I wasn’t going to write anything this week, as I am on vacation with my siblings at our childhood home, a beautiful coastal Carolina village rich in Southern history. However, the despotic editors of Identity Dixie have compelled me into a submission, and I am the better man for it. We must always be concerned with the goal, we may rest when we are free, when the inheritors of our labor will assume the work of staying free, but until then, we must press forward.
I’m presently listening through the masterful work of one Mr. Shelby Foote, and his sobering chronicles of our Second War for Independence. The only disappointment, besides the end of the book and a pause in our struggle, is that the narration is not in the beautifully Southern voice of the author. Although, it is adequately narrated, and I would recommend a listening for those that spend large quantities of time commuting (the first book being 38 hours).
What I’ve gleaned so far, listening as if I had never read a book on the conflict, is a tale that is so common among men. There are men of action, men that are paralyzed with inaction for fear of losing and being blamed for that loss, and there are men that strategize and patiently wait for the right moment to unleash fury on their enemies. Both the first and the third are precisely the type of men that achieve their objectives, while the one who languishes in the middle is of no use.
In the heat of the Battle of First Manassas, the Yankees were fleeing the field, their lines broken, the onlookers from Washington were in a panic, and Jefferson Davis encountered “Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson was energized and begging for ten thousand soldiers to crush the invaders at that very moment, and Davis was encouraged by this man of action. However, his superiors, Johnston and Beauregard, chose not to press the fight, deciding that their men were too tired and unfed to assure victory.
In the West, after a massive victory at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, Grant’s ironclad river boat fleet was severely damaged from the pinpoint gunnery of the Southern defenders, and his ground forces repelled; three of the four Confederate commanders chose delay, in argument over whether to pursue. However, Nathan Bedford Forrest, a man bent only on victory, pressed to pursue Grant as he laid back on his heels. Delay allowed the advantage to be lost, and the Confederates turned victory into defeat, losing twelve thousand men to be captured, along with the fort. Forrest, having no patients for surrender, moved to Nashville unhindered by Union forces. And upon arrival, managed the logistics, moving all the supplies for the Confederate Army to safer locations, with the surrender of the city a fait accompli. This man of action saved the Southern Army in the West.
With the conversation on a “National Divorce” hot in the press, and on the lips of millions of Americans, we must press our advantage. Those that tightly grasp to power are feeling the pressure of the zeitgeist moving in our direction. Now is the time for men and women of action. Talk to your family, engage your friends, and get in the ears of your neighbors. There is no shortage of good news, be informed, and spread the gospel of state sovereignty to ever opening ears.
Deo Vindice!
God save the South!
Service to God and honor to the South.
“The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form.”
Exactly! And now is that time.
We could definitely use some Nathan Bedford Forrest types now.
If you are not already aware, you can hear Mr. Foote narrating two sections of his 3 volume series.
The Gettysburg campaign – “Stars in their courses”
and the Vicksburg campaign – “Beleaguered City”
I have not found a physical CD version of these recordings, only cassette tape. Stars in their courses was on youtube at one time.
I was not, thank you.