July 4, 1865: A Confederate Soldier Arrives Home and Reflects on What the War Meant
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- George Michael Neese (1839-1921) of New Market, Va., began his war service in his local militia company and went on to become a gunner in Chew's Battery of Stuart's Horse Artillery. Attached to the Army of Northern Virginia, he and his comrades saw plenty of action in momentous battles. Captured at Fisher's Hill, Va., in October 1864, he signed the Oath of Allegiance to The Constitution and gained his release from prison at Point Lookout, Md. A dedicated diarist, he kept a journal through the war, missing only a few days. His July 4 entry notes his arrival home-and his reflections on the war. He published his diary in 1911 in book form, titled "Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery."
"Life on the Civil War Research Trail" is hosted by Ronald S. Coddington, Editor and Publisher of Military Images magazine. Learn more about our mission to showcase, interpret and preserve Civil War portrait photography at militaryimagesmagazine.com and shopmilitaryimages.com.
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Image: George M. Neese Papers, James Madison University Special Collections: www.lib.jmu.ed...
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Vietnam vet. Three Purple Hearts. When speaking with my fellow veterans and others I never fail to note that we aren't the first to have undergone war... nor will we be the last.
You come home, put down the sword and pick up the plow.
Thank you for serving the rest of us Sir.
l to am a vietnam vet l came home but l left alittle of my self over there
We all have to remember the ones who did not come back, I always think of them permanently 19 or 20 years old.
I've been trying to pick up that plow since 2010 but my heart still burns and I miss my fellows.
Better yet, refuse to go in the first place unless you're absolutely sure it's the only option left to literally defend home and hearth.
Surprisingly he doesn’t punctuate every second sentence with “like”. The quality of writing from this era is quite striking. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Civilization is in a slow, fairly steady decline over the centuries onto the present nadir.
And he didn’t misuse or overuse “literally.”
totally agree,,this veteran knows how to write
Because people READ BOOKS. They actually had vocabularies to clearly express their thoughts.
I weakened and gave you a LIKE
A soldier and a poet. I am glad he made it through the war physically intact, and enjoyed the remainder of his life.
Me too.
He died a former traitor to his country.
It's is good to hear from the Southern side of the war.
As a Virginian, my biases run deep on the often misunderstood profiles of the CSA, but this only added to my already deep respect for the good men on both sides of this tragic war. The feeling one gets walking these fields and heights is indeed special, and having these words to compliment them just makes this all the more felt.
A good man who fights for a bad cause is not a good man. He fought for the 2 worst causes: sedition and slavery. The suffering of the war was caused by people like him and the nobility lay in those who stood against him and for America and the freedom of all. Too be that George Neese seemed to find his concience and desire to reconciliation after 4 years of war. I wonder what hateful and bloodthirsty lines were in his diary entries from 4 years earlier?
What about the good men and women chattle slaves?? Are you a white supremacist?
There were only good men on the U.S. side buddy. The males on the other side were traitors then and traitors now. 159 years has not washed the shame of being a confederate traitor away nor will another 159 years.
I can’t believe it! He managed to convey all that WITHOUT using the word, “literally.” Amazing what we can do when we value language.
Literally!
The word "literally" has lost all meaning thanks to everyone overusing it and almost always using it incorrectly.
It’s interesting to see how education has changed since then. He was described as a common man back then. Anybody who could speak like that today would be considered a poet.
All Southerners are not illiterate Hillbillies!
@@megladon89Beat me to it 🤣🤣 literally.
If you want a chance at being remembered, keep a diary. I would have liked to had the chance to talk with him. Thank you for brining him to life for us viewers.
Any diary I would have written would pale beside what this man wrote!
Articulate and a timeless message. It is sad that this intelligent, deep, courageous and hearful man never had children. He would have made a wonderful father. Blessings to you for bringing such magnificent stories to life. Thank you.
In this world the better people have always had no children or few children. The opposite can be said of bad people.
@@davidfosca1044 Not always. It depends on the character of the man. A man is not necessarily a better man if he is childless. IMHO, sure sounds like this guy probably had what it takes to be a great father.
Maybe he was gay. I mean that as a totally neutral, respectful statement.
The 'humble private' was a poet worthy of laureate status!
People were much more literate then. Today it would be poorly spelled, half word tweets with bad emojis. I weep for the future.
@@hoytoy100 ~ Not really. More than 20% of the population was illiterate in the 1860s, and only 57% of the population attended school after age 10. But those that stayed with it received a better education than we offer these days, that's for sure.
I like the words of people who lived it….beats fiction everyday.
History is always more interesting than what anybody can imagine.
His book can be downloaded as a PDF.
The ability of this era of people to articulate their remembrances in such a constructive prose never ceases to amaze! When did we lose the ability to express are thoughts/memories in such an intelligent manner? This past generation, many times removed, certainly brought one into the revelation of their emotions, exposing their collective sentiments in a most informative way! Too bad these life experiences are not part of our educational curriculum, for maybe it would give people a time to pause, giving thought to what others committed themselves to, for a cause, honorable in their dedication to preserving what they believed was proper, be it right or wrong!
" When did we lose the ability to express are thoughts/memories in such an intelligent manner? "
When education was diluted with things other than LEARNING
Those people were taught first and foremost to love God, country and life in that order. They were also taught to excel in everything they did. They simply knew no better.
@@roykey3422 Family is near the top
Humbling. I have a doctorate degree and am not nearly as articulate as he was.
I have a Bachelors degree, and can say the same. We live in a vulgar age. Recently, I've taken up writing a personal journal with pen and paper. It helps to slow and steady my thoughts, which allows me to better consider my words while constructing them on the page.
I was thinking the same thing.
Humble indeed ,Good Sir, Bravo 👏!
@@flatcat6676 Studies show that the vocabulary of the average person is contracting. Education is now indoctrination.
@@unbreakable7633"studies show" is a weasel argument. Just tell us one study.
Humble... "Yes". Simple...unquestionably "No"!
Very eloquent. For a simple artillery man, he certainly knew how to write.
I think wordsmithery reached its height in the in the 19th century here in the USA. The average person back then used many more words than the average person does today.
@@rnedlo9909 I’m not sure about that. I think it’s more likely that UA-cam history channels and historical documentaries select only the most eloquent letters and journals for distribution. I’m fairly sure the level of erudition of a randomly selected soldier letter wouldn’t be impressive.
The literacy rate in the US at that time was much greater than it is today as our educational systems continue their nearly sixty year decline.
There are numerous examples of very eloquent letters from soldiers on both sides of the conflict and from every walk of life.
Generally, these were robust men familiar with hard labor who used horses for transportation, regularly walked long distances, and endured daily discomforts commonly unknown today.
@@oilman7718 I'm an old man and knew people from the 19th century personally. Overall, they had a greater grasp of English than most of us do today.
@@rnedlo9909... 71 years old here and I agree ... Im constantly amazed at the lack communication skills in the younger generation. If it isn't in a app or a video game , they have no interest...
Wow! Every American should read and hear this. Especially our young generation.
A bit off topic, but: Some important author from the North commented that the South had no great writers. After that, the South produced the likes of William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Thomas Wolfe, John Kennedy Toole, Carson McCullers, Katherine Anne Porter, and Mister Neese.
It might had been that they had many a great writer, perhaps, they had no great cultural or social need or desire for far reaching publishing.
@@bradleymosman8325 I like the Southern Gothic genre. The story of my wife's Southern family tradition.
But seriously, they are some great writers.
Which Northern author said that?
@@miguelservetus9534probably the author of my two dads
I am often moved by the eloquence of Civil War era soldiers. I don't think any 25-ish fellow nowadays could put such expressive prose to page. This is common in the writing of the men of that time.
I have two graduate degrees and can't express myself as well as this Confederate enlisted man. I cannot help but to note that he never mentioned slavery. He said he was defending his homeland. This is what a lot of folks totally ignore when discussing the cause of the war. While slavery may have been the match that lit the fuse the situation ultimately became much more complex and unquestionably also involved states rights, the 3/5 ths compromise...and its implicit promise to allow slavery... and the then unanswered question of whether the union itself was only a voluntary association that could be left by any state at any time for any reason
Imagine believing slavery had anything to do with the civil war😂
@@VictoryOrValhalla14imagine believing it didn’t. 🤨
@@Ureconstructed showing your high school history book propaganda isn’t a good look.
@@VictoryOrValhalla14 😂 ok. 👌🏻
Why was every country able to get rid of slavery without bloodshed? All wars are bankers wars.
As you say, I humble man, but not a simple one. I wish I could write like that.
Love the 19th century prose from a man that was obviously well read and a poet and author in his own right. I speculate he was a very thoughtful, shy young man from the country that loved to read and thought on a higher level possibly than those around him.
The eloquence of that gentleman! 😮
Thank you for sharing George Neese's words. Very touching.
This poet has once again told the story of how politics has brought an enemy to the gate of a homeland which men fought to defend regardless of their station in life. Tribal self-defense from invasion is an innate character in all humans.
So is wanting to be free. The most important aspect of the Civil War was that it facilitated the freedom of millions from slavery. Not some imagined integrity of fighting to preserve it.
@@teresacastro1263 When the wolf is at your door, your 1st innate reaction is self defense. If you are not a slave owner you are not fighting to preserve slavery. Life is complicated and not merely a matter of black and white decisions.
You should read the last line of the post again. You might need to read it a few times. Not every confederate soldier was fighting to preserve slavery. To say so would be ignorant.
@@44thala49 To say that their cause to defend their land was somehow noble when the consequense of a successful defense of the land would have extended and preserved slavery is ignorant and lacking and understanding of the wider picture.
@@teresacastro1263And not long afterwards they were reeslaved by way of share cropping,then eventually freed from that,and a few years down the road reenslaved with the War on Poverty programs of a southerner named Lyndon B.Johnson,and the Democrat Party, this slavery continues to this day.
People from that era had a much better command of the English language. Penmanship was also taught! He seemed like a man who was glad to be home, and was not bitter one bit! God bless him and his memory!!!
Thank You. Deep & Insightful. GOD Bless All who serve or served and their families and loved ones. As a former military officer and descendant of confederate veterans I appreciate and respect what you do on this channel. Be Safe out there folks ~ Peace & Health to Us All.
It’s always interesting listening to how people spoke, or rather wrote way back then. They often sound more educated than people today although this man probably had not had a college education.
Not 'more educated', 'better educated'.
One late afternoon/early evening August, 20+ years ago, I drove north on US 81 up the Shenandoah Valley. The sunlight was spectral; the sky was deep blue; the hills and the valley were a glowing green. I could see why the Virginians fought so hard for it and how heartbreaking it was to see it wrecked.
Sir or Ma'am, l have an eye for detail. US81 travels no where near the State of Virginia.
Are you referring to I-81?as in interstate.
@@carywest9256 I think you are correct; it was I-81. It was an alternate route to avoid going anywhere near the beltway which was a big mistake I made the way down. The speed limit was 75 so, of course, everyone was doing 90. I was driving a Honda Civic (stick), on a spare tire, sandwiched between road construction and semi trucks, working the gas with my left foot because my sciatica was off-the-charts bad. And then I saw this sunlight break through the clouds and illuminate the entire valley.
While visiting my brother, last spring, we went to the battlefield at Newmarket, where the Commonwealth of Virginia has and maintains a museum. This museum tells the objective story of the war, without bias for or against one side or another. When I headed home, to Florida, I stopped at the National D-Day museum, in Bedford, VA, and a few hours later, Appomatox, the scene of Lee's surrender to Grant.
Who did they fight for it?the First Nations?
@@calgreg2569 The Yankees.
LEAVE THE PLAQUES, STATUES and MEMORIALS of warrior citizens such as this humble man ALONE! The ignorant people who think they are somehow serving a noble cause by attempting to erase the past have no understanding, nor do they have any compassion for those who fought in, were affected by or are descendants of those who served in the War Between The States. My ancestors fought on both sides of that horrible conflict. My Southern ancestors owned no slaves and had no reason to want to perpetuate slavery. They did, however, feel a deep duty and loyalty to the state they were born in, and when it was invaded, they stood and defense their homes and families. Honor is due the participants of both sides of this conflict. The vast majority did what they believed was their duty. No one has the right to tear down memorials erected by their families, survivors and those who believe commemorating their sacrifices is appropriate . 🇺🇸
I agree, we should not "erase" the past and it's memorials but to continue to venerate the politicians, hotheads, generals and uninformed who started this great catastrophe is setting up up for another even greater catastrophe.
Amen!
Unfortunately, many of these monuments were erected to glorify the Lost Cause.
Nobody is fooling anyone.
@@SandfordSmythe I CALL BULLSHIT
@marcusaurelius9631 The day long programs for the dedication of these monuments.
Thanks Ron. It's nice to see your channel growing slowly and steadily. Great story from this Southern gentleman.
I was 10 years old the first and last time I saw the Shenandoah valley. 50+ years later I still remember how beautiful it was.
Great job. This is my favorite video you've done so far, for your Civil War series!!!
This is very moving, very touching, cespecially for me a US veteran. and I think it will help to heal many wounds.
I’ve read many accounts from soldiers of the Civil War. I was struck by the lack of bitterness toward their former enemies.
Thanks for producing Life on the Civil War Research Trail! Great to learn about the personal side of the people of that day. 👍👍
Mr. Neese was very eloquent. An incredible description of his feelings.
I'm an old man. Have read of The War since The Centennial Years. Never actually heard the name of that mountain pronounced and always read it in my mind as "Mass-a-Newton." Thanks for educating me on the point.
Mass a nutten. Thanks for caring. I grew up there. Went to vmi as did grandfather. GG grandfather George Nelson fought with Stonewall for 4 years as a private. My great great grandfather on my mom's side who is also my ggg uncle was a surgeon with Stonewall. The milner tariff led to the war. Now price fixing, 25% unrealized gain tax etc is more dangerous than the tea tax and Milner tariff combined.
Very instructive. Perhaps we need an explanation as to how he became such a literate penman without the benefit of today’s public school system; common core, the National Education Association, bussing to achieve racial balance, increased property taxes for more football helmets and shoulder pads.
Vietnam vet here. Father was a Korean War vet. My ancestors were engaged on both sides of this conflict.
Father’s side were recent German emigrants from Ohio. They were farmers and knew little more than it was necessary for them to step up and fight.
Mother’s side were decedents harking back to the earliest days of Colonial America. They’d emigrated from Stirling Kentucky to settle in the now Kansas City MO, area. They were confederates and escaped to Tarrant County Texas, when it got too contentious for the families to stay.
My 2nd G Grandfather was Stephen Carter Ragan. He served as a Captain in the Army of Texas. Upon succession, he formed a Calvary unit that fought many battles all the way from (the siege of) Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and defended Atlanta from Sherman. At they’d of hostilities, they surrendered in Mobile, Alabama.
None had to give up arms or surrender their swords. They just packed up and headed home to Texas.
Your “mother’s side” is much like my late dad’s - coming across to Missouri and eventually the KCMO area by way of Kentucky and Tennessee in our case. Hence, the Southern influences.
It’s great to once again observe how very articulate people were in that time period. That Confederate fellow was a wonderful writer, with an enviably rich vocabulary. Great episode!
In my visits to Civil War battlefields, watching the excellent presentations at the accompanying museums, I would say Mr. Neese sums up what most, if not all, of these men thought about their former enemies. These National Battlefield Parks, with their monuments erected by both sides, were intended to be an expression of their desire for reconciliation and lasting peace. And they met in annual reunions to reconfirm those intentions. Thank you for your excellent presentation of this historically important journal entry.
Ron: Thank you for bringing “Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery." By Neese to our attention. Downloaded it today from the internet archive. It’s a great, easy to read, first person narrative from his enlistment, capture, imprisonment as a pow, release and return home. Any rebel re-enactor could find a lot of insightful character development and almost verbatim stories from this diary. Respectfully, W.S.
Civil War is not to be taken lightly. The horrors are never beheld in nightmares by the ones who fan the flames. Respect the dead and the ones who suffered, learn from them.
I will share this, you have a sub and the writing was eloquent, this is the remarkable education that was given back then. This is not the first I have read or heard like this, I also watch another channel, History Underground and there are letters there, so well written in longhand, it embarrasses me. What America has lost in the ability to express with the written word.
Wonderful!!
👍👍
Most Southerners fought to defend their homes and families from Northern aggression. Read Clifford Dowdey's THE LAND THEY FOUGHT FOR. Slavery was a cause of the war but it wasn't what most Southerners fought for, not the reason for the war to them.
Absolute bs. They fought to preserve white supremacy and slavery.
Man love your channel. Love history. Thanks from Aiken Sc
Very moving. He was far from being a “simple man.” He expressed himself remarkably well, and his words on sectional hatred are quite meaningful today. I hope his life after he returned was good-he should have been better known.
Listening to this simple man I’m reminded how poor our education system is in this country. I can imagine an average 25 year old having spent 4 years in bloody war writing so beautifully 🙏🏻❤️
Love the fellows flowery descriptions.
Very meaningful and moving. Thank you for sharing this.
The gentleman is right about war. That war should never have been fought. The South should have been aware that it needed to be on good terms with its neighbor to the north, and should have been patient in the matter of Fort Sumter. There was no need to have given Lincoln an excuse to start a general war.
It's my opinion that we would all be better off now if the South head kept its independence. And the best way to have done that was to have done everything possible to avoid war.
That said, if it did indeed eventually come to war, the South should have maneuvered for extra time and used it to prepare itself to win. And the South should have resolved in advance to make the first day of war the last day of war, if war indeed did come. As it was, the South should have followed up First Manassas immediately and attempted to go on and take Washington. The whole matter should have been decided one way or another on one day of war.
I agree with you on all your points. If the South had followed up First Manassas with an advance on Washington the Union army might have collapsed and the war would have been over before it really began. I think that is what General Beauregard advocated, but he was overruled by Davis. Firing on Fort Sumter was an idiotic move by the South--it was militarily unnecessary and unified the North to support a war against the Confederacy. (If I'm not mistaken it wasn't actually the Confederacy that fired the shots, it was the South Carolina state militia acting against Jefferson Davis's orders.) If the South hadn't attacked the fort it would have been very hard for Lincoln to get the degree of popular support he needed--many in the North just wanted to let the seven states go and be done with them; "Good riddance" was a common attitude. Anyway, alternate history is always a lot of fun to mull over.
@@mikehillas
I had not heard that it was the South Carolina state militia acting against Jefferson Davis' orders. If so that is definitely a vindication of Jefferson Davis in this instance.
I had been under the impression that Jefferson Davis had ordered General Beauregard to position the cannons in Charleston for aim against Fort Sumter.
I believe I have read that General Longstreet threw his hat to the ground in disgust when he heard that Jefferson Davis ordered that there be no chase of the Union Army fleeing back to Washington.
IMO Lincoln was going to find an excuse to start a war as long as the Confederacy remained an independent nation.
Hindsight is a funny thing. While it is true that the seven states of the CSA would likely have had a much better chance of cementing their independence from the USA if they had not "fired the first shot", it is important to realize that Lincoln and his administration had no intention of letting those states leave the tax jurisdiction of the United States and would use every means both peaceable & violent to prevent that outcome.
The Lincoln admin deliberately tried to make sure that the first shot would be fired by the CSA forces by keeping US soldiers garrisoned at strategic choke points within the territories of the newly seceded states and were also busily, and publicly, working on building a tariff blockade fleet that would extract tariffs from ships bringing imported goods to the ports of the seceded states.
Both of these acts were clearly belligerent, and unfortunately the honor blinded Confederate elites were unable to resist striking back - ultimately to their ruination. There is a very good book called "Lincoln and the First Shot" that I'd recommend to anyone interested in the moves of both the Confederate and United States governments in the time between Lincoln's inauguration and the firing on Ft. Sumpter.
As far as pursuing the routed Union army after the 1st battle at Manassas Junction, it should be noted that both armies were very green, and the battle was far more bloody and confusing than anyone had expected. Most of the Confederate troops were in no condition to do a swift march to Washington City, where they would have likely had to fight another pitched battle with the Union army that had had time to rest and perhaps fortify their position.
There is no telling how such a fight would have turned out. It could have turned into a Confederate rout or it could have ended with CSA troops occupying the US capital. Everything that MIGHT have happened is only speculation.
@@flatcat6676
All very good points.
There are certainly a lot of 'perhapes'.
General Longstreet apparently thought that the Confederate troops were capable of chasing the Union soldiers, who were just as tired as the Confederates were. The Union forces were routed and panicked, the Confederate forces in a much better condition to fight effectively. It is not at all clear that the Union forces would have had any time to rest or to improvise fortifications. Also, when you are an underdog against a superior and determined opponent, you (in this case the South) have to seize the chance when it is offered.
Jefferson Davis certainly should have known what you noted, that Lincoln had no intention of letting the South secede as regards taxation, so he should have realized that an attempt at chasing the Union army during First Manassas offered a far better chance of lasting success than trying to hunker down over time against the much larger, hostile northern neighbor.
Perhaps Lincoln's efforts on the seas to collect his taxes would have seen the war confined to the seas. Or maybe he would have had second thoughts about even initiating a war on the seas. Who knows.
In any case, waiting for Lincoln to make his move instead of doing it themselves first would have given the South precious time to prepare themselves for any land war. Whether they would have availed themselves of the benefit of time cannot be certain. And maybe as time went on both sides would realize that a bloody war was in no one's best interests.
Thanks!
Very interesting article, warmest regards from the UK
Beautiful!
Well the same agurment could be made that if Lincoln hadn’t of sent 75,000 union troops to South Carolina then the war would have never started in the first place !!!!!! Facts or facts it should have been handled diplomatically !!!! Not the way it was what in the hell did Lincoln expect!!!!! Great communicater my ass !!!! How many people died in that needless war !!!!!!
Well spoken words that should have been broadcast upon the wider world and enjoined those of like-minded individuals. Unfortunately the peace and harmony he envisioned was far from complete, and sectional prejudices were still rampant.
I am always amazed at the vocabulary of common men from days gone by. We have lost much.
Humble man. But, far from simple.
RON IS THE QUINTESSENTIAL FINE READER 😊
HIS CHOICE OF WHAT TO READ IS ALSO VERY FINE.
Thanks
"Never was the word "theatre" used in such a way as to take the joy of laughter and learning from the hearts of pious men. The greedy with their balcony reserved, watching as the stage crashes and burns." ~ Private - Unknown 1980.
They had a saying in the south, rich man's war, poor man's fight. It was a slick trick. The rich slavers got ordinary people to fight for them.
Civil War: 1865 WWII: 1945 = 80 Years WWII: 1945 to 2025 = 80 Years! Civil War II??? Designed by the powers that be to quench the thirst of ambition like he wrote in this?
It is hard to believe how articulate and well-spoken this Confederate private was. I doubt if you could find many today his equal.
Wasn't the prison in Point Lookout in Maryland, not Va., my Great Grandfather was also there ?
Mr. Neese's book is online:
Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery,
by George Michael Neese, Neale Publishing Company, 1911.
Just after the Battle of Cold Harbor, on June 19, 1864, he writes about the “Edmund Ruffin Plantation,” also known as Marlbourne.
It is interesting that the wheat had not been all trampled by this time, considering all the traffic that was in that neighborhood. Wheat was usually harvested at the end of June and the beginning of July.
“...we halted in the edge of New Kent County, on Mr. Ruffin's farm, and grazed our horses until night. Although this is war time, yet there are enough traces left of good husbandry on the farm to show that Mr. Ruffin is one of the finest scientific agriculturists in the State. There is now on his farm a large field of the finest wheat that I ever saw, about six feet high, with large, long, and heavy, well-filled heads.”
...
“The house is deserted now, and desolation reigns in silence ; the outer doors are standing open, with many books and magazines on agriculture and horticulture lying scattered over the floor and in the yard. The once fine garden is utterly destroyed, the fence is demolished, and the beds are growing up in weeds. There is a mulberry tree in the garden, with the finest and largest mulberries that I ever saw. They are ripe now, and I tried some of them to-day, and I know that they are fine and delicious, and about three times as large as our largest wild ones.”
.
June 12, 1864. OR Report of U.S. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson. commanding Wilson's Cavalry:
-- “In the movement to the James River, my division was assigned to the duty of covering both front and rear of the army, the balance of our cavalry having been sent toward Gordonsville. On the 12th of June I moved my headquarters from Ruffin's house, near the New Castle Ferry, and joined the Second Brigade, near Long Bridge.”
The Diary of Edmund Ruffin: A Dream Shattered, June 1863--June--1865. By Edmund Ruffin.
--- June 12. Sunday.
“Mr. Lipscome understood that 15 days before yesterday (when he left home,) all the negroes still remained at Marlbourne. When the last body of marauders encamped there & robbed the farm & the negroes of all the provisions, they also stole and carried off, or killed, all the living animals of every description...”
-- June 18. Saturday.
“Letters... Also one from Thomas. He was at Marlbourne on 14th, his troops being in the neighborhood. The Yankees had left the farm the 13th. They had destroyed everything not effectually destroyed before, including the windows of the mansion. Only one of the negroes was on the farm, Zach. All the others, (as he told Thomas, had gone to the Yankee army as soon as they had crossed over the river at Hanover Town.
He reported that there was still wheat standing that would be well worth reaping--- and corn worth saving by being worked. But there is no labor for either. It is much to be regretted that Edmund is not at home, to go to Marlbourne tomorrow. If anything can now be done (which I doubt,) to save any remnant of the crops, he will not be here to make the attempt earlier than next Thursday...”
---June 25. Saturday.
“Last night, about midnight, Edmund returned home. He had got conveyance on a freight train from Richmond, & walked from Mattoax. He found the destruction & desolation of Marlbourne more complete than had been conceived, because many of the important details had not been thought of by us. Nothing had been left, unless destroyed. The fences and paling of the garden all burnt, for fuel, or... set fire to by the burning of the woods, which had been general throughout the country occupied by the Yankee troops.
The atmosphere was still obscured by the smoke, & offensive by the odor of putrefying dead horses and other animals. Besides the thousands of cavalry & other horses, there had been thousands of cattle kept on Marlbourne--- and besides all the expected damages to land, & ruined crops, the ditches, even the deepest of them, had been dammed across, to raise the water for the use of the live-stock & the ditches choked with earth in various other places, by the crossing places made by so many cattle and horses.”
From “R. E. Lee: A Biography,” By Douglas Southall Freeman.
Two years earlier, in May 1862:
-- “Soon thereafter Mrs. Lee shook the dust of the Federal camps from her creaking carriage-wheels and journeyed up the Pamunkey to Marlbourne, the estate of Edmund Ruffin, the famous agricultural experimentalist, who had fired the first gun on Fort Sumter. There she remained for some weeks - only to find the onmarching Federals, ere long, at nearby Old Church. Again she was "within the enemy's lines," with a suspicious colonel confident she would soon report the movements of his command to the Confederates. This time, Mrs. Lee decided that if she was to leave the company of the Federals, she would go where she did not believe they could follow her - to Richmond.”
Beautiful writing, but he doesn't show any real insight into what he was fighting for (slavery) and what he was fighting against (human rights), that he lost and that it wasn't worth it...
If the Confederacy did not have the right to secede from the Union, the Colonies did not have the right to be disloyal to their King! His Majesty, George
Because rebelling against a king is just like rebelling against a lawfully elected president. Sarcasm,
Decidedly part of a distinct small minority in the South. He could read and write. Not exactly common in the south in those days. He was nowhere as simple as at least 90% of his comrades for that reason.
Neese was very eloquent and obviously very well educated for a private back in those days.
I love your 1st person accounts of history!
Simple? Not by a long shot given the command of the English language.
New to your channel! Thank you for what you're doing Well Done 👍
Most old soldiers hate war -- they have seen the carnage of it and understand its futility.
He writes better than Shakespeare.
Fantastic words. Surely he must be seriously famous in the US with words like that?
If he's not, he needs promoting!
Mr. Neese was a wise man. May god bless him.
If only the rich plantation owners would have paid the local population a fair wage to harvest their crops the civil war slaughter would have never happened. It's all about greed and power.
I am really taken aback by his writing style for a man who may have had limited education.
Agreed. Yet Lincoln had little education, but he may be one of the best writers of all time.
@@kevinlewallen4778 that would be a great topic on this page.
Sounds like where we are today Very sad we have come full circle
I have a question Ron. I have seen many accounts of diaries and letters home of soldiers on both sides that are so eloquent. How is it that the young private from rule VA in 1860s is so well spoken? This is not a rare thing, many of the accounts are like this.
Hi Kevin. For all the letters, diaries, and other writings highlighted in this channel, there are many others that are not shared because they are less quotable, or less noteworthy for one reason or another. This having been stated, I believe that because writing was the primary form of communication, 19th century Americans developed and honed their skills, their vocabularies, and their style, all part of an effort to express themselves-from the farmer giving instructions about how to take care of his land while he was away to the private soldier describing his first battle. I think today's Americans are more than capable of the same abilities, but there is less need to do so.
This man got one hell of an education at New Market Academy...
Did you notice he never used the word "slavery" one time? Most people think that was the reason for the war, when it really wasn't. Slavery would have ended anyway. Such eloquent musings from a simple, humble man.
As in the rest of the civilized world, the industrial revolution killed the economics of slavery without the need for a destructive war like that Americans fought.
The South was not interested in capitalism. Slavery also existed for social reasons.
"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product, which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth"... From the Mississippi declaration of sucession. South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky all mentioned slavery as motivation for their rebellion.
he sounds like a vietnam vet..
"the men that wanted to be left alone"
I live in nelson co va visit that area every summer
It seems he had a talent for writing. I could listen to him some more.
I don’t understand..they weren’t fighting for the land. No one was going to take it from them. They were fighting for a theory..a stupid one at that..
Perfectly stated!👍🏼
Actually Mr. Neese was captured on my former farm along Toms Brook at the Old Back Road on October 9, 1864 i the Battle of Toms Brook , The Battle of Fisher's Hill was on September 21, 1864. Almost all of Chew's Flying Battery were captured or killed in my former front pasture. aka Spicker's Hill. After my ex-wife announced that she wanted to cash out on this marriage by divorcing and selling this farm, I moved back to Georgia. A few years latter, I discovered that my gg-grandfather (Cobb's Legion) was captured while on picket duty at the entrance to the driveway of my former farm near the Tom's Brook Bridge on Nov, 8, 1864. That was strange footnote to my 9 years in the Shenandoah Valley.
A mere private, but wrote like a novelist. He mustve been quite an anomoly.
That's your uninformed opinion. Those who had an 8th grade education during that man's time were indeed highly literate, and well educated. Today, "college graduates" with degrees in such majors as education, social studies etc. particularly those who's intent is to teach elementary school are likely to be illiterate as Hell themselves. I have met many of them, i have heard them tell their stories. A very large percentage of those who "graduate" high school today are functionally illiterate..
Honestly, I don't think so...
My gggreat granddad was William Chapman Browning, 2nd LT. 45 th Virginia , Co. d. He left his sawmill in Logan county, Va ( now WV ), when war broke out. He owned no slaves and he too fought because his home state was being invaded. The massive majority of CSA soldiers fought for that same cause.
Waxing prosaic. Would have liked to have heard mention of the peculiar institution his brothers in gray fought to defend. Especially on the 4th of July. Nonetheless, I enjoyed his reflections being read.
you are a remedial.
On the contrary. It's a relief to hear the truth. The North wasn't fighting to end slavery.
@@chuckwest7045 No. It was slavery and no one believes otherwise.
What a good and honorable man.
My moms family is from Massanutten, VA. Apparently owned with large areas around. The families did the work.
Very interesting, thank you!
Such beautiful, articulate prose contextualizing such a hideous endeavor. May peace someday reign across God's green Earth. 🙏
This was a man incapable of recognizing the suffering of enslaved people. What is regional pride by comparison?
My 3rd great grandfather and two of his brothers, plus a cousin, from Union County, Georgia, who were all raised in Christian homes, in 1862 were “impressed “ into the rebel forces which quickly marched to Kentucky, where they participated in the Perryville episode.
Thanks for sharing. I often wonder if our Civil War vets would have different opinions after seeing what America has become.
2 very revealing words about this war not being about slavery. Corwin Amendment.
I had an ancestor that similarly spent the duration in Stuart’s Horse Artillery. He was with Hart’s (later Halsey’s) Battery of Hampton’s Legion from Livingston, SC.
...& even more surprising was his excellent prose, a writing style which, at that time, would've even surprised his Northern Brethren, many (but not all) of whom would've considered most people in the South to be illiterate🤔 😃🇺🇸
How refreshing to hear these unifying words, sans the politics of the day and more importantly, the politics of today, sprinkled all about it.