The Rifleman's Son

While you're watching reruns of The Rifleman on the Western channel, take a moment to wish Johnny Crawford (above) a birthday. Man, did I have a crush on him! Born this day in 1946, the multi-talented Crawford now leads a band in southern California. Read more on Tom's blog: http://wildwestblogcom.blogspot.com/2007/12/good-kid.html
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More Graves for
William Clarke Quantrill

Kudos to the good folks who have placed a memorial stone on William Clarke Quantrill's original grave in Louisville, Kentucky. Thanks to Don Gilmore, Rick Mack, Nancy Hitt, Patrick Marquis and Emory Canty, Jr., the guerrilla's first grave has a marker bearing a poem written by Quantrill himself:

Here's a sigh to those who love me
and a smile for those who hate
and whatever sky's above me
here's a heart for every fate.

Quantrill, arguably the most notable of the Civil War guerrillas, died in a Louisville hospital on June 6, 1865. He was buried, but his grave not marked, and his remains were later moved. And moved. And moved. It's a long, oft-told story, but Quantrill also has graves in his hometown of Dover, Ohio, and the Confederate Cemetery in Higginsville, Missouri. (left, actor Tom Leahy as Quantrill in Bloody Dawn)

Black Confederates

Byron from Tennessee reports that all of Knox County has the hacking, hocking, malady from which I have been suffering. Sales of moonshine must be through the roof! "Government liquor," as Grandpa called it, just doesn't have quite the same medicinal quality. . . .

Major Melissa Tune, currently assigned to the Army's Command and General Staff College, is also a TV personality in Augusta, Georgia. She recently interviewed my bud LTC (ret) Ed Kennedy and myself for a special segment on black Confederate soldiers. Also weighing in on the discussing was Ethan Rafuse, from the CGSC's history department. She did an overview of of the subject as well as another story on the removal of a Confederate soldier's headstone in a Missouri cemetery.

It seems that someone called the cemetery claiming to be the descendant of John Noland, a black man who rode with William Clarke Quantrill. The descendant said that Noland was neither black nor Confederate and asked that the stone be removed. Actually, both Noland's race and his service are fairly well documented. Police were called and the incident is under investigation, but let me assure you, the local Sons of Confederate Veterans are outraged that a mere phone call could uproot a memorial marker.

While Tom and I were researching The Day Dixie Died, we stopped in the Augusta Public Library and were reading old newspapers on the microfilm. A black woman and her daughter sat next to me to work on a school project. Being unfamiliar with the machine, the lady asked me if I could help her thread the film. I hoped she wouldn't notice that on my screen was an ad for a slave auction in Augusta, in mid-April 1865. Listed for sale was a girl about the age of her daughter. I was so overcome I had to bite my lip to control my emotions.

And, lest any of you doubt the experts at my beck and call, this email from Col. Kennedy describes the photo at the top of the page:

Deb,

GREAT Photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post-war reunion photo:

#1 Not "Battle Flag" but the "Ensign"

#2 Shoes are 20th Century

#3 Canteen is Model 1885 U.S. Army canteen used until 1910

#4 Hat is Model 1875 U.S. Army "kepi" pattern. Used by fraternal and vet organizations

#5 Age of veteran

#6 "Uniform" is veteran reunion suit

#7 Veteran reunion ribbons and medals on uniform

Regards,
Ed

Nothing New

There is NOTHING new under the sun.

According to various news reports, a senior Taliban commander was captured by Afghan troops near Kandahar. The man, Mullah Mahmood, was wearing a burqa, which is a tentlike, all-covering garment still worn by many women in the countryside. As with every single headline that comes across the screen, this reminded me of an incident from the Civil War.

Jeff Davis Captured in Hoop Skirts!

Jeff in Petticoats!!

He is Caught in His Wife's Clothes!!!

Thus ran the headlines when Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured May 10, 1865, near Irwinville, Georgia. Fleeing the falling Confederacy with his wife and a handful of escorts, Davis was awakened by the sounds of skirmishing on that fateful morning. When Varina figured out what was happening, she threw a shawl over her husband in hopes he wouldn't be recognized. He was not wearing a dress, though the Northern press had a field day reporting that "fact" and dozens of images of Jeff in disguise were printed. A few righteous souls, however, like this gentleman from Maine, spoke up:

I was with the party that captured Jeff. Davis; saw the whole transaction from the beginning. I now say . . . that Jeff. Davis did not have on at the time he was taken any such garment as is worn by women. . . . I defy any person to find a single officer or soldier who was present at the capture of Jefferson Davis who will say, upon honor, that he was disguised in women's clothes. . . I go for trying him for his crimes, and if he is found guilty, punishing him. But I would not lie about him. . . .

Good man that he was, no one was listening. They heard and believed what suited them best. Sometimes I wish I could watch the news and not be skeptical, and even though I really trust most reporters (afterall, I was one once), I don't always trust their sources. There is always too much politics involved, just as the sketch shows (above, right). This is the official War Department sketch of the clothing Jeff was supposedly wearing when captured. The actual garments had been placed in a safe. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, now effectively running the country since Lincoln's death, ordered these clothes placed on a mannequin and that is the image released to the press. The caption reads: "The clothes in which Davis disguised himself (from a photograph taken at the War Department by Alexander Gardner)."

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Emails

From Scott Porter this morning. . . .

While at Barnes and Noble last night I picked a magazine named "Missouri Life." Inside of the Feb 2007 edition is a great article on the Confederate Home at Higginsville. Get this, the name of the article is..."HOME OF THE BRAVE." Its a GREAT article with lots of great pics of the old vets and buildings. At the end of the article it states "One of the best times to visit is during their annual memorial weekend, which is scheduled on a Saturday near the June 3 birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The date for the 2007 memorial service is June 2. Graves are decorated with flags, and reenactors take on the roles of past Confederates, helping vistors to learn about life and issues of past times." Also inside the same edition a piece and picture on the Bushwhacker Museum (Nevada, Missouri).

-Scott

DG-Thanks for passing along the tip. Scott is an instructor at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and a first-rate Civil War historian. If you've never visited the Confederate Cemetery (left), it is well worth your time to get off the interstate and make the short drive. Among the notables bured there is William Clarke Quantrill, Confederate guerrilla chieftan. Likewise, the Bushwhacker Museum is a great trip if you're in the neighborhood. Tell our good friend, Pat Brophy, we said "hello."

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Fast Time

"I hate this old fast time!" Granny complained about few things, but when it came to setting the clocks ahead, she let it be known where she stood. She despised it. I inherited this trait, and few things tick me off like losing an hour in the spring. I nearly go "postal." Yesterday, everytime I looked at the clock, it seems it had in fact leaped forward, a half hour, 45 minutes, when I'm sure it had only been five minutes since I last checked! I hate this "fast time" and live to get that hour back in the fall. I only fear, that in my lifetime, they will take that hour and never give it back. When I was a kid, the deacon of the church would not observe Daylight Savings Time, since God observed Eastern Standard Time. So during the summer, he had the church keys and folks would show up an hour early, wait for him to open the door, some on time, some an hour late--never quite figuring out what time God was on. I'm with the deacon.

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Photo of the Day















Like their annoying modern counterparts, the first generation of paparazzi staked out the homes of Buffalo Bill, Wyatt Earp, Lillie Langtry, and other Old West personalities. In the image above, we see an eager swarm of these pests waiting outside the North Dakota home of George and Libbie Custer.