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As a Southerner and native of the Shenandoah Valley, I offer reflections on the Civil War-era South… and sometimes a little more. But… expect the unexpected
Sesqui moment of the day: The war gets harder in Va…. with a parallel in Mississippi
I feel a need to bring up my blog post from July 4. Remember what John Mead Gould was thinking? He also resented the treatment of the Southern people he had encountered, despite what he considered, “kindness” of Union soldiers toward those same people. With all of this in mind, he began to reconsider the approach… […]
No hard feelings among old enemies? – Former Confederates & Southern Unionists
July 19, 2012
by Robert Moore
I don’t think that such a claim can be made across the board, though I’ve seen evidence to support the thought that some continued to hold bitterness toward those who had proven themselves as Southern Unionists. Even so, for the most part, in my neck o’ the woods of Virginia, I think the evidence (even […]
Who are Civil War bloggers?
July 18, 2012
by Robert Moore
I know, I know… three blog posts in one day!? Are you nuts, Robert? Especially considering my trend over the last three months, of maybe blogging once a week, or every other week. Still, Harry just posted something interesting, and I figured that I’d pose another question… Who are Civil War bloggers? I left the following […]
Posted in: American Civil War, blogging
To prove loyalty – the Claims Commission questions
July 18, 2012
by Robert Moore
I thought this might be a good addition to today’s earlier post. The following is a list of questions that Southern Claims applicants faced, to help to prove their loyalty to the Union:
Posted in: American Civil War, Southern Unionism
A Sesqui moment: some key ingredients of the Southern Claims process
July 18, 2012
by Robert Moore
Enter Gen. John Pope’s General Order No. 5, which was issued 150 years ago today. Alas… key elements in the Southern Claims application process… 1) “In an area where the Union army was to subsist upon the country…” 2) “Vouchers will be given to the owners… payable at the conclusion of the war, upon…” 3) […]
Southern Unionist? Liar, liar, pants on fire!
July 17, 2012
by Robert Moore
In my exchanges, over the years, some folks have indicated that they thought some Southern Claims applicants were lying. Well, yes some were, but I have to ask… “How have you identified those who you think were lying?” It’s not always so easy. Sometimes, however, it’s painfully obvious… and one doesn’t have to read between […]
How do you assess the Southern Confederate soldier & Southern Unionist?
July 15, 2012
by Robert Moore
It might be a good time to pause, just a bit… I’m in the midst of drafting another blog post about another Southern Unionist claim, and am realizing just how varied the picture is becoming. Granted, I had already been noting how varied the story is. In fact, I had subcategories of subcategories, breaking down […]
A virtual stroll through some newspapers from well before the “storm”
July 14, 2012
by Robert Moore
I was gearing-up for writing another post about another Southern Unionist… ummm, or so he said he was… this morning, but became distracted by something about which I became aware, a few days ago. Thanks to a grant from The Harpers Ferry Historical Association, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park has digitized several early 19th century […]
“I don’t think there were really that many”
July 13, 2012
by Robert Moore
Not so much a matter of content delivery this morning, and more about a thought that’s been lingering with me for a bit… About a month ago, a friend of mine attended a reenactment, here in the Valley (the Cross Keys/Port Republic event held on… the Cedar Creek battlefield). When he had an opportunity to talk […]
A Shenandoah Valley man for Lincoln
July 12, 2012
by Robert Moore
The phrase “Lincoln’s Loyalists” always bothers me. Theoretically, yes, Southern Unionists were Lincoln’s loyalists, but that’s not to say they were all necessarily dedicated to Lincoln. I can imagine, for example, that the slave-holding Unionists remained worried over which way the institution might go under his administration. Still, yes… some really were supporters of Lincoln. […]
“… he… was not going to vote for a slave government.”
July 11, 2012
by Robert Moore
The argument can be common. The war was about slavery vs. the war was not about slavery. Usually, when those two points of view collide, the result is a string of reasons why… coming from both sides. More significant to me are the accounts of people who lived in that time… and even better if […]
What manner of tolerance? – Southern citizens vs. soldiers… blue AND gray
July 10, 2012
by Robert Moore
There’s something that really strikes me when looking at Southern Claims Commission applications, and that is… how much one can take, and still adhere to the sentiments held prior to situations that can try one’s level of tolerance. Just as an example, among Southern Unionists… they are loyal (or profess to be so, after the fact, when applying for […]
A former slave vouches for the Unionism of his former owner
July 9, 2012
by Robert Moore
Seeing what I do in discussions among folks regarding Civil War era studies, there can be extreme views regarding slavery. Some lean hard in one direction, talking about how the cruelties of slavery were all fabrications, or very rare. Some lean hard in another direction and talk about the cruelties of slavery, and that, no matter the case, […]
More unraveling of complexities in a family’s story
July 8, 2012
by Robert Moore
Since the “wires” seem to be hot with stories of Southern Unionism (Craig offered-up yet another story of Southern Unionism just today!)… here comes another meaty morsel which I ran across recently. I don’t recall, exactly, how it came to my attention, but recently, while perusing the Web, I ran into a biographical sketch of […]
“Did people call him a Union man?” “Yes, sir, and a great many called him a damn Yankee all the time.”
July 7, 2012
by Robert Moore
My attention to the details of his life just weren’t there… it seemed they didn’t need to be… as a father-in-law to one of my distant uncles, John William Neer was an indirect link in the family tree… and, at one time, I knew nothing of his life, other than that indirect connection. Over time, […]
Empowering words… more… through the “writing space”
July 6, 2012
by Robert Moore
I don’t get to write about it much, or perhaps I should say, I don’t take as much time as I would like, to write about it… … but, what is in the power of an assembled collection of written words? Obviously, there are masters of this sort of thing, at least, more obviously… in print media. All […]
The Fourth of July in the Shenandoah… in 1862
July 4, 2012
by Robert Moore
I looked through a few of the resources I have at my disposal, for accounts of Union soldiers who remained in the Shenandoah Valley, and were still present here, on July 4, 1862. Regretfully, I could only come up with two accounts that were either written on that day, or described, in brief, what happened […]
A Sesqui reflection… the Charlottesville Artillery at Malvern Hill
July 1, 2012
by Robert Moore
Up and moving again on the morning of July 1, Carrington’s Battery reached the action at Malvern Hill between 2 and 3 p.m. Once there the company took shelter in a wooded area and out of sight of the enemy. Even so, enemy shells came in on them. “Finding myself in the presence of ‘Stonewall’, […]
It’s the Sesqui of Malvern Hill… yes, but… meanwhile, back in the Shenandoah Valley
July 1, 2012
by Robert Moore
I thought… with all the focus on matters occurring 150 years ago around Richmond… it might be interesting to point out a little something about matters back here, in the Shenandoah Valley, which were occurring at that same time. Stonewall Jackson had successfully cleared the Valley of “Yankees”! Right? Not so fast, there… Truth of […]
Closing in on the end of The Seven Days
June 30, 2012
by Robert Moore
Been extremely busy lately, taking care of matters relating to my new “quarters”, but making time this morning to post… I mean, I couldn’t let the 150th of the Seven Days go by without saying something… … and, while this is somewhat outside the character of my usual area of coverage in this blog, reflecting […]
Posted in: American Civil War, Virginia in the Civil War
Has the Sesqui of the ’62 Shenandoah Valley Campaign fallen short?
June 7, 2012
by Robert Moore
In writing about Turner Ashby yesterday, I kept thinking about (but wrote nothing of it) how all has gone, so far, in the Sesqui of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, and feel that the 150th has served as a benchmark of sorts. I think when the Sesqui began, many of us in the CW blogosphere, asked if […]
Turner Ashby, in family and personal… “memory”
June 6, 2012
by Robert Moore
There are several posting Turner Ashby’s death picture today. After all, it was on this day that the “Black Knight”* met his end, just outside Harrisonburg, Virginia. As for me, I’ll opt out on posting that pic, and any lengthy account of the circumstances surrounding his death… but, will post some of my thoughts on […]
More on Samuel Windle… a response from a descendant.
May 26, 2012
by Robert Moore
When I write about someone of the past… someone we can only “know” through what amounts to only a few documented actions/activities… I don’t do so in search of validation of my “read” or “take” on that person. Yet, when I hear from someone, who happens to be a descendant of that person, and the […]
Despite what you say, your claim as a loyal Union man is disallowed…
May 20, 2012
by Robert Moore
I’ve got a post coming about John W. Neer, a Union man from Harper’s Ferry. While no blood relative of mine, one of his daughters married my third great granduncle, James Draden Moore (1859-1899). Neer’s story is an interesting one, and I look forward to telling it, but I wanted to break-out one small portion […]
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by Robert H. Moore, II
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Southern Unionists Chronicles
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July 20, 2012
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