Confederate Heritage Under Attack-- Part 4: July 31, 2019

These are the July 31, 2019, Google Alerts for Confederate.

**  Lake County commissioners back Confederate statue.

**  'You have  let us down':  Locals unhappy after vote to bring Confederate statue to Lake County.

These  first two all involve the same statue, that of Confederate General Kirby Smith which is being removed from the Capitol in Washington, D.C..

**  Bill would remove Confederate statue.

**  Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe on Charlottesville, racism and Donald Trump.

**  Beauvoir's Instagram page hacked with pride flag, Bernie Sanders image.

**  Hispanic group, vets want Fort Hood renamed after Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient.

**  Castleman statue:  Why I decided to find out whether Gen. John Castleman was really racist.

And So It Goes.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Heritage Under Attack-- Part 3: July 30, 2019

**  Rebuilt car with Confederate flag on roof auctioned for $15K at Parkside demolition derby.

**  Lake commissioners should vote to bring Confederate statues to Tavares.

**  Confederate flag hoisted on phone tower near school grounds in Omaha.

**  Dallas voters poled about Confederate Monument, its fate tied up in court.

**  Petitions want Confederate Railroad  perform in Hudson Valley.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Heritage Under Attack-- Part 2: July 30, 2019

Theses are all newspaper articles headlines. You can look them up if you want to know more.

**  Virginia preservationist proposes Confederate design removal.

**  Half-American, half-Confederate flag flown near school sparks controversy.

**  Letter:  Move the Confederate memorial somewhere more appropriate.

**  Car draped in Confederate flag at Monroe County Fair parade draws criticism.

**  On this day:  Confederate spy Belle Boyd arrested.  (Well, what do you know.  Something about the First Civil War!)

--Old Secesh

Illinois' Gov. "Toilets" Bans Confederate Railroad Band

In the last post I mentioned this group being cancelled at a county fair.

The governor banned the country group Confederate Railroad from playing at the Illinois State Fair in August because of the name and Confederate flag on their logo.  He also banned them from the Du Quoin State Fair.

I guess, in truth, the governor, known for his love of toilets, was fearful that the overflow crowds who would come  out to see  the band would be too much for the state fair bathrooms and to avoid an unpleasant scene, he had them cancelled.

However, they will be playing at the Black Diamond Harley-Davidson party in Marion, Illinois, on September 5.

And, Liz and I had been considering going to the Illinois State Fair this year.

Not Now.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Heritage Under Attack-- Part 1: July 29, 2019

As I have been doing for several months, I am not doing a daily account of theses attacks on Confederate heritage, but just the last three days of the month.  Just because you do not read about the attacks in your daily newspaper or media, doesn't mean that they are not continuing.

These are the posts listed in the Google Search site for "Confederate" for July 29, 2019.

**  Confederate flag hoisted on cell pone tower.  (In Nebraska)

**  Felicia Brothers replace Confederate Railroad in Ulster County Fair lineup.  )Theses are bands.)

**  Letter:  Cancelling Confederate Railroad.

**  Confederate memorial vandalized

**  Charlottesville considering putting up historic markers  on Confederate memorials.  (Virginia)

**  Norfolk statues suit dismissal casts doubt  on Charlottesville defense.

**  CDA Chamber 'regrets' local company's Fourth of July parade entry.  Owner dismisses concern his floats' imply racism.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  One of the floats was a General Lee "Dukes of Hazzard" car.

It Just Doesn't End.  --Old Secesh

That Civil War Reading Thing-- Part 3: "With What Delight"

**  "No sooner did an army halt within reach of these enterprising fellows than they were to be seen galloping from brigade to brigade distributing daily newspapers to eager buyers ....   With what delight the veterans read descriptions of actions they had taken part in...."

--War correspondent George F. Williams, on the arrival of newspaper vendors in camp, in his reminiscences of the conflict.

******************

**  "We opened one morning at nine o'clock with a stock of four thousand books and papers, and at two o'clock P.M. all were gone, and almost every one taken from the counter, -a book or paper to each man who presented himself."

--  Rev. William A. Lawrence  on the soldiers' reading room established by the U.S. Christian Commission in Savannah, Georgia, after the city's capture by Union forces in December 1864.

Where's My Book?  --Secesh

Turning Point(s) of the Civil War for McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group This Saturday

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) Discussion Group will meet this Saturday, July 27, at Panera Bread on Crystal Lake, Illinois, at 6000  Northwest Highway (US-14) at 10 a.m..  This month's focus topic will be"The  Turning Point of the Civil War."

It should be interesting to see what folks think.

Obviously that double July 1863 catastrophe at Gettysburg and Vicksburg would receive considerable emphasis.

I'd like to add Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Union industrial might to the mix.

You don't have to be a member to attend.

Come On Down.  --Old Secesh

That Civil War Reading Thing-- Part 2: "Would Become As Rusty As A Boy's Jack Knife"

**  "You see I must read something, or my mind would become as rusty as a boy's jack knife that has been lost in a rubbish pile for a year or two, and in the absence of anything better I devour every novel I get hold of."

Major Thomas A. Connolly, 123rd Illinois Infantry, explaining why he had read "David Copperfield" and "The Confessions of Con Cregan," in a letter to his wife, February 14, 1864.

*****************

**  "I wish I had some books.  The best I can do now is to repeat over and over such pieces of poetry as I have committed to memory."

Charles B. Hayden, 2nd Michigan Infantry, in his diary, June 21, 1861.

Read Them Books.  --Secesh

That Civil War Reading Thing-- Part 1: "Able To Go On With His Latin"

From the Spring 2019, Civil War Monitor "Salvo:  Voices."  The magazine goes into first hand accounts on a given subject.  This one is on the importance of reading to Civil War soldiers.

**    "Please Drop Papers."  --   Message on a sign made by Union soldiers on guard duty along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, in hopes that passengers might toss them reading materials.

*************************

**  "While we were bringing water he sat down on the ground, and pulled from his bosom a copy of Andrews' Latin Grammar.  It was covered thick with his blood.  he turned to the fifth declension and began with res, rei.  He said that ... he found this book, and had carried it under his blouse in the fight, thinking if he was wounded or taken prisoner he would be able to go on with his Latin."  --  Rev. E.P. Smith, U.S. Christian Commission, on a wounded soldier he encountered after the Battle of Missionary Ridge.

Veni, Vidi, Vinca?  --Old SeCaesar

Started With a Drunken Captain and Ended With a Mean Old Lady (But for Good Cause)

From the Spring 2019 Civil War Monitor  "Charley's Legacy" by Ronald S. Coddington, Military Images Magazine.

Captain Charles Gloyd served three years with the 118th Ohio Infantry and his war experiences turned him into a raging alcoholic.  His drinking buddies called him Charley.  Even so, he tried to live a normal life and took a wife named Carrie in 1867.

Their marriage, however, was short.  Charley drank himself to death in 1869.

His demise, left Carrie a widow at age 23 and with an infant daughter named Charlien, named after Charley. Carrie never forgot Charley.

As a matter of fact, this turned Carrie against the evils of drinking.  She eventually became a leading person in the temperance campaign and toured the country, making speeches, and, on occasion, wielding a famous hatchet smashing up saloons.

We have come to know her as Carrie Nation, her second husband's surname.

So, Now You Know.  --Old SeceshWatchOutForCarrie

Belknap, Illinois

From Wikipedia.

Back on July 8, I mentioned that Ann Stokes, Civil War nurse on the hospital ship USS Red Rover, lived in this town that I had never heard of before.

It is a village in Johnson County in the far southern part of Illinois.  In the 2010 census the population was 104.  Probably why I had never heard of it.  The population of Johnson County in 2010 was 12,582 with county seat at Vienna.  This is the area of Illinois known as "Little Egypt."

Belknap was established in 1873 as a stop along  what would become the Big Four Railroad.  It is likely it was named after William Worth Belknap, who was U.S. Secretary of War.  The village was incorporated in 1880.  (William Belknap was an interesting character as well as a Civil War officer.  I will write about him later.)

Of interest, Mermet Springs, which is listed as being in Belknap is a repository for all sorts of things for scuba divers to explore including vehicles, a rail car and a Boeing 727 which was used in the movie "U.S. Marshals."

I was unable to find out anything about Ann Stokes living there are being buried there.  Now, here is a woman deserving of a historic marker of some sort.

--Old Secesh

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 6: Who's a Racist?

Angelo Kyle also described the Civil War as "the most gruesome, pathetic, despicable war on American soil" and questioned why it should be reenacted.

My question to Mr. Kyle:  What about the Indian Wars and removal of Indians (Trail of Tears)?

Matt Evans explained on the Facebook post calling for people to show up at the July 10 forest preserve district board meeting what he thought about reenacting.

"This Mr.Kyle gentleman has used the Lake County Civil War Days to push his own agenda along with the help of a very racist black person.  Yes, I said it,"  Evans wrote.  "This isn't about race for us as a community, it's about family, it's about good friends that we made in this hobby, it's about the educational things we teach to boys and girls at these events."

Mr. Evans Had It Right.  Mr. Peterson and Mr. Kyle Are Very Racist People.  --Old Secesh

Country Band Confederate Railroad Canceled From Two Illinois State Fairs Because of Name

Just today I learned that a popular country band called Confederate Railroad were canceled from the DuQuoin State Fair in Illinois as well as the Illinois State Fair because of their name and logo.

This seems to be the work of Illinois Governor Toilets.

This is getting insane.

Liz and I were planning to visit Springfield this August and go to the Illinois State Fair.  I guess not now.

When Will the Insanity End?  --Old Secesh

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 5: So, What Is Mr. Kyle?

Continued from July 3, 2019.

Matt Evans said Ralph Peterson Jr was a racist for some of his remarks in local news stories and his Facebook live post.

Forest Preserve president is Angelo Kyle, who is a black man, originally called for the event to be canceled after describing  how he attended a past Civil War Days encampment at Lakewood Forest Preserve and saw  "a considerable number of Confederate flags and a number of other things" that concerned him.

Those other things would be Confederate re-enactors.

This makes Mr. Kyle a racist.

It Is So Sad Wgen Black racism Hits An Event Like This.  --Old Secesh

The Black Experience, Ann Stokes-- Part 2: A Very Dedicated Woman

She was on active duty on the hospital ship USS Red Rover until October 1864 when she resigned, citing total exhaustion.

She married Gilbert Stokes after leaving the Red Rover.  he was also working on the Red Rover.  They moved to Illinois where he died in 1866.  She remarried to George Bowman in 1867.

In the 1880s, she tried unsuccessfully to get a pension based on her marriage to Gilbert Stokes.  her big problem in this was that she was unable to read or write.

She reapplied in 1890 stating that she had piles (hemorroids) and heart disease after she had learned to read and write.  She asserted that she had served 18 months on the Red Rover and this time she was approved and received $12 a month.

She lived in Belknap, Illinois.  I was unable to find out where she is buried, but it was likely in or around Belknap.  Now, here is a woman whose grave needs to be located and a marker erected as she was an original.

Here's Hoping.  --Old Secesh

The Black Experience: Ann Stokes, Union Nurse-- Part 1

From the July 27, 2017, Southern Illinoisan by Marlene Rivero.

Ann Stokes was a slave and a volunteer nurse on the first U.S. Navy hospital ship, the Red Rover, stationed at Mound City, Illinois.

She was paid regular wages and rated as a first class boy.  She also became the first black woman to receive a military pension of her own accord.

She came aboard a Union ship in 1863 as a contraband who could not read or write.  She worked under the direction of the Holy Cross nuns.

She was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee i  1930 and enlisted in the U.S. navy along with several young black women.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Meeting Tuesday, July 9: "The B & O Railroad in the Civil War

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet at the Woodstock Library in Woodstock, Illinois, this Tuesday at 7:00 pm.  It is located at 414 West Judd Street, just a couple blocks off the famous Woodstock Square (where the movie "Groundhog Day" was filmed).

Several of us will gather at 5:30 at 3 Brothers Restaurant on Illinois Highway 47 for dinner.

This month's presentation will be on the "B & O Railroad in the Civil War" and will be given by our own Charlie Banks.

See You There.  --Old Secesh

Happy July 2-- Part 7: The Opportunity to Grow Thanks to the July 2 Resolution

Gradually, the newer reading of the declaration as a document for equality "became the primary meaning that we remember today."

The virtue of the declaration, the debated definitions and practices of freedom, prosperity and fair government, shared internationally on July 4th, have taken on new life thanks to the independence declared on July 2.

David Hargrove, of Summerville, South Carolina, was visiting Chicago with his family.  On Wednesday, he was going to head back home, just in time for the Fourth.  And while he considers himself a bit of a fun-fact "buff," he had not heard of America's July 2 resolution.

He still plans to celebrate Independence Day the way he always does, on July 4 with a cookout and card games.  "Being an American, I still strive for those goals of protecting my family, prospering, being happy and having the opportunity to grow," he said.  "That's what I look at the American dream as and the Fourth of July as, celebrating that opportunity to grow."

Just An American.  --Old Yankee Doodle Dandy

Happy July 2-- Part 6: But What Does This Mean to the Slave?

Continued from today's posts on my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.

After the War of 1812, this ushered in a new era for the Declaration of Independence as anti-slavery activists began using the rhetoric of the second sentence, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Right" to advocate that there should be true equality and no slavery.

In a July 5, 1852, address commemorating the 76th anniversary of the declaration's public release, Frederick Douglas reflected on the July 2 resolution,  "Citizens, your fathers made good that resolution.  They succeeded; and today you reap the fruits of their success."  he asked,  "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?  I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all the other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim."

--Old Secesh

Happy July 2-- Part 2: Why the 4th and Not the 2nd?

John Adams correctly predicted a lot about how our nation's birthday would be celebrated, all these 243 years later.  But he was incorrect as to the day, which he figured would be July 2, the day the Congress voted on a resolution to form a new country out of British control.

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epocha, in the history of America, Adams wrote.  "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival."

So, our day of celebrations, not the six days before or two days after July 4, should actually have been celebrated this past Tuesday, not today on Thursday.  How did this come to be?  Why for two centuries has our country's birthday been celebrated on the 4th instead  of the 2nd?

Go to My Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy to Find Out Why on Part 3.  Also there you will find parts 4 and 5.  --Old Secesh

Happy July 2nd-- Part 1: John Adams Sees Into the Future.

This was the day that John Adams predicted that Independence Day would be celebrated.  But, he was wrong.

From the July 4, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "John Adams predicted an Independence Day on July 2 but fate interceded" by Bianca Sanchez.

"On July 3, 1776, the day after the Second Continental Congress voted on a resolution to declare independence from the British, John Adams sent a letter to his wife, Abigail, back home in Massachusetts.  In the letter, the Founding Father prophesied a grand celebration  of America's independence.

" 'It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other from this time forward forever more,' he wrote expectantly."

Well, this is what has been happening since last Saturday.  Only, he was thinking all this would occur on July 2, not July 4 as it turned out to be.

--Old Rebel (Because That's What They Were.  Rebels.  Someone Else Was Called Rebels during the Civil War.)

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 4: Mr. Peterson's View: "Glorifying the White Man"

Matthew Evans said he was also taken aback by comments made by Ralph Peterson Jr. where he called for protests against the Civil War Days event.  Mr. Peterson is a self-acclaimed community activist.  He said that the "re-enactment was culturally insensitive and had no place in Lake County," and added that the spending of taxpayer money was an insult to him.

"The reenactment was just glorifying the white man.  It's whitewashing history to glorify the white man," and further the slaves were not really freed because of subsequent Jim Crow policies, a point also made by Kyle.

Evans says Peterson is racist for the comments.

Have you been able to guess what race Mr. Peterson is yet?  I looked him up on the internet, and found that Mr. Peterson is a black man.  Does Mr. Peterson know that a whole lot of the white men who fought and died in the war were fighting for the Union?  Also, as the war continued, a whole lot of the soldiers were also Blacks:  the USCT.  Wouldn't he want them honored?

What he meant to say is that he has a problem with re-enactors who play the part of Confederates.

Where Have We Heard This Before?  --Old Secesh

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 3: Another View of the Situation

Matthew Evans, 35, of Genoa, Illinois, suggested that Civil War re-enactors should show up at the Lake County Forest Preserve District's board meeting.  He is the captain of the 154th Tennessee Company K, Confederate re-enactor group who goes by the nickname Johnny Reb.  He thinks the cancellation is a power play on Kyle's part.

"I think what the president (Angelo Kyle) did was wrong," Evans said about the abrupt cancellation, reinstatement and now cancellation again and added that Kyle should resign because he is pushing his own agenda.

Evans said he has 16 or 17 ancestors who fought in the war, one for the Union and the rest for the Confederacy.  He is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (and also camp commander of the Camp Douglas Camp based in the Chicago area).

He started re-enacting in high school.

--Old Secesh

Civil War People Buried At Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery-- Part 4

Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom   Union brig. general

John Blake Rice    Chicago mayor 1865-1869

William Bennett  Scates   Union brevet brig. general

Caleb Chase Sibley  Union brevet brig. general

Andrew Barclay Spurling   Union brevet brig. general

Joab Arwin Stafford   Union brevet brig. general

William George  Stephens   Medal of Honor recipient

John Howard Stibbs  Union brevet brig. general

Lots and Lots O' Brevets.  --Old Secesh

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 2: Fears for Public Safety

In announcing the cancellation of the Civil War Days re-enactment event, John Tannahill, the Lake County Forest Preserve's chief of ranger police and director of public safety said that reaction to the announcement were very concerning.

He did not respond earlier to a request for his safety concerns

Forest preserves President Angelo Kyle released a statement saying that safety concerns had come up, nothing specific.  "We cancelled it because of the unknowns -- there was potential for (people from) both sides of the issues (showing up), and we don't know their intent, Executive Director Ty Kovach said.

A petition to protest the cancellation on change.org and Civil War re-enactors who participate at the annual event went on social media.

Civil War Days has been held at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda for 27 years.

The forest preserve president is a black man which probably explains his distaste for the event as Confederates and their flag are at it.

Something Smells Out in Lake County.  --Old Secesh

Threats Over Civil War Days Investigated-- Part 1: Something Amiss In Lake County

From the June 26, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Frank S. Abderholden.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday that it has requested information from the Lake County Forest Preserves about threats related to this week's cancellation of the annual Civil War Days event.

They are willing to conduct the investigation, but needed a request from them to start the investigation.  The Forest Preserve initially did not make one and this past Monday June 24, put out the announcement that they were cancelling because of "public safety concerns" after consulting with local and state law enforcement agencies.  They evidently did not consult law enforcement.

However, Tuesday, June 25, Forest Preserve District Commissioner Dick Barr did request a criminal investigation  to find out who made the threats.

There is a whole lot of opposition to the cancellation but I doubt that anything went further to threats and if they did, those responsible should be fully prosecuted.

--Old Secesh