This installment of “Horrible Histories” focuses on the death of Clement Vallandingham and the battle of the Crater.
[Uploaded to YouTube on January 15, 2015]Clement Vallandingham’s “Stupid Death”
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I seem to remember CV getting an Historical Darwin Award.
Is CV’s accent authentic? I’ve no idea what an Ohio accent sounds like, but to me as a non-American the accent in the clip sounds Southern, which would negate the whole point of CV’s politics.
No idea what an Ohio accent should sound like.
Being married to a Southeast Ohioan, I know instead of “ya’ll,” people say “y’ins.”
Dialects have changed much in the United States, not to mention southeastern Ohio, since the middle of the nineteenth century.
The current dialect of Ohioans (standard American, essentially) is irrelevant. There were more dialects in the United States of Vallandigham’s day than there are now, and they were more likely to be distinctive. Perhaps, to be on the safe side, he should speak General American. However, he was born to a Virginia family that moved to Ohio, and his wife was from Maryland.
Excellent likeness of Val in the video. What a shame to trivialize such an important and interesting character in Civil War history. Of course, they summed up the Battle of the Crater rather well, don’t you think? Maybe you should have included that detailed battlefield drawing in your book.