Posted on 04/15/2005 7:27:55 PM PDT by CurlyBill
With a heavy heart, Col. Columbus Sykes sat near a tree in Aberdeen, Miss., and wrote a letter to his niece and nephew.
"You are yet young, very young," he wrote, "one just emerged from his mother's arms; the other an infant, whose age is numbered only by months."
Less than a month earlier on Oct. 26, 1864, Sykes had held his brother, Dr. William E. Sykes, in his arms as he was dying in a home at Decatur.
In the Nov. 18, 1864, letter, Sykes is telling his brother's young children about their "devoted father" and his "noble brother" who joined the Confederate Army.
"Though suffering excruciating agony, he calmly surveyed his wound and pronounced it inevitably mortal," Sykes wrote.
"And, then with a courage that was sublime in its exhibition, he prepared for the last struggle with the great monster: death."
The letters and telegrams that reached the Tennessee Valley from the battlefield did not always bring good news.
Some of them were charming and some were romantic, but they mostly brought sad news, Morgan County Archivist Susan Bzdell said.
"If it wasn't about death, it was about what the soldiers were going through on the battlefield, and we know war is hell," she said.
But sad news was better than no news, Bzdell said.
"At least when they got a letter, they knew the soldier was alive," she explained.
Some historians estimate that less than half of the letters written during the Civil War made it home, especially in the Confederate states because there was no regular mail.
That was not the case for Pvt. John Newton Smith. His descendants have 16 letters that he wrote from Oct. 13, 1861, to July 27, 1863.
Smith was born in Calhoun County, but apparently moved to Decatur and helped construct the railroad bridge across the Tennessee River.
Smith wrote his first letter from Manassas Junction in Virginia and mailed it to his brother and sister.
"After a long time I take my pen in hand and paper on my knee to drop you a few lines to let you know that I am well."
Almost six months later, Smith was in Tishomingo County, Miss., when he wrote to his wife in Decatur. Word had apparently reached his camp about Union troops occupying Decatur.
"They say the Yankees (are) at Decatur and all around," Smith wrote. "You get you a gun and get in the cave, and go to shooting them. I am coming home whenever I can get the chance, (even) if I have to wade through Yankees seven deep."
In what was apparently his final letter, Smith tells his wife he is in Alexandria, about 16 miles from his birthplace. He had visited his family in Decatur and told his wife how much he missed her.
"Everything looks gloomy and dismal," Smith wrote. "The Lord only knows what is to become of us. At the present, it looks like the enemy has got the upper hand of us, but I don't feel like we are whipped yet, although we have given up some important points."
Moulton Postmaster Ken. N. Smith is the great-great-grandson of John Newton Smith.
"These letters are a treasure," he said. "We're not sure why they stopped in 1863, but we believe he died of smallpox in the latter stages of the war."
Between the battle at Fort Donelson on the Tennessee River in February 1862 and the Seven Days battles in Virginia in the summer of 1862, telegrams brought news of death to the area like no war in history.
"For the first time, news of mass carnage is coming to the Tennessee Valley," Bzdell said. "The men on the battlefield had never seen anything like this, and the people back home were certainly not used to so many people they knew dying at the same time."
In the early part of 1862, Moulton newspaper owner Nelson H. White received news that a son was killed at Shiloh.
J.T. Royer and R.A. Hunter died at Frazier's Farm in Virginia. T.J. Austin was wounded in the Battle of Sharpsburg. A Confederate surgeon sent him home where he lingered in his parents' Lawrence County home before dying.
A.P. Montgomery didn't make it back to the Tennessee Valley. Union soldiers killed him at Cold Harbor.
Washington Wilshire Parker found his brother's lifeless body lying near him at Shiloh. He returned Henry Parker's body to the family home and left immediately to rejoin his unit.
A telegram arrived in Athens announcing that Thomas Hobbs of the Ninth Alabama was wounded at Gaines Mill while fighting to defend the Confederate capital in Richmond.
He lingered for almost a month and died July 22, 1862, with his wife, Anne, and a young son near his side.
Above his grave overlooking the James River, the young widow erected a small stone with the inscription: "A brave and simple man who died in a brave and simple faith."
In the middle of August, Ira and Rebecca Hobbs received a telegram about their son's death.
Pvt. Jonathan Leggett Bracken of the 35th Alabama Infantry started writing to his wife in Lawrence County before the Fort Donelson battle. On Jan. 6, 1864, Elizabeth Caroline LeMay Bracken received his final message.
In the eight-page letter, he talked about his love for his wife and how he was trying to be a better Christian.
"I can't live happy without being near you, although I have fine health and plenty to eat," Bracken wrote.
"I hope and pray to God that the time is not far off when I can return home in peace to live the remainder of my days with you."
Almost four months later on May 25, 1864, his brother-in-law sent a letter from Montevallo to Elizabeth Bracken.
"Sister, I have bad (news) to tell you, yet I hope you will not grieve as it cannot mend the matter any, and be doing you an injury at the same time," C.M. LeMay wrote.
"John is dead. He died on the (20th) of March at Demopolis. Lieut. Carlock saw a paper with his death in it."
Almost six months after Bracken died, the Sykes brothers were part of an advanced guard that crossed the Flint River near what is now Point Mallard.
The men skirmished with a small group of Union soldiers and Dr. William E. Sykes was mortally wounded.
Less than a month later, the doctor's brother was in Mississippi writing a letter to his two orphaned children.
"I cannot in this communication give you even a partial account of his heroic endurance and his gallantry during his entire connections with the (Confederate) service," Sykes wrote.
He told the children that their father was offered a surgeon's position, but refused "to shield himself from danger behind a sick man's couch" and volunteered as a private in the Confederate Army.
Sykes talked about his brother surviving in the fighting at Atlanta and about his return trip to Decatur.
His brother was in military formation when Union bombs hit the unit and "my noble brother fell."
"The illusory hope flashed quick as thought, he is only wounded, sure he will not die," Sykes wrote. "In a few seconds, I reached him and supported his drooping head upon my breast. The first glance convinced me that his doom was as inexorably fixed as the decrees of eternity.
"The last, the very last, faintest, dimmest spark of hope was extinguished. His comrades bore him to a house nearby, once owned by him as gently as they could to an improvised couch."
Sykes said his brother was wounded at 3 p.m. on Oct. 26, 1864, and died the next morning at 10 a.m.
"I have seen the brave, the cowardly, the good, the wicked die; but never have I seen one who went so composedly, so rationally to the grave. Not a tear bedewed his cheek, not a murmur escaped his lips."
Sykes promised his niece and nephew that on "some future day" he would return and tell them more interesting stories about their father.
That day never came. On Jan. 7, 1865, Col. Columbus Sykes died in Mississippi.
We have and yet sometimes it seems so difficult to pinpoint what that is.
I'd really love to hear not only your thoughts but that of everyone else about what *exactly* it is that we have lost.
Very eloquently stated sir. I could not agree more wholeheartedly.
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
blame the damnyankee-controlled, "publick screwl edumakashun sistim".
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
I am going to bookmark this thread solely because of your great post.
You ever deal with some moron named M. Espinola. He's trying to give me crap on the Abe Lincoln museum thread but he's not very good at it. I get the impression he just plain hates the South. Probably one of the stupid yankees from New York.
Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the Conservative is not equal to the Liberal; that discrimination, subordination to the Liberal Agenda, is his natural and moral condition. [Applause.] This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. It is so even amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as twenty years ago. Those at the White House who still cling to these errors with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind; from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is, forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the pro-conservative fanatics: their conclusions are right if their premises are. They assume that the conservative is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights, with the liberal man.... I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the Red States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the Liberal Agenda would be compelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of anti-Republicanism; that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in physics or mechanics. That the principle would ultimately prevail. That we, in maintaining liberalism as it exists with us, were warring against a principle-a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of man. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds we should succeed, and that he and his associates in their crusade against our institutions would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as well as in physics and mechanics, I admitted, but told him it was he and those acting with him who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the "Government Creator/UN" had made unequal."
Wow. Sounds kinda like speeches we hear all the time in this current generation -- from Liberal Democrats. It's right up up there with something Barbara Boxer or Harry Reid might say on the house floor; different subject. They'd wax on about the evil of America. Sound familiar?
The "Recent Unpleasantness" was about states rights; the issue of slavery came up to break the South. It didn't start out as a "free the slaves" political movement anymore than preferential affirmative action policies were about equality in the later years. History is littered with bigots of all stripes and hues.
Come to think of it? Current race and liberal hustlers on college campuses make such speeches against whites, conservatives, Christians, Jews, and Republicans as that you are quoting. Just insert the newer "stereotype" or "identity".
I know from my own studies; many of the soldiers couldn't write; but educated officers would write letters for them. And, lastly, there were some very finely educated men involved on both sides of the "recent unpleasantness".
I'd love to, but am unable at this time. I think some of our camp members will be there.
So, if you wanna argue that if the South had NOT had slaves, they wouldn't have been so "wealthy" (wealthier than the North), then argue away! No problem. But there is more than just *that* aspect about the "War".
But to say the War was about "Ending Slavery" is only one part of the whole "War".
P.S. Believe it or not... I learned this at public education "schools" in California in the not too distant past. (Musta had a teacher or two who slipped through the "AFL-CIO" knot, eh?) I read more on my own in later years, after PCisms infected the educational apparatus in CA.
P.S.S. Why would I depise you? Heck, even the Confederate Flag is being misrepresented by the PC-run-amok crowds. And the longer I live in the South, the more I understand why the South yet discusses the "War". The South is so rich in American history, you can hardly turn over a pine needle without finding some relic or remembrance of American history -- full, and not just "the war".
Yes, I see, but I'm still wondering... was it the more classical type of education these men received or was it something else? Did they write so well because it was learned or did they learn because of something about them?
Their letters reveal a high level of eloquence, depth and character. So, do the letters show how they were educated or do they simply reveal who they are?
No scholarly answer from me; just my two cents.
Scratching a civilization in a new land required a lot of hard, thoughtful work. Which I think is reflected in the writings. No hurry to rush to a job; no hurry to zip to the mall; or watch your favorite tv show. The "timelines and deadlines" of that time in History were pretty much predicated upon the Seasons, farming/ranching, Family and the Sabbath. Hard work; but not quite the "alarm clock" mentality. Folks, then, saw death and illness far more than we do in our current time. You gave thanks for oil and candles when it got dark. You thought about your next day the night before -- planned it out -- so you wouldn't waste time. This is, IMHO, reflected in the writings of then. You knew a simple cold could result in the death of loved ones.
While modern technology has indeed enhanced our ability to "reach out and zap each other" it hasn't necessarily enhanced and/or contributed to the personal, one to one, side of "communications", IMHO.
What's in CONCORD? (A race?)
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