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The story goes that in 1861 the hamlet of Town Line decided to secede from the Union, by a vote of 85 to 40. It wasn’t until 1946 that another vote was held about rejoining the United States. This time there were 90 votes to rejoin the Union. But 23 Rebels were still holding out and voted against it.

Thing is, Town Line is in New York, not too far from Niagara Falls. And the firefighters of Town Line still had a Confederate flag on their uniform patch until 2011. Americans can be a feisty lot.

The city of New York also had Southern sympathies. In January of 1861, its mayor Fernando Wood proposed that the city secede from the Union and form its own sovereign nation called Tri-Insula (meaning three islands).

NYC was a vital source of funding for Washington. About 90% of federal revenue was from fees on imported goods. And the lion’s share of those imports came into New York harbor. In 1959, the Port of New York accounted for nearly two thirds of all federal revenue!

So Mayor Wood figured that if the city left the Union it could support itself on a fraction of the high tariffs that the federal government charged. It could greatly reduce the customs fees, and not have to tax its own citizens.

The idea didn’t go very far, though the war was pretty unpopular with a lot of folks in the city.

Of course, this was the same city that raised the famous Union 69^th Irish Regiment. The 69th was so brave in one battle that it was cheered by the Confederate 24^thGeorgia Volunteers Irish Regiment.

The 69^th lives on today in the New York National Guard 69^th Infantry, which still uses the same flag. Its nickname is the “Fighting Sixty Ninth,” earned in the Civil War. It is reported that Robert E. Lee said, upon learning that the 69^th on the field:

“Ah yes, that fighting sixty ninth.”

Both sides respected bravery in the other. The remark made its way back to the Union boys, and it has stuck ever since.

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Private Sam Watkins was on picket duty on Missionary Ridge, on top of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee.Sam watched a night battle at the base of the mountain: “It looked like lightning bugs on a dark night.”  Sam, Theodore Sloan and Hog Johnson were in an old log cabin, no sleep for two days, but had to stay awake since they “knew there was something up.”Sure enough, “Johnson touched me and whispered, ‘Look, look, there are three Yankees; must I shoot?’”Sam answered back yes! A shot rang out, and things were quiet for over an hour. Then Johnson whispered, “Yonder they come again; look, look!”Sam was so sleepy he couldn’t see them, so Johnson fired again. But this time the Yankees didn’t drop back. He wrote:“The streaks of day had begun to glimmer over Missionary Ridge, and I could see in the dim twilight the Yankee guard not fifty yards off. Said I, ‘Boys, let’s fire into them and run.’ We took deliberate aim and fired. At that they raised, I thought, a mighty sickly sort of yell and charged the house.”Sam, Theodore and Hog raced away. But by now the main battle was on Sam relates:“I heard fighting and commanding and musketry all day long, but I was still on picket. Balls were passing over our heads, both coming and going. I could not tell whether I was standing picket for Yankees or Rebels.”Sam was now at the foot of Lookout Mountain when things got real interesting. He was in the middle of the Union troops:“The Yankees were swarming everywhere… No one seemed to notice me; they were passing to and fro, cannon, artillery, and everything.”Rebel soldiers often dressed in whatever was available, so you couldn’t always tell by looking at a fellow which side he was on. Then, about mid-afternoon:“A column of Yankees advancing to the attack swept right over where I was standing. I was trying to stand aside to get out of their way, but the more I tried to get out of their way, the more in their way I got. I was carried forward, I knew not whither.”Soon he found himself at the foot of Missionary Ridge. The Yankees were ordered to charge up the ridge. Sam didn’t want to get shot as a “deserter,” so up the mountain he went:“They kept climbing and pulling and scratching until I was in touching distance of the old Rebel breastworks, right on the very apex of Missionary Ridge.”The Federals pushed the Rebels back and halted. But Sam kept going:“I ran on down the ridge, and there was our regiment, the First Tennessee, with their guns stacked, and drawing rations as if nothing was going on. Says I, ‘Colonel Field, what’s the matter? The whole army is routed and running; hadn’t you better be getting away from here?’”“He remarked very coolly, ‘You seem to be demoralized. We’ve whipped them here. We’ve captured two thousand prisoners and five stands of colors.’”Right then Confederate General Bragg and his staff rode up:“Bragg had joined the church, but he had back-slid at Missionary Ridge. He was cursing like a sailor.”Orders were issued, and the 1st Tennessee found itself “at once the rear guard of the whole army.”So, that’s how Sam got to live to fight another day.

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The story goes that in 1861 the hamlet of Town Line decided to secede from the Union, by a vote of 85 to 40. It wasn’t until 1946 that another vote was held about rejoining the United States. This time there were 90 votes to rejoin the Union. But 23 Rebels were still holding out and voted against it.

Thing is, Town Line is in New York, not too far from Niagara Falls. And the firefighters of Town Line still had a Confederate flag on their uniform patch until 2011. Americans can be a feisty lot.

The city of New York also had Southern sympathies. In January of 1861, its mayor Fernando Wood proposed that the city secede from the Union and form its own sovereign nation called Tri-Insula (meaning three islands).

NYC was a vital source of funding for Washington. About 90% of federal revenue was from fees on imported goods. And the lion’s share of those imports came into New York harbor. In 1959, the Port of New York accounted for nearly two thirds of all federal revenue!

So Mayor Wood figured that if the city left the Union it could support itself on a fraction of the high tariffs that the federal government charged. It could greatly reduce the customs fees, and not have to tax its own citizens.

The idea didn’t go very far, though the war was pretty unpopular with a lot of folks in the city.

Of course, this was the same city that raised the famous Union 69^th Irish Regiment. The 69th was so brave in one battle that it was cheered by the Confederate 24^thGeorgia Volunteers Irish Regiment.

The 69^th lives on today in the New York National Guard 69^th Infantry, which still uses the same flag. Its nickname is the “Fighting Sixty Ninth,” earned in the Civil War. It is reported that Robert E. Lee said, upon learning that the 69^th on the field:

“Ah yes, that fighting sixty ninth.”

Both sides respected bravery in the other. The remark made its way back to the Union boys, and it has stuck ever since.

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The Civil War Battle of Lexington, Missouri is also known as the Battle of Hemp Bales. As you may know, hemp is a variety of the Cannabis plant that is used for making rope.Some quick background. Missouri was sort of neutral in early 1861. Then Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion. And worse, a zealous Federal Brigadier General Lyon seized Camp Jackson in St. Louis and arrested 800 state militiamen. A riot ensued, and Union troops shot down 15 civilians.Well, the Missourians got really mad. The governor declared Missouri an independent republic. The legislature formed the Missouri State Guards and appointed Sterling Price to command it.Price had been an ardent Unionist, but his friend Horatio Jones described Price as “the picture of wrath” after Camp Jackson.Price marched to Lexington. The town of Lexington did a lot of trade, including hemp.  The Federals had fortified a position there, building earthworks and cutting down trees for long lines of fire. Some of Price’s officers wanted to charge the Union position, but their commander said, “it is unnecessary to kill off the boys here. Patience will give us what we want.” The Rebels seized a bunch of large bales of hemp and soaked them in the river overnight. The next day, Price’s men began to advance on the Federals, rolling the soaked hemp bales in front of them. The wet bales absorbed or repelled the bullets and artillery of the Yankees. It took a day, but the Missouri Militia advanced close enough that the Federals knew a Rebel rush would overwhelm them. The Union boys raised a white flag, and the Battle of Hemp Bales was over.

Who knew big bales of wet hemp could save the day!

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“Fightin’ Joe” Wheeler has the distinction of serving as both a Confederate General in the Civil War, and later as a U.S. Army General. That’s him in the photo, in front of the others.

Joseph Wheeler graduated from West Point in 1859. After completing Cavalry School, he was posted to Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. It was out West that he got his nickname.

2^nd Lieutenant Wheeler was escorting a wagon that had a pregnant woman on board. Suddenly, marauding Indians attacked. The wagon driver and Wheeler were the only defense. Wheeler charged the attackers. With fire from both men, they managed to drive off them off. When the soldiers heard the story later, Joe became “Fightin’ Joe.”

Things changed the next year when Wheeler’s home state of Georgia seceded from the Union: he resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Army. 

Due to his skills and success as a cavalry officer, Fightin’ Joe rose quickly up the ranks, becoming a major general by 1863. He had 16 horses shot out from under him, and was wounded three times. Robert E. Lee considered him one of the two finest cavalry officers of the war. (Lee was himself a West Point graduate, and had been commandant of West Point Military Academy.)

After the war, Wheeler settled down in Alabama and raised a family. In 1880, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he served many terms. 

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Wheeler left Congress to volunteer in the Army. He was 61. 

Assigned by the President to command the cavalry in Cuba, Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders were under his command. You can see future President Roosevelt to the far right in the photo above.

“Fightin’ Joe” was aggressive, and his men fought the first major battle of the war in Cuba. When the Spanish began to retreat, Wheeler is reported to have hollered out, “Let’s go, boys! We’ve got the damn Yankees on the run again!” His adjutant had to remind him that he was one of the Yankees. 

Wheeler came down with malaria, but was able to get up from his sick-bed in time to take command during the Battle of San Juan Hill.

After success in Cuba, Wheeler was sent to the Philippines, where he continued to fight in the Spanish-American War for over a year. 

Fighting Joe Wheeler has been honored in various ways, including having a Liberty Ship and an Army base named for him. His statue stands in the Statuary Hall in the United States Capital building, and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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When a battle raged, Rebels and Yankees fought like the devil. But when things were quiet, they often got along rather well. Private Sam Watkins had recently been in the thick of battle at Chickamauga – only Gettysburg saw more casualties. It was Sunday and Sam and his buddies were relieving a guard detail on the Tennessee River. There was a Yankee outpost on the opposite riverbank. Sam tells us: “When we were approaching we heard the old guard and the Yankee picket talking back and forth across the river. The new guard immediately resumed the conversation. A Yankee hallooed out, “O, Johnny, Johnny, meet me half way in the river on the island.” Sergeant John Tucker swam out to meet the Yankee, taking the Chattanooga Rebel and some other Southern newspapers with him.

Sam explains, “They got very friendly, and John invited him to come clear across to our side, which invitation he accepted…. Well, they came across and we swapped a few lies, canteens and tobacco, and then the Yankee went back.” Sam tells about another event just a few weeks later: “Theodore Sloan, Hog Johnson and I were standing picket at the little stream that runs along at the foot of Lookout Mountain. We heard a Yankee call, “O, Johnny, Johnny Reb! “I started out to meet him when he hallooed out, “Go back, Johnny, go back; we are ordered to fire on you.” “What is the matter? Is your army going to advance on us?” “I don’t know; we are ordered to fire.” I jumped back into the picket post, and a minnie ball ruined the only hat I had.” But fair warning had been given, and Sam lived to tell the tale!

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No town was more fought over during the Civil War than Winchester, Virginia. It changed hands so many times that we don’t have a decent count. Some say over 100.Winchester was about 70 miles east of Washington, DC, in the Shenandoah Valley. It was surrounded on all sides by hills, so an approaching army was hard to detect, and it was just about impossible to defend.The town and area was largely composed of German and Scottish descendants who worked the land and had no slaves. They didn’t want secession, but when it came, they acted to defend their land against invasion.But the real story here is something else. Lincoln’s Secretary of State Seward visited the town in 1862 and reported,

“…the men are all in the army, and the women are the devils.”The women of Winchester did not take kindly to any Union occupiers. A soldier in the 7th Ohio Infantry wrote that

“Charleston, South Carolina could not furnish a female and juvenile population imbued with more bitter sentiments towards the North and her soldiers than this city.”Women would cross the street or step off sidewalks into the mud to avoid being near near Federal soldiers, or walking under a U.S. flag.One of their tactics was to wear what they called “Jeff Davis bonnets,” hiding their eyes from those of the Federals. But under those bonnets were some angry ladies. Another Federal soldier reported that when he remarked on the beauty of the town’s young women to an elderly Winchester lady, she replied,

“Honey, they could just cut your hearts out.”Right after the war these women organized to collect and bury the remains of Confederates scattered around the region. Their Stonewall Jackson Cemetery holds 2,489 Confederate soldiers.

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Texan John Bell Hood was not one to back down, on or off the battlefield.At the end of the Second Battle of Manassas 1862, Hood’s men captured some Union ambulances, and he allowed the men to keep them for the brigade’s personal use. General N. G. Evans ordered him to turn them over. But Hood refused, because he “did not consider it just” to yield the ambulances “to another brigade of the division, which was in no manner entitled to them.”

So Evans had Hood  arrested.This did not go over well with the Texans. An angry shockwave went over the Texas brigade. Rev. Nicholas Davis wrote:”The men were not willing to go into an engagement without him, and many had positively declared they they would stack arms.”

They cried “Give us Hood!” and “If there is any fighting to be done by the Texas Brigade, Hood must lead it!”

Robert E. Lee had to get involved, telling Hood:“…here I am just on upon the eve of entering into battle, and with one of my best officers under arrest. If you will merely say that you regret this occurrence, I will release you and restore you to the command of your division.”But Hood was having none of it:“I am unable to do so, since I cannot admit or see the justice of General Evans’ demand for ambulances my men have captured.”Lee needed Hood, so he suspended the arrest until the upcoming battle was over.

This news made the troops very happy. As Hood rode to the front of the army after his release, “he was cheered long and loud by each regiment of the division.”

Hood and his Texans joined in and victory was had. In fact, Stonewall Jackson wrote to Lee, saying Hood acted “with such ability and zeal as to command my admiration… I regard him as one of the most promising officers in the army.”Lee had seen what Hood had accomplished. So instead of reinstating the arrest, Lee promoted Hood to Major General.

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Reading about the Civil War would certainly be a lot less interesting without the firsthand accounts of our Confederate friend, Sam Watkins of Company H, 1st Tennessee.

Here is his story of how one day he applied for a furlough. You probably already have an idea of how this is going to go. He writes:“Now, reader, here commenced a series of red tapeism…. It had to go through every officer’s hands, from corporal up.”“Well, after getting the corporal’s consent and approval, it goes up to the sergeant. It ain’t right! Some informality, perhaps, in the wording and spelling. Then the lieutenants had to have a say in it, and when it got to the captain, it had to be read and reread, to see that every ‘i’ was dotted and ‘t’ crossed, but returned because there was one word that he couldn’t make out.”“Then it was forwarded to the colonel. He would snatch it out of your hand, grit his teeth, and simply write ‘app.’ for approved. This would also be returned, with instructions that the colonel must write ‘approved’ in a plain hand, and with pen and ink.”“Then it went to the brigadier-general. After reading carefully the furlough, he says,’Well, sir, you have failed to get the adjutant’s name to it. You ought to have the colonel and adjutant, and you must go back and get their signatures.’”“After this, you go to the major-general, who never smiles, and tries to look as sour as vinegar. He looks at the furlough, and looks down at the ground, and then says, ‘Well, sir, this is all informal,’ and hands it back to you.”“You take it, feeling all the while that you wished you had not applied for a furlough, and by summoning all the fortitude that you possess, you say in a husky and choking voice, ‘Well, general (you say the ‘general’ in a sort of gulp and dry swallow), what’s the matter with the furlough?’ He-takes the furlough and glances over it, and tells his adjutant to sign the furlough.”“You feel relieved. You feel that the anaconda’s coil had been suddenly relaxed.”“Then you start out to the lieutenant-general; you find him. He is in a very learned and dignified conversation about the war in Chili. Well, you get very anxious for the war in Chili to get to an end. The general pulls his side-whiskers, looks wise, and tells his adjutant to look over it, and, if correct, sign it. He takes hold of the document, and writes the lieutenant-general’s name.”“Now, reader, the above is a pretty true picture of how I got my furlough.”

Seems like some things don’t change much –  even after 150 years!

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