Remembering
0 comment Sunday, November 9, 2014 |
When November 23 rolls around, which is the anniversary of the Battle of Lookout Mountain during the War Between the States, I usually post a little piece about that event. I do that in honor, mainly, of my great-great grandfather, who died in that battle, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
He was one of some 500+ Confederate soldiers who died during that battle, which lasted from November 23rd to the 25th. The South lost that battle, and took heavier losses than the Union army did in that battle.
It may not have been a crucial battle in that devastating war, though some say that if the battle had not been lost, the war might have had a different outcome. We will never know.
Right now, it seems as if we descendants of those ill-fated soldiers are still engaged in a continuation of the war, with our history, our way of life, and our symbols under attack. Our children are taught that their forefathers of the Confederacy (and all Southron people, really) were bad and immoral people, because of slavery and because of their 'rebellion'.
''There are those who despise us, who wish to stamp us out, or worse still, to use us as a milk cow so they can live lives of ease. There are those who believe us to be evil, and demand we repent at the alter of the damned while they sup at the table of the blessed. There are those who fear us, and so continually try to strip away all reminders of what we once were.
But we are still here, still living in our land, the land of our forefathers, more numerous than ever and though tyrannized, abused, and dispirited, poised to renounce our oppressors and reclaim what is rightfully ours.
For nearly 200 years, from George Washington to George Wallace, our people acted with a singleness of purpose. Even though defeated in a great war in 1865, we stood as one people to the outside world, defending our lives, land, homes, and inalienable rights with remarkable solidarity. But since our defeat in the Civil Rights War of 1965, we have been betrayed by many of our natural leaders in government, in the church, in business, and in the university.''
The above quote is from the late Dennis Wheeler, whose writings I have quoted here before. He was an eloquent defender of the Southron heritage, and he spoke truly there in that quote.
We are now seeing the fruits of the War's outcome; the defeat of the Confederacy meant the victory of an ever-stronger central government and the stripping away of state's rights and regional autonomy. The events of the day emphasize that fact unequivocally.
I am sure that my great-great grandfather, who was only one of several in my line of ancestry who fought for the Confederacy, was fighting not for abstractions, but for home and land and kin and faith. And for the right to live our lives in freedom, without an overbearing government to make us fear and cower.
It is time that we speak up in defense of our forefathers and our heritage, as we owe them that much. I believe in honoring my father and mother, and to me, that means all my fathers and mothers who
preceded me and gave me life.
And let me honor, too, the names of some other of my kin who served in the army of the Confederacy.
Benjamin Farrar Eddins - he was mortally wounded during Coxton's Raid in Alabama.
Zadoc Mitchell Holloway - killed at Shiloh.
John Allen Barksdale - died in battle, Spottsylvania, Virginia.
Lewis Summerfield Scruggs, and Joseph Howell Scruggs.
And there are others, your ancestors (perhaps) and mine,whose names are probably meaningful only to their descendants and kin.
Let's not forget our Confederate forefathers,nor let their names be slandered by those who are enemies of our heritage.

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