By Kelly O'Connell ——Bio and Archives--November 10, 2013
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Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was king of the Franks between 768 and 814, and emperor of the West between 800 and 814. He founded the Holy Roman Empire, strengthened European economic and political life, and promoted the cultural revival known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne's rule greatly influenced Europe's push to create a unique civilization different from that of Rome or other ancient empires.
The battle of Tours-Poitiers is regarded as one of the decisive battles in history. It decided that Christians, and not Moslems, should be the ruling power in Europe. Charles Martel is especially celebrated as the hero of this battle. It is said the name "Martel" was given to him because of his bravery during the fight. Marteau is the French word for hammer, and one of the old French historians says that as a hammer breaks and crushes iron and steel, so Charles broke and crushed the power of his enemies in the battle of Tours.
He cherished with the greatest fervor and devotion the principles of the Christian religion, which had been instilled into him from infancy. He was a constant worshipper at church as long as his health permitted, going morning and evening, even after nightfall, besides attending mass; and he took care that all the services there conducted should be administered with the utmost possible propriety, very often warning the sextons not to let any improper or unclean thing be brought into the building or remain in it. He was at great pains to improve the church reading and psalmody, for he was well skilled in both although he neither read in public nor sang, except in a low tone and with others.Another writer, Derek Wilson, in Charlemagne, stated "The faith that underpinned Charlemagne's reign, and that would become the most powerful the world has ever seen, was militant Christianity."
No war ever undertaken by the Frank nation was carried on with such persistence and bitterness, or cost so much labor, because the Saxons, like almost all the tribes of Germany, were a fierce people, given to the worship of devils, and hostile to our religion, and did not consider it dishonorable to transgress and violate all law, human and divine. Accordingly war was begun against them, and was waged for thirty-three successive years with great fury; more, however, to the disadvantage of the Saxons than of the Franks. They were sometimes so much weakened and reduced that they promised to renounce the worship of devils, and to adopt Christianity, but they were no less ready to violate these terms than prompt to accept them, so that it is impossible to tell which came easier to them to do; scarcely a year passed from the beginning of the war without such changes on their part. The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with the Franks to form one people.
Horatio Nelson is the most famous naval officers of all time. He fought during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and he remains one of the most celebrated heroes in all of British History. In the process of winning numerous important naval victories for England, the presence of Nelson always added a great deal of romance and drama to the conflict. He was a highly inspirational leader that brought out the best of the seamen that he fought with so his victories were always marked with a great deal of reckless courage, swashbuckling bravado, and terrific sea-faring lore. Given that naval service, in reality, was a grindingly difficult and often tedious job, the romance and flair that heroes like Nelson lent to the occupation, elevated not only their own reputations, but that of the entire branch of service.
Nelson displayed deeply held religious beliefs, reflecting his early upbringing as the son of a parson. References to the will of God permeate his letters, memos and dispatches. For example, Nelsons last diary (before the Battle of Trafalgar) states, "May the Great God whom I adore enable me to fulfill the expectations of my Country; and if it is His good pleasure that I should return, my thanks will never cease being offered up...If it is His great good providence to cut short my days upon earth, I bow with the greatest submission, relying that He will protect those dear to me, that I may leave behind." Another important facet of Nelson's religious conviction is that it provided a powerful rationale for his violent profession.John Sugden, in Nelson: The Sword of Albion, relays another of Nelson's statements from 1801, "I own myself a believer in God, and if I have any merit in not fearing death, it is because I feel that his power can shelter me when he pleases, and that I must fall whenever it is his good pleasure."
One of the most important manifestations of nelson's physical and mental courage was his aggressiveness in battle. This aspect of is character was central to his now famous and almost universally successful tactics, which were designed to seize and maintain the initiative in battle. It was tersely summed up in a statesmen made on more than one occasion by Nelson himself, "The boldest measures are the safest." Nelson's aggressiveness is particularly interesting in light of Royal Navy doctrine of the time, which was predominantly conservative.Nelson carried an extremely sophisticated notion of society, religion, and patriotism which helped fuel his vision of destroying Napoleon's atheistic ambitions at a godless world-state. Callo writes,
Napoleon and the post-monarchy governments of France not only rejected monarchy as a form of government, they added a strong ant-religious tenor to the fervor for change. Thus for Nelson, he fought against a nation that, in his opinion, was building a radical and threatening new form of government. It was, he believed, a movement that attacked the basic foundation of society, the belief in God. For Nelson fighting against France was a classic case being on the side of God. In modern terms, he fought a just war.
George Patton was born in San Gabriel, California, on November 11, 1885. Considered one of the most successful combat generals in U.S history, he was the first officer assigned to the Tank Corps in WWI. During WWII, he helped lead the Allies to victory in the invasion of Sicily, and was instrumental to the liberation of Germany from the Nazis. He died on December 21, 1945, in Heidelberg, Germany.
George Patton's prayers, however, reflected his deep and sincere faith in God. Throughout his life he prayed daily and attended church almost every Sunday, even in wartime. One cannot read Patton's diaries, letters, speeches, and personal papers without being struck by the frequency with which he appeals to God and turns to the Bible for inspiration. Patton prayed to do his best, he prayed for solace in times of trouble, and he prayed for victory in times of war. "No one can live under the awful responsibility that I have without Divine help," he wrote. To be successful, Patton believed, a man must plan, work hard, and pray. A man prays to God for assistance in circumstances that he cannot foresee or control. Patton believed that without prayer, his soldiers would "crack up" under the unrelenting pressures of battle. Prayer does not have to take place in church, but can be offered anywhere. Praying, he said, is "like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven." Prayer "completes the circuit. It is power." To Patton, prayer was a "force multiplier"--when combined with or employed by a combat force, it substantially increases the effectiveness of human efforts and enhances the odds of victory. In this sense, prayer was no different from training, leadership, technology, or firepower. But Patton's faith was not a mere contrivance with which he cynically tried to motivate his men. He was a sincere believer. He even directed hischief chaplain to send out a training letter to every unit in the Third Army on the importance of prayer.
In ten months his armor and infantry roared through six countries -- France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria. It captured more than 750,000 Nazis, and killed or disabled 500,000 others. There were times, in those great days when the tank spearheads of the Third were racing across France with almost unbelievable speed and again when they were cutting the dying Nazi armies to pieces in the final spring of the war, that not even Supreme Headquarters itself knew where his vanguards were. Driven by his iron will, his advanced units had to be supplied with gasoline and maps dropped by air.
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Kelly O’Connell is an author and attorney. He was born on the West Coast, raised in Las Vegas, and matriculated from the University of Oregon. After laboring for the Reformed Church in Galway, Ireland, he returned to America and attended law school in Virginia, where he earned a JD and a Master’s degree in Government. He spent a stint working as a researcher and writer of academic articles at a Miami law school, focusing on ancient law and society. He has also been employed as a university Speech & Debate professor. He then returned West and worked as an assistant district attorney. Kelly is now is a private practitioner with a small law practice in New Mexico.