Civil War Vets reunion

[Cicero]

Awesome footage.
And some beautifully bashed Lids !

http://www.schooltube.com/video/a088eb35599e46dd5552/Civil-war-veteran-sold

 

[Atticus Finch]

Thank you.

AF

 

[Rathdown]

A Ghost of the Confederacy

My mother-in-law's grandfather, Fred Ironmonger, served in the Confederate army. In 1916 he was filmed at a Confederate veteran's reunion in Florida, and we recently saw that film for the first time. I have not words to describe the emotions that flooded through us when we saw him, an old man, appear briefly on camera, ghost like, yet still real.

 

[Art Fawcett]

WOW..Thank you for posting this

 

[Atticus Finch]

As many of us live our fast-paced, over-filled lives, I think we become a bit myopic and tend to view the American Civil War as distant history, not unlike ancient Rome or Greece. But it isn’t, really. Many Americans my age and older actually knew someone who was at least alive in 1865. And most Americans today are no more than twice removed from someone who fought in that war. That is, most Americans know or knew someone, who knew a veteran of the Civil War. For example, in their childhoods…and even as young adults…both of my parents knew many Civil War Confederate veterans. Sadly, most Americans don’t know they are that close to the greatest and most horrific event in our National history.

I’ve seen this footage before, but I never get tired of looking at it. When one watches these old vets milling about their reunion, looking and acting like old men have always looked and acted, they become very real…no longer just faceless characters from distant history.

AF

 

[zetwal]

WOW..Thank you for posting this

+1

 

[kpreed]

Thank You for posting this, so many folks here will remember and (I hope) share with others, the memories on film of the brave men and women from that time.

 

[bowlerman]

That's great to see for the first time as well. Thanks for posting.

 

[Doctor Strange]

But Atticus, many of us don't have families that go that far back in this country. For example, my grandparents were immigrants who arrived in New York in the 1890-1910 range. Both my parents served during WWII... but I have no personal connection to any armed conflict from earlier.

Also, not every portion of this country is as strongly connected to the Civil War as yours, both in terms of not having seen action locally, and from having a much smaller part of its population involved (sure, we've got plenty of monuments honoring local boys who fought in the Civil War up here... but they're typically nearly forgotten and receive little attention).

What I mean is, perhaps your own view, as a southerner whose family has been here many generations, is a bit myopic. There are lots of us who have nothing remotely resembling a "personal" connection to the Civil War. (Which doesn't make it any less horrid or fascinating, but definitely puts it at a more distant remove.)

 

[Blackthorn]

Wow, that's excellent! I had 3 ancestors in that war. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Atticus Finch]

But Atticus, many of us don't have families that go that far back in this country. For example, my grandparents were immigrants who arrived in New York in the 1890-1910 range. Both my parents served during WWII... but I have no personal connection to any armed conflict from earlier.

Also, not every portion of this country is as strongly connected to the Civil War as yours, both in terms of not having seen action locally, and from having a much smaller part of its population involved (sure, we've got plenty of monuments honoring local boys who fought in the Civil War up here... but they're typically nearly forgotten and receive little attention).

What I mean is, perhaps your own view, as a southerner whose family has been here many generations, is a bit myopic. There are lots of us who have nothing remotely resembling a "personal" connection to the Civil War. (Which doesn't make it any less horrid or fascinating, but definitely puts it at a more distant remove.)

You make an excellent point and I hadn't really thought of it that way.

I can easily visit my great-great grandfather's grave any time I wish. Its in Beaufort, only a short drive from my home. He was a Confederate soldier and is buried beneath a Confederate tombstone. I now live between three Civil War battlefields. All three are less than twenty miles from my house. Antique stores around here are always filled with Civil War relics. There are homes around here that bear the scars of Civil War skirmishes...two that I know of were used as field hospitals. As I sit here at my desk, I can look out of my window and see the house that was occupied by Civil War general Ambrose Burnside after his troops captured New Bern in 1862. The woods around this area are still filled with the remains of Civil War breastworks. Children play on them without a second thought. Cemeteries here have sections devoted to fallen Confederates. Every courthouse has a statue of a Confederate standing guard on the front lawn.

I guess that the Civil War is still up front and "in the faces" of people in this area, so we are often perplexed when others appear not to grasp the war’s close proximity to us in history and its importance to the formation of our government. But viewing it from the perspective of a family who recently immigrated to our country, or from the perspective of a person who doesn't live around constant reminders of the conflict, I can now see how the war may be much less personal, even if no less important.

AF

 

[sal]

thanks
that was great

 

[SGT Rocket]

Thanks for the video. This is a GREAT thread. I have three ancestors that fought for the South. One on my mom’s side was my grandmother’s father. His last name was Riley; I actually have a picture of him wearing his civil war metals, as much older gent, with two women. They both look around his age, so I’m not sure if they are wife and sister, or what. I don’t have his unit information at my fingertips right now, but I believe he was from Arkansas.
On my dad’s side, I have a great, great, grandfather: Clement C. Hill. He served in the 10th Texas Calvary, Company B, Lock’s Regiment for all four years of the war. I believe Clement’s brother also fought in the civil war on the side of the South as well.

 

[SGT Rocket]

He also had a brother David Crockett Hill, who also fought for the confederacy. He was buried in the Jacksonville cemetery in Texas. He was born in Arkansas, but I don't know if he fought for a Texas or Arkansas unit.

Wow, a confederate on my dad's mom's side as well. Here is some information:

"Notes for ABRAHAM ALBERT TURNEY:
Military: Company D, 26th Arkansas Infantry, Pvt. - Civil War (Index to Arkansas Confederate Soldiers, Vol. III, page
141) Abraham was wounded and was in Little Rock about to die. His wife, Amanda, walked to Little Rock and
somehow managed to get him home. It was a very long time before he became well again. While he had been gone,
Bushwhackers had stolen all their food, including the cow. Because he felt his family needed him, he did not return to
the army after he became well. He spent days in a cave on his property, knowing he could not let anyone know his
whereabouts except for his immediate family. When there was a full moon, he would sneak out and plow the fields.
This is according to family history and unverifiable.
Excerpts from Stories of Two Pioneer Ozarks Families in file. Remembrances of Amanda Turney Gadberry,
Abraham's daughter in 1970. Compiled by Roy Edwin Thomas, Ph.D., Conway, Arkansas.
1870 Van Buren County, Arkansas, census. Copy in file."

 

[mdove]

If you are interested in the CW check out your State Historical Society. This is the 150th of the CW. There are activities all over the country remembering the War. There are CW round tables which discuss the war and all sorts of things related to the War. There are activities for every interest. BTW, my ancestors go all the way back to the Revolutionary War. Had ancestors in the RW, the CW, WWI, WWII, and me in Viet Nam.

 

[barrowjh]

I had only one relative that I know of that wore grey, and my great grandfather supposedly was helping the underground railroad during that time. He was a school teacher in LA (lower Alabama, near Evergreen), and that was the rumor. Supposedly he was arrested but released because nobody would testify against him; good teachers were a precious commodity. The courthouse was burned and there are no records to prove or disprove it. If he hadn't married a war widow, I wouldn't be here

 

[SMUPhil]

My grandfather, who is still alive and kicking at 94, recently typed out his memories of flying in WWII. He mentioned that at cadet training, the drill instructors were a bunch of mean Southern boys, grandsons of Civil War vets, and they were more than eager to give the young Yankees a hard time, as sort of a payback for the South's loss in the Civil War.