The Avengement of South Carolina

[marcferguson]

Originally Posted by ole

Thanks for the post, Thea.

There's something in there I hope you can clear up. Grant owned William Jones, a 35-year old mulatto and freed him early in '59. When Grant wrote to his father in March '58 he mentions three -- two hired and one of Mr. Dent's. Was the one of Mr. Dent's William Jones? Or did he pick up the man later? When he said he could get $3 per month for him and more when he get's older, it doesn't sound like he was talking about a 35 year old.

Where did he get the money to buy a slave he could have sold for $1000? He was notoriously broke. Was this a gift from Julia's father?

Do you have further information that would clear it up for me?

Thanks, Ole.

Ole,
Grant himself never wrote about having owned a slave. The manumission papers filed in 1859 claimed that he had purchased Jones, but according to Brooks Simpson [Triumph Over Adversity, page 72], it was later commonly believed that he had received Jones as a "gift." Jean Edward Smith writes [Grant, page 94] that, "The circumstances are not clear, but sometime during his last year at White Haven he acquired possession of the young slave Colonel Dent left behind, a thirty-five-year-old man named William Jones." Perhaps this was a "gift" from his father-in-law, and Grant them made good on his claims that if he ever acquired slaves, he would set them free. Julia Dent herself never owned slaves, as her father kept legal title, probably in fear that Grant would free them as well.

best,
marc

[samgrant]

Since there is already a thread devoted to 'Grant on Slavery' (in 'General Discussion' area?), let's get back to that BAD MAN Sherman.

I'm reading (in short spurts) When Sherman Marched North from the Sea by J. G. Campbell.

Haven't entered the Carolinas yet, but here is something from the Georgia part:

"A resident of Griffin complained to Confederate president Jefferson Davis that Wheeler's cavalry were "burning up all the corn and fodder" and carrying off "mules and horses." ... In a letter to the Countryman, a Georgia woman confirmed that the people were suffering from both the "depredations" of Yankees and the "shameful" behavior of Wheeler's men. "While the enemy were burning and destroying property on one side ... they[Wheeler's men] were stealing horses and mules on the other.""

[samgrant]

"The sins of the people of Charleston may cause that city to fall; it is full of rottenness, everyone being engaged in speculation. ... Her fall will be looked upon as a righteous doom."

- Josiah Gorgas (Chief of Confederate Ordnance Bureau) Civil War Diary

[johan_steele]

Bumped to top of que

[whitworth]

South Carolina - the land of Sherman's Monuments - the barren chimney standing above the ashes.