Your ancestor in Arkansas wasn't a coward - he was a realist. The men may have fought - but the women and children paid the dues- the politicians on the other hand?! Lyn -----Original Message----- From: Harold Miller <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 2:38 PM Subject: Fighting the war again >This sure is fun, seems we can still fight a war that was fought 1860-1865. >That is what has always made that time so interesting to me. I have always >wondered why each one of my ancestors chose the side he did, what his >thoughts and feelings might have been. Why would a small farmer born in >North Carolina, living in Carroll/Benton County Tennessee, chose to wear >blue. About all I know about him is his height, hair color, where he is >buried, who he married. And I think he was a Methodist. That is all, how I >wish I had a letter or journal written by him telling me what his thoughts >were. He was not a young, single man at the beginning of the war; but a >mature, married man. He had a newborn son in early 1864 when captured, and >died on march to prison. Who told his widow about his death? In the 1900 >Arkansas census she is living with a daughter from a second marriage, and >listed as a nurse. Did she work as a nurse during the war? Most southern >women did, no matter which side their husbands were on. So many questions. > >And the ancestor who was a simple farmer in Arkansas with a wife and three >children, how can I call him a coward because he spent the last months of >the war hiding out in a cave on his property? He had joined the CSA army >and been badly wounded. While he was gone, bushwackers had come by his >house, taken everything including the cow. His wife could not feed her >children, no food. So after he recovered from his wounds, he never went >back to the army. Maybe he was a coward. Maybe he felt his obligation to >his wife and children was more important. What was he thinking? It was >such a dangerous time for the women and children in that area during the >last part of the war. > >I guess I am most proud of the fact that they were all southerners, >regardless of which side they were on. The ones who survived, they rebuilt >and went on. And their children married the children of their enemy. That >I guess is the thing I am most proud of, that they could put their guns down >and end the war. That they did not leave me a legacy of hate but one of >love and understanding. > >Mary > > >==== Southern-Trails Mailing List ==== >Don't forget to check out Heading South: the Southern Trails Resource Page >http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~south1/trails1.htm > >