Thursday night, we were winding down in the hotel—the kids were taking turns in the restroom, getting their showers, brushing teeth, etc. Eli got frustrated with his twin, and exclaimed, “Geez, Emma. You are slower than molasses.” He paused a moment, then said, “I really don’t know who this ‘Molasses’ is, but I guess thatContinue reading “Mo Would Not Make It to the Gettysburg Address”
Tag Archives: Civil War
The Real Winner of the Battle of Antietam
On Thursday, I took the cousins and Graham to the Antietam National Battlefield, and oh boy. Before we went, I looked up some family ancestry. We picked someone from the Laws family tree and someone from the Settle family tree. Eli’s job was to learn all he could about Charles Foster Settle and the 5thContinue reading “The Real Winner of the Battle of Antietam”
Benjamin Franklin Carter, Henry Johnson, and the Stories We Tell
I like to spend Sundays doing historical and family history research. I made a kind of big find this past Sunday, so that is the thrust of this post. It’s longer than most and off topic of mildly humorous family incidents. But it is family—Benjamin Franklin Carter is a distant cousin, as is his wife.Continue reading “Benjamin Franklin Carter, Henry Johnson, and the Stories We Tell”
Try Reading Some Signs Now and Again
We went to Pennsylvania for the weekend to see Lindsay at a wrestling tournament and Grant at his football banquet. On the way we listened to the podcast Ghost Story, which focused on the long-ago murder of Naomi Dancy and the alleged suicide of her brother Morris. A historian who had researched Naomi’s husband JohnContinue reading “Try Reading Some Signs Now and Again”
Say Hi, Robert
They were back in Southern territory, and word was that the enemy was on the other side of these woods. It was spring, and the day had started cool but ended warm. Will was coated in sweat in the late afternoon when orders came to halt their march and set up camp for the night.Continue reading “Say Hi, Robert”
April Is the Cruelest Month
He was raised in the home of Master Baker Boswell DeGraffenried and only knew himself as Hank. His mother was a housemaid to Mrs. DeGraffenried, and she went by Ginnie. It wasn’t until he was nearly ten that he heard a field hand call her “Virginia,” and he said, “Why does he call you that,Continue reading “April Is the Cruelest Month”
The Ballad of Johnny Mather Sloan
[Sing to the tune of the “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”] Young Johnny Mather Sloan Lived on the Texas range. Stole a horse when six years old; His brother thought him strange. Y’all never heard the tale of the boy soldier from the heart of Texas. Damn shame. That boy and his story are asContinue reading “The Ballad of Johnny Mather Sloan”
Angel Glow
As the light faded, so did the sound of artillery, and the musket fire was only sporadic. The sounds they had been masking all day now pierced the night–the moans, howls, screams, and curses. The man was sitting up against a tree, his left thigh useless from a wound, his right shoulder blade also immobileContinue reading “Angel Glow”
Chronicling the Dead
I have lately finished the excellent Kate: The Journal of a Confederate Nurse by Scotch-born and Alabama-bred Kate Cummings. I’ve marveled at her religiosity, fearlessness in going into the worst of the hospital scenes, compassion for the wounded, and her self-delusions at the righteousness of the Southern cause and the wickedness of the Northern cause.Continue reading “Chronicling the Dead”
I’m a Sailor Peg
They have just passed a parking lot on the Spotsylvania Battlefield history trail. There is a clear trail to the right just on the other side of the placards at this stop, so they follow it. It goes for a quarter mile and ends at a busy road. “This isn’t right,” says the man. “WeContinue reading “I’m a Sailor Peg”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 