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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
Browsing All posts tagged under »Maryland«
American Colonization Society: Growth of Auxiliaries, 1823-1828
Though I’m still gathering data, I figured I would go ahead and give something to consider, at least up to a point. As readers may recall, I presented some raw numbers on life members (as of 1847), and the places that these people represented doesn’t even begin to show how many places had active auxiliaries. […]
What causes (yes, that reads as plural) motivated Southerners to support the Confederacy
August 11, 2011 by Robert Moore
Ever since I found this paragraph (I’ve used it in two blog posts, the most recent being here), I’ve not been able to let it go easily. Though I’m not saying these motivations alone [see below] are to be considered the end-all list, I do believe they form the significant categories for the motivations. When […]
Otho Nesbitt: Southern Unionist, but… wanted to free slaves? Eh, not so much…
May 21, 2011 by Robert Moore
While the house you see is, in this photo, adorned for Christmas, imagine if you will… an American flag… two yards long, draped from the middle garret window. Can you envision it? In fact, in April 1861, Otho Nesbitt had hired a seamstress to make that flag for him… a statement to all those around […]
The search for family in Civil War draft records
May 20, 2011 by Robert Moore
A little sidetrack for just a bit, but, on an ancestor hunt. Earlier today, I realized that ancestry.com has Civil War draft records. So, I couldn’t wait to get home to see if for my third great grandfather, Cyrus S. Moore, by draft time, 1863, was still working his canal boat, the G.P. Lloyd, on […]
Southerners who wanted to free the slaves
May 5, 2011 by Robert Moore
Yes, there were white Southerners who wanted to free the slaves. But, something that comes to my mind when I’m considering this is, well, with all of the talk about “Black Confederates”, and fair and equal treatment by the Confederacy… do tell… of those who wore gray, or were the big dogs in the Confederate […]
Strother returns to the Valley, April 30 – May 2, 1861
April 30, 2011 by Robert Moore
As D.H. Strother makes his way from Annapolis, back to Harper's Ferry, he finds "the plot has thickened" considerably. Remarking briefly about the batteries placed on the surrounding hills, and the new commander there (T.J. Jackson), his attention is focused on discussions with some of the Virginia troops there. Despite being in the ranks, not all are embracing secession, and, in fact, remain hopeful that Virginians would reject it in the referendum to come, later in May. ...[ Read more...]
Reverse the Circumstances
April 24, 2011 by Robert Moore
I’m not much into alternative history, because there may be an infinite number of forks in the road, but this is entertaining… and a take on things, from April 1861… (it appeared in the April 23, 1861 edition of the Staunton Spectator). Reverse the Circumstances. If there were any reason left amongst the people of […]
Looking back at the Pratt Street (Baltimore) Riot
April 20, 2011 by Robert Moore
Since I’m a little past due on the Maryland part of my Southron heritage… 150 years ago, yesterday… And then, this video from the Catholic Review: O.k., interesting, but once again, “Southern” continues to be entangled in the whole “they were all secessionists” stereotype. So, who’s with me? All those in favor of clarification… say […]
Maryland is “Southron”, ya’ll… and therefore, Confederate!(???)
April 3, 2011 by Robert Moore
Oh, goodness… what do we have here? Obviously, the video has a number of issues, but I’m just going to stick to the “Southern = Confederate” issue rearing its ugly head, yet once again. There is no doubt that Maryland does indeed qualify as a Southern state… and therefore… her residents at the time of […]
“Will Secession Preserve Slavery?”
March 27, 2011 by Robert Moore
I’m in a western Maryland frame of mind. So… …the following comes from the Herald and Torch (Hagerstown, Md.), March 13, 1861: Will Secession Preserve Slavery? The Baltimore Sun, which is the exponent of the extreme sentiments of the Southern rights men of Maryland, as they call themselves, says that “secession and union with the […]
Lincoln on compensated border state emancipation, coupled with colonization
February 27, 2011 by Robert Moore
Considering relatively recent discussion in the blogosphere (and mentions elsewhere, on the Web) regarding compensated emancipation and colonization of freed blacks, I thought I’d offer some thoughts of my own, but based on something that I found over a year ago. While I haven’t conducted that much research on the topic, I believe an article […]
… and as for Marylanders and 1861…
February 26, 2011 by Robert Moore
Having asked for input regarding who should be Virginia’s person of the year for 1861, I felt that I also had to ask the same for Maryland. This time, however, Robert E. Lee is not an option, creating what is, I think, a more challenging question to answer. Who stands out as “Person of the […]
Were some Union soldiers fighting to preserve slavery?(!)
February 19, 2011 by Robert Moore
Yes, you read that correctly. Give me a little time, and I’ll set the stage… As many who follow this blog know, one of my favorite areas of study is western Maryland… most especially, the Clear Spring and Conococheague Districts in Washington County. Likewise, I spend a good deal of time researching the men from […]
Sunday afternoons with “The Porte”, Part VIII
October 17, 2010 by Robert Moore
Continuing from Strother’s last… On Monday, 22d of April, the excitement still continued, the mobs occasionally breaking into shops in search of arms. The battle of Cockeysville did not take place as was expected. The Pennsylvanians, who were for the most part unarmed and altogether unprepared for a warlike encounter, had received warning of the […]
Plumb Grove – home of Jonathan Nesbitt, Jr.
October 11, 2010 by Robert Moore
I’ve got some photos that I took a couple of weeks back while on my road trip to Four Locks and Clear Spring, and I thought that I might as well put them on here for everyone to enjoy. I didn’t include them in the tour that weekend because there is no known tie between […]
Sunday afternoons with “The Porte”, Part VII
October 10, 2010 by Robert Moore
What?! Did you think the entire month was going to be dedicated to ghosts, witches, and the generally eerie? On and off since May, I’ve been transcribing David Hunter Strother‘s “Personal Recollections of the Civil War. By a Virginian” as originally published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, beginning in June 1866. Though I don’t transcribe […]
Why “Cenantua”?
October 6, 2010 by Robert Moore
I love this time of year. It’s a chilly day, the sky is overcast… … I have a fire in the wood stove… … and a relaxing cup of cappuccino in my manly-man Mickey Mouse coffee mug (what else??!!) is close at-hand. Feels like a good time to sit down and write… just wish I […]
Remains of homes long gone
September 26, 2010 by Robert Moore
While grief likely defined their last few months here, there are other emotions that come to mind regarding the stories of my Moore ancestors at Four Locks. Other children came to Cyrus and Catherine while here. In fact, my great-great grandfather, John Howard Moore (named, I believe, for a family friend, Jonathan Hower, who happened […]
Lutheran Cemetery, Clear Spring, 6:17 p.m.
September 25, 2010 by Robert Moore
A quick drop-in to see how “old family” is doing… Photos are of the headstones of James Draden Moore, Mary Saunders Moore, and then… the twin Moore boys (Robert and James) who died at lockhouse 49. On to the lockhouse.
A Unionist Marylander voices his thoughts on slavery as the “ultimate cause” of the “strife”
April 19, 2010 by Robert Moore
… and this same Marylander believed that removing any discussion of emancipation was probably a good idea. Read the following from the January 8, 1862 edition of the Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torchlight: Our Union, vs. The Slavery Question MESSRS, EDITORS: – In this degenerate age, when rebellion stalks forth as a thief in […]
Dashing “Won Cause” mythology
April 1, 2010 by Robert Moore
It’s funny, but Civil War Memory is a double-edged sword. Being a Southerner, I’m used to the heavy dose of Lost Cause mythology, and several years ago, I finally came to the point where I could start to distinguish between myth and reality when it comes to the history of Southern Confederates in the war. […]
The graves of “Galvanized Yankees” at Custer National Cemetery
March 31, 2010 by Robert Moore
Not too long ago, I took on the small task of looking into the stories behind the Galvanized Yankees who were buried (actually, removed from their original burial locations at Fort Rice and reburied in the Custer Battlefield Cemetery/Custer National Cemetery/Little Big Horn National Cemetery around the beginning of the 20th century). As most probably […]
Looking for manumissions… on the part of my family
January 11, 2010 by Robert Moore
A couple of months ago, I purchased a book that provides information about the African-American manumissions for Washington County, Maryland. The objective… to see if I had any family members who freed slaves in the 1850s and even as late as the early 1860s, in advance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Now, as I mentioned in […]
How Maryland Unionists defined Maryland secessionists (a satire)
January 10, 2010 by Robert Moore
From the December 18, 1861 edition of the Herald of Freedom and Torch Light: The kind of Secessionists we have in Maryland. A. Is a Secessionist because the fugitive slave law has not been enforced, which subjected South Carolina to such disastrous losses, that the Union must be dissolved as a means of self-preservation. B. […]
“The Home Brigade”
January 9, 2010 by Robert Moore
Just a quick plug-in to yesterday’s post… All this talk about Unionists in western Maryland… well, what were their motivations for enlisting (those that did) and what was their intent (in regard to the manner in which they would deal with the secession crisis) after donning blue? For the most part, it may be a […]
Maryland and “the despot’s heel”
January 8, 2010 by Robert Moore
The deeper I get into the history of events in central and western Maryland, the more I am convinced that the “despot’s heel” argument really holds little weight. Not only is the state song out of date, it never really reflected the Civil War era opinion of the state as a whole. What prompted today’s […]
Status of Southern Unionists Chronicles
January 6, 2010 by Robert Moore
Yes, it’s still active. Until today, I haven’t posted anything in months, but reader activity has been on and off, and, when there are comments, the discussion has proven enjoyable. What I like most is hearing from those who are descended from Southern Unionists and “can handle the truth.” It’s really refreshing. True, I get […]
The 1860 Presidential vote in Washington County, Maryland
October 24, 2009 by Robert Moore
As you may recall from my post from the other day, there was discussion about “Black Republicanism” playing a factor in the sweeping display of Unionism in the Clear Spring District. I mentioned in the same post, however, that only two votes were casts in the Clear Spring District for Lincoln. With that in mind, […]
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