Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
“I
read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction.”
Aneurin
Bevan, 1950
I
recently had a specialist look into my ancestry. My maternal
grandmother's maiden name was Justus and she was born on a farm near
Hendersonville, NC. From this I discovered that her grandparents had
moved to that farm from South Carolina in 1829. They had issue of 9
children one of which was Walker Sevier Justus, my grandmother's
father. They also lost 4 sons in the Civil War most fighting with
Co. I, 16th North Carolina Regiment, these men were my
great-great uncles. They were William, Wilson, Merida and Mitchell.
This
Regiment was under the command of General Wade Hampton III, a well
known South Carolinian along with Generals Dorsey Pender and Alfred
Scales, both North Carolinians, and was present at some of the major
battles of the entire war including: 2nd Manassas, Seven
Pines, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsvile,
Gettysburg and were present at the surrender at Appomattox. Two of my
great-great uncles died at Petersburg, one died at Fredericksburg and
one died Valley Mountain, Va.
It
was the 16th North Carolina that penetrated the Union
center at Gettysburg during Pickett's charge but had to withdraw
when Stuart's cavalry did not meet arrive and give support.
I
have often wondered why I get teary-eyed when writing about these
battles and now I know why.
I
honor the Confederate flag because it reminds me of my ancestry and I
don't give a damn about the politics. If you that think the
Confederate flag represents slavery you should read any of the
diaries written by members of the infantry and cavalry on either
side. Slavery was not mentioned. The union soldier writers (Elijah
Hunt Rhodes for instance) never mentioned slavery in any of his
epistles, he does mention the horror and carnage of the greatest
tragedy to ever befall this great nation. Without exception every
Confederate soldier writer said they fought because they felt they
were being invaded. Keep in mind that 98% of the battles were fought
on Confederate soil. If all of this offends you...tough shit.
This
Date in History February 3
1781
Earlier in December of 1780, Patriot General Nathaneal Greene had
tasked Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciusko with designing a boat that
could be used convey troops across the unpredictable Yadkin River
regardless of its condition. Kosciusko made an exploratory canoe
trip down the Yadkin and the Pee Dee Rivers and came back and
designed and helped build boats for that special purpose. British
General Charles Cornwallis defeated the North Carolina Militia at the
Battle of Cowan’s Ford and British Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s
Dragoons had beaten up on the same militia at the Battle of Tarrant’s
Tavern, now that militia and other soldiers under the command of
Greene join near Salisbury, NC and head for the Dan River in Virginia
and safety. The only problem was that the Yadkin River was severely
flooded because of a thunderous rainfall on February 1 and British
General Cornwallis’ army of 16,000 was perilously close. So on
this date Greene ordered his army into the boats designed by
Kosciusko and successfully cross the Yadkin but then very last
remnants of Greene’s army are shelled by Cornwallis’s artillery
from the opposite bank. With no boats, Cornwallis must move his army
to the city of Shallowford and wait for the water to abate low enough
to cross. He did not get across until February 7 and by then Greene
and his army was far enough ahead to make it to the Dan River safely.
1780
In 1760 Barnett Davenport was born in rural Connecticut. When he
reached an appropriate age he joined the Patriot army and was with
George Washington at Valley Forge and fought at Fort Ticonderoga. In
the waning days of the Revolutionary War he became a boarder in the
home of Caleb Mallory and his family also living in rural
Connecticut. On this date, for reasons known only to Davenport, he
slaughtered everyone in the Mallory house. He beat Caleb to death,
shot his wife and daughter, set the house on fire killing Mallory’s
two grandchildren. If this would have happened today, people would
be saying is was a post-war syndrome. But in those days criminals
were perceived as basically good people that had lost their way. Bur
after this outrage, people’s attitude changed to that there were
people out there that are basically evil. That attitude is still
with us to this day.
1953
On this date French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau publishes
his landmark book The Silent World. This book and Cousteau
himself had opened our eyes to man’s responsibility for the
stewardship our earth’s oceans and the beings therein. He also
almost single handedly created the sport of SCUBA diving. In the
early years a free diver was very limited to the depth and length of
stay under water. Then in 1943 Cousteau and inventor Emile Gagnan
created the Aqua-Lung and the sport and industry of underwater
exploration was born. He also helped invent underwater cameras and
photography and the discovery and exploration of shipwrecks grew
exponentially. In 1963 Cousteau gave us the book The Living Sea
which turned out to be another milestone in the science of
oceanography. Cousteau himself was a participant in the discovery of
many ancient shipwrecks which is as thrilling today for me as it was
for Cousteau at the moment of discovery. Cousteau died in 1997
leaving the world with a legacy that probably will never be matched.
1889
This is a story about Myra Belle Shirley that was born in
Carthage, Missouri in 1848. Young Myra received a substantial
education and be came very proficient on the piano. Her father was
an innkeeper in Carthage but his business went to hell with the
outbreak of the Civil War so the family moved to Texas. It was here
that she met up with and had a relationship with the infamous Cole
Younger who was a member of the James-Younger gang. It was soon
thereafter she brought into this world a daughter she named Pearl.
Most people believe that Cole was the father but it was probably Jim
Reed, another member of the gang. She became the common-law wife to
Reed and had no problem with his profession and indeed helped him in
rustling cows and horses in the Dallas area. In 1874 Reed was killed
in a gunfight so she drifted into the Oklahoma Indian territory and
organized a gang of rustlers. She could be seen riding around in
velvet dressed and plumed hats. She hooked up with a handsome Creek
Indian named Sam Starr and she became known as Belle Starr. She
stayed with Sam for 10 years but he was killed in a gunfight with a
member of his own gang. Very soon after that she took up with
another Creek Indian name Jim July, 15 years her junior. They were
captured and did five or six months in the slammer but after release
began their old tricks again. In 1889 she was summoned to Fort
Smith, Arkansas to face charges of cattle rustling. So she and her
boy friend Jim headed east to Fort Smith but changed their minds and
turned around and headed back west. Soon after two shotgun blasts
hit Belle in the back and she died instantly. The shooter was never
found.
Born today:
1830
British Prime Minister Robert Cecil. When describing Edwardian
England he said “It was consider virtuous to not be involved in a
scandal or get a venereal disease.” Edwardian times must have been
a lot of partying.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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