There were just as many honest men in the south as the north. Take that as you will, if it's offensive to you... it's the truth. I think Davis was venal & corrupt, to quote a Southerner, I think Early and a whole bunch of other supposed gentleman were prolific liars. I think Lee & Johnston among a host of others were honest & honorable men.
When all I have to judge "Southern Gentlemen" are the words of men I've dealt w/ who call themselves true southerners or southern gentlemen... and they clearly don't think the truth is vital in a discussion w/ a non true southerner. When they determine my view is worthless because it fails to line up w/ theirs. When a decade down south, hasn't shown me the solid south mythos they would project. Well at least I can say I've spent a decade down south. I've read the letters and diaries of many a southern soldier; the majority of which I would call good honest god fearing men... few of those letters were from "gentlemen" dandies as they were busy sharing the mud and blood w/ their US counterparts while those who lacked the courage of their convictions were back home sitting safe & pretty. The last group still have their worshipers/supporters... plenty of them here are fond of one liner replies and hide behind anonymous screen names.
Pray god nobody ever calls me a gentleman if it's to put me in the same catagory as a men like Davis or Cobb.
Really? What soldiers? What were their names? How many exactly? I personally think you are full of BS but that is just my personal opinion. I think your "experiences" you speak of in the "solid south" are exaggerated or perhaps dreamed up. You've been offered several times to back up some of your claims and also your claims of southern outrages in the Civil War and you fail to present any documentation citing "they wouldn't be believed because a Yankee wrote it" or "I can't exactly remember". Give me a break. Your contributions to these discussions are full of a deep seething disdain for anything southern. And that's about it. You bring nothing else to the table.