The Cyclorama, Battle of Atlanta and Gone with the Wind

Canada Free Press ^ | 08/25/14 | Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

[MacNaughton]

12 What few observances of the war have focused on the roles of women and minorities in the great conflict. ...

UGA class of 1977. I recall 5 curious CW-related cultural items from my time there ...

1. The university band was known as the Dixie Redcoat Marching Band. I believe by 1980, DRMB band members, at the urging of administration officials, had dropped the descriptor "Dixie."

2. At that time, the DRMB had a tradition of jammin' in the stands of Sanford Stadium for 1/2 hour after football games. The student body in attendance would surround the band. It was a grand experience. The DRMB always closed the performance with "Tara's Theme" from the 1939 film, "GWTW".

3. When visiting co-eds at their apartments or in the dorms, I was amazed at the number of "GWTW" posters on their walls.

4. The KA and SAE fraternities would still dress in confederate regalia for some sort of celebration in the spring ("Old South Week"?).

5. Ted Turner broadcast "GWTB" for the 1st time on TV during spring 1977. I was in the AGD sorority house TV room watching it with my girl friend and her sisters and their beaus. I was amazed at the squeals let out by the sisters when a drunken Rhett swept a feisty Scarlett in his arms and carried her up the staircase.

[tanknetter]

I gave up on paying attention to the events after reading Doris Kerns Goodwin’s atrocious and patently offensive keynote address at the Gettysburg 150th event last Summer. She made it perfectly clear that the thing was being hijacked to score political points.

Altho I did hear that several of the Park Rangers in attendence turned their backs on her when she really got rolling. Having been up to Gettysburg on numerous Ranger Walks (and to Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville for the same) that doesn’t surprise me. They are incredibly committed to the unpoliticized history of the battle and making sure it’s told accurately. I have no doubt that so long as they’re there, the battlefield is in good hands and will persist.

[Grammy]

It is also the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin.... one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. A summary from the local historical society....

“The Battle of Franklin decimated the Army of Tennessee. Around ten thousand men became casualties on both sides, roughly seven thousand of them Confederates. Fourteen Southern generals became casualties, more than any other battle in the war. Even so, Hood doggedly pursued Schofield with his diminished army to fight again at the Battle of Nashville.”

Six southern generals died. There were so many bodies that one general died standing up, propped up by the dead around him. The local historical society is in the process of reclaiming a number of battle sites. They have recently purchased a local pizza place and will be removing the building to restore the battle ground.