Newt Knight Union hero or villain? A sourced thread.

Newt Knight was a legitimate Unionist guerrilla

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 57.1%
  • No he,was just a bandit the Confederacy was wonderful

    Votes: 9 42.9%

  • Total voters
    21

leftyhunter

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
los angeles ca
Recently @Jimklag had a thread in the movie and book forum asking the veracity of the recent movie "Free State of Jones ". All well and good but the thread got derailed over the legitimacy or illgitmacy of Newt Knight the film's protagonist and still controversial figure.
The purpose if this thread is to use sources to support one's opinion.
Sources make for a stronger argument.

There arose quite a bit of controversy over the proposition was Newt Knight a guerrilla or just a common bandit?
As we know especially in Southern states there was quite a bit of both guerrilla war and banditry.
Firs let us define what a guerrilla is;
From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guerrilla
1. A person who engages in irregular warfare especially as of an a member
Of an independent unit carrying out harrassment and sabotage.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definitions/guerrilla
1. A member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting ,typically against larger regular forces.
 
Recently @Jimklag had a thread in the movie and book forum asking the veracity of the recent movie "Free State of Jones ". All well and good but the thread got derailed over the legitimacy or illgitmacy of Newt Knight the film's protagonist and still controversial figure.
The purpose if this thread is to use sources to support one's opinion.
Sources make for a stronger argument.

There arose quite a bit of controversy over the proposition was Newt Knight a guerrilla or just a common bandit?
As we know especially in Southern states there was quite a bit of both guerrilla war and banditry.
Firs let us define what a guerrilla is;
From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guerrilla
1. A person who engages in irregular warfare especially as of an a member
Of an independent unit carrying out harrassment and sabotage.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definitions/guerrilla
1. A member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting ,typically against larger regular forces.
Great idea, Lefty.
 
In the thread "Free State if Jones" Book and movie review Tent by @Jimklag here are some objections to Knight being a Unionist guerrilla.
Post #31 by @archieclement
"I'd disagree a bunch of outlaws or criminals which deserters would be,fighting authorities to evade capture is still just a bunch of outlaws,or criminals...there has,to be,a political cause to be a guerrilla.
Bonnie and Clyde had several shoitouts,with law,enforcement , however that does not make them guerrillas, they were just criminals trying to evade capture.
Criminal deserters trying to evade capture and being hung does not equate to Unionist guerrillas...Guerrrilas have a cause, and in the CW context had ties and commissions to the actual primary combatants , It's amusing to me I read of him being described as a Unionist..latter he certainly was an anti CAD apparently, but the fact remains he voluntarily enlisted in the Confederate Army not once but twice, before deserving..hardly makes one a Unionist ".
A lot of points made.
What does the historical record say about Knight being a guerrilla and a Unionist? How does that match with the dictionary?
Leftyhunter
 
Did Knight and his men meet the di tionary definition of being a guerrilla.
My first source is from the book
"Guerrillas, Unionists, Violence on the Confederate Home Front "
Edited by Daniel Sutherland
The University of Arkansas Press
From the chapter
"Telling and retelling the legend of the "Free State of Jones " Victoria Bynum
P.22
" Unlike 20th Century writers, however, Confederate leaders described Jones County deserters,as,both outlaws and Unionists. Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk reported to President Jefferson Davis that Jones deserters called themselves"Southern Yankees" ; he seemed to accept the label at face value. Captain W.Writ Thompson of Company A Twenty forth Mississippi Regiment, reported to Secretary of War James Seddon that a federal flag had been raised by (desrrters) over the courthouse in Jones County.
Colonel William Brown , a member of the Lowry expedition who spent a good deal of time in Jones County attributed Unionism to the,agrarian influence of older citizens.
Sounds,like contemporary Confederate officials thought Knight and the boy's were indeed Unionists.
Leftyhunter
 
HEADQUARTERS,
Demopolis, March 21, 1864.
His Excellency President DAVIS,
Richmond:

<Snip>

In regard to the condition of affairs in the counties alluded to, I have to report that Col. Harry Maury, under my orders, through the commander of the District of the Gulf, made a campaign against the deserters and traitors in Jones, Perry, &c., about a week ago. He found them, as reported, in open rebellion, defiant at the outset, proclaiming <ar59_663> themselves "Southern Yankees," and resolved to resist by force of arms all efforts to capture them. My orders were very stringent, and very summary measures were taken with such as were captured, and with marked benefit to many of the rest. Some escaped to the bottoms on Pearl River, swearing they would return with Yankee re-enforcements; others were brought to reason and loyalty, and have come in and surrendered themselves. I have today dispatched another expedition from this place to the counties of Smith and others lying on Pearl River, to break up an organization which has been formed there, and which has held three public meetings. I shall not stop until these outbreaks are suppressed and their authors punished, but it would be far better for the Government to dispose of its military resources in such a way as to prevent them.
I remain, respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. POLK,
Lieutenant-General.

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...aro0059;view=image;seq=665;page=root;size=100
 
In the thread "Free State if Jones" Book and movie review Tent by @Jimklag here are some objections to Knight being a Unionist guerrilla.
Post #31 by @archieclement
"I'd disagree a bunch of outlaws or criminals which deserters would be,fighting authorities to evade capture is still just a bunch of outlaws,or criminals...there has,to be,a political cause to be a guerrilla.
Bonnie and Clyde had several shoitouts,with law,enforcement , however that does not make them guerrillas, they were just criminals trying to evade capture.
Criminal deserters trying to evade capture and being hung does not equate to Unionist guerrillas...Guerrrilas have a cause, and in the CW context had ties and commissions to the actual primary combatants , It's amusing to me I read of him being described as a Unionist..latter he certainly was an anti CAD apparently, but the fact remains he voluntarily enlisted in the Confederate Army not once but twice, before deserving..hardly makes one a Unionist ".
A lot of points made.
What does the historical record say about Knight being a guerrilla and a Unionist? How does that match with the dictionary?
Leftyhunter
1st as far as guerrilla, It pretty much leaves him as a bandit or a outlaw, from what I've seen 14 minor skirmishes total, the majority of which apparently seem to have been brought on by the authorities hunting the outlaw, even if you attributed half the minor skirmishes to being brought by knight, 7 minor skirmishes in over 2 years, of which the biggest accomplishment was capturing 5 wagons of corn would not constitute much of all of a campaign of "harassment or sabotage" it could however be construed as a bandit gang stealing what it needed to survive..........

2nd as a "Unionist" the fact that he voluntarily joined the CSA army twice conclusively says he wasn't a Unionist.....that he later opposed the CSA does not mean he favored anything else, it would leave him an outlaw who opposed both......he obviously tried to play the Union after he had alienated the CSA for aid to try to help save his skin,, but the Union didn't play that game, no aid, no recognition, no being a Unionist. Simply being in opposition to one thing, does not mean one is automatically in favor of anything else..........

"a robber or outlaw belonging to a gang and typically operating in an isolated or lawless area" newt would meet that definition as he was a outlaw by being a deserter and formed a gang in a swamp (a isolated and lawless area), however that definition isn't guerrilla its bandits,,,,,,,,
 
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DEMOPOLIS, ALA.,
March 3, 1864.
Lieut. Col. T. F. SEVIER,
Assistant Inspector-General:
COLONEL: I have the honor to make the following report of the reconnaissance which I made in obedience to orders from department headquarters dated February 23:

<snip>

I beg leave also to say something in regard to tories and deserters who infest Jones County and a portion of Lauderdale. The tories in Jones County made a raid upon Paulding not many days ago, about 200 strong, and carried off a good deal of corn as well as other property. They are becoming very troublesome, as well as dangerous, to the country around. In regard to the tories and deserters in Lauderdale County, I have to say that a citizen of the county, Mr. W. W. Hall, <ar59_580> who was at one time a member of the Legislature, informed me that in the western portion of Lauderdale County, where he was just from when I saw him, there was being formed a company of men who intend joining the Federal army as soon as possible. This organization was headed by a Dr. Longmire, who lives in GarlandvilIe, Miss. The company met while Mr. Hall was in the neighborhood at the house of a man named Joe Mayberry. The enemy wherever they went stripped the people of provisions, and I am afraid that some of them will suffer.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. H. POLK,
First Lieutenant and Actg. Asst. Insp. Gen.

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...1=Jones;view=image;seq=581;size=100;page=root
 
Did Knight and his men actually fight the Confederacy? On page 23
"In a letter to Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon dated March 3 1864
Davey Maury emphasized that Jone' s deserters were well armed and five hundred strong.
" They had been seizing Government stores" he wrote"killing our people and have actually made prisoners of and paroled officers if the Confederate army"
Is this not the dictionary definition of a guerrilla?
Leftyhunter
 
CAMP TWENTY-FOURTH MISSISSIPPI REGIMENT,
Dalton, Ga., March 29, 1864.
Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War, C. S. Army:

SIR: I would most respectfully submit for your consideration the following statement of facts, and for the relief of the loyal citizens of Southeastern Mississippi earnestly solicit the attention of the War Department to the condition of affairs now existing in that section of the State. I have just returned to the army from a short leave of absence, which I spent in Greene County, Miss., and I therefore make my statements from a personal knowledge of their truth. Previous to starting to Mississippi I was aware of the presence of large numbers of deserters and conscripts in that section of the State, but until I arrived in the country I did not know that they were in organized bodies and committing depredations and deeds of violence, bloodshed, and outlawry, and that there was no force in the country to contend against them or to defend the 1oyal portion of the citizens from their savage caprices and brutal whims. But such I found to be the case, and the whole southern and southeastern section of Mississippi is in a most deplorable condition, and unless succor is sent speedily the country is utterly ruined, and every loya1 citizen will be driven from it or meet a tragic and untimely fate at the hands of those who are aiding and abetting our enemies. Several of the most prominent citizens have already been driven from their homes, and some have been slaughtered in their own homes because they refused to obey the mandates of the outlaws and abandon the country. Numbers have been ordered away and are now living under threats and in fear of their lives. It is a matter of great personal danger and risk for all officer or soldier of the Confederate army to make his appearance in the country, and so perfect are these organizations and systems of dispatching that in a few hours large <ar59_712> bodies of them can be collected at any given point prepared to attempt almost anything. On the 24th of February Capt. John J. Bradford, of Company B, Third Mississippi Regiment, who had previously been commanding conscript rendezvous at Augusta, Perry County, was captured by them and barely escaped with his life by accepting a parole, the conditions of which were that he would never again enter the county as a Confederate officer under orders or authority, or in any way aid or assist in molesting them. The house in which he was sleeping was surrounded at daylight, and he was called out, and after some discussion and persuasion on the part of the gentleman with whom he was staying, they agreed to take a vote of the crowd as to whether he should be hanged or be permitted to accept the parole, and by a majority of one vote he was granted the parole. There were in that company 21 men, well armed and equipped, and on the same day they took forcible possession of the depot containing the tax in kind and compelled one of the citizens to issue it out to families in the neighborhood.

Every officer or soldier who enters the county is compelled, if they can catch him, to submit to one of the following requirements: First, desert the army and join them; second, take a parole not to molest them or give information in regard to their acts and localities of rendezvous, or to pilot Confederate cavalry into the country; or, third, to leave the country immediately. Through the instrumentality and assistance of loyal friends, and my own influence with certain citizens whom I knew to be vedettes and spies for these outlaws, I remained in the country several days without being troubled, but was compelled to be very guarded in my actions and words. The citizens are afraid to speak of them in their own houses for fear of spies. Government depots filled with supplies have been either robbed or burned. Gin-houses, dwelling-houses, and barns, and the court-house of Greene County have been destroyed by fire. Bridges have been burned and ferry-boats sunk on almost every stream and at almost every ferry to obstruct the passage of troops; their pickets and vedettes lie concealed in swamps and thickets on the roadside; spies watch the citizens and eavesdrop their houses at night, and a tory despotism of the most oppressive description governs the country; citizens' horses, Wagons, guns, &c., are pressed at the option of any outlaw who may desire them, and if the citizen makes any remonstrance he is treated to a caning, a rope, or is driven from the country. Deserters from every army and from every State are among them. They have colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants; boast themselves to be not less than a thousand strong in organized bodies, besides what others are outsiders and disloyal citizens (of whom I regret to say there are many). They have frequent and uninterrupted communication with the enemy on Ship Island and other points; have a sufficiency of arms and ammunition of the latest Northern and European manufacture in abundance, and I was told that they boast of fighting for the Union.

Gentlemen of undoubted veracity informed me that the Federal flag had been raised by them over the court-house in Jones County, and in the same county they are said to have fortified rendezvous, and that Yankees are frequently among them. Companies of 40 or 50 men go together to each other's fields, stack arms, place out a picket guard, and then cut and roll logs, repair fences, &c., and in this way they swear they intend to raise crops and defend themselves from cavalry this season. The country is entirely at their mercy. <ar59_713> Colonel Maury with a regiment of cavalry had been sent from Mobile into Jones County and had encountered and captured some of them, but cavalry, unaided by well-drilled infantry troops in large forces, will never be able to dislodge them and relieve the country. The loyal citizens are sorely oppressed and are looking to the Government for relief, and unless they get such relief soon the country will be utterly and irretrievably ruined. It is a serious matter, one that calls loudly for prompt and immediate- attention on the part of the Government, and as a Confederate officer, as a citizen of that portion of Mississippi, whose friends and family are exposed to this growing evil, I have felt it my duty to lay the matter before the proper authorities and in behalf of the oppressed to solicit the consideration and succor of the Government. I give it as my honest opinion, based upon what I saw and learned, that not less than a brigade of well-drilled infantry troops, a force sufficient to sweep the country at once, will be able to exterminate them from the country. Cavalry can never do it, and as yet only cavalry has been sent, and only in small bodies. These they have heretofore driven out of the country, and have grown the more daring after each success.
Trusting that this may meet the serious consideration of those into whose hands is committed the destinies of our struggling young country, and with the assurance that I can substantiate by as much evidence as may be desired all and even more than has been stated in the foregoing,
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. WIRT THOMSON,
Captain Company A, Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment.

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...aro0059;view=image;seq=713;page=root;size=100
 
1st as far as guerrilla, It pretty much leaves him as a bandit or a outlaw, from what I've seen 14 minor skirmishes total, the majority of which apparently seem to have been brought on by the authorities hunting the outlaw, even if you attributed half the minor skirmishes to being brought by knight, 7 minor skirmishes in over 2 years, of which the biggest accomplishments was capturing 5 wagons of corn would not constitute much of all of a campaign of "harassment or sabotage" it could however be construed as a bandit gang stealing what it needed to survive..........

2nd as a "Unionist" the fact that he voluntarily joined the CSA army twice conclusively says he wasn't a Unionist.....that he later opposed the CSA does not mean he favored anything else, it would leave him an outlaw who opposed both......he obviously tried to play the Union after he had alienated the CSA for aid to try to help save his skin,, but the Union didn't play that game, no aid, no recognition, no being a Unionist
Knight was,an outlaw based on violations of what law?
The Confederacy by definition was illegal per U.S. law. A U.S. citizen is not legally obligated to fight for the Confederacy. A U.S. citizen has the right to fight against the Confederacy and sustain himself.
What laws based on federal statutory or case law did Knight and his men violate?
I just posted that indeed Knight's men did fight the Confederacy. There is no minimum level of actions a guerrilla needs to take to be a guerrilla per the dictionary.
Nor does the dictionary state a guerrilla needs approval of any governmental authority to considered a guerrilla.
Fell free to use other dictionaries to argue and support your definition of what a guerrilla is.
Leftyhunter
 
MISSISSIPPI CITY, April 7, 1864.
Maj. J. C. DENIS,
Provost-Marshal-General, Demopolis, Ala.:

MAJOR: In accordance with your orders I have to report that a band of deserters still continue prowling about the country, doing considerable damage to the farmers and molesting travelers. Though dispersed from Perry and Jones Counties, they appear in other parts. Large numbers of these from Jones County have gone down Pearl River to and near Honey Island, where they exist in some force and hold the country in awe, openly boasting of their being in communication with the Yankees. In fact, it is dangerous to travel in that part of Louisiana. In Marion County, Miss., and the upper part of Washington Parish, La., they are banded together in large numbers, bid defiance to the authorities, and claim to have a government of their own in opposition to the Confederate Government.
Your obedient servant,
DANL. P. LOGAN.

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/c...o=waro0059;didno=waro0059;view=image;seq=0757
 
Knight was,an outlaw based on violations of what law?
The Confederacy by definition was illegal per U.S. law. A U.S. citizen is not legally obligated to fight for the Confederacy. A U.S. citizen has the right to fight against the Confederacy and sustain himself.
What laws based on federal statutory or case law did Knight and his men violate?
I just posted that indeed Knight's men did fight the Confederacy. There is no minimum level of actions a guerrilla needs to take to be a guerrilla per the dictionary.
Nor does the dictionary state a guerrilla needs approval of any governmental authority to considered a guerrilla.
Fell free to use other dictionaries to argue and support your definition of what a guerrilla is.
Leftyhunter

Ummm I did feel free to use a dictionary..."a robber or outlaw belonging to a gang and typically operating in an isolated or lawless area" newt would meet that definition as he was a outlaw by being a deserter and formed a gang in a swamp (a isolated and lawless area), however that definition isn't guerrilla its bandits,,,,,,,,

I'm satisfied he and his band meets the definition of bandits, so I am comfortable referring to him as such.
 
Ummm I did feel free to use a dictionary..."a robber or outlaw belonging to a gang and typically operating in an isolated or lawless area" newt would meet that definition as he was a outlaw by being a deserter and formed a gang in a swamp (a isolated and lawless area), however that definition isn't guerrilla its bandits,,,,,,,,

I'm satisfied he and his band meets the definition of bandits, so I am comfortable referring to him as such.

And Unionist " a person who opposed secession during the Civil War" a person who voluntarily enlisted in the CSA army not once but twice, obviously didn't have a problem with secession........which leaves Newt not a unionist anything...........even a claim of a Free State of Jones would be secession, theres nothing that indicates he was opposed to either CSA secession, or even a Free State of Jones secession..........any claim of Newt being a Unionist is ridiculous
 
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CAMP TWENTY-FOURTH MISSISSIPPI REGIMENT,
Dalton, Ga., March 29, 1864.
Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War, C. S. Army:

SIR: I would most respectfully submit for your consideration the following statement of facts, and for the relief of the loyal citizens of Southeastern Mississippi earnestly solicit the attention of the War Department to the condition of affairs now existing in that section of the State. I have just returned to the army from a short leave of absence, which I spent in Greene County, Miss., and I therefore make my statements from a personal knowledge of their truth. Previous to starting to Mississippi I was aware of the presence of large numbers of deserters and conscripts in that section of the State, but until I arrived in the country I did not know that they were in organized bodies and committing depredations and deeds of violence, bloodshed, and outlawry, and that there was no force in the country to contend against them or to defend the 1oyal portion of the citizens from their savage caprices and brutal whims. But such I found to be the case, and the whole southern and southeastern section of Mississippi is in a most deplorable condition, and unless succor is sent speedily the country is utterly ruined, and every loya1 citizen will be driven from it or meet a tragic and untimely fate at the hands of those who are aiding and abetting our enemies. Several of the most prominent citizens have already been driven from their homes, and some have been slaughtered in their own homes because they refused to obey the mandates of the outlaws and abandon the country. Numbers have been ordered away and are now living under threats and in fear of their lives. It is a matter of great personal danger and risk for all officer or soldier of the Confederate army to make his appearance in the country, and so perfect are these organizations and systems of dispatching that in a few hours large <ar59_712> bodies of them can be collected at any given point prepared to attempt almost anything. On the 24th of February Capt. John J. Bradford, of Company B, Third Mississippi Regiment, who had previously been commanding conscript rendezvous at Augusta, Perry County, was captured by them and barely escaped with his life by accepting a parole, the conditions of which were that he would never again enter the county as a Confederate officer under orders or authority, or in any way aid or assist in molesting them. The house in which he was sleeping was surrounded at daylight, and he was called out, and after some discussion and persuasion on the part of the gentleman with whom he was staying, they agreed to take a vote of the crowd as to whether he should be hanged or be permitted to accept the parole, and by a majority of one vote he was granted the parole. There were in that company 21 men, well armed and equipped, and on the same day they took forcible possession of the depot containing the tax in kind and compelled one of the citizens to issue it out to families in the neighborhood.

Every officer or soldier who enters the county is compelled, if they can catch him, to submit to one of the following requirements: First, desert the army and join them; second, take a parole not to molest them or give information in regard to their acts and localities of rendezvous, or to pilot Confederate cavalry into the country; or, third, to leave the country immediately. Through the instrumentality and assistance of loyal friends, and my own influence with certain citizens whom I knew to be vedettes and spies for these outlaws, I remained in the country several days without being troubled, but was compelled to be very guarded in my actions and words. The citizens are afraid to speak of them in their own houses for fear of spies. Government depots filled with supplies have been either robbed or burned. Gin-houses, dwelling-houses, and barns, and the court-house of Greene County have been destroyed by fire. Bridges have been burned and ferry-boats sunk on almost every stream and at almost every ferry to obstruct the passage of troops; their pickets and vedettes lie concealed in swamps and thickets on the roadside; spies watch the citizens and eavesdrop their houses at night, and a tory despotism of the most oppressive description governs the country; citizens' horses, Wagons, guns, &c., are pressed at the option of any outlaw who may desire them, and if the citizen makes any remonstrance he is treated to a caning, a rope, or is driven from the country. Deserters from every army and from every State are among them. They have colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants; boast themselves to be not less than a thousand strong in organized bodies, besides what others are outsiders and disloyal citizens (of whom I regret to say there are many). They have frequent and uninterrupted communication with the enemy on Ship Island and other points; have a sufficiency of arms and ammunition of the latest Northern and European manufacture in abundance, and I was told that they boast of fighting for the Union.

Gentlemen of undoubted veracity informed me that the Federal flag had been raised by them over the court-house in Jones County, and in the same county they are said to have fortified rendezvous, and that Yankees are frequently among them. Companies of 40 or 50 men go together to each other's fields, stack arms, place out a picket guard, and then cut and roll logs, repair fences, &c., and in this way they swear they intend to raise crops and defend themselves from cavalry this season. The country is entirely at their mercy. <ar59_713> Colonel Maury with a regiment of cavalry had been sent from Mobile into Jones County and had encountered and captured some of them, but cavalry, unaided by well-drilled infantry troops in large forces, will never be able to dislodge them and relieve the country. The loyal citizens are sorely oppressed and are looking to the Government for relief, and unless they get such relief soon the country will be utterly and irretrievably ruined. It is a serious matter, one that calls loudly for prompt and immediate- attention on the part of the Government, and as a Confederate officer, as a citizen of that portion of Mississippi, whose friends and family are exposed to this growing evil, I have felt it my duty to lay the matter before the proper authorities and in behalf of the oppressed to solicit the consideration and succor of the Government. I give it as my honest opinion, based upon what I saw and learned, that not less than a brigade of well-drilled infantry troops, a force sufficient to sweep the country at once, will be able to exterminate them from the country. Cavalry can never do it, and as yet only cavalry has been sent, and only in small bodies. These they have heretofore driven out of the country, and have grown the more daring after each success.
Trusting that this may meet the serious consideration of those into whose hands is committed the destinies of our struggling young country, and with the assurance that I can substantiate by as much evidence as may be desired all and even more than has been stated in the foregoing,
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. WIRT THOMSON,
Captain Company A, Twenty-fourth Mississippi Regiment.

http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;q1=Jones;rgn=full text;idno=waro0059;didno=waro0059;view=image;seq=713;page=root;size=100
Wow no fair using facts vs unsupported opinion.:bounce: One of our posters criticised Knight and his boys of not being in communication with the Union Army at Ships Islands. Apparently our friend was mistaken.
Can't say enough about sources vs unsupported opinion :dance:
More please:D
Thanks
Leftyhunter
 
Ummm I did feel free to use a dictionary..."a robber or outlaw belonging to a gang and typically operating in an isolated or lawless area" newt would meet that definition as he was a outlaw by being a deserter and formed a gang in a swamp (a isolated and lawless area), however that definition isn't guerrilla its bandits,,,,,,,,

I'm satisfied he and his band meets the definition of bandits, so I am comfortable referring to him as such.
I will let the facts speak for themselves.
Their is an old Irish chestnut " one man's
terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".
How is Knight evil and Quantrill , Bloody Bill Anderson and,Archie Clements not outlaws?
Leftyhunter
 
Not doing morality, never said newt was evil, just an outlaw bandit as he meets that definition.

Quantrill, Anderson, and Clements were actually sanctioned as combatants, which makes them not outlaws, unless specifically charged with violations of military law which I assume your aware they weren't...........

And I would assume your also aware the parole most MO guerrillas took DID NOT protect them against prosecution for civil crimes against the war.... Only one was ever tried for Lawrence, and he was acquitted in 10 minutes. People were ready for it to be over and not continue the tit for tat further........................

Now I take it you don't like it that they were sanctioned, or that they weren't charged for crimes which is a fair opinion to have, however your opinion doesn't change the historical fact that they were in fact sanctioned and not charged.........
 
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I always though it was interesting to hear what Newt himself though about the whole ruckus.

http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/06/free_state_of_jones_leader_new_1.html

Personally, I've learned a lot about the subject of Southern Yankees, Union guerillas and bandits!


Newt considered himself an "unofficial guerilla".
The story of the corn was funny.
The women poisoned some dogs.
Lots of skirmishes.

Opinions on him are definitely mixed!

He sure does remind me of about half of my kin!
 
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Did Newt Knight enforce Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in the Kingdom of Jones?

No. Knight didn't free a single slave in Jones County.
 
Did Newt Knight enforce Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in the Kingdom of Jones?

No. Knight didn't free a single slave in Jones County.
Not his job. Maybe he did we will see. On another thread you claimed Unionist guerrillas did not play a significant role in the Civil War. Per the posted evidence Confederate authorities did not believe that to be the case.
Leftyhunter
 
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