Turner's Raiders (& other Celebrity Civil War Buffs)

Private Watkins

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 12, 2014
Location
Oklahoma
I hope Larry Hicklen doesn't mind me sharing this, but I got a real kick out of what he recently posted on his web site... http://midtenrelics.com/update.htm

Just before closing today, a really nice young man and his son came into the shop interested in South Carolina artifacts from the battle here. I gathered up several artifacts that over the years we had recovered from Manigault's Brigade here at the Battle of Stones River as he had several ancestors in this brigade. Since I'm so terribly old school as to not accept credit cards, he was going to come back by the shop later and pick the artifacts up. I gave him a card to write his name and contact information so that I could put it with his artifacts. I looked down at the card, and it said "Josh Turner". And I said, "You have a namesake that is quite a singer." He then said, "No, that's me." So there you go - you never know who is going to walk in the door. You couldn't ask to meet a nicer guy! - - - Josh and three of his four sons returned to the shop today to pick up his artifacts. The "Turner Raiders" are quite the serious looking lot of soldiers. We do intend at some point to take these young fellows out to recover some Civil War relics of their own. Josh is not only a super talented singer and performer but a GREAT dad!!

The Turner Raiders are from left to right - Hampton, Colby, and Marion. The "James Gang" were mean, but the "Turner Gang" - REALLY MEAN and well armed !!! - - - - Today was an absolutely picture perfect day for going relic hunting with bright sunshine and a high in the 70's. We took Josh and his three sons relic hunting today. I honestly didn't expect the little guys to last more than a couple of hours. I was wrong - they hung tough for the entire day. We had a wonderful time and Josh recovered his very first identifiable Civil War relics, and we were able to fill three small display cases, one for each of the boys. I suspect that this was a day that these young guys will remember for the rest of their lives.
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Yep, I reckon it is indeed the one and same Josh Turner who just happens to also be a Country & Western Superstar... Kind of neat that a big time celebrity is into the Civil War enough to take his boys relic hunting...!
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Anyone else know of other celebrities who are Civil War Buffs...?
 
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Here's another Celebrity Civil War Buff... Keith Hernandez of NY Mets fame! Well, at least according to a Seinfeld episode he is...
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JERRY: You know who that is? That’s Keith Hernandez.

GEORGE: Keith Hernandez? The baseball player?

JERRY: Yeah, that’s him.

GEORGE: Are you sure?

JERRY: Positive.

GEORGE: Wow, Keith Hernandez. He’s such a great player.

JERRY: Yeah, he’s a real smart guy too. He’s a Civil War buff.

GEORGE: I’d love to be a Civil War buff. … What do you have to do to be a buff?

JERRY: So Biff wants to be a buff? … Well sleeping less than 18 hours a day would be a start.

Yes…Jerry’s right about that. Being a buff is hard work. Among things like an encyclopedic knowledge of uniforms, accoutrements, and the various and sundry soldierly minutiae, it helps to know command (at least down to the regiment level) and of course…you need to know the battles cold. I have to say…I love it when popular culture and Civil War history intersect. It makes me smile. And I’ll bet you a buck that book sales on the Civil War picked up a bit after this show aired back in 199something.
http://keithharrishistory.com/id-love-to-be-a-civil-war-buff-what-do-you-have-to-do-to-be-a-buff/
 
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And then there's Bob Barker, self-described Civil War Buff.... Come on down Bob!
He's been giving things away for so long as the host of TV's The Price Is Right, it's hard to imagine Bob Barker actually collecting something for himself. But the venerable king of daytime game shows is a collector, of military figures and miniatures. He figures he's got about 175 pieces in all, plus several plates depicting Civil War battle scenes. The collection actually began as an indulgence bestowed on Barker by his late wife Dorothy Jo, who knew of Bob's love of military history.
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Former NASCAR driver Sterling Marlin is a lifelong Civil War "buff" and very advanced digger.
Back when I was touring the country with the teams (late 80's - mid 90's) their were quite a few driver's and dozens of team members that found time during the season to relic hunt and visit ACW sites public and private. Sterling (A True Tennessean and Upstanding Southern gentlemen) is an extremely well versed ACW historian and collector.
"Byline: BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER

RICHMOND -- It was said to be a pristine Civil War hunting ground.

And the prospect of working undug, unhunted land in the heart of Virginia's war country brought two-time Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin to the Old Dominion a bit earlier than usual Thursday.

Marlin, an enthusiastic Civil War relic hunter, enjoys the NASCAR race weekends at Richmond International Raceway because they give him a chance to hunt the Richmond-area battlefields with a metal detector.

In the past few years, Marlin has found almost 100 wartime bullets, known as minie balls, on farmland between Mechanicsville and Cold Harbor, both scenes of heavy fighting during the war.

The host for this day was Ray Grubbs of Chester, an excavator and relic hunter extraordinaire who owns a chunk of the Bermuda Hundred on the James River known as Trent's Reach. …"
 
Of course media mogul Ted Turner is a Civil War buff, else we wouldn't have such grist for our discussion mill as Gettysburg, Gods and Generals, Ironclads, Andersonville, and The Hunley. One former celebrity buff I posted about here this summer was the late Cliff Arquette, Charley Weaver of late-night Tonight Show fame in the 1960's and grandfather of Rosanna.

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