Private Leon, A Jew, Served In 53rd NC http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?p=139#139 Private Leon was a Jew who served in Company B, 53rd NC. My great grandfather and great uncle served in Company C. Many years ago I was advertising in the Confederate Veteran for information concerning this regiment, and I was sent Private Leon's diary by a gentleman in NC. I, in turn, sent it from California back to NC for Mr. Weymouth Jordan in the Division of Archives and History. He replied stating that he had never seen such, and after reading it over the weekend was certain he would use it. Fortunately, it was just in time to be included in Volume XIII, NC Troops published in 1993, and Private Leon is quoted extensively. Mr. Jordan also included some of the information I provided concerning my family.
Private Leon's diary was published later, and his last words bear repeating.
"When I commenced this diary, of my life as a Confederate soldier I was full of hope for the speedy termination of the War, and our independence.
I was not quite nineteen years old. I am now twenty-three. The four years that I have given to my country, I do not regret, nor am I sorry for one day that I have given - my only regret is that we have lost that for which we fought. Nor do I for one minute think that we lost it by any other way than by being outnumbered at least five, if not ten to one. The world was open to the enemy, but shut out to us. I shall now close this diary in sorrow, but to the last I will say that, although but a private, I still say our Cause was just, nor do I regret one thing that I have done to cripple the North."
9. "The Gettysburg speech was at once the shortest and the most famous oration in American history...the highest emotion reduced to a few poetical phrases. Lincoln himself never even remotely approached it. It is genuinely stupendous. But let us not forget that it is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense. Think of the argument in it. Put it into the cold words of everyday. The doctrine is simply this: that the Union soldiers who died at Gettysburg sacrificed their lives to the cause of self-determination -- that government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not perish from the earth. It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of their people to govern themselves."
I think this will look awesome on the top of my blog..... ;-)
ReplyDeleteGo for it. From Hamp & Friend. :)
DeleteI have a feeling that if the information that we have today was available back then the South would have won...
ReplyDeleteLee mentioned that if Pender had been able to stay on his horse an hour longer on the second day of Gettysburg, the battle might have been won.
DeleteMy point was so many people had the wrong idea of what they were fighting for...
ReplyDeletePrivate Leon, A Jew, Served In 53rd NC
Deletehttp://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?p=139#139
Private Leon was a Jew who served in Company B, 53rd NC. My great grandfather and great uncle served in Company C. Many years ago I was advertising in the Confederate Veteran for information concerning this regiment, and I was sent Private Leon's diary by a gentleman in NC. I, in turn, sent it from California back to NC for Mr. Weymouth Jordan in the Division of Archives and History. He replied stating that he had never seen such, and after reading it over the weekend was certain he would use it. Fortunately, it was just in time to be included in Volume XIII, NC Troops published in 1993, and Private Leon is quoted extensively. Mr. Jordan also included some of the information I provided concerning my family.
Private Leon's diary was published later, and his last words bear repeating.
"When I commenced this diary, of my life as a Confederate soldier I was full of hope for the speedy termination of the War, and our independence.
I was not quite nineteen years old. I am now twenty-three. The four years that I have given to my country, I do not regret, nor am I sorry for one day that I have given - my only regret is that we have lost that for which we fought. Nor do I for one minute think that we lost it by any other way than by being outnumbered at least five, if not ten to one. The world was open to the enemy, but shut out to us. I shall now close this diary in sorrow, but to the last I will say that, although but a private, I still say our Cause was just, nor do I regret one thing that I have done to cripple the North."
I assumed that by my previous post you would of understood I was talking about Northern soldiers...Sorry for the mix up...
ReplyDeleteNot at all. Here would be a better one then. :)
Delete9. "The Gettysburg speech was at once the shortest and the most famous oration in American history...the highest emotion reduced to a few poetical phrases. Lincoln himself never even remotely approached it. It is genuinely stupendous. But let us not forget that it is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense. Think of the argument in it. Put it into the cold words of everyday. The doctrine is simply this: that the Union soldiers who died at Gettysburg sacrificed their lives to the cause of self-determination -- that government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not perish from the earth. It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of their people to govern themselves."
H. L. Mencken
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=75&highlight=gettysburg+address
Perfect...;-)
Delete:)
Delete