Battlefield ghosts still soldiering on

Vol. 1 No. 8
Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 260
November 2008
Camp 260 Officers
Commander Bryan Sharp • Lt. Commander Grady Garton • Adjutant / Treasurer Dale Qualls • Chaplain Paul Reynolds
Sgt.-at-Arms James Sharp • Trustees Andy Mathis & Dale Davidson • Newsletter Bryan Sharp & Dale Qualls • Webmaster D.J. Cloninger
Battlefield ghosts still soldiering on
By Darrell Laurant
Published: October 15, 2008
Brown, of course, immediately wanted to find out
what all the fuss was about. She’s still trying.
“I consider myself a ‘hopeful skeptic,’” she said.
“I’m not a psychic, at least not any more than anybody
else. We all have this intuitive side to us, and we can all
tune in on the cues if we learn what to look and listen for.”
Like many 21st-century paranormal investigators,
however, Brown doesn’t mind a little hi-tech assistance.
“I use recording devices, and various types of
cameras,” she said. “If you don’t have some tangible
evidence, people aren’t going to believe you, and getting
that evidence has become my Great White Whale. “
One of her “goose bump” moments came at the
former site of Belle Isle Prison, now a state park in the
middle of the James.
“A lot of the recordings you get are very faint and
fuzzy,” she said, “and you have to play them over and over
again to make it out. This time, though, I heard a voice say
very clearly: “Where are we?”
Since Belle Isle was a prison for Union POW’s, that
made sense.
Over the years, I’ve heard numerous reports about
the shades of Yanks and Rebs drifting about Lynchburg,
sometimes in uniform. After all, as one of the primary
hospital cities in the South, the Hill City was the scene of a
lot of dying, even if it was more likely to be from dysentery
and typhoid than shot and shell.
“So far, I’ve been doing most of my research
around Richmond,” Brown said, “but I’d eventually like to
get around the whole state.”
According to Beth Brown, there are those who
simply can’t let go of the Civil War. In this case, though,
they have an excuse - they’re ghosts.
For if you accept the premise that ghosts are
people who died suddenly and thus don’t realize they’re
dead (“The Sixth Sense”), it only seems logical that
Virginia’s Civil War battlefields would be very spirited.
Confederate General John Mosby was known as
the “Gray Ghost.” Now, apparently, he has lots of
company.
“I grew up very close to Fort Harrison on the
outskirts of Richmond,” said Brown, who will be discussing
and signing copies of her latest book, “Haunted
Battlefields: Virginia’s Civil War Ghosts,” at Givens
Bookstore on Saturday (1 p.m.), “and I remember as a
child that a lot of people were afraid to go there at night
because of all the paranormal activity that had been
reported.”
1
The Civil War News is a current events monthly newspaper
published by Pete and Kay Jorgensen, former community
newspaper publishers, who are collectors and history buffs.
The newspaper was founded 32 years ago by Michael A.
Cavanaugh as The Civil War Book Exchange.
The Civil War News publishes:
· More than 600 coming event listings a year
· Extensive coverage of preservation efforts and threats at
sites across the country
· In-depth reviews of some 200 Civil War books a year,
plus CD and video reviews
· A monthly guest Preservation News editorial page
column
· Regular columns on firearms by Joe Bilby, images by
Ron Coddington and Civil War Round Tables by
Matthew Borowick.
· Photo coverage of reenactments
· Special sections with new year’s coming events and unit
& group recruiting ads in January, information about
groups doing preservation fundraising in April,
Gettysburg in July and Civil War books in November.
(cont. from page 1)
Nevertheless, the Richmond-Petersburg area alone
could keep a ghost hunter busy for a lifetime.
“Cold Harbor has a lot of activity,” Brown said,
“and Malvern Hill in Henrico County. I once saw a strange
white mass in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery that I
couldn’t explain.”
Moreover, “There are stories from people stationed
at Fort Lee who would go jogging in the early morning
near where the Battle of the Crater took place. On a couple
of occasions, they would see what looked like somebody
asleep in the woods. Then they’d look again, and that
person would be gone.”
Brown started the Virginia Society of Paranormal
Education and Research in 1989, and frequently lectures
on the topic. She’s even had ghosts follow her to the old
house she and her husband and two children call home.
“When my daughter was 2 ½,” Brown said, “she
told us about this older man and lady who were watching
her while she slept. That’s not the sort of thing a child that
age would make up.”
The weeks leading up to Halloween are, not
surprisingly, Brown’s busiest.
“That’s when everyone thinks about ghosts,” she
said, “but it’s also a time when paranormal activity seems
to be very high.” Spooky.
http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/opinion/
darrell_laurant/article/battlefield_ghosts_still_soldiering_on/
9472/
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Civil War News
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(800) 777-1962 • fax (802) 889-5627
email: [email protected]
or visit www.civilwarnews.com
2008: YEAR OF JEFFERSON DAVIS
http://www.scv.org/pdf/JeffersonDavisResolution.pdf
2
Scientists have new clue to
mystery of sunken sub
By BRUCE SMITH,
Associated Press Writer
FOR YOUR EARLY CHRISTMAS
SHOPPING LIST:
RECOMMENDED READING FOR
YOUR LIBRARY
CHARLESTON, S.C. - It’s long been a mystery why the H.L.
Hunley never returned after becoming the first submarine in
history to sink an enemy warship in 1864, but new research
announced Friday may lend credence to one of the
theories. Scientists found the eight-man crew of the handcranked Confederate submarine had not set the pump to
remove water from the crew compartment, which might
indicate it was not being flooded.
That could mean crew members suffocated as they
used up air, perhaps while waiting for the tide to turn and
the current to help take them back to land.
The new evidence disputes the notion that the
Hunley was damaged and took on water after ramming a
spar with a charge of black powder into the Union
blockade ship Housatonic.
Scientists studying the sub said they’ve found its
pump system was not set to remove water from the crew
compartment as might be expected if it were being
flooded.
The sub, located in 1995 and raised five years later,
had a complex pumping system that could be switched to
remove water or operate ballast tanks used to submerge
and surface.
This is an undated image released by The Friends
of the Hunley, showing the aft pump of the Confederate
submarine H.L. Hunley. Scientists said Friday, Oct. 17,
2008, that the crew of the H.L. Hunley was not pumping
water out of the crew compartment when the hand-cranked
sub sank off Charleston in 1864.
A valve on the system was not set to bilge water
from the crew area, which might have happened if the
Hunley were taking on water.
Claiming 600,000 American lives, the Civil War
devastated an entire generation and left its mark for years
to come. Though terror and deprivation took its toll on the
brave troops who assiduously battled, strong ties and a
deep-felt camaraderie developed among fellow soldiers.
Friendships were fostered during the daily ritual of
mealtime and late-night songs shared around blazing
campfires. Rebel Cornbread and Yankee Coffee explores
the common experience shared by the soldiers and reveals
recipes commonly used by troops on both sides of the
battlefield. While some recipes are quite appetizing, others
clearly represent the desperation of war.
All, however, bring us closer to the daily
experiences of our Civil War troops. Culled from the
memoirs and letters of actual Union and Confederate
soldiers, the recipes found in Rebel Cornbread and Yankee
Coffee are authentic they might even turn your taste buds
Blue and Gray. Author Garry Fisher explores the common
experiences shared by average soldiers on both sides
during their time off the Civil War battlefields, including the
food they loved, the food they hated, the songs they sang,
and the pranks they played. Whether you are an armchair
history buff or interested in sampling a part of history, the
recipes, songs, and stories gathered here are sure to
fascinate, even if they don’t make you hungry.
About the Author
Garry Fisher is an avid reader and collector of works on the
Civil War. Rebel Cornbread and Yankee Coffee, which is his
first book, is the result of extensive research conducted
during the last ten years. Fisher is a lifelong War Between
the States enthusiast, a member of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans, and a former member of the Los Angeles Civil
War Roundtable. He, his wife, and their two children live in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
(AP Photo/Friends of The Hunley)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081017/ap_on_re_us/
confederate_submarine
This book is available from amazon.com at the following
link:
http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Cornbread-Yankee-CoffeeFisher/dp/1575871750
3
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Jefferson Davis:
An American President /
Collectors 3 DVD set
Anniversary Edition for Davis’
200th Birthday 1808 - 2008
BATTLE OF WILSON’S CREEK:
THE WAR ARRIVES IN THE
WEST
In the early morning hours of August 10, 1861, the
rolling hillsides of southwest Missouri echoed with the
sounds of fierce combat. When the smoke cleared, almost
2,500 men were killed, wounded or missing in this
Confederate victory. Among the slain lay Nathaniel Lyon,
the first Northern general to die in the Civil War. The Battle
of Wilson’s Creek, the first major battle fought west of the
Mississippi River, marked the beginning of four years of
invading armies and ruthless guerilla warfare in Missouri.
Using dazzling high-definition video and archivallooking footage shot on the Wilson’s Creek battlefield, this
film presents an authentic recreation of the clashing North
and South in a battle that helped to determine the
future of Missouri-and the course of the Civil War in the
West.
Jefferson Davis is perhaps the most misunderstood
and maligned figure in United States history.
One of the most outstanding statesmen of the
United States during the first 60 years of the 19th century,
he sacrificed everything to defend the South’s position
related to the rights of the states and conservative
constitutional interpretation.
Against staggering odds he led the South and held
it together in the bloody Civil War or War Between the
States. Over 620,000 Americans died in this tragic war,
sometimes called a second American Revolution. The
history of this period has been written mainly by the
victor, however, historians are revisiting Davis and his
legacy.
A West Point graduate was a hero of the Mexican
War, United States Senator, outstanding Secretary of War
under Franklin Pierce and the only President of the
Confederate States of America. Among his many
contributions to this country, he is responsible for the way
the National Capitol looks today and is largely responsible
for the Smithsonian Institution.
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*An All Access pass to the United States Capitol, both
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*Extensive, pre-Hurricane Katrina footage of Beauvoir
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To order, call:
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4
was two hundred and seventy-five. But I said I could not go
into particulars. All the general officers and many besides
had valuables of every description, down to embroidered
ladies’ pocket handkerchiefs. I have my share of them, too.
We took gold and silver enough from the damned rebels to
have redeemed their infernal currency twice over. This, (the
currency), whenever we came across it, we burned, as we
considered it utterly worthless.
I wish all the jewelry this army has could be carried
to the “Old Bay State”. It would deck her out in glorious
style; but, alas! it will be scattered all over the North and
Middle States. The damned niggers, as a general rule,
prefer to stay at home, particularly after they found out that
we only wanted the able-bodied men, (and to tell the truth,
the youngest and best-looking women). Sometimes we
took off whole families and plantations of niggers, by way
of repaying secessionists. But the useless part of them we
soon manage to lose; [one very effective was to “shoot at
their bobbing heads as they swam rivers” after the army
units crossed over], sometimes in crossing rivers,
sometimes in other ways.
I shall write to you again from Wilmington,
Goldsboro’, or some other place in North Carolina. The
order to march has arrived, and I must close hurriedly. Love
to grandmother and aunt Charlotte. Take care of yourself
and children. Don’t show this letter out of the family.
WHY WE REMEMBER:
Letter from Union Army Lieutenant Thomas J. Myers of
Massachusetts, dated Feb 26, 1865, during Sherman’s
campaign through the Carolinas after the ”March to the
Sea”
”Camp near Camden, S. C.
My dear wife—I have no time for particulars. We
have had a glorious time in this State. Unrestricted license
to burn and plunder was the order of the day. The chivalry
[meaning the Honourable & Chivalrous people of the
South] have been stripped of most of their valuables. Gold
watches, silver pitchers, cups, spoons, forks, &c., are as
common in camp as blackberries.
The terms of plunder are as follows: Each company
is required to exhibit the results of its operations at any
given place—one-fifth and first choice falls to the share of
the commander-in-chief and staff; one-fifth to the corps
commanders and staff; one-fifth to field officers of
regiments, and two-fifths to the company.
Officers are not allowed to join these expeditions
without disguising themselves as privates. One of our corps
commanders borrowed a suit of rough clothes from one of
my men, and was successful in this place. He got a large
quantity of silver (among other things an old-time milk
pitcher) and a very fine gold watch from a Mrs. DeSaussure,
at this place. DeSaussure was one of the F. F. V.s of South
Carolina, and was made to fork over liberally.. Officers over
the rank of Captain are not made to put their plunder in the
estimate for general distribution. This is very unfair, and for
that reason, in order to protect themselves, subordinate
officers and privates keep back everything that they can
carry about their persons, such as rings, earrings, breast
pins, &c., of which, if I ever get home, I have about a quart.
I am not joking—I have at least a quart of jewelry for you
and all the girls, and some No. 1 diamond rings and pins
among them.
General Sherman has silver and gold enough to
start a bank. His share in gold watches alone at Columbia
Your affectionate husband, Thomas J Myers, Lieut.,
P.S. I will send this by the first flag of truce to be mailed,
unless I have an opportunity of sending it at Hilton Head.
Tell Sallie I am saving a pearl bracelet and ear-rings for her;
but Lambert got the necklace and breast pin of the same
set. I am trying to trade him out of them. These were taken
from the Misses Jamison, daughters of the President of the
South Carolina Secession Convention. We found these on
our trip through Georgia.”
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/m/Myers,Thomas_J.html
The consolidation of the States into one vast empire, sure
to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the
certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that
preceded it. —General Robert E. Lee
FROM THIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TO THIS!
Think - Pancakes in February ‘09
5
MORE INFO TO COME
These words are inscribed on the memorial:
”Not for fame or reward, not for place or for rank,
Not lured by ambition, or goaded by necessity, But in
simple obedience to duty, as they understood it,
These men sacrificed all, dared all....and died.”
Remembering Moses Ezekiel—
American Artist, and Son of Dixie
By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
[email protected]
The United Daughters of the Confederacy entered
into a contract with Moses J. Ezekiel to build this
Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery. It is
written that he based his work on the words of Prophet
Isaiah, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.”
This Confederate Memorial towers 32 and 1/2 feet
and is said to be the tallest bronze sculpture at Arlington
National Cemetery. On top is a figure of a woman, with
olive leaves covering her head, representing the South. She
also holds a laurel wreath in her left hand, remembering the
Sons of Dixie.
On the side of the monument is also a depiction of
a Black Confederate marching in step with white soldiers.
Ezekiel was not able to come to the dedication of
the monument held on June 4, 1914, with President
Woodrow Wilson presiding. Many Union and Confederate
Veterans were in attendance among the crowd of
thousands.
Moses Jacob Ezekiel studied to be an artist in Italy.
As a tribute to his great works, he was knighted by
Emperor William I of Germany and Kings Humbert, I and
Victor Emmanuel, II of Italy—thus the title of “Sir.”
Among the works of Sir Moses J. Ezekiel are:
“Christ Bound for the Cross”, ”The Martyr”, “David singing
his song of Glory” and “Moses Receiving the Law on Mount
Sinai.”
Upon his death in 1917, Moses Ezekiel left behind
his request to be buried with his Confederates at Arlington .
A burial ceremony was conducted on March 31, 1921, at
the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. It was
presided over by the United States Secretary of War John
W. Weeks. He was laid to rest at the foot of the memorial
that he had sculptured. Six VMI cadets flanked his casket
that was covered with an American flag.
September through October is Hispanic History Month
throughout the USA!!
Country music singer Don Williams began his song
“Good Ole Boys Like Me”, with, quote “When I was a kid,
Uncle Remus would put me to bed with a picture of
“Stonewall Jackson” above my bed.” unquote
Do your children hear bed time stories about Uncle
Remus, Stonewall Jackson or the many people who made
this nation great? Does your family know who Moses J.
Ezekiel was?
Moses Jacob Ezekiel was born in Richmond ,
Virginia on October 28, 1844. He was one of fourteen
children born to Jacob and Catherine De Castro Ezekiel.
His grandparents came to America from Holland in 1808,
and were of Jewish-Spanish Heritage.
At the age of 16, and the beginning of the War
Between the States, Moses begged his father and mother
to allow him to enroll at Virginia Military Institute.
Three years after his enrollment at (VMI) the cadets
of the school marched to the aid of Confederate General
John C. Breckinridge. Moses Ezekiel joined his fellow
cadets in a charge against the Union lines at the “Battle of
New Market.”
When the War Between the States ended, Moses
went back to Virginia Military Institute to finish his studies
where he graduated in 1866. According to his letters, which
are now preserved by the American Jewish Historical
Society, Ezekiel met with Robert E. Lee during this time.
Lee encouraged him by saying, “I hope you will be
an artist.....do earn a reputation in whatever profession you
undertake.”
The world famous Arlington National Cemetery is
located in Virginia and overlooks the Potomac River . At
section 16, of the cemetery, is a beautiful Confederate
Monument that towers over the graves of 450 Southern
soldiers, wives and civilians.
Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans:
“To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the
vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength
will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier’s good
name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his
virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and
which made him glorious and which you also cherish.
Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the
South is presented to future generations.”
- Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General,
United Confederate Veterans, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1906
6
Salute to the Confederate Flag
“I Salute the Confederate Flag
with Affection, Reverence, and
Undying Devotion to the Cause
for which it Stands”
The death of Moses Ezekiel, the distinguished and
greatly loved American, who lived in Rome for more than
forty years, caused universal regret here—1921, The New
York Times Dispatch from Rome, Italy.
Graphic Novel explores the life of
controversial Civil War general
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
By MARK RANDALL, Democrat
News Staff
The following is inscribed on his grave marker:
”Moses J. Ezekiel
Sergeant of Company C
Battalion of Cadets of the
Virginia Military Institute.”
Cleburne tells the story of the famous Arkansas
general whose plans to enlist slaves to fight for the
Confederacy proved controversial. The 200 page graphic
novel will be available Nov. 26 from Rampart Press and was
written and illustrated by Jacksonville artists Justin Murphy.
Justin Murphy is surprised that more people don’t
know who Patrick Cleburne is. The Civil War battles in
which the Arkansan general fought in generally don’t get
the attention from historians that they deserve.
And there is almost no mention in the history
books of his controversial plan to free the slaves to fight for
the Confederacy.
”Unless you are a Civil War buff, the average
person doesn’t know much about him,” Murphy said.
Murphy hopes to change all of that, and possibly
even get his life told on the big screen.
Cleburne is the subject of a new 200 page graphic
novel written and illustrated by Murphy.
Murphy, a Jacksonville, Fla. artist and playwright,
said Cleburne’s life reads like something straight out of a
Hollywood movie.
There’s action, drama, war, conspiracy, history and
yes, even romance.
Cleburne was born in Ireland but emigrated to the
United States with two brothers and a sister. Cleburne
eventually settled in Helena where he worked
as a pharmacist and later practiced law.
When the war between the states broke out,
Cleburne sided with the South, not out of a love for slavery,
but out of the affection he felt toward the region who had
welcomed him as one of their own.
Cleburne took part in the battles of Shiloh,
Richmond, Ky., where he was shot in the face, Perryville
and Chickamauga. His successes on the battlefield earned
him rapid promotion and the nickname “Stonewall of the
West.”
His holding action against a much larger Union
force at Missionary Ridge during the Battle of Chattanooga
and his heroics in guarding the rear at Ringgold Gap in
northern Georgia likely saved the Army of Tennessee from
destruction.
Cleburne and his troops received an official thank
your from the Confederate Congress for their actions.
But in less than a year, he found his career virtually
ruined after he put forth a controversial proposal to free the
slaves and enlist them in the Confederate ranks.
”He is the perfect vehicle to tell a story from the
Confederate point of view,” Murphy said. The thing I find
interesting about him is number one, he is an immigrant.
Lest We Forget!!
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/77912
7
Please bring toys for our “Toys for Tots”
fundraiser. You can either bring them with you to
the meeting on Saturday or bring them to Dale’s
Quick Print.
Fighting Terrorism since 1861
February 9, 2009 ~ Pancake Breakfast at
Applebee’s in Dickson. We need volunteers to
work the restaurant (host/hostess, server, waiter/
waitress, cook, etc.) We also need everyone to
buy and/or sell tickets which will be available
soon!
April 18, 2009 ~ Sallie’s Spring Cotillion will be
held at Old Spencer Mill again this Spring. Music
will be provided by the “Old South! Band”.
TBA ~ Due to the success of the first Railroad
Tour, Tony England is planning on another
Railroad Tour in the near future.
Future Reunions
The 2009 SCV National Reunion will be held in Hot
Springs, AR and hosted by the James M. Keller
Camp 648, and the 2010 Reunion will be held in
Anderson County SC and hosted by the Manse
Jolly SCV Camp 6. Montgomery AL is the proposed site for 2011 Reunion, and the GEC will be
recommending this location to the 2008 Annual
General Reunion attendees at Concord NC in July
2008. Visit http://scv2009reunion.com.
****************************************
Important Notices
If you or any of your Compatriots would like to
receive occasional notices and announcements
from the official, SCV news source, please visit
http://www.scv.org/maillistSubscription.php. The
Gray Line is only being sent via email on the internet
through the official SCV News List! If any member
of your camp would like to join the SCV News List,
please direct him to the link above where he can
sign up for this service. Please forward this Gray
Line, as it contains useful information, on to all
members of your camp.
20th Tennessee Men Captured at Missionary Ridge!
8
Everything relative to joining the Sons of Confederate Veterans is posted on
our website:
Eligibility: http://www.scv.org/eligibility.php
Application: http://www.scv.org/documents/SCVApplicationFillable.pdf
Lineage Chart: http://www.scv.org/pdf/SCVLineageChart.pdf
Service Records: http://www.footnote.com
The cost is currently $45 to become a new or reinstated member of SCV Captain W.H.
McCauley Camp #260 in Dickson County. This will get you a certificate suitable for framing
with your name, ancestor’s name, unit info & camp affiliation. You’ll also receive the
Confederate Veteran magazine 6 times a year & our camp newsletter by email. As a
member, you will be able to purchase any logo merchandise from our store too.
RENEWAL DUES ARE NOW PAYABLE.
TOTAL $45.00 (National $30, State $5, Camp $5 Late Fee $5)
Send your dues to Camp Adjutant Dale Qualls at the address below, we will take care of
the national, state & local camp dues.
You can get your ancestor’s service record proving honorable service from the state that
your ancestor fought for at their state archives & is what we require to join along with the
brief genealogy form above.
A listing of all state archives & their contact info is posted here: http://scv.org/
genealogy.php
If you need assistance in getting these records please let us know.
Dale Qualls c/o
Capt. W.H. McCauley Camp 260
P.O. Box 1276
Dickson, TN 37056-1276
615 446-8939
615 446 9192 Fax
[email protected]
The 4 Way Test...of the things we think, say or do!
MEMORIZE IT!
APPLY IT!
SHARE IT!
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to All Concerned?
3. Will it Build GOODWILL and Better Friendships?
4. Will it Be BENEFICIAL to All Concerned?
THE 4 WAY TEST...24 words that can CHANGE your life!
9
visit www.4waytest.org
(cont from page 7)
He comes here and he doesn’t fully understand, I
think, the society he has embraced. But at the same time,
he is willing to defend that society and yet, he wanted to
basically free the slaves and enlist them to fight for the
Confederacy. So in may ways there is a paradox there
because he is fighting for a society, yet standing up to
those very institutions the society stands for.”
The proposal was met with hostility from his
superiors and officially suppressed by Confederate
President Jefferson Davis.
In fact, Murphy said Cleburne was thought of so
highly that General Joseph Johnston, who was in
command at that time of the Army of Tennessee, refused
to forward Cleburne’s proposal to Richmond because he
didn’t want it to hurt Cleburne’s career.
It was General H.T. Walker, who abhorred
Cleburne’s proposal and thought it tantamount to treason,
who sent the proposal on to Richmond with Cleburne’s
blessing.
”Walker went around Johnston,” Murphy said. “But
he had to go to Cleburne to get it and Cleburne basically
said good. I want Richmond to see it. That’s the irony of it.
Cleburne was willing to send it to Richmond. But it
absolutely ended his career.”
Cleburne was never promoted again or given a
corps command. “Even the northern press recognized that
he should have been given command,” Murphy said.
”Here was a guy who never lost a battle, a guy who
saved the Army of Tennessee at Missionary Ridge, and a
guy who was officially thanked by the Confederate
Congress for covering the Army’s retreat at Ringgolds Gap.
Had he not done what he did, the Army of Tennessee would
have been destroyed. And yet less than a year later he is
never promoted again. There was a conspiracy against him
in the Confederate government because of his beliefs.”
Murphy said he first got interested in the Civil War
when he was about 15 years old. He watched Ken Burns
Civil War which was a huge hit on PBS at the time and
began reading books about the war. A plethora of movies
about the Civil War such as Glory and The North and the
South miniseries which came out in the late 1980s also fired
his imagination on the subject.
”I also got in to re-enacting and did that for about
six years,” Murphy said. “So between the films and the reenacting and reading anything I could get my hands on, I
sort of just got swept up in it. And of course, as you delve
in to any subject, the more you start learning about all of
the different personalities. I was interested in the
confederate point of view because I have Confederate
ancestors and always like the underdogs.
”My interest in Cleburne just sort of started over the
last 10 years. I started focusing on him because there
wasn’t much about him. I think there are three decent
books on his life and that’s it.”
Murphy also was an avid comic book reader
growing up and was influenced by a comic called The Nam
which was published by Marvel in the mid 1980s. That’s
when he realized that comic books could be used to tell a
historical story. He also drew his own black and white
comic of his own for several years called Southern Blood
about a family from South Carolina set during the Civil War.
”When The Nam came out I was blown away
because it was a historic comic,” Murphy said. “All the
details were correct. And I was blown away by the artist
Michael Golden. That’s when I realized the importance of
the art. The artist is just as much a part of the story as the
story is. And I thought, what other war comics could you
do? The Civil War would make an amazing comic book.
”I learned over those five years of publishing my
comic what works and what doesn’t work and how much
dedication it takes to do comic books. But I thought one
day I am going to do a Civil War comic but do it right with
color and higher production values and glossy paper. But I
knew it was going to cost a lot of money, It’s not
something you do in your spare time.”
Cleburne is not a biography of Cleburne’s life. It
starts in 1863 and ends with his death in 1864. However, the
story is historically accurate.
Murphy did extensive research on Cleburne’s life
and even visited as many of the sites where the action took
place.
”I went on a road trip from Jacksonville all the way
up to Franklin and down to Mobile in six days with a
camera and documented everything I possibly could,”
Murphy said.
Murphy said he has taken some dramatic license
though to tell the story. ”It is not a biography of his life,”
Murphy said. “I didn’t want to tell just a military story. I
wanted to tell a story about a man. When someone reads
this they have to understand they can’t approach this as a
historian. It’s not an illustrated history book. It’s a piece of
dramatic literature first. What I have done, is I have done
the research and tried to keep the facts straight. But at the
same time, I have also when the time comes taken
dramatic license with a scene or two. But I take it as long
as it is in the character of who the man was.”
For example, Murphy recounts the story of
Cleburne’s courtship of Susan Tarleton, a belle from Mobile
who he was supposed to marry. Cleburne went with Gen.
William Hardee to Demopolis, Ala. to serve as his best man
and was smitten by Tarleton, who was the maid of honor.
Tarleton initially turned Cleburne’s marriage
proposal down but the history books don’t record why. So
he created a situation which may explain her initial
reluctance.
”She was clearly interested in him,” Murphy said.
“He was sort of a celebrity. So I thought, how interesting.
Cleburne was shot in the jaw. He concealed it under a
beard. How great would it be to have them walking and
he takes her hand and she sees the scar and asks him how
he got it. So there is the motivation. She is afraid to love
him because she knows how dangerous his job is and that
he could die at any moment.”
Tarleton eventually accepted his marriage proposal
but the two lovers never got to see each other again.
General John Bell Hood turned Cleburne’s request for a
one week furlough to get married down.
Murphy also invented a scene at the end of the
story which intercuts between scenes of Cleburne
advancing to his death at the Battle of Franklin and
10
(cont on page 11)
(Cont from page 10)
Tarleton at the piano playing an lyrical Irish folk song that
Cleburne had wanted to hear her play.
”While he is charging to his death she closes the
sheet music and places her fingers across his photograph
and walks away,” Murphy said. “I thought, wow! What a
scene to link those two characters together. So that’s what I
mean when I say I am not just trying to illustrate reported
facts. I’m trying to put some humanity to it.”
Murphy also uses a fictional black slave called Ned
to explain how Cleburne may have arrived at his idea to
enlist the slaves to fight for the Confederacy.
While historians and Civil War purists may take
exception to the inclusion of this fictional soldier, Murphy
said the character is based on real accounts of black
teamsters who traveled with the armies and foraged for
supplies and dug ditches and in some cases, were armed.
”What people don’t realize is that these armies had
thousands of these teamsters,” Murphy said. “Some were
slaves hired out by their masters. Some were free blacks
who were employed by the Confederate army to do these
kinds of menial tasks. So even though there weren’t official
black Confederate troops, there are accounts of black
Confederates fighting.”
Cleburne and his staff take Ned under their wing
and unofficially train him to be a soldier but in the end
come to recognize his humanity.
”It starts off as something strategic to win the war,”
Murphy said. “But by the end of the story Cleburne grows
in that he doesn’t jut see him as something to win the war.
He’s actually seeing Ned as a man.”
And who is to say something like that didn’t
happen? Murphy said Cleburne would almost certainly
have had contact with black teamsters. In fact, a black man
from the South contributed a substantial amount of money
to erect Cleburne’s monument.
Keep up with camp announcements & historical posts
concerning our local Southern history. To join, please send
an email to [email protected] with your name &
Camp 260 membership info. For more info, contact camp
webmaster D.J. Cloninger at [email protected].
”Nobody knows what Cleburne did for the man,”
Murphy said. “All he said was Cleburne did something nice
for him and he never forgot. And that’s my point. How
many more things in history are not in the history books?
How do we know he never engaged in a conversation with
a teamster? How many more things could have taken place
that we don’t know about. In fact, we would never have
known of Cleburne’s proposal had not his adjutant, Irving
Buck, saved a copy of it. It’s not in the official papers of the
Confederacy. It never would have come out. So I am trying
to approach it from the spirit of who he is. And if that
means throwing in some things here and there to get the
story across, I will do that and hold it up against any
historical-based movie that has come out in the last 15
year.”
The novel ends with the Cleburne’s death at the
Battle of Franklin. Cleburne was killed on November 30,
1864 during an ill-advised assault against Union
fortifications just south of Nashville.
He had two horses shot from under him and was
last seen advancing on foot with his sword drawn toward
the Union entrenchment. Franklin was one of the worst
defeats for the Confederacy and destroyed the one mighty
Army of Tennessee. The Confederates suffered 6,252
casualties in the five hour battle, including the loss of six
generals, Cleburne among them.
Cleburne was buried at St. John’s Church near
Mount Pleasant, Tenn. where he remained for six years. He
was disinterred and returned to Helena and buried in Maple
Hill cemetery overlooking the Mississippi River. Steamboat
captains used to blow their whistle as they passed his
grave in honor of his memory.
The project took Murphy about 10 months to
complete. He initially wrote Cleburne as a Hollywood
screenplay but quickly found out that screenplays are a
dime a dozen in Hollywood. (cont on page 12)
COME PAY US A VISIT SOMETIME!
WE MEET AT NOON ON THE 1ST SATURDAY OF EACH
MONTH @ 1400 ST. PAUL ROAD. ALL VISITORS
WELCOME! Y’ALL COME!
11
He still wanted to tell the story though, so he went back to the drawing board, put his words to pictures, and
raised the $250,000 to hire professional colorists and get the book in to print.
The book was inked by Al Milgrom, a Marvel Comics veteran who has worked on books like The Incredible Hulk
and X Factor, and colored by J. Brown who has worked on Marvel Comic’s Civil War and Captain America.
”Neither of them has thought that anything they have ever worked on before has been this demanding because of
the accuracy and historical elements,” Murphy said. “Super hero stuff you get a little bit of leeway in how you want to
color something. You don’t get that with a historical piece because it has got to be right. The details were ridiculous. I
kept sending him notes about the color of the strap on the gun or the color of the grass in Tennessee. By the time they
got to the end of the book they were pros. They probably know enough about Civil War uniforms as I do now after 200
pages of it.”
Murphy said audiences shouldn’t be put off by the fact that Cleburne is in graphic novel form because it is so
much more than a comic book. Several graphic novels have been made recently in to movies.
Readers will learn a lot about the life of Cleburne and Civil War and history enthusiasts should appreciate the
accuracy and care he took in telling Cleburne’s story.
”The problem with American culture is we tend to pigeonhole the medium of comic books as strictly for children,”
Murphy said. “Graphic novel sounds more adult I guess. But it’s an illustrated novel really is what it is. You would sit down
and read it as you would a novel. If you want to call it a comic book, it’s that too because it is in comic book form. It
does have speech balloons. It has all those comic conventions. But is an illustrated novel. To me, the medium isn’t what’s
important. It’s the story.”
Cleburne goes on sale Nov. 26 and is available from Rampart Press
www.rampartpress.com
http://www.trumanndemocrat.com/story/1470029.html
“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to
dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
~President Dwight D. Eisenhower
12
Murder by bushwhackers on the Nashville and Northwestern
Railroad in Humphreys County
”The Northwestern Railroad Murders”
In the Press of Sunday (28th), we mentioned the fact that a man and his wife had been murdered on the N.&N.W.
Railroad about 12 miles from the city. We have since learned that the murder was committed at McEwins, section 58, in
Humphreys County, and the persons murdered were Thomas Sherran, or Sheridan, and his wife. The murders were
committed by...persons unknown, and the deed was done with an axe and probably a knife, on Friday morning [26th]
between eight and nine o’clock . The bodies were horribly mutilated. Mr. Shearan [sic] owned a large tract of land in that
neighborhood, and had a contract for furnish ties for the railroad. He came to Nashville a few days ago...for the purpose
of drawing some money, and the probability is that the murderers were aware of the fact and committed the atrocious
deed with a view to getting his money....
Nashville Daily Press, August 29, 1864
JOHN BELL HOOD & THE CURSE OF ANNE MITCHELL
This Kentucky Legend has become one of the most enduring tales of the Civil War — is it truth or merely folklore?
The ghost of Anne Mitchell is still said to appear around the old Hood homestead in Kentucky. She and her lover
once walked in the garden here — and her ghost still does.
The state of Kentucky was a place of great tragedy during the Civil War but not all of the ironic, mysterious or
heart-breaking tales were the result of battle, imprisonment or disaster. One of the most forgotten tales of the war
speaks of lost love, a dying woman’s final curse and one of the famed generals of the Confederacy.
Near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, there once lived a young woman named Anne Mitchell. She was a dark-haired girl
of great beauty who many people called ”the belle of Central Kentucky”. Anne was known throughout the region as a
gentle and sweet girl and as she grew older, she had her choice of suitors from around the area. However, in her late
teens, she fell in love with just one of her gentleman callers, a tall, blond youth named John Bell Hood.
Hood was the son of Dr. John W. Hood, who lived near the Mitchell home and who operated a small farm and a
medical school for aspiring doctors. The younger Hood went to West Point in 1849 and when he returned home on
furlough, he began courting Anne Mitchell. The two of them fell passionately in love. They often met for walks in the
evening and their favorite trysting place was in the garden of the Hood home — a place where Anne’s ghost is still said to
walk today.
According to the legends, another young man came on the scene as a rival for Anne’s affections. He is
remembered today as only “Mr. Anderson”, and although Anne did not care for him, her family took to him immediately.
Unlike Hood, Anderson was very wealthy and promised Anne’s parents that he would build her a home on property which
adjoined their own.
Anne’s family began to pressure her incessantly and finally, she agreed to marry Anderson on the condition that
she be able to write a letter to John Hood at West Point — a letter that would be read only by him. In her letter, Anne
poured out her heart to the young cadet and promised him that she “would love him forever” and “whether in this world or
the next, she would only walk the garden path with him”.
Not surprisingly, when Hood received the letter, he immediately left school and rode for Kentucky. He managed to
get Anne a message and promised to meet her a few nights later near her home. He promised to have an extra horse
saddled for her and together, they would ride off and be married. As it happened though, one of the Mitchell slaves
discovered Anne’s absence only minutes after she left for her rendezvous with Hood and raised the alarm. Anne’s father
and brothers went in pursuit of her and discovered the young lovers just as Hood was putting Anne on her horse. She was
quickly returned home and was locked in her room and not allowed to leave until the day that she married Anderson.
Confined to her room, Anne could only peer out the window of the house at the Hood homestead and at the garden
where she and Hood had once walked. She never stopped loving him — and she never forgot the lifelong punishment that
she felt her family had inflicted upon her.
A few months passed and Anne’s family, as well as her new husband, breathed a sigh of relief when Anne and
Anderson finally exchanged their wedding vows. Little did they know however, their troubles were just beginning. Despite
the affection and wealth that was heaped upon her, Anne refused to forgive the fact that she had been forced to marry a
man she did not love.
13
She refused to leave her room in the old Mitchell
house and remained moody and depressed. When she
learned that she was pregnant, she stopped speaking
altogether and even Anderson himself was banned from
entering her rooms.
When she finally spoke again, it was after the birth
of her son, Corwin, and what she uttered made everyone’s
heart stand still. Her words were a curse.... “upon all who
had any part in making me marry Anderson when my heart
will always belong to John Bell Hood.” As the legend goes,
the curse began to have a dire effect on the family just a
few hours after Corwin was born.
Late that afternoon, the sky overhead began to
darken and a strangely localized thunderstorm swept
through the area. A lightning bolt struck the corner of the
Mitchell house and a portion of the brick home collapsed.
Although nothing else in the area was damaged, three
people at the Mitchell house were killed — including Anne
herself. Also dead were one of Anne’s brothers, who had
been involved in stopping Anne and Hood from eloping,
and the slave girl whose warning had sent the Mitchell men
in pursuit of Anne when she ran away.
After three persons died within hours of Anne
uttering a curse on the family, the story of the curse soon
began to spread. In the years that followed, it began to be
taken quite seriously. People from all over the region told
and re-told the story of Anne’s last moments on earth and
the malediction that she uttered just hours before her
death. And they watched in fear as the warning in the curse
began to come to pass.
Anne’s son, Corwin Anderson, died from the shock
of witnessing a fatal assault on his youngest son by his
oldest. The elder son, named English Anderson, was a
brutal man and had narrowly escaped conviction after
murdering a cook who worked for his family. In this
instance, he knocked his brother from a horse with a brick.
Corwin staggered to his bedroom and died of a heart
attack and the youngest son perished from his injuries a
short time later.
English Anderson did not fare well either. Soon after
the deaths of his father and brother, he killed a man in a
knife fight, then beat to death a young boy who was
working on his farm. In revenge, a group of other farm
workers actually stoned him to death.
The family continued to be plagued with strange
and violent deaths as the years passed and descendants
believed them to be the results of the curse. As recently as
the 1940’s, Anne’s great-grandson, Judson Anderson,
inexplicably walked into a pond on his farm, drew a gun
and shot himself in the head.
The various residents of the Hood homestead, who
moved in after the Hood family left, had little luck either.
One owner committed suicide and another attempted to
take his own life after an unhappy love affair. In the local
area, both events were attributed to Anne’s influence.
Although her curse was certainly a malevolent one
— her lingering ghost is considered to be a better
reflection of her truly gentle soul. Many locals spoke of
seeing her wandering the gardens of the old Hood home
and she was never believed to have frightened anyone,
despite some reported encounters with shaken residents of
the property. Her haunting has always been a quiet one
and if the stories are to be believed, it remains so today.
With all of the victims of Anne’s fatal curse, one has
to wonder what became of John Bell Hood after their
separation. Some believe that her restless spirit may have
inadvertently passed the effects of the curse on to him,
despite how much she loved him, because Hood’s career
was forever shadowed by failure and tragedy.
After his departure from Kentucky, Hood did his
best to forget about Anne Mitchell, although he remained a
bachelor for many years afterward. He became a young
military officer on the Texas frontier under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee. After the outbreak of the
war, Hood followed Lee into service for the Confederacy,
becoming a commander in the Texas Brigade, an outfit
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14
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considered to be one of the toughest in the southern army.
Hood’s career began to flourish and he earned a sterling
reputation as a leader, always pushing his troops forward in
person. At Gettysburg, he lost the use of one arm and later
had a leg amputated after leading his corps into battle at
Chickamauga.
At the age of 33, with only half his limbs, Hood
rose to the rank of full general and was placed in command
of the western army. He was now at the peak of his career
— and his decline began soon after.
He had taken over the defense of Atlanta, with
Sherman was approaching, but was driven out after a series
of intense battles. In the Winter campaign of 1864, his Army
of Tennessee was virtually annihilated at the battle of
Nashville and it became known as the worst defeat suffered
by a Confederate general. From that point until the end of
the war, he was in disgrace, a general with no command.
After the war, Hood settled in New Orleans, became
a cotton broker, married a local woman and fathered 10
children over the next 12 years, including three sets of
twins. It was not long though before his commission
business went bankrupt and he lost everything. Then,
during the yellow fever epidemic of 1879, he and his wife
both died, leaving his children as orphans who were
scattered from Mississippi to New York.
And finally, whatever happened to Anderson,
Hood’s rival for the hand of Anne Mitchell?
At the outbreak of the war, with his wife dead, he
enlisted in a Texas regiment. A few months later, that
brigade was placed in command of none other than
General John Bell Hood. What happened to him next is
anyone’s guess. So far as any records go, Anderson simply
appeared to vanish from the earth.
Rebel Spirits: Searching for Civil
War ghosts at Fort Delaware
By David Healey
http://www.militaryghosts.com/hood.html
Deep inside the walls of Fort Delaware, it’s as dark
as the salt-washed night air on Pea Patch Island. Water
drips from between cracks in the mortar of the arched brick
ceiling, spattering the people filing through the dark
corridors. Overhead, bats flit through the cavernous
amparts, empty and black as the eye sockets of a skull,
and feet slosh through pools of water.
It’s a night for conjuring history.......and spirits.
”You get a little history lesson and a little ghostie
lesson,” says Dale Fetzer, one of the two “spirtual guides”
on this ghost tour of the old fortress. “There’s been a lot of
actual sightings. It’s fun. On every trip we’ve had somebody
see something we hadn’t planned.”
Fetzer is a tall man, 6-feet, 5-inches, wearing a
dazzling Civil War general’s uniform as he portrays Gen.
Albin Schoepf, the fort’s commander during the war. His full
beard, intense gray eyes and courtly appearance make the
Bear, Delaware resident look as if he stepped right out of
1863.
The other guide on the fortnightly ghost tours is Ed
Okonowicz, a storyteller from Maryland and author of
several books about ghosts on the Delmarva Peninsula, as
the area between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays is
known.
Okonowicz is the general’s opposite, a shorter man
who springs with 20th century energy beside the reserved
general. They play off each other’s stories like morning
drive radio hosts and handle barbs from the tour group as
wittily as stand-up comedians.
Fetzer, who recently published a book about Fort
Delaware and served as a consultant for the Civil War films
“Gettysburg” and “Glory,” sticks with the facts. He shares
the fort’s history with visitors. Okonowicz talks about the
spooky stuff.
There’s plenty of it, and in spite of rational 20th
century minds, the atmosphere begins to make the stories
believable. After all, the tour group is utterly alone on the
island in the middle of the Delaware River. “There’s nothing
out there except you and everything as it was 135 years
ago,” Okonowicz says.
Looking west across the water toward the Delaware
shore, the town of Delaware City is a collection of distant
lights. To the east, a few lights mark the New Jersey shore
across the turbulent currents in this part of the river. It’s this
island location that made Fort Delaware ideal for a prison
camp. For the prisoners in the 1860s, the shore must have
taunted them. Freedom lay there, just within sight across
the water but nearly impossible to reach.
A few tried to escape. Just over 300, according to
Fetzer. Only 52 were successful. That’s a tiny number,
compared to the 32,305 prisoners held there during the
course of the war.
Looks like Lincoln recently lost his head again in Lithia Park
in Ashland, Oregon. This is the 4th time since 1915.
http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/0602/stories/
0602_lincolnhead.php
15
For most, the only way off the island came with
prisoner exchanges, peace, or death. Some 2,300
Confederates are buried in a cemetery on the Jersey
shore at Finns Point, victims of prison life. It’s these souls,
and the souls of the men who lost their lives trying to
escape, who supposedly haunt Fort Delaware today.
As the group of more than 80 visitors crowds into
the prison room that held high-ranking Confederate officers,
Okonowicz tells the story of how some of these unquiet
ghosts came to be.
There’s the 9-year-old drummer boy who tried to
escape by hiding in a coffin. The work detail of Rebels
knew he was there and was planning to let him out when
they reached the New Jersey cemetery. Unfortunately for
the boy, the work detail was switched at the last minute.
”He was buried alive,” Okonowicz says, holding the
rapt attention of the room, especially the young boys in the
audience. “You can imagine his last, awful moments as the
air ran out in the coffin underground. He clawed and
clawed at the wood with his fingers until the blood ran and
they were worn down to the first knuckle, but it didn’t do
any good.”
A woman gasps in disapproval at the gory tale.
Okonowicz pounces. “Hey, if you’re offended now you
better get the next boat back,” he says. “This is a ghost
tour!”
”You’ve got to kill somebody to get a ghost,”
Fetzer points out.
There are places in the fort where visitors, Civil War
re-enactors and fort restoration workers have seen ghosts.
One spot is a kitchen in the fort, where a woman in 1860s
clothes sometimes bustles through.
Another allegedly haunted spot is near the powder
magazine where Confederate General James Archer was
locked for a month in solitary confinement after plotting a
mass escape from the prison, filled to overflowing at the
time with prisoners taken at Gettysburg. The magazine is
located in a labyrinth of old gun emplacements deep inside
the fortress. Lantern light catches the irridescent patches of
limestone leeching from the brickwork, the beginnings of
stalachtites in these manmade caverns. Archer later died
from an illness contracted in the dank, windowless room in
the bowels of the fortress. His ghost is now said to roam
the area.
One thing for certain, at the magazine there is a
definite “cold spot” - often a sign of otherworldly activity,
according to Okonowicz. Several in the group stand there
and feel the drop in temperature - along with the hair on the
back of their neck standing on end.
Walking from the cold belly of the fort back to the
parade ground, the night air feels much warmer, almost
tropical compared to the fort’s “dungeons.” Out on the
island, far removed from any traffic, it’s oddly quiet. The few
electric lights don’t do much to keep the darkness at bay.
For Beryl Cook of Wilmington, Del., it was her first
visit to Fort Delaware, even though she has lived in
Delaware since 1966. She wasn’t especially worried about
seeing ghosts. It was more ethereal creatures she was
concerned about on the marshy island: “If I saw a snake, I’d
be more afraid.”
Coming back on the boat, no one admitted to
having seen any spirits. They had seen a bit of history
come to life, but no apparitions.
As for the leaders of the tour, Okonowicz and
Fetzer, ghosts have been elusive, too. Okonowicz has
witnessed just one inexplicable incident - strange lights in
the fort one night as he passed by in a boat.
Fetzer, who has been a living history interpreter on
the island for many years, leading visitors through the fort,
has never seen a ghost. He has an explanation for that,
however.
”I don’t want to see them,” the historian says. “I
don’t want to see something I can’t explain. I don’t mess
with them and they don’t mess with me.”
http://davidhealey.freeservers.com/articles.html
Fort Delaware apparitions!
Chris writes, “I was looking for photos on the net of
Fort Delaware for a personal project when I came across
the attached photo. Look at the second man from the left. I
believe the photo was taken in the 1800’s. I have no idea
who took the photo, but its interesting. I think it was on
your site that I recently saw an old army photo with a
soldier in the background that was transparent. That’s why I
thought I would give you a shout with what I found. I don’t
know if you know anything about Fort Delaware, but most
if not all of the POW’s from Gettysburg were housed there
after their capture. Over 2,000 confederate prisoners died
there before the end of the war. I have been there on a
ghost hunt or two and have captured several orb photos.
It is supposed to be one of the most haunted place on the
water and was recently featured on a TV show called
“Ghost Waters”, though I must confess I missed that one. I
really like the site by the way!”
16
Jim’s Comments:
Fort Delaware is obviously a very haunted place where
many Confederate prisoners would meet their demise. It
stands to reason that spirits of the death would be
detected on film at this location. The dark figure outside of
the circle is probably just someone standing there at the
time, but I see as many as three ghost figures within the
circle area.
the Custis family was especially proud of its heritage
because Mary’s father, George Washington Parke Custis,
grew up at Mount Vernon under George and Martha
Washington’s care.
Many descendants of President John Adams also
were active during the war. However, unlike much of
http://www.ghoststudy.com/monthly/jul02/delaware.html
Washington’s Virginia-based family, the Adams relatives all
supported the Union cause. Charles Francis Adams, a
grandson of John Adams and son of John Quincy Adams,
played the most influential wartime role among his family.
As U.S. minister to Great Britain from 1861 to 1868,
Adams was a major force in preventing that nation and
other European powers from recognizing the fledgling
Confederacy. Many regarded this feat as the diplomatic
equivalent of winning a major U.S. military victory at home.
For those interested in the American presidency
Two of Charles Adams’ sons also supported the
and Civil War history, it is useful to explore the wartime
Federal cause as officers in the Union Army. John Quincy
service of relatives of America’s presidents. Many of our
modern chief executives had noteworthy family connections Adams II served as a colonel on the staff of Massachusetts
Gov. John A. Andrews, while Charles Francis Adams Jr.
to the conflict.
served as a lieutenant colonel and brevet brigadier general
For instance, both of Lyndon B. Johnson’s
in Federal cavalry units.
grandfathers, Joseph W. Baines and Samuel E. Johnson,
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison also had
served the Confederacy as members of Texas cavalry
regiments. Richard Nixon’s great-grandfather George Nixon several relatives who fought in the Civil War. As with George
Washington’s descendants, many served as officers in the
III died during the Battle of Gettysburg serving as a private
Confederate army, though some sources suggest that a few
in the 73rd Ohio Infantry. In fact, then-Vice President Nixon
visited the Gettysburg grave of this Unionist ancestor in the of Jefferson’s relatives supported the Union cause.
George Wythe Randolph, a grandson of Thomas
1950s.
However, it is particularly compelling to explore the Jefferson, was his family’s most prominent wartime
participant. A former U.S. naval officer and Richmond
Civil War service of descendants of America’s earliest
lawyer, Randolph served as a delegate to the Virginia
presidents. Their significant link to the Founding Fathers
Secession Convention in 1861, where he voted to withdraw
meant that they faced the difficult burden of supporting or
from the Union.
resisting a government their ancestors had worked hard to
Commissioned a major in the Confederate army, he
create.
For such research, “Burke’s Presidential Families of served with distinction during the Battle of Big Bethel,
eventually earning himself promotion to brigadier general in
the United States of America,” a thorough genealogical
February 1862. A month later, Randolph was appointed
reference guide, proves invaluable because the task of
Confederate secretary of war, a post in which he served
identifying members of an early president’s family decades
only briefly because of a stormy relationship with
after he left office can be daunting. Even by the 1860s,
Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Upon discovering
however, years after the deaths of their presidential
that he suffered from tuberculosis, Randolph sat out the
patriarchs, many descendants still enjoyed social
rest of the war and died in 1867.
prominence and influence among their peers. Accordingly,
James Madison’s most notable Civil War
several played important roles during the Civil War,
descendant was his great-nephew, James Edwin Slaughter.
including service as key military officers and diplomats.
A career Army officer and Mexican War veteran, Slaughter
Many of George Washington’s descendants were
left the U.S. Army in 1861 to join the Confederate war effort,
active during the war, mostly supporting the Confederacy
earning promotion to brigadier general in 1862. He served
as officers in the Rebel army. For instance, John Augustine
primarily in the Western theater, working with Confederate
Washington, a great-nephew of the president, served as a
lieutenant colonel and aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee Gens. Albert Sidney Johnston, Braxton Bragg and P.G.T.
Beauregard.
before his death during a skirmish at Cheat Mountain in
After seeing action in Tennessee in engagements
what then was western Virginia in September 1861. Col.
including Shiloh, Slaughter spent the rest of the war in
Washington had sold Mount Vernon to the Mount Vernon
Texas as chief of staff and chief of artillery to Gen. John B.
Ladies’ Association just three years earlier.
Magruder. Upon the war’s conclusion, he spent several
Another Washington relative achieved prominence
years in exile in Mexico before returning to the United
before the war began. Lewis William Washington, the
States to work as a civil engineer and postmaster. He died
president’s half-great-great-nephew and a former Army
in 1901 during a visit to Mexico and is buried in Mexico
colonel, was among those held hostage by John Brown
City.
during his famous raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859.
Sean Heuvel is a professor of American studies at
However, Lee was the most prominent Civil War-era
Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. He
combatant with family ties to Washington. Lee was related
and his wife live in Williamsburg.
to the first president through his wife, Mary Anna Randolph
Custis, Washington’s step-great-granddaughter. This line of 17http://washingtontimes.com/article/2...602881435/1011
Ghosts of fathers of the past
February 16, 2008
By Sean Heuvel
Tennessee Photo Archives!
The Tennessee Division of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans has embarked on a worthy and long overlooked
archive project. We are attempting to gather copies of
each veteran’s photo that served the Volunteer State
during the War Between the States. (Both Blue and Grey!)
We will be placing the collection at the disposal of
genealogists everywhere for a nominal fee to help offset
the costs of copying and compiling these photos. (We
already have over 2,000 likenesses available!)
The idea for this project was formed several years ago
while working with a research service for a local museum.
Most customers were interested in a photo of their long
forgotten ancestor to accompany other information. The
Tennessee State archives and museum have a limited
collection available to the public and we learned that there
was no single place to look for others. We prefer to acquire
photos of soldiers in uniform, but are quite happy to receive
pre and post war photos as well. (Or one of each if
available.) Any accompanying information will be readily
accepted as well.
If you would like for us to check our Tennessee Photo
Archives for an ancestor, please do not hesitate. Be sure
to share your photos with us and tell others of our
undertaking. This project will only be a success if everyone
contributes. Let us know of photo collections that are in
local archives or private hands so that we might contact
them. Since there were over 150,000 men who served
the Confederacy and the Union from Tennessee we realize
we have a huge project before us. We gladly accept this
challenge, as that is the mission of our 105-year-old nonprofit organization, to preserve our unique history!
For a sample of our collection you may visit our web
page at www.tennessee-scv.org. (Look under the heading
of “Tennessee Soldiers & Heroes” and then go to “Gallery
of Tennessee Heroes.” You may also contact me, Ronny
W. Mangrum, at 4762 Peytonsville Road, Franklin, Tenn.
37064. Phone 931-374-8368 for more info or e-mail at
[email protected].
Any donation to offset copying costs or gifts of original
photos may be considered a tax deductions since we are
a 501 (c) 3 genealogical organization. Thanks for your
generosity and support!!!!!
HOW TO ORDER COPIES OF THIS COOKBOOK:
Send $10 per book plus $2.50 shipping & handling to
Old Hickory Chapter # 747 c/o Teresa Luther
1399 Street Rd., Kingston Springs, TN 37082 Phone: (615)
952-4392
Phone Glenda Tidwell at 615-412-5957 or email Ann
Schlemm at [email protected] for more information. If
ordering 3 or more books, there will be a price break of $8
per book. Includes over 100 pages of great recipes &
helpful cooking tips.GET YOURS TODAY BEFORE THEY’RE
ALL GONE!
Pvt. George W. Stewart
McClung’s Battery, 1st Tennessee Light Artillery
18