Posted on 02/02/2004 1:56:59 PM PST by stainlessbanner
So, I wrote a column recently and mentioned what a shock it would be to see the Confederate flag flying at Gracie Mansion in New York City.
So, then I got an e-mail from a gentleman in Alabama who reads The Sun News online.
So, now I have to adjust my comment and tell you that if you were to see the Confederate flag flying at Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayoral home since 1942, it might not be a shock after all.
Ben Thomas of Dadesville, Ala., wrote to tell me about Archibald Gracie Jr., who had moved from New York to Alabama before the War Between the States.
"When the war broke out," Thomas wrote, "he formed his own regiment and was later made a brigadier general of 'Gracie's Alabama Brigade.' I had three grandfathers who fought with him."
"He was killed in the trenches in Petersburg [Va.] in 1864, and even Robert E. Lee had kind words to say about him. He is buried at the Gracie Cemetery in New York City.
"So, while a Confederate flag may not fly at Gracie Mansion, a Confederate general and beloved hero is buried in the Gracie family plot."
A quick check confirmed his words.
After marrying a Richmond, Va., woman, Gracie, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, moved with his father to Mobile to start a cotton brokerage firm.
When war broke out, his father returned to New York, but the younger Gracie stayed and joined the Confederacy.
He fought in the Battle of Chickamauga and the Siege of Knoxville before joining Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in Petersburg, where he was killed.
Thanks for the history lesson, Ben.
You bet.
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