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The Civil War or The War of Northern Aggression
I had never given as much thought to the Civil War as I have since doing this family research. It was not just the issue
of slaves that our families gave their lives in such horrible ways. We were not the only ones with slaves and
not all our families had slaves. But regardless of all the reasons that our forefathers felt they should lay down their
lives for their beliefs, they fought in such horrible conditions and without even the necessities needed for life and certainly
not for battle. But even when they fought barefoot in the snow they still felt a pride that their cause was for the right.
In reading letters, dairies, and accounts of battles, I have a new regard for my ancestors. According to a letter written
by William Daniel Ross, "As for myself, my country is as deair to me as if I was but 21 and I feel as much determine
to defend it as I ever did even if it is at the point of a bayonet or at the mouth of a cannon. If I die in camps or in the
battlefield I shall die in a noble cause." I am proud to tell that was in a letter to my Great Grand Father from my Great
Great Grand Father, who did indeed give his life for The Cause. And while they were off fighting their families were having
to care for the livestock and farm land as best they could. What monies that were left behind was Confederate monies and they
could not use this, but they were still being paid in it for their products they were lucky enough to sell. Taxes had to be
paid. The men were off to war and the women were left to do all the field work, kill the hogs and process the meat, all the
jobs the men did women now had to do. They were alone in a wilderness, because our area of Irwin County was still a wilderness
in 1861, they had to protect themselves and their livestock and grains were either given to our Southern soldiers or stolen
by the Northern soldiers. In the meantime the husbands, sons and fathers were being killed and left in fields and woodland
all over our country. Our lands have bled red with the blood of our forefathers. In one account I read, a man came
back from the War with war wounds a plenty. He and his grandson was cleaning a well and the young boy wanted to quit and
go get a drink of fresh clean water since the well water was being cleaned out and to his opinion was dirty.
The Grandfather told the boy that while fighting he had to push back the bodies of fallen soldiers, and the water was
reddish and working with maggots, but he had to have water to sustain his body because they were in heavy battle. Another
letter I read was from a son to his mother, He
told her that they had been in heavy battle and had to sleep proped against their guns and that he had not been able to
take off his shoes in seventeen days, but Thanks
be to God he had shoes. Another letter told about coming onto a battle field where hundreds of bodies were left to rot,
this was from a Confederate soldier who told his deair mother that even at risk of death to themselves that The South buried
their dead. I read of one battle where the Yankee soldiers came unpon an encampment of our men and their leader was planning
an attack but for some reason
could not make up his mind if this was a good idea. He went into the Rebel camp and asked their General what he sould
do. The Southern Gentlemen General told him to look to his left and to his right at the guns trained on his men and told the
Yankee General to retreat, and this is what he did. Later the Southern General said he could not lie to a man that came to
him in earnest. This was the way with this War brother against brother on our own soil.
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