Author: Ultimate Flags Store

We often hear why the Civil War was fought. Professors and reporters and “very important” folks tell us.And with great conviction they tell us!But you rarely hear from these 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 went into 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. Near the end he wrote, regarding his praise of Confederate soldiers he had known:“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.There were virtues on both sides, and people today should and do remember them.

Johnston also writes:

“The character of the men… and their deeds of valor and heroism, will ever live, and in the hearts of our people will be enshrined the names of the gallant dead as well as of the living, as the champions of constitutional liberty. They will be held in grateful remembrance by their own countrymen, appreciated and recognized by all people of all lands, who admire brave deeds, true courage, and devotion of American soldiers to cause and country.”

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Many know Confederate cavalrymen like J.E.B. Stuart, or the fierce Nathan Bedford Forrest. But Robert E. Lee believed that Confederate General Wheeler (who later served as a Major General in the U.S. Army) was one of his two best Cavalry officers.Wheeler graduated from West Point (ironically, his lowest marks were in Cavalry Tactics). His nickname there was “Point.” (He was a small man, you see.)After graduation, “Point” served in the Wild West. There he earned another nickname: “Fightin’ Joe.”When his home state of Georgia seceded, Wheeler volunteered his services to the South.Fightin’ Joe was brave. One of his men said after the war, he “warn’t afraid of nuthin’ or nobody.” Wheeler also had a powerful sense of honor. If he thought something was his duty, no threat or obstacle mattered: 16 horses were killed under him, he survived an artillery blast and other wounds, and never quit. (He was even still riding after Appomattox.) Cavalry often had duties to harass or delay the enemy. Wheeler’s tree-felling tactics as part of those duties resulted in another nickname, “Lumberjack Cavalry.”It was not the last one. When they destroyed a Union gunboat, four transports and took 400 prisoners, they also became the “Horse Marines.”Wheeler led men in over a thousand conflicts from 1861 to 1865. In 1864, he handed the Union Cavalry its worst defeat of the war.

Wheeler’s force of 5,000 cavalry whipped Sherman’s cavalry of 9,000. During the battle, the Rebels captured Union Major General Stoneman, the highest ranking Federal nabbed in the war. Wheeler cared nothing for personal glory. Late in the war he was put under the orders of another Cavalry officer for the first time, General Hampton. When Hampton told Wheeler of the change, it is reported that his response was simply, “Certainly, General, I will receive your orders with pleasure.” Wheeler earned the respect and affection of his men. One of them tells about an inspection. Wheeler accompanied the inspector. One trooper did not unbutton his coat.The inspector disapproved. Wheeler at once knew the problem and whispered to him. After inspection, the general sent the trooper his only other shirt.

After the war, Wheeler found himself traveling on a prison boat to Fort Delaware. One of the prisoners was Jefferson Davis, accompanied by his wife and baby. During the voyage, Jeff Davis and his wife Virginia were under a lot of stress, so Wheeler spent “many an hour walking the deck with little baby Winnie.”Wheeler became  a U.S. Congressman for Alabama. When the Spanish-American War broke out, the President put him in command of a Cavalry Division. He fought in Cuba and the Philippines. Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders were under his command.

Fightin’ Joe is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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General Dwight Eisenhower retired with five stars on his shoulders. He was the Supreme Allied Commander of World War II. Later, he became the President of the United States.

In 1960, Leon Scott wrote Eisenhower a letter. It began:

Dear Mr. President: 

At the Republication Convention I heard you mention that you have the pictures of four (4) great Americans in your office, and that included in these is a picture of Robert E. Lee. 

I am going to skip the next couple of paragraphs, but let’s just say that Leon was not a fan of R.E. Lee.

He finished with a question to the President:

Will you please tell me just why you hold him in such high esteem?

Eisenhower did not personally answer every letter he received, but he answered that one. Here is some of what he had to say:

General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation…. he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his faith in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history. 

From deep conviction, I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s calibre would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to this land as revealed in his painstaking efforts to help heal the Nation’s wounds once the bitter struggle was over, we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained. 

Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall. 

Sincerely,

Dwight D. Eisenhower 

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That photo is of David Eammons Johnston, only 17 when he joined up with Company D of the Virginia Seventh Regiment.

After the war, Johnston wrote a book. He explains:

“The chief motive which inspires this undertaking is to give some meager idea of the Confederate soldier in the ranks, and of his individual deeds of heroism, particularly of that patriotic, self-sacrificing, brave company of men with whose fortunes and destiny my own were linked for four long years of blood and carnage, and to whom during that period I was bound by ties stronger than hooks of steel; whose confidence and friendship I fully shared, and as fully reciprocated”

In future posts I will write of some of those “deeds of heroism.” Today, though, here is one that may amuse you.

“Again we were on picket, Crawford on outpost, with instructions to keep a sharp lookout, as the enemy was near, but not to shoot without calling “halt” the usual three times, and if no halt made, to shoot.

“Shortly after Crawford took post, his cries of “Halt! Halt! Halt!” were heard, and bang! went his gun.

“The corporal ran to see what was the matter: he found Crawford standing quietly at his post as if nothing had happened.”

Well, it seems as if a “stray fat hog had wandered to the post and had not halted at Crawford’s command.”

Crawford explained to the Corporal:  “I obeyed orders.”

There was nothing for it except to roast the hog and have a feast. So they did.

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December, 1863, near Dalton, Georgia. The Rebels are on top of Rocky Face Ridge, taking fire from cannons below.

“Hold on, boys,” says a sharpshooter, “I’ll stop that racket.”

His rifle cracks. Sure enough, things get quiet.

But not for long. Soon, “the valley below is full of blue coats.”

Private Sam Watkins’ Company H is ordered to fire.

“We take deliberate aim and fire a solid volley of minnie balls into their midst. We see a terrible consplutterment among them.”

But these are seasoned Yankees soldiers.

“They seem to get mad at our audacity, and ten pieces of cannon are brought up, and pointed right toward us. We see the smoke boil up, and a moment afterwards the shell is roaring and bursting right among us”

But the boys of the First Tennessee Infantry have seen worse. Sam writes:

“Ha! ha! ha! that’s funny— we love the noise of battle…. Our Enfields crack, keen and sharp; and ha, ha, ha, look yonder! The Yankees are running away from their cannon.”

Sam then sees “a dash of our cavalry. They are charging right up in the midst of the Yankee line. Three men are far in advance.”  Too far, in fact.

“Look out, boys!”

The three men try to turn back. The Yankees open fire.

“One man’s horse is seen to blunder and fall, one man reels in his saddle, and falls a corpse, and the other is seen to surrender.

“But, look yonder! the man’s horse that blundered and fell is up again; he mounts his horse in fifty yards of the whole Yankee line, is seen to lie down on his neck, and is spurring him right on toward the solid line of blue coats.

“Look how he rides, and the ranks of the blue coats open.

Our cavalry are falling back, and the three men are cut off. They will be captured, sure. They turn to get back to our lines. We can see the smoke boil up, and hear the discharge of musketry from the Yankee lines. One man’s horse is seen to blunder and fall, one man reels in his saddle, and falls a corpse, and the other is seen to surrender. But, look yonder! the man’s horse that blundered and fell is up again; he mounts his horse in fifty yards of the whole Yankee line, is seen to lie down on his neck, and is spurring him right on toward the solid line of blue coats. Look how he rides, and the ranks of the blue coats open. Hurrah for the brave rebel boy! He has passed and is seen to regain his regiment

“Hurrah for the brave rebel boy!”

Yes, every soldier there, blue or grey, knows courage when he sees it. Sam writes:

“You could have heard the cheers from both sides, it seemed, for miles.”

The rider is seen to get back to his own regiment. It is only later that Sam learns that the boy was his own brother, David Watkins, only sixteen at the time.

Dave was under the command of General Wheeler’s cavalry division, and both he and Sam would survive the war.

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We hear a lot about 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? (He managed to take possession of the table on which Grant wrote the Terms of Surrender.)

Custer had decent success for two years, but in 1863 his fortune rocketed.  Seems that 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 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, Lieutenant Custer became Brigadier General Custer. He went on to be a very successful commander of cavalry in the Civil War.

Custer’s military future wasn’t always bright. Last in his class at West Point, he 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 demerits

In 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.

And by the way, that’s him in the top photo. The Confederate prisoner next to him was a buddy of his.

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Have you ever wondered whether folks outside the United States ask us for Confederate flags? In fact, we do get a lot of requests for them.

Canada is probably the top destination outside the States, but you might be surprised how many we ship to Scandinavia, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.

Some of our customers send us photos. Here is one from Pia and Juha in Finland.

The Finns have had to fight pretty hard at times to defend their own borders. Tough characters, the Finns, so no wonder they like this flag.

Down in Australia, Barry has used some good old Rebel flags to decorate his pickup. He even has the Battle Flag on his license plate.

He restored a 1927 FEDERAL truck, and it sparked his interest:

“It’s the flag and the whole story of the civil war that interests me… I have a soft spot for the Confederates, just having the #%$*@ enough to break away from the Union and stand on their own.”

Barry says the truck was built in Detroit and shipped to Australia.

“It started life as a log truck in the Kangaroo Valley in New South Wales, very very steep country, it originally only had a 4 cylinder engine with a 3 speed gearbox and only rear mechanical brakes, ( would be a very brave or foolhardy man with strong underpants to drive down a very steep hill with a large log on the back and only rear mechanical brakes and no power steering).”

Barry found it in 2001: “It was in a very sad state of repair, but being one of only a hand full left I embarked on a massive restoration project.”

It was sure worth it, as you can see in the photos.

Thanks, Barry!

We will be sending more photos and stories like this. We’d love to hear from you about your flag.

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