I count the number of entries on my Confederate Calendar for January to exceed the number of days in the month by eight additional entries. Inclusive as part of the whole of course are the birthdays of General Robert E. Lee (19th), and of his right hand, General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson (21st). Three other birth dates of notable Confederate generals listed include General James Longstreet (8th), General James P. Simms (16th), and General George E. Pickett (25th).
Three of the four entries marking the first three days of the month note the continuation (1st-2nd) and final day (3rd) of the bloody 1863 Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; a battle in which upwards of 24,000 soldiers (North and South inclusive) were either killed, wounded, or reported lost in battle. My 2nd great-grand uncle, Pvt. Seborn Thomas Morris, states on his Texas Confederate Pension Application that it was here he tried to re-enlist with his company and regiment, having previously suffered a debilitating wound at the Battle of Shiloh months before. He was discharged by order several days later when the army had fallen back to Corinth, Mississippi. Seborn’s attempt to re-enlist in late December 1862, prior to the Battle of Murfreesboro, was summarily rejected due to his continued physical disability resulting from his wound at Shiloh. This brave young Confederate was only 16 years-old at the time both of these fierce battles were fought, but it is easy to understand why he tried to re-enlist to fight in that later battle, given that his father and his elder brother were there to fight the battle in his stead.
I’ve noted before within these precincts my transcription of A.J. Ketchum’s (barely legible in places) hand-written history documenting the service of Seborn’s regiment (19th Alabama Infantry), and the report of the regiment’s performance at the Battle of Murfreesboro and elsewhere during the course of the war. Inclusive in Mr. Ketchum’s history, albeit dated some months after the battle under discussion, is a humorous yet interesting piece of anecdotal evidence confirming the fact of history, thoroughly and elsewhere documented, that the Confederates weren’t just fighting Yankees and their brother-northerners in that war. To wit:
One man in the regiment said of this that he was willing to fight the Yankees two to our one, but when he heard old Grant command, “Attention World! by nations right and left wheel,” he thought it was about time for him to retire.
Other notable entries on the calendar this month include the respective dates marking secession from the Union of five of the states that would eventually organize into the Confederate States of America (CSA), including Mississippi (9th), Florida (10th), Alabama (11th), Georgia (19th), and Louisiana (26th). These five states were to become the 2nd-6th states to reclaim their sovereignty and leave the “Glorious Union,” following South Carolina’s lead. Related entries give dates to e.g. seizure by Florida State troops of Ft. Barrancas and the U.S. Navy Yard at Pensacola (13th); seizure of federal installations on Ship Island by Mississippi secessionists (20th); and seizure and control of the federal arsenal in Augusta by Georgia State troops (24th).
One final entry of note, as well as of particular interest to yours truly, is the 1862 capture of Belle Boyd at Warrenton, Virginia (29th). Miss Boyd was found guilty by her captors of spying for the Confederate army and government, and was sentenced to imprisonment in the female ward of the Old Capitol Prison, in Washington, D.C.. She was an inmate of that ward with other Confederate notables such as Virginia Lomax, Mrs. Greenhow, and Mary Surratt, et al. My personal interest in the story of Miss Boyd’s daring exploits as a Confederate spy and mail courier has been previously documented at this site, here, and here. But I recommend you consult her book for a fuller treatment of both her fearless exploits as a Confederate spy, and the time of her imprisonment at the “American Bastille” aforementioned, etc.
There you have it, brothers and sisters. There are of course a number of other entries giving dates to interesting and important events related to the war that occurred in the month of January, but that I will save for perhaps another article at another time. Hope you enjoyed reading, and perhaps even learned something you did not before know of This Month in Confederate History.
God bless you all, God bless our gallant and worthy forebears, and God bless and keep the Southland!
I’ve seen Belle Boyd’s home in Martinsburg. I’ve never been able to wrap my mind around how she could later marry a Union officer. Are you familiar with the story of Fannie Beers? It’s a really gritty insight into the field hospitals during the war, and she exhibits a loyalty and fortitude such as I don’t see anywhere today.
https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/07/fannie-beers.html
It’s been quite some time since I last opened her book, but my recollection is that she and the young officer met after she was captured by his boat while trying to run the blockade and escape to Europe, and that it was a mutual and irrepressible “love at first sight” kind of thing. He later spent time as a prisoner in one of the ‘American Bastilles’ mentioned in article as I recall; in Ohio I think, but I could be wrong about its location. My recollection is that Miss Boyd paints her husband’s ‘loyalty to the Union’ as half-hearted at best.
I was not. I thank you for mentioning Mrs. Beers, and for providing the link to the article about her. From whence I learned the name of her memoirs, and was pleasantly surprised to find available for free download on Amazon Prime. I of course promptly downloaded her book, and read the introduction. I’ll read the rest as time and opportunity permits.
Thanks for the informative comments, Sir.
By the way, on your recommendation I just finished Kaufman’s ‘Germany Must Perish’. My impression may be summed up by remarking that he was a good and true disciple of Lenin:
“Lenin repeatedly advised his followers to accuse their opponents of the crimes they themselves were planning, in order to protect themselves and confuse the public.” p. 128. -James True, ‘Industrial Control Report’, August 22, 1936.
Ernest Elmhurst, ‘The World Hoax’ (1938)
Exactly. The author engages in what we today often refer to as “projection,” in explaining the basis for his “final solution” to the GQ. Can you imagine what the consequences would be today if we (or even discerning people in his day) published a similar “final solution” to the JQ as Kaufman proposed for the GQ in his book? They should have strung his sorry ass up and tarred and feathered him for publishing such ideas. That this did not happen to him is pretty telling about the general state of “American” society at that time.
Yes! The copy I read included (under the same cover) the superb rebuttal by Wolfgang Diewerge. Never have ‘the chosen’ and their devices been better exposed.
The War Goal of World Plutocracy – Wolfgang Diewerge
https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/kriegsziel.htm
Calvin adds:
“But why does he say that it was from the Jews when it was rather deposited with them? [Was it] that they alone might enjoy it? He alludes, in my opinion, to what had been predicted by the Prophets, that the Law would go forth from Zion, (Is. 2:3, Micah 4:2), for they were separated for a time from the rest of the nations on the express condition that the pure knowledge of God should flow out from them to the whole world.
It ought to be observed that the Jews, when they had treacherously set aside the covenant of eternal life which God had made with their fathers, were deprived of the treasure which they had till that time enjoyed; for they had not yet been driven out of the Church of God. Now that they deny the Son, they have nothing in common with the Father; for whosoever denieth the Son hath not the Father, (1 John 2:23, 5:23, John 5:23, 15:23)”.
John Calvin, ‘Commentary on John 4:22’
We’re on the same page, brother! Why, only yesterday, I linked back to Prof. Bitwerth’s German Propaganda Archive pages under another article at a different site. See here:
https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/i-read-the-bad-books-for-you-protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion-section-1/#comment-166541
P.S.: I was working from memory when I mentioned to Prof. Smith the existence on the pages in question of the essay dealing with the PLEZ, but went back and found the essay and read it again in full for the first time in the several years that have passed since I read it the first time. It’s very good, albeit lengthy. Here is the link:
https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/protocols.htm
Thanks for these links! I’ll check them out. I love discovering historical truth and finding confirmation of those words attributed to Napoleon that “History is that collection of lies agreed upon.”
I like this, and expect one a month, into eternity.
I don’t know about “into eternity,” but you will definitely get one for every month this year, ‘if it harelips the gov’ in writing them. I’ve decided to write these at least a month in advance throughout this year, in accordance with my determination to fulfill the dictates of one aspect of my New Year Resolution. As such, I have the February edition already written; I’m just sitting on it until the calendar flips to the upcoming month before I submit it for publication.
Thanks, as always, for the encouraging comments, Sir.