortunately the mini-series has still not received a DVD release, so I had to watch a VHS rip on Youtube (yes, it's completely free, albeit with some ad breaks). While the picture quality was fuzzy, I have to say that I was very pleased with this "movie" and feel that it deserves more attention for being the most accurate coverage of Custer and Little Bighorn. After seeing the laughable misrepresentation of history from Errol Flynn's film, this was an incredible experience for a Civil War/Old West buff such as myself.

Son of the Morning Star's screen adaptation is split into two parts. The first part starts in 1866 and goes up to the early 1870s. It establishes Custer (Gary Cole) as a contradictory man. For example, he is very harsh towards deserters, but practically abandons his regiment when he hears that his wife Libby (Rosanna Arquette) is sick. He also pulls off a brutal assault on the Cheyennes at Washita River (where many women and children were killed) but is later seen to be criticizing the government for abusing Indians on the newly created reservations. Overall Son of the Morning Star portrays Custer in a thankfully balances light, showing both his strengths and flaws. This is not the romanticized swashbuckler of They Died with Their Boots On, nor the bloodthirsty and somewhat idiotic butcher of Little Big Man.

Movie Review: Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022)

Hansan: Rising Dragon is the second of Korean director Kim Han-Min's Admiral Yi Sun-Sin trilogy. It's actually a prequel to The Admiral: Roaring Currents, which was originally a standalone movie and has different actors in some of the roles. It was a big success so Kim is coming back to Admiral Yi's other famous victories. Yi Sun-Sin is in contention for greatest naval commander in history, scoring a string of incredible victories. Thus he is a national Korean hero. This film specifically covers the Battle of Hansan on July 8 1592. In this encounter Yi used his famous crane formation to pulverize a larger Japanese fleet.

The historical context is the Imjin War. Under Toyotomo Hideoyoshi, Japan embarked on a scheme to conquer Ming China. To get there the samurai-led armies needed to pass through Korea (called Joseon at the time). Korea refused to oblige, so they launched what was the largest amphibious invasion until the Normandy Landings in World War II. The Japanese ran roughshod over southern Korea in an orgy of murder and rape. Quickly, however, naval victories by Admiral Yi and the rise of effective guerilla armies turned what was to be a quick prelude to an invasion of China into a protracted slog. The Battle of Hansan in particular did massive damage to Japanese naval strength, making it difficult to reinforce and supply the invasion force from Japan.

A Very Short History of Dahomey V: The Fall of Dahomey

 

Gezo had tried to appease the British by moving away from the slave trade. However, he had soon reinstituted Dahomey’s man-selling traditions, among other things. This was done to restore Dahomey’s economy, but international events, as well as happenings among customer nations, set slavery well on the path to extinction. Dahomey’s failure to adapt would lead to its decline and justify its conquest by an even greater imperial power.

Chapter V: The Fall of Dahomey

Glele represented as a lion (Wikimedia)

Attempt at Resurgence

The resurgent slave trade out of Ouidah proved short-lived. With the United States sundered by civil war over the issues pertaining to slavery, Britain found a more amenable anti-slavery party in the Republican-led Union. A new treaty prevented slavers from using the United States flag as protection. As it happens the last slave ship to sell in America, the Clotilda, came out of Ouidah. It arrived in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in 1860. At the same time the Spanish colony of Cuba was pressured to stop purchasing human lives. Despite these closing markets, Dahomey still found many places abroad to sell its human goods.

On the positive side, Dahomey revitalized their trade in agricultural exports. Though not as profitable as slaves or palm oil, agricultural goods did compensate for lower sales of these two economic staples. With the palm oil trade recovering in the mid-1860s, buyers from anti-slavery nations, foremost Britain, were drawn to Dahomey’s ports. European business firms competed with ex-slaving Brazilians and Portuguese for control of the agricultural trade. The firms had the advantage of secure financial backing.

Arkansas Summer Campaign Part III: Cotton Plant

 If they were to successfully make their way to Little Rock, General Samuel Curtis and his Army of the Southwest needed to hook up with Commander Augustus Kilty’s White River expedition and much needed supplies. The Confederates, assuming that Curtis was retreating instead of marching to meet Kilty, made a move to strike him. Little did they know they would be fighting a critical battle that would determine the course of the war in 1862 Arkansas.

 

Cotton Plant (or Hill's Plantation or Cache River)

Study map of Battle of Cotton Plant (Wikimedia)

On July 7 Curtis started his army towards Clarendon, the final leg of the march. To reach there he would first need to cross the Cache River. The Confederates had already made moves to hold the Cache River crossing. Brigadier-General Albert Rust led 5,000 men in the area. This force included Texas cavalry (six regiments) and Arkansan infantry. Rust ordered Colonel William Parsons to secure the crossing with the 12^th and 16^th Texas Cavalry (1,000 men in all). The 12^th and 16^th did not move up together and the former stopped 6 miles south of the crossing in order to wait for the other. By failing to secure the crossing with his 12^th regiment, Parsons gave the Federals time to take it.[1] The area around the Cache River was heavily wooded, with plenty of swampland as well. As Federals and Confederates alike had to deal with branches, clouds of mosquitoes, and wet ground while a plethora of animals hooted, screeched, and flapped in the background. One Texan said it felt like a primeval world.[2]