Vidette

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Joined
May 12, 2010
Location
Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
"Vidette". A camp newspaper issued irregularly in 1862 and 1863 by the cavalry troops of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. The title comes from Vedette or Vidette, the name for a type of sentry. The publication contained news and humor, as well as disparaging opinions about Yankee soldiers. During Morgan's raids, copies were sometimes left to annoy the enemy.

from" "The Language of the Civil War" John D. Wright page 316.
 
In my ongoing adventure to learn more about the Civil War I ran across a new term, 'vidette line' and found Vidette - A mounted sentry on picket or guard duty was called a vidette. Also spelled "vedette," the word derives from the Latin meaning to "watch" or "see."
http://www.civilwarhome.com/terms.htm
 
In my ongoing adventure to learn more about the Civil War I ran across a new term, 'vidette line' and found Vidette - A mounted sentry on picket or guard duty was called a vidette. Also spelled "vedette," the word derives from the Latin meaning to "watch" or "see."
http://www.civilwarhome.com/terms.htm
I had never heard that term until I read Company Aytch earlier this year.
 
What annoys me about the term, which I've been aware of since I was a kid, is that no matter how I spell it, my spell check function red lines it.
 
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