Day 32. April 1, 1862.

April Quotes:

Henry James: We talk of the provincial, but the provinciality projected by the Confederate dream, and in which it proposed to steep the whole helpless social mass, looks to our present eyes as artlessly perverse, as untouchable by any intellectual tradition of beauty or wit, as some exhibited array of the odd utensils or divinities of lone and primitive islanders.

James– If the confederacy had raised proportionately as many soldiers as the postwar South raised monuments, the Confederates might have won the war –McPherson. The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture Edited by Alice Fahs and Joan Waugh P. 64

R.E. Lee: It will be difficult to get the world to understand the odds against which we fought.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson: If this Valley is lost, Virginia is lost.

Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years Carl Sandburg 1954 P. 733

Leo Tolstoy: Lincoln was… a Christ in miniature, a saint of humanity whose name will live thousands of years in the legends of future generations. We are still too near his greatness, and so can hardly appreciate his divine power; but after a few centuries more our posterity will find him considerably bigger than we do.

Napoleon: What is history but a fable agreed upon.

Edward Ayers: The Civil War is so much larger than we ever imagine.

32

branded on the right cheek….

April Tuesday 1^st 1862

It was quite a pleasant morning for the 1^st day of April and all fools day as it is called. I was buissy writting a letter this morning and after dinner [illeg. looks like Thos] Ruggles and myself went out to the old battleground to get the position of the battlefield and we got some of the Enemies balls and bomb shell and a canister or grate shell. We saw a grate many things and how they were stationed. The timber is cut up awfully and we saw trees that were cut off a foot or more over and I do say where a shell explodes it makes its mark and is very destructive to life if proper. Our wounded have all sent back to the State of Penn

*April Fools: Placed 4/1/04 in Virginia, you can find Foamhenge, the full size replica of Stonehenge, yes, made from styrofoam.

Civil War Weather in Virginia Robert K. Krick P. 54

“7a.m. 39; 2p.m. 65; 9p.m. 50.”

Note: Tuesday, April 1, 1862, according to moongiant.com, started the month with a Waxing Cresecnt phase that was 6.8% illuminated.

Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson’s Topographer Jedediah Hotchkiss P. 15

April 1^st: This is a fine spring day.

“As Ashby and myself were riding along in front of the woods and in our line, west of the Valley Turnpike, a Federal sharpshooter, in Edenburg, fired at him a but hit, in the rear, and killed the horse that a little boy, they called Dixie, who followed Ashby, was riding. As the horse fell Dixie tumbled off, then jumped to his feet to run. Ashby called him back to get his saddle and coolly waited for him under a continuing fire from sharpshooters.

As Ashby fell back he burned the bridge over Stony Creek, at Edenburg, and aided by infantry that had been sent back to him, and his horse artillery was able to hold the line at Stony Creek. Our wagons went so far to the rear they did not get back. The army fell back from Narrow Passage and marched through Woodstock. The General accepted my opinion of the much-thought-of Narrow Passage line and did not attempt to hold it.”

A Virginia Yankee in the Civil War The Diaries of David Hunter Strother David Hunter Strother P. 24

“APRIL 1, TUESDAY.—There was a free Negro cabin by the roadside, the occupants of which informed us that these burnings were the railway and turnpike bridge at Edinburg. An old bedridden mulatto talked away very freely and in a state of great excitement. She said if any lurking around should see them talking with us, they would run the risk of being shot as soon as we were out of the way, and that upon the slightest disobedience or restiveness, free Negroes were shot down like dogs. She wished us success, etc…. In the town of Edinburg we found the troops going into quarters, and the General’s staff returning. With it we took rooms at the hotel in Woodstock. The beds had been occupied by the Confederates the night before and dirty enough they were.”

Editors Make War: Southern Newspapers in the Secession Crisis Donald E. Reynolds P. 149

North Carolina’s Weekly Progress Editor ran this:

December 11, 1860

“There have been times when both our taste and judgment would have induced us to pass by such an item…. but now we have fallen upon times when we believe that every class should know their respective positions. Let the slaves know that the first attempt at revolt will be met with speedy vengeance. And that every offender will be swung to the first tree. Let them know that the white men of the South have determined, whether the Union be dissolved or not, that they shall be obedient, submissive and quiet, and that they shall continue to serve their owners in the future as in the past…. Let every Southern man who is true to his section and his rights watch all suspected persons, and whenever one is found going out of his way to tamper with or to associate with slaves let him be swung to the nearest tree. These are desparate [sic] means, but then we must recollect that we live in desparate times. Not only our property but our honor, our lives and our all are involved.”

“RAN AWAY,

From the Subscriber living in Wilkesborough, on Monday the 10^th inst. a likely MULATTO WOMAN named SUKEY, about twenty of twenty-one Years of Age, remarkably well made, tolerably dark complexion, and when she walks steps remarksbly short. Had on when she went away nothing but Shift and Petticoat; took two Indian Blankets, and had either seven or eight dollars in Money.

Any Person or Persons that will take up said Mulatto Woman, and bring her home or lodge her in some Goal, so that I get her again, shall be handsomely rewarded and all necessary Charges paid by me.

JAMES PATTON

Wilkesborough, Sept. 25, 1804.”

.

The South in History and Literature: A Hand-book of Southern Authors from the Settlement of Jamestown, 1607, to Living Writers Mildred Rutherford P. 2

“Slavery was a vital principle in diverting the energies of the South from literary pursuits. It was one of the States rights** granted by the Constitution. The mission of the abolitionist was to make men think, and when they would not think to please him he attempted to do things that were unconstitutional, and the South resented them. So during the years prior to the War between the States, the South was smarting under these misrepresentations regarding slavery and the tariff laws, and had no time to write. One can not write “when the house is falling down upon the head”; so few efforts were made to stem the tide of war which to many then seemed inevitable. Men and women at the North were using as texts the very subjects so disturbing to us, and by these means were agitating not only the minds of those at the North, but also those of England and other nations inclined to be friendly, and these views were prejudicing them. T. R. R. Cobb saw this and by letters to a Boston paper headed “An Honest Slaveholder to an Honest Abolitionist” he tried to give the South’s views upon the subject. He was answered by a Boston lawyer in letters headed “An Honest Abolitionist to an Honest Slaveholder.” Neither could make the other see his side of the question. Then Mr. Cobb wrote his “Laws of Slavery,” and in order that perfect fairness should be done in the matter, he ordered books upon the subject of slavery from France and other countries, and then quoted from God’s Word, showing that authority was given for holding humans as property with the right to buy and sell, and proving that the slaveholder was not violating God’s law nor sinning as they pictured him. In a perfectly dispassionate way he showed them that the abolitionist, either because of his interest in the welfare of the slave as a human being, or by the Constitution itself, had no right to interfere with the States in this matter. Had his book been circulated before “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” had done its work, all might have been well, but it was too late, for the minds of the people had become so inflamed by the writings of such men as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner and Henry Ward Beecher, not to say anything of Harriet Beecher Stowe, that nothing availed. Actually the feeling became so bitter at the North that honest men and women became dishonest, convincing themselves that it was right to hide slaves from their rightful owners, even constructing underground railways to enable the slave more easily to escape. There really was nothing for the South to do but to secede in order to manage her own affairs. The fair-minded men of the North today, looking at the question without prejudice, and after passion has passed away, acknowledge the right of secession by the Constitution as it then stood, and they would honestly acknowledge more if urged to, that is, that the negro whom they freed was better off physically and morally under the institution of slavery.

The leading men of the South, thus forced to take up arms in defense of their country and their homes, had no time to write…”

Note: One can not write “when the house is falling down upon the head”; I can’t. Looking into the eyes of that sentence, there are no words. However, someone in the South was busy writing:

The War that Forged a Nation: Why the Civil War Still Matters James McPherson (2015) P. 103

“‘Slave narratives” had long been a well-established literary genre. Before 1865 approximately sixty-five autobiographies of slaves who escaped or otherwise achieved freedom were published. Most of them were circulated (and some were ghost-written) by abolitionists as part of their antislavery crusade. After the Civil War some fifty or more former slaves wrote autobiographies, of which Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery is by far the most widely read.”

.

“Runaway from the subscriber, living in Northhampton county, North Carolina, on the 10^th of April 1769, a muttee woman slave named ANNISS, about 21 years of age, near 5 feet high, thick and well set, straight hair, scarred on the back part of her neck by cupping, has a scar on the elbow joint of her right arm, branded on the right cheek E, and on the left R, is very cunning, and will endeavor to make her escape. Whoever apprehends the said slave, and secures her so that I get her again, if taken in this province shall have reward.

EDWARD RUTLAND”

The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War Andrew Delbanco P. 44-45

“Despite incentives to deliver slaves in salable condition to auctioneers in the New World awaiting fresh shipments, at least a million human beings died en route from disease, suicide, beatings, and failed revolts, whereupon their corpses were tossed into the sea.

Over the centuries, most of the survivors were unloaded in South or Central America, but roughly half a million were delivered to British North America. They came through such ports as Newport, New York, and Baltimore as well as Charleston and Savannah, from which the great majority were sent inland to work at planting, harvesting, and processing tobacco, cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, and other crops*** for the European and, later, the American markets. One reason that importing slaves remained profitable for so long was the calculation by slave owners that “replacement was cheaper than maintenance.’”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari P. 331

“The slave trade was not controlled by any state or government. It was a purely economic enterprise, organised and financed by the free market according to the laws of supply and demand. Private slave-trading companies sold shares on the Amsterdam, London and Paris stock exchanges. Middle-class Europeans looking for a good investment bought these shares. Relying on this money, the companies bought ships, hired sailors and soldiers, purchased slaves in Africa, and transported them to America. There they sold the slaves to the plantation owners, using the proceeds to purchase plantation products such as sugar, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, cotton and rum. They returned to Europe, sold the sugar and cotton for a good price, and then sailed to Africa to begin another round. The shareholders were very pleased with this arrangement. Throughout the eighteenth century the yield on slave-trade investments was about 6 percent a year– they were extremely profitable, as any modern consultant would be quick to admit.”

“WILLIAMSBURG, April 23, 1765

Ran away from the Printing-Office, on Saturday Night, a Servant Man named George and 26 Years of Age, about 5 feet 5 inches high, very thick, sloops much, and has a down Look; he is a little Pock-pitted; has a Scar on one of his Temples, is much addicted to Liquor, very talkative when drunk, and remarkably stupid. He had on, and carried away with him, several good white Linen Shirts, a Snuff colour’d Cloth Coat, and a Suit of Light colour’d Sagathy, other good Wearing Apparel, a new Half-cut black Bob Wig, and a Set of Silver Buckles.

Whoever apprehends the said Servant, and conveys him to the Printing-Office, in Virginia, shall have Five Pounds Reward, and if taken out of the Colony TEN POUNDS, beside what the Law allows.

Joseph Royle”

Washington Examiner “Slavery Does Not Define the Black American Experience.” Wilfred Reilly

“However, this practice was not a unique moral failure on the part of the United States. Slavery was the norm everywhere in the world until Western societies began to fight to end it, and the large majority of America’s slaves were purchased from powerful West African and Arab slave traders “of color.” Further, historical slavery did not shape most of the modern institutions of American society. The American region reliant on slave labor was by far the poorest in the country, and almost 700,000 lives were lost when we conquered it and freed the slaves.

Slavery in the United States existed, by definition, only from our actual national founding in 1776 until the end of the Civil War in 1865, and existed almost entirely in the agrarian South during that period. There is essentially no evidence that the practice boosted the wealth of that region beyond that of the rest of the U.S. The South was widely considered a feudal backwater even before the Union Army conquered it, killing roughly one in four military aged males in the region during the process. Virtually all American industrial and economic development has taken place in the time since that occurred.

Finally, today’s problems in American minority communities– most of which, by the way, are doing rather well– often have nothing whatsoever to do with the atrocities of 155 years ago. Ironically, more than a few of them seem to be the result of “compassionate” liberal social welfare policies implemented during just the past few decades.”

Note: And newspapers came in handy not just for runaway slaves but for runaway soldiers; ads ran to locate deserters, such as for these men, each man being worth a reward of $30 if returned to the 19^th VA., specifically to a James E. Blair, Cap’t. of Co. C. Run December 6, 1862 in the Richmond Daily Dispatch:

“FREDERICK ZEREMBERG, born in Menden, Germany; is 55 years old, 5 feet six inches high, fair complexion, blue eyes, and gray hair. Deserted from camp, near Richmond, about 10^th of August, 1862.”

“EDGAR J. HINSTON, 36 years of age: 5 feet 10½ inches high; gray eyes; light brown hair; light complexion; was born in Ireland; is decent in appearance; has a youthful voice.”

“JAMES L. HERON, formerly a soldier in the U.S. army; 32 years old, 32 years old, 5 feet eleven inches high, dark complexion, dark hair, and blue eyes. Deserted from the Brigade Guard, near Richmond, about the 13^th August 1862.”

“HARRY BOWERS, substitute, 21 years old, 5 feet 7 inches high, fair complexion, dark hair and eyes; claimed to be a Marylander. Deserted from camp, near Richmond, 1^st June, 1862.”

A G.A. Wallace, of the 59^th VA., worded his ad & reward as follows: “A reward of $30 will be paid for the apprehension of each, if placed in jail, so that I can get them.”

Marching with Sherman: Passages from the Letters and Campaign Diaries of Henry Hitchcock, Major and Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers, November 1864–May 1865 (1927) Major Henry Hitchcock P. 59-62

IN THE FIELD November 16/64

First day’s march out: “Latimer’s X Roads” 7:30 P.M.

“Decidedly “in the field” and on the march. Left Atlanta about 7A.M., weather fine for marching—cloudy, but not threatening, air hardly cool. Going out of town, passed through burnt district, still smoking. Saw no dwelling destroyed, and outside of central business part of town comparatively little damage. Should say ¼ of area of town destroyed, but this the largest and best built business part.

Passed through and along—000 [sic] men, chiefly XIV. Struck with fine appearance and elastic step and bearing of the troops. At head of one brigade the old 79^th Pa. band was playing the same quick-step as at Kingston serenade. One fellow very drunk, sitting on ground as we passed troops at a rest or halt. Cursed General loudly, evidently for drunken brag: General rode quietly by him, not ten ft. off—heard all—no notice. Followed R.R. (Augusta) six miles to Decatur. Crossed part of battle ground of 22 July and right by ruins of large house from behind which rebs “poured” to assault. Further on, splendid works, with ditch, abattis, etc. made by 23^rd Corps at our left when army returned to Atlanta after Jonesboro’ fight.

Halted at Decatur half an hour, in yard of comfortable looking house: only women and children visible. No time to look at town—did not see any special marks of war in passing through. Servants began to chase chickens—matron remonstrated. Baylor buys her out at $1 per pair….

At Decatur we bore off S.E. on rather narrow road to this point. Country almost all thickly wooded on both sides, and rolling, with two or three hills to descend, luckily. Thick undergrowth and small timber: now and then clearings and fields, few houses, fewer people. Troops and trains before and behind us all day—we passing and halting more than once. Absorbed in thought, silent, Sherman, but always pleasant reply when addressed. Weather perfect, little or no sun,—roads in fine order, but often broken and rough, and evidently by-roads. Halted two hours nearly at house six miles from Decatur, General took nap. Old man (sick, they said) three daughters, sundry children. The women good-looking, sat at front door with us, talked very civilly. One about thirty to thirty-two—husband went to our lines, thinks in our army, watched our troops (passing) for him: quiet, good-natured. One, say twenty to twenty-four, quite pretty, blue eyes, “golden hair,” very pretty complexion for Georgia, sat in door nursing infant and talking. Husband (rebel) wounded last April at Buzzard Roost—came home and died. T’other younger and unmarried. Say that father “never was in favor of the war—voted against it—but never took part—didn’t know who was right. Mighty few of the people about here were in favor of the war, but their leaders told them they ought to do so and so, and they done it.” Manner and tone very simple and earnest, and I am sure sincere: no fear nor cringing.

Marched on till 4 P.M. then halted and camped. Just before this—say ½ mile or so, passed very good frame house on roadside, with cabins, barns, outhouses,—evidently well to do. Not a soul visible as we passed. But at supper found that Sherman had stopped and had chat with negro man now in possession—intelligent fellow. Says Master in war at “Champ Case”: that he used to think himself worth $100,000. Two best “boys” ran off to “Yanks,” and he heard that one of them was killed at Jonesboro: understood the Y’s at Jonesboro made the negro soldiers go in front, and so they were either shot in front by the rebs or from behind by the Yanks if they failed to go on. It is part of the rebel system to lie thus, it seems. Our servants will help dispel these stories, and must, says Sherman.”

Note: Back to Rutherford: while Miss Ann was inconvenienced that Slavery was a vital principle in diverting the energies of the South from literary pursuits, to wit, as if the enslaved merely hopped aboard a cruise ship in fair winds & following seas, embarked upon the below Allure of the Seas,

sailed over here on a vacation rendezvous instead of bearing, chained below deck, the trade winds where a minimum two million will die en route, ships which had an entire ten percent of “major rebellions” on these cross-Atlantic voyages that the “cargo” ships took, Edward Ayers says, & of the 12.5 million snatched from Africa, 10.7 million arrived in the Americas. People died of sickness, they died by defiantly jumping overboard, or were murdered en route. One quarter of the kidnapped were under 13 years, and 4’4 feet tall, chained together in the hull, many never having even seen the ocean before. Imagine how terrifying. Didn’t know where they were going or why. Taken from the interior of Africa. Many were traded to the Americans, Europeans, and Portuguese for cloth and beads. 4 out of every 5 who crossed the Atlantic were Africans. So, for every one European, there were four Africans crossing. 70% of the slaves worked on sugar plantations. Meantime, “In the U.S., a slave was sold on average every 3.6 minutes between 1820-1860,” according to Herbert Gutman. And families would get broken up. Those Whites didn’t give a damn about everyone begging to stay together, wailing at the blocks. It’s despicable.

**The fugitive slave ads listed mutilations to identify runaways: scars, injuries, birthmarks, height, weight, every approximation but the human soul. No use for a name, apparently. The “last seen ads” for relatives continued in newspapers into the 1880s. Also: Cuba got two and a half times more African slaves than the United States. Too, another little known fact: in 1830, 40% of free Black households in Louisiana had slaves. Now 1 in 86 Louisianans are currently incarcerated, which in 2021 adds up to 50,000. That’s a 1,094 per 100,000 incarceration rate (prisonpolicy.org/profiles/LA.html), “meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than any democracy on earth.” “Each year, at least 86,000 different people are booked into local jails in Louisiana.”

Note: April first, Lee’s right flank gets breached. The South can say goodbye to the space between their army & Richmond. There are three Union commands between the Potomac River and the Allegheny Mountains. In the Valley, there’s nearly 6k men fighting for the Confederacy. It’s not much.

Note: 1862 is the wettest spring in memory. Not until 1901 does a record happen again. To give an idea of the monstrosity: www.scientificamerican.com/article/atmospheric-rivers-california-megaflood-lessons-from-forgotten-catastrophe/

Details from the above article: after a 20 year drought, the Great Flood of 1862 hit from November, 1861 through the end of January, 1862 & it was biblical, a once in 500 to 1000 year megaflood. Worst in history, inundating states like CA, NV, UT, AZ, ID, NM, OR, plus Sonora, Mexico. Early December the Sierra Nevadas had 10-15 foot snows which then washed away entire towns. Many thousands of farms went under the water, & thousands & thousands drowned. A quarter of the 800k cattle drowned. One third of California’s property got destroyed, equaling 1 home in 8. Sacramento? Under 10 feet of water with people boating down new canals that had been city streets, & the State Capitol forced to move to SFO. Los Angeles went under water in the megaflood, too, 66 inches of rain for up to 6 months, & in 4x the normal amount of rain, “a great sheet of brown rippling water” even moved out into the Mojave Desert…. And an inland sea 300 miles long & 20 miles wide covering 5-6000 square miles formed in the Central Valley…. Then 30 feet of water submerged telegraph poles that had just been put up between SFO and NYC. According to Wikipedia, the $100 million damage in 1861 bucks would be $3.117 billion in 2021. The flood even led to the Owens Valley Indian War: the Paiutes, Shoshone, & Kawaiisu versus cattlemen settlers, which continued into 1863, with hostilities concluding in 1867. Note, too, as far as unusual weather events: the 1/9/1857 Fort Tejon earthquake, a 7.9 that split the southern part of the San Andreas Fault in CA. wider by 225 miles.

For now, 1862, by June 4^th, more than 50% of the average rainfall expected for the entire month is recorded, raising rivers and all things water, putting roads into sloughs of mud, floating campsites off, & the men are without a change of clothes. Waded rivers with water coming up to the neck. The South used the roads first before the North traversed them, so that when Yankees got to roads, by then they were just mud. Some rivers like the North River (significant for Cross Keys & Port Republic battles June 8, 9) were higher than in last 25 years. Germans drowned trying to cross it while burnt timber glides by them in the river from bridges Jackson is burning right now, early June, near Luray and Conrad’s Store like an assemblage of the match-burnt edges of their own currency, their own black market crop failures, their patriotic 300% rise in the cost of basic goods. Rebel national motto “Deo vindice” appears at the base of the Confederate seal, “God is our vindicator.” Not so much.

Note: Jackson writes in the Spring of 1862, “I have only to say that if this valley is lost Virginia is lost.” June 9 was the closest call for the Confederacy when Tyler’s Brigade almost trapped Jackson, it seems to me. Others say Kernstown.

Note: Can’t recommend enough: for unmatchable first-person accounts of the war, including what it was like for citizens when Sherman swept by, plus a terrifically concise synopsis of the entire war, see the back of each book in Sheehan-Dean’s 4 volume set The Civil War Told By Those Who Lived It. For now, skipping ahead from April through June, 1985, a synopsis:

The Civil War: The Final Year Told By Those Who Lived It Edited by Aaron Sheehan-Dean P. 751-752

“Sheridan overruns the Confederate positions at Five Forks west of Petersburg on April 1, capturing 2,500 prisoners. Grant orders general assault on the Petersburg defenses at dawn on April 2. Attack breaks Confederate lines and forces Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond on the night of April 2. (Fighting at Petersburg and Richmond costs the Union about 42,000 men killed, wounded, or missing from June 1864 to April 1865, and the Confederates about 28,000). Davis and his cabinet flee by train to Danville, Virginia, as fires set by retreating Confederate troops cause extensive destruction in the city. Union cavalry captures Selma, Alabama, on April 2. Lincoln tours Richmond on April 4, Lee’s army retreats westward to Amelia Court House on April 4. Unable to secure needed supplies and finding his planned route to North Carolina blocked by Union troops, Lee continues retreating to the west. Pursuing Union forces capture more than 6,000 prisoners at Sailer’s Creek, Virginia, on April 6. After his retreat is blocked by Union troops at Appomattox Court House, Lee surrenders to Grant on April 9. The same day, Union troops storm Fort Blakely near Mobile. Sherman resumes offensive in North Carolina, April 10. Union cavalry captures Montgomery, Alabama, on April 12, the same day that Confederate forces abandon Mobile. Sherman occupies Raleigh on April 13. While watching a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14, Lincoln is shot by actor John Wilkes Booth, who flees the theatre. At the same time, Secretary of State Seward is seriously wounded by Booth’s co-conspirator Lewis Powell. Lincoln dies on the morning of April 15 and Andrew Johnson is sworn in as president. Sherman and Johnston meet near Durham Station, North Carolina, on April 18 and sign agreement providing military and political terms for the surrender of the remaining Confederate armies. Lincoln funeral train leaves Washington on April 21 and is viewed by millions as it makes its way to Illinois. The same day, Johnson and the cabinet reject the Sherman-Johnston agreement. Johnston surrenders Confederate forces in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida on April 26 on terms similar to those given to Lee. The same day, Booth is killed by Union troops near Port Royal, Virginia. (Powell and three other convicted conspirators are hanged on July 7.) Steamship Sultana explodes and burns in the Mississippi near Memphis, April 27, killing 1,600-1,800 people, mostly released Union prisoners of war.

Lincoln is buried in Sprinfield, Illinois, on May 4. The same day, Lieutenant General Richard Taylor surrenders Confederate froces in Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana to Major General Edward R.S. Canby on May 4. Union cavalry capture Jefferson Davis near Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10 and take him as a prisoner to Fort Monroe, Virginia. The same day, Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill is fatally wounded by Union troops near Bloomfield, Kentucky. In the Grand Review of the Union Armies, May 23-24, about 150,000 men from the Army of the Potomac and Sherman’s armies march through Washington. Surrender terms for the Confederate Trans-Mississippi department are negotiated in New Orleans on May 26. Unaware of the Confederate surrenders, the commerce raider Shenandoah begins capturing and burning American whaling ships in the Sea of Okhotsk on May 29. (After making its final capture in the Bering Sea on June 28, the Shenandoah ceases hostilities and sails into Liverpool, England, on November 7.) Johnson issues proclamation on amnesty and pardon on May 29 and begins establishing new state governments in the South on terms Radical Republicans consider too lenient.

Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith signs Trans-Mississippi surrender agreement on June 2.Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston and issues General Orders No. 3 on June 19, proclaiming the end of slavery in Texas.”

Note: Kevin Levin, 4/21/25: The Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans would like you to know that April is Confederate History & Heritage Month. Not in Virginia it isn’t. In fact, the state hasn’t recognized it since Republican governor Bob McDonnell ended it in 2011.

But that isn’t the funniest thing about this billboard located on Rt. 29 in Culpeper. What is truly hilarious is that the SCV chose the most famous wartime photograph of three Confederate prisoners taken during the battle of Gettysburg.

That’s right. They chose an image of surrender for their billboard, which isn’t inappropriate given that the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered in the month of April.

I commented on this photograph back in 2023.

Levin still:

The NAACP is understandably unhappy about the billboard. “Such displays deepen the wounds of our past and undermine the hard-fought progress toward truth, equity, and reconciliation in Culpeper,” Culpeper NAACP President Kaleb J. Hackley wrote in a statement. “Our community cannot move forward while banners of division are raised above our heads.”

I would suggest that the NAACP shouldn’t be complaining about the billboard. They should be laughing hysterically at the SCV’s decision to feature an image of Confederates surrendering.

The Virginia NAACP should pay for a billboard close by that features an image of Black soldiers liberating the Confederate capital of Richmond on April 3, 1865.

You would think they would go with a portrait of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson or anything that demonstrates the undying patriotism of the rank and file.

.

and all fools day as it is called….

April Fools. Souvenirs already.

There are places you know you’ll never get back to. When time passes. Once you realize this, these places start retreating into the land, start dissolving in your mind’s eye, & that makes places different in memory, become something other than what they were, the land that was, had you been going back at some point. You can’t look back & ever see it the same, not how it was, not again. It no longer is there. But if you return, the land gives up things, & you walk away with them, you can walk away with the things forever.