J.D.R. Hawkins

One bullet can make a man a hero… or a casualty.

Archive for the month “May, 2019”

Little Known History

Our past holds many secrets. Delving into our heritage can be a fascinating journey in our quest to find out where we came from and what transformed our ancestors’ lives.

One example is that, following the Civil War and the defeat of the South, some Confederates decided to continue their cause, so they moved outside of the U.S. Many congregated in Brazil, because slavery was still legal there. It wasn’t long before slavery was abolished, but Confederate heritage remained, and is still celebrated today. Here is an article describing the celebration that takes place every year in that country.

Confederada

The aroma of fried chicken and biscuits roused the appetite of over 2,500 people as the country sounds of Alison Krauss, Alan Jackson, and Johnny Cash played over the loudspeakers. It was the annual “Festa Confederada”-the “Confederate Party”-an annual celebration of southern heritage held each April in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, in São Paulo, Brazil.

A sign explaining “What the Confederate Flag Really Means” in both English and Portuguese greeted the roughly 2,500 visitors at the entryway of the American Cemetery. Inside, women wearing Antebellum-style hoop skirts square danced with men clad in gray Confederate uniforms. Couples in T-shirts were doing the two-step.

After the WBTS ended in 1865, some 8,000 to 10,000 Southern soldiers and their families left the defeated Confederacy and went to Brazil. In São Paulo state, they established a somewhat culturally homogeneous community that maintained its southern traditions for generations. Their descendants still celebrate them to this day. But for the first time, this year, just outside cemetery grounds, stood black activists protesting the April 28 party with signs and banners saying, “Down with the Confederate flag.”

Confed

Brazil’s Confederados continue to speak English and to practice their Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian faiths, introducing “Protestantism” to the Catholic country. The “American Cemetery” was established because their ancestors were laid to rest-as “Protestants,” in other words, they were barred from burial alongside Catholics. The “Fraternity of American Descendants” has for years held a low-profile, annual celebration of their southern heritage which for decades has been uncontroversial.

But recently, professor Claúdia Monteiro of UNEGRO, “leader” of Brazil’s national Unified Black Movement, have declared the “Confederados” to be “racists” and the Fraternity of American Descendants to be a “hate group.”

Brazilian media outlets are reporting that “100 civil society groups from across the country” have “signed a manifesto criticizing” Festa Confederada as a “white supremacy” gathering and calling on the government to end it.

(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, May 19, 2019 ed.)

Another Over-Reaction

I have to champion Mississippi Governor Bryant for standing up to the politically correct. He never waivers in honoring the state’s Confederate veterans. With Memorial Day just behind us, it is imperative that we honor and cherish these ancestors. What everyone seems to forget is that it was a different time back then, with a different political climate and different viewpoints. Maybe we don’t agree with them now, but they were completely acceptable and widespread back then. The Confederate flag, to many, was a sign of independence from an oppressive national government, not a symbol of racism. It’s sad how things like the CSA flag have become misconstrued and misunderstood over the years. I hope Mississippi doesn’t cave like so many other southern states have in regard to their flag. But the pressure’s on, as this article demonstrates.

18891902-mmmain

MISSISSIPPI FLAG ORDERED OUT OF PARK NEAR STATUE OF LIBERTY

By MIKE CATALINI
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered that the Mississippi flag, which carries a Confederate emblem, be replaced by the American flag at a state park that overlooks the Statue of Liberty.

Murphy ordered the removal of Mississippi’s flag from a display of each state’s flag at Liberty State Park, a preserve of more than 1,200 acres in Jersey City that overlooks Ellis Island and Lady Liberty.

 

On Friday, April 26, 2019, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the Mississippi flag removed from a display of each state’s flag at Liberty State Park and replaced by the American flag because it has a Confederate emblem on it. Liberty State Park is on the Hudson River and overlooks the Statue of Liberty.

Murphy is a first-term Democrat and a self-styled progressive who regularly cited the Emma Lazarus poem at the statue’s base that invites immigrants to America.

New Jersey, he said, is rooted in diversity, and the flag doesn’t fit.

“The Confederate symbol displayed on the Mississippi state flag is reprehensible and does not reflect our values of inclusivity and equality,” he said in a statement.

The Mississippi flag includes the Confederate battle emblem in the upper left corner. The emblem has a red field topped by a blue X, dotted with 13 white stars. It has appeared on Mississippi’s flag since 1894.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, said in a statement: “I’m disappointed in Gov. Murphy’s actions. As I have repeatedly said, the voters of Mississippi should decide what the state flag is or is not.”

Confederate symbols have been widely debated across the South, particularly since June 2015, when a white supremacist killed nine black worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, as well as in 2017, when violence erupted as white nationalists held a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Murphy said he made the decision after Democratic State Sen. Sandra Cunningham raised the issue with him.

 

Cunningham said in a statement that the flag symbolized “an era of hate, violence, and division.”

Mississippians who voted in a 2001 statewide election chose to keep the flag.

But several Mississippi cities and counties and all eight of the state’s public universities have stopped flying it in recent years amid criticism that the battle emblem is a racist reminder of slavery and segregation. Supporters of the flag say it represents history.

Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.

https://apnews.com/d122588876db42cd944a 570028073914

(Article courtesy of The Southern Comfort, Private Samuel A. Hughey Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #1452, Hernando, MS, Volume 42, Issue 5, May 2019 ed.)

The UDC and America’s First Memorial Day

Caddo

MAY 23, 2019 — 

What many consider the first Memorial Day occurred April 25, 1866 in Columbus, Mississippi. The town’s Ladies Memorial Association, decorated the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers in Friendship Cemetery.  In a nation trying to find a way to move on after a war that split the country, states, communities and even families, this gesture by these nobel women was welcomed as a way to lay the past to rest while honoring those who had fought on either side. Less than 30 years later this ladies group became the 34th chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The UDC will forever honor all of our country’s heroes with undying devotion and that our Confederate Dead have earned their rightful place to be included as America’s Veterans.

We should embrace our heritage as Americans. North and South, Black and White, Rich and Poor, our American heritage is the one thing we have in common and it is what defines us.  The monuments we have built to chronicle this heritage must be preserved so that those that come after us will see where we have been and where we must, as a unified people, go.  Protecting all monuments to American Veterans will defend our heritage.  Our monuments are reminders of our path forward.

(Courtesy of Caddo Confederate, Shreveport, LA, United States)

https://www.change.org/p/caddo-parish-commission-we-will-not-give-up/u/24604567?cs_tk=AgrqFs2n3M5yBfdF61wAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvJaM27qx88Mn9RHwiosM050%3D&utm_campaign=06f32116a7834a1ca3b1d52342c2cd41&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs

Another Awesome Review

Here’s another review for my novel, A Beautiful Glittering Lie, that I would like to share with you.

ABGL B.R.A.G. Medallion

(By Anonymous)

The novel is presented as a prequel to the author’s first novel, A Beckoning Hellfire. For someone who has not read it yet, it will be a very interesting story after the prequel. For someone who has read it will be still more interesting to know what lead to it all.

The style is fast paced and exciting but sometimes the descriptive paragraphs about the battle become long-winding. The characters are very well formed and come out as very real three dimensional people with a gamut of feelings and expressions. Especially likable is the chemistry between Hiram and Caroline and their unflinching trust and understanding. The plot is well knit and one incident flows into another.

A Beautiful Glittering Lie, the dream of bravery, adventure gallantry and Chivalry,  pulls David to enlist, and remains intact for him till the end when the children are waiting for Hiram to return home on Christmas.

https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Glittering-Lie-Novel-Renagade/dp/1544842481/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=a+beautiful+glittering+lie&qid=1558506004&s=gateway&sr=8-2

More on Old Douglas

A Special Honor

The Civil War created many tight bonds between soldiers, between comrades and enemies, as well as soldiers and animals. Cavalrymen were so reliant on their mounts that they often treated them as pets and became emotionally attached. This also happened with some of the soldiers’ mascots, which included an eagle, numerous dogs, and in one rare case, a camel. Douglas the camel was an especially revered mascot. He was killed at the Battle of Vicksburg. I have had the opportunity to see where Douglas’ headstone is located (his body isn’t in a grave), and it was quite moving to think that the soldiers who knew him loved him so much that they made him a marker.

Douglas

GRAVE OF DOUGLAS THE CONFEDERATE CAMEL

The final resting place of the camel who served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War

Among the 5,000 grave markers for Confederate soldiers in the Soldier’s Rest section of Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg, Mississippi, one pays tribute to Old Douglas, the camel of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry, Company A, nicknamed “The Camel Regiment.”

It is not known how Douglas, a dromedary (one hump) camel, came to serve with the 43rd Mississippi infantry during the Civil War. He was a gift to Colonel W. H. Moore, who assigned him to carry the instruments and knapsacks for the regimental band. Douglas participated in the Battles of Iuka and Corinth under Major Generals Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn, respectively, before being shot by a Union sharpshooter on June 27th, 1863, during the siege of Vicksburg.

Douglas was well loved by the humans of his regiment, less so by the horses. On one occasion, Douglas is said to have spooked one of the horses into stampeding through a camp near Iuka, injuring horses and soldiers, possibly killing some of the former. Soldiers climbed trees to get out of the path of destruction.

Douglas routinely broke free of his tether, but usually used his freedom to graze, never wandering too far from the regiment. On that fateful day in 1863, though, he wandered into no man’s land between the Union and Confederate armies, and paid the ultimate price.

The Union army responded to the camel’s death, according to legend, by eating him, since food was scarce, and making war souvenirs out of his bones. The Confederates responded by making a point of severely wounding the sharpshooter who had killed their beloved camel. His gravestone, however, states that he was eaten by his own Confederate regiment who were suffering under the Siege of Vicksburg.

Douglas was not the only camel in the United States during the Civil War. Before he became president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis was the U.S. Secretary of War, and implemented the Texas Camel Experiment in the 1850s to see how useful camels would be in the American Southwest where horses were beginning to have trouble on long trips. Camels can carry immensely heavy loads for long distances with little water. They are also not nearly as tamable as horses, though Douglas was called “faithful” and “patient” by those who knew him best. 

Camels were brought over from the Mediterranean and North Africa, and used for exploring the Southwest. The Civil War took the steam out of the experiment, and the camels eventually dispensed. Many were sold at auctions in 1864 and 1866 to work in circuses and mines, as postal carriers and pack animals and racing camels. Some even escaped or were set free, and feral camels were occasionally spotted roaming the American Southwest for years after.

Lest the contributions of camels in the Civil War be forgotten, the Texas Camel Corps promotes their stories with reenactments and hosts camel rides. Two of the camels are descendants of Old Douglas.

Know Before You Go

To find Douglas turn into the cemetery at Lindsey Street from Sky Farm Ave. A bit after the first cross street you will see a group of graves with Confederate flags on the left. Douglas’ marker (the one with the camel on it) is on the right side of the group, second row in.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grave-of- douglas-the-confederate-camel

(Article courtesy of The Southern Comfort, Private Samuel A. Hughey Camp #1452 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Hernando, MS, vol. 43 issue 5, May 2019)

Excerpt from A Beckoning Hellfire

Today marks the 156th anniversary of the death of the great Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The general was hit by friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville. His left arm was amputated and buried at the Ellwood House. Jackson was improving, but suddenly, his health took a turn for the worst. He contracted pneumonia and died on a Sunday, which he said he always wanted to do. His last words were, “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

Here is an excerpt from my novel, A Beckoning Hellfire, describing how his soldiers reacted when they heard the news.

ABeckoningHellfire_LRG

Suddenly, a loud cry went up behind him. He hurried to camp, where chaos was everywhere. The men looked distraught, their faces wrought with anguish. He found Alfred Crawford, one of the soldiers he wrote letters for, and asked him what had happened. 

“We jist received word,” Alfred said woefully. “Stonewall Jackson died yesterday.” He wandered away. 

David stood dumbfounded for a moment. Returning to his campsite, he found John sitting under a tree, puffing on his pipe, and staring off. Michael was weeping. The death toll continued to climb, and there was no end in sight. Now the Confederacy’s beloved general, “Old Jack,” was dead, too. 

In the morning, General Lee issued General Order #61, which Lieutenant Colonel Waring read to the men during roll.  

“With deep regret, the commandin’ general announces the death of Lieutenant General T.J. Jackson,” Lieutenant Colonel Waring orated. “Let his officers and soldiers emulate his invincible determination to do everything in the defense of our loved country.”  

One of the buglers, Charles W. Peters, played “Taps.” The men stood in solemn mourning with their heads bowed and their hats held in their hands. 

Overwhelmed by the tragedy, David felt completely powerless and alone. His heart ached, and with each day, he grew more despondent and depressed. He didn’t have anyone to express his sorrow to except his horse, and Renegade could only communicate so much. One by one, he was losing everyone he loved. The romantic dream he had shared with Jake only a few weeks ago was now crumbling down around him, smothering him. It was like a smoldering fog surrounding them all and suffocating them. He longed for his family to write. The memory of their dear faces was the only thing that gave him hope. Painful, heartbreaking loss was all around, but somehow, it gave him more resolve. He knew he had to defend his homeland and family by repelling the Northern tyranny, at any expense. 

Fear the Ramrod

It is difficult to imagine what a soldier who fought in the American Civil War endured. Firearms were virtually relics at the start of the war. Soldiers fought with arms they brought from home, which were typically muskets used for hunting. These firearms were very slow to fire and were usually ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, because they were difficult to aim, load and fire. During the course of the war, increments became far more effective and deadly. Here’s an explanation of how the early muskets were used.

solders

Civil War soldiers were taught to load and fire their muskets using the “Nine-Steps.” They were drilled for hours to ensure every soldier would know each step without thinking. Step No. 6 was “return rammer” and while all of the steps were important, this one could have serious consequences if it was skipped.

Pvt. Arminius Bill of the 66th Illinois Western Sharp Shooters, recorded an incident in his diary about a man who skipped step No. 6. It was on Dec. 2, 1861,during a “sham battle” between Union forces at Benton Barracks near St. Louis. Artillery roared, cavalry galloped, and tens of thousands of blank rounds were fired. “One infantry man was killed by the man behind him in the rear rank who became excited & forgot to withdraw his ramrod. The gun went off & drove the ramrod through the head of the man in front.”

At the battle of Tupelo, July 14, 1864, Captain Theodore Carter cheered on his men of the 14th Wisconsin as they fired while lying down. Suddenly a private rose to his feet and began to hurl curses across the open ground to the Confederates. A rammer had streaked across the field and skewered his bicep, and he paused to pull out the long bloody piece of steel. “It was ludicrous to see hear him use strong invectives against the ‘rebel’ who was so careless as to leave his ramrod in the gun after loading.”

Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned, “I shot an arrow in the air, it fell to earth, I know not where.” A beautiful poem, he was certainly not thinking of Pvt. Alexander Downing of the 11th Iowa Infantry, and an incident on April 6, 1862, during the battle of Shiloh.

“My musket became so dirty with the cartridge powder, that in loading it the ramrod stuck fast and I could neither get it up nor down, so I put a [percussion] cap on, elevated the gun and fired it off. But now I had no ramrod, and throwing down my musket, I picked up a Belgian rifle lying at the side of a dead rebel, unstrapped the cartridge box from his body, and advanced to our company, taking my place with the boys.”

Longfellow’s arrow was found unbroken in an oak; whatever happened to Downing’s?

soldier

Shiloh National Military Park

(Thanks to Trent Lewis)

(Article courtesy of the Southern Comfort, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Samuel A. Hughey camp #1452, Volume 43, Issue 5, May 2019 ed.)

New Review for A Beautiful Glittering Lie

ABGL Medium

I recently received another positive review for my novel, A Beautiful Glittering Lie, which is the first book in the Renegade Series. The review is as follows:

Tammy 81
When I was offered this book to review through voracious readers I was intrigued because I love history. This book was harder for me to read than I thought it would be. It’s hard to read, not because it’s poorly written— because it isn’t, simply due to the facts presented in such a graphic way. I’m sure people know that war isn’t glorious or romantic but thinking about a field with thousands of injured soldiers lying dying or men wearing rags because that is all they have due to fighting so long is hard. Many authors skip over the details or hide them in a story line that hints at war but doesn’t talk much about it. This story is in your face and honest, very well written.

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