The Society of the Immortal 600 - No Monument for Morris Island

Okay fine, but who were the Immortal 600? The 600 (since you asked) were a group of former Confederate officers who had been intentionally placed under fire while held as prisoner of war.  Veterans of the 600 had served time in various northern prison camps including Sandusky, Ohio, Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River, and ultimately on Morris Island, South Carolina – where they found themselves used as human shields in a stockade placed before the Union batteries conducting the siege of Charleston.

This may come as no surprise, but these practices along with the allegedly harsh treatment carried out by Union Colonel Edward N. Hallowell and his command of African American guards led many to direct anger northward – a practice that never subsided. In 1910, Thomas Coleman Chandler, a former officer who had left the Virginia Military Institute in 1861 to enlist with the Tyranny Unmasked Artillery, recalled his hardships after an early-twentieth century trip to Morris Island. This aging veteran, who had been wounded several times and captured at Spotsylvania, addressed his fellow former prisoners with imagery as vivid as it was animus. Chandler focused on a number of troubling aspects. “Suffering men” typical of most prison reminiscences formed the foundation of an argument attacking the Union commander and especially the “Negro guards” at Morris Island. These particular points most certainly would have stirred emotions among Confederate veterans reminded of the “brutal laugh of Hallowell and his niggers as they gloated over your suffering.”(This is Chandler's language, not mine. As much as such language offends us today, I think it important to use their words as written).

Recognition of the official Immortal 600 veterans’ organization gained steam in the early-twentieth century when John Ogden Murray, a captain with the 11th Virginia Cavalry and member of the Society, began compiling information on the group with the purpose of publishing the first book-length paean to the 600. Funds generated by such a publication would be set aside to finance a monument to the group on Morris Island. In a powerful work intended to “give the world a true history of the wanton cruelty inflicted upon helpless prisoners of war, without the least shadow of excuse,” Murray vividly recounted how his Union captors “hated everything southern.”

While proceeds fell short of the funds necessary to construct a monument, Murray’s book nevertheless created a stir in the South and saw several printings. Seizing the commemorative reins, the Virginia state legislature recognized appeals to honor the 600 and appropriated necessary funds for the monument in 1910. Making sure to point out that any such monument would pay tribute to those “inhumanely treated by the United States Government,” Virginia legislators kept lingering hostilities in the forefront.

But the monument never materialized. For what ever reason, funding, politics - certainly waning interest did not play a part. Even today heritage foundations and other neo-Confederate groups demand recognition of the suffering of Confederate prisoners at the hands of the United States government. What do you think? Should the 600 have a monument?

K

With a Rebel Yell

I keeping with yesterday's theme - Civil War veterans' commemoration (a subject that I will always be ready will and able to discuss at length) today I offer a reunion of Confederate veterans...having at the Rebel yell. You will note that one veteran comments: "We don't have much left but we will give you what we've got." Well, I would say that they do a mighty fine job. Try to imagine thousands of these guys (much younger versions, of course) yelling all at once. It would certainly scare the you-know-what out of me.

Something we should also keep in mind: this event recalls a spirit of elan and fraternity and even looks fun and entertaining...note - I cannot tell with precision when the film was shot (early 30s?) but this version was released in 1962, during the centennial. But decades prior to the event pictured these men were involved in some pretty grim work. What they saw and did we can never really understand - try as we might.

Peace,
Keith

Death of a Veteran

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Confederate Veteran has been my go-to source for all things Rebel for the last decade. Published between 1893 and 1932, it is a valuable postwar historical resource when it comes to deciphering the attitudes and sentiments of former Confederate soldiers, civilians, and politicians. In addition to the battle narratives, opinion pieces, and biographies, the obituary section, The Last Roll, offers a great place for biographical notes on all sort s of people - prominent and otherwise. Most obituaries will allow the researcher to peer into a veteran's life somewhat beyond his military exploits  and also provide a starting point for further research on the veteran's post war activities: church and business affiliations, family, etc.

Here is a sample picked at random from a 1922 edition of Confederate Veteran. I knew little about this individual before I read his brief obituary - but it offers quite a bit to work with: he was  a border state Confederate who served on A.P. Hill's Staff and saw action through much of the war. He became a Texas farmer in the postwar years...read on:

A prominent citizen of Chillicothe, Tex., and possibly the oldest Confederate veteran of Hardeman County, is mourned in the death of Jesse Ferguson Allensworth, which occurred during the month of June. He was born in Christian County, Ky., July 5, 1842.

At the age of nineteen young Allensworth entered the Confederate army as a member of Company H, 14th Tennessee Regiment, Archer's Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division. He was later made a courier for General Hill, and was in the battle of Chancellorsville when Jackson was wounded, his own horse being shot from under him. He was wounded twice during the great conflict, once receiving a sword cut on the head, and a Minie ball which struck his shoulder finally lodged in his elbow, and he carried it to the grave. Though his service was interrupted by these wounds, he returned to the ranks as soon as able to do so, and was still wearing the gray when General Lee surrendered.

In 1884 Comrade Allensworth was married to Miss Mallic Reynolds, of Clarksville, Tenn., and in January, 1888, they removed to Wilbarger County, Tex., and settled on a farm, going later, in 1904, to Chillicothe, which had since been his home. Two sons and a daughter were born to this union, all surviving him. His wife died in 1914.

At the age of seventeen he became a member of the Christian Church, and through the threescore years since then he had lived a consistent Christian life.

So we know his wife's name, we know that he had two children, and we know where he lived and what he did after the war. It might be fun to see what else he was up to in the last decades of his life. Maybe I will check out the rest of the Veteran run to see if he turns up anywhere else. The whole thing has been reprinted and indexed - what a boon for historians!

Peace,

Keith

An Emblem of Treason

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Since soon after the close of the Civil War, it has been customary for those in league with the Confederate Cause to fly Confederate battle flags. This practice was extremely popular among Confederate veterans. Whenever they gathered, whether it be for a speech, commemorative meeting, monument dedication, or patriotic gathering, former Rebels were sure to unfurl the banners under which they had once marched into battle.

As you might imagine, Union veterans were not especially pleased with this practice - thinking such a display of treasonous emblems insulted the cause for which they had fought...and won. Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic and other groups worked tirelessly to prevent the display of Confederate flags in public - particularly those where the colors of the United States were also present. They spoke at length expressing their concerns. Today I offer an excerpt from the minutes of G.A.R. N.Y. Department, Brooklyn City Post 233, recorded on March 11, 1905:

Loyalty and treason cannot harmoniously march ‘elbow to elbow’ in the same column under ‘Old Glory’ and the ‘Secesh’ emblems. The future generations of the South, by this proposed transfer, should not have their minds fired with false admiration of what emblems of treason stand for, on the contrary, if it is esteemed a graciousness to do so, rather let such emblems be totally destroyed…Now, if the flags, emblematic of treason and disunion, are to be returned, should not we, also, be required to detach our beloved emblem of loyalty and unionism from our breasts, so that the metal of the captured cannon may likewise be restored to those who turned them against the Nation’s life? Let it preserve a manly respect for the valor of our formerly mistaken foes of the ‘lost cause,’ without exhibition of maudling sentiment that would apparently place treason and loyalty on level. Forgiveness and restoration to all rights of good citizenship and fostering of love for the Union is a laudable aim – and to this desideration, ‘let us have peace!’

Clearly, the author favored reconciliation, but did so with decidedly Union terms in mind. These days, the Confederate Battle Flag is used for all sorts of purposes - from a "stick it to the man" symbol of rebellion to racist hatred. But something to think about: not too terribly long ago, it was primarily an emblem of treason.

Peace,

Keith

That's Real Stuff!

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

In May 1912, the Confederate Memorial Association began construction of the Confederate Memorial Institute, what would soon be know as the "Battle Abbey." In the cornerstone, members of the association placed a copper box - sealed with lead solder and containing a number of Confederate artifacts and papers relating to the association. There it sat until Virginia Historical Society's vice president Nelson Lankford went looking for it. The Abbey had since become a part of the much bigger VHS facility. The box and its contents - penetralia if you like - had been more or less forgotten until Lankford discovered a list of items supposedly preserved in the old Abbey's cornerstone.

It did not take long for architects to figure out the location of the old cornerstone, now in a corner of the "The Story of Virginia" exhibit. VHS president and CEO Paul Levengood got to extract the box from the hole in the wall himself. Apparently, the VHS staff was all giddy with excitement.

Here is what the Confederate Memorial Association thought future historians would find useful: newspapers, photographs, postcards, architectural drawings, construction contracts, Civil War signatures and records, a 5-by-5-inch Confederate battle flag, a delegate's pin for the 1912 United Confederate Veterans reunion and even papers pertaining to a lawsuit over fundraising. Upon examination, senior archivist Lee Shepard noted, "That's real stuff from the real time period."

Never has a more astute comment resounded from the hallowed halls of the former Confederate shrine. It was indeed "real stuff," and something that might be of use to historians concerned with Civil War memory. What CMA officials chose to place in their sealed box tells us a great deal about what they wanted future observers to think about their failed bid for independence. It is just as telling to note what they did not place in the box. As far as I can tell, documents relating to any potentially troubling issues, for example, are not to be found. Perhaps, given the time frame and historical context of the battles then waging to determine the terms national reconciliation, CMA leadership though it best to distance their cause from certain contentions of the 1860s - or maybe those things just slipped their minds for a few minutes in all the corner-stone laying excitement.

At any rate, the "real stuff" is now part of the vast VHS archive...they even left the hole in the wall - at least for now. I am certain visitors will want to know more about it. I certainly would.  I am also glad that Lankford saw the search and uncover project to its conclusion. Any chance to understand what former Confederates were thinking is one worth taking.

Peace,

Keith

Confederate Memorial Day in Los Angeles

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Last Saturday was Confederate Memorial Day. Now when talking about Rebel graves, most people associate Hollywood with the cemetery in Richmond. But here in Hollywood California we have our very own Confederate monument - at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd. - a mere few blocks from Cosmic America HQ.

As I have mentioned, a good many Civil War veterans moved west after the war to seek their fortunes or otherwise benefit from the perfect...yes perfect climate we enjoy here in Southern California. They did a lot of the same things their comrades did in the East - they formed organizations and participated in Civil War commemorative activities. When they died, many were buried in plots throughout the area maintained by their organizations. In the case of the Confederate plot and monument in Hollywood Forever, we can thank the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Saturday's turnout was pretty light. In the Daughters' defense, there was a big reenactment going on at Pierce College, which more than likely lured the main Confederate contingent to the Valley. And there was little else alerting the general pubic to the event. As you may remember, the Daughters' have had some trouble in the past with issues concerning placement of Confederate flags at the cemetery - they fought and won a case to allow for such activities.

But from what I understand, the Daughters want the event to fly under the radar anyway. On the Thursday prior to the event, I briefly discussed Saturday's ceremony with UDC representative Margaret Alley. She was hesitant to publicize the event for fear of vandalism. In her words..."The neighborhood has gotten...well...shall we say..."dark" over the years - if you know what I mean." She feared that these "dark" (again...her word, not mine) people would take offense to Confederate activity and damage their monument. I'll let you make what you will of Ms. Alley's comments. But I think you can get the drift.

Below are a number of pictures from Saturday's memorial festivities. I'll place some video on my Youtube channel in short order - so you can get the full experience.



Deo Vindice (maybe)

Keith

A Most Peculiar Memorial

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

With all the whoop-dee-do last week about a ridiculous Booth bobblehead incident at the Gettysburg visitor center, I began to think about something that today strikes us as a bit perverse - well, most of us anyway. It seems that not so long ago, there were folks who probably rejoiced over the death of Abraham Lincoln. They may not have trumpeted it throughout the land - that would have been in bad taste. But regarding killing the man who had led the assault against the prospect of an independent Confederacy? I can only imagine that more than a few smiled a little on the inside. They might have even uttered a few quiet words of praise for John Wilkes Booth. Maybe, anyway.

But at least one person wasn't shy about the whole thing. Joseph Pinkney "Pink" Parker was a police officer, teacher, Baptist church member and Confederate veteran who lived in Troy, Alabama and really really hated Abraham Lincoln. He hated him so much, in fact, that each year, on the anniversary of Lincoln's death, he would don his Sunday best and parade about the town celebrating the event. But Parker was not satisfied with simple annual celebrations - in 1908 he personally commissioned a monument honoring John Wilkes Booth and commemorating Lincoln's assassination.

That was a little much for Troy residents, who had quietly put up with Parker's yearly celebrations. His request to install the monument at the town courthouse was flatly denied. So instead - he put it in his front yard, for all to see.

And there it remained until Parker's death in 1921. Over the years, the Booth tribute had made national news, and people from all over country demanded that the monument be destroyed. It still exists, sort of. Parker's son used the stone - with the inscription celebrating Booth removed - as a headstone for his father's grave. It now marks the final resting place of Troy's most notorious Lincoln hater, at Oakwood Cemetery...a former monument to John Wilkes Booth.

Thanks to fellow historian and blogger Scott MacKenzie for alerting me to this one. He comes up with some gems!

Peace,
Keith

Confederate Veterans at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

After years of living Los Angeles - within blocks of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, I thought it would be a good idea to find their Confederate monument. Here, surrounding a modest monument to the soldiers of the Confederate Army, one can find the graves of about 30 Rebel soldiers together with a handful of United Daughters of the Confederacy. From what I understand, each year the Daughters hold a memorial exercise near the monument - I have to find out when it is...so I can show up and record it for posterity. I mean...stuff like this needs to be seen by the rest of the world.

Anyway, when I was looking into this monument this morning, I found out that the Sons of Confederate Veterans had issued a "Heritage Violation" against Hollywood Forever for disallowing the placement of Confederate flags on these Rebel graves. Here is the blog post - attacking those pesky "liberals" and demanding satisfaction. Whatever.

Still, it got me thinking. What exactly is a Heritage Violation and how does one go about getting one? Well, I checked with the Sons of Confederate Veterans General Headquarters website and found out "Any attack upon Confederate Heritage, or the flags, monuments, and symbols which represent it, can be termed a Heritage Violation." Well - I suppose that I need to be careful then. It seems that I may already have committed several of these right here on Cosmic America. Maybe even leaning (as pictured above) on a Rebel monument with such affected nonchalance could be a violation. I'll have to check into it.

My SCV friends will need to report me as soon as possible, according to the rules and regulations - because "The more time which passes between a heritage violation and any SCV response, the less likely we [the UCV]are to be successful in correcting the situation."

If you really feel the need to report me - you can do so by following these instructions. At any rate - I had a good time today checking out how much Los Angeles has to offer in terms of Civil War history - there is more here than you might think. We have a major street named after General Rosecrans and everything! And in the end - my own Confederate ancestors would be thrilled that I live so close to a Rebel monument. I even saw a few Alabama soldiers there!

I also understand the the great city of Pasadena has a Civil War monument. I think that will be my next stop. See you then!

Keith

George Llewellyn Christian - an Angry (ex) Confederate

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

George Llewellyn Christian was among the most prolific former Confederates around. It seems he had something to say about pretty much everything Civil War related. He wrote numerous articles, published in pamphlet form, and turned up in states all across the South to talk about the war in person. George L. Christian certainly got around.

Christian was a young man in 1861 - only twenty years old. He enlisted in the Confederate army and served with his fellow Virginians until he was horribly wounded at Spotsylvania. Having lost all of one foot and most of another, he managed to hobble off to Charlottesville and earn a law degree from the University of Virginia - and after the war became a prominent attorney.

But he never quite got over Confederate defeat. His writings and speeches are evidence of just how bitter he really was. In an 1894 tribute to Jubal Early, he noted, “The man whose soul is so dead that he is not proud to have been a part of [the Confederate] army, battling not for what he thought was right, but what was right, is too contemptible, in my opinion, to be by any human power raised to the level of brute.”

Four years later, Christian would remind the people of the South, that “whilst the cause for which [Confederates] fought is a ‘lost cause’ in the sense that they failed to establish a separate government within certain geographical limits, it is only lost in that sense. The principles of that cause yet live.” Adding his bitter voice to those of other aggravated former Confederates, Christian noted the significance of monument dedications and gatherings in terms of perpetuating Confederate memories. “Here, history will record a thrilling tale of outrage inflicted upon this defenseless people by the mercenary hordes of the North, permitted and encouraged by the remorseless cruelty and unquenchable ambition of some of their leaders.”

From the looks of things, Christian had a real problem with reconciliation. In the influential Ghosts of the Confederacy, Gaines M. Foster equates such bitter Rebels with Native American Ghost Dancers of the late-nineteenth century. “They clung to the past, defended old values, and dreamed of a world untouched by defeat.” Very few southerners, Foster argues, joined the ghost dance. By the 1880s, “Confederate celebration did not foster a revival of rabid sectionalism.” Detractors perpetuating sectional animosity simply by “not forgetting” during an era when most had presumably agreed to let “bygones be bygones” thus appear out of place in a nation characterized by an outpouring of reconciliationist sentiment.

Or do they? Historians such as Foster (and...David Blight - see post) have effectively misplaced Christian's form of commemoration. The majority of white southerners, they suggest, distanced themselves from efforts to revitalize the divisive aspects of Confederate memory and rejected bitter former Rebels as unreconstructed anachronisms.

Not so fast - in fact, Christian was a reconciliationist at heart, and he spoke often of his loyalty to the postwar United States - just like most former Confederates. And thus the problem. How do we deal with those who claim reconciliation and then say every thing they can to suggest otherwise? Evidence that I will present in my upcoming book, Across the Bloody Chasm: Reconcilation in the Wake of Civil War, will offer some clues. It seems that Christian was indeed a typical former Confederate reconciliaitonist...one who wanted peace and brotherly harmony between the sections so long as a few terms were met first. Namely...that northerners admitted they were wrong.

Since this was not about to happen - Christian, and many, many more like him, ran up against a bit of a stone wall (so to speak). Northern Unionists were just as stubborn when it came to their version of the war. Reconciliationists all (or most), they could never seem to agree on what the war was about. This is the legacy that we live with in the 21st century. And - it gives me something to write about...so thanks George!

Peace,

Keith