J.D.R. Hawkins

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

Archive for the tag “William T. Sherman”

Was It Really All About Slavery?

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In last Sunday’s Colorado Springs Gazette, reporter David Ramsey wrote a story about Confederates who are buried in Colorado. He then went on to say that all of them undeniably fought to preserve slavery. He stressed this opinion throughout his story, and even contradicted people he interviewed with his strong opinions.

I’m not denying that slavery played a part in leading up to the Civil War, but Ramsey fails to mention all the other reasons why the war came about. He sites Confederate VP Alexander H. Stephens’ racist statements, but fails to take into account that racism was commonplace back then. President Lincoln was a huge racist, as a matter of fact, and wanted to ship all the blacks back to Africa or somewhere else out of the country. Ramsey claims that Robert E. Lee had slaves (which he set free before the war), but fails to mention how Grant kept his slaves until after the war, not to mention how seriously racist Sherman was, not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, and didn’t hesitate to kill as many as possible.

Here is a link to the story. Please let me know what your thoughts are. I’d love to see your comments!

https://gazette.com/news/david-ramsey-confederate-flags-fly-over-colorado-rebel-graves/article_7b2ca66a-8ef5-11e9-838e-1b97c92b8c31.html?fbclid=IwAR1ZMoV35Un9hAkw_gGwAXumVJ8LkCHP8kUqqzK1qd96n89GCYhTgqCG4Jw

An Unrealistic Comparison

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Only ten years ago, Southern history, especially in regard to the Civil War, was honored and celebrated. Now that same history is under attack, and some will stop at nothing to change it, erase it, lie about it, and misinterpret history with every means possible. Here is another ludicrous example of how the Confederacy is being portrayed today, and how one letter to the editor proves the audacity of this comparison.

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Confederacy Compared to Nazi Germany

To the Greenville, East Carolinian.

To the editor: article comparing the Confederacy to Nazi Germany and its battle flag to the swastika is highly offensive, especially to those of us who are Jewish, & shows he knows little about either the Confederacy or the Nazis. Some 3,500 to 5,000 Jews fought honorably and loyally for the Confederacy, including its Secretary of War & later State, Judah Benjamin (See Robert Rosen’s The Jewish Confederates and Mel Young’s Last Order of the Lost Cause). My great grandfather also served, as did his four brothers, their uncle, his three sons, and some two-dozen other members of my Mother’s extended family (The Moses’ of South Carolina and Georgia). Half a dozen of them fell in battle, largely teenagers, including the first and last Confederate Jews to die in battle. We know first hand, from their letters, diaries, and memoirs, that they were not fighting for slavery, but rather to defend themselves and their comrades, their families, homes, and country from an invading army that was trying to kill them, burn their homes and cities, and destroy everything they had. If you want to talk about Nazi-like behavior, consider the actions of the leading Union commander, General Ulysses S. Grant, whose war crimes included the following actions:

Ordering the expulsion on 24 hours notice of all Jews “as a class” from the territory under his control (General Order # 11, 17 December, 1862), and forbidding Jews to travel on trains (November, 1862); Ordering the destruction of an entire agricultural area to deny the enemy support (the Shenandoah Valley, 5 August, 1864). Leading the mass murder, a virtual genocide, of Native People, mainly helpless old men, women, and children in their villages, to make land available for the western railroads (the eradication of the Plains Indians, 1865–66). What we euphemistically call “the Indian Wars” was carried out by many of the same Union officers who led the war against the South – Sherman, Grant, Sheridan, Custer, and other leading commanders. Overseeing the complete destruction of defenseless Southern cities, and conducting such warfare against unarmed women and children (e.g., the razing of Meridian, and other cities in Mississippi, spring, 1863).

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Contrast these well-documented atrocities (and many others too numerous to list) with the gentlemanly policies and behavior of the Confederate forces. My ancestor Major Raphael Moses, General James Longstreet’s chief commissary officer, was forbidden by General Robert E. Lee from even entering private homes in their raids into the North, such as the famous incursion into Pennsylvania. Moses was forced to obtain his supplies from businesses and farms, and he always paid for what he requisitioned, albeit in Confederate tender. Moses always endured in good humor the harsh verbal abuse he received from the local women, who, he noted, always insisted on receiving in the end the exact amount owed. Moses and his Confederate colleagues never engaged in the type of warfare waged by the Union forces, especially that of General William T. Sherman on his infamous “March to the Sea” through Georgia and the Carolinas, in which his troops routinely burned, looted, and destroyed libraries, courthouses, churches, homes, and cities full of defenseless civilians, including my hometown of Atlanta.

It was not the South but rather our enemies that engaged in genocide. While our ancestors may have lost the War, they never lost their honor, or engaged in anything that could justify their being compared to Nazi’s. It was the other side that did that.

Sincerely yours,

Lewis Regenstein

(Courtesy of The Southern Comfort, Sons of Confederate Veterans Samuel A. Hughey Camp 1452, Hernando, MS., vol. 42, no. 10, October 2018 ed.)

An Amazing Perspective

 

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I am so impressed by this man! He doesn’t stand down, but instead, flies the Rebel flag proudly as he makes his way across the South in his Confederate uniform to talk to people about the truth. Let me know what you think of this article.

SPEAKING FOR SILENT SAM
     by H. K. Edgerton

H. K. Edgerton is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A former president of the NAACP, he is on the board of the Southern Legal Resource Center.
On the morning of August 21, 2018, don in the uniform of the Southern soldier, with the Southern Cross in hand, I would enter the grounds of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
The first to greet me would be a campus policeman of whom alongside several other policemen would watch over me for my entire stay on campus. I salute them!
As I made my way to the base of the Confederate Cenotaph where Silent Sam once stood, a middle age white man who identified himself as an instructor, would pull alongside me and ask of me;  HK why are you here?  Silent Sam is truly silent today.  You may as well turn around and go home.
I told him “fat chance of that, because on this day, the base of Silent Sam will be a Meeting House (a place of worship), and I shall speak for all to hear of those brave babies he represents very loudly.”
Those babies who sat in their class rooms studying when word reached them of Lincoln’s army armed with General Order 200 issued by him to take the theater of war to the front door of the defenseless old men, women and children of the South.  Sherman would, after leaving Lincoln, gather his men around and tell them that he had orders from the Commanding Chief to burn, rape, plunder, and murder at will and that there would never be an accounting for what they do.   And they did!
These babies left their place of study to defend Southern home places from this immoral carnage.  And I might add, there were others just like them in other schools across the South …the Mississippi Greys of Ole Miss., the babies of the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina…
And to have these thugs who descended upon the campus, taking the law into their hands and illegally Pull Silent Sam down; and to add insult to injury hurl false accusations that that it was somehow a “racist” Cenotaph leads me to believe that perhaps they forgot it was a Confederate soldier’s cenotaph, that of an integrated military, unlike Lincoln’s racist and segregated military.
One Yankee student would tell me and those gathered around, that he was “proud of” what Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman did in carrying out the total warfare orders, because it secured the North a win over the South.  And furthermore for me to “get off his campus.”
I told him that this campus belonged to the citizens of the Great State of North Carolina, and that he and his Yankee friends who applauded his rhetoric were there because of those citizens. And, furthermore, that if they did not like or approve of my presence, then they could leave.
I was so very proud of a black professor, Omar King, I believe, was his name.  He had a handle on the criminal act of the thugs who illegally pulled Silent Sam down, and their disgraceful actions afterwards.
It was a very intense day, and I shall always remember the respect I received from so many of my Southern family.  And most importantly the decision by the Historic Commission, and the University Board of Governors, that Silent Sam must be put back in 90 days, and those responsible for the act be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I hope to be presence at the restoration event!
God bless you!

Your brother,
HK

(Article courtesy of Dixie Heritage Newsletter, Aug. 31, 2018 ed.)

How is This Any Different?

Last weekend, I flew out to California to visit my youngest son. While I was there, he told me about a trip he and his best friend took a few weeks ago to Sequoia National Park. I had never been there, so I was fascinated by the photos and beautiful scenery. That is, until he showed me photos of the Sherman Tree and the Grant Tree.

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The Sherman Tree, named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, is the largest living single stem tree in the entire world. This massive tree is estimated to be about 2000 years old. The tree is 275 feet tall. The Sherman Tree is a giant sequoia located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. Likewise, the Grant Tree is the largest giant sequoia in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park in California, and it is the second largest tree, by trunk volume, in the world.

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I think these two trees are spectacular and amazing, but one thing bothers me about them: their names. How is it that the NAACP has a problem with all the Confederate statues, street names, school names, etc., but not with the Sherman Tree? Afterall, General Sherman was probably the biggest bigot the Union Army had to offer. He didn’t hesitate in drowning hoards of freed slaves who were following the Union Army in search of refuge and freedom. And he certainly didn’t have a soft spot for any Native Americans. In fact, he waved off the offer to run for public office, which is what his contemporary, General Grant did. Instead, Sherman went out West to annihilate the Indians. I don’t know of any Confederate officers who were so blatantly racist, and yet, there are plenty of street names, school names, and even a giant sequoia named after Sherman. By the way, Grant was no friend to the Native Americans, either.

This double standard is appalling to me, but perhaps I should be patient. Maybe after the NAACP and other groups like Black Lives Matter do away with Confederate heritage, they will attack other historical figures, like Sherman, Grant, Jefferson, Washington, and Jackson, to name a few. And let’s not leave out Lincoln. He was the one who wanted to ship the freed slaves off to their own little island, or back to Africa, and said the two races (whites and blacks) could never co-exist.

Maybe he was right. Maybe the NAACP and BLM would back off if it were their ancestors being attacked. How can they be offended by white heroes of times past? How is it that it’s okay for those of us who are against the demolition of history to be offended? Let me know what you think about this subject. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. In my opinion, all this political correctness nonsense needs to end NOW. Moving statues around isn’t going to solve the problem.

150th Anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville

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This weekend marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville. In commemoration, a reenactment of one of the last major battles of the Civil War took place near Four Oaks, North Carolina. The event also featured lectures, living history displays, sutlers’ tents, and soldier encampments. Thousands attended the event, which was expected to be the largest crowd to attend a Civil War reenactment in North Carolina.

The Battle of Bentonville took place near Four Oaks on March 19-21, 1865. Union General W.T. Sherman, on his rampage across the South, ripped through the state, dividing his army into two as it headed north from Fayetteville to Goldsboro. Confederate General Joseph Johnston tried to stop Sherman’s advance, but was unsuccessful when the two Union forces reunited. The battle led to Sherman’s ability to capture Raleigh on April 13.

Many spectators expressed their appreciation for the event, including Leon Dockery. “I’ve never been to a reenactment and I was curious about how that worked … I wanted (my children) to be exposed to more than what they may hear from me or read in a textbook,” he said.

Merry Christmas, Mr. President

On this date in 1864, the grand old city of Savannah, Georgia, fell to Union forces during the American Civil War. It was the beginning of the end, as Union Major General William T. Sherman’s remaining 62,000 men finalized their March to the Sea by capturing Savannah. The march, which began on November 15, swept through Georgia, wreaking havoc and destruction in its path. The Union Army captured Atlanta without much trouble, and continued on until they reached Savannah. The intention was to sweep upward toward Virginia, and with the help of Union Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant’s army, strangle Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces. In the end, the ploy worked.

Confederate Generals Joseph Wheeler and William J. Hardy’s men opposed, but in the end, they fled across the Savannah River, leaving the citizens to fend for themselves. Because Sherman thought the city was so lovely, he decided (thankfully) not to raze it.

One Confederate officer estimated that 10,000 slaves followed the Union Army on their way to freedom, but instead, met their demise through “hunger, disease, and exposure.” Sherman himself estimated that his army had inflicted $100 million in damage, which is over 1.5 billion in today’s dollars. The Federal Army destroyed railroads, bridges, telegraph lines, and seized over 22,000 head of livestock. It also took 20 million pounds of corn and fodder, and destroyed an unaccountable number of cotton mills and gins.

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