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Musket Echos

2/26/2016

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What do you know? Only five General Jones! (To go back to the end of the last post.)
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David Rumph Jones (Nickname: "Neighbor")
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John Robert Jones
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William Edmonson Jones (Nickname: "Grumble")
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John Marshall Jones (Nickname: "Rum")
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Samuel Jones
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​General Thomas Jordan was apparently in charge of some Confederate espionage and (according to Wiki) Rose O'Neal Greenhow's, I quote, "handler". Very interesting...

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Not only did General William Kirkland have a rather funny middle name "Whedbee", he was married to General William Hardee's niece, Sarah.






Moving on to a different general--there was a Union AND Confederate General James Henry Lane. From a quick glance at their records it appears they were in different theaters. I don't know how very helpful that might be, but I suppose it could have gotten a wee bit confusing if they were opposite on another.
General John H. Kelly--age 23 when promoted to Brigadier General. Age twenty-four when he was mortally wounded and died at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. 
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I really like his name: Evander McIver Law.
There were six general Lees:
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Edwin Gray Lee
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George Washington Custis Lee (R.E. Lee's eldest son)
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Stephen Dill Lee (the only one Gen'l Lee not born in Virginia. He was from SC.)
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Fitzhugh Lee (R.E. Lee's nephew)
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No caption needed--THE General Robert Edward Lee
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William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (Or "Rooney". R.E. Lee's son.)
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The faithful Mrs. R.E. Lee
I'll leave you with the Lee's this evening....

     Racheal

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A Fool and a Coward?

2/26/2016

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Or "Why I cannot engage in Civil War debates".

After a VERY long hiatus, in which I had completely forgotten the existence of the forums, I returned this week to CivilWarTalk.com. There is so much information for both historical research and reenactor improvement on there that it is well worth the time spent poking around. BUT. Enter my problem--I cannot engage in the secessionist/slavery debates. Thankfully, there are plenty of other topics I can join in on, but these two--very important issues, I cannot. Why, you ask?

Well, I made two separate comments on two separate threads--one concerning secession and the other concerning Northern slavery. (The secesh thread also had plenty of slavery discussion, too.) I knew better at the time. And I there after, essentially slunk coward-like out of the picture. Why? Because I'm not sure where I stand? No...but for the following reasons.

First, and probably the most glaringly obvious, is that I am #1 probably one of the youngest members of the forums and I hate to come across as an antagonist twit. Well, that actually wasn't what I was going to say, but it's applicable. #2 I am quite obviously not as well read...and therefore less prepared. In addition, when I DO have a "quote" I can never remember where I read it, or where to find it again, etc. In other words, I can't source myself (which I've seen multiple demands of in my short time back in the forums.) It really is a good idea, being able to source oneself. (I just so happen to have the same issue with recalling Bible texts. I can't chapter and verse it even if I can paraphrase accurately.)

To add to this obvious set of problems, I have this one--I have acres of trouble being articulate. Some days it's worse than others (and I'm actually managing okay with this post), but other days I simply cannot for the life of me say exactly what I mean in a way that makes sense. I have leaps and gaps in my logic, of which I am glaringly aware, but I cannot see how to bridge them or articulate the bridge. 

This in and of itself is enough motivation for me to keep my trap shut in conversations that have a tendency to turn ugly. (Besides which, they are just exercises in rhetoric unless you really do have uncertain persons engaged or reading them. But once you've reached your conclusions--it's a waste of time to ARGUE the point. Not that I think it's really a waste of time to read them and thereby understand the other opinions thinking.)

But, my second point is really the one that propels me to stay out--and really makes me wonder how much of a coward I am. I'm a fool for getting into something unprepared, but am I a coward because I stay out due to my second issue? Tell me honestly what you think.

My second issue is as follows: I come to history, as with any other area of life, with a self-consciously Christian perspective. I want to look at everything through the lens of Scripture...and this includes history and those "sticky" issues--like slavery. 

I understand that at least part of the cause behind the War Between the States was theological--but once again, I cannot speak of it because I lack the depth of understanding I hope to someday have. But because I come to it from a "what does the Bible have to say about this" point of view, it makes it awkward at the very least to address a bunch of probably non-Christian, or at least minimal Christians. I am fairly sure that I would be attacked by a particular member who shows all signs of being socialistic. 

So, am I a coward because I won't go into a discussion, on slavery for example, and say, "According to the Bible, slavery, in and off itself is not a moral wrong. There are specification for proper treatment of slaves and whenever those are broken then it becomes morally wrong, but the simple act of owning a slave does not make you a sinner." Like I said in a previous post, I have not yet determined how much of Southern slavery was down-right wrong. 

*EXPLOSIONS*

And what could I do? Sit there and take it and feel smug because I think I have the Bible on my side? (Not that I would feel smug; I'm not built that way.) Perhaps in a one-on-one conversation...but not in a group setting. I don't see HOW getting myself in on something like that would be a good witness--no matter if I'm right (which I could be wrong) for very, very, VERY few people would think that I was and would thereby think they had excuses to lambast Christians. Plain and simply, I think picking other hills to die on is a whole lot more, well, wise--and useful. So, I will read. I will watch. I will listen. I will learn.

And by the way, I've noticed that the seceshes, like me, drop out of the conversations sooner. Maybe it's because we know we can't force people into our way of thinking and that we are a minority (THANK-YOU Government Education!) and it's really not worth our time banging away at a wall of abolitionist thinking.

Anyway...there is my explanation of why I solemnly resolve to keep my nose clean. I won't promise, because I may slip up....but I resolve to stay out of these kinds of explosive conversations, from here on out. Well, at least until I'm a bit more learned.... ;)  

     Racheal

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Musket Echos

2/24/2016

3 Comments

 
Now here's an interesting fact. Mrs. Abe Lincoln had a half sister married to a Confederate General--Benjamin Hardin Helm. 
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Emilie was much prettier than Mary, I think...
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​I wonder if General Theophilus H. Holmes was acquainted with some of my cousins?? He was born in Sampson County, North Carolina where some of my folks hailed from pre-war....

General Hood and his wife had 11 children--six of them comprising three sets of twins!! General Hood, his wife, and eldest child died of yellow fever in 1879.
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The remaining ten Hood children.
Interesting: "Benjamin Huger...was born in Charleston, South Carolina. (He pronounced his name "ooh-ZHAY", although many current Charlestonians say "OOH-gee".) " 
​

I get Southern, being one myself, but I'm not quite sure how you get 'ooh-ZHAY' out of Huger. 

There were SIX Confederate General Jacksons:
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Alfred Eugene Jackson (apparently nicknamed "Mudwall")
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John King Jackson
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William Hicks "Red" Jackson
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Henry Rootes Jackson
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THE "Stonewall" Thomas Jonathan Jackson
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William Lowther Jackson (Stonewall's second cousin)
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General Micah Jenkins (South Carolina) died as a result of friendly fire. He sure was a handsome young man. 

He died at age 29, leaving behind a pretty wife and four little boys. (There was a fifth, but he had died the year before.)
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And here we have General Adam Rankin Johnson (one of four CS Gen'l Johnsons). He acquired the nickname "Stovepipe" in the following fashion:

"He was well respected for his bravado, once capturing the town of Newburgh, Indiana from a large Union unit with only twelve men and a length of stovepipe mounted to a wagon. The Union soldiers, fearing the "cannon" surrendered..." (from his Find-a-Grave page)

Now...I wonder how many General Jones there were...I guess I'll find out soon! :D

     Racheal

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Musket Echos

2/23/2016

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Over to the right here is General John B. Gordon and his wife Fanny. Here is a story about them that shows the kind of lady she was:

"At Winchester, she took to the street to rally retreating Confederates. With bullets flying all around her, she shouted at them: "Go back to the front lines, you cowards. Turn around and fight." John, witnessing this spectacle, was horrified. Fortunately, no harm came to either of them. "
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Well. General Hiram B. Granbury had a head of hair....the Mississippi born Texan was also killed at Franklin (TN) November 30, 1964. 

That hair though. Do you think he lost his comb?

​On a more serious note, his little wife died shortly before their 5th anniversary. She was 25...and it was ovarian cancer. Cancer is one of those things that, as far as I can tell, was not as common then, but obviously, it did occur.
To start us out today...did you know that General James B. Gordon's middle name was Byron? I didn't. But maybe I'll remember it now--I had a fun-to-be-around great uncle named Byron. :)
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I have to say...that at first breeze glance, General Archibald Gracie, Jr. looks an awful lot like my great-great-granddad.
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Now here's a man I want to study more in depth one of these days. General Wade Hampton (III) of South Carolina. Ever hear of "Hampton's Legion"? He outfitted them out of his own pocket at the beginning of the war--even though he himself later ended up in Stuart's command.


Quoted from another blog:

"Confederate General Martin Green’s Last Words Were~“A Bullet Has Not Been Molded That Will Kill Me”
  •  He said this in response to a warning to keep his head down while inspecting the defenses at Vicksburg. Moments later he was shot in the head and killed by a Union sharpshooter."

​This falls kind of in the lines of the people claiming that even God couldn't sink the Titanic....

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Maybe you'll find a few more tidbits over here tomorrow...but that's all for today! 

     Racheal

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Musket Echos

2/22/2016

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I think that I just must make this a series...  "Musket Echoes: Historical Teasers from the War Between the States". 

Anyway...the episode was actually compiled over two days. I am just doing "skimming" sort of research at the moment, so nothing overly spectacular is going to show here. I'm rather running down three main separate, but oh-so-interconnected things right now...I'm practically living and breathing Civil War/Confederate history when my brain is moving at all.
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  • Allow me to introduce you to Confederate Brigadier General Johnson K. Duncan.  Now, let me quote tidbit from a book called "Making and Remaking Pennsylvania's Civil War" by William Blair and William Pencak:

    "Brigadier General Johnson Kelly Duncan, born March 19, 1827 in York County [Penn], was another exemplary Confederate officer who based his military service on martial allegiance." 

    He was married to a New Orleans lady by the name of Mary Grimshaw and had lived there from the 1850's--now don't you suppose that perhaps he joined the Confederate cause because he actually believed in the justice of it? 

    Just a thought...from the rest of the skimming I did...he didn't sound like someone just there to please his wife's family.

  • I just happened to see  the following while poking around: Death: Feb. 21, 1866
    Aiken; Aiken County; South Carolina, USA 
    Now the reason that stuck out to me is because a new internet acquaintance falls in on that battlefield this weekend! By the way, the dead man is Gen. Stephan Elliott, Jr. 
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  • General Joseph Finegan--born in Ireland. Fought for Florida. 

    I first "ran into" General Finegan while doing Cow Cavalry research.

    What I just learned is that his sister-in-law was a Mary Martha Reid--who started a hospital for Florida boys during the War (in Richmond, VA, I believe.) And...she didn't like him. At. All.

    And that is all for today! 

      Racheal

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Musket Echoes

1/21/2016

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Or, random findings on the War Between the States that I find interesting. If you don't care for such random things, don't bother reading this! :)
  • The Army of Tennessee, at the Battle of Atlanta. Hardee had one Corp, comprised of four divisions. Of those, one was commanded by Major General William B. Bate. Bate's Division comprised three Brigades--one of those was the Florida Brigade under Brigadier General Jesse J. Finley. The Florida Brigade had the following regiments: 1st-3rd Florida Infantry (Captain Matthew Strain), 1st Florida Cavalry (dismounted) and 4th Florida Infantry (Lt. Col. Edward Badger), 6th Florida Infantry (Lt. Col. Daniel L. Kenan), and 7th Florida Infantry (Lt. Col. Robert Bullock). 

    For explanation of why that interested me, note first the 4th Fl. Inf. Co. K of the 4th Florida was originally (if I recall correctly) the 20th Florida Militia--which was the unit that my g-g-great grandfather was commissioned Lt. Col. of in 186--2, I believe it was.

    Secondly, take a look at that last one, the 7th Fl. Inf. I had three great-uncles (at least) in that regiment. Two were the sons of my g-g-great grandmother from her first marriage, before she married the Colonel (see previous paragraph). Both were killed in Kentucky, and I think, quite likely, without going back to check, dead by the time of the Battle of Atlanta. The third, might not have been there either due to being detailed to collect cattle. He was one the Colonel's sons.

    Here's the line-up for the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 10, 1864: http://www.civilwarhome.com/confederateornashville.html 

  • Did you know that General Bernard Bee had a brother? I didn't...his name was Hamilton Prioleau Bee.
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  • Here is an interesting fact: Fort Benning, Georgia (home of the paratrooper school--Hooah!), is named after Confederate General Henry L. Benning. The most interesting part of that is that Benning was an ardent secessionist. Now why would the Federal government name a post-WBtS's military establishment after a very ardent secessionist and slavery proponent? Don't both of those go against what the Federals claimed to be opposed to? 

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  • This man here (Theodore W. Brevard) is the son of the man whom Brevard County, Florida is named after! Being a Floridian by both heritage and choice (regardless of not being born there or even currently residing there), I always get a wee bit excited when I bump into such random factoids... ;)

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  • I am going to hazard a guess that General John Calvin Brown of Tennessee might have been born into a Presbyterian family....

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I just like this picture. I like the pose. He looks rather proud of his pretty wife and she seems content, though maybe tired of staring at the camera (a feeling to which I can relate with our slow-witted digital.)
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  • Now how's THIS!! Remember Robert Bullock from the first paragraph, the man in charge of the 7th Fl. Inf.?? Well...guess what, he ended up a general!!

Ah...thank-you for putting up with me. :) I got all the way through the "B's" in Generals in Gray today. I'm actually not really researching the generals so much as their wives--for my next film project. There is no way, of course, that I could cover them all, but I've found a few interesting ladies with enough information (probably) to work with, so I'll just keep plowing through here and then decide which of the general's ladies will make the final cut....

You may get a similar post at some other date in the future, so hang in there! ;)

      Racheal

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Forward>>
    New post on The Bee Project! 04/26/18
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    The Middle Kid

    I chose to title this blog "The Adventures of a Middle Kid" because that is exactly what I'll be detailing (mostly). I chose 'kid' over any other word, like 'girl' (I am the middle girl so it also would have worked) or 'child'
    (since I am no longer exactly a child).

    I am a middle kid and I will always be a middle kid--even when I'm 80!

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