Posted on 02/25/2004 11:52:26 AM PST by 4CJ
THOMASVILLE -- Nelson Winbush knows his voice isn't likely to be heard above the crowd that writes American history books. That doesn't keep him from speaking his mind, however.
A 75-year-old black man whose grandfather proudly fought in the gray uniform of the South during the Civil War, Winbush addressed a group of about 40 at the Thomas County Museum of History Sunday afternoon. To say the least, his perspective of the war differs greatly from what is taught in America's classrooms today.
"People have manufactured a lot of mistruths about why the war took place," he said. "It wasn't about slavery. It was about state's rights and tariffs."
Many of Winbush's words were reserved for the Confederate battle flag, which still swirls amid controversy more than 150 years after it originally flew.
"This flag has been lied about more than any flag in the world," Winbush said. "People see it and they don't really know what the hell they are looking at."
About midway through his 90-minute presentation, Winbush's comments were issued with extra force.
"This flag is the one that draped my grandfathers' coffin," he said while clutching it strongly in his left hand. "I would shudder to think what would happen if somebody tried to do something to this particular flag."
Winbush, a retired in educator and Korean War veteran who resides in Kissimmee, Fla., said the Confederate battle flag has been hijacked by racist groups, prompting unwarranted criticism from its detractors.
"This flag had nothing to with the (Ku Klux) klan or skinheads," he said while wearing a necktie that featured the Confederate emblem. "They weren't even heard of then. It was just a guide to follow in battle.
"That's all it ever was."
Winbush said Confederate soldiers started using the flag with the St. Andrews cross because its original flag closely resembled the U.S. flag. The first Confederate flag's blue patch in an upper corner and its alternating red and white stripes caused confusion on the battlefield, he said.
"Neither side (of the debate) knows what the flag represents," Winbush said. "It's dumb and dumber. You can turn it around, but it's still two dumb bunches.
"If you learn anything else today, don't be dumb."
Winbush learned about the Civil War at the knee of Louis Napoleon Nelson, who joined his master and one of his master's sons in battle voluntarily when he was 14. Nelson saw combat at Lookout Mountain, Bryson's Crossroads, Shiloh and Vicksburg.
"At Shiloh, my grandfather served as a chaplain even though he couldn't read or write," said Winbush, who bolstered his points with photos, letters and newspapers that used to belong to his grandfather. "I've never heard of a black Yankee holding such an office, so that makes him a little different."
Winbush said his grandfather, who also served as a "scavenger," never had any qualms about fighting for the South. He had plenty of chances to make a break for freedom, but never did. He attended 39 Confederate reunions, the final one in 1934. A Sons of Confederate Veterans Chapter in Tennessee is named after him.
"People ask why a black person would fight for the Confederacy. (It was) for the same damned reason a white Southerner did," Winbush explained.
Winbush said Southern blacks and whites often lived together as extended families., adding slaves and slave owners were outraged when Union forces raided their homes. He said history books rarely make mention of this.
"When the master and his older sons went to war, who did he leave his families with?" asked Winbush, who grandfather remained with his former owners 12 years after the hostilities ended. "It was with the slaves. Were his (family members) mistreated? Hell, no!
"They were protected."
Winbush said more than 90,000 blacks, some of them free, fought for the Confederacy. He has said in the past that he would have fought by his grandfather's side in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry led by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest.
After his presentation, Winbush opened the floor for questions. Two black women, including Jule Anderson of the Thomas County Historical Society Board of Directors, told him the Confederate battle flag made them uncomfortable.
Winbush, who said he started speaking out about the Civil War in 1992 after growing weary of what he dubbed "political correctness," was also challenged about his opinions.
"I have difficulty in trying to apply today's standards with what happened 150 years ago," he said to Anderson's tearful comments. "...That's what a lot of people are attempting to do. I'm just presenting facts, not as I read from some book where somebody thought that they understood. This came straight from the horse's mouth, and I refute anybody to deny that."
Thomas County Historical Society Board member and SVC member Chip Bragg moved in to close the session after it took a political turn when a white audience member voiced disapproval of the use of Confederate symbols on the state flag. Georgia voters are set to go to the polls a week from today to pick a flag to replace the 1956 version, which featured the St. Andrew's cross prominently.
"Those of us who are serious about our Confederate heritage are very unhappy with the trivialization of Confederate symbols and their misuse," he said. "Part of what we are trying to do is correct this misunderstanding."
MOST of the civilian deaths were KILLED or otherwise directly caused by the Union forces.
to quote Dr. Susan Brownmiller of Harvard University:
"The Union army raged through the southland like a pack of rabid swine,robbing, murdering,burning,torturing, RAPING & murdering whoever was unfortunate enough to be in their path. The poorest of the poor, slaves & persons of colour suffered WORST OF ALL (emphasis, mine)from the invasion."
that is FACT!
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
Victory to us & confusion to our enemy!
TRUE in '61;true NOW!
free the southland,sw
Victory to us & confusion to our enemy!
TRUE in '61;true NOW!
free the southland,sw
NOBODY but slaveOWNERS cared a damn about slavery, by 1861.
slavery was DYING a un-lamented natural death!
TWBTS was about just ONE MAJOR cause(depending on which side you were on):
1.FREEDOM for dixie OR
2.Preservation of the union.
at best, chattal slavery was a SIDE ISSUE.
free dixie,sw
like YOU for instance.
persons who take the positions that you espouse on FR are either IGNORANT, LIARS and/or NUTS!
time to get back on your meds!
OR better yet, to head back over to DU, where you belong.<P.free dixie,sw
had his CRIMES been committed in the 20th century & during WW2, he would have been hanged at Nurenburg.
free dixie,sw
your every post tells any knowledgeable person that you are a HATER.
if it wasn't the southland that you dispise, you'd (imVho) be some other sort of HATER!
free dixie,sw
BUT YOURS ARE ALL HATEFILLED or STUPID!
free dixie,sw
rave on, fool!
YOU too serve the dixie LIBERTY cause,by alienating SMART people, who read your HATEFILLED rants against the south & her people.
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
free the south NOW,sw
neither the GENERAL, nor any of his force surrendered.they simply went home at the conclusion of the war,after a cease fire agreement.
had the damnyankees tried to force them to DIS-honor themselves & their tribe by SURRENDER,the guerrilla war would have gone on for a CENTURY. (the tribal forces could have held the Ozark,Winding Stair & the Ouachita Mountains FOREVER, with a thousand warriors!)
the guerrilla war in 1960-1974 RVN would have seemed like a picnic compared to what the Cherokee, Choctaw,Apache,Osage,Seminole,Creek,Chickasaw,Kiowa & other Indian nations could have/WOULD have done in the 1865-200? period!
free dixie,sw
Purely unintentional, what fun is our language. Thanks for pointing it out!
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
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