Finally Made It to Florida

Sitting here at the Super 8 Motel in St. Augustine Beach after 1200 miles and even a day of no traffic jams and no rain, sleet and snow which marked the first two days of the trip.

Last night, we talked with a couple of Nebraska Cornhusker backers in the parking lot who are off to Orlando today for their New Year's Day matchup with Florida.  They had used frequent flyer miles and flown to Savannah, rented a car and doing a coastal run.

They even knew that they were going to play us three times in the next several years.  I doubt that before we made the Orange Bowl, they even would have had any idea who we were.

Wished them luck, as they're now Big Ten, er-11,er-12, er-13, er-14.  But will be pulling for Georgia as I went there for a year and have family who went there.

An Illinois car just backed out from the parking place next to us.  I didn't see any NIU stuff on it though.

We did encounter one NIU Huskie vehicle on I-75 yesterday, along with a whole lot of Georgia cars.

Planning to see Fort Mantanzas today and drive to Hollywood and check into the hotel.

Finally warm, so today it's shorts and "Orange Bowl Bound" tee shirt.

We did buy a Huskie dog magnet for the car at a TA store in Tifton, Ga.

Well. I see that this should have gone on my RoadLog Blog, but will go ahead and print it on the Civil War one.  Oops.

Huskies, Here We Come.

Hooray for Our Side

In these days of considering the Confederate flag and all things Confederate as being akin to Nazis, it sure was refreshing yesterday to see a sight upon entering the state of Florida.

There, flying high and proudly was a huge Confederate flag right next to I-75, showing that some of us believe it represents something besides slavery.

There appeared to be a memorial park at its base and I imagine this was a project of the Florida Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Thanks Guys.  --Old Secesh

36th Regiment NC Troops (2nd Regt. NC Artillery)

1st Co. B--  Bladen Guards
2nd Co. B--  Starr's Light Battery
3rd Co. B--  Bladen Stars
1st Co. C--  Cape Fear Light Artillery

Fire Dem Guns.  --Old Secesh

A Follow Up On Jackson's Arm

From Wikipedia.

When Lee heard that Stonewall Jackson's arm had been amputated, he said, "He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm."

Beverly Lacy wrapped his commander's arm and took it to his brother's plantation, Ellwood, on the eastern edge of Orange County, Virginia.  And, Jackson's arm wasn't the only burial at Ellwood.  Captain James Boswell, an engineer on the staff who was killed when Jackson was struck.  And, Major Joshua Stover of the 10thVirginia, killed May 3, 1863, was also interred there.

After the war, these last two were dug up and reinterred at the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery.

Arms and Limbs.  --Old Secesh

New Jersey's Fort Mott Named for Civil War General-- Part 2

Gershom Mott was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Amelia Springs, three days before Lee's surrender.  Throughout the war, Mott earned a reputation for competency and bravery.

On December 1, 1865, he was promoted to major general, but resigned his volunteer commission Feb. 20, 1866.  In 1868, he was offered a commission as a colonel in the regular army, but declined it.

Later, he served as state treasurer, warden of the New Jersey prison system, major general and commander of the New Jersey National Guard from 1873 to 1884.  He died in 1884 in New York City and is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Trenton, New Jersey.

Fort Mott in New Jersey was named for him.  It is part of a three-fort defense system designed to protect the Delaware River built following the Civil War.  The other two are Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island and Fort Du Pont in Delaware City, Delaware.

Quite a Man.  --Old Secesh

New Jersey's Fort Mott Named for Civil War General-- Part 1

From the May 21, 2012, Gluchester (NJ) County Times by Kelly Roncace.

Gershom Mott was born in Lamberton, NJ, in 1822 and was a 2nd Lt. in the 10th US Infantry in the Mexican War.  In the Civil War, he was appointed Lt. Col. of the 5th New Jersey Infantry.

After the Battle of Williamsburg, he was appointed colonel and commanded the 6th New Jersey.  Commended for bravery at Battle of Seven Pines, he was severely wounded at Second Bull Run and promoted to brigadier general for bravery.

Returning to the Army after recuperation, he led his brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville where he was wounded again and missed the Battle of Gettysburg.

It sounds like this was a leader who actually led his men into action on the battlefield.

In the fall of 1863, he led his brigade at Bristoe and in the Mine River Campaign.  Later, he was one of the few officers to be commended at the debacle of the Crater.

A Leader Who Led By Example.  --Old Secesh

Illinois GAR Posts-- Part 2

Some more Route 66 towns and posts:

379--  S.B. Philipps--  Litchfield
425--  Godfrey Weitsel (Weitzel)--  Chicago
578--  John A Bross--  Springfield
626--  Dwight


SOME OTHER GAR POSTS ON THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY, LAKE COUNTY AND McHENRY COUNTY.

643--  McHenry
169--  Harley Wayne--  Marengo
215--   J.B. Manzer--  Harvard
283--  Merrit Simons (Simond)--  Dekalb
368--  Wauconda
374--  Waukegan

The Other Side.  --Old Secesh

Illinois GAR Posts-- Part 1

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was formed on Union veterans of the Civil War.  Most any town of any size was likely to have a post.  Here are some in Illinois.

Post #, Name, Town

17--  Bowen--  Wilmington
30--  Stephenson--  Springfield
105--  T. Lyle Dickey-  Pontiac
146--  William T. Sherman--  Bloomington
173--  W. H. Wood--  McLean
182--  L.W. Myers--  Lincoln
185--  Chenoa
305--  Sedgwick--  Gardner
326--  Atlanta
339--  Dan Messick--  Carlinville

These were all located in towns along what eventually became Route 66 in the state.

Reliving Old Times With Fellow Veterans.  --Old Secesh

Stonewall Jackson's Arm Lies Here

From the May , Atlantic.

Jackson's arm was amputated May 2, 1863, after he was shot at the Battle of Chancellorsville by his own men.  Accidentally, of course.  Jackson's chaplain, Beverly Tucker Lacy, buried it the next day in a nearby family graveyard.

Jackson seemed to be recovering, but died may 10th of pneumonia.

A large boulder at the battlefield marks where he was shot.  The arm was buried at what was Ellwood Plantation.

Civil War wounds often meant death so a lot of limbs were amputated.

Armed and Ready.  --Old Secesh

The Granite State in the War

That would be the state of New Hampshire.

Many called it "The Slavery War."

The state sent 38,000 men to serve in 18 regiments.

Other men from the state served as sharpshooters, heavy and light artillery and the cavalry.

Still others were in the navy and Marines.

One State's Effort.  --Old Secesh

Antietam Battlefield-- Part 2

The battle took place September17, 1862, just over 150 years ago.  Within four hours, 10,000 Americans on both sides were casualties with the heaviest action taking place with a one mile square area which was right in front of us.

A major flaw in the Union's battle plan were its piecemeal attacks.

There is a tower near the center that was built in 1897 by the Army War Department for use by the military to study the battlefield.  There are other such towers at Gettysburg, Shiloh and Vicksburg.A couple weeks ago, 300 Marines were studying the battlefield and even more recently the Joint Chiefs of Staff were there.

Five attacks were launched on Confederates along the Sunken Road with huge Union casualties until they captured key points and turned it into a bloodbath for Confederates.  The sunken road was a dirt path that had been worn down by wagons over the years and afforded an excellent defensive position.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Antietam Battlefield-- Part 1

I was fortunate to get to the visitor center in time for the park ranger talk on the battle.  However, I suggest visitors ( especially those who don't know a lot about the battle) try to get there earlier to see the excellent film on the battle which gives some solid background. 

The ranger presentation is at 10 AM and there is another one in the afternoon.

The ranger was very knowledgeable, but did it by memory.  Imagine he's done it a lot of times before.  I was happy to see so many people in attendance.  Often, I go to Civil War sites and its just the people at the center and me.  And, quite a few were younger and not there with their families.

The ranger said that we can see roughly two-thirds of the battlefield from our vantage point at the visitors center, which occupies the high ground backing up to the town.  These would have been the Confederate lines during the battle, though the Union forces came close to breaking them near our spot and even penetrated as far as the Dunker Church to our left and behind us a couple hundred yards.

The battle came down to three things:  Communication, Topography and Experience.  Nearly 30% of the Union soldiers were in their first-ever battle.  This was their first time to "See the Elephant" as Civil War soldiers termed seeing battle.  This is where I got the name of this blog.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Remembering the Civil War in the Land of Lincoln-- Part 2

***  Cairo, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers where Grant started his thrust south.

***  Fort Defiance State Park was a massive camp south of Cairo at the actual confluence.

***  Mound City National Cemetery is three miles north of Cairo and where both Confederate and Union soldiers are buried.  This is also where some of the river ironclads were built, including the one nearing the name.

***  Alton--  Confederates held at an infamous prison (that most have never heard of) where many died and are buried.

***  Rock Island--  another Confederate prison where some 12,000 were held and many died.

***  Wauconda--  the museum had a technology exhibit until last summer.  Every year during the summer a huge re-enactment is held there.

Old Secesh

Remembering the Civil War in the Land of Lincoln-- Part 1

From the April 13, 2011, Chicago Sun-Times by Lori Racki.

Illinois is famous for Lincoln, of course, but also noteworthy for other things in the war.

***  Only three states sent more troops to the war than Illinois:  New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.  Illinois sent 259,092 soldiers to war.  Illinois troops were instrumental in Union victories at Shiloh and Vicksburg.

***  Then, there was that clerk from Galena who stepped out from behind the counter and ended up in command of all US troops.  That would be one U.S. Grant.  A grateful Galena gave him and his wife a home to live in after the war.

***  Jacksonville was the hometown of Col. Benjamin Grierson whose raid through the Deep South in 1863 greatly helped Grant taking Vicksburg.  The town celebrates his life annually with its Gen. Grierson Days Festival.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Lorain, Ohio's Civil War Dead-- Part 2

Two others buried in Lorain.

Augustus Silverthome was born in New York and moved to Lorain.  In 1863, at age 28, he enlisted in Co. F, 128th Ohio and served three years as a private.  He was discharged in 1865, three months before Lee's surrender on a surgeon's certificate of disability.

He served as a guard for the remainder of the war and after it at the Confederate prison camp at Johnson's Island in Sanduskey Bay and died Feb. 27, 1866.  I have to wonder if it is from his disability.  He is buried at Charleston Cemetery.

A,H. Babcock, Sr. served as mayor of Lorain 1889-1890.  He was born in Dundee, Michigan, and in 1861 enlisted in Co. F, First regiment Engineers and Mechanics Corps.  He spent much of the war building blockhouses and repairing bridges.  This would probably have been by railroads for both endeavors.

He fought at Mill Springs, Ky.; Champions Hill, Mississippi; Murfreesboro, Tn.; and the March to Atlanta.  Honorably discharged in 1864, he returned to Dundee and operated a general merchandise business until 1878 when he moved to Lorain and opened a grocery.

Ohio's Pride.  --Old Secesh

Lorain, Ohio's Civil War Dead-- Part 1

From the April 24, 2011 Northern Ohio Morning Journal "Lorain's Civil War heroes honored 150 years later" by Ron Vidika.

There are 114 Civil War veterans buried in four Lorain cemeteries.  Seven are in Calvary Cemetery, one each in Ridge Hill and Charleston cemeteries and 106 in Elmwood.

One was a woman, Sarah W.R.C. Shaffer, buried in Elmwood of the 103rd Ohio Infantry.

Probably the most famous one is General Quincy Adams Gilmore.  He was born in Lorain County in 1825 and an 1849 USMA graduate.  After graduation, he was assigned to the elite Corps of Engineers (the top graduates).  He built forts, taught at West Point and after leaving the Army, served as the head of an engineering agency in New York City.

Rejoining the Army at the beginning of the war, he was commissioned a 1st Lt and was chief engineer of the Port Royal Expedition Nov. 7, 1861.  He received praise for his efforts in the capture of Fort Pulaski and helped in the capture of Morris Island and Fort Wagner by Charleston, SC.

Robert J. Crowley of Lorain entered the Navy and served in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.  At the Mobile, Alabama, his gunboat was blown up by a torpedo, killing and wounding half of the crew.  He narrowly escaped.

Honoring the Veterans.  --Old Secesh

Oregon's Fort Hoskins Commander's House Tour Set

From the May 16, 2012, Corvallis Gazette Times.

The tour was set for May 19th.

Fort Hoskins was constructed in 1857 by Lt. Philip Sheridan, later a famous Civil War general.  The post was built bu the U.S. Army to monitor Coastal Indian Reservations.

During the Civil War, it kept an eye out for Confederate sympathetic activity in the Willamette Valley.

The fort was abandoned in 1865 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Old Secesh

Illinois Returns Mississippi Flag

The flag of the 46th Mississippi Infantry, captured at Fort Blakely, Alabama, on April 9, 1865, was returned from the state of Illinois where it had been in the Hall of Flags in Springfield, Illinois.

The Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans worked hard to accomplish it.

A celebration was held April 28, 2012, at Beauvoir, Mississippi, Jefferson Davis' postwar home, where it will be on permanent display, near the graves of members of the 46th Regiment who are buried on the grounds.  It was made possible by efforts of the Illinois and Mississippi National Guards.

Good to Have It Home.  --Old Secesh

Jews Don the Gray, Fight for the South

From the Nov. 26, 2009, Washington Times.

There are 30 names: including Adler, Cohen, Hessberg, Wolf and Seldner.  They are from various states, but they all have the fact that they died in Virginia and all are Jews.  The lie together in the Soldier's Section of the old Hebrew Cemetery at Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia.

During the war, there were three synagogues in Richmond.  There were also large Jewish populations at other cities, including Atlanta and Charleston with the largest concentration in New Orleans.

No entirely Jewish regiments were formed to fight for the Confederacy, and it is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 donned the Confederate gray.

More than 100 Richmond Jews enlisted, fifteen of whom joined the Richmond Blues who later became part of the 46th Virginia Infantry.  Myer Angle, president of the Beth Ahabah, had six sons in the Army of Northern Virginia.

Organized June 5, 1866, the Hebrew Ladies' Memorial Association (HLMA) began reburying Confederate dead and memorializing their memory with monuments and a memorial day celebration.  The Soldiers' Section at the cemetery was dedicated that same day in June.

Fighting For the Cause.  --Old Secesh

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Abraham Lincoln-- Part 4

7.  Lincoln was offered the governorship of the OREGON TERRITORY in 1849, but turned down the job.

8.  The story that Lincoln wrote the farmed GETTYSBURG ADDRESS on a scrap of brown paper on the train to the battlefield is complete bunk.  This story comes from a 1906 article by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews that ran in Scribner's Magazine "The Perfect Tribute."

Lincoln, a gifted speechwriter, by all accounts, started it weeks before.  A Chicago Tribune article in 1877 also debunked the myth.

9.  The "GOLD HOAX" was started in May 1864, when a New York journalist named Joseph Howard invested a lot of money in gold and then forged phony dispatches about how war suspects were forcing Lincoln to draft another 400,000 soldiers.  He figured the bad news would inflate the price of gold.

Two New York papers picked up the story and Lincoln ordered the papers closed and their editors arrested.  Lincoln was especially mad because he was already planning a new draft and had to delay it.

10.  When Lincoln was ten, a HORSE kicked him in the head, and for a short time, young Abe, er, Abraham was feared dead.  He had been trying to get the family mare to work faster in the field, whipping her and yelling, "Git up, you old hussy."  As he said "Git up!" one last time, the horse knocked him senseless.  Supposedly, when he came to, his first words were "You old hussy."

If you go to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield and see the show, be careful when he gets kicked.  It's liable to scare you.  I think they also referred to it as a mule, not a horse.

You Old Hussy!  --Old Secesh

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Abraham Lincoln-- Part 3

5.  Lincoln declined the King of Siam's offer to supply the U.S. with ELEPHANTS in 1862, saying that the climate of the U.S. wouldn't be in favor of "the multiplication of the elephant."  I guess it could have been like Hannibal's elephants going into battle, only against Confederates instead of Romans.  I doubt they would have lasted too long on the battlefield with all those cannons.  Kind of hard to miss an elephant.

Well, had the Union used elephants, the Confederates could have said they had "seen the elephant" and really meant it, not just referring to seeing battle.  Either that, or they had gotten a bit too much of that moonshine.


6.  WHO LIVED IN LINCOLN'S LOG CABIN?    That cabin that sits inside the marble temple near Hodgenville, Kentucky, could just as easily have been Confederate President Jefferson Davis'.  Back in the late 1800s, the entrepreneur who bought the Lincoln property found no cabin on it.  he found a nearby one which legend had being the Lincoln cabin that had been taken apart and moved.

That man put both that cabin and one that he bought that supposedly was Davis' boyhood home on tour and exhibited them in Nashville, Tennessee, and Buffalo, NY,.  The logs from the two homes were later intermingled and stored in a New York warehouse.  They were resurrected for the historic site, which opened in 1911.

Well, either way, they are old cabins and would indicate the poor beginnings of the two future presidents.

You Don't Know Lincoln.  --Old Secesh

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Abraham Lincoln-- Part 2

4.  The famous BIXBY LETTER written by Lincoln was intended to express sympathy to a Boston mother who had lost five sons in the Civil War.  This letter was featured in the Tom Hanks film "Saving Private Ryan" and read by President George W. Bush at 9-11's Ground Zero in New York City.

In fact, Lydia Bixby lost only two sons (still two too many) in battle.  A third got an honorable discharge, a fourth deserted and a fifth was captured and later listed as a deserter.

Mrs. Bixby was a Southern sympathizer suspected of running a house of prostitution may have claimed here sons' deaths to get sympathy and perhaps donations.  I have also read that Mrs. Bixby destroyed the letter after she let the local paper reprint it to show her disgust with Lincoln.  There is also some question as to whether Lincoln wrote the letter in the first place.  Some believe it was his personal secretary, John Hay.

Fact or Fiction?  --Old Secesh

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Abraham Lincoln-- Part 1

From the November 11, 2012, Chicago Tribune by Mark Jacob and Stephen Benzkofer.  I usually do these in my Cooter's History Blog, but a lot of this pertains to the Civil War, so here goes.  These two reporters are researchers grade A and did this because of the new movie on Lincoln.

 1.  Lincoln detested the name"ABE," and his friends and family avoided using it in his presence.


2.  The Lincoln's Sparrow is not named after him, but for Thomas Lincoln, a man from Maine who shot the bird so John James Audubon could draw it.  Also, the towns of Lincoln in Alabama and Vermont and the counties of Lincoln in Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee are all named for Revolutionary War general Benjamin Lincoln who accepted the British surrender at Yorktown.

2A.  Lincoln, Illinois, was named after Abraham Lincoln before he became president.  He reportedly christened the town by spitting out a watermelon seed.


3.  Lincoln wanted blacks to be free--to leave the country and supported proposals to send them back to Africa at one time.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Deaths Higher Than Thought

From the April 3, 2012, Philadelphia Inquirer by Peter Mucha.

The true death toll of the war was about 750,000, some 20% higher than the traditionally-quoted 620,000, and might even be as high as 850,000 according to J. David Hacker of Binghamton University in New York.  It was published in the December issue of Civil War History.

James McPherson, author, thought the 620,000 number might be too low, especially with the Confederacy's 260,000.

The older estimates determined the death rates from disease as about equal between Union and Confederate forces, but the North had better medical care.

Data from the 1870 census showed a big drop in the population.

Sad to have to Raise the Number.  --Old Secesh

Pearl Harbor Plus 71 Years

I am making mention of the anniversary of this U.S. defeat on all my blogs today.

And, on my World War II blog, I had five entries today on the subject.

Not Forgetting.  --Old Secesh

Collector Carries Sword to Grave of Fallen Hero-- Part 2

Six years later, Allen Wandling got a call from the family, who had found it in a closet after the old man had died.  Then, Wandling traced the sword to William Rowley, of the 58th Illinois Regiment who had cut the sword from Col. Rogers' belt after his death.  Rogers had been wearing an armored suit at the battle but had been shot many times before finally being done in by a direct blast of cannister from a cannon.

His body was taken back to Corinth where Rogers was buried with honors.  Rowley later gave the sword to an officer of the 9th Illinois who took it back to Belleville after the war.

Rogers' great-great-great granddaughter found out about the sword and contacted Wandling, asking if she could buy the sword.  He agreed to meet her at the show in Corinth, but wouldn't sell it.  Wandling had an ancestor at the battle in the 63rd Ohio who was likely shooting at Rogers.  " Here were two descendants of people who had fought each other, shaking hands and holding the sword.  It was a nice moment, " said Wandling.

They plan on returning this fall for the 150th anniversary of the battle and hope to work out a deal to display the sword at the battlefield interpretive center.

I Would Surely Like to Have That Sword There So Everyone Can See It.  --Old Secesh

Collector Carries Sword to Grave of Fallen Hero-- Part 1

From the March 26, 2012, Auction Central News by Wally Spiers of the Belleville (Il) News-Democrat.

Allen Wandling held the old Confederate sword over the grave of its owner in Corinth, Mississippi and swears he felt the hair on his arms stand on end, "It was spooky."

He was at the grave of Confederate Col. William P. Rogers, killed at the Battle of Corinth on Oct. 4, 1862.  He had bought the sword from a man in Joplin, Missouri, but the sword had been in Belleville, Illinois, for many years after the war where it most likely was a war momento in the local GAR post.  Wandling has spent four years tracing the sword's history.

Wandling had bought the leather scabbard for the sword in 2006 from the man in Joplin who said his grandfather had inherited it from a sister who was married to a Belleville police officer, who had bought it when the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall had sold it at auction.

The scabbard did not have its drag, the brass tip of it,and Wandling had the man promise him to contact him if it was found.  They also didn't have the sword.  Six months later, he bought the drag, but still not the sword.  What good is a scabbard without its sword?

The Sword Cometh.  --Old Secesh

Where the Civil War Ended: Blakely Park, Alabama-- Part 2

The first memorials were erected at Fort Blakely in the 1990s, one honors five Missouri units which fought at the battle.  Showing the division caused by the war, three were Confederate and two were Union.

More United States Colored Troops fought at the action than at most any other fight during the war.  It is the only location where a full division of black troops, about 5,000, fought.

The location of the fort, on the Blakely River, is also where another 19th century town was located, one that rivaled Mobile at one time as the major place on the bay.  There was also a French colonial plantation and Indian sites dating back 2,500 years.

Here's Hoping the Site Continues.  --Old Secesh

Where the Civil War Ended: Blakely Park, Alabama-- Part 1

From the March 9, 2011, Mobile (Al) Press-Register "Blakely Park, where the Civil War ended, still faces threats" by Gary Busby.

Blakely is known as the site of the last major engagement of the war, but it is not well-known.  That makes it vulnerable to modern-day threats like budget cutting.  The Civil War in Mobile was the subject of a symposium held last weekend at the Historic Blakely State Park and East Point Baptist Church.

Some 50,000 troops on both sides took part in the fight for Mobile's eastern defenses at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley in 1865.  It was vastly overshadowed by Lee's surrender to grant in the same week in April and then the Lincoln assassination.

In the 1980s, Blakely became a state historical park with around 3,500 acres.  But, since then, its budget has been drastically cut.  In 2011, close to $170,000 was cut from the budget.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Coming Up On the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 3

Kind of strange that the Union would not refer to this as the Battle of the Rappahannock, since that is the name of the river by the town.  Normally, they named battles after nearby water.

A sunken road near the bottom of the hill was protected by a stone wall which made for excellent Confederate defensive positions.  Members of the Goldsboro Rifles from Wayne County were among the men behind that wall.

Standing four deep, they used assembly line techniques to keep the soldier in the front constantly firing a gun and they literally mowed down the Union attackers.  During the afternoon, there were twelve attacks that December 13th afternoon, all of which failed.

According to Bull, "It was probably the best defensive position lee held during the entire war.  It wasn't war.  It was murder."

He noted the actions of Richard Kirkland of South Carolina who jumped the wall to help the many wounded Union soldiers.  He is remembered as "The Angel of Marye's Heights."

The next scheduled lecture in the series will be held Dec. 11th and will focus on the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge and a re-enactment of the battle is planned for Dec. 15-16 on the actual battle site, which is county-owned.

Sure Would Like to be There.  --Old Secesh

More Heritage Attacks

It sure will be nice if some people ever learn to respect the heritage of others.  I understand why they don't like Confederate heritage, with the slavery issue.  Just like I have to ignore the lyrics and language of certain groups.  You're not going to change what happened.

And to equate the Confederacy with Nazi concentration camps is completely ridiculous.

Recent attacks:

11-30-12:  Country singer Trace Adkins was criticized for wearing an ear piece with the Confederate flag on it at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony.  He correctly responded that it represents his Southern heritage and said he is descended from Confederate soldiers and said he did not "intend any offense by wearing it."

12-212: Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, got its name after Mormons from the South tried to grow cotton in the area back in the 1800s.  But, there are some who argue the name Dixie is too closely connected to slavery.  They want the school renamed. 

A Confederate soldier statue stands on the campus and the school recently retired its mascot, a Rebel.

Ridiculous Attacks on My Heritage.  --Old Secesh

Coming Up on the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 2

At Goldsboro, NC, the multi-pronged attack fared better than the debacle at Fredericksburg. On December 17th, Union troops advancing from New Bern burned the railroad bridge south of the city.

But, 300 miles to the North, the South had already scored a great victory at Fredericksburg, four days earlier when repeated Union attacks against fortified Confederate positions were thrown back with huge losses.

Bull, who gave the talk, is a former Goldsboro High School teacher and is very involved with Civil War history and is a re-enactor, having appeared in the movie "Gods and Generals."  According to him, Union General Burnside's defeat was the result of "a good plan gone bad. 

The Union Army was to exploit a weakness in Confederate General lee's defensive line, but failed to follow it up.  The result was 17,000 casualties on both sides with Federal troops having twice as many due to the failed charges against entrenched Confederates on a hill named Marye's Heights.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

The Battle of Corinth

I started the blog entry back on March 13th and 19th.

There is a Col. W. P. Rogers Camp #321 in Corinth, Mississippi, where I got this information.

Rogers was born Dec. 27, 1819 and married Martha Halport of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Jan. 15, 1840 and became a successful lawyer in Aberdeen, Mississippi. 

During the Mexican War, he raised Company  K, the Tombridge Guards, which became part of the 1st Mississippi Regiment, commanded by Col. Jefferson Davis.  Rogers became a captain and earned the reputation for bravery and leadership.

At the capture of Monterrey, Rogers was the second to enter the Mexican Fort Teneria while under heavy enemy fire.  Later, he became US consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico.

After the war, he moved to Washington, Texas, before establishing his law practice in Houston.

A Soldier's Officer.  --Old Secesh