Sunday, April 9, 2017

Lee's Surrender, By My Great Grandfather, April 9, 1865, 152 Years Ago

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Yearly post

Confederate Veteran May-June 1990

25th Anniversary of General Lee's Surrender April 9th, 1865

by John Pelopidas Leach, 1890

A quarter of a century has passed since General Lee surrendered the last hope of the Confederacy at Appomattox Court House.

For more than a year prior to that time, he had, with matchless skill, contended against vastly superior numbers and military resources, and successfully held at bay the grandest army ever marshaled on American soil. In the annals of American history, the name of this village will be preserved side-by-side with Yorktown, New Orleans and Mexico.

A private soldier, though a living witness, cannot describe a battle, much less a campaign. The field of observation to him is circumscribed and limited. But as I went with my companions to the last firing line, I have some vivid recollections of the event and I will relate my experiences and observations as a member of Company C, 53rd NC Regiment at Appomattox.

Before reaching Appomattox on the memorable retreat of our army from Petersburg, the half starved division of General Bryan Grimes, of which I belonged, was halted after dark for a short rest, and some of the *sharpshooters in the skirmish line, commanded by my brother, Lieutenant George T. Leach, also of Company C in the 53rd NC Regiment, collected and drove to our bivouac two or three cows with the intent of butchering them, believing, as they certainly had reason to believe, that the poor cattle would soon fall into the merciless hands of our pursuers.


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Reaching our stopping place, for we had no encampment there, Lieutenant Leach sent to headquarters to get permission to butcher the cows for his Corps of Sharpshooters, stating that his men were suffering from food. They had been constantly on the flanks and in the rear of the retreating army since the evacuation, marching, counter marching, retreating and fighting without food or rest. General Grimes peremptorily refused to allow the cattle to be killed, because to allow it would violate one of Lee's well-established rules prohibiting plundering at any cost.

He ordered the cows to be returned to the field from which they were driven, a mile or two back. The order was instantly executed as far as possible - the cattle were driven within range of the federal pickets and turned over to our pursuers. We marched on with empty stomachs and continued to hold the front line in an attempt to open the way for the retreat of the Army. However, unknown to General Grimes, General Gordon, the memorable right eye and at that time the right arm of Lee and in immediate command of all the forces there, had discovered that we were "flanked by 10,000 shotted guns and by 10,000 fronted."

l do not believe that General Lee could have put into battle that day more than eight or 10,000 men, hence it would have been cruel slaughter to have continued the war at that point one moment longer as we would have been forced to assume that of the aggressor against 50,000 well armed and well-fed veterans of Grant's Army who had lapped our feeble forces in front and upon both flanks. In order to continue the retreat and overcome the enemy would have been a military impossibility as well as a ridiculous and monstrous proposition in view of the worn-out condition of our soldiers who, though, were still willing to give battle with vigor and determination.

The actions of those engaged at Appomattox was but a skirmish preliminary to surrender and I have little doubt that General Grant and General Sheridan had planned to bring about the surrender of Lee or destroy his Army at that point. They accomplished their purpose with exceedingly small loss to those engaged under Lee.

Of those who participated in or were present at the McLean House at the time the terms of surrender were concluded, there are few who now live. General Lee had with him only one officer, Colonel Marshall, while General Grant was accompanied by a number of officers. The officers there present fairly represented in proportion the number of privates upon either side that could have been put into battle.

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We continued marching, counter-marching and skirmishing through the greater part of the night of April 8th and 9th. Then at sunrise we were deployed on a road and rail fence just beyond and in sight of the Court House. I do not recall the sight of a single dead Confederate that day though we drove some Union sharpshooters through the woods to the southwest where they made a stand on the edge of the woods and a few of them were killed and left upon the field.

Sheridan had placed some six-pound field guns in the woods in our front. They were keeping up a rapid fire when we advanced to their capture. Before we had gone half the distance, the guns were surrendered to a flanking party, and pretty soon were brought galloping across the field.

We escorted them to a point near the Court House and continued to advance to the west. We had gone less than a mile when the flag of truce was sent out and the firing ceased; this was no regular battle, though good men were killed and wounded in the skirmish. I think I saw the last gun fired that day. As we returned through the village, I saw some artillerymen prepare a gun for action. They opened fire upon a column of the enemy who were advancing from the south of the town, seeming unmindful of what had transpired at the front. An office rode up and ordered the gunners to cease firing. The various commands of the Army were much scattered and disorganized, but soon began to assemble in bivouac and before night were fed by our captors.

The Confederates were gathered over and around a large barren old field northeast of town when General Lee was seen to return from the village accompanied by Colonel Marshall. The whole Army rushed out to greet him and so thronged the road as to impede his passage. There was little cheering but no dearth of tears. Some wanted to hear a word from him, but if he spoke, I failed to catch his words. He waved his hand; the soldiers yielded the road and he passed on. He was very sad and perhaps could not restrain the tears. His bearing was erect and manly as a born ruler of men. He was a superb rider, always well mounted, but seldom rode out of a walk.

In a few moments, General John B.Gordon, who was at the time the idol of the Army, came along mounted upon a handsome bay mare, in a graceful canter. His dashing manner relieved the pent up-feelings of the men and they burst forth in wild applause. He passed through the assembled Army with hat in hand waving in response to their greeting. That evening and night speeches were made to the Army the best one by General Gordon.

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Next morning we marched out under arms, fronted a column of Federals who stood in line at parade rest, stacked our guns and filed away to the South to fight never more for Dixie.

John Pelopidas Leach
Littleton, NC 1890

Edited by *Brock Townsend from many of the author's articles.
*The author's great grandson.

PS: An additional account states:

My Great, Grandfather Private John Pelopidus Leach wrote:

"Needham and Jack, faithful and devoted servants of my Brother Geo. T. Leach who then commanded my company, and Capt. Richardson who was captured at Fort Stedman, informed of the surrender, came to the front in search of my Brother and myself. They awoke me and gave me the first information I had of Lee's army, which I did not believe, until returning with them past the courthouse to the bivouac of the remnant of my company I saw the open field about the village full of straggling men, moving in aimless fashion, artillery, ambulances and wagons gathering in parks, many men crying, some cursing and all in pitiful distress."

"My command stacked arms in front of the victorious federals on the 10th of April, with one lieutenant, nine white men--all with guns-- and two Negro servants, Needham Leach of Chatham and Jack Richardson of Johnston County." (The Lieutenant was my great Uncle, George Thomas Leach)

"I with Needham, a Negro servant, as my only companion turned south to my home, Pittsboro, NC, passed through Chapel Hill and the Federal brigade of Gen. Atkins stationed there.

At Byrnums Mill on the Haw River, Needham and I were rowed across the stream in a bateau carrying the family servant of Maj. London, Sr. returning home with a bag of corn meal which he carried on the back of a mule."





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Shock Troops of the Confederacy

* Shock Troops of the Confederacy

"......the *sharpshooters of the Army of Northern Virginia played an important and sometimes pivotal role in many battles and campaigns in 1864 and 1865. Confederate General Robert Rodes organized the first battalion of sharpshooters in his brigade in early 1863, and later in each brigade of his division......in the trenches of Petersburg......"

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Before computers and when I lived in CA, I hired a NC lady to research the body servant of my g uncle, Needham Leach forward and she found the present day descendants of Needham! One of them lived close to me in CA and the others are still in Pittsboro. We've visited often and met my black Aunt Dixie who was named after my Great Aunt Dixie and a Cousin Dixie who is still alive and kicking in Pittsboro. I could not have been any happier. This was on my mothers side so I couldn't use my DNA and I could not get a male to do it on the Leach side. The reason I wanted this done was:

1. There was no slave listed in the 1860 census of Needham's age.

2. My gg grandfather would not have sent his eldest son off to war with a new, untested slave.

3. Needham is mentioned many times in letters home and he traveled back and forth between Virginia and NC obtaining provisions for my great uncle and grandfather.

4. He walked home from Appomattox with my great grandfather.

5. When he was married some years later, my gg grandfather traveled a long distance to be a witness at his wedding.

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Lee's Surrender, By My Great Grandfather

Former CIA Officer: "The Intelligence Confirms The Russian Account On Syria"

Via Frank

Former CIA officer Philip Giradi. (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)

Giraldi told Scott Horton’s Webcast: “I’m hearing from sources on the ground in the Middle East, people who are intimately familiar with the intelligence that is available who are saying that the essential narrative that we’re all hearing about the Syrian government or the Russians using chemical weapons on innocent civilians is a sham.”

Giraldi said his sources were more in line with an analysis postulating an accidental release of the poison gas after an Al Qaeda arms depot was hit by a Russian airstrike.

“The intelligence confirms pretty much the account that the Russians have been giving … which is that they hit a warehouse where the rebels – now these are rebels that are, of course, connected with Al Qaeda – where the rebels were storing chemicals of their own and it basically caused an explosion that resulted in the casualties. Apparently the intelligence on this is very clear.”

Giraldi said the anger within the intelligence community over the distortion of intelligence to justify Trump’s military retaliation was so great that some covert officers were considering going public.

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President Trump earned neocon applause for his hasty decision to attack Syria and kill about a dozen Syrians, but his rash act has all the earmarks of a “wag the dog” moment.

Just two days after news broke of an alleged poison-gas attack in northern Syria, President Trump brushed aside advice from some U.S. intelligence analysts doubting the Syrian regime’s guilt and launched a lethal retaliatory missile strike against a Syrian airfield.

Trump immediately won plaudits from Official Washington, especially from neoconservatives who have been trying to wrestle control of his foreign policy away from his nationalist and personal advisers since the days after his surprise victory on Nov. 8.

There is also an internal dispute over the intelligence. On Thursday night, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. intelligence community assessed with a “high degree of confidence” that the Syrian government had dropped a poison gas bomb on civilians in Idlib province.

But a number of intelligence sources have made contradictory assessments, saying the preponderance of evidence suggests that Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were at fault, either by orchestrating an intentional release of a chemical agent as a provocation or by possessing containers of poison gas that ruptured during a conventional bombing raid.

One intelligence source told me that the most likely scenario was a staged event by the rebels intended to force Trump to reverse a policy, announced only days earlier, that the U.S. government would no longer seek “regime change” in Syria and would focus on attacking the common enemy, Islamic terror groups that represent the core of the rebel forces.

Just Amazing: Another Position Change: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says ‘there is no change’ in U.S. stance on Syria after missile strike


 'No role for Assad': Tillerson’s U-turn on Syria regime change

& now another U-Turn! Brought to you by the blithering idiots in the Trump administration.

There’s “no change” in the United States’ military stance on Syria following Thursday’s retaliatory strikes against the Bashar Assad regime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a new interview.

Rather, the launching of 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat Air Base — believed to be the origin of Syria’s lethal attack against its own citizens — was “related solely to the most recent horrific use of chemical weapons against women, children, and as the President said, even small babies,” Tillerson told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview airing Sunday.

“The strike was a message to Bashar al-Assad that your multiple violations of your agreements at the UN, your agreements under the chemical weapons charter back in 2013 — that those would not go without a response in the future.”

Tillerson, who will visit with Russian officials in Moscow this week, added that “we are asking Russia to fulfill its commitment” to help secure Syria’s chemical weapons and “calling on Bashar al-Assad to cease the use of these weapons.”
 
More @ RT

Surprise: Stockholm Terrorist Was Illegal Alien – Denied Residence in 2014 But Stayed in Country

Via Billy


On Friday, an Islamic terrorist hijacked a truck and plowed over pedestrians in Stockholm, Sweden killing 4 and injuring over a dozen people.

The terrorist is reportedly a 39 year old man from Uzbekistan who posted ISIS video to Facebook.

(Bush III) Trump's Haley "No peace in Syria until Assad is ousted"


Nikki Haley
They know no shame or lie they will not tell.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, has said that she sees regime change in Syria as one of the Trump administration’s priorities in the country wracked by civil war.

Defeating Islamic State, pushing Iranian influence out of Syria, and the ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad are priorities for Washington, Haley said in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, which will air in full on Sunday.
“There’s not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime,” Haley said, while reiterating that defeating Isis was still the number one policy goal. “If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it’s going to be hard to see a government that’s peaceful and stable with Assad.”

More @ The Guardian

Egypt: Isis claims responsibility for Coptic church bombings

Via John ".....while American lefties continue to totally ignore it in favor of their beloved Muslims.  Maybe they'll stage another "Women's March" and they can all march around in their newly purchased hijabs, chadors, niqabs, and even burkas.
Good grief, when are these morons going to wake up before they get us all killed?
Oops, time to go watch Youtube videos of roof-tossing homosexuals in the Mideast; it's not just Christians they kill, ya know....."

People in a bombed church in Egypt

Palm Sunday attacks on Christian churches in Tanta and Alexandria kill at least 36 people and injure more than 100


Islamic State has claimed responsibility for two church bombings in Egypt on Sunday that killed at least 36 people and injured more than 100.

A bomb exploded in a Coptic church north of Cairo, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 50 others, while a suicide bomber killed at least six people and injured 66 in front of a church in Alexandria.

“A group that belongs to Islamic State carried out the two attacks on the churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria,” said Amaq, the group’s news agency.

The head of the Coptic church had earlier celebrated Palm Sunday at the church in Alexandria.

More @ The Guardian

CAIR Orders U.S. Air Force to Ditch “Anti-Muslim” Counterterrorism Instructor

Via Billy

Image result for CAIR Orders U.S. Air Force to Ditch “Anti-Muslim” Counterterrorism Instructor

The Islamic terrorist front group that transformed the way U.S. law enforcement agencies conduct anti-terrorism training is ordering the Air Force to sever ties with an instructor it considers to be anti-Muslim. The question is will the Trump administration cave into its demands? Under Barack Obama, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group that reportedly raises money for Hamas, wielded tremendous power and managed to bully law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal level to alter counterterrorism training materials deemed by the group to discriminate against Muslims.

This includes getting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to purge anti-terrorism training curricula of material determined to be “offensive” to Muslims. Judicial Watch uncovered that scandal and obtained the FBI records. Based on troves of government documents, Judicial Watch subsequently published a special, in-depth report on the scandal. CAIR is not specifically named but the records show that an undisclosed group of “Subject Matter Experts” (SME) determined the federal training material was offensive to Muslims. CAIR also got police departments in Illinois to eliminate anti-terrorism training materials and instructors deemed anti-Muslim. As an example, CAIR asserted that an instructor for the Lombard, Illinois police force wrote an article years earlier that included disparaging comments about the Prophet Muhammad. The course was called “Islamic Awareness as a Counter-Terrorist Strategy” and departments in Lombard, Elmhurst and Highland Park caved into CAIR’s demands.

Susan Rice Speech in New York on Saturday Abruptly Canceled, Bizarre ‘Ticketing Error’ Cited

Via Billy

 
 
There is speculation the abrupt cancellation was done to protect Rice at the culmination of her ‘Worst week in Washington.’

Ambassador Susan Rice, who has been under fire for twin controversies that erupted last week stemming from her service in the Obama administration (alleged spying on Trump officials and Syria’s chemical weapons), had an appearance in Rochester, New York scheduled for Saturday abruptly canceled due to what the organizer bizarrely claims to be a “ticketing error”.

Rice was set to star at an all day conference with an evening speech and ‘moderated conversation’ preceded by her attendance at a VIP reception for Women Helping Girls, a project of the Greater Rochester Area Branch of the American Association of University Women that mentors one-to-one female students in grades 6 through 12.

Arrests of illegal criminals jumps 250% in one week

Via Billy

As promised, immigration police have expanded their campaign to deport illegals with criminal records, announcing the seizure of 368 illegals in seven states and Washington, D.C. (Nancy Stone/ Chicago Tribune)

As promised, immigration police have expanded their campaign to deport illegals with criminal records, announcing the seizure of 368 illegals in seven states and Washington, D.C.

That nearly a 250 percent increase over the 106 announced a week earlier.

The biggest seizures by and Customs Enforcement agents were in Texas, but they made arrests as far north as Wyoming.

"Everyone's to Blame but Me" :) (Hillary's New Book)

Via Billy

Working title: "Everyone's to Blame but Me" https://twitter.com/Isikoff/status/850098393888247810  
The title of Hillary Clinton’s last book was Hard Choices.

Unfortunately the only hard choice she may be facing in her next book is who or what was most responsible for her stunning election defeat in 2016.

Interestingly, she places very little blame on herself or on her campaign.

Hillary addressed her defeat at a Women in the World Summit in New York at which she was interviewed by a correspondent at the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof.

Soros-funded report mocked for blaming 1989 Exxon Valdez spill on global warming

Via Billy

In this April 4, 1989, file photo, the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez, left, unloads oil onto a smaller tanker, San Francisco, as efforts to re-float the ship continue on Prince William Sound, 25 miles from Valdez, Alaska. The 987-foot tanker, carrying 53 million gallons of crude, struck Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, and within hours unleashed an estimated 10.8 million gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the water. Storms and currents then smeared it over 1,300 miles of shoreline. Twenty five years later, the region, its people and its wildfire are still recovering. (AP Photo, File) **FILE**

A report blaming the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in part on global warming has generated more ridicule than alarm, renewing scrutiny over the role of liberal foundations in keeping the fading #ExxonKnew social-media campaign alive.

The article, “The role a melting glacier played in Exxon’s biggest disaster,” earned a few hat tips from the environmental movement after appearing Thursday in the Los Angeles Times, but the taunting from climate-catastrophe challengers has been merciless.

“Blindingly stupid,” “climate change fan fiction,” “irrelevant” and “ridiculous” were among the insults hurled at the report, written by students from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism’s Energy and Environmental Reporting Project.

“Anyone who has ever followed the story knows that the only ice responsible for the Exxon Valdez spill would be the ice cooling the captain’s many cocktails that night,” said Katie Brown of Energy in Depth, which is funded by the Independent Petroleum Association of America. “But for anti-Exxon campaigners, no alternate theories (or should we say alternative facts?) are too outrageous to publish.”

Wikileaks Bombshell: Guccifer 2.0 Admits Murdered “Seth” Rich Was DNC Leaker

Via Billy

 
Shortly after the killing, Redditors and social media users were pursuing a “lead” saying that Rich was en route to the FBI the morning of his murder, apparently intending to speak to special agents about an “ongoing court case” possibly involving the Clinton family.

Wikileaks released a series of direct messages from US alleged “Russian spy” Guccifer 2.0 to actress model Robin Young (according to Young).

In the stream of texts the discussion leads to the DNC leaker.

His name is “Seth”…

** In November Julian Assange said Russia did not hack into the DNC servers.

C.S.S. Alabama - A Virtual Exhibit

Via 4Branch

http://www.customhousemaritimemuseum.org/uploads/tiny_mce_images/captain_raphael_semmes_and_first_lieutenant_john_kell_aboard_css_alabama_1863-600.jpg

Something Smells Rotten in Syria (and in Washington, too)

Via Billy

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 Flashback 2013 Above

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By now almost everyone still breathing has to have heard about this gas attack in Syria. Everyone is screaming that Assad did it, but as is the case with the fake story of Trump and his Russian connections, I have not seen any real evidence yet. Emotional outbursts there have been in abundance, but let’s see some evidence. There was none with the “Trump and the Russians” scenario, so let’s see some with this gas attack that proves that Assad did it. They say that Assad has that sarin gas used in the attack. He probably does, but ISIS has it too, or at least some possibly watered-down form of it.

The reports I’ve heard say that Assad has been winning his war against ISIS. Not that the news media would ever report that. But, if that is the case, why would he then turn around and pull a bonehead stunt like this one that will set everything back for him and get the Americans mad at him? It makes no earthly sense!

CNN Host Shocked Speechless When Congressman Questions Syria Chemical Weapons Story & FLASHBACK: Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official

Via comment by EIEIO on Excellent! Ron Paul: Syrian Gas Attack Was False F...


Via Billy

TV Exec Says Bill O'Reilly's Days Are Numbered at Fox

Via comment by EIEIO on Excellent! Ron Paul: Syrian Gas Attack Was False F...

 Image result for sexual allegations Bill O'Reilly

CLG News has learned from an anonymous source that Bill O'Reilly's career at Fox News will be ending very soon. The serial sexual harassment has reached a tipping point at Fox, and O'Reilly, long-time host of The O'Reilly Factor, is soon to be out. A New York City doctor, whose patients include prominent television network executives, has tipped off the CLG with this story.

More @ CLG News

The Trump Administration: “Ship of Fools” & When Will Washington’s Time Come To Be Hit With Air Strikes

Via comment by EIEIO on Bomb the Usual Arabs

 

The reaction to the Syrian gassing incident shows that the U.S. ship-of-state is being piloted by fools.

Fool-in-Chief is President Donald Trump, who has duly followed the Neocon script by leaping to the conclusion that President al-Assad’s Syrian government is responsible when in fact there is no evidence of an intentional attack. Even if Syrian planes hit a munitions warehouse, the gas had been stored there by anti-government rebels /terrorists. It would be impossible and contrary to common sense that the Syrian government could have done this on purpose, if they did it at all.


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9 women & children among casualties of US missile strike – Homs governor

Via comment by EIEIO on Bomb the Usual Arabs

 Women & children among casualties of US missile strike – Homs governor
 
The US strike on Shayrat Airbase in Syria killed 14 people including nine innocent civilians, the governor of Homs told RT.
Speaking to RT Arabic, Talal al-Barazi said the majority of victims of the missile strike carried out by the United States on Friday morning had been local villagers.
Read more
 
“Undoubtedly, the American attack on the Shayrat air force base was aimed at supporting terrorist groups and weakening the fighting capacity of the army of the Syrian Army, which is fighting the terrorists,” Barazi told RT. “According to recent reports, the attack resulted in the deaths of five soldiers and nine civilians and the wounding of thirteen women and children who were in the nearby Shayrat village.”

“This aggression towards Syria is not the first and is unlikely to be the last.”

Syria’s official SANA news agency earlier on Friday reported that "an American missile also hit the village of Al-Hamrat, which killed four civilians including a child."

"Another seven civilians were wounded when a missile hit homes in Al-Manzul, 4 kilometres (two and a half miles) away from the Shayrat air base," it added, citing sources.

More @ RT

Insane: H. R. McMaster Manipulating Intelligence Reports to Trump, Wants 150,000 Ground Soldiers in Syria

Via Frank


Current National Security Adviser Herbert Raymond “H. R.” McMaster is manipulating intelligence reports given to President Donald Trump, Cernovich Media can now report. McMaster is plotting how to sell a massive ground war in Syria to President Trump with the help of disgraced former CIA director and convicted criminal David Petraeus, who mishandled classified information by sharing documents with his mistress.

As NSA, McMaster’s job is to synthesize intellience reports from all other agencies. President Trump is being given an inaccurate picture of the situation in Syria, as McMaster is seeking to involve the U.S. in a full scale war in Syria.

The McMaster-Petraeus plan calls for 150,000 American ground troops in Syria.