Author: Ultimate Flags Store

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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A historic cemetery was recently rededicated in Hancock County. There was a special ceremony to honor one man in the Confederate Army. Family members said that he was a prisoner of war as well as a soldier for the Confederacy. Victor Ladner played an important part in American history. He played a historical role in the history of Hancock County as well.

Historic cemetery rededicated in Hancock County

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“Wheat’s Tigers” was the nickname of a Louisiana Battalion formed from the rougher sections of New Orleans, men described as “thieves, and outcasts…and bad characters generally.”

Of all the units that took the field at the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861, none exceeded the flair and intensity of the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion.  Raised from the dregs of New Orleans, they were primarily Irish immigrant dockworkers, tough and gutsy as their combative commander, Major Roberdeau Wheat.

Although the Tigers were known for their drinking, card playing, fighting and general mischief, they proved themselves fearless and effective at the Battle of First Manassas.

The Tigers dressed in colorful uniforms like the North African “Zouaves” then in the service of the French Army, and became known as one of the South’s best and most fearsome units.

Known as Bull Run to the Federals, Manassas was the first major battle of the war.  Even before the main fight began, the Louisiana Tigers made a charge. Lieutenant Adrian of Company B fell with a leg wound. As he lay on the ground bleeding, he shouted:“Tigers, go in once more, go in my sons, I’ll be great gloriously God damned if the sons of bitches can ever whip the Tigers!”One of the Rebels later said, “Our blood was on fire. Life was valueless.”

One of the Yankees later said the charge “seemed to me to be the most terrible moment of this terrific contest.”By dusk of that day, the Union army was driven from the field and retreated all the way back to Washington. General Beauregard reported that the Tigers displayed “dauntless courage and imperturbable coolness,” and that these men could stand tall and say, “We were of that band who fought the first hour of the battle of Manassas.”

Major Roberdeau Wheat, leader of the Tigers

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During the Civil War, the Cherokee Nation had 3,000 men serving as Confederate soldiers.

The Cherokee, by nature a peaceful people, were exceptionally skilled at protecting themselves.  They were naturals at close-quarters fighting, and adept at the irregular tactics of guerrilla warfare.

A leader of the Cherokee, Stand Watie, was eager to join the Confederate cause. In June 1861, he began recruiting for an army to assist the Southern cause. He was elected Chief of the newly declared Southern Cherokee Nation

Stand Watie’s birth name was Tak-er-taw-ker, meaning “Stands Firm.”  He combined parts of his Cherokee name and his father’s name, Oo-wat-ie, to call himself Stand Watie in English..

In March of 1862 Stand Watie caught the attention of senior officers when he captured a Union artillery battery. He then led a skilled rear guard action to protect a retreating Confederate army to prevent a disastrous defeat.

Watie’s courage, tactics and leadership led to his assignment to a command position. Watie rose to the rank of Brigadier General. One of the units under Watie’s command was the Cherokee Mounted Rifles.  His unit was active in cutting Union supply lines and disrupting the enemy’s operations in the Western Theater of the Civil War.

He kept on fighting until June 23rd, 1863, months after Appomattox, and longer than any other Confederate General.

The U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp issued on June 29, 1995.

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Nathan Bedford Forrest is one of ablest commanders on record, the only Civil War officer to go from Private at the beginning of the war to highest rank then used, Lieutenant General. Union General Sherman said Confederate Lt. General Forrest was “the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side.” Sherman, regarded as a great strategist, wrote this about Forrest: “…he had a genius for strategy which was original, and to me incomprehensible. There was no theory or art of war by which I could calculate with any degree of certainty what Forrest was up to. He always seemed to know what I was going to do next.” Forrest was remarkably brave in battle. Private James Hamner described one of their early battles:   “The Col. (Forrest) was about 50 yards ahead of us fighting for his life. I believe there was at least fifty shots fired at him in five minutes. One shot took effect in his horse’s head, but did not kill him. He killed 9 of the enemy.” Of another early battle, General Clark wrote this of Forrest: “…he was conspicuous for the most daring courage; always in advance of his command. He was at one time engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with 4 of the enemy, 3 of whom he killed, dismounting and making a prisoner of the fourth.” Forrest was noted for using a distinctive 12-star battle flag. He removed the middle star so his enemies knew exactly who they were fighting.

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The Battle of Perryville in Kentucky one of the most important battles of the American Civil War, but most people, including many Civil War buffs, know little about it..

Sam Watkins was there and he wrote about it in his famous memoirs. Sam served in the First Tennessee, Company H, and fought in every major battle that this Confederate unit was engaged in – Shiloh, Corinth, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the Atlanta Campaign, Franklin, and Nashville.

There were over 55,000 Union and nearly 17,0006,800 Confederate troops in the area. These numbers make Perryville the largest battle to have been fought in the Bluegrass State.

He writes about his experience,

“I was in every battle, skirmish and march that was made by the First Tennessee Regiment during the war, and I do not remember of a harder contest and more evenly fought battle than that of Perryville.”The morning of the battle dawned, and the two sides “seemed to be eyeing each other.” Finally about noon, “they opened their war dogs upon us… and from one end of the line to the other seemed to be a solid sheet of blazing smoke and fire.”The Yankees and the Rebels were locked in “a mortal struggle” as the Rebels advanced.  Then Sam’s company encountered four cannons that fired into them:“We did not recoil, but our line was fairly hurled back by the leaden hail that was poured into our very faces… It was death to retreat now to either side.”These cannon were Napoleon guns, capable of firing 12-pound shots.The Rebels charged ahead and were soon in hand-to-hand fighting. Neither side wanted to yield.  Sam described it:“Such obstinate fighting I never had seen before or since….it seemed the earth itself was in a volcanic uproar.”

Confederate General Braxton Bragg also commented on the battle saying,

“for the time engaged it was the severest and most desperately contested engagement within my knowledge.”

Sam Watkins also wrote,

“I do not know which side whipped, but I know that I helped bring off those four Napoleon guns that night.”

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