Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library

By Michelle Shocklee

A few weeks ago, hubby and I drove down to Biloxi, Mississippi for a long weekend with our two grown sons, who drove in from Texas. We weren't able to see them for Christmas, so I was truly looking forward to some quality time with my kiddos. Before we left town, however, people kept asking, "Are you going to Biloxi to gamble at the casinos?" What?! Quite honestly, we didn't know there were casinos down there, nor did we have any interest in losing our hard-earned money. We simply wanted a beach getaway weekend with our boys. It was wonderful!

But casinos weren't the only unexpected site awaiting us. As history geeks, we enjoy visiting old houses, museums, and such, so you can imagine our 'geek radar' going off as we drove past an old white house, gleaming in the Mississippi sunshine. I read the sign out front --- Beauvoir --- and quickly Googled it. Was I ever shocked to discover who had once lived there!

Beauvoir; photo Wikipedia

Now, before I get into the history of Beauvoir, I have to clarify something. My great-grandfather fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. I'm immensely proud of that fact. As an author of historical fiction that deals with the evils of slavery, you can be assured this post is not meant to honor anyone associated with the Confederacy. It's simply to share about an historic and interesting place we visited while on vacation.

Hubby and eldest son at Beauvoir

Beauvoir, which means "beautiful view," was built in the mid-1800s by James Brown, a prosperous planter from Madison County, Mississippi, who wanted a summer home for his family. Because of its location on the beach facing the Gulf of Mexico, the house was built as a raised cottage, meaning its foundation is placed on massive pillars, not flat on the ground, allowing flood waters to flow through the ground level. With wide porches all around, high ceilings, and big windows, Beauvoir was designed to welcome cooling breezes from the gulf in the days before air-conditioning. With only eight rooms, Beauvoir has a simple floor plan, with some of the bedrooms being accessed from porches instead of hallways. In addition to the main house, Brown constructed two smaller cottages in what is now the front yard and some service buildings in the back, such as a fine brick kitchen. The Brown family owned Beauvoir for about twenty-five years.

Sarah Ellis Dorsey

In 1873, Sarah Ellis Dorsey, a famous and wealthy author from Natchez, Mississippi, bought the house and christened it Beauvoir. After her husband's death in 1875, the widow invited former Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was ill and nearly bankrupt, to visit the plantation. She offered him a cottage called the Pavilion near the main house, where he could live and work on his autobiography, "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government." He ended up living at Beauvoir the rest of his life. In 1878, Sarah, ill with cancer, remade her will, bequeathing her entire estate, including Beauvoir, to Jefferson Davis, making his youngest daughter, Varina Anne Davis, known as "Winnie," the heir after her father died. Sarah died in July 1879. Some records indicate Jefferson Davis offered to buy Beauvoir for $5,500, making at least one payment before Sarah passed.

Jefferson Davis' political and military life prior to the Civil War was varied. He was a graduate of West Point, a hero in the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican-American War, and a senator from Mississippi. When Davis served in Washington, he helped get the Smithsonian Institution up and running after the founder, James Smithson, died. In his private life, he was a married father of several children. In 1860, he owned 113 slaves who worked at his plantation, Brierfield. In the months before the Civil War, Davis resigned from the Senate and was selected as president of the Confederacy. When the war ended, he was charged with treason and, although he was never tried or convicted, he lost the right to run for public office.

Following the death of Jefferson Davis, the home passed to his daughter, Winnie. Winnie, however, wasn't interested in caring for a large house in Mississippi, and instead moved to New York. When Winnie passed away at the age of 34, Davis' widow, Varina Howell Davis, inherited. In her will, she expressed her wish that Beauvoir be turned into a retirement home for Confederate soldiers. Her wishes were granted, and hundreds of veterans and some Confederate widows moved in, living in barracks constructed for them. A hospital, dining room, and chapel were also added. In 1953, the home became a museum.

In 1998, the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library opened. Inside is an auditorium showing a film about Davis, a large museum that highlights his long and eventful life, and a library for research. Some of his own books are available for viewing.

Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum

All in all, our visit to Beauvoir was interesting. We may not agree with the choices Jefferson Davis made before, during, or after the Civil War, but he will always be a historical figure in American history. 

Your turn: Have you ever visited Beauvoir? What are you thoughts on it?

Michelle Shocklee is the award-winning author of The Planter's Daughter and The Widow of Rose Hill, historical sagas set on a Texas cotton plantation before and after the Civil War. Her time-slip novel set in Nashville will release in September 2020 from Tyndale House Publishers. Michelle and her husband of 32 years make their home in Tennessee. Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com.





THE WIDOW OF ROSE HILL

Widowed during the war, Natalie Ellis finds herself solely responsible for Rose Hill plantation. When

Union troops arrive with a proclamation freeing the slaves, all seems lost. In order to save her son’s inheritance she strikes a deal with the arrogant, albeit handsome, Colonel Maish. In exchange for use of her family’s property, the army will provide workers to bring in her cotton crop. But as her admiration for the colonel grows, a shocking secret is uncovered. Can she trust him with her heart and her young, fatherless son?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078CN65FH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Elmira Civil War Memorial Rendezvous and Prison Camp

original building plus barracks replica under construction 2017

This past month, on June 9, 2018, I spent some time exploring history from 154 years ago, right in my own hometown. Elmira lies in upstate New York, right on the border of Pennsylvania, smack dab in the middle of the Twin Tiers. It is the county seat for Chemung County, where approximately 85,000 people live. It is a city in transition from a past manufacturing town to rediscovering itself as a history hub and tourist destination. And history it has, aplenty. I have written previous posts on some if its claims to fame, including its Underground Railroad activity, a post about John W. Jones--a male Harriet Tubman figure, and Rachel Gleason, the fourth woman in the U.S. to get her MD. Elmira was also the home to the first college to offer women a baccalaureate degree equal to men's. Nearby was the site of a major Revolutionary War battle, the Battle of Newtown, where Continental Army General Sullivan defeated Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant and his allied British forces. Mark Twain resided in Elmira, writing several of his works here including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 

barracks replica completed 2018

But the focus on this sultry late spring afternoon near the banks of the Chemung River was the Civil War prison camp which had housed over 12,000 Confederates from July 6, 1864 until mustering out after the end of the war. On this day last month, a replica of one of the barracks was dedicated, and the public was invited to partake in the efforts of dedicated history lovers who have gone to great efforts to preserve this important chapter of our country's story. 

miniature model of barracks

interior of barracks showing sleeping bunks

Construction of the memorial site began in 2016 when private citizens purchased a piece of property near where the original prison camp footprint had been. At the beginning of the Civil War, acreage along the banks of the Chemung River, leased by the Federal government from a gentleman by the name of Foster, had been designated as one of three barracks in Elmira used for a recruiting and training ground for new soldiers. Elmira was only one of three recruiting rendezvous in the state due to its railroad connections. In 1864, when the War Department put an end to prisoner exchange, barracks number three was chosen to house the burgeoning prisoner of war population. Infamous for the highest death rates of any prison camp during the Civil War, Elmira had an overcrowding problem as well as rampant disease from a stagnant water issue at Foster's Pond. 

 Federal uniform coat and rifle

Interestingly, Mark Twain's father-in-law, the local businessman and erstwhile abolitionist Jervis Langdon, was commissioned to build the original barracks for the U. S government for $200 per building. The interior photos show the board and batten construction of the barracks, at 88' long and 12' high. Each bunk slept 2-3 prisoners, and there were two rows of bunks on each side, top and bottom. Wood burning stoves, two each barrack, were hardly sufficient to keep prisoners warm during the brutal winters. 

patron memorial brick walkway

At the conclusion of the war in 1865, the government's lease of Foster's land expired, and the buildings remaining were auctioned off. A local citizen had the foresight to preserve the wood from an original building purchased from the prison camp grounds, and it has remained in storage for these 154 years. In 2017 it was reconstructed, and the barracks replica started alongside, which is now complete. (see top photo, building on left with sliding barn door)

Also part of the memorial site, a garden has been planted, featuring the state flower from each of the eleven states in the Confederacy. North Carolina's Flowering Dogwood, South Carolina's Flowering Jasmine, and Alabama's Camellia grow here, to name a few. A memorial brick walkway, with the names of the patrons and friends, Lays alongside the garden. Plans are underway to provide a reading room with historical documents and other related literature at the nearby Foster House, which housed Union officers during the war.

Kathleen L. Maher has had an infatuation with books and fictional heroes ever since her preschool crush, Peter Rabbit. She has a novella releasing with BARBOUR in the 2018 Victorian Christmas Brides collection, featuring her hometown of Elmira, New York. Her debut historical, Bachelor Buttons, blends her Irish heritage and love of the American Civil War. She won the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest in 2012. Kathleen shares an old farmhouse in upstate New York with her husband, children, and a small zoo of rescued animals.

Hero or Enemy?

Raphael Semmes beside the CSS Sumter

By Marilyn Turk

When I attended Louisiana State University, I often drove down Semmes Road, one of the main streets that ran through campus. But I wasn’t aware of who Semmes was until I researched blockade running for my book, Rebel Light. Much to my surprise, the man for whom the street was named, Raphael Harcourt Semmes,  was a colorful character and famous Confederate blockade runner, or to be exact, commerce raider, during the Civil War. But why would LSU name a road after him?

Raphael Semmes

Semmes was born in 1809 in Maryland.  By the age of 14, both his parents had died and he and his younger brother were taken in by their uncles. One of them owned a small merchant fleet which traveled to ports around the world. With that uncle’s influence and another uncle’s position as a senator, Raphael received a midshipman’s appointment to the US Navy.

Over the next four years, Semmes served on ships that sailed the Caribbean, the coast of South America, and the Mediterranean. During times of leave, he studied law. By the time he became a ship’s officer three years later, he had passed the bar. He opened a law practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he married Anne Elizabeth Spencer with whom he would have six children.

CSS Sumter

Semmes served in the Mexican War during 1846-48.  After the war, he moved his family to Mobile, Alabama, where once again, he practiced law while on shore. In 1851, he wrote a memoir, Service Afloat and Ashore in the Mexican War. In 1853, he was promoted to commander and the next year transferred to Washington, D.C., assigned as a lighthouse inspector for the Lighthouse Board.

As the political environment heated up in the country, Semmes took the side of states’ rights, and when Alabama seceded from the Union in 1861, Semmes resigned from the US Navy. Afterwards, he was contacted by Confederate president Jefferson Davis and soon became a commander of the Confederate Navy in charge of the Confederate Lighthouse Bureau. But Semmes had other ideas. He convinced the Confederate Secretary of the Navy to allow him to outfit a boat as a commerce raider to stymie the Union economy and counteract the effect of the Union blockade on Southern ports.

Semmes and his officers of the CSS Sumter

Semmes proved capable of his goal as he wreaked havoc on US merchant ships while commanding the CSS Sumter. For six months, Semmes pillaged through the Caribbean and across the Atlantic to Spain. His knowledge of the ocean, coastlines, weather and shipping lanes, combined with superb navigational skills, allowed him to find his targets and escape Union warships. When he retired the battered Sumter in Gibraltar, he assumed command of a newly built ship which became the CSS Alabama, from Confederate sympathizers in England.

The next two years, Semmes earned worldwide recognition for his destruction or capture of 65 Union ships, making him the most successful commerce raider in maritime history. Union newspapers called him a “pirate” and a “privateer,” both names Semmes rejected because he served as an officer in the Confederate Navy and was not acting for his own profit. When the Alabama was finally sunk in a battle with the USS Kearsarge in June 1864, Semmes’ raiding days were over, but he escaped capture and returned home to Mobile and his family.

Semmes home in Mobile, Alabama

He was promoted to rear admiral and also served briefly as brigadier general in the Confederate army, the only North American to have held such ranks in both the army and the navy simultaneously.

After the war, he was arrested for treason and held in jail for four months before being released.

So what does this have to do with LSU? Well, after the war, Raphael Semmes became a professor of literature and philosophy at the university.

Following his stint at LSU, he returned to law practice in Mobile. There he wrote his book, Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States, in 1869.

 

Statue of Raphael Semmes

Award-winning author Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coast – past and present. A multi-published author, she writes a lighthouse blog at http://marilynturk.com. Her latest release, Rebel Light, Book 1 in the Coastal Lights Legacy series, is now available along with A Gilded Curse, and Lighthouse Devotions on amazon.com.

Would you like to develop your writing skills? Marilyn is hosting a writers retreat March 22-25 at Blue Lake in southern Alabama. Whether you're just getting started or have been writing a while, this retreat will help you with your writing, inspire and motivate you. And right now, there's a "bring a friend" discount! Check it out at www.bluelakecwr.com.

OPULENT CASTLES AND HUMBLE HOMES - GIVEAWAY!

By Golden Keyes Parsons

I've always been fascinated with homes. I stare at tumbled-down homes and cabins in deserted fields as we travel and wonder about their past. Who lived there? What pieces of history transpired within the walls? Our youngest daughter and I took a trip to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales a few years ago. We visited every castle we could squeeze into the three weeks we were there--deserted castles, tourist castles, occupied castles. When my husband and I go on vacation, visiting historical homes is always on our agenda.

Creating a world for the reader is a daunting task for an author, and in my books, the homes of the characters seem to take on a life of their own. I rather believe that is because of my long-standing

interest in them. My first series was set in 17th century France and was based loosely on my family's flight from the religious persecution of the French Huguenots to this country. We started out at a manor in southern France, went to the opulence of Versailles, and ended up on a modest farm in Pennsylvania. 

It's always a challenge and an adventure to create a story around ones' characters and the places where they lived, tricky to describe the wooden staircase, the sun cascading through the windows. Oh, my, were glass windows in common use at that period in time? The fireplace--how did they light their fires? The kitchen--what did an oven look like in a chateau in Southern France in the 17th century? You get the idea. 

When it came to describing Versailles, I buried myself in books, videos, and movies about the most incredible castle in the world. Two of the books in the Darkness to Light series take place at the palace that nearly bankrupted France as Louis XIV became obsessed with the building of it. My husband and I wanted to go to France to personally visit it, but my husband's heart attack changed our plans. Someday, maybe. However, I walked the halls, rooms, and gardens of Versailles in my mind's eye and hope I conveyed them well in my books.

The final book in the series, Where Hearts Are Free, follows the Clewell family as they came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania. Their house is no longer standing, but the property is still beautiful farmland and the original parsonage of the church my ancestors helped establish still stands. Below is a sketch of the church when first established, and the parsonage, and church as it is today.

 My Civil War novel, His Steadfast Love, is set on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The story involves a southern gal whose brother fights for the Confederacy, but her sweetheart is a Union officer. There were no plantations as we typically picture them during the Civil War, but there were some awesome homes in that area. We did take a trip to the coast to look at those homes. The book is set in Indianola, which is no longer there after being destroyed by two hurricanes in the late 1800s, but some of the original homes had been moved to Victoria, TX, and were still standing. I found one online that I thought would fit the story perfectly

After some searching out at the historical society in Victoria, we located the house. The gentleman at the historical society office told us to see if anyone was home when we went by. He said the owners were very nice and could prove to be most helpful. We found the house, but alas, nobody was home.

I was salivating! The house, from the outside looked perfect, and I could imagine my characters moving up and down the stairs, the slaves cleaning the windows, the carriage pulling in front to take Miss Amanda to town. The next day was our last day in the area. I petitioned my husband and the couple we were with to go by the house one more time. We literally pulled the car over and prayed that we could find someone home. As we approached the house, a handsome older gentleman was in the front yard talking to yard men. My husband and I went to meet him, and he invited us in to see the house. It had been completely restored to its original status ... the flooring, the furnishings, the staircase. I gasped as we went in the front door. It was exactly as I had envisioned in my book.

 What a gift to be able to visit this wonderful home - the Huck-Welder historic house in Victoria, Texas. As you can see, I was pretty happy being able to do so.

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of the four novels involved in this Castles to Houses blog: In The Shadow of the Sun King, Prisoner of Versailles, Where Hearts Are Free or His Steadfast Love and walk through the houses I've described.

Although a multi-published fiction author, Golden Keyes Parsons’ latest published project is a non-fiction study for women, Spiritual Spring Cleaning, (BoldVision Books). Her series, Darkness to Light, (Thomas Nelson) chronicled the journey of her ancestors in 17^th century France and was a finalist for ACFW’s Debut Author of the Year in 2008. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, a Civil War novel, was a National Readers Choice finalist. Parsons has also written a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels (WhiteFire Publishing). Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine. www.goldenkeyesparsons.com

THE CIVIL WAR IN TEXAS - AND GIVEAWAYS!!

We have a new look! Isn't it awesome? To celebrate the occasion we are sponsoring a giveaway ... books, prizes and a $50 gift card. So leave a comment at the end of this article to enter. Now let's talk about the Civil War in Texas.


Most Texas residents preceding the Civil War came to the Lone Star State from the Deep South, families and plantations which had slaves. Therefore, understandably, their sympathies resided with the South.

Governor Sam Houston's loyalty, however, remained with the Union, and he refused to even call for a secession convention. Secessionists then called on county judges to hold elections for delegates, and they gathered in Austin to vote on secession. Governor Houston tried to block them at that point
by calling a special session of the legislature. That measure failed when the legislature discovered that many of its members had been elected delegates to the secession convention. They voted for secession 152-6

When the secessionists required all state officials who had sworn an oath of loyalty to the old state constitution to affirm their loyalty to the Confederate States, Sam Houston remained in his rocking chair and refused to do so. The convention declared the office of governor vacant and the Lt Gov Edward Clark became the new governor of Texas.

Here in Waco, on New Year's Day of 1861 before the convention in Austin, Governor Houston spoke strongly against secession and was run out of town. The sentiments of most Texans clearly lay with South. However, Governor Houston refused President-Elect Lincoln's offer to rally Federal forces to prevent Texas from leaving the Union. He declared he would not raise arms against his state. He could only stand by helplessly as his beloved Texas sent  between 60,000 - 70,000 off to fight for a lost cause.

Very few battles actually were fought on Texas soil. Those that did occur were along the Gulf Coast to try to prevent supplies from coming through. The Union attempted to occupy Galveston, but the Confederates took it back quickly and occupied for the remainder of the war. The Union decided they could control the blockade as well from New Orleans.

A small coastal town, Indianola, was also occupied by the Union Army. At the time of the war, it was the second largest port because of the deep waters off the coast.

The Battle of Sabine Pass as another attempt to enter Texas, however 5,000 Union troops and 17 ships were turned back by 42 Confederate artillerymen in the narrow pass.

The Red River campaign was another attempt to bring the Union transports up the Mississippi River, then the Red River. However the invasion was halted and turned back at the Battle of Mansfield.

The last battle of the war, Palmito Ranch, was actually fought after Lee's surrender in Virginia. Union troops got on Texas soil, but the war was over, and it was to no avail.

Read about the Civil War in Texas in my novel, His Steadfast Love. And don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway.

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest release is a compilation of four novellas (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and are avid sports fans of their alma mater, Baylor University. You can contact her at www.goldenkeyesparsons.com.

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THE SOUTHERN GENERAL

To summarize the career of Robert E Lee is impossible in a short blog. He has become the symbol of the Confederate States, of the South, with dignity and much admiration, despite the defeat of his Army.

Although his mother was from a wealthy family, he grew up in poverty due to his father's bad business decisions. Thinking a military career would be his way to success, he went to West Point and then married Mary Custis, a descendant of Martha Washington.

Lee's reputation as a brilliant military leader began during the Mexican American War. He led the raid on Harper's Ferry, and when the Civil War broke out, President Lincoln offered him the command of the Union Army. He felt he could not take up arms against his beloved Virginia, so, instead, became the General of the Confederate Army of Virginia. Although his armies were outnumbered, they managed to win many battles due to his courage and brilliant military strategy. General Lee soon became known as the "Grey Fox," because of the grey uniform he wore and the grey horse he rode (Traveller) ... and because of his shrewdness as a commander.

Despite the fact that he fought gallantly, the Southern forces were defeated because of the overwhelming numbers of the Union Army. He surrendered to General Ulysses S Grant at the Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865, amid great shows of respect from soldiers on both sides.

An interesting side note: After the war, General Lee was no longer considered a citizen of the United States. General Ford restored his citizenship in 1975 after papers were found professing his loyalty to the United States.

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishing) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest releases are ebooks (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. A print compilation of the four novellas released April 15^th, 2014. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor University. You can contact her at www.goldenkeyesparsons.com.

Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23263004@N07/2227712918/">Rogue_Hatchet</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/help/general/#147">cc</a>

A HOUSE DIVIDED

In 1861 the debates and philosophical differences over the question of slavery and states rights eventually moved out of the parlors and convention halls of our towns and became stark, bloody reality on the fields and in the woods of our country. The country went to war, and our nation was so divided that brother fought against brother, cousin against cousin, and even in some instances father against son as the Civil War raged.

The division even invaded the White House. Mary Todd Lincoln's three sisters were married to Confederate officers, and it was rumored that her sympathies lay with the South instead of with the Union. Formal charges were about to be made until President Lincoln himself intervened.

In my Civil War novel, His Steadfast Love, the heroine, a Texas young woman, falls in love with a Union

officer before the war. When the conflict begins her brother joins the Confederacy, and she is torn between two men she loves. They actually meet at the Battle of Shiloh. This scenario was repeated many times in real life.

A West Point artillery instructor had a brilliant student that, against tradition, he kept as an assistant because he had so much admiration for him. As it turned out, the student commanded the Union forces which fired on Fort Sumter, and the instructor was the commander of the Fort.

Thousands of men switched sides during the war, most of them by desertion, but some formally resigned and went to the other side. Captain Frank C. Armstrong of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry fought first at Bull Run for the North, resigned the next month and went south to become a brigadier general for the Confederacy.

When Confederate forces regained Galveston, the general who took Confederate soldiers aboard the Union ship in the harbor to claim it found a young Federal lieutenant on the deck dying. It was his own son.

On a farm in Pennsylvania not far from Gettysburg, the father defended the homestead, while one son fought in the surrounding woods for the North and the other for the South. *

*From The Civil War, Strange & Fascinating Facts, Burke Davis, Fairfax Publishing, 1982)

Until I did the research for my novel, I really did not have a good understanding of what devastation our nation experienced during this awful war. May nothing like this ever happen again in the United States of America.

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishing) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest releases are ebooks (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor University. You can contact her at www.goldenkeyesparsons.com.

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC (Civil War)

Antietam

 "I don't see how we could have an army without music." 

Robert E Lee

Music played an integral part of the Civil War, whether drumming cadence as soldiers went into battle, bugling commands or the men themselves simply singing a favorite of both the Confederates and the Union forces, Home! Sweet Home!

Both sides had brass bands to accompany their battles. Musicians earned more money than the privates in the beginning of the war, but as the war waged on, many of the those musicians were needed more to carry a rifle rather than a bugle and the ranks of musicians began to be filled with young boys. One of the youngest was twelve-year-old Johnny Clem also known as Johnny Shiloh. 

Many well-known songs were written and/or popularized during the Civil War such as, Dixie (one of Abraham Lincoln's favorites, interestingly enough), Battle Hymn of the Republic, When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again and Taps which is still played at military funerals today. President Lincoln declared Dixie to be Federal property after the war was over so that the Confederates would be free once again to sing it. It is reported that the survivors of the disastrous Pickett's Charge returned singing Nearer My God to Thee.

Music served as an oasis of peace for the men as well. Many instances are cited where the men on opposing sides joined in singing a hymn or listened to first one side's band and then the other, then resumed the fighting once the "concert" was over. At Fredericksburg, VA, in the winter of 1862-1863 the Union band and Southern band responded back and forth, trading their respective patriotic songs, then ended with both sides joining in singing Home! Sweet Home! culminating with cheers from all of the men.

All wars have had their music, but the Civil War left a legacy of music behind like no other war. Many modern singers have picked up some of the popular songs of that terrible time in our country and recorded them ... Elvis Presley being the most prominent. Somehow those songs have lingered in the memories of the American people perhaps more than any other. The singing and playing of Dixie and The Battle Hymn of the Republic still stir the hearts of Americans today ... not in division, but in unity.

Would love for you to consider reading my Civil War novel, set in Texas, His Steadfast Love. And please visit my web site at www.goldenkeyesparsons.com

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishing) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest releases are ebooks (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor University. 

 

WHICH WAR WAS THAT?

A friend of mine gave my Civil War novel to an acquaintance to read. The book is about a Southern young woman who falls in love with a Union officer before the war starts. Her heart and devotion are torn between him and her loyalties to the South, especially when her brother marches off to fight for the Confederacy. The comment from her very Southern acquaintance was, "Ah liked the book, but Ah just don't think a Southun girl would fall in lo-uv with a Union officuh."

Really! This remark from a Southern lady, even in 2013, displays what a gulf there was between the Northern and Southern perceptions of the war--even to what the two sides called the War. Burke Davis, in his book, The Civil War, Strange & Fascinating Facts, lists some of the names that mostly the South adopted, grasping in their defeat to express their ardor and, indeed defiance. Here are a few of them:

The War for Constitutional Liberty

The War for Southern Independence 

The Second American Revolution

The War for States' Rights

Mr. Lincoln's War

The Southern Rebellion 

The War for Southern Rights

The War of the Southern Planters

The War of the Rebellion

The Second War for Independence

The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance

The Brothers' War

The War of Secession

The Great Rebellion

The War for Nationality 

The War for Southern Nationality

The War Against Slavery

The Civil War Between the States

The War Against Northern Aggression

The Yankee Invasion

The War for Separation

The War for Abolition

The War for the Union

The Confederate War

The War for Southern Freedom

The War of the North and South

And lastly, The Late Unpleasantness. 

Whew! Some of those names for the Civil War I had heard. Most I had not. By whatever name one wishes to call that terrible conflict, it was devastating to our country--particularly to the South. We are all grateful, I am sure, that the Union prevailed. If they had not, we would probably be a divided country today. But for the purposes of this post, I think it is interesting how differently the two sides viewed the war, even to what they called it. And some of those disparities remain even to this present day.

Golden Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishing) chronicled the journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17^th century France. Her fourth novel, His Steadfast Love, is a Civil War novel set in Texas. Her latest releases are ebooks (WhiteFire Publishing) – a biblical fiction series entitled Hidden Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor University. You can contact her at                                                      www.goldenkeyesparsons.com.