Edmund Moore Rhett-- Part 2: St. Philips Episcopal Church, Charleston, S.C.

From Find-A-Grave

Edmund Moore Rhett was buried  at St. Philips Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  There are quite a few famous people buried there.

John C. Calhoun

Christopher Gadsden--  Revolutionary War, state legislator

James Gadsden--  War of 1812, Gadsden Purchase

Charles Pinckney--  Signed U.S. Constitution.  American Revolution  U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.  Laid groundwork for Louisiana Purchase.  Castle Pinckney in  Charleston Harbor named for him.

Thomas Pinckney--  American Revolution, S.C. governor and U.S. statesman.

Alicia Rhett--  Edmund Moore Rhett's daughter.

William Rhett--  Captured the pirate Stede Bonnet.

Edward Rutledge--  Signer of Declaration of Independence and American Revolution

--Old Secesh

Edmund Moore Rhett (Alicia Rhett's Father)-- Part 1: Died of Spanish Flu in 1918

I did find out some more about Edmund Moore Rhett.

From WikiTree.

Born 7 April 1877 in Charleston, SC.   Died 10 October 1918 in Wilmington, Delaware.  His father was a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, who had commanded Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor until 1863.

Edmund was admitted to the United States Military Academy June 15, 1896.  Graduated in 1900 as a lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

He was working for the railroad when he met his future wife, Isabel Beatrice Murdoch, who worked as a stenographer for the company.  The couple married in 1913-1914,  and had one child, Alicia (who was in the cast of "Gone With the Wind"), born in Savannah in 1915.

The family moved to Wilmington, Delaware, sometime around 1917.  He was employed as a chemical engineer at Du Pont  Company and the family resided at 1623 Rodney Street in Wilmington.  This was also his address given for his World War draft registration.

This is also where he was living when he died of the influenza.

When I saw he died that date, I was wondering whether he had died of the Spanish flu.  He had.

He was buried in Charleston, S,C, at St. Philips Episcopal Church Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

80th Anniversary of "Gone With the Wind"-- Part 3: Alicia Rhett, Her One and Only Movie Role

Alicia Rhett, who played India Wilkes, was the granddaughter of a Confederate Army soldier who served during the Civil War.

**  She died in 2014, one of the last of the actors and actresses from the movie.  This was her one and only movie role.   Reportedly, she did not much care for the whole Hollywood scene.

**  From IMdb:  Quote on the making of the movie:  "Clark Gable was great, always on time, always  knew his lines.  Leslie Howard had charm to burn.    Vivien Leigh  was delightful, an indefatigable worker, and just as pretty offstage as on.    So was Olivia de Havilland."

**  Originally tested for the role of Melanie.

**  Was an accomplished sketch and portrait artist before her role as India Wilkes.

**  During the filming of the movie, she did thumbnail sketches of everyone.

**  Her father was Lt. Edmund Moore Rhett (1877-1918)  Died at age 41.  He graduated from West Point in 1900 and was in the Army Corps of Engineers.  Died in Wilmington, Delaware.

I am unable to find any more information of him.

**  Reportedly, the Lady Baltimore cake was invented by one of her father's sisters, Alicia Middleton Rhett Mayberry.

**  And, her actual family name would appear to have had something to do with a famous name from the movie.

Rhett?  Rhett?  Where Have I Heard That Name?  --Old Secesh

80th Anniversary of "Gone With the Wind"-- Part 2" "I Am Not In It"

**  While visiting Atlanta's Cyclorama, the famed panoramic depiction o the Battle of  Atlanta, Clark Gable joked that there was one thing wrong with it:  "I am not in it."

Soon afterwards, one of the mannequins in the exhibit was altered to look like Rhett, with a handlebar mustache, fallen on the battlefield.

From the December 15, 2009 Civil War Picket on the 70th anniversary of "Gone With the Wind."

"I saw Rhett Butler today.   He didn't look so good.

"He was lying on the ground.  His eyes had no focus.  Blood covered part of his abdomen."

On the morning of December 15, Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfied (for whom Atlanta's airport is named), took Clark Kent and his new wife Carole Lombard o the Cyclorama at Grant Park.  Although impressed, Clark said it didn't have him, Rhett, in it.

Hartsfield later had artist Weis Snell  make a Rhett Butler of a dying Union soldier.

And, evidently, he is still there.

"Take a good look my dear.  It's a historic moment you can tell your grandchildren about -- how you watched the Old South fall one night."    Answer below.

Who Said That?  --Old Secesh


Rhett Butler

80th Anniversary of "Gone With the Wind"-- Part 1: Ohh, That "Dixie"

Last year was the 80th anniversary of the epic movie "Gone With the Wind," whether you like it or not, I am going to take through some information from one of those 100-page coffee table magazine books that I find so interesting.

From the Hollywood Legends Collector's Edition "Gone With the Wind."

Three bona fide Civil War-related facts about the movie:

1.  During the motorcade from the airport at the Grand Opening of the movie in Atlanta, at one point, star Vivien Leigh (Scarlet O'Hara)  noticed the band was playing "Dixie" and was overheard gushing,  "They're playing the song from the picture!" -- not realizing it was the "song" of  the Confederacy during the war.

Some Southern Belle.  --Old Secesh

"Gone With the Wind" Quotable Quotes

The movie "Gone With the Wind" was released in December 1939, and was at the theaters for months after that.  So, we are in the 80th anniversary of it.

From Wikipedia.

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE

100 Years Series

Top 100 Movies:   #4

Top 100 Passions:  #2

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

SEE IF YOU REMEMBER THESE "GONE WITH THE WIND" QUOTATIONS:

From the AFI's 100 Years...100 Quotes

What do you think is the #1 quote?

These two were nominated, but didn't make the list:

"I don't know nothin'  'bout birthin' babies!"

"Fiddle-Dee-Dee."

#59.  "As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

#31.  "After all, tomorrow's another day."

#1.  "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

But You Knew That.  --Old SeceGone

Sure Wasn't Expecting to Be "Out West" with This Blog, But, Here I Am: "RoadTrippin' Through History"

Now, this is about mt 17th blog entry dealing with Nebraska and Colorado.  Two months ago, I did not know of any of this and it all started with a move in Nebraska to put up a statue in honor of their 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment at Fort Donelson.  Before that, I did not even know Nebraska had any regiments during the war.  And, I suppose that since this is not a Confederate statue, certain people will leave it alone.

Both were territories during the war.

You just never know where any of my blogs are headed as I do my research and writing according to road cruising.  I start at a point and just don't know where I am headed with it or how far I'll go with it.   Kind of like going to YouTube to hear a song, and then four hours later, you're still listening to music on that site.

This is something I get from my love of cruising down old roads, especially Route 66, the Lincoln Highway and the Dixie Highway.  You know where you start, but have no idea where you're headed.  I call this "Roadtripping Through History."

It will be interesting to see how far I go with this, or, for that matter, where I go with this.

See You When and Where I Go.  --Old Secesh

Coronavirus Ends Maryland's General Assembly Early, First Time Since the Civil War-- Part 1

From the March 18, 2020, Baltimore Sun "Coronavirus ended this year's General Assembly early.  The last time this happened  we were fighting the Civil War"  by Frederick N. Rasmussen.

The last time this happened, it wasn't a pandemic, but the opening stages of the Civil War.

This past Wednesday, the Maryland General Assembly adjourned early  as a precaution to stop the spread of you-know-what.

In early morning April 12, 1861, Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, starting the you-know-what.  A week later, troops of the 6th Massachusetts were marching through Baltimore on their way to guard Washington, D.C., when they were attacked by a pro-Southern mob in what became known as the Pratt Street Riots.

By the tine it ended, six civilians, a bystander and three soldiers were dead.  Twenty-four soldiers were wounded as were an unknown number of civilians.  This is considered where the war's first blood was shed since no one was killed at the Battle of Fort Sumter.

--Old secesh

Coronavirus Ends Maryland's General Assembly-- Part 2: Arrested for Thinking Southern

Maryland Governor  Thomas Holliday Hicks and Baltimore Mayor George William Brown summoned the state militia to suppress any further rioting.  Governor Hicks called the General Assembly to meet in Frederick on April 26.

They met through the summer and then a bill for cessation was introduced causing the governor to play a waiting game until enough federal troops were in the state

The Lincoln administration deemed any attempt of Maryland to secede as something that couldn't happen.  Lincoln's Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, said that "the passage of any act of secession by the Legislature of Maryland must be prevented.  If necessary, all or any part of the members must be arrested.

The day the session ended, September 17, twelve members of the Senate and fifty Delegates were arrested  by federal troops and charged with being Southern sympathizers, and jailed at Fort McHenry using Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus as justification.

--Old Secesh

Some More On Fort Sedgwick

From Fort Wiki.

FORT SEDGWICK

1864-1871

U.S. Army post established in 1864 as the Post at Julesburg Station by Col. Christopher H. McNally, 3rd Volunteer Infantry in Sedgwick County, Colorado.  Renamed September 27, 1865, for Major General John Sedgwick., who was killed May 9, 1864, at the Battle of Spotsylvania.

Abandoned in 1871.  Also known as Camp Rankin and Fort Rankin.  (I have been unable to find out who Rankin was.)

Established May 17, 1864, as the Post at Julesburg  It was located at a strategic point where there were several river crossings.  It was also  on a branch of the Overland Trail, which was used by settlers heading west as protection from Indian attacks.

The South Platte River was about a quarter mile away.

The post was abandoned May 31, 1871, after the cessation of Indian hostilities in the area.  It was transferred to the Department of the Interior on July 22, 1884.

It is on private property.  There is one marker near Ovid and one roadside marker near the location of the post hospital alongside CR-28 in Sedgwick County, Colorado.

--Old Secesh

Robert Byington Mitchell-- Part 2: Perryville, Chicakamauga and New Mexico

After his recovery, Lincoln appointed him a brigadier general an d he was given command of a mixed brigade at Fort Riley (Kansas).    Later, he commanded a division at the Battle of Perryville and then he was stationed at Nashville for awhile after that.

During the Chickamauga Campaign, he served as George H. Thomas' chief of cavalry for the Army of the Cumberland.  Just before the Third Battle of Chattanooga, he was ordered to Washington, D.C., for court martial duty.  There is some question as to whether this was because of incapacitation due to a wound.

Either way, he did not see active duty again against the Confederates, and commanded the District of Nebraska, District of North Kansas and finally the District of Kansas.

In January 1865, he commanded a unit chasing after a group of Indians who had attacked Julesburg, Colorado but was unable to catch them.

He was honorably discharged  on January 15, 1866, the same day the Senate confirmed his nomination as Governor of the New Mexico Territory.  He resigned from it in 1869 and returned to Kansas before moving to Washington, D.C., where he died January 26, 1882, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Robert Byington Mitchel-- Part 1: Born in Ohio, Fought in Mexican War, Wounded at Wilson's Creek

From Wikipedia.

Two posts ago, I mentioned that this general organized a group to pursue the Indians after the Battle of Julesburg.  I'd never heard of him, so Wiki me.

April 4, 1823- January 26, 1882.  Brigadier general in Union Army.  Born in Mansfield, Ohio.  Practiced law in Mansfield  Was a second lieutenant in the Mexican War with the 2nd Ohio Volunteers.

Moved to Kansas Territory where he was a legislator and treasurer.  Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, S.C., in 1860.

After the Civil War started, he was adjutant general of Kansas from May 2, 1861 to June 20, 1861.   Later commanded the 2nd Kansas Infantry.  He was badly wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, 186, when he was shot from his horse while leading his regiment.

--Old Secesh

Fort Sedgwick, Colorado

Fort Sedgwick is also known as the Post at Julesburg, Camp Rankin and Fort Rankin.  The last two were the original names.  The town of Sedgwick (pop. 146) is named after the fort, which was named after Union General John Sedgwick.  Nearby Julesburg's population is 1,225 and was named after  Jules Beni, who had a somewhat checkered life.

John Sedgwick (1813-1864) was wounded three times in the war and killed by a Confederate sharpshooter at the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864, shortly after uttering the words, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."

In 1864, there had been an increasing number of skirmishes between Indians and white settlers.  As a result, military base Camp Rankin was established near Julesburg with a couple sod huts.  It was renamed for General Sedgwick.

It was used after the Civil War as well.

Nothing remains of the fort today.   The original fort flagpole is now in front of the Julesburg Library and  the town also has the Fort Sedgwick Museum.

--Old Secesh

Battle of Julesburg-- Part 3: Aftermath

After the battle, Union Brigadier General Robert Byington Mitchell gathered about 650 soldiers and set off after the Indians.  On January 19, he found their camp at Cherry Creek but they had already left it.  With bitterly cold weather and 50 of his soldiers incapacitated by frostbite, he called after the chase

The Indians, meanwhile, moved north to the Black Hills.  En route, they raided and looted ranches and even attacked Julesburg again.

--Old secesh

Battle of Julesburg (Colorado)-- Part 2: An Indian Ambush and Victory

Strength:  60 U.S. soldiers and 50 civilians versus about 1,000 Indians.

This battle is kind of strange in the fact that most of the information about it comes from the Indian side.  The Indian plan was to use a decoy group of braves to lure the fort's garrison out and into an ambush.  It worked, but some young Indian warriors fired at the soldiers prematurely, alerting them to the fact that they were riding onto an ambush and they turned and rode rapidly back to the fort.

Some of the soldiers were killed before reaching safety, but the rest got back and drove off the Indians.  Losses were some 14 soldiers and 3 civilians.  It is doubtful that any Indians were lost.  All the civilians of Julesburg were in the fort and then the Indians started looting the settlement.

--Old Secesh