A New York Girl in the Confederate Cemetery

So the case stands, and under all the passion of the parties and the
cries of battle lie the two chief moving causes of the struggle. Union
means so many millions a year lost to the South; secession means the
loss of the same millions to the North. The love of money is the root
of this as of many many other evils … the quarrel between North and
South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel.

– Charles Dickens, as editor of All the Year Round, a British periodical
in 1862

======================================================

Bryn Mawr Now
VERBATIM POST

“This is still very real to us,” said a Sons of Confederate Veterans Member.

That had become very apparent to me.

Last Thursday morning, I visited a cemetery that the Gaston County Sons of Confederate veterans are rehabilitating.

I had gotten the assignment earlier in the week. And was both excited and apprehensive about it.

I’m a New Yorker born and bred. Proudly. And I make no bones about the fact the slavery played a part in the Civil War.

Sure, it was in part about states rights and federal powers, but it also had a lot to do with slavery.

At the same time, I’m a history dork, and the idea of hanging out with other history dorks makes me happy.

The morning did not quite go as planned. My car wouldn’t start and I got lost, so I was late. And all the Sons of Confederate Veterans knew that I was from NY because they so my license plates when they came to check on my car.

One of them acknowledged that I was in for a bit of culture shock. I’d always been curious about how the Civil War was taught in Southern Schools. I was guessing a little differently than how I’d been taught.

I met Mr. Hamm, who put himself in charge of telling me the Southern story. He told me that was the group’s mission, was to make sure that Southern Side of the War for Southern Independence was told. Mr. Hamm has the distinction of being an actual son of a Confederate soldier.

When they told me this I had a hard time believing him. The math just didn’t add up. But it actually works. Mr. Hamm’s father served in the War in his early teen years. And then fathered him in his 80s. Obviously, this is unusual, but it’s true.

I knew a lot of what Mr. Hamm told me about. He mainly talked about Lincoln suspending Habeas Corpus. I had actually written a paper about that very topic in high school.

While I didn’t agree with the slant he was presenting, I couldn’t argue with his facts. Mr. Hamm and his fellow camp members are incredibly well-read. And I have a lot of respect for that.

And they do a lot of good when it comes to historical preservation. I’m not just talking about “preserving” the Southern story. They reason I met with them is for their cemetery rehab project. It’s a 18th century cemetery, filled with Revolutionary War vets.

Their commander explained that his group is a “historical honor society” and said restoring a cemetery is a natural extension of this idea.

They’ve done other cemeteries as well.

You can read my story and see a great slide show here.

Via SHNV