Our Ancestors

[sussexmuzllodr]

My GG Uncle was in The Ny Volunteers...Simple as that. I cannot possibly think through his eyes as he was long gone before me. I like most am proud of the lineage connected to him but it has to stop there. In these modern times they ALL must be remembered for their sacrifices...on both sides right wrong or indifferent. Regardless of what they believed in. When I move South I am certainly not going to bring any modern day beliefs with me as far as modern day Politics and what goes with it. All I know under current circumstances is that everything is under fire now...each and every one of us. The smart ones ignore what happened 157 years ago and concentrate whats before our eyes....best SM

 

[1950DAVE]

Like an old man in our neighborhood used to say, years ago, " Hit don't make no mind anyhow",
Dave

 

[Celticstoneman]

My GG Uncle was in The Ny Volunteers...Simple as that. I cannot possibly think through his eyes as he was long gone before me. I like most am proud of the lineage connected to him but it has to stop there. In these modern times they ALL must be remembered for their sacrifices...on both sides right wrong or indifferent. Regardless of what they believed in. When I move South I am certainly not going to bring any modern day beliefs with me as far as modern day Politics and what goes with it. All I know under current circumstances is that everything is under fire now...each and every one of us. The smart ones ignore what happened 157 years ago and concentrate whats before our eyes....best SM

I understand what you are driving at. Plain and simple.
With that said ,I would like folks to experiment. Go to ancestry.com ,spit in the tube and be prepared to be shocked. If you build a deep enough tree most of you will find, like I did, that we have ancestors that were wearing Blue as well as ancestors that were wearing Gray.

 

[tenngun]

Louis L’amore wrote ask a man where he came from and he will tell you where his ancestors live some time ago, forgetting they moved there from somewhere else.
None of us are a pure anything.
I had ancestors on both sides. I’m not ashamed of anyone, and in fact proud. We are all descended from survivors in a world that killed more then let live. Whom ever your ancestors were they were among the best of their generation.

 

[1950DAVE]

I had an ancestor who lives in the Free State of Winston,(look it up), another who was conscripted by Union and Confederate both , deserted both and managed to hide out for the remainder of the war. Another played both sides as best he could to save his hide. None to my knowledge served with distinction. No tales of glory in this family, no Sons of the Confederacy. Forget it, look ahead, move on. The farther we progress from the past the dimmer it should become. That is unless you keep stoking the flames of hatred.
Dave

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database is a great resource.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Great great grandfather 7 th Md. His brother served at Ft. Thayer one of the defense forts around Washington D.C. have a copy of a letter he wrote to his brother when at bolivar heights WVA. about conditions and assumptions right after Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation interesting read and surly would not stand up to todays political censoring. wifes great great grandfather Potomac home guard. Big split on my side of the tree prior to the conflict I have heard long ago one of my great uncles was confederate but could never find any info. As tenngun wrote hell no I am not ashamed of my relatives I come from a long line of military men that served in most of this nations conflicts me included, when we heard the call we went.

 

[kyle_kalasnik]

I have a few direct ancestors that served in the Civil War, 3 for the Union and 1 for the Confederacy

I do not belong to any organizations that honor their service, but I am proud of their service.

They served for what they believed was right, or perhaps a bounty, maybe because of peer pressure, 1 was even drafted into the Union Army.

I also have some direct ancestors that also served in the American Revolution and War of 1812, WWII, and Vietnam. Which I am proud of as well.

I love American History, and Genealogy, but that was their service, and I cannot live vicariously through it. And I shouldn’t or anyone for that matter, be held accountable for the “sins” of my parents.

Although the PC police would insist on shaming us for it and then just rewrite the history, it is history and you can’t change it, instead learn from it.

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik

 

[tenngun]

Many on both sides fought because they were afraid not to. There was no worse thing then to be thought a coward.
With the beginning of the wars the girls joined in advertising the need to join up.
To not join was unmanly. How could you face your family, how could you look at a girl, how could you walk down the street.
Then too many joined to see the elephant. It was all going to a fun and grand adventure. You would regret it your whole life if you didn’t go.
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they we not here
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispins day.
Sans a war story of your own to tell what could you do if you didn’t go.
North or south soldiers faced an enormous amount of peer pressure to go.

 

[Notchy Bob]

If you look at a map of Civil War battlefields, you'll see that the majority of them are in the south. I think a lot of southern boys, who really had no other stake in the conflict, joined because the war was coming to them.

In my south Alabama family, there was a man who was related by marriage (so not a direct ancestor of mine) who was hanged by the local Home Guard for not going to war. He evidently had a deferment of some sort, and either didn't have the paperwork with him, or the Home Guard discounted it. They just hanged him from a tree in the woods. The Home Guard as depicted in the book and movie, Cold Mountain, really existed. So, I think a lot of fellows joined the Confederate army because they felt they had no choice.

It was a terrible time.

In the oral history of my family, however, the period of the Reconstruction was really more difficult than the war itself. The Federal troops of occupation confiscated guns, livestock, farm produce, and anything else they wanted. People went hungry, and many were left with nothing.

In the aftermath of the war, there was also a worldwide economic depression starting, I believe, in 1873. People had no money and could not get work. PTSD is not a new phenomenon, either... They called it "soldier's heart." So, there were a great many veterans on both sides, but possibly especially in the south, who were struggling with the traumatic effects of the war as well as loss of property and inability to find employment. The post-war years were a terrible time, as well.

Notchy Bob

 

[dave951]

Having had enough ancestors in the CSA to form my own platoon, being from Richmond and having relative who were mucky mucks in the UDC, I have this to say.

Attitudes on both sides then were very, very different than today. Even the most fervent abolitionist would be branded a biggoted, sexist, racist today. From my studies from first person sources for learning more to make a correct reenacting impression, I found that the average person didn't own slaves, didn't care about abolition, and often hated Irish people more than slaves. With that in mind, the cost of a slave was quite high, think prohibitively expensive for the average person. It was much less expensive to have kids to work the farm. The guys with the slaves and plantations were the "aristocracy" of the Old South and as such few in number. They were the Conagra corporate farms of the day, hence the saying "rich man's war but a poor man's fight".

I have no illusions regarding who was right or wrong back then, just that there is blame enough to spread around. The average man was caught up in events he could not control and when the war came to his state, it was his duty to defend home and hearth. Not signing up was seen as a sign of cowardice in the face of a threat to home and kin. Showing the white feather in battle was just as bad.

Moving forward to today, the idea of destroying monuments is not a good thing. If you aren't reminded of the past, both good and bad, it's said you're more likely to repeat it.

 

[tenngun]

I picture much of the country and especially the south as America on 6 dec 1941. They did not want war, didnt care if Japanese were killing Chinese and didn’t care about getting in to a European war.
Then came 7 dec, on 8 dec the recruitment stations were over flowing.
Most farm boys north and south were too busy with life to worry much about the news, but when war broke out it got ‘their dander up’ and off in to the smoke they charged

 

[3 trees]

I have a few direct ancestors that served in the Civil War, 3 for the Union and 1 for the Confederacy

I do not belong to any organizations that honor their service, but I am proud of their service.

They served for what they believed was right, or perhaps a bounty, maybe because of peer pressure, 1 was even drafted into the Union Army.

I also have some direct ancestors that also served in the American Revolution and War of 1812, WWII, and Vietnam. Which I am proud of as well.

I love American History, and Genealogy, but that was their service, and I cannot live vicariously through it. And I shouldn’t or anyone for that matter, be held accountable for the “sins” of my parents.

Although the PC police would insist on shaming us for it and then just rewrite the history, it is history and you can’t change it, instead learn from it.

Respectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik

Klyle
As a history teacher I have to say you stated the point that history is important and shouldn’t be changed to agree with someone’s point of view.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Now all we have to do is convince those who whish to strip the history from the books. I believe Lincoln said the country will fall apart from it leaders wise man.

 

[Zonie]

Let's stay on topic and not get into discussions about modern people trying to erase or change history. I don't want to have to start deleting posts here.

 

[stephenprops1]

If you look at a map of Civil War battlefields, you'll see that the majority of them are in the south. I think a lot of southern boys, who really had no other stake in the conflict, joined because the war was coming to them.

In my south Alabama family, there was a man who was related by marriage (so not a direct ancestor of mine) who was hanged by the local Home Guard for not going to war. He evidently had a deferment of some sort, and either didn't have the paperwork with him, or the Home Guard discounted it. They just hanged him from a tree in the woods. The Home Guard as depicted in the book and movie, Cold Mountain, really existed. So, I think a lot of fellows joined the Confederate army because they felt they had no choice.

It was a terrible time.

In the oral history of my family, however, the period of the Reconstruction was really more difficult than the war itself. The Federal troops of occupation confiscated guns, livestock, farm produce, and anything else they wanted. People went hungry, and many were left with nothing.

In the aftermath of the war, there was also a worldwide economic depression starting, I believe, in 1873. People had no money and could not get work. PTSD is not a new phenomenon, either... They called it "soldier's heart." So, there were a great many veterans on both sides, but possibly especially in the south, who were struggling with the traumatic effects of the war as well as loss of property and inability to find employment. The post-war years were a terrible time, as well.

Notchy Bob

On my paternal family side there were 35 members that fought for the Confederacy. 14 of them died. There were 3 in the Union Army, my great-great-great grandfather and his two sons, one of which was my great-great grandfather. ---- After the Civil War one of my Confederate veterans packed up his family and left Virginia. He moved to Iowa because of how oppressed he was by the carpet-baggers. He was able to build a new life out there. I am sure many Confederate veterans did a similar thing to escape Norther oppression.