Was the home guard really that mean?

[squib load]

Hi,Iam digging out my copy of cold mountain and watch it again.I remember that the home guard really gave those settlers a bad time.I guess with all the men gone,they could pull that kinda stuff.thanks,Squib

 

[pargent]

One of their jobs was rounding up deserters, in the context of the movie they were portrayed as the bad guys, where as in reality they were doing a sterling job ,most people see deserters as a bit low even now days , however one must remember most in the arts and entertainment industry are a bit lefty ( some are not ).

 

[tenngun]

power corrupts,.there were slave beaters big fish in litle ponds ect. Cold mountian was mostly an antisouth book,its discriptions were out of the ordinary.Good guys dont make for fun reading Auter Clark siad the newspapers in utopia woud be a bore.

 

[crockett]

I thought the Confederacy had a draft just like the North. I thought they spent most of their time looking for draft dodgers. The hills (Blue Ridge) had a lot of folks with divided loyalties.

 

[Cowboy2]

I wouldn't lend it much credence, but it certainly mattered where you were. The Home Guard in central NC wasn't the same thing as in East TN. There, and in Missouri, the politics and loyalties were much muddier, and things quickly descended into a civil war within the larger conflict. Champ Ferguson and Jack Hinson are worth reading up on (as is Woe to Live On- the book Ride with the Devil is based on)- they epitomize how fast and vicious things could turn when you're dealing with new and old blood feuds and political loyalties in the midst of the biggest war the New World had ever seen.
Personally, the I thought the HG got a bad rap in the book. Most of them weren't tyrants, they were regular, decent, guys who either physically weren't up to regular service or had jobs/responsibilities on the homefront that precluded a more active service. In most places, they were just trying to keep order and send deserters back. Given that they were human, and recruited from the human race, I don't doubt but that there were plenty of shitheels and bullies in the mix, but no more than is common than you run into with any group of 10 or more people.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Agreed. A mix of folks and lack of regular authority permitted feuds to boil over in places.

Look a few years later at the number of Marshals and Sheriffs that spent time on both sides of the law. How rancher feuds erupted in the SW and each side having their own LEO's. Town Marshal, vs County Sheriff vs US Marshal, etc. There were honorable men and cut throats trying to keep the peace. There is still a sort of home guard in Virginia. The Virginia Defense Forces, established by the state. They can not be called up by the feds. It is their responsibility to man the armories and to assist the keeping of order when the National Guard is deployed. They do have some limited training. A VDF recruiter indicated with my graduate degree, I would be commissioned as a major. It just didn't seem right so I passed. I later found out it was legit.

 

[mudd turtle]

You have to understand the political attitude of folks from that area of North Carolina and Tenn. Many familes were split because of the war and would fight each other in fueds. My Great Grand father was born in those mountains and he and most of his brothers fought for the South. Great Grand Pa got cought visiting his familey by some of thos folks but was able to get back to his unit with only the loss of his rank of corprol. Survived the war.and moved to Alabama.

 

[sumoj275]

I know here in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri it was a lot of politics involved with who controlled the area week to week. Many of the feuds and problems before carried over into the War of Northern Aggression. After the War of Northern Aggression many of the hard feelings and feuds continued into everyday life causing some to head west. Like mentioned, depending on which side you were on dealt your views of the men who were doing a job.