Samuel Chapman Armstrong

CELEBRATING OUR BIRTHDAYS Reflections on my visit to HAMPTON University

Williams College Class of 1862…

https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/samuel-chapman-armstrong/

Samuel Chapman Armstrong was born on January 30, 1839; I was born on January 26th, 1954. We are both Aquarians and both of us went to Williams College. We have an awful lot in common. I graduated in 1975, he graduated in 1862, again so clearly we have a lot in common. He was a civil war general, a Veteran of a horrific War. I was a black nurse at the VA for 20 years or so and profoundly shaped by people who have thrived and survived after War and somehow managed and learned or did not.

There are consequences of sending our children into battle; again a shared path. Keep their sacrifice well within your gaze. We have so much at stake.

The Civil War was the deadliest of all American wars. No one disagrees with that. But how many died has long been a matter of debate.

For more than a century, the most-accepted estimate was about 620,000 dead. A specific figure of 618,222 is often cited, with 360,222 Union deaths and 258,000 Confederate deaths.

https://www.history.com/news/american-civil-war-deaths

We decided to celebrate…