Zack
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2017
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
I'm currently reading CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC and came across this nugget:
While visiting Appomattox, the author meets a park ranger who explains that the commonly known story about poor ol' Wilmer McLean is misleading.
From the book:
"The truth, according to park rangers at Appomattox, was a good deal more complicated and less romantic. For one, McLean wasn't a farmer; he was an entrepreneur who rented his in-laws' plantation house to the rebels during First Manassas. Nor did he quickly flee Manassas in search of a safe haven for his family. He stuck around for two years, then realized that Southside Virginia was a more convenient headquarters for his main business: war profiteering. Among other things, McLean speculated in sugar, which he acquired through a brother in Cuba and sold at inflated prices to the Confederate government.
After the War, McLean used his brief acquaintance with Grant to secure a job as a tax collector at the port in Alexandria. He was also, at various times in his life, a bankrupt, a deadbeat, and a man so distrusted by his wife (a wealthy widow) that she made him sign a prenuptial agreement. 'Visitors always come in here talking about 'poor Wilmer,'" said Patricia Schuppin, the ranger showing tourists through McLean's restored home. 'I have to break the bad news that he was a pretty unscrupulous fellow.'
After the surrender, McLean's house had quickly fallen prey to tourists and profiteers, including McLean himself. He sold furniture from the parlor where Grant and Lee met, and charged soldiers a gold coin to visit the room."
Can anyone shed more light on this fellow?
While visiting Appomattox, the author meets a park ranger who explains that the commonly known story about poor ol' Wilmer McLean is misleading.
From the book:
"The truth, according to park rangers at Appomattox, was a good deal more complicated and less romantic. For one, McLean wasn't a farmer; he was an entrepreneur who rented his in-laws' plantation house to the rebels during First Manassas. Nor did he quickly flee Manassas in search of a safe haven for his family. He stuck around for two years, then realized that Southside Virginia was a more convenient headquarters for his main business: war profiteering. Among other things, McLean speculated in sugar, which he acquired through a brother in Cuba and sold at inflated prices to the Confederate government.
After the War, McLean used his brief acquaintance with Grant to secure a job as a tax collector at the port in Alexandria. He was also, at various times in his life, a bankrupt, a deadbeat, and a man so distrusted by his wife (a wealthy widow) that she made him sign a prenuptial agreement. 'Visitors always come in here talking about 'poor Wilmer,'" said Patricia Schuppin, the ranger showing tourists through McLean's restored home. 'I have to break the bad news that he was a pretty unscrupulous fellow.'
After the surrender, McLean's house had quickly fallen prey to tourists and profiteers, including McLean himself. He sold furniture from the parlor where Grant and Lee met, and charged soldiers a gold coin to visit the room."
Can anyone shed more light on this fellow?
Bringing the