SOUTHERN DISPATCH #2: Live from Olustee

Location: Baker County

Campaign: Florida Expedition (1864)

Date(s): February 20, 1864

Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour [US]; Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan [CS]

Forces Engaged: Division [US]; District of East Florida [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 2,806 total (US 1,860; CS 946)

Description: In February 1864, the commander of the Department of the South, Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, launched an expedition into Florida to secure Union enclaves, sever Rebel supply routes, and recruit black soldiers. Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour moved deep into the state, occupying, destroying, and liberating, meeting little resistance on February 20, he approached Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan’s 5,000 Confederates entrenched near Olustee. One infantry brigade pushed out to meet Seymour’s advance units. The Union forces attacked but were repulsed. The battle raged, and as Finegan committed the last of his reserves, the Union line broke and began to retreat. Finegan did not exploit the retreat, allowing most of the fleeing Union forces to reach Jacksonville.

Result(s): Confederate victory

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The surprising revelation of the symbolic implications of this Fourth season has had a very unsurprising effect: the Commissioner has abdicated his post for "other reasons". His final salvo is a "Call for Democracy", a sad legacy for a League that, based on an era pre-conceptus, is very un-democratic. That is to say, merit-based, which, of course, refers singularly to the will schlicht und einfach ("plain and simple").

With this in mind, it is prudent to respond to the many questions that were posed to me following last week's revelations.

(LEAVE FURTHER QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENT BOX FOR RESPONSE)

1. Is the Coming of the Four-fold another power grab?

Earth, Sky, Mortals, and Divinities is in no way a power-grab. It is a GE-STELL.

A Ge-stell is an enframing.

Enframing means the gathering together of the setting-upon that sets upon man, i.e. challenges him forth, to reveal the actual, in the mode of ordering, as standing-reserve.Put differently, "Enframing, as a challenging-forth into ordering, sends into a way of revealing. Enframing is an ordaining of destining, as is every way of revealing. Bringing-forth, poiesis, is also a destining in this sense

You may think of it in terms of pre-serving. The four-fold is a servant. As that which pre-serves, the four-fold pro-tects that which has been revealed, the techne and tikto.

The four-fold serves.

In this way, the four-fold acts as a shep-herd, standing on all four points of the League: North, South, East and West. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Perfectly divisible, yet in perfect balance. The Four-fold allows destining to happen. Like a shepherd that pre-serves the League, by bringing the PSAS into balance, it en-ables the League to dwell within its destining.

Only if we are capable of dwelling, only then can we build.

2: What does it mean to dwell?

The real plight of dwelling does not lie merely in a lack of houses. The real plight of dwelling is indeed older than the world wars with their destruction, older also than the increase of the earth's population and the condition of the industrial workers. The real dwelling plight lies in this, that mortals ever search anew for the nature of dwelling, that they must ever learn to dwell.

The Rise and Coming of the Four-Fold is the PSAS's chance to build its way towards a Beautiful Future. Building thus characterized is a distinctive letting-dwell. Whenever it is such in fact, building already has responded to the summons of the Fourfold. All planning remains grounded on this responding, and planning in turn opens up to the designer the precincts suitable for the Fourfold's designs.

Thus, the Four-Fold is the way to pro-tect, to en-sure, to pre-serve the PSAS. We dwell within this balance, against the reflection of the earth, sky, mortals, and divinities, giving us purpose, value, and meaning. As such, we dwell within the pre-servation of the fourfold, to the fullness of our nature. It lets us be.

This is the nature of dwelling.

In the PSAS, we must dwell to survive.