Author: Ultimate Flags Store

It was July 31st, 1861. Federal troops were just north of Manassas, Virginia. There were many who thought they would send the Rebels reeling, putting an end to the rebellion.

The day was Sunday, and a throng of civilian sightseers had come down from the U.S. capitol, just 25 miles away. Lieutenant Tibdall commanded a section of artillery at the battle, and described what he s

“They came in all manner of ways, some in stylish carriages, others in buggies, on horseback and even on foot…. All manner of people were represented in this crowd, from the most grave and noble senators to hotel waiters.”

Many had packed picnic baskets, and some enterprising folks brought carts of food to sell.

William Russel of the London Times was present. He tells us there was “an unusually heavy discharge of artillery. A lady with an opera glass who was near me was quite beside herself, exclaiming, ‘Oh my! Is not that first rate? I guess we will be in Richmond to-morrow.’ ”

A Federal officer rode up and hollered, “We have whipped them on all points.”

Some of the Sunday tourists wanted to get a closer look, and moved toward the battle. The group included four Senators and two Congressmen.

As they neared the battle lines, the road became filled with soldiers, horses, and wagons.

But they were going in the wrong direction!

Union soldiers hollered at the spectators, “Turn back, turn back, we’re whipped.”

Not all of the civilians were bright. Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler tried to barrier the road in an effort to stop the retreat. Senator Ben Wade of Ohio picked up a rifle, threatening to fire on the fleeing soldiers.

It was useless. The retreat could not be stopped.

A Confederate shell destroyed the buggy of Senator Henry Wilson, and he had to escape on a mule. Iowa Senator James Grimes barely avoided capture (and swore he would never to go near another battlefield).

New York Congressman Alfred Ely got too close to the fighting and was captured by the 8th South Carolina Infantry. He succeeded in reaching the Confederate Capitol of Richmond, where he spent the next five months in prison.

The reality of war had begun to sink in.

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It was July 31st, 1861. Federal troops were just north of Manassas, Virginia. There were many who thought they would send the Rebels reeling, putting an end to the rebellion.

The day was Sunday, and a throng of civilian sightseers had come down from the U.S. capitol, just 25 miles away. Lieutenant Tibdall commanded a section of artillery at the battle, and described what he saw:

“They came in all manner of ways, some in stylish carriages, others in buggies, on horseback and even on foot…. All manner of people were represented in this crowd, from the most grave and noble senators to hotel waiters.”

Many had packed picnic baskets, and some enterprising folks brought carts of food to sell.

William Russel of the London Times was present. He tells us there was “an unusually heavy discharge of artillery. A lady with an opera glass who was near me was quite beside herself, exclaiming, ‘Oh my! Is not that first rate? I guess we will be in Richmond to-morrow.’ ”

A Federal officer rode up and hollered, “We have whipped them on all points.”

Some of the Sunday tourists wanted to get a closer look, and moved toward the battle. The group included four Senators and two Congressmen.

As they neared the battle lines, the road became filled with soldiers, horses, and wagons.

But they were going in the wrong direction!

Union soldiers hollered at the spectators, “Turn back, turn back, we’re whipped.”

Not all of the civilians were bright. Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler tried to barrier the road in an effort to stop the retreat. Senator Ben Wade of Ohio picked up a rifle, threatening to fire on the fleeing soldiers.

It was useless. The retreat could not be stopped.

A Confederate shell destroyed the buggy of Senator Henry Wilson, and he had to escape on a mule. Iowa Senator James Grimes barely avoided capture (and swore he would never go near another battlefield).

New York Congressman Alfred Ely got too close to the fighting and was captured by the 8th South Carolina Infantry. He succeeded in reaching the Confederate Capitol of Richmond, where he spent the next five months in prison.

The reality of war had begun to sink in.

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The destruction of Confederate Monuments, while believed to be justified (cultural cleansing), is both ignorant and insensitive. Those who destroy the monuments think that removing such monuments will remove the reminder of racism from society. However, the removal of such monuments provokes anger and injustice by saying the events of racism never occurred, and also does not allow society to mourn and honor its deceased.

Key Takeaways:

• As president of a cultural heritage organization, I feel obligated to weigh in on the current controversy over Confederate monuments. The semi-hysterical push to remove them is, I strongly believe, a mistake, a dangerous precedent, and an exercise in ignorance. Mobs pull statues down. ISIS destroys monuments. Fanatics rewrite history to edit out the bits they don’t like. Our country should not be walking down that road.
• My nonprofit helps people in conflict zones protect their endangered heritage sites or rebuild them if they were damaged by war or terrorism. For example, we are working to restore the last remaining Judaeo-Christian pilgrimage site in the vicinity of Mosul, the only one that was missed by ISIS in its rampage. From my vantage point, the idea that the way to deal with history is to destroy any relics that remind you of something you don’t like, is highly alarming. It’s bad enough when some insane bunch of fanatics has this idea
• To the Taliban, the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan were impious remnants of a pre-Islamic age, idols that deserved to be blown up. Now these irreplaceable, priceless and beautiful statues are gone, lost to the world. ISIS dynamited Palmyra (“a heathen site”) and many other beautiful and valuable places

“Remove its reminders from public spaces, and you are helping to remove it from society.”

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We live in an age where people becoming offended is taking away our freedom of speech. Instead of just ignoring opinions that they don’t believe in, people instead seek to silence voices they don’t want to hear. America was founded on the idea that anyone can believe what they want and that freedom is in jeopardy.

Key Takeaways:

• Giving people labels takes away the uniqueness from them and their point of view.
• We have elevated our right to be offended over our right to express ourselves freely.
• Are you secure enough in what you believe, and open minded enough to allow others who have views that are different than yours, their right to hold and express those views?

“Now, we are on the verge of erasing parts of our history that we find offensive. While we may not be proud of some chapters in our history, does that give us the right to rewrite the history books and lessons from it? How then would we measure our progress…or sadly…our regress. In the world of rapidly increasing intolerance, I leave you with a question”

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“All were American soldiers…”

We often hear today what the Civil War was all about. Professors and reporters and “very important” folks tell us.

And with what conviction they tell us!

But I rarely hear from the scholars about why the man in uniform was fighting. Seems the soldier is simply forgotten.

I usually write about a person. Sometimes about an event, but I try hard to brush in one or more real people.

So let’s hear from one.

David Johnston was 16 when he put on a uniform. He was a Private, a Rebel. He fought four years, but lived and went on to become a Congressman and a respected judge.

Johnston wrote a book after the war, telling of his experiences. Towards the end of it he wrote this:

“In what is said herein in praise of the Confederate soldier, I do not for one moment mean or intend to detract from the laurels won by the heroic Union soldier, who stood in the firing line, faithfully discharging his duty; for he, as well as we, was contending for principles regarded sacred and for which we had risked our lives…. All were American soldiers, and the glory and honor won by each is the common heritage of the American people, not to be obscured or clouded by the questions about which we differed. Each struggled to maintain the right as God gave him to see the right.

“We often talked along the skirmish lines with Union soldiers…. In opposition to our claim that we were fighting for independence—separate government—they insisted that they were fighting for the Union, a common, undivided country; did not want to see the country broken up by division; and I feel fairly safe in stating that this feeling and sentiment largely dominated the great majority of the Union soldiers.”

It rings true, regardless of interests of the politicians and the vast economic interests of the day. Just look at the photo above, of Confederate officer James Washington and Federal officer George Custer, taken during the war.

There were virtues on both sides, and people today remember them.

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Robert E. Lee deserves a monument. He was actually against slavery during the Civil War, but his unwavering sense of loyalty to his people, “his country”, of Virginia, kept him from siding with the Union. He was actually given command of the Union Army, but gave up his reputation and property to protect those he called family. For those reasons he deserves a monument, and the Nazi’s should stop using him as an example.

Key Takeaways:

• Lee fought very hard for what the flag represents.
• It is terrible to put the flag in the same group as a swastika
• I am proud of my southern heritage

“During the war, Lee lost nearly everything, including his home when Arlington was turned into the National Cemetery and of course lost the war and his citizenship.”

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The photo you see above is Robert E. Lee with his son, in 1845. Someone asked me whether Lee ever regretted fighting for the South.

General Long worked alongside Lee. He wrote Lee said the following, a day or two before surrender at Appomattox:

“…I have never believed we could…make good in the long run our independence unless foreign powers should assist us…. But such considerations really made with me no difference. We had…sacred principles to maintain and rights to defend, for which we were in duty bound to do our best, even if we perished in the endeavour.”

Lee wrote to his sister after he resigned his commission in the United States Army:

“I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword.”

Today we talk of the great social issues of the Civil War – and they were grave!

But for the individuals it often came down to protecting the lives and homes of family and friends, or siding with those who might attack them.

Americans had much strong ties to their home states. There were still people alive who had been citizens of an American Colony, when each Colony had been independent of the others.

In a letter to a friend, Lee wrote:

“If Virginia stands by the old Union, so will I. But if she secedes (though I do not believe in secession as a constitutional right, nor that there is sufficient cause for revolution), then I will follow my native State with my sword, and, if need be, with my life.”

To quote from Winston Churchill:

“He was opposed to slavery and thought that, ‘secession would do no good,’ but he had been taught from childhood that his first allegiance was to the state of Virginia.”

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We know how George Armstrong Custer met his end. But did you know he fought in the Civil war from the first major battle all the way to Appomattox?We have copies of his correspondence with several friends that were then fighting for the South. That’s Custer on the right above. And by the way, the Rebel prisoner next to him was a buddy of his. He had decent success for two years, but in 1863 his fortune rocketed.  J.E.B. Stuart’s brilliant Rebel horsemen were making short work of two Union brigades. Their Colonels were trying to rally the men, to no avail.Lieutenant Custer spurred his horse past the colonels. Wearing his broad-brimmed white hat, Custer faced the troops and drew his saber. Pointing to the enemy, he went into a gallop. Moments later the colonels raced forward, followed by the rest of the Union Cavalry. That charge saved their bacon.Two weeks later, Lt. Custer became Brigadier General Custer. He went on to be a very successful commander of cavalry in the Civil War.Custer’s military future didn’t always bright. He was last in his class at West Point, and had a lot of discipline problems.  A Cadet would be expelled if he accumulated 100 demerits over six months. Custer typically piled up over 90, and then buckle down until the next semester. Here are some examples:Dec 19th, 1857 – Calling “Corporal” in a loud & boisterous voice – 3 demeritsApril 3, 1858 – Hair out of uniform at guard meeting – 2 demeritsJan 27, 1859 – Late to supper – 1 demeritFeb 17, 1859 – Throwing snowballs on barrack steps – 3 demeritsIn his last semester before graduation, Custer got 97 demerits. And then got a court martial for not stopping a fight while on guard duty. If it had not been for the war, Custer would have been out on his ear.Just goes to show, sometimes it takes a rebel to win.

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