Thursday, December 31, 2015
Unmatched Eminent Virginians
From: bernhard1848@gmail.com
Senator George F. Hoar seemed unaware of Massachusett's deep involvement in the transatlantic slave trade as he arraigns the South for an absence of morals. Senator John Critcher below served during the war as a lieutenant-colonel of the Fifteenth Virginia cavalry.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com
Unmatched Eminent Virginians
"In the debate on Education in the House of Representatives, Mr. Hoar, of Massachusetts remarked that slavery in the South was not so observable in the degradation of the slave as in the depravity of the master.
Mr. Critcher, of Virginia replied:
"Reminding the gentleman from Massachusetts that every signer of the Declaration of Independence, except those from his State, and perhaps one or two others, were slave-owners, he would venture to make a bold assertion; he would venture to say that he could name more eminent men from the parish of his residence, than the gentleman could name from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He would proceed to name them, and yield the floor to the gentleman to match them if he could.
On one side of his estate is Wakefield, the birthplace of Washington. On the other side is Stratford, the residence of Light Horse Harry Lee, of glorious Revolutionary memory.
Adjoining Stratford is Chantilly, the residence of Richard Henry Lee, the mover of the Declaration of Independence, and the Cicero of the American Revolution. There lived Francis Lightfoot Lee, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Charles Lee, at one time Washington's Attorney General; and Arthur Lee, the accomplished negotiator of the treaty of commerce and alliance between the Colonies and France in 1777.
Returning, as said before, you come first to the birthplace of Washington; another hour's drive will bring you to the birthplace of Monroe; another hour's drive to the birthplace of Madison, and if the gentleman supposes that the present generation is unworthy of their illustrious ancestors, he has but to stand on the same estate to see the massive chimneys of the baronial mansion that witnessed the birth of Robert E. Lee.
These are some of the eminent men from the parish of his residence, and he yielded the floor that the gentleman might match them, if he could, from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
(Southern Historical Society Papers, "Degrading Influence of Slavery," Volume 12, Barefoot Publishing, page 59)
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
The South Against a Seceding North
From: bernhard1848@gmail.com
Though South Carolina had been threatened with invasion over nullifying federal law in the early 1830s, no such threats were made to Northern States in the 1850s as they instituted personal liberty laws which nullified federal law and obstructed federal officers. Had Lincoln not won his plurality in 1860, the secession of the North might have been the case.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com The Great American Political Divide
The South Against a Seceding North
"There was strong opposition to secession, not only in the Upper South, but also in some parts of the Lower South, the very heart land of the future Confederacy. In every convention except South Carolina's there were votes against secession, and in Alabama and Georgia the opposition was considerable. In Georgia, Alexander H. Stephens, Herschel V. Johnson, and Benjamin H. Hill gave up their fight for the Union only after their State had seceded and threatened to leave them behind.
In their campaign to save the nation, the [Southern] Unionists resorted both to argument and to delaying tactics. They played on national sentiments; the Revolution and its heroes . . . the Constitution, which largely Southerners had made and was sufficient for all needs if properly interpreted and enforced. Up to this time the South had generally dominated the government, either through Southern-born presidents or . . . Northern men with Southern principles. Most of the Supreme Court had been Southerners, and the court at this time was dominated by the South.
In fact, the whole idea of secession was illogical and wrong, it was argued. The process should be reversed. The North should do the seceding, for the South represented more truly the nation which the forefathers had set up in 1789. Therefore the South should not allow itself to be driven out of its own home.
Henry A. Wise of Virginia was especially vigorous in arguing this point of view. "Logically the Union belongs to those who have kept, not those who have broken, its covenants," he declared. If he ever had to fight he hoped it would be against a seceding North, "with the star-spangled banner still in one hand and my musket in the other."
(A History of the South, Volume VII, The Confederate States of America, 1861-1865, E. Merton Coulter, LSU Press, 1950, pp. 3-5)
The Graves of American Heroes
From: bernhard1848@gmail.com
The first commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans, General John B. Gordon of Georgia, tried repeatedly to retire from his high office "but his comrades would not consent." Below, he spoke in 1890 of the necessity of maintaining unblemished the nobility, heroism, sacrifices, suffering and glorious memory of the American soldiers in grey.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com The Great American Political Divide
The Graves of American Heroes
"[The United Confederate Veterans] was created on high lines, and its first commander was the gallant soldier, General John B. Gordon, at the time governor of Georgia, and later was United States senator. General Gordon was continued as commander-in-chief until his death.
The note . . . struck in the constitution of the United Confederate Veterans were reechoed in the opening speech of the first commander-in-chief. General Gordon, addressing the Veterans and the public, said:
"Comrades, no argument is needed to secure for those objects your enthusiastic endorsement. They have burdened your thoughts for many years. You have cherished them in sorrow, poverty and humiliation. In the face of misconstruction, you have held them in your hearts with the strength of religious convictions. No misjudgments can defeat your peaceful purposes for the future. Your aspirations have been lifted by the mere force and urgency of surrounding conditions to a plane far above the paltry considerations of partisan triumphs.
The honor of the American Government, the just powers of the Federal Government, the equal rights of States, the integrity of the Constitutional Union, the sanctions of law, and the enforcement of order have no class of defenders more true and devoted than the ex-soldiers of the South and their worthy descendants. But you realize the great truth that a people without the memories of heroic suffering or sacrifice are a people without history.
To cherish such memories and recall such a past, whether crowned with success or consecrated in defeat, is to idealize principle and strengthen character, intensify love of country, and convert defeat and disaster into pillars of support for future manhood and noble womanhood.
Whether the Southern people, under their changed conditions, may ever hope to witness another civilization which shall equal that which began with their Washington and ended with their Lee, it is certainly true that devotion to their glorious past is not only the surest guarantee of future progress and the holiest bond of unity, but is also the strongest claim they can present to the confidence and respect of the other sections of the Union.
It is political in no sense, except so far as the word "political" is a synonym for the word "patriotic." [It will] cherish the past glories of the dead Confederacy and transmute them into living inspirations for future service to the living Republic; of truth, because it will seek to gather and preserve, as witness to history, the unimpeachable facts which shall doom falsehood to die that truth may live; of justice, because it will cultivate . . . that broader and higher and nobler sentiment which would write on the grave of every soldier who fell on our side, "Here lies an American hero, a martyr to the right as his conscience conceived it."
(The Photographic History of The Civil War, Vol. 5, Robert S. Lanier, editor, Blue & Grey Press, 1987, pp. 298-299)
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Heroes and Idols of the North
From: bernhard1848@gmail.com
Ulysses S. Grant learned quickly who his masters were and who would ensure his government position and pension after the cheering stopped. A man most unsuited to the presidency, he was merely the front-man for corporate interests which rode his popularity into unchecked power. The Captain Winslow mentioned below, ironically was born in Wilmington, North Carolina and fought against his native State; his family ties with the old New England Winslow family caused him to join the revolutionaries of the North.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com The Great American Political Divide
Heroes and Idols of the North
"General Grant, in spite of all that is said about his modesty, his integrity and his respect for civil authority, is already beginning to put on princely airs. For a long time he has been very firmly slamming his door in the face of Cabinet members who have tried to look too closely into the affairs of his army. Today he sent Mr. Lincoln a message expressing his satisfaction with his performance and conveying kind congratulations in the tone the Tsar of Russia might use when writing to his dear cousin the Emperor of Austria.
America is at present honoring one of those ephemeral heroes who change from week to week. Grant has a rival for the applause of the masses in the person of Captain [John A.] Winslow. This naval officer, who defeated the privateer Alabama, has been literally borne in triumph from one end of the United States to the other. Boston has just given him a splendid welcome, New York is clamoring for him and the national propensity for imitation—which reminds one of Panurge's sheep — will surely bring him many more ovations. Prominent men like Mr. [Edward] Everett do not hesitate to harness themselves to his triumphal chariot.
You would almost think that the fight between the Alabama and the Kearsarge was the most glorious feat of arms in this century. The hero, puffed up by his unexpected fame, goes from banquet to banquet telling the tale of his great deeds. If you believe all he says, you would think that all by himself on his little boat he held the envious powers of Europe at bay, paralyzed with terror, that he thumbed his nose at the French navy, slapped a British admiral in the face and defied Lord Russell by sailing right up the Thames — indeed, that he has made the name of America shine like a fiery sword in the eyes of a terrified Europe.
The American public soon gets enough of its idols. Clever men never let themselves be exploited in this way; they prefer to be the impresario who sponsors one of these seven-day wonders; in this way they avoid inflating for themselves the dangerous balloon of popularity that rises so high and so swiftly, but will just as suddenly let fall those it has lifted up."
(A Frenchman in Lincoln's America, Ernst D. de Hauranne, Donnelly & Sons, 1974, Volume II, pp. 92-94 )
Monday, December 28, 2015
Tormenting the Defeated South
From: bernhard1848@gmail.com
Though the South laid down its arms to rejoin the Union without slavery or secession, it would not be allowed the dignity of self-government by the victorious Radicals. Some tormenters "hoped to goad them into violent action or language by forcing them to salute the United States flag or walk under it." The radical German immigrant Carl Schurz visited the South after the surrender and declared that the South was "not impressed with any sense of its criminality" as if the Americans there committed a crime by forming a more perfect union according to Jefferson's precepts.
Bernhard Thuersam, www.Circa1865.com The Great American Political Divide
Tormenting the Defeated South
"One of the foremost characteristics of a civilized people is its need and desire for government. It was a fearful sight to see law and order disintegrate with the collapse of the Confederate armies . . . Incoming Federal troops prevented the legislators from meeting except in Mississippi, where the legislators were speedily dispersed.
To prevent anarchy the army of occupation marched in [and comprised departments] under a major general. Even if the soldiers had been forbearing it would have had difficulty in preserving order everywhere; but with soldiers singing "John Brown's Body" and exciting the Negroes . . . for a short interim there was little law and order in some parts of the South.
At the end of the war the tendency was for the best element in the Federal army to get mustered out first, leaving a less reliable soldiery to police the South. Many of these troops remaining were Negroes, the number in October 1865 amounting to 85,000. Many of them were scattered widely over the South where they became almost without exception a vicious influence.
Elated over their high station, their uniforms and guns, they took special delight in insulting white people and in instilling dangerous notions into the heads of the freedmen. Occasionally they had bloody clashes with the whites and ravished white women. In Nashville they collided with the police and were disarmed and turned over to the provost marshal; in Beaufort, North Carolina, a Negro soldier raped a white girl and was arrested . . . [the Negro troops in nearby Fort Macon] threatened to turn the guns of the fort on the city; and near Augusta, Georgia, marauding [black] troops demolished the home and threatened the lives of a family who objected to the Negroes drinking out of the well bucket instead of the proffered gourd dipper.
In Newberry, South Carolina, a Confederate soldier returning after the war to his Texas home was beset by Negro troops and murdered because he attempted to protect two white girls from their insults.
Southerners felt especially aggrieved that they should be thus humiliated by their former slaves and by self-obtruding blacks from the North. Was it to show the Southern people that a fundamental revolution was in the making for them?
Even Northerners felt the shame of it. Said one, "I am at a loss to see what good [the black soldiers'] presence here is now. If to humble the Southern pride, that end has been fully accomplished. I have heard black soldiers make the most insulting remarks to Southerners, who are too glad to get by with only that to take notice of them." General Grant, seeing no good purpose served in having Negro troops in the South, advised their removal. Before the end of 1866 practically all had been withdrawn."
(A History of the South, Volume VIII, The South During Reconstruction, 1865-1877, E. Merton Coulter, LSU Press, 1947, pp. 29-30)
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Donation request for preserving 60th Virginia Infantry Flag
Given both the season of giving as well as the intent and goal of the SCV to "preserve the history and legacy of these heroes, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause," I seek your help and assistance to do just that.
I am requesting support and assistance to conserve and preserve the 60th Virginia Regimental battle flag. Please see the attached supporting letters and documentation referencing this confederate battle flag.
I would also like to thank you, your officers, and your Camp Compatriots for doing what you do every day to preserve the memory of our confederate ancestors. It is with immense honor that I dedicate my life in the same fashion.
Happy Holidays to you and your family and I hope you will strongly consider my request in order to preserve this priceless piece of southern history.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
William L. Caynor Sr.
60th Virginia Infantry Flag Sponsor
Black Horse SCV Camp #780 Compatriot
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Don't Miss the 150 Matching Challenge!
-------- Forwarded Message --------
| Subject: | Don't Miss the 150 Matching Challenge! |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 22 Dec 2015 13:05:30 -0600 |
| From: | Civil War Trust <info@civilwar.org> |
| Reply-To: | Civil War Trust <info@civilwar.org> |
| Organization: | Civil War Trust |
| To: | J B <james@spluuu.com> |
 | ||
Dear J,
Our success at the Civil War Trust would be impossible without the support of dedicated preservationists like you. Together, we have already done tremendous work to save our sacred American spaces this year — and throughout the Civil War Sesquicentennial
As the countdown to December 31st nears, I can't help but reflect on the dual significance to this season of giving. Not only is it the traditional time to make year-end charitable donations, but it also marks the end of our 150th Anniversary commemoration of the Civil War.
In the waning hours of 2015, a generous donor has come up with a way we can do just that— announcing the "150 Matching Challenge." As an exciting final preservation opportunity of the final year of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, this donor pledges to match, dollar for dollar — up to an astounding $150,000 — your gifts to save battlefields. This doubles your impact through the end of the year!
Your gift of $75 to save places like Appomattox — where we are working to save 202 acres at the battlefield on which fate of the war was decided — will be doubled to $150.
Your gift of $150 to preserve places like Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbor — where we continue to thwart housing developers who wish to desecrate this doubly hallowed ground where men in blue and grey fought two battles 150 years ago — will be doubled to $300.
With this 150 Matching Challenge, your gifts will go twice as far, putting us one step — nay, TWO steps — closer to preserving battlefields even in places such as Brandy Station, Bentonville, and Glendale, where we only need to raise $43,000 in order to to save 1,180 acres, including 10 battlefields across 7 states!
There's still so much to be done in the fight to save our battlefields. Please make your year-end contribution today.
Until the Battle is Won,
Jim Lighthizer | ||
Copyright © 2015 Civil War Trust
1156 15th Street N.W. Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005
p 202-367-1861 | e info@civilwar.org
1156 15th Street N.W. Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20005
p 202-367-1861 | e info@civilwar.org
Friday, December 25, 2015
SCV Telegraph - Christmas Message
|
|
Thursday, December 24, 2015
SCV Telegraph - The Latest on the Situation in New Orleans
|
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)