Confederate Memorial Day honors all who served

No one made any apologies Monday for flying the Confederate flag. No one made any apologies for singing Dixie and no one made any apologies for remembering those who fought for the gray.

The annual Confederate Memorial Day ceremony held on the square in Troy was sparsely attended, and, some said there should have been some apologies for that, but those in attendance made no apologies for being there.

"Those who fought for the gray were men who wanted to take care of their children or their mamas," said Ronnie Simmons, past division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "They were men who wanted to take care of their crops and be left alone. But, they took up arms and fought for a cause that was right. We don't need to apologize for them. I'm proud of those who went out and fought. I'm proud of those who wore the gray."

Simmons was the guest speaker at the Confederate Memorial Day Ceremony and said tribute should be made to all of those who fought for the Confederacy.

"They were all Confederate soldiers," he said. "Regardless of race or religion, they all wore the gray and they should be honored."

Simmons said there were those of Jewish faith who fought for the Confederacy. There were many blacks who chose to fight for the South and some women. A black man, who was fighting for the Confederacy, was captured by Union soldiers, Simmons said, and the Union soldiers asked him why he was fighting for the South.

"He told them that he had a right to fight for his country," Simmons said. "The South was his country and he was willing to take up arms to defend it. And, there were accounts of women who disguised themselves as men and fought for their South. Five women were among the Confederate causalities at Gettysburg. These men and women fought - and died - with honor. We must honor them."

Simmons said Jefferson Davis was asked why he fought for the gray and he said he did it because it was "right."

"The South had a right to withdraw from the union if it so chose," he said. "It was their right, but they had to fight for that right. The South had no government, no postal service, no army, no transportation system, but they fought because it was right and we honor those men and women here today, because it is right."

Who is this goof? Richard Simmons? What a moron.

Really!! How dare he!! Bringing up accepted practices up until 1860. Tell us Tex. Tell us about Massachusetts, Timothy Pickering, George Cabot. Tell us about the Hartford Convention. Tell us about Jefferson's 1801 Inaugural Address. Tell us about what was taught as a standard at West Point in the 1820s. How about Tucker's Views of the Constitution? Come on, tell us. Of course now, we'll get to see abe and Clay's views of Empire(oh, and don't forget Walt's posting of Washington)

No, secession was never an accepted practice in the United StateS, in itself created by secession from the British Empire < /sarcasm>

For Truth and For Dixie

"The South had a right to withdraw from the union if it so chose," he said. "It was their right, but they had to fight for that right. The South had no government, no postal service, no army, no transportation system, but they fought because it was right and we honor those men and women here today, because it is right."

It was wrong.

'The central idea pervading this struggle," said Lincoln in 1861, "is the necessity that is upon us, of proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We must settle this question now, whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose. If we fail it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves." Nor was this struggle "altogether for today," Lincoln told Congress in 1861. "It is for a vast future also." It "embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic, or a democracy . . . can, or cannot maintain its territorial integrity." If it could not, the forces of reaction in Europe would smile in smug satisfaction at this proof of their contention that the upstart republic launched in 1776 could never survive—that government of, by, and for the people had indeed perished from the earth.

Most northern people in 1861 shared Lincoln's conviction that the fate of democratic government hung on the outcome of the Civil War. That passion sustained them through four years of the bloodiest war in the Western world between 1815 and 1914.

"We must fight," insisted the Indianapolis Daily Journal on April 27,1861, two weeks after the firing on ftirtSumter, "because we must. The National Government has been assailed. The Nation has been defied. If either can be done with impunity neither Nation nor Government is worth a cent. . . . War is self preservation, if our form of Government is worth preserving. If monarchy would be better, it might be wise to quit fighting, admit that a Republic is too weak to take care of itself, and invite some deposed Duke or Prince of Europe to come over here and rule us. But otherwise, we muit fight. "

None felt this sense of democratic mission more strongly than Union soldiers, who imperiled their lives for it. "I do feel that the liberty of the world is placed in our hands to defend," wrote a Massachusetts private to his wife in 1862, "and if we are overcome then farewell to freedom."

In 1863, on the second anniversary of his enlistment, an Ohio private wrote in his diary that he had not expected the war to last so long, but no matter how much longer it took it must be carried on "for the great principles of liberty and self government at stake, for should we fail, the onward march of Liberty in the Old World will be retarded at least a century, and Monarchs, Kings, and Aristocrats will be more powerful against their subjects than ever."

-- James McPherson

Walt

Hey, look at the guy on the far right. His hand looks black to me. Must be a staged photo.

Seriously, I don't understand why some of these guys are so jealous of the South and Southerners. They won the war, though it did take 'em four years with 4 to 1 odds. (Or was it 3 to 1? I can never remember.) Anyway, I always wonder why they feel so threatened by a bunch of "good ol' boys" who just want to quietly honor their heritage. I mean, we don't go shoving it in their faces or anything. Yet, they are compelled to inject themselves into a peaceful discussion, always pointing out that Northern states apparently were stupid enough to join a club they could not quit while the Southern states were not. (I know that's not quite true as Northern states also believed it was OK to quit the union, but these guys don't seem to get it.)

But then again, it really isn't that hard to understand. Some people just can't help trying to tear others down in a vain attempt to lift themselves up. Sad, really.

Amercian, by birth, Southern by the grace of God.

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