Posted on 02/21/2021 7:01:47 AM PST by Kaslin
On September 17, 1862, Corporal Henry Wilber of the 108th New York Volunteer Infantry was wounded, shot through the hand charging the "Sunken Road" near Antietam Creek, outside of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland.
He was recovered from his wound in time to once again be even more seriously wounded on July 3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during what became known as Picket’s Charge.
Corporal Wilber also fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December of 1862, and at Chancellorsville in May of 1863. His unit was involved in nearly every major battle from its inception until the very end of the war when it was mustered out of the Union Army of the Potomac.
The wounds Corporal Wilber received at Gettysburg were much more serious than the gunshot wound through his hand that he received at Antietam. Unable to serve with his unit anymore, Corporal Wilber was transferred to what at the time was called the “Invalid Corps,” later known as the Veterans Reserve Corps. There, Corporal Wilber remained on garrison duty until the end of the war.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all African slaves held in bondage in the southern states involved in the rebellion and leading to the eventual ratification of the 13th Amendment which formally abolished slavery in the United States. It also ensured that the Civil War was no longer just about restoring the Union, but also about freeing blacks from slavery.
There was no massive desertion from the Union Army as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation. White soldiers did not leave the ranks in droves, but instead continued to fight and die for over two more years to restore the Union and to free the slaves. To be exact, official records indicate that 360,222 Union soldiers died during the Civil War. A large percentage of them after the war became all about ending slavery.
As one can probably tell I’ve done a fair amount of family research into my ancestors, being able to uncover a great many details about my past family’s past. I’ve looked at military records, census documents, local newspaper archives, birth and death certificates, and wills. I’ve dug as deeply as I could to try to uncover as much about my ancestors in order to share that family heritage with my children and grandchildren.
In all of my research, I have never discovered that anyone in my family, going all the way back to the late 1600s when they first arrived in America, had ever owned a slave. Not a single one. None of the wills that I’ve seen ever indicated ownership of any slaves being passed down to heirs on the death of the family patriarch. No census documents listed any slaves owned by any Wilber household. I’m pretty convinced that I can say with a fair amount of certainty that my family was not slave owners. In fact, considering my Great Grandfather Corporal Henry Wilber’s service in the Civil War, my family fought with honor and distinction, and even shed blood in the fight against slavery.
I mention these historical facts about my ancestors because I think it’s relevant to the current discussions taking place in our nation’s Capitol right now, about legislation proposed by Democrats to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves here in America. Legislation that in my humble opinion is at best misguided, and at worst nothing more than attempts at revenge and punishment for the slave owners of the America of long ago. It is certainly not legislation that will bring unity to our country that is currently so divided over a myriad of other issues. Instead, it is something that will just add more coal to the fire that is tearing our country apart.
Reparations of one sort or another have long ago been paid for the sin of slavery here in America. Paid on the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, Gettysburg, and many many more. Paid through "Affirmative Action," government "set-asides," "enterprise zones," and so many other public and private initiatives put forth to benefit black Americans.
Call it “reparations” if you want, but what it really is is nothing more than black retribution for sins of the past. Revenge against the white Americans of today who never owned slaves, who never participated in the slave trade, and very likely whose ancestors also never owned a single slave since slave ownership in the past was not widespread outside of the southern states.
Does it heal the wounds of slavery that absolutely no black Americans of today ever experienced? Does it do anything to heal our nation and bring us together? Or will it simply further inflame the racial tensions that had for the most part become a thing of the past? That is until January 20, 2009, when racial tensions in this country were reignited, and all the progress that had been made was erased and pushed back decades. Such a shame too. America at that time was very close to achieving the colorblind society that Dr. Martin Luther King had worked so hard for.
Well as far as I am concerned, my Great Grandfather Henry has already paid in full any reparations way back in 1864, at a place called Gettysburg.
Slavery really widespread among the populations in the south in that only 3% of southerners even owned slaves.
Thank you!
Reparations would simply be another government handout vote-buying scheme. And also the start of another civil war.
*Was NOT widedpread
A three percent who had wives and children. Just prior to the rebellion almost half the families in states like Mississippi and South Carolina had slaves. So slavery was way more wide-spread in the south and the cornerstone of their society to an extent Southern apologists like to admit.
But that fact is also completely irrelevant to the question of whether reparations will do any good and whether they will solve any problems. They won't.
“January 20, 2009, when racial tensions in this country were reignited, and all the progress that had been made was erased and pushed back decades.”
His legacy lives on.
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Wow.
I want your post to be available every day. You have a PhD in Economic and it shows.
I once saw the cost of programs benefiting blacks since the LBJ Great Society began-—many trillions. Some could be proven (college money or house loan money available ONLY to blacks, etc.).
Others are merely common knowledge black privilege (such as set asides for black owned construction companies only).
Guard the cemeteries. Here come the zombies.
There can be no reparations. The wrong done cannot be undone. The push for reparations is designed to take all Whitey’s money, and then eliminate Whitey.
Where are the reparations for the whites who fought and died to free the slaves?
The Left would say that’s because of the impact of colonialism in Ghana.
It will NEVER be enough for the liberals. Never. No matter what.
A work colleague of mine, a distinguished African-American computer scientist, told me “We don’t want justice. We want revenge.”
I would argue that the wage in Ghana would be even lower without the colonialism that took place.
Well said!
My own 2nd great grandfather and his cousin - both Vermont VOLUNTEERS who joined the Union Army ( Company F, 10th Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry) when Lincoln called for volunteers in 1862 - returned from the war disabled veterans, my 2nd great grandfather's cousin having lost his left arm at a place called Winchester on 9/19/1864.
Neither they nor their ancestors ever owned any slaves.
What gets me is that the first (but not the only) legal slave owner in America was a black man named Anthony Johnson (1600-1670)! To whom is HE expected to pay reparations???
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/06/flashback-first-legal-slave-owner-america-black-man/
I'll just bet the "wokesters" running the "education racket" here in America aren't teaching this in their history classes!
My 2nd great grandfather ( company F 10th Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry ) suffered the deadly amoebic dysentery and as a result was also debilitated for the rest of his life. It is a historical fact that the ameobic dysentery killed at least as many Union soldiers as did enemy bullets.
I have it on an affidavit filled out by my 2nd great grandfather's cousin who served in the same company and regiment that even though my 2nd great grandfather was often as sick as a dog, he still did his duty between the frequent severe and untreated attacks, did not desert, served until the end of the war and was honorably discharged in Vermont when the war ended.
The consequences of amoebic dysentery that is not properly treated can be meningeal irritation and a crippling inflammatory arthritis. My 2nd great grandfather suffered these afflictions and was crippled to the degree that he was no longer able to carry out his trade in Vermont as a tack/harness maker. A letter to this effect was written on his behalf by a well-known Vermont lawyer named Ralph Orson Sturtevant who was later to become the author of the Pictorial History Thirteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers War of 1861-1865. I have a copy of this affidavit among my other documents.
So if we are going to talk about "reparations...…"
My family DID own slaves. In fact, General Pickett is a relative thru marriage. But when people claim they need to take away the wealth that was earned thru slave ownership they don’t know what they’re talking about. My family lost EVERYTHING during the Civil War. Such wealth as they had was gone - no home, no property, no money. They had to pick up & start again from scratch. Maybe some slave owners did manage to preserve some wealth after the war. But I doubt it was much. It still doesn’t make their descendants responsible for their deeds.
Do you know which unit your G-grandfather served in?
1863.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.