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The Civil War memoirs of Private Samuel Watkins of Company H, 1st Tennessee Infantry are considered the best ever written by a common soldier of the field. His writing style is engaging, and often quite humorous. He masterfully captured the pride, misery, and glory experienced by the common foot soldier. Here’s another story.

It’s no surprise that some Rebels were prone to mischief. Even innocent looking Sam got himself in a spot of trouble on day in a cornfield near Tupelo, Mississippi.  

Sam’s  regiment was under the command of General Bragg, who “issued an order authorizing citizens to defend themselves against the depredations of soldiers—to shoot them down if caught depredating.”  

But sometimes a fella can’t help but do a little depredating, a fancy way of saying plundering, if he’s not getting enough to eat.

Sam and his buddy Bryon were mighty hungry  when they spied a cornfield. Corn was so good for roasting, so naturally, in spite of the orders, you can guess what they did. Sam had an armful of corn when suddenly, “an old citizen raised up and said, ‘Stop there! Drop that corn.’”The old fellow had a “double- barreled shotgun cocked and leveled” at Sam, and proceeded to march him toward General Bragg’s headquarters.No amount of pleading helped change the old man’s mind. Sam said, “I could see the devil in the old fellow’s eye.”But Sam was determined not to see General Bragg, who was a mite too quick to have his own men shot. So, he said to the old man:“’Mister, Byron Richardson is in your field, and if you will go back we can catch him and you can take both of us to General Bragg.’ The old fellow’s spunk was up. He had captured me so easy, he no doubt thought he could whip a dozen.”They got back and there was Bryon, with his arms full of corn. The old citizen leveled his gun, but Sam grabbed it “and with the assistance of Byron, we had the old fellow and his gun both.”Sam’s future looked brighter now:

“We made the old fellow gather as much as he could carry, and made him carry it nearly to camp, when we dismissed him, a wiser if not a better and richer man.”

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The Confederate Battle Flag has 13 stars for 13 states.  South Carolina seceded in December 1860, followed by five more states: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana  in January, and then Texas on the 1st of February.  

These seven states met a few days later in Montgomery, Alabama, and formed the Confederate States of America.  Jefferson Davis was elected President on February 9th, almost a month before Lincoln was inaugurated in March. By the middle of May, four more states had seceded and joined the Confederacy: Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina for a total of 11 Confederate States.  Four slave states – Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri – remained in the Union. Missouri and Kentucky proclaimed they were neutral in the war, but that ended in Missouri when Union troops arrested the Missouri State Guard and imprisoned them.  The State government went into exile, and a war began between the Missouri State Guard and the Union forces.  The state government voted to secede in October, and was admitted to the Confederacy. It was kind of the opposite in Kentucky.  Confederate General Polk advanced into Kentucky one day before Union General Grant moved his army into the state. The Kentucky legislature had promised its citizens it would remain neutral unless it was impossible, and to join the South if necessary. But with neutrality broken, the legislature decided to join with the North because Polk had been the first to enter the state. Many Kentucky citizens were very mad about this, and a new legislature was formed and it declared independence, joining the Confederacy. This made a total of 13 Confederate states.In short, Missouri and Kentucky were claimed by both North and South, and had representatives in both Congresses.

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It is said that Gettysburg is one of the most haunted places in America. Don’t believe in ghosts? Well, here is a story that may just change your mind.An old man approached some extras sitting at Little Round Top during filming of the movie Gettysburg. He wore a torn and scorched uniform, and smelled of gunpowder.The old man talked about the fury of battle, passed out rounds of ammunition and left.The extras figured he was one of the people in the film, but in looking more closely at the  ammunition, they noticed it looked odd. They took the rounds to the man in charge of those props. But he said they were not from him – they were actual Civil War rounds.For years at Gettysburg a barefoot man dressed in a shirt and hat matching the uniform of a Texas unit has been approaching the tourists. The man always says, “What you’re looking for is over there.”  He points to Plum Run and vanishes.Plum Run is a stream between Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, the center of the heaviest fighting of the battle of Gettysburg.The oldest building at Gettysburg College served as a field hospital during the battle. One night in the 1980’s two college administrators got onto the elevator on the 4th floor, and pushed the 1st floor button. But the elevator skipped the 1st floor and went straight to the basement level.When the doors opened, the men gazed out at a ghastly sight. They blood-covered doctors and orderlies bent over wounded and dying men. Amputated limbs lay in one corner. The scene was eerily silent. When one of the orderlies looked directly at them, the two men pounded the elevator buttons to get away.

Many witnesses saw the same things, so not everyone could be wrong. So, unbelievers, what do you say now?

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When the Civil War started it was hard to get a Texan to join other than a cavalry unit.  British Lt. Col. Fremantle visited Texas, and observed that “it was found very difficult to raise infantry in Texas as no Texan walks a yard if he can help it.” The 8th Texas Cavalry, commonly known as Terry’s Texas Rangers, pictured above, fought 275 battles across seven states. A Union Colonel described one Ranger attack this way: “With lightning speed, under infernal yelling, great numbers of Texas Rangers rushed upon our whole force. They advanced as near as fifteen or twenty yards to our lines, some of them even between them, and then opened fire with rifles and revolvers.” Fierce in battle, the Texans knew honor. During one engagement, a Union regiment managed to kill the Rangers’ beloved colonel.  A year later the Rangers captured the Union commander of that regiment, now a general in charge of a Brigade. Wounded, the general received kind treatment, and was later quoted as saying he would “rather be a private in the Texas Rangers than a general in the Federal army.” The Rangers were mighty sure of themselves, as well. Their chaplain wrote,

“Colonel Wharton has authorized me to say that he will not admit amateur fighters into the Regiment…. We want none but Texans.” Well, I don’t suppose a Texan is a Texan if he isn’t just a bit cocky. In any case, the Rangers’ right to swagger had been earned.

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It is said that Gettysburg is one of the most haunted places in America. Don’t believe in ghosts? Well, here is a story that may just change your mind.An old man approached some extras sitting at Little Round Top during filming of the movie Gettysburg. He wore a torn and scorched uniform, and smelled of gunpowder.The old man talked about the fury of battle, passed out rounds of ammunition and left.The extras figured he was one of the people in the film, but in looking more closely at the  ammunition, they noticed it looked odd. They took the rounds to the man in charge of those props. But he said they were not from him – they were actual Civil War rounds.For years at Gettysburg a barefoot man dressed in a shirt and hat matching the uniform of a Texas unit has been approaching the tourists. The man always says, “What you’re looking for is over there.”  He points to Plum Run and vanishes.Plum Run is a stream between Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, the center of the heaviest fighting of the battle of Gettysburg.The oldest building at Gettysburg College served as a field hospital during the battle. One night in the 1980’s two college administrators got onto the elevator on the 4th floor, and pushed the 1st floor button. But the elevator skipped the 1st floor and went straight to the basement level.When the doors opened, the men gazed out at a ghastly sight. They blood-covered doctors and orderlies bent over wounded and dying men. Amputated limbs lay in one corner. The scene was eerily silent. When one of the orderlies looked directly at them, the two men pounded the elevator buttons to get away.Many witnesses saw the same things, so not everyone could be wrong. So, unbelievers, what do you say now?

Thanks for reading. Please share our posts with your friends and family so they too can learn more about Southern Heritage and History.

Brought to you by: Ultimate Flags