An Inconvenient South

My Dear Little Boy

2011-11-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

War is a dreadful thing, and I would rather do anything in the world than kill a man or help to kill one—but then if we were to let Lincoln’s army pass here, they might go into the State of Virginia and burn our homes and kill the old men and the women and children, and do a great deal more harm—and I am sure I would rather see a thousand of them killed around me, than to know that they had done any harm to my wife and dear little boys.

Source: Samuel J. C. Moore to “My Dear Little Boy,” May 16, 1861, Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Also: Historical marker related to Samuel J. C. Moore

Confederate memory and Ole Miss

2010-10-15T08:56:00.001-07:00

Some thoughts on Confederate memory and Ole Miss' New Mascot- The Rebel Black Bear:

Confederate memory, like southern history (and indeed all of American history) is complicated. And that complexity comes through even in the figure of a seemingly innocuous black bear. We aren't just dealing with a mean animal that can potentially intimidate opponents or that little kiddies will enjoy at football events; but something that is meant to represent the essence of Ole Miss, as an entity that is bound up with the traditions of locality and state.

The lore surrounding the black bear is deeply tied up with the South's complex racial past; it is by no means a figure uncomplicated by race. While this racial association is not visibly written on the figure of the black bear - it is there, embedded in the stories which give the symbol its life. And in an ironic twist it even manages a backhanded paw swipe at those who would dethrone the Confederate symbolism of Ole Miss.

from the Manhole Music Tea Room blog

Civil War barracks destroyed by fire

2010-09-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Washita Fort barracks, near Durant, Oklahoma, were destroyed by fire yesterday. Read more here. Another article here.

The Washita fort was built in 1842 to house federal troops protecting Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians from raids by plains tribes. It was abandoned in 1861 and taken over by the Confederate Army during the Civil War. According to Wikipedia,

Fort Washita became the headquarters of Brigadier General Douglas Cooper, who assumed command after the battle of Honey Springs. Other Confederate commanders during the Civil War include General Albert Pike, served as commander of Fort Washita for a short time before establishing Fort McCulloch a few miles to the east, and General Stand Watie. Near the end of the war in August 1865 Confederate forces burned the existing buildings and abandoned the post. A confederate cemetery remains to this day on the fort grounds.

After falling into disrepair, the site was purchased and reconstructed in the 1970s by the Oklahoma Historical Society. The site is also known for its ghost legends.

The 'Lincoln Tree' is no more

2010-08-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

During the Civil War...When federal troops took over the Seminary and used it for a hospital, they cut down many trees to use for firewood and other purposes. ...President Lincoln, on a visit, noticed the handsome oak and asked that it be spared for future generations to admire
Helen Reid, Search for the Invisible, p71.

Dr. Stephen Cook, Hebrew Bible Professor at Virginia Theological Seminary reports that "The Lincoln Tree" has been cut down:

Tree surgeons this morning cut down the "Lincoln Tree" in our neighbor's backyard. Apparently carpenter ants had eaten the core of the tree. See photos here..

http://biblische.blogspot.com/2010/06/loss-of-seminary-tree.html

Southern Draft Resistance during World War I

2010-07-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

While pro-war southerners evoked the spirits of the valiant Civil War dead in speeches and letters supporting the draft, southern antimilitarists drew upon memories of the Civil War to justify their aversion to war and especially to conscription. As an aged Confederate veteran wrote to Kitchin, "I know what it takes to face and charge a line of battle, or retreat, for I was in the Civil War. Entered in 61 came out in 65 a cripple for life... I don't want to see my sons and the sons of our country men to see such slaughter as I and those who fought the late war." Wilson administration supporters cited the Confederate draft to prove that conscription was not unsouthern, while antidraft congressmen used the Confederate draft to-show that conscription would not work.

Jeanette Keith "The Politics of Southern Draft Resistance, 1917-1918: Class, Race, and Conscription in the Rural South" The Journal of American History, Vol. 87, No. 4. (Mar., 2001), pp. 1335-1361.

Thoughts related to Independence Day

2010-07-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

We often know very little about even the most famous Americans from the 1700s. Their lives are surrounded by controversy and myth, and every academic gets to publish their own version of the facts. When it comes to my ancestors, who were not famous statesmen, it is far more difficult to tell their story. They can seem like mere names on a list. But thanks to having genealogists in the family, we have pieced together some details.

Colin Campbell- I first became aware of Colin Campbell when I was about eleven years old. My mother (Betsy Buck) showed me his name in a blue membership directory for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). I saw my great grandmother’s name printed with her DAR membership number, with the associated ancestor "Colin Campbell".

Colin Campbell was born in Scotland on January 27, 1749, four years after Charles Stewart’s uprising. Colin married Jean McPherson on his 24th birthday in 1773, three years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. In 1775 he was sent to the colonies as a commissioned officer in the British Army.

Upon finding that his brother William Campbell was an enthusiastic American patriot, Colin was persuaded to leave the Royal Army and join the Continentals in support of the colonial rebellion. Colin enlisted December 15, 1776 and was assigned to the 10th Virginia Regiment as Adjutant Major. William became the hero of the Battle of King’s Mountain, North Carolina where Loyalist forces suffered a critical defeat in 1780. "There Col. William Campbell, leader of the Virginians, a red-haired, 6-foot-6 giant married to the sister of firebrand patriot Patrick Henry, exhorted his men to ‘Shout like hell and fight like devils’... Loyalists were slain after they surrendered." (Smithsonian, July 2007, p44.)

Brother William later rose to the rank of General while Colin served until the surrender of Corwallis in 1781 and was paid off at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. Soon after Colin sent for his wife Jean McPherson and son Archibald and they settled near Abingdon, Virginia. Their son Archibald would marry the daughter of Henry Hawk (another Ft. Pitt soldier, see below) and served in the War of 1812. Colin died at the age of 85 on January 30, 1834.

Colin’s great grandson, Ota Hopkins Campbell would later serve in Confederate forces and fight at Gettysburg. There are two main sources of information for Colin; 1) Family Sheets on file with the DAR and 2) the PH Ropp Family Bible which is now stored in the Archives & Documents room at the Library of Virginia.

Henry Hawk- Also stationed at Fort Pitt was Henry Hawk (perhaps originally Hagg or Haugh), who is recorded as holding the rank of Corporal in the 7th Virginia Regiment. During the Revolutionary War, Fort Pitt served as the American headquarters for the western theater. Fort Pitt was originally built by the British in order to manage their volatile relations with the Delawares and Shawnees. It was abandoned to the locals in 1772.

A small brick building (called the Blockhouse) is all that remains of the fort in Point State Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Blockhouse was purchased and has been preserved by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Amy Carter (Mother of Greg Carter and Debbie Hester) applied for DAR membership under Henry Hawk. The DAR places a limit on the number of descendants that may join under any particular veteran. The limit for limit for Colin Campbell had been reached. We are not sure if Hawk was born in Pennsylvania or in Holland. He married Catherine Wren. Their daughter, Mary Polly Hawk, married Colin Campbell’s son Archibald. Other than this we know very little about Henry Hawk and his role in the American Revolution.

Nathaniel Vasser was born about 1757 in Amelia Co., Virginia. He fought at the 1781 siege of Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of British General Cornwallis. Cornwallis had fortified both Yorktown and a naval base at Gloucester Point, just on the other side of the York River.

In 1782 Nathaniel married Sarah Hudson, a descendant of the famous explorer Henry Hudson. Nathaniel died June 18, 1823 in Halifax Co., VA. When Sarah filed for a widows pension, she stated that Nathaniel served as a private in the Virginia Militia and "was engaged in many battles".

About eighty years after the historic battle of Yorktown, Nathaniel’s great grandson, John D. Vasser, would be stationed at Gloucester Point during the War Between the States. And ninety years after that, in the 1970s, David and Stephen Schneider (descendants of Nathaniel and John Vasser) would play on the Yorktown battlefields and regularly get their hair cut at Eddy’s Barber Shop on the Yorktown waterfront, located several hundred yards from Cornwallis’s Cave.

New York Irish

2010-06-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

We learn by a private letter received by one of our business men from Richmond, that 26 Irish members of the 69th New York Regiment have left the “__ Wreck” and joined the Confederate forces in Virginia. The 69th is an old established Regiment and has enjoyed a considerable reputation for drilling. We would not be surprised if we should have the entire Regiment ‘ere long.

- "The Irish Leaving Lincloln" Mobile Register, June 18, 1861, Page 2.

Nathan B. Forrest biographer to present in Blountville

2010-05-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 17th, SCV Lt. Robert D. Powell Camp (Blountville, Tennessee) will host Brian Steel Wills, author and professor of history at the University of Virginia. Brian will be speaking on the topic of Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The presentation will be held at 7pm in the Sullivan County courthouse (see map here). For more information contact camp Commander Campbell Schneider at: stephen_c_schneider AT hotmail DOT com.

Read more about Professor Wills here.
Books by Brian Steel Wills :

The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest

The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virginia

No Ordinary College: A History of The University of Virginia's College at Wise

A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest

Tennessee Attitudes toward Slavery

2010-05-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Responding to a questionnaire sent out by the Tennessee historical committee in 1922, an aging Confederate veteran demonstrated intense class resentment. His father, Joseph Larkins, had owned 100 acres of Dixon County Land but no slaves.

"He did not lik[e] the slave owners," the son reported, "the slaveholders thought they wer[e] Better than the Poor People." The old soldier continued: "My father would not vote for a man that owned Slaves nor would he have anything to do with them." [footnote: SP Larkins, Civil War Veterans Questionnaire (Tennessee State library and archives, Nashville, Tenn.)]

Such candid observations appear frequently in a unique and often overlooked collection of documents known as the Tennessee Civil War Veterans Questionnaires.

Fred A Bailey, “Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation,” The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 31.

Distinguish between Primary and Secondary Sources

2010-04-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

A concise web page that briefly covers one of the most important topics in academic endeavors...

Distinguish between Primary and Secondary Sources

... this distinction illustrates the degree to which the author of a piece is removed from the actual event being described, informing the reader as to whether the author is reporting impressions first hand (or is first to record these immediately following an event), or conveying the experiences and opinions of others...

Read the entire page here:
http://library.ucsc.edu/help/howto/distinguish-between-primary-and-secondary-sources

Eyewitness to History

2010-04-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

This is a neat website. Mash here...

Revealing glimpse into American attitudes of the times

2010-03-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

A strange mix of of media spin and racial attitudes on both sides...

"Picayune Butler" reports to Lincoln’s Secretary of War the gratifying intelligence that he has made prizes at Hampton of sixty thousand dollars worth of negroes.

He finds the “bucks” very useful in camp work, but wants instructions to the disposition which he shall make of the women and the children, who eat their rations and do no service in payment.

The "philanthropic" Yankee ought to be willing to feed the "poor slave" for nothing, seems to us.

- "Negro Stealing", Mobile Advertiser & Register, June 11, 1861, Page 2.

The Second Coming

2010-03-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Memorial Day 2009

2010-02-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

I know this is old, but i recently got my phone service upgraded and I can now share all the pics I've taken with my cel over the last two years. Here is a marker that was erected by the local UCV in Oklahoma City's Fairlawn Cemetery. It really is beautiful and touching. I have a couple pics of Confed graves and I'll post them if I can find any info on the people or units. I'd like to spend some time looking up names on both sides as there are probably three times as many identifiable Union graves as there are Confederate in this particular cemetery.

Fairlawn Cemetery 2700 North Shartel Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73103

It really is a shame that the SCV controversies from several years ago negatively affected how much attention is given to Confederate graves. Continuing SCV members take care of some sites and avoid those sites which are frequented by the members who were "purged". As a result, no one faction has a comprehensive mission. If a site is forgotten by one group, the other group will never know. Territories are defined by personal grudges and institutional memory is lost on both sides.

Slavery Divides Southern Whites

2010-02-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

East Tennesseans are well aware that their region was culturally distinctive from the rest of the state.

Oliver P. Temple, a prominent Unionist and Knoxville attorney, observed in 1912 that the "overpowering influence of slavery, [and] the fear of falling under the condemnation of the mighty oligarchy of slaveholders, to some extent paralyzed the minds" of many East Tennesseans.

In their questionnaires Confederate veterans from the region also recognized the social importance of Unionism. As William Morelock pointed out, in upper East Tennessee the classes were "antagonistic at [the] beginning and close of [the] war... The community was divided in Sentiment Federal and Confederate." A Jackson County aristocrat concurred. In his neighborhood "about half of the non-slaveholding class went off with the Federal's and it was several years after the war before harmony was restored."

Fred A Bailey, “Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation,” The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 46.

Bluegrass Bohemian Rhapsody

2010-01-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

Bohemian Rhapsody by Hayseed Dixie

The Civil War as seen by The Illustrated London News

2010-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

We Englishmen may still be permitted to hope that the work of George Washington will not be destroyed—that the double agency which is being brought to bear—the hydraulic press of political hate, and the steam-tug of commercial aspiration... may not be potent enough to tear the Republic in twain.

Farsighted American statesmen have left on record their conviction that such a crisis would one day arrive, but the existing race will show themselves less worthy of their noble predecessors than they would willingly be esteemed if they are unequal to the task of averting the disaster against which they had been warned. - The Illustrated London News, vol. 38, no. 1068 (January 5, 1861) p. 6.

This is a great and fascinating resource. Click to access...

Indians VS the Klan: Indians 1, Klan 0

2010-01-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

January 17th is the anniversary of one of my favorite bits of Southern history: the confrontation between Lumbee Indians and the KKK. I studied Indian law and some Native history in college, and it is to my shame that I never came across this account until just several years ago.

Why was this never a big story? Maybe because for conservatives, minorities expressing their 2nd Amendment Rights is a disturbing scenario; and maybe for liberals, the Indians don't perform the politically correct ritual of declaring debilitating "pain" or "trauma" caused by hate speech.

Give me a good courageous uprising any day. I love this story so much, I transcribed it from a copy of an article printed in the Raleigh Times just before the confrontation. Then I've included a couple other sources that hopefully complete the story.

Klan Rally Doubtful; Maxton Indians Arming
Raleigh Times Jan. 17, 1958
By Erv Parkins
Times Staff Writer

MAXTON- It was questionable whether Ku Klux Klansmen would hold their scheduled rally and cross burning aimed at halting racial mixing of white and redskins.

Bruce Roberts, editor of the Scottish Chief, weekly newspaper at Maxton, said Indians had indicated they would attend the rally en masse to "scalp the Klan" and pull some of the sheets off.

Maxton ministers have called on citizens to boycott the rally. Sheriff M.G. McCloud and Maxton Police Chief Bob Fisher indicated they had not had any trouble and said they did not know yet whether to expect any.

"You don't know when to expect trouble until it hits you," the sheriff said.

SBI Chief Walter Anderson said today he would not send his men to help police the rally unless law officials requested it.

The sheriff and Maxton police chief indicated they saw no need for such action. They said there had been no trouble.

Klansmen who burned two crosses elsewhere in Robeson County earlier this week announced they would meet outside Maxton tomorrow night for another cross burning as a "warning" to the Indians.

Hardware stores reported sales of guns and ammunition to the normally peaceful Croatans skyrocketed after the KKK announcement, and a spokesman for the Indians said they would "wipe out" the white-robed klansmen if they go ahead with the rally.

Some officials said feeling among the Indians, who make up about one-third of Robeson County's population, was so intense that the Klan demonstrated probably would be cancelled.

But a Klan leader, the Rev. James Cole of Marion S.C., told the United Press Thursday night he saw "no reason" why the rally should not be held as scheduled.

Police Chief Bob Fisher said his force would make every effort to prevent violence. "We have always had good race relations here and we don't intend to let any outside group stir up trouble with our Indians," he said.

According to the Lumbee tribe website... On a bitter cold January 18th evening in 1958, about 350 Lumbee tribal members gathered at Hayes Pond in Maxton to stop a Ku Klux Klan rally that had been called by John “Catfish” Cole. Only 50 of the predicted 5,000 Klansman showed for the rally whom Cole said would attend to put the Lumbee back in their place.

The Klan set up a generator to power a sound system and a single light bulb. When Cole stood to speak, it wasn’t long before tribal members, many armed, swarmed in, shooting out the light. With bullets flying, the Klansman ran, leaving vehicles, women and children behind.

Catfish Cole and James Martin were later indicted and arrested on charges. Cole was charged and convicted of inciting a riot and Martin was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and drunkenness. (from: www.lumbeetribe.com)

From the Fay Observer:

A few minutes before the rally was to begin, Sanford Locklear, who came up from Pembroke, began arguing with Cole. Words became shoves as tempers rose. Then the first shot was fired — a shotgun blast that shattered the only light in the field. That was enough for most of the Klansmen.

As dozens of Indians shot into the air, peppering the field with birdshot, dozens of Klansmen scattered into the woods. Cole was among them, leaving his wife, Carolyn, behind. In a panic, she drove their car into a ditch, where several Indians helped push her out. The state patrol, who had been waiting about a mile away, moved in when gunfire broke out. Sheriff McLeod, who later said he didn't want to be accused of defending the Klan by showing up early, helped find lost Klansmen in the bushes and directed them out of Robeson County.

Their foe routed, the victors began collecting spoils. Simeon Oxendine and Charlie Warriax snagged the large KKK banner from the flatbed truck. Others playfully donned some of the Klan robes left behind and fired their shotguns into the air. Oxendine and Warriax took their captured banner back to the VFW convention in Charlotte, where they posed for photographers from The Charlotte Observer. (from the Fay Observer website)

Christopher Arris Oakley, a historian at East Carolina University who specializes in local Native American History also covered this event in his article "When Carolina Indians Went on the Warpath": The Media, the Klan, and the Lumbees of North Carolina" (Southern Cultures - Volume 14, Number 4, Winter 2008, pp. 55-84).

To Arms! Our Soil Must be Defended!

2010-01-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

In spite of measurable social strife during the antebellum era, Tennessee's Confederate generation entered the Civil War fairly united. To be sure, a majority of the east Tennesseans, as well as a substantial number living near the western shore of the Tennessee River, sided with the Union. Most of the remainder enrolled under the Confederate banner. Youths volunteered, emboldened by patriotic fervor, excited by the god of adventure, and blinded to the carnage of combat. Rebel companies enlisted by communities where dissent was associated with treason, and failure to join was tainted with cowardice.

Class antagonisms were momentarily set aside in the confusion of crisis. "To arms!" Admonished a Hickman County colonel in his recruiting circular. "Our Southern soil must be defended. We must not stop to ask who brought about the war, who is at fault, but let us go and do battle… And then settle the question who is to blame."

Fred A Bailey, “Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation,” The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 50.

Confederate Indian Treaties: Promising more than it could deliver

2009-12-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some excerpts from "The implementation of the Confederate Treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes" by Kenny A. Franks (The Chronicles of Oklahoma, volume LI, Number 1, Spring 1973). The article takes a close look at the efforts of Albert Pike to develop a sustainable policy toward tribes. Pike was a native of Massachusetts and Brigadier General in the Confederate Army.

In a period of federal expansion, pre-existing governments presented a problem for those who were inspired by manifest destiny. Therefore tribes had to be re-defined as a collection of individual wards of the state, rather than self-governing nations. In contrast, tribal sovereignty was more consistent with the Confederacy's views on States' rights (as long as you weren't a Cherokee living in the middle of Georgia, thanks to Andrew Jackson) but more practically, the recognition of tribal governmental power was a method of cementing an alliance on the sparsely populated but chaotic frontier.

Albert Pike, the man responsible for the success of the Confederate efforts to gain alliances with the Five Civilized Tribes, was fully devoted to the betterment of the South's Indian wards. In August, 1862, he forwarded an eleven-point program to President Jefferson Davis designed to carry forward the good relations which had been established with the Indians. (p21)

The treatment of the Indian troops and the supply system of the Confederate army also was discussed. Pike advocated the immediate dismissal of any officer who seized supplies en route to Indian Territory, and the direct shipment of all monies allocated to the Indians to the officials responsible for their distribution. ...Pike likewise prodded the Confederacy to honor claims for supplies which had already been provided by the Indians. (p22)

Thus the man who had done the most to gain Southern treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes proposed a program which was designed to ensure the success of the relationship. Just how much the Confederacy was to ignore Pike's advice can be seen in the early attempts at implementing the treaty stipulations. Though the programs outlined for Indian Territory were well organized and developed, they never were adequately initiated and maintained. All of the agreements called for the furnishing of Indian troops for the protection of Indian Territory. These troops were to be used exclusively with in the boundaries of Indian Territory and were not to be subject to service elsewhere.

The number of men to be raised varied among the tribes. The Creeks and Seminoles pledged a regiment of 10 companies; the Chickasaws and Choctaws were to furnish one regiment. The Cherokees not only agreed to the raising of one regiment, but also to the furnishing of two reserve companies. All of these troops were to be mounted, and their officers were to be elected from among the troops. The Confederacy was to assume the burden of equipping and paying the forces. These Indian troops were to be graded the same pay and allowances as all other Confederate forces. (p23)

The Confederacy next began to assimilate these forces into its military structure. The first military command of the Indian Territory was created on May 13, 1861, when Brigadier General Ben McCulloch was given the command of the district of Indian Territory... The nearly unanimous decision of the Federal Indian agents within Indian Territory to side with the Confederacy gave the self a nucleus on which to build inefficient agency system among the Five Civilized Tribes. (p24)

The Confederacy, by its own bureaucratic blundering and ineptness, failed to formulate a clear and concise program needed for the success of its efforts and Indian Territory. Had the South followed the suggestions of Pike's proposals, perhaps the confusion resulting from the attempts at creating an Indian policy would have been avoided. (p26)

Of all the civil functions promised in the Indian treaties, the one calling for the creation of a court system within Indian Territory was probably most widely hailed by the Indians. Because they had long experienced white man's laws as applied to the Indians on white man's ground, they were eager to have control over their own judicial system. ... These courts were to be regular district courts of the Confederacy with the exclusive power in criminal cases to try, condemned, and punish offenders who violated the law. They also were empowered to pronounce sentence and carryout execution. They were to exercise the same judicial power as any other district court system in the Confederacy. (p28)

The judiciary was given the full faith and credit of the judicial officers of the same grade and jurisdiction in any of the Confederate states. Thus was established for Indian Territory a workable judicial system based on the same rights and privileges as white citizens of the Confederacy, and on equal terms with other Southern states court systems.

... Extradition was provided not only among the Indian nations themselves, but also between the Indians and the other states of the Confederacy. These actions by the South of virtually ended all discrimination based on the Indian blood within the Confederate court system. ... Like the other civil services which the South attempted to establish inside Indian Territory, this one also failed.

... This inability of the Confederacy to fulfill his obligations to the Indians was blamed on the disturbed condition of the country. Whatever the reason, the question of the courts remained a course of dissatisfaction among the Indians throughout the war. ... The Indians were allowed to tax all licensed white traders of importing goods into Indian Territory. (p29)

To permit the Indians to participate fully in the government of the Confederacy, the Creeks and Seminoles were allowed jointly one representative in the House of Representatives. The Choctaws and Chickasaws were also allowed one representative to be elected alternately from either tribe, and the Cherokees were entitled to a single delegate. These representatives were to serve two year terms, had to be 21 years of age and under no legal disability. The Creek and Seminal delegate had to be a member of either nation. The Cherokee representative was required to be a native born citizen, and the Choctaw and Chickasaw member had to be a tribal member by birth either on the father's or mother's side. (p31)

The delegates were to ensure that the Indians would be able to secure the rights they were entitled to without the intervention of their agents. The delegates were allowed to propose in introduce measures for the benefit of the Indian nations. (p32)

Though the programs outlined for the country were well organized and developed, they were never adequately initiated and maintained. This difference in paper planning and actual execution was the result of many factors. Perhaps the most relevant of these was the continuing devastation of Indian Territory as the opposing armies in advanced and retreated across the country. The dislocation and confusion resulting from the military campaigns made it virtually impossible to establish a civil government with any degree of effectiveness. The Confederacy was hampered also by financial problems from the onset of the Civil War, and early in the conflict the money promised by the South became worthless. Apparently in its haste to gain the much desired Indian alliance, the Confederacy was guilty of promising much more than it could ever deliver. (p33)

Fighting for Slavery

2009-12-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

More than one out of four of Tennessee's confederate generation remembered class strife.

"Those who didn't owned slaves hated those who did," declared an upper class Madison Countian. He further stressed that "Antagonism was mostly the fault of the non-slaveholders."

Fred A Bailey, "Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation," The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 49.

Social Class and Confederate desertions

2009-12-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

Defeats and deprivations contributed to significant attrition among Tennessee soldiers. At the war's end thousands were removed from active service by wounds, by imprisonments, or by desertions. Only a handful of the veterans confessed to military infidelity. In 1865, however, many were absent from their units on furlough, searching for horses, or, in what was probably a euphemism for desertion, "cut off from their companies."

... Among those who filled out the questionnaire only about 50% of the poor, the non-slaveholding yeoman, and the slave owning yeoman, surrendered with an active command. In the war's last Spring, 70% of the wealthy remained faithful to the Rebel crusade.

Fred A Bailey, “Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation,” The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 52, 53.

Poor Soldiers

2009-12-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

"A renter had no chance to save anything," remonstrated William Beard, "slave holders were the only men that could make enough money to do anything."

William Eskew complained that "Th[e]re was no chance for a young foreman for his wages was so low... [He Was] discouraged by the Slaveholders."

George V. Payne even accused the planter class of keeping the poor down "so they could make slaves of them,” and A.J. Ferrell wrote with bitterness: "if [the wealthy] had not owned slaves as a working man I... could have secured better wages."

Fred A Bailey, “Class and Tennessee's Confederate Generation,” The Journal Of Southern History Volume LI, No.1 (February 1985): 36.

Black man identified as veteran in Texas

2009-11-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

... was found here.

Help needed- Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum

2009-11-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

The Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum is a repository of local Afro-American culture, with an ever-growing collection of interesting artifacts that testify to lives richly lived by our ancestors in southwest Missouri.

The OAAHM is supported entirely by visitor donations. The OAAHM is in serious fiscal difficulties, and needs help. Donations of any size would be deeply appreciated. Visit them online at www.oaahm.org

See this video about the curator, a descendant of the slaves who worked the land...

Secular Right on "Empire of Liberty"

2009-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

from the Secular Right blog, a few thoughts on his reading of Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815...

Around 1850 the South was an export driven economy based on trade, in particular with Great Britain. By this time New England the whole Northeast had shifted toward a more diversified economy, and native manufacturers militated for the tariffs which their forebears would have scoffed at. Additionally, around 1800 New England was the redoubt of orthodox Christianity. The South was the domain of more easy-going religion, and outright heterodoxy among its social & political elites. Finally, one of the most interesting things to note is that it was in the Southern states that Francophilia during the period of the French Revolution was strongest!

There's a lot to be discussed here. I have not heard of this book. Thanks to Secular Right for this short overview, it sounds like interesting reading. If I were not in the middle of some other reading at the moment, I would look at this book with great interest.

View an original Declaration of Independence- one day only

2009-10-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

For One Day Only Visitors Can See Rare Copy of the Declaration of Independence for Free at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.

On Saturday, October 24, from 10 am to 3 pm, the Virginia Historical Society (VHS) will display one of only twenty-six known original printed copies of the Declaration of Independence.

Ordered by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, these printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were distributed the next day to the thirteen states, King George in England, and George Washington to be read to the soldiers of the Continental Army.

Contact: Jennifer M. Guild, Media Relations Specialist
(804) 342-9665
jguild@vahistorical.org

Read article here...
http://www.vahistorical.org/news/pr_doi.htm

The Trial of the Century!

2009-10-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Amelia Buck (my Great Grandmother) had a sister named Margaret Ann “Maggie” Graham. She lived in Hilton Village, Virginia with her husband, Walter Christian Graham. Maggie was co-founder of the Hilton Village Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy.

In September, 1931 their daughter, Jenny Kane, came to Hilton Village for a visit with her husband. Jenny was married to Dr. Elisha Kent Kane III, a professor at Tennessee University. On September 11, the family went to Grandview beach for a swim and a picnic. Tragically, Jenny drowned during the excursion under circumstances the family considered suspicious. Dr. Kane was a strong swimmer and should have been able to pull his wife to shore with ease. Rather than carrying her directly to the car, Dr. Kane left Jenny on the sand. He then walked to his car and drove it back to where Jenny lay. Jenny’s parents felt Dr. Kane intentionally wasted valuable time. Kane drove Jenny to Dixie Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Two hours after her funeral, Dr. Kane was arrested for murder. Because of his position at the university and because of his prominent northern family, the ensuing trial was followed by newspapers all along the east coast. Some even called it the “trial of the century”. Jenny’s mother and father testified for the prosecution during which they complained of Dr. Kane’s impious lifestyle:

“Allegations of profanity made by relatives of Mrs. Kane caused him to leap from his chair and rush to judge Spratley’s bench and shout denials” (Daily Press, Dec. 12, 1931).

Dr. Kane was acquitted for lack of strong evidence. His reputation as a “wife killer” followed him for the rest of his life (this was how he was remembered in my family). He eventually resigned his professorship.

Just a few months later in January of 1932, Dr. Kane’s 70 year old father, surgeon Evan O'Neill Kane, performed a hernia operation on himself (see creepy photo). Time magazine records that “He chatted and joked with the nurses as he cut, sponged and sutured for 1 hr. 45 min.” This was not a unique event, however. Several years prior (in 1921), Dr. Evan Kane removed his own appendix and thus became the first surgeon in history to operate on himself.

According to Wikipedia, Dr. Kane was the son of Civil War Major General Thomas L. Kane, founder of Kane, Pennsylvania and a prominent abolitionist. Wikipedia also mentions the trial above in this article.

Following the Sources, you'll see a Google Books preview of a well researched book, Down by the Back River Light: The Sensational 1931 Murder Trial of Professor Kane. Author Ann Davis adds this touching note in the epilogue: for all who grieved her passing, the time of mourning was vandalized by the unsavory publicity…

Davis invites us further into the story by saying I would like to hear from you to know, if after reading this book, it is still you are a pain Ian that Elisha Kent Kane, III did willfully and maliciously hold his wife under water until she drowned.

Sources:
- The Good Old Days in Hampton and Newport News by Parke Rouse, Jr.
- Down by the Back River Light by Ann Davis, Morgan James Publishing, Garden City, NY.
- “Country Surgeon”, Time Magazine, Monday, Jan. 18, 1932
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742943,00.html)

Looking for the Savior in Oklahoma: Hulda Thurston Hinch

2009-07-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Another blog I follow, Logismoi, typically focuses on Christian saints throughout history, and the literature surrounding their lives. But recently Logismoi wrote a beautiful post regarding one of his own ancestors...

My father is an avid amateur genealogist, and for him the researching of old names and wandering in cemeteries is a moral, almost spiritual act of remembering and honouring our ancestors. Until this week, I do not recall ever even having heard Grandma Hinch’s name, but now I have not only this photograph, but a quite illuminating obituary as well...
But as the icing on the cake, the obituary includes a poem, attributed to ‘A Daughter’...

Read the entire post here

White Southerners in the Civil Rights Movement

2009-06-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Professor David L. Chappell currently holds the Irene & Julian Rothbaum Professorship of American History at the University of Oklahoma. He has produced two works on American racial and civil rights history. I don’t like to rehash things already posted elsewhere but with constraints on my time, hopefully I can at least summarize in one paragraph what you might find across several other sites:

Inside Agitators: White Southerners in the Civil Rights Movement

One fascinating bit that did not make it into Inside Agitators was Chappell’s interview with C.P. Ellis, who was famous for renouncing his Klan membership in the 1970s. The interview apparently was similar to the one he did with Studs Terkel. Having known the feelings of power and solidarity that the Klan robe gave to a poor white man, Ellis told Chappell of how he began to understand and the African dashiki so popular in the 60s and 70s to the point where he wanted to wear one.

Chappell argues that moderate whites, though lacking a moral commitment to civil rights, played a key role in the movement's success at both the local and national levels. - Virginia Quarterly Review

Chappell explodes the convenient myth of the monolithic and homogeneous white South to reveal a society deeply divided over segregation. - Kari Frederickson, Southern Historian

A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow

A Stone of Hope offers a refreshing reexamination of the American civil rights movement. Rather than being a victory of liberal ideals, the civil rights struggle owes its success to the Biblical prophetic tradition. Liberal politics offered a protracted “wait” and there was no guarantee of substantial, timely change. On the other hand, the potent message of Biblical themes was a catalyst and at the same time brought together divergent groups. More summary here…

http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/book_detail?title_id=1054

Chappell has two forthcoming titles- Waking from the Dream: The Battle over Martin Luther King's Legacy, (which does NOT cover the current King estate battle by the way) and one I especially look forward to, The Mind of the Segregationist.

Doh! I missed this...

2009-05-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

I went to a kids b-day party instead. But at the party I did get to chat with another historian friend of mine, David L. Chapell, who wrote two books on... well, I'll save that for another post.

More Southern memory that requires harsh critique

2009-05-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Oral Histories From Mercer Foodways Class Students in a Southern foodways course at Mercer University collected oral histories from cooks in Macon, Georgia. Professor David A. Davis explains that "these interviews are an important archive for both culinary arts and Southern identity."

Here's where their methodology breaks down. When you look at culinary records from Northern sources, you find severe discrepancies between type and numerical combination of ingredients between any two foods of the same name, which make Southern recollection highly suspect. And even if you take Southern records at face value, the records show so much variation across the states that you really cannot claim there is any such thing as a "Southern food" much less a "Southern culinary tradition."

In addition, economic disparities precluded African American cooks from gaining access to the same quality ingredients as their white counterparts, so it is a myth that white and black cooks could have similar sentiments towards their cooking or those that who were eating it.

A little levity, gentlemen.

Truth be told, I am intrigued by this class and have read their online interviews. Fascinating stuff. It makes me miss my grandmother- may her memory be eternal. Oh, the culinary magic she conjured!

William Faulkner on Virginia families

2009-04-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

"Even in our wilderness the old Virginia blood still runs and the old Virginia names- Byrd and Lee and Carter- still endure. There is no family in our wilderness but has that old aunt or grandmother to tell the children as soon as they can hear and understand: Your blood is Virginia blood too; your great-great-great grandfather was born in Rockbridge or Fairfax or Prince George- Valley or Piedmont or Tidewater, right down to the nearest milestone, so that Virginia is a living place to that child long before he ever heard (or cares) about New York or, for that matter, America."

- “Address to the Rave, Jefferson, and ODK Societies of the University of Virginia”, Charlottesville, Feb. 20, 1958, William Faulkner: Essays, Speeches & Public Letters, Modern Library, 2004.

I am Carter on my mom's side. The correct pronunciation being kaw'-tuh.

Civil War and religion in Indian Country

2009-04-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

This book gives is a real slice of Oklahoma rural culture and is worth promoting. The Seminole Baptist Churches of Oklahoma is one volume in the The Civilization of the American Indian Series. The book is a result of four years of fieldwork and brings to light an obscure and (sadly) disappearing facet of Oklahoma: that of native churches and their role in maintaining a traditional community. This is a fascinating book. Author Jack Schultz covers everything from traditional architecture, preservation of language, and theology.

Several passages relate to Seminole history during the Civil War era:

With the onset of the Civil War, federal troops that had been stationed in forts around Seminole territory were removed to protect the eastern states. Confederate forces soon took control of several of the abandoned forts. Whereas the federal government had virtually abandoned Indian Territory, the Confederates were willing to embrace the Indians. In 1861, a Confederate delegation negotiated a treaty wuth the Seminoles, promising better treatment than they had received thus far from the federal overnment. The principle cheif, John Jumper, and twelve band mekkos [traditional chiefs] endorsed it. A faction of the tribe, led by Billy Bowlegs and John Chupko, refused to sign, however. They and their followers and almost all of the Seminole freedmen left Seminole territory and went north to Kansas, enduring great harsdship along the way. Once in Kansas, these Seminoles enlisted in the Union Army. Jumper organized a Seminole battalion for the Confederate army.

All Seminoles endured the extreme difficulties of the the war: homes and property were destroyed; many Seminoles became refugees; sickness and starvation were widespread; casualties and destruction were great. Unfortunately, difficulties did not end with the war. Seminoles who had remained loyal to the federal government expected some reward for their pro-Union efforts but were assigned the same fate as those who had sided with the Confederates (with the exception of $50,000 divided among the loyalists for losses sustained during the war). The northern and southern Seminoles did not immediately reconcile their differences. for a time the tribe supported two principal chiefs: John Jumper for the Southern Seminoles and John Chupko for the northern Seminoles.
In 1866, the Seminoles signed a new treaty with the federal government... After 1866, the Seminoles and freedmen shared their government, their schools, and their land.

... In the years following the war, denominational boundaries continued to reflect the north-south cleavage. Presbyterian missions appealed to the norther Seminoles, and the Baptists attracted those Seminoles who had supported the Confederacy.

... Whereas the Presbyterians relied on specially trained outside missionaries, the Baptists relied on the more effective strategy of using native preachers. This was particularly true after the Civil War.

(Jack M. Schulz, The Seminole Baptist Churches of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1999. p37-38; 48,49.)

It is interesting how the WBTS provided the foundation for future denominational differences. I spent some time in Oklahoma Indian Country, both socially and professionally. I don't remember ever meeting any Seminoles that were Presbyterian. Most folks living within Native culture that I met were Baptist. I've been told that among the older generation, there are lots of old fellows who are called "medicine man" on Saturday, and then preach at church on Sunday. I love that. Unfortunately, this unique culture is quickly disappearing. Here is a related article at Southern Spaces.

I understand the detachment needed for an enthnographic work; but still, it is peculiar to see how neighbors just down the road- from my perspective- and their families, are studied like exotic specimens.

Speaking of Baptists, the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma just recently elected its first American Indian president, the Reverend Emerson Falls (at right).

Muster!

2009-04-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

Ways the SCV can attract young members

2009-03-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

The things that make a bunch of old guys interested in the SCV will not be the same things that attract younger men and boys. Battle Flag credit cards and political commentaries are not going to spark a young man's interest in his heritage. That's old guy stuff.

Also, it is unrealistic to expect every SCV member to be a good ol country boy. That's not heritage, its image. Like it or not, lots of kids are not going to be drawn to an organization based on seer sucker suits or how many members act like good ol' boys. We have to ask ourselves, how bad do we want younger members?

Good idea #1: Video games can be very educational. For guys that like to play Warcraft, here are some Civil War battle maps for download. Somebody really has to jump on this stuff. We could give away copies of Sid Meiers Civil War Collection, or The History Channel's A Nation Divided.

Good Idea #2: Advocate for the release of Johnny Rotten's video visit to a reenactment. John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was the lead singer for some very famous bands in the 1970s - 90s and hosted a series called "Rotten Loves America." In one installment, Rotten visited Nelson Winbush and confederate reenactors. The corporate sponsors refuse to release the video. See where his website mentions the SCV and "War of Southern Independence" here. By the way, Johnny Rotten says happy birthday to Nelson Winbush here.

Good idea #3: Buy bulk copies of the new Haunted Tank and give them out with flyers or stickers. Now if you are an old guy, you can't tell me you didn't like Haunted Tank. I read them as a kid. They were great. The new series looks good too. The lesson of the new series? Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Another good idea- if the series is still going, take out an ad in the comic. Visit the comic at the DC/Vetigo site here.

This stuff is gold.

Off topic: Food in Bluff City, Tennessee

2009-03-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

This isn't heritage related, but I saw that Larry Proffitt, owner of Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City is featured on the Southern Foodways Alliance website. See the link for more photos. Every Civil War blog should talk about local food once in a while.

Black Union Soldiers

2009-03-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

I know as a Southern man I am supposed to have latent racist feelings that others can diagnose but that I blindly do not recognize. I'm supposed to play the role of the southern stereotype that has a grudge against minorities, wants Blacks to remain in their place, yada, yada, yada...

But in the real world, I like stories of popular uprisings, and my heart swells at stories of people fighting for their freedom, no matter who they are. This is one of my favorite photos, two black Union soldiers aiming their weapons. Gleaned from old-photos.blogspot.com, which states the picture was taken near the Dutch Gap Canal in Virginia.

Judah P. Benjamin would be proud

2009-03-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

I don't want to diminish the thoughtful birthday gifts I received from close friends at my 40th birthday party. They were very meaningful.

However I just received another birthday gift from one of my favorite groups, The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. This is a real treat.

On another blog I mentioned how I received some klezmer music for my birthday. Through a google search the band's founder came across my blog post. As a result, Maxwell Street sent this most excellent b-day gift to me (photo @ right).

Maxwell Street Klezmer Band. The band is named after Chicago's first and most famous center of Jewish life, the vibrant Maxwell Street marketplace. True to the spirit of their name, the band includes several recent immigrants whose style blends beautifully with the Maxwell's traditional and jazz musicians. - from JewishSource

You can listen to the album on Rhapsody here... Don't email Maxwell Street and ask for free music. If you want a free CD, get it the way I did- buy a CD then start a local band to promote the art form and gig for about a year.

Because neither I nor my bandmates are Jewish, I was tempted to name our band Goy George.

A General Explains Motives for War

2009-02-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

I apprehend that if all living Union soldiers were summoned to the witness stand, every one of them would testify that it was the preservation of the American Union and not the destruction of Southern slavery that induced him to volunteer at the call of his Country. As for the South, it is enough to say that perhaps eighty percent of her armies were neither slave-holders, nor had the remotest interest in the institution... both sides fought and suffered for liberty as bequeathed by the Fathers--the one for liberty in the union of the States, the other for liberty in the independence of the States.

"Reminiscences of the Civil War", by John B. Gordon, Maj. Gen. CSA

Confederate Vets Bringing Reconciliation

2009-02-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Old Virginia Blog for bringing this article and photo to my attention...

Reunions of blue and gray were emotional

For years, you could find for sale in almost any truck stop in the South a bumper sticker or statuette showing a small, angry Confederate soldier waving a battle flag and yelling, "Forget, hell!" It seems, however, that 20th-century producers of tchotchke were more willing to capitalize on old sectional grievances than were the men who actually fought in the War Between the States.

When veterans of the 5th Virginia Infantry Regiment — most of them from Staunton — were invited in 1883 by their old foes, the 28th New York Volunteers, to participate in the first reunion of Federal and Confederate veterans and to officially return the 28th's captured flag, the Southerners quickly agreed. Eighty former Confederate soldiers and 73 civilian escorts arrived by rail in Niagara Falls on May 21 in a cold, driving rain. They were quartered at the International Hotel as guests of the 28th New York.

The next day, despite the inclement weather, some 2,000 people gathered to watch the historic reunion. At 11 a.m. May 22, the old soldiers — some of them in full uniform — and their civilian guests lined up in front of the hotel for a march down Falls Street and past the Soldiers' Monument to a pavilion in Prospect Park. Upon their arrival, a band played "The Red, White and Blue" and "Dixie," both of which were greeted with the "rebel yells" and Yankee cheers.

The pavilion, which accommodated 1,000 people, was quickly filled. A thousand more stood outside in the rain. Capt. Ben Flagler, president of the 28th New York Regiment Association, greeted the former Confederates. A moving, lengthy reply was given by the 5th Virginia's Col. E.E. Stickley.

"His expressions of hearty submission to the results of the war and of loyalty to the old flag were unreserved and had the fullest assent from his comrades of the Fifth Virginia present," noted a reporter for The New York Times. "After this it was not at all difficult for any Union soldier to listen to his eulogy of Lee and Jackson, coupled as it was with eulogies of men fallen on the Union side."

After a quartet sang "America," the old regimental flag of the 28th New York was brought out. Captured by the 5th Virginia at the battle of Cedar Mountain in 1862, the flag had been re-captured by Union forces with the fall of Richmond in 1865. Col. Edwin Brown of the 28th had been instrumental in bringing the flag home and in organizing its official return by its captors.

One of Staunton's leading citizens and the senior officer of the 5th Virginia — Col. James W. Newton — stepped forward to present the flag to Brown. Interestingly, neither of these two old warriors had emerged from the war unscathed. Brown had lost an arm at Cedar Mountain and Newton had lost a leg at Winchester in 1864. Newton, who was in full Confederate uniform, presented the flag with these words:

"In the name of the 5th Virginia Infantry, I now present this flag to its honored and worthy owners, and as an eyewitness at the time of its capture, in justice to you, I delight to say that losing it under the circumstances you did, reflects no discredit on you.

"Take it, my valiant friends, and treasure it as the emblem of a reunited country, signifying the return of the affections and good will of brave men who met in strife on the field of battle." The Staunton Vindicator described the scene as "most impressive and stirring," while The Argus of New Philadelphia, Ohio, called it "an impressive and tear-provoking scene."

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Mrs. Jesse Peterson and a chorus sang "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was a performance, noted The New York Times, that "electrified the audience and brought them to their feet." For the rest of the day and into the night, Niagara Falls echoed with cheers, "rebel yells" and the re-living of old battles. Representatives of some 50 Union regiments were in attendance and provided the survivors of the 5th Virginia with plenty of memories of campaigns in and out of the Shenandoah Valley.

"The Virginians," wrote The New York Times, "will leave here tomorrow for home highly pleased with their reception and with the heartiness of the hospitality extended." Before they left, however, the Southerners made a point of doing two things. First, they traveled as a group to the Soldiers' Monument where they decorated it with wreaths. Second, they invited the 28th New York to come to Staunton for its reunion the following year, and to partake of some Southern hospitality. The war, noted one newspaper, was "at last" over.

Reunions of blue and gray were emotional
By Charles Culbertson/ contributor • mail@stauntonhistory.com • January 31, 2009
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090131/LIFESTYLE22/901310317/1024/LIFESTYLE
(photo from 1913 Gettysburg reunion)

Confederate image in the hands of African Americans

2009-02-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

You've heard the phrase "only Nixon could go to China". Well, maybe only African Americans can really take the lead in changing attitudes towards things Confederate. For example...

The Alfalfa Club is an exclusive Washington, D.C. social club founded in 1913 and its function was to celebrate the birthday of Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee. The club didn't admit blacks until the 1970s, and women until 1994.

On January 31st 2009, President Barack Obama spoke at the club's annual dinner saying "this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused." Read the story here...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/01/alfalfa.obama/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

A Southern historian posted a story on his blog about a Black chaplain in the Confederate forces that brought 1) Yankee and Southern soldiers together, and 2) "seasons of revival". The historian interviewed the chaplain's descendant, who is an African American and member in the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Read the entire post here on the Old Virginia blog:

http://oldvirginiablog.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-try-to-get-my-information-first-hand.html

ATLAH World Ministries, a predominantly African American church (pastored by the controversial James David Manning) is in the process of organizing the The Gettysburg Project. The purpose of the event is to give thanks for the deliverance from slavery, honor their ancestors that suffered and died due to slavery, and at the same time take a leadership role in racial reconciliation by holding the prayer event at the very place where thousands of Confederate soldiers died.

Project webpage: http://atlah.org/about/gettysburg.html

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCKcddFacqg

South Carolina Sen. Robert Ford, an African American, wants to require local governments to observe both Confederate Memorial Day and Martin Luther King Day. The idea was for people in black and white communities to understand each other's history, to maybe understand each other a little better.

"I'm tired of all the bickering and the hatred and the fighting we do in South Carolina... We need to know what made Southern whites do what they did, secede from the Union and fight a four-year, bloody war."

Story here:
http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/feb/04/sen_ford_wants_holidays_observed70536/

Finally, this is really cool- the old Haunted Tank comic is back. The ghost of Confederate General JEB Stuart still haunts the tank, but this time the action takes place in Iraq, and the tank driver is African American. Thanks to Cenantua for bringing this to my attention.

http://cenantua.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/the-curious-evolution-of-the-haunted-tank/

Also, thanks to Campbell at the CSA Heritage blog for the pin graphic at the top
http://csaheritage.blogspot.com/

Sullivan County Archives Initiative

2009-01-30T05:37:00.000-08:00

There is in Sullivan County, Tennessee a hidden gem for regional historians and genealogists.

Located within the Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism, the Archives and History Center is home to hundreds of historic manuscripts, photographs, and family histories, crossing state and county boundaries. It is a welcome surprise to those researching East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

The facility is located at 3425 Hwy. 126, Suite 100, in historic downtown Blountville, adjacent to the Sullivan County Courthouse.

This month the Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism acknowledged the local Sons of the Confederate Veterans for its book donations to the Research Center, especially Brigade Commander, David Roberts, and Commander Stephen Schneider for their support. Also acknowledged for recent donations were David Tipton, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rocky Mount and E. G. Moody who contributed a copy of the Bristol Courier, Industrial Supplement 2 October, 1904.

The Sullivan County Historical and Genealogical Society has initiated a special fund solely for preservation of records and archiving. All donations to this fund will be used for preservation of records at the Department of Archives and Tourism. Donations may be mailed to SCHGS (Archives Fund), P.O. Box 568, Blountville, TN 37617.

- Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism
http://www.sullivancountyarchives.com/

- Sullivan County Historical and Genealogical Society
http://www.schgs.org/Welcome.html

- Sons of the Confederate Veterans , Camp # 1817
http://scv1817tn.com/

Civil War Memory

2009-01-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

My grandparents remembered the South very differently from the way it is remembered today. Proud of their family's service for their Southern state? Yes. Were Northern people different enough to be called 'Yankees'? Yes.

But gaudy displays of flags and Lincoln bashing? No. The family was more concerned with being good American citizens than obsessing about all things Confederate. It was history for them- American history. It was the era when great grandparents were subsistence farmers. Life was about getting away from that and providing for your family. And they were very patriotic.

Don't get me wrong, I like seeing a battle flag waving, But I try to remain sober about it. I certainly do not want to trivialize it either. From Cenantua's Blog:

I find this particularly interesting considering the personalities of the persons honored by these displays. As Lee was one who survived the war and provided a window into his beliefs on the reflection of the war through his postwar words, the entire exhibitionism of the new era Confederate remembrance movement is considerably out of line with the very person who is front and center in the remembrance activities themselves.

Financial Bailout for the Old South

2009-01-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

On the verge of crisis 145 years ago, the Confederate States of America sought an economic rescue not unlike the one U.S. financial institutions recently got.

Confederate accounts were overdrawn, and credit from overseas investment firms was about to dry up because lenders weren’t confident the Southern states could repay their mounting debts.

So, in 1863, Alabama businessman Colin J. McRae was sent to Europe to orchestrate a bailout of the Confederacy. In 2002, a trove of documents from McRae’s time in England and France was found in the attic of a home in Alabama. The papers revealed the impact of European financing on the Civil War and provided historic details of the Confederate supply chain.

The documents are part of the Colin J. McRae Collection and can be viewed at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum (http://crr.sc.gov).

Read the rest of this fascinating story here:
http://www.thestate.com/sunday-life/v-print/story/574183.html

"Confederate Relic Room: Long-lost papers shine a light on Confederacy’s financial crisis" By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR. Posted on Sun, Nov. 02, 2008.

A Rascally recruit

2009-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying the Richmond Dispatch online. Here is an interesting article about a Black man who volunteered and then left his position.

A Rascally recruit. In our notice, a few days since, of the progress of enlistment among the negro troops, we mentioned the fact that a free negro had volunteered under Lieutenant Bossieux, alleging, at the time he did so, that he had been robbed by the Yankees of a canal boat, which he had earned by hard labor, and was determined to battle for the cause of the South till every one of the invaders was driven from the soil of the State. Since that time, the rascal has deserted his colors, taking with him a large lot of clothing, shoes, &c., which did not belong to him. - The Daily Dispatch (Richmond): March 29, 1865

First of all, he probably wasn't welcomed into the fold as a token African American. Second, this points to the fact that there were a variety of reasons someone would want to repel federal forces. And three, I've seen a number of stories like this, but rather than finding a uniquely Southern cruelty to explain Black and White AWOLs, it would be more accurate to say that'this is what happens when you put very poor, rural people in a military environment (not that the Southern army was all that regimented in the first place).

More Armed Confederate Negroes

2009-01-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Testimony of Colonel John W. Phelps, First Vermont Infantry...

SIR: Scouts from this post represent the enemy as having retired, they came to New Market Bridge on Wednesday, and left the next day. They -the enemy- talked of having 9,000 men. They were recalled by dispatches from Richmond. They had twenty pieces of artillery, among which was the Richmond Howitzer Battery, manned by Negroes. . . Their numbers are probably overrated; but with regard to their artillery, and its being manned in part by Negroes, I think the report is probably correct."

Federal Official Records, Series 1, Volume 4, "Report of Colonel John W. Phelps, First Vermont Infantry: CAMP BUTLER, Newport News, Va., August 11, 1861 – " p.569.

Phelps was a leading voice in the effort to allow Black men to fight in Union forces, including escaped slaves. This raised the ire of many in the South and in reaction the Confederacy would mandate execution for captured Black Union soldiers.

His grave can be seen here...

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22672

African American man owns ancestral plantation land

2008-12-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing story of one's heritage coming full circle. Father Moses Barry, a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church, owns a plot of land that was part of a plantation. Moses Barry's ancestors worked on that plantation as slaves. The structure on the property houses his chapel and a small slave museum. Also on his land is the paupers' cemetary in which his ancestors are buried...

A production company is seeking funding to complete a movie about his life's journey from a life of crime to becoming a priest in the ancient Orthodox Church...

One day it will be a story of reconciliation and historic irony: I am planning a trip with some friends of mine to visit his small museum. I am a descendant of Confederate veterans but I am also an Orthodox Christian. As such, I will offer my respect by kissing his hand and requesting his blessing, a traditional greeting for an Orthodox priest.

I will blog more on Father Barry later.

Native Genealogy in Oklahoma Territory

2008-12-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

For our non Oklahoma friends- Who gets to be Indian in Oklahoma?

In 1885, Washington politicians and business leaders viewed the border of Indian Territory as a wall blocking expansion and personal profit. The Five Civilized Tribes (Seminole, Cherokee, Muskogee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw) had well established communities with schools, courts and complex governments, and thriving towns. In fact, literacy among the Cherokee was higher than among the whites. But these tribal governments were in the way.

The solution was a "big government" program in social engineering: forced assimilation of Indians into the American system by dividing tribal land into "allotments". Therefore, the Dawes Commission was charged with the assimilation, and began by determining who was on the tribal membership rolls and who was not. More than a hundred years later, the work of the commission is still controversial and disagreements remain about who was and is on The Rolls.

Today, The Rolls are a critical genealogy tool for people researching their Indian ancestry. Since it is a roster of ancestors, The Rolls are also used to determine one's eligibility for tribal citizenship (a digitized version can be found here). Interestingly, this process didn't assimilate tribes, but instead made them an organic part of Oklahoma state and local government.

The following is a video documentary on The Rolls and how they affected Indian society:

German immigrants

2008-12-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Ever since the Mennonites of Pennsylvania became the first people in American to protest slavery in the 1600s, German immigrants have committed themselves to serving the United States, in both peace and war.

During the War Between the States, many Union Army officers were German exiles who had fled their homeland in the 1840s after a failed revolution. Their reform movement in Germany sought to take political power away from the aristocracy and put it into the hands of a voting public. The revolution failed after a short time. When a democracy could not be realized at home many Germans looked toward the United States.

When Robert E. Lee said, “Take the Dutch out of the Union Army and we will easily whip the Yankees” he was actually referring to the Germans.

The Teutonic immigrants who settled in the Northeast called themselves “Deutsch”. But to the English speaking locals this sounded like “Dutch” and so Americans have since referred to them and their culture as “Pennsylvania Dutch”. This was a frequent misnomer used by Americans who probably saw little difference between the “Deutsch” from Germany and the true Dutch of the Netherlands.

There weren't near as many Germans in the Confederate forces. But those that did believed that it was wrong for the North, after selling its slaves to the South, to then use slavery to justify the war. A German volunteer from Virginia, Herman Schuricht, wrote of the urgency and feelings of obligation that led them to enlist:

“all the recently immigrated Germans embracing the Confederate cause did so with throbbing hearts, and in most cases only under the pressure of compulsory circumstance.”

Professor E. Reichmann writes:

For German-Americans looking back at the War of Independence, the Civil War, and the two World Wars, there is a reoccurring tragic aspect. In all these wars there were Germans fighting on both sides, brother against brother/relative against relative.

Sources:

- Michael Baxter Shock, “Confederate soldiers: Why did they enlist?” West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly Vol. XIV, No. 4, October, 2000.
- E. Reichmann, German-American Journal, DANK, November 2006.

A small, delicious way to re-live Gettysburg

2008-11-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

What if you don't feel all that passionate about Civil War history? What if you want to feel a connection to this legacy, but just in a small way? Read this:

The State of Pennsylvania wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg and honor all the surviving veterans by bringing them to the Gettysburg battlefield for a massive reunion.

The State of Pennsylvania provided tents and food for the 65,000 Confederate and Union veterans who arrived for the reunion in the summer of 1913. No one had ever fed this many people before so a new system of food supply and delivery had to be improvised.

Cuts of fresh beef were chilled and boned in multiple Pennsylvania packing houses. The meat was packed in lined boxes. The cases of chilled and frozen meat were shipped by rail to Gettysburg, where they were distributed to the small mess kitchens located throughout the camp site.

Several years later during WW1, supply shortages forced Army Quartermaster personnel to find new and more efficient methods for packing and crating on board cargo ships going to Europe.

In 1918, Lieutenant Jay C. Hormel- later President of George A. Hormel and Company- was charged with developing a large-scale system of boneless beef production and emulated the Gettysburg reunion method. After the War, the next step was the the advent of the popular consumer product- SPAM.

You can join the Sons of Cenfederate Veterans, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, or you can simply dig in to the delicious taste of Spam.

Source U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum website

Wish I Was Friends with Robert E. Lee

2008-11-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

video by Rich O'Toole

Black men "indignant with the Lincolnites"

2008-11-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Dr. J. J. Lawrence, late editor of the Rough Notes, informs us that on Wednesday evening, at Rocky Mount, he saw in the hands of Mr. James Knight, of Edgecombe, the sword taken from the dead body of Capt. W. Wardrop, who fell in the late battle of Bethel Church, Va. ...

... We also learn that there were four private gentlemen from Edgecombe, present at the engagement, and they report that several negro men, on hearing the firing, rushed from the fields to the scene of action, and fired on the enemy with good effect. Of this, one of the Edgecombe gentlemen, was an eye witness, and told it to our informant. The negroes in that region are indignant with the Lincolnites, who have seized the wives of the former and carried them into camp.

- "Further Details" Hillsborough Recorder [North Carolina], June 19, 1861, Page 3.

Alexis De Tocqueville: neo-Confederate revisionist

2008-10-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

So the Negro [in the North] is free, but he cannot share the rights, pleasures, labors, griefs, or even the tomb of him whose equal he has been declared; there is nowhere where he can meet him, neither in life nor in death. In the South, where slavery still exists, less trouble is taken to keep the Negro apart: they sometimes share the labors and the pleasures of the white men; people are prepared to mix with them to some extent; legislation is more harsh against them, but customs are more tolerant and gentle.

-Alexis De Tocqueville, "Democracy in America", Harper & Row, 1966, p.343.

I wish I was in the land of Better Attitudes

2008-10-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Now this is one of those embarrassing racist things that always ruins it for the rest of us. I wish I was in the land of Better Lyrics. Look Away! Look Away! Quick!

Remember the old song "Dixie"? Someone entered an extensive history of the song "Dixie"on Wikipedia, complete with socio-political analysis. The lyrics we are familiar with may have racist undertones, right? But "undertones" won't matter when you see this. Here are lyrics printed in the Confederate Veteran magazine, June 1923, page 204 ...

O! Dixie's land is the land of glory, The land of cherished song and story. Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land! The land where rules the Anglo-Saxon, The land of Davis, Lee, and Jackson. Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land!

Book Review: Confederate Cause and Conduct

2008-09-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

I wrote it about 1 AM, so this won't exactly be a college level book review. I'm not going to be too detailed, these are just some thoughts...

The Confederate Cause and Conduct in the War Between the States by Hunter McGuire and George L. Christian

This is a reprint of a book originally published in 1904. I like old books. No- I love old books.

First of all, why did I choose to read this one? Because 1) it was a relatively inexpensive book compared to others, and 2) it was a product of the veterans themselves, not a historian.

The context in which the book was written makes an interesting story. After the war between the states, the Southern veterans organized the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) to preserve the memory of their cause. The UCV continued to assemble annually even after the turn of the century. Strangely enough, even as Civil war veterans lived, history was being sanitized with an early form of political correctness. Schools were adopting the familiar and simple formula that said: Confederate South = evil and slavery. North = righteousness and freedom. The Confederate Cause and Conduct in the War Between the States is a collection of reports put together by the Virginia UCV History Committee in reaction to the history books being used in public schools. This book was compiled and issued by the Confederate veterans themselves so it is first hand account of why the South took up arms against the Union Army.

There were a number of topics addressed in the book:

• A historic cultural rift existed between North and South since the 1700s.
• Discussion of a controversy regarding the number of troops supplied by North Carolina and their role in various engagements.
• Treatment of Union POWs held in southern prisoner camps versus the treatment of Confederate POWs held in the North. Summary: Confederate POWs suffered inhumane conditions as a matter of policy while Union POWs suffered inhumane conditions because the South was running out of food. The Union refused to exchange prisoners knowing that they would be burden on Southern resources.
• A lengthy discussion of the South’s legal justification for secession. This section was interesting because they used legal opinions and newspaper articles almost exclusively from the North.
• The economic reasons for the war.
• Differences between Southern and Northern foraging and the destruction of Sherman’s march.

As a product of my environment, the big topic I wanted to read about was slavery. It’s interesting that this topic takes up such a small portion of the total work. You’d think that if they were trying to backpedal on the slavery issue, they would have spent more of an effort to talk their way out of it. Rather you get the impression they’re saying “We weren’t fighting to keep slavery; here’s how we felt about it, now lets move on to the real issues.” The William and Mary Quarterly reviewed this same book in 1908 and said, "the Southern cause is freed from the taint of slavery..." (see link)

The first section in the book was written in 1899 by Dr. Hunter McGuire, a Confederate veteran. He writes:

“Does any man living know of a soldier in this State who was fighting for the negro or his value in money? I never heard of one. …The South fighting for the money value of a negro! What a cheap and wicked falsehood!”

Were these old guys prejudiced? Definitely. The authors are honest about it, but they maintain the case was the same in the North. The slave narratives establish this fact as well, that the Northern soldiers were only sometimes seen as liberators. They were often feared by the slave community for the same violence they enacted upon Southern whites. This you won't hear in high schools. (In order for us to believe what is correct and sensitive, then our education must be tightly controlled). Most of American culture at the time was ingrained with very firm views about the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race and this point comes across strongly in the book.

The people of the North were not civil-rights conscious egalitarians. It mentions how U.S. Grant, commander of the Union Army, refused to let his slaves go until after the North won the war, while Robert E. Lee let his family’s slaves go free in the early years of the war simply because he felt slavery was wrong. The book also makes plenty of references to Lincoln’s attitude toward slavery and race relations, which I don’t have to repeat here.

The book makes reference to black soldiers in the Confederacy but builds much of its argument from a few anecdotal sources rather than military roster information. It is interesting nonetheless. Here is a quote regarding an instance where a group of 72 slaves were asked whether they wanted to volunteer (not forced):

“… the fact that five out of every six of these negroes, were then ready to volunteer and go to the trenches, showed conclusively how truly they regarded the Confederate cause as their cause as well as that of the white people of the South.”

Official black regiments were merely local guard units and weren’t a part of the regular fighting force until 1865- but not until 1865, when the war was already lost. Too little, too late.

I was amazed to learn that the South had already been working on a plan to free the slaves. Have you ever heard that in school or in the media? No, of course not.

So the question was not whether or not slavery should end. The question was HOW should it end. The South didn’t think the issue was worth a war. I also learned from this book that the South outlawed the importation of slaves (either because the black population had grown to a threatening size or as a way to let the institution die out with the passing of the last generation of slaves), while the slave trade continued by the Northern private sector. In fact, the overwhelming majority of slave ships were registered in New England.

So why was it such an issue in the South? After reading this book, here is my interpretation of history:

The average Confederate soldier didn’t take up arms to keep slavery because it wasn’t in his interests. Family-size farms competed against slave holding plantations much like locally owned stores compete against Wal Mart today. Slavery was the big business of that era.

Nobody went to Iraq to fight for Halliburton, but often in time of war big businesses take advantage of the opportunity. In the same way, I think the slave trade saw the War between the States as an opportunity to protect itself from being outlawed.

And the North wasn’t fighting to end slavery (remember, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t apply to slaves in the North). They were fighting to keep the Southern States from seceding. Why? The bulk of tax revenue for the federal budget came from the Southern States. Also, the South was the location of major international trade ports. If the South left the Union, the federal government would have no way of keeping the South from raising tariffs on Northern goods or lowering tariffs on foreign goods. It meant a drastic shift in economic power between two regions that had had political differences for generations.

Abolition was the moral banner that the North needed to wave to stir the emotions of its people in a protracted and highly unpopular war.

The book ends with two papers written by Dr. McGuire, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s surgeon. The first paper is kind of a tribute to Jackson’s memory. The author recollects the general’s abilities, personality, and his resolve and leadership while in the heat of battle. The second paper is a moving account of Jackson’s last days after being severely wounded. The book closes with these words:

“Presently, a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an expression, as if of relief, “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees;” and then, without pain, or the least struggle, his spirit passed from earth to the God who gave it.”

This book is a snapshot from history, a glimpse into the way people thought in the early 1900s and they way they remembered the War. The people of that time should be remembered for showing amazing courage and enduring harship that we cannot understand. Confederate soldiers, Union soldiers, slaves fighting against the invading North, former slaves fighting for the Union, American Indians, the women and children who survived Sherman's march... all of them true Americans.

Indiana Newspaper reports armed Confederate "Negroes"

2008-09-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

Letter from a Union soldier, published in the Indianapolis (Indiana) Star, December 23, 1861:

Attack On Our Soldiers By Armed Negroes- A body of seven hundred Negro infantry opened fire on our men, wounding two lieutenants and two privates. The wounded men testify positively that they were shot by Negroes, and that not less than seven hundred were present, armed with muskets. This is, indeed a new feature in the war. We have heard of a regiment of [Confederate] Negroes at Manassas, and another at Memphis, and still another at New Orleans, but did not believe it till it came so near home and attacked our men.

My comments: I've learned that social engineering is real. Nowadays, historical facts that contradict popular belief are considered "revisionism"... even by academics. Instead of letting our understanding of history be shaped by eyewitness accounts and historical documents, its just more convenient to call it all "revisionism" so we don't have to change what we believe.

Despite the antiquity of the above letter, it would be called revisionism to mention it. Southern historians have been talking about this stuff for years. But we must preserve the papal primacy of Harvard and Yale scholars even if it means filtering what we learn.

I guess those of us who grew up in the South cannot really be objective. After all, those armies marched and fought on what would later become our back yards. Some of us grew up playing on Civil War battlefields. Our relationship with the War is merely intimate. We don't have the clinical detachment required to really understand.

Don't read this and casually browse to something else. I know tons of you are reading this in Tennessee, but I'm preaching to the choir here. Forward this stuff on. To anybody not in the SCV.

More Armed Confederate "Negroes"

2008-08-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

Question. Do you know of any individual of the enemy having been killed or wounded during the siege of Harper's Ferry?

Answer. I have strong reasons to believe that there was a Negro killed, who had wounded 2 or 3 of my men. I know that an officer took deliberate aim at him, and he fell over. He was one of the skirmishers of the enemy [Confederate, ed.], and wounded 3 of my men.

Federal Official Records, "Record of the Harper's Ferry Military Commission (U.S.Army)" Vol. XIX, Chapter XXXI, pg. 617.

Armed Confederate "Negroes"

2008-08-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

... is just "another confederate lie" according to some other bloggers who- like televangelists, don't have to know their source documents because their moral outrage gives them an intuition that trumps the expertise of historians and genealogists. The conspiracy must be widespread indeed when Northern propagandists are telling the same lies:

"...they [the Confederacy] have, by means of sweeping conscription, gathered in countless hordes, and threaten to overwhelm the armies of the Union, with blood and treason in their hearts. They flaunt the black flag of rebellion in the face of the Government, and threaten to butcher our brave and loyal armies with foreign bayonets. They arm Negroes and merciless savages in their behalf."

- July 11, 1862 - Rich D. Yates, Governor of Illinois, Federal Official Records, "Correspondence, Etc.", Vol. II, pg. 218

They [the Confederates] arm [give weapons to] Negroes and ...

Or maybe the 1862 Governor of Illinois is a neo-confederate revisionist?

Northern and Pro Lincoln: the Klan

2008-08-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, Klan members in the North... during the period of aging northern veterans... and venerating Abraham Lincoln. This is an antique pin from a Klan reunion. Yes, its odd. But don't click away just yet. Spend some time thinking about this little relic from the racist South. Oh, wait a minute. I mean the North:

If this humble antique can upset the commonly accepted image of the North, the reverse just may be possible for the South. (No! Stop! Don't take this to its logical conclusion!) Allow me to mention the obvious: that's Lincoln's portrait directly under the words "Klan Reunion".

In case our heads are spinning from such an historical impossibility, let me point out yet again this Klan button with the portrait of Lincoln is from the North and the ribbon is not a confederate flag.

College students... let the disillusionment begin.

Armed Black Confederates in Tennessee

2008-08-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

Report by Lt. Col. Parkhurst, Ninth Michigan Infantry:

"The forces attacking my camp were the First Regiment Texas Rangers, Colonel Wharton, and a battalion of the First Georgia Rangers, Colonel Morrison, and a large number of citizens of Rutherford County, many of whom had recently taken the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. There were also many negroes attached to the Texas and Georgia troops, who were armed and equipped, and took part in the several engagements with my forces during the day."

Federal Official Records, Series I, Vol XVI Part I, "Lt. Col. Parkhurst's Report (Ninth Michigan Infantry) on General Forrest's attack at Murfreesboro, Tenn, July 13, 1862: pg. 805."

I like this one, not so much for armed Black men being cited in the official records- as cool as that is- but more so because the residents of the county joined in the fight, even after the Union coerced an oath of allegiance from them.

I'm glad Lt. Col. Parkhurst's personal experience confirms the fact that African Americans took up arms against the North, but I don't want my use of his quote to trivialize his role. Parkhurst was taken prisoner at Murfreesboro and spent three months in a Southern POW camp. Civil War POW camps were not nice places. He was fortunate to have survived this experience. After the war he was appointed as U.S. envoy to Belgium. Like all veterans of this war, especially POWs, his memory should be honored as well.

Veterans- Black & White... and mutual respect

2008-07-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

In the early 1900s, Confederate soldiers were respected within their community, some of them still wore their uniforms on occasion, even though it was against federal law. Authorities never did anything about it because these were old guys simply proud of their military service. Some veterans were responsible for the the Klan and Jim Crow, others of them advocated for the improvement of social conditions for African Americans. The point is, their War and their racial views were two different things.

Unlike the racist demonstrations of the 50s and 60s, many confederate veterans accepted their black compatriots as equal members. The horrors of war altered the mentality of these men and consequently, the white soldiers' views of African Americans as well. One of my ancestors spent two years in a POW camp... ALONGSIDE black confederate soldiers. There are photos of black and white confederate soldiers together at reunions. Unlike the North, their soldier's pay was the same. Also unlike the North, they marched together in parades. According to a foreign visitor to the U.S. ...

So the Negro [in the North] is free, but he cannot share the rights, pleasures, labors, griefs, or even the tomb of him whose equal he has been declared; there is nowhere where he can meet him, neither in life nor in death.

In the South, where slavery still exists, less trouble is taken to keep the Negro apart: they sometimes share the labors and the pleasures of the white men; people are prepared to mix with them to some extent; legislation is more harsh against them, but customs are more tolerant and gentle. -Alexis De Tocqueville, "Democracy in America", Harper & Row, 1966, p.343.

There is no question that the South deserved its racist reputation. But at the same time there were acts of kindness that crossed racial barriers, anti-slavery activism, and social support for former slaves- all on the part of native Southerners and Confederate veterans with the full understanding that racism damaged the moral and economic foundations of their home. The shame of it is that these important facts of history are conveniently ignored. Why? Because it is important to someone's politics that the South was about slavery, SO important that our educators willingly capitulate and go the extra mile to restrict students' access to certain historical facts. We must make sure our students graduate with an opinion that was predetermined for them. I appeal to anyone reading this to explain to me how this lack of academic integrity is justified.

Anecdote from a friend in Tennessee: it is the confederate descendants who are responsible for researching and finding lost African American cemeteries and placing grave markers. All this, but with no help because it is politically incorrect for NAACP to collaborate with confederate descendants on community projects, even when they are preserving and honoring African American heritage. I know, I have walked these once-lost graves myself.

The Confederate descendants' organization (SCV) has a strict policy against racist activity within its membership. The website of a Texas SCV chapter says:

... many SCV members are descendants of African-American, Catholic, Jewish, Native American, Hispanic, and Asian Confederates. The contributions of these groups to Southern culture have made it a beautiful and unique region. To deny their descendants membership in our organization would betray our principles and the very ancestors we honor.

From a Tennessee confederate website:

This site was created for true Southern Patriots to enjoy and learn about our history and heritage. Anyone belonging to tthe various hate groups, white supremacists or others who
demonstrate bigotry toward any race, creed or religion, are not welcome and forbidden to link to these pages.

We are True Southern Patriots and resent our symbols of Southern pride being musused and misrepresented by groups sush as he Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, and all others whose objectives are not for the remembrance of the South.

Organizations such as those listed above have done more to harm the Southern cause than any other group.

A Native American view of the Confederate flag

2008-07-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

Charles Yow was the Senior Litigation Partner with Red Cloud Law Firm on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. He was a Cherokee, a former Tribal Court judge and mediator, and directed the tribal attorney education program with the Oglala Lakota Bar Association. His area of expertise covers racial discrimination in government funded programs. Read his amazing statement on the Confederate flag…

"The Native American Heritage Initiative has as its foremost purpose the defense of American Indian civil rights and self determination. As Indians we have a unique perspective in, and on American history, the American War Between the States is one such instance.

If children of Cherokee heritage chose to recognize their ancestors who fought with the Confederate services in defense of the State of Alabama they deserve the right to do so... If we, as Indians, are part of the community, and it is highly offensive to us to dishonor our ancestors, then why are our concerns routinely ignored?

While some may seek to make this issue in Lawrence County into an issue of sensitivity seeking to turn the War Between the States into a black-white, slave-free issue, such can only be done if historical reality is ignored...

While slavery is wrong, those who seek to vilify the Confederacy for the cause of slavery ignore historical reality that the curse of slavery on all people of color throughout this country's history finds its roots in New England.

... the so called abolition movement was a response to newly available inexpensive Irish immigrant labor rather than a reaction of conscience..."

Read the full statement here

Read the tribute to Charles Yow on the Students & Teachers Against Racism website:

http://www.racismagainstindians.org/Tribute/index.htm

A Southerner Against Jim Crow

2008-07-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

Robert E. Lee's Daughter Arrested for solidarity with African Americans. She sat in a train car reserved for Blacks and refused to move. From the Cleveland Gazette, June 21, 1902...

Points to remember:

She was the daughter of Robert E. Lee
This was consistent with the values of her father
The quote "assinine prejudice of 'chivalrous Southerners'"; uhh... she was Southern and she did something pretty chivalrous, disproving the implied stereotype.
Oh yeah... did I mention she was the daughter of Robert E. Lee?

Confederate Reunion- the 48th Virginia

2008-07-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Several of my ancestors served in the 48th Virginia Infantry, Company I. This song was written at their 30th reunion.

O, we belonged to Company I. Some thirty years or more gone by; When Eighty-seven, young and spry, Marched bravely forth to do or die. But now we count but bare eighteen. And every year our ranks grow thin.

Steady, boys, our colors fly! Close the ranks of Company I, 'Till but one is left to breathe a sigh, I, I alone, am Company I. Now he is gone; farewell, bye-bye, Exeunt omnes, Company I.

With the exception of a few years out of the baby boomer generation, my family continues these reunions through descendants organizations.