Thanks to a comment from JFP below for the video.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Lincoln
summoned former North Carolinian Edward Stanly from California in early
1862 to assume the role of governor and rule North Carolina from a few
occupied counties near New Bern. Eventually losing faith in his Northern
associates, Stanly wrote Charles Sumner of Massachusetts describing the
vandalism of the Northern army after observing “thousands and thousands
of dollars worth of property conveyed North….Libraries, pianos,
carpets, mirrors, family portraits, everything….that could be removed
was stolen by men….preaching liberty, justice and civilization. I was
informed that one regiment of abolitionists had conveyed North more that
40,000 dollars worth of property. They literally robbed the cradle and
the grave.” Below, Governor Zebulon Vance responds to a letter from
Stanly announcing his appointment by Lincoln.
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
“Dismiss Your Hopes for the Subjugation of North Carolina”
Governor Zebulon B. Vance to Edward Stanly, Nov. 24, 1862:
“Coming
to the people who had often honored you, in the wake of destroying
armies; assuming you to be governor of the State by the Suffrages of
abolition bayonets red with the blood of your kindred and friends, how
could you expect it to be otherwise?
Do
you not know sir, that your name is execrated, and only pronounced with
curses in North Carolina. Could any sane citizen believe in the
“blessings” which you propose to bestow upon the people whom you
betrayed and seek to subjugate, or trust your professions of a desire to
mitigate the evils of war, in the presence of damnable atrocities every
day almost under our very eye, upon a defenceless and unarmed people?
Are
you aware, Sir, of the shooting of a private citizen, of the burnings
of the villages of Hamilton and Williamston, turning naked women and
children out upon the bare earth, and of the vandal destruction of
property on the Roanoke by Gen. Foster’s command recently? Do you know
the fact that two helpless females were recently, almost in gun-shot of
the town of New Bern, seized by a brutal soldiery -- “With liberty of
the bloody hand, And conscience wide as hell” -- and forced to submit to
the last and crowning outrage which can be inflicted on the sex?
Are
you informed Sir, lastly, that even the sleeping dust of the dead – of
the great and good dead of North Carolina has been robbed of its
covering in sight of that man who speaks of himself as a “son of North
Carolina,” “Solicitous of her honor,” who comes to “Confer blessings”
and who “thanks heaven that he is a representative of a government”
&c?”
When
you use your influence to suppress the outrages of your associates, nay
when you avow yourself ashamed of them, then and not till then, will
your professions be entitled to slightest credence.
No
Sir, the people of North Carolina know all these things, and have
learned well the character of their foes, and the nature of his
“blessings” in store for them. Her “Chief Magistrate” too appreciates
her position, and glories in the fact that he represents a people who
are prepared for the worst and have sincerely resolved to endure it all,
even as their fathers did, which a merciless foe can inflict, for the
sacred cause of liberty and independence.
Dismiss
therefore your hopes of the subjugation of North Carolina through the
weakness and baseness of her people. She may be subjugated, you may
reach her Capitol and take possession of her government, the fortunes of
war are fickle. But I assure you upon the honor of a Son, who will
follow as he has followed and maintained her, whether right or wrong,
who has every means of knowing the sentiments of her people, that you
can only do so over the dead bodies of the men who once respected you,
through the smoking ashes of the homes which once greeted you with
hospitable welcome, and through fields desolated, which once gladdened
your eye, rich with the glorious harvest of peace.”
(The Papers of Zebulon B. Vance, Frontis W. Johnson, editor, NCDAH, 1963, pp. 391-393)
Patriots of ’61 – “A Young Purser Hoisting the rebel colors”
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial
“The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission”
Born
in Glasgow, Scotland in 1846, well-known Wilmingtonian businessman,
author and philanthropist James Sprunt was a young seventeen year-old
who took to sea aboard blockade runners during the War. A successful
cotton merchant after the war, he also held the position of British vice
consul, German consul, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of
Navigation and Pilotage, and served as President of: the Seamen’s
Friend Society, State Literary and Historical Association of North
Carolina, and North Carolina Folk Lore Society – and was a Trustee of
the University of North Carolina. His most famous work is entitled
“Chronicles of the Cape Fear, published in 1914. When asked on one
occasion what suggestion from his experience in life he would offer the
young, he replied, “Unswerving integrity, sobriety, perseverance,
out-of-door exercise, and faith in the goodness of God.”
A Young Purser Hoisting the Rebel Colors:
“He
came to manhood in a troubled time. The War Between the States had
begun. The Federal Government proclaimed a blockade of Southern ports.
The natural advantages of Wilmington made it an ideal port for blockade
runners, as there were two entrances to the river and as the slope of
the beach for miles is very gradual to deep water. Therefore, a light
draft steamer, hard pressed by the enemy, could run along the outer edge
of the breakers without great risk of grounding, whereas the pursuer,
being usually of deeper draft, was obliged to keep farther off shore.
In
the third year of the War at age seventeen, he took passage on a
blockade runner to Bermuda with the promise of a position on the North
Heath, a vessel then building on the Clyde. When she arrived at Bermuda,
Captain [Thomas] Burroughs, her commander, who had successfully run the
blockade twelve times….[on the] Cornubia, appointed him purser of the
North Heath.
But
shortly after sailing from St. George, Bermuda, bound for Wilmington,
they ran into a hurricane and for two days and nights were in imminent
danger of their lives. For an entire night she wallowed like a log in a
trough of mountainous waves….the water had risen in her hold until
every one of the fourteen furnaces was extinguished. Eventually the
captain…got the ship under control and she was put about and headed back
to Bermuda for repairs. A little later….[Sprunt] was appointed purser
of the steamer Lilian [under Captain John Newland Maffitt], and on this
vessel he passed through all the dangers and exciting experiences of a
daring blockade runner.
[The
USS Shenandoah] log of Saturday, July 30, 1864, off Cape Lookout says:
“At 3:45PM sighted a steamer [Lilian] burning black smoke to the
eastward; made all sail in chase. At 5:45PM he showed rebel colors…[and]
began to fire at him with the 30 and 150 pounder rifle Parrott….at 8PM
stopped firing, gave up the chase, stopped engines.”
Of
this Dr. Sprunt wrote half a century afterwards: “….it was I who
hoisted those “rebel” colors on that eventful day fifty-five years ago:
and thereby hangs the tale.” Then follows the blood-stirring story of
the Lilian, loaded to the hatch combings with gunpowder for Lee’s army;
of her hundred-mile chase and bombardment by the Shenandoah, of the
“fearful accuracy” of the cruiser’s gunnery….the young purser’s
sensations as the hurtling shells passed only a few feet from his
head…..the bursting of one of her boilers, reducing her to a desperate
condition, of her wonderful escape after nightfall….and on the following
morning, though badly crippled, passed through the Federal fleet off
Fort Fisher under furious fire from the whole [Northern] squadron and
steamed into Wilmington with her cargo of powder.
On
the third outward voyage the Lilian was chased and bombarded for five
hours by five Federal cruisers, disabled by a shot below the water line
and captured, and James Sprunt, sharing the fate of his associates,
became a prisoner of war (August 24, 1864) and was confined for some
time in a casemate of Fort Macon.
In
company with Pilot “Jim Billy” Craig, afterwards well-known as the
Reverend J.W. Craig, an honored minister of the Methodist Church, he
escaped from prison and they made their way to Halifax, Nova Scotia. His
last service afloat in the War was as purser of the Confederate steamer
Susan Beirne, of which Eugene Maffitt [son of Captain John Newland
Maffitt] was chief officer, and he continued on this blockade runner
until the fall of Fort Fisher.”
(Source: James Sprunt, A Tribute from the City of Wilmington, Edwards & Broughton, 1925, pp. 12-18)
$PLC Calls for Militia Crackdown
Via avordvet
The $outhern Poverty Law Center
($PLC) is calling for a federal crackdown on “conspiracy-minded
anti-government Patriot groups.” In a statement released today to
coincide with the publication of the Spring issue of the $PLC newsletter
Investigative Report, the Center warned of “an 813-percent
rise since 2008″ of “conspiracy-minded antigovernment Patriot groups”
and requested Attorney-General Eric Holder form an “interagency task
force to assess the adequacy of federal resources devoted to the
threat.”
“As in the period before the Oklahoma
City bombing, we now are seeing ominous threats from those who believe
that the government is poised to take their guns,” $PLC President
Richard Cohen was quoted in the press release. Cohen is a member of the
Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Violent Extremism Working
Group.
A Google Maps map
created by the $PLC to accompany their press release displays location
and brand data for the 1,360 organizations the Center says exist. A
sampling of locations:
More with poll @ ParaPolitical
Sasha, Malia Obama Vacation at Bahamas' 'Atlantis' Resort
Sasha and Malia Obama are quietly vacationing at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Breitbart News has learned.
A source tipped Breitbart News off to the First Daughters’ spring vacation, which was not publicly announced or reported.Breitbart subsequently confirmed President Barack Obama’s daughters’ trip with other sources. Both the White House and the Atlantis resort declined to confirm the report or comment, but another guest provided a photograph of Sasha and Malia at the resort.
Social media, including Twitter and Facebook, have also carried reports of the First Daughters' presence at Atlantis. One person who is at the resort wrote: “Rumor confirmed: friends saw the first daughters with a gaggle of friends being escorted to the held elevator.”
Via Twitter, another person wrote: “Obama daughters at the same restaurant as me...in the bahamas.”
More @ Breitbart
McCain Key Player in Background Check Expansion
The Hill is reporting that John McCain (R-AZ), who has affixed his name to such legislation or proposed legislation as McCain-Feingold (CFR), McCain-Kennedy (immigration) and McCain-Lieberman (climate change), is a key player in the quest to expand background check for gun purchasers.
Also "considering" signing on are Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Dean Heller (R-NV). The proposal contains some "compromises" such as letting "rural gun owners conduct background checks from their home computers. Another would give military veterans who have been declared mentally unfit to own a gun a process for appealing that finding."McCain has a B+ rating from the NRA and Heller has an A, for the time being. According to the Hill, their support for background checks lends some credibility to the effort to recruit further support from senate Republicans. Other possible supporters do not rate as well by the NRA, Collins has a C- and Mark Kirk (R-IL), who is already on board, has an F.
More @ Breitbart
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