At Appomattox: "Rejoicing as I Never Heard Before Nor Ever Expect to Hear Again on This Earth."
At Gettysburg during the fierce fight for Little Round Top, a Confederate bullet struck Sgt. Helim Spaulding Thompson of the 44th New York Infantry in the mouth and came out behind his ear. Left for dead, he spent nine months recuperating in the U.S. military hospital at York, Pa. When he left in April 1864, he had missing front teeth, paralysis of the right side of his face and deafness in the right ear. He also made 11 lifetime friends during his recuperation. They pledged to meet at Niagara Falls in 20 years time-if they should survive the war. In 1884, eight of the 12 made the reunion and shared their stories. Here's what Thompson had to say, taken from his original notes shared by descendant Eric Musil.
Read the story of Thompson and the other 11 patients and medical personnel at the general hospital in York, Pa., who pledged to meet 20 years later at Niagara Falls: www.militaryimagesmagazine-di...
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The display of exuberance upon hearing such wonderful news, of surrender, with how they suffered, during the War, is, without doubt, easy to imagine! Like being in a dark, stuffy room, opening the window, to taken in fresh air! What joy!
I think we have an easier time today than we have ever realized.
A common soldier's life story. These personal accounts are my favorite. Thanks
I don't know how you're able to rehearse these personal accounts without breaking down into a blubbering heap... These are the best means to breathe immediacy into an otherwise academic review of past events. What will eternity be like, when the private and precious circles so cruelly broken on earth are repaired forever!
An interesting personal account of wartime service and ensuing years by a common man. What strikes me is how eloquent many of these period writings are that you read. It's obvious that people of that era were well schooled in grammar and composition. Such a pleasure to hear. Thanks again Ron.
Thank you that was great.
What a terrible price they paid. Same one our young men pay today. What can be done to stop it?
my dad's great-grandfather James DeVall a civil war veteran also settled in Buffalo County Nebraska in the town of Shelton
Must be James M. Devall of the 6th West Virginia Infantry.
Thank you, Ron! Very interesting, as usual! So sad, so painful! These "small" details are always heartbreaking! The sorrowful, difficult human experience, everywhere, anytime!
Your presentation has improved dramatically. I like it when you get right to the story and tell it.
I can't imagine getting shot in the mouth and the bullet exiting in the back of the head, and these wounds cause a convalescence of 9 months, and then going back to combat with partial paralysis! Hearing the marching orders would have probably killed me! From Gettysburg STRAIGHT to The Wilderness then I presume Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Imagine again, lying on the floor of a burning forest in The Wilderness trying to sleep, but having nightmares of Gettysburg. Super WW II soldier Audie Murphy wrote a book. "To Hell and Back." This soldier could have used that title too. I'm old enough to remember a US tv series called "The Rifleman" starring Chuck Connors. There was one episode starring Royal Dano who, having some mental issues, thought he was Abraham Lincoln. The photo above reminds me so much of Dano playing Lincoln in that episode. Check it out if you can.
Ah yes, little did they realize the true import of a Northern victory. It settled by force a legal issue which gave the central government extraordinary power over the here there to sovereignty of the individual states. We are paying the price of that usurpation to this day in an increasingly worsening degree.
Excuse me, but the whole point of the US Constitution was that the states agreed to give up a share of their sovereignty and live under a common set of laws, in particular the laws regarding national defense. They didn't give up all their sovereignty, but they essentially agreed to fight together, not independently or against each other. The southern states agreed to this system because they knew that if the British redcoats returned (which they did, in 1812) they could be defeated state by state. They knew that they needed a centrally controlled, unified national army to remain free. So the issue of state sovereignty was originally settled by agreement, not force. What the Civil War was supposed to settle was the issue of secession. Strangely though, the question of whether a state has the right to peacefully leave the Union has never been legally decided, either by legislation or the courts. In my view, the Confederacy could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by suing the federal government for the right to secede. The Supreme Court of 1860 would have ruled in their favor.