Thursday, May 10, 2012

Tin Soldiers and Nixon Coming !




  • Today in 1861, the Union Army showed what was to come when it fired on civilians killing 28.

    "OFFICE ST. Louis RAILROAD Co.,

    ST. Louis, May 11, 1861.

    Dear Brother : Very imprudently I was a witness of the firing on the people by the United States Militia at Camp Jackson yesterday. You will hear all manner of accounts, and as these will be brought to bear on the present Legislature to precipitate events, maybe secession, I will tell you what I saw.

    My office is up in Bremen, the extreme north of the city. The arsenal is at the extreme south. The State camp was in a pretty grove directly west of the city, bounded by Olive Street and Laclede Avenue. I went to my house on Locust, between Eleventh and Twelfth, at 3 P.M., and saw the whole city in commotion, and heard that the United States troops were marching from the arsenal to capture the State camp. At home I found Hugh and Charley Ewing and John Hunter so excited they would not wait for dinner, but went out to see the expected battle. I had no such curiosity and stayed to dinner, after which I walked out, and soon met a man who told me General Frost had surrendered.

    I went back home and told Ellen, then took Willy to see the soldiers march back. I kept on walking, and about 5.30 P.M. found myself in the grove, with soldiers all round, standing at rest. I went into the camp till turned aside by sentinels, and found myself with a promiscuous crowd, men, women, and children, inside the grove, near Olive Street. On that street the disarmed State troops, some eight hundred, were in ranks.

    Soon a heavy column of United States Regulars followed by militia came down Olive Street, with music, and halted abreast of me. I went up and spoke to some of the officers, and fell back to a knoll, where I met Hugh and Charley and John Hunter. Soon the music again started, and as the Regulars got abreast of the crowd, about sixty yards to my front and right, I observed them in confusion, using their bayonets to keep the crowd back, as I supposed.

    Still, they soon moved on, and as the militia reached the same point a similar confusion began. I heard a couple of shots, then half a dozen, and observed the militia were firing on the crowd at that point, but the fire kept creeping to the rear along the flank of the column, and, hearing balls cutting the leaves of trees over my head, I fell down on the grass and crept up to where Charley Ewing had my boy Willy. I also covered his person. Probably a hundred shots passed over the ground, but none near us. As soon as the fire slackened, I picked Willy up, and ran with him till behind the rising ground, and continued at my leisure out of harm’s way, and went home.

    I saw no one shot, but some dozen men were killed, among them a woman and little girl. There must have been some provocation at the point where the Regulars charged bayonets and where the militia began their fire. The rest was irregular and unnecessary, for the crowd was back in the woods, a fence between them and the street. There was some cheering of the United States troops and some halloos for Jeff Davis.

    I hear all of Frost’s command who would not take the oath of allegiance to the United States are prisoners at the arsenal. I suppose they will be held for the orders of the President. They were mostly composed of young men who doubtless were secessionists. Frost is a New Yorker and was a graduate of West Point, served some years in the army, and married a Miss Graham here, a lady of great wealth and large connections. He was encamped by order of the Governor ; and this brings up the old question of State and United States authority. We cannot have two kings: one is enough; and of the two the United States must prevail. But in all the South, and even here, there are plenty who think the State is their king.
    WT Sherman

16 comments:

  1. The shape of even more horrible things to come upon the Southern people from these pieces of trash!

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  2. Cherry Picked anyone?

    You seriously do not understand what happened here do you? You just post from Sherman, one where he states that he does not know what started the commotion, and then pass it off as Yankee atrocities.

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  3. Don't understand what ?
    No No No, your the one who doesn't understand !
    Sherman's own words = "There must have been some provocation at the point where the Regulars charged bayonets and where the militia began their fire. The rest was irregular and unnecessary,"

    What part of that don't you get ?

    Google " Kent State Massacre" Then get back to me !

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  4. The Kent state Massacre didn't have Anti-Germans throwing rocks at a German regiment, nor someone run out of the crowd shooting one of its officers.

    Know what you are talking about and then get back to me.

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  5. I have no idea what color the sky is in your world !
    Having been alive at the time, and working from memory (which is fallible) I've got no Idea what you are babbling about.
    Provide the source and content please. Otherwise don't bug me with your ramblings !
    And have a nice day !

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  6. Yea, I'm old and forgetful, so I looked it up, and this is pretty much the way I remember it !
    http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm

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  7. Why you are correlating this event with Kent State is beyond me. How about you actually look up the Camp Jackson Crisis instead of cherry picking a quote.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=_wofLatTIsEC&lpg=PA33&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false

    Start at the bottom of page 40.

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  8. OHHH, senior moment ! Your comment was about the 1861 incident, not Kent State, my bust.
    The point still remains, Feds shooting and killing unarmed civilians.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for clarifying. But the event is more complex that you are making it out to be.

      Delete
  9. If you do not see the connection with Kent State, I don't know what else to tell you.

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    Replies
    1. I can see how one could see a connection. The problem is that history does not repeat itself. These are two separate instances in time with differing contingencies and stipulations.

      Delete
    2. Sorry David but there is no connection. You are talking about shooting anti-war protestors with Kent State. In this situation you are examining anti-German sentiment, Nativism, as well as a crowd member shooting into the group.

      Delete
  10. Rob, “Inhale”
    My post has two components!
    #1 The Title
    #2 A letter written by Sherman.
    You can add all the other components you wish, it still doesn’t change the original content.
    Which for the most part lets the reader draw their own conclusion, sure it’s a “leading” type post but it is what it is.

    A+B =C ! Now you can add the other 23 letters of the alphabet all you wish, and with every letter you add you can change the sum of what is posted. So just stick to the post!

    The song lyrics and Sherman's letter !

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  11. You realize what you just described is cherry picking to lead people to a false connection right?

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  12. I did not write Sherman's letter!
    Nor did I have anything to do with the lyrics of the song.
    A+B=C
    A / Song lyrics
    B / Sherman's letter
    C / Conclusion (Draw your own)

    Mine is shooting into a crowd of civilians, using the letter and lyrics as a base line for comparison.

    Given your love for extended debate I will bid you a Good Day !

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great title....

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82CYNj7noic

    ReplyDelete