I guess I will start, my great great grandfather Howell Rasom Vick at the age of 18 joined a partisian ranger outfit in 1861, it was called Drue Outlaws Partisian Rangers, later they would be known as the 18th Mississippi Cavalry, he saw action in the western theater of the war. Thank goodness he survived the war. He had four brothers who also joined the ranks of the Confederacy, Allen Franklin joined the 34th Miss. Infantry. He saw action untill Nov. of 1863 when he was captured at the Battle of Lookout Mt. He was sent to the Union prison at Rock Island Illinoise, he was released in 1865, found his way back to his wife in North Miss. Eli Vick was not as lucky, he saw action utill August of 1864 where he was killed at the battle in and around Atlanta, Ga. Eli was also in the 34th Miss. Infantry. Ransom Vick Jr was in the 10th Miss. Infantry, he died at Lauderdale Springs Confederate Hospital in Miss. from sickness, in 1862. Augustas Vick was also in the 10th Miss. and survived the war. So, we have five brothers, five boys leaving home, leaving their mothers, their wives, their familys, and we only get 3 to return. Defending their homes, their way of life. Ill always remeber a paragraph from a book I was reading, it said a Yankee soldier ran into a Southern soldier during the war, both were weary from battle and marching, the Yankee soldier asked the Confederate "why he was fighting"? The Confederate Soldier looked at him and replied " because you'all are down here". Just a small piece of my Confederate history. Steve Vick ----- Original Message ----- From: nelson <nels095@ibm.net> To: <VICK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2000 7:32 AM Subject: [VICK-L] Dixie > Hi Cuz'n David and the rest of the clan, > > You asked an interesting question on our thoughts of the war of northern > aggression. It definitely was not a civil war, nothing civil about it. > I do not believe that I am a racist just because I would like to see the > record set straight. > > I DO NOT believe any person should be the owner of another. Through out > history we > have had slavery from time to time of one race or another. This does > not make it right. > > I grew up in Dixie and accepted the twisted history that was taught even > at that > time. It was not until my husband joined the SCV and I started reading > materials on > what happened during those horrible years that I realized that the > history that I was > taught was a bunch of huey. I found my gggrandfather died in this war. > I find no > record that he ever owned a slave. His son also fought in the war with > no record of > any slaves. 2 other greatgrandfathers that did own slaves also fought. > > I respect the right of each person to believe what they want but I also > challenge each of you to search for the truth. Some of the things I > have found: > The original constitution of the CSA forbade the importation of > slaves. > The first slave owner in America was a free black. > > I received papers researched by the state of NC in regards to a family I > am researching and some of the things that was listed surprised me. > 1. In 1850 less than 30% of the people of NC owned slaves. > 2. Of the 28% that owned slaves, only 8% owned over 20 slaves. > Will someone tell me why most people think that over 70% of NC soldiers > were fighting > for the rights of less than 30% to own slaves? > > If you will check records you will find many blacks fighting for the > south. I went to a > memorial service in VA last fall for a free black that fought for the > south. I was pleased to see many people turn up to honor him. In the > south the men were from the south. > In the north a lot of the soldiers were paid to take the place and fight > in the place of > someone else or immigrants were forced to fight for the north in order > to gain their > freedom. Is this not using them as slaves to gain freedom for another? > > Pat Nelson > nels095@ibm.net > >