Veteran of Four Wars Buried in Marshall, Minnesota

From the October 31, 2017, Marshall (Mn) Independent  "A walk in the cemetery reveals four-time war hero" by Jody Isaackson."

More than 50 Civil War veterans are buried at the Marshall Cemetery.  They are easy to identify because of their iron markers put up by the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic).

George Mathhews served in four wars:  Seminole War 1842, Mexican War 1846, Dakota War 1852 and the Civil War 1862-1865.

After the Civil war, he served three more years with the 1st Minnesota Mounted Rangers.

In a June 21, 1895 newspaper article, it was written that he served six enlistments in four different wars.  At age 80 he was living in Minnesota in the state soldiers home and was a member of the D.F. Markham Post GAR.

--Old Secesh

Abe Lincoln On Racial Equality-- Part 2

Abraham Lincoln also said:  "I will add to this that I have never seen to my knowledge a man, woman or child was in favor of producing a perfect equality, social and political between negroes and white men.  I recollect of but one distinguished instance that I have ever heard of so frequently as to be entirely satisfied of its correctness -- and that is the case of Judge Douglas' old friend Col. Richard M. Johnson."

The crowd responded to these remarks with laughter.

Thus Sayeth the Great Emancipator.  --Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group Meets Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group will be meeting at Panera Bread Co. in Crystal Lake on US Highway 14, Northwest Highway.

Topic of discussion will be Jefferson Davis.

I'll have something to say about how his friendship with Braxton Bragg and backing of Bragg was not necessarily in the best interest of the Confederacy.

All are welcome.

--Old Secesh

Abe Lincoln Weighs In On Racial Equality-- Part 1

From Undercover Black Man: The Vice President and His Mulatto Lincoln in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates 1858."

Said the Great Emancipator in 1858 during a Lincoln-Douglas debate:  "I am not, nor have I ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races ... nor qualifying [negroes] to hold office nor to intermarry with white people ...."

He was referring to Richard M. Johnson's common law wife Julia Chinn who had been vice president under President Millard Fillmore

--Old Secesh

Civil War II-- 602: No More "Maryland, My Maryland" At Terps Games

From the August 30, 2017, Google Alerts for Confederate Navy.

**  UMD band nixes state song.  (Loss)  The University of Maryland has long played this song before every home football game.  But, "Maryland, My Maryland" is considered a Confederate song, so you know how that goes.

I imagine that from now on they will be playing and singing, "We're So Politically Correct."

"We're so politically correct, politically correct, we can't fly."

Well, what would you expect from a great Midwestern school like Maryland being in the Big 10, 11, 12, 13, 14?

So Sad.  --Old Secesh

What the Allies Did With Nazi Moments After WW II-- Part 2

All items covered by this directive "must be completely destroyed and liquidated by 1 January 1947 throughout the entire German territory."

Also, anything that is built after 1 January 1947 is also classified as illegal.

So, the Allies set out to destroy anything Nazi or militaristic.

It would seem that Blacks and their white minions are doing exactly the same thing today even though Nazi Germany and the Southern Confederacy were not only in different eras but were clearly not the same.

Nazis aimed for world domination.  The Confederacy just wanted to be on its own.  Plus, there is absolutely no connection between the Holocaust and Southern slavery.

--Old Secesh

What the Allies Did With Nazi Monuments After World War II-- Part 1: Directive 30

From the August Browbeat site  "How did we treat monuments to white supremacists when they weren't our white supremacists" by Mathhew Dessem.

Legislation Dealing With the Liquidation of German Military and Nazi Memorials and Museums.

On May 4, 1946, Directive 30 was issued to Allied forces.

"On and after the date of this directive, the planning, designing, erection, installation, posting or other display of any monument, memorial, poster, statue, edifice, street or highway name marker, emblem, tablet or insignia which tends to preserve and keep alive German military tradition, to revive militarism or to commemorate the Nazi Party, or which is of such nature as to glorify incidents of the war and the functioning of military museums and exhibition, and the erection, installation, or posting or other display on a building or other structure of any of the same, will be prohibited and declared illegal; also the reopening of military museums or exhibitions."

Surely a Lot of Legalize, but, in other words, nothing goes up or stays up to glorify the Nazis.

Bur, Wait!!  There's More!!  --Old Secesh

What to Do With Confederate Monuments? Take a Look At the End of WW II

From the browbeat "How did we treat monuments to white supremacists when they weren't our white supremacists?" by Matthew Dessem.

White Southerners have strong ties ties to the past.

These monuments are historical in themselves because of how long they have stood.

Attempts to remove them are sparking the current round of violence.

This was written after the sad affair in Charlottesville, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

Monument to North Carolina's Private Henry L. Wyatt, First Confederate Soldier Killed in the War

In the last post I wrote about the new book "An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments" by Timothy S. Sedore.

Sadly, this book will probably eventually have use in locating where these monuments and memorials used to stand.

An interesting memorial in the book is the one to North Carolina Private Henry L. Wyatt, considered to be the first Confederate soldier killed in action in the war.  His monument is located at the Big Bethel Battlefield in York County, Virginia.

He was Richmond-born, but grew up in North Carolina and "was shot and killed during an advance on Union troops."  His monument was placed "by the courtesy of Virginia" and "erected by the Authority of the State of North Carolina."

Pvt. Wyatt is memorialized also in North Carolina's Civil War motto:  "First At Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg, Last at Appomattox."

The training camp near what became Fort Fisher at Wilmington, North Carolina was named for him as well.

--Old Secesh

So Sad: New Book "An Illustrated Guide to Virginia's Confederate Monuments"

From the March/April 2016 Confederate Veteran magazine.

Review of Timothy S. Sedore's book by Bryon E. Brady.

This book locates and gives the history of all the Confederate monuments in the state.

The really sad thing, though, is that soon it will be a memorial to all the Confederate monuments once a certain group of people have had them all removed.

Then, you can see WHERE they used to stand.

Such a Sad Time We Live In These Days.  --Old Secesh

Freeman Conner's Swords-- Part 2

Freeman Conner carried his second sword at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Gettysburg, Spotsylvania and other battles.

He was born in Exeter, New Hampshire.  When his 11th New York did not reorganize in 1862, he went to New York and enlisted as a private in the new 44th New York Infantry and then became captain of Co. D, where he got his first sword.  Later, he was promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel.

Both swords surfaced in August 1995 at a house for sale in Glencoe, Illinois, -- not far from Lake Forest Academy where Conner taught before the Civil War.  The two swords were sold to two different individuals that day.

They were reunited by Chicago collector Richard K. Tibbals in September 2001.

The two swords did not sell at the auction in 2005.

Always interesting on hearing what happened to items after the war.

--Old Secesh

Freeman Conner's Swords-- Part 1: Two Offered at Auction in 2005

From the Cowan's Auctions site.

These two swords were offered at a November 2005 auction by the company.

One of the two swords was bullet struck.  Freeman Conner and the 44th New York were instrumental in the defense of the Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg.

The sword is inscribed:  "Capt. Freeman Conner / from Company D / P.E.R. (People's Ellsworth Regiment?) /  The flat side was struck by a bullet and evidently the sword was out when struck.

Conner was promoted to major in July 1862 and suffered the first of two wounds at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.

--Old Secesh

Freeman Conner-- Part 2: Another Ellsworth Man

Continued from December 29, 2017.

From the Antietam site.

Freeman Conner 1836-1906.

Moved to Chicago and was in the grain business.  Was a member of the Ellsworth Zouaves.  When Elmer Ellsworth organized the 11th New York from New York City's firemen, Conner joined as a lieutenant.

When the 11th disbanded in June 1862, its officers went to Albany, New York, and organized the 44th New York Infantry Regiment, known as the "Ellsworth Avengers."  Conner eventually became its colonel.

After the war, Freeman Conner went to Charleston, S.C., for business, then returned to Chicago and got into the grain business again.  He was also involved in politics and the GAR.  He died in 1908 (some confusion about the date of death).

--Old Secesh

Confederate Congress Gives Thanks-- Part 2: Naval Officers

**  John T. Wood, actions in Chesapeake Bay

**  Ebenezer Farrand, Drewry's Bluff

**  Isaac N. Brown, CSS Arkansas

**  Raphael Semmes,  CSS Alabama

John Lancaster, Englishman for using his personal yacht to rescue Semmes and some of the crew of the CSS Alabama after its battle with the USS Kearsarge.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Congress Gives Thanks-- Part 1: Generals

And, the Confederate Congress gave its tanks as well.

**  State of Alabama--  February 8, 1861, for hosting the Confederate government at its capital in Montgomery and loaning $500,000  to the young Confederacy.

**  Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard, for Fort Sumter and First Battle of Manassas.

**  Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, for First Manassas.

**  Robert E. Lee, received thanks on several occasions

And, there were naval officers as well.

Next Post.  --Old Secesh

Congress Gives Thanks-- Part 3: Union Naval Officers

Congress also gave its thanks to these Union naval officers:

**  Admiral David G. Farragut

**  Admiral David D. Porter

**  John L. Worden, who commanded the USS Monitor in its epic battle with the CSS Virginia.

**  Captain John A. Winslow, commanded the USS Kearsarge in its battle with the CSS Alabama.

--Old Secesh

Congress Gives Thanks to Union Generals-- Part 2

The U.S. Congress also gave its thanks during the course of the war.  They limited their official thanks to just 15 army officers:

**  Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon--  the North's first hero, given posthumously.  Killed August 10, 1861, at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri.

**  Major General Ambrose Burnside

**  Major General Joseph Hooker for the defense of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

**  Major General William S. Rosecrans for his victory at Stones River, Tennessee.

**  Ulysses S. Grant  He also received the only Gold Medal awarded during the Civil War for his victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg.

--Old Secesh

Giving Thanks-- Part 1: "A Day of Thanksgiving and Praise"

From the November 24, 2017, Coastal Point  "Civil War Congress gives thanks during the Civil War" by Tom Ryan.

Kind of a good article for a Thanksgiving.

On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 106, establishing the national day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November "inviting my fellow citizens in every part of the United States ... to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise our beneficial Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

--Old SeThanks

Camp Stokes, N.C.-- Part 2: Located in Greensboro

From Camp Stokes HMdb.

Located in Greensboro, N.C..

"Confederate camp of instruction for conscripts and a prison for deserters located here 1864-1865.

"When the war ended, 200 Union prisoners were held here.

"Camp Stokes was commanded by Major Jesse R. McLean of Greensboro."

--Old Secesh

Camp Stokes in Guilford County, N.C.-- Part 1

I have been writing about  Camp Fisher (named after Col. Charles Fisher killed at the First Battle of Bull Run and for whom Camp Fisher in Guilford County was named (as well as Fort Fisher at Wilmington) in my Running the Blockade blog.

From March/April 2016 Confederate Veteran Books in Report.with a review of C. Michael Briggs book "Guilford Under the Stars and Bars."  This is a full accounting of all things that took place during the Civil War in Guilford County.  He mentioned that Greensboro was the site of several vital Confederate installations such as Camps Fisher and Stokes.

Camp Fisher was in High Point and was where thousands of new recruits were trained for Confederate service.

Camp Stokes was constructed for the same reason as Camp Fisher, but also housed Union and Confederate prisoners.

--Old Secesh

Wofford College in the Civil War

Back on December 26, 2017, I wrote about Wofford College defeating the defending National Champion University of North Carolina in basketball, a huge, huge upset.  And, UNC was ranked #5 of the time.  No ranking for little Wofford College, which is in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

I also wrote some about the Wofford during the Civil War.  Here is some more stuff:

**  "Southern Guards" unit was on campus.

**  Many of the students and alumni served in the Confederate military.  (Hopefully, if there is a marker on campus for them, there won't be any Confederate-haters demanding their removal.)

**  At least 36 of them gave their lives.

--Old Secesh

North Carolina, 153 Years Ago: January 1863

From the North Carolina Sesquicentennial Timeline.

JANUARY 1--  Emancipation Proclamation issued "all persons held as slaves" within rebellious states "are, and henceforth shall be free."

During the month of January, Thomas' Highland Legion hunts for bushwhackers in French Broad Valley.

JANUARY 8--  Shelton Laurel Massacre, showdown between Unionist and Confederate forces in Laurel Valley.  Unionists attack Marshall, stealing salt, merchandise and foodstuffs.

They ransack the house of Colonel Lawrence Allen, commanding the 64th North Carolina Regiment.  They harass his wife and three sick children.  Colonel Allen and James Keith (also of the 64th N.C.) attack from East Tennessee with 500 men.

They go to Marshall and Laurel Valley and execute 13 "prisoners."

--Old Secesh

Destroying Symbols: Where Does It End?

From the August 15, 2017, National Review by Kyle Smith.

"What about the Washington Monument or Monticello?  And what about the Lenin statue in New York City?

"The orgiastic glee with which protesters tore down then beat up, a century-old monument to a generic Confederate soldier in Durham. North Carolina, this week was alarming."

What will they go after once every Confederate monument is down?

My Thoughts Exactly.  Those Confederate-Haters Are Dangerous People.  --Old Secesh

While We're Removing Statues-- Part 4: Even William Penn Was a Slave Owner

**  FRANCISCO DE MIRANDA--  Venezuelan hero who participated in the American Revolution.  Had a couple children with his housekeeper so there was a question of morals.

**  AFRICA--  The statue looks more like a white woman.

**  JOHN PAUL JONES--  Great American Revolution naval hero but he once killed a sailor and there was something about a 12-year-old girl.

**  WILLIAM PENN--  Owned 12 slaves.  (Then, of course, they will have to change the name of the state as well.)

See?  You can always find something wrong with a statue if you try.

Take 'Em All Down.  No One Must Be Offended.  --Old Secesh

While We're Removing Statues-- Part 3: Germans and Greeks

Statues which might need to be taken down around Philadelphia.

**  WOLFGANG VON GOETHE--  German writer but accused of selling German criminals and political dissidents to British Army during the American Revolution.

**  FRIEDRICH SCHILLER--  Friend of Goethe's.  Guilty by association.

**  ORESTES AND PHYLADES FOUNTAIN--  Greek mythology.  Orestes killed his mother and boyfriend because she had murdered his father and his cousin.  Phylades egged him on to do it.  Do they deserve a statue for that?

**  STEPHEN GIRARD--  Founded a segregated college.

--Old Secesh

While We're Removing Statues-- Part 2: Four Union Officers

Remember, if the person to whom the statue is dedicated has ever done anything to offend anybody, their statue must come down.

Some Civil War statues:

**  GEN. GEORGE McCLELLAN--  A major Union leader from Philadelphia, but not very successful on the battlefield.  Once called Lincoln "nothing more than a well-meaning baboon."

**  GEN. JOHN F. REYNOLDS--  Shot dead on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Only then did his wife tell her parents that she had married Reynolds, a Protestant.

**  ULYSSES S. GRANT--  Won the Civil War and elected president for two terms, but a heavy drinker.

**  GALUSHA PENNYPACKER--  When he was wounded at the Battle of Fort Fisher, his men beat to death the Confederate who shot him..  That wasn't his fault, so maybe his ten-foot statue should stay although it depicts him in virtually no clothes with some kind of ancient helmet and two lions.

It's a Union Thing.  --Old Secesh

While We're Removing Statues-- Part 1: Ones in Philadelphia That Must Come Down

From the October 26, 2017, Review, Philadelphia  "Of All Things:  Some statues that could be removed."  Jim Smart.

Since the country is in the process of removing all things Confederate, once that is completed it will be necessary  to look at all statues, everywhere.  Should anyone find offense, it will also have to come down.

Mr. Smart went through various statues around Philadelphia taking a facetious look at ones that would have to be removed because of a possible offense to somebody.  He gives the location as well.

**  ADAM AND EVE--  Adam has a hole in his side where the Creator removed a rib to create Eve.  Sexist

**  ALL WARS MEMORIAL TO COLORED SOLDIERS AND SAILORS--  Segregated.

**  TEEDUSCUNG--  Mid-18th century Indian leader who had a reputation for excessive drinking.

--Old Secesh

Civil War II-- 601: Do We Have New Nazis?

From the January 25, 2016, Vintage News.

**When the Nazis occupied France, they removed all metal monuments & statues so they could be melted down.

Hitler ordered Nazis to destroy any piece of art that didn't appeal to him.  He kept anything he liked.

**  During the 1930s, dozens of German towns took part in book burning, hoping to erase any history they didn't like.

Perhaps, we now have a new group of Nazis on the block, intent on erasing all things Confederate and they continually try to make Confederates out to be Nazis.

You Know, Those Confederate-Haters.  --Old Secesh

Desecrating Statues and Monuments Is a Hate Crime, Not Vandalism

It will be nice when the media stops referring to these horrible desecrations to monuments and statues memorializing American veterans as vandalism.

It is not vandalism.

It is nothing short of a hate crime.

Just imagine if someone did something like the left is doing to Confederate statuary to a Martin Luther  King Jr. statue?

What would the media call it.  You'd better believe it wouldn't be called vandalism.

Hate Crimes.  Not Vandalism.  --Old Secesh

Civil War-- 600: Civil War Deaths

From the September 14, 2017, Google Alerts for Confederate.

**  Here's how many Americans have already died to defeat the Nazis and the Confederacy.  These are the just the Civil War numbers.  Of course, putting the Confederacy in the same sentence as Nazis is trying to say something as well.

Overall deaths in the Civil War:  Between 650,000 and 750,000.

Deaths by state:

New York  19,085
2.  Pennsylvania  15,265
3.  Illinois  9884
4.  Indiana  7243
5.  Massachusetts  6115

Some other Midwest states:

Wisconsin  3802
Michigan  4448
Iowa  3540

How many Confederates died trying to repel the invasion?

--Old Secesh

Civil War II-- 599: The Confederacy a "Fascist State"? Really?

I have some of the news of this sad Second War on the Confederacy dating back to August which I had already written down.  So, they are late, but believe me this aberration continues unabated.  Who would ever have believed American soldiers would be treated so badly.

From the August 14, 2017, Google Alerts for Confederate.

**  The latest:  Student leaders say campuses should be safe support for UVA students.

**  Councilman formally calls for (b)altimores's Confederate monuments to be destroyed.  (Loss)  Guess what race Brandon Scott is?  Sounds a bit racist to me, but it is ok for Blacks to be racist.

**  It's time to stop coddling Confederacy.  (Yahoo! Finance)  The Confederacy was "a fascist nation hell-bent on spreading its political and social system across America."  Perhaps the author should stick with finance and not say anything about stuff he doesn't know.

--Old Secesh

Famed 'Battle of Atlanta' Cyclorama Secure in New Home

From the July 2017, America's Civil War.

One of the world's largest paintings was successfully moved to its new home in February 2017.

Because of its age (131 years) and weight (five tons) and length (more than 100 yards) this process took two days to move nine miles from Atlanta's Grant Park to the Atlanta History center in Buckhead.

It was cut in two and wound around two custom-made steel spools.

In this refreshing in this age of the new destroy anything having to do with Confederates.

--Old Secesh

This Artifact Ain't So Real

From the July 2017 America's Civil War. "X-Ray Vision."

A picture of a tree with a shell embedded in it.

Lt. Colonel Archibald Blakely's 78th Pennsylvania Infantry fought in the woods near the Brotherton Farm at the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, and during a postwar trip to the battlefield he obtained this shell-struck tree trunk as a reminder of the the fight.

Sorry, Colonel, you fell for a fake.  A team at Pittsburgh's Senator John Heinz History Center, where the object was exhibited, X-rayed the stump and discovered that someone had cut a shell in half, placed it in a man-made cavity, and let the tree heal around the opening so it looked natural.

Some shrewd local had anticipated a market of Civil War veterans avid for souvenirs of a time when "their hearts were touched by fire."

There's One Born Every second.  --Old Secesh

My Fourth Blog Enters Its Twelfth Year

Today's post marks the beginning of the twelfth year (2007) of this blog.

This blog grew out of my Cooter's History Thing Blog when it became apparent that it was turning into mostly a Civil War blog.  My Civil War Navy blog grew out of this one.

Last year, I had 497 posts and this marks the 4,572nd article.

--Old Secesh