Rededication, Picnics and a Symphony on Hallowed Ground: Memorial Day Weekend at VNMP

I appreciate the suggestions, everyone. :smile:


Oh, that's fine by me. I'm becoming more adventurous and am happy to eat whatever regions do best. (I can have Chicago pizza anytime.) So far, I've tried:

Grits
Collard Greens
Fried Green Tomatoes
Gumbo
Red Beans & Rice
Cornbread
Sweet Tea (Whoa! They aren't kidding.)

That list is looking a little short, so I plan to add on to it. :thumbsup:
What, no barbecue?!
Tsk, tsk, LoriAnn. Get busy, girl!
 
Spring for sure !




Agreed !

As the start of Spring can vary down here, from late February to mid March. I would suggest visiting from late March through late April. :smile:

Usually the flora will be in bloom but the oppressive heat & humidity will be weeks away.
Oh, dear, I am SO gonna die down there in June!! :eek:
 
Oh, dear, I am SO gonna die down there in June!! :eek:
Hey KansasFreestater,

Like 7th said, maybe not. It is really the July-August mark that can be overly oppressive and downright dangerous. Even if you hit a hot spell when you're down here, the mornings and evenings should be tolerable and offer respite.

If you need anything while your down here or need any information before hand, don't hesitate to PM me. My wife and I will be glad to help out in any way!
 
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Hey KansasFreestater,

Like 7th said, maybe not. It is really the July-August mark that can be overly oppressive and downright dangerous. Even if you hit a hot spell when you're down, the mornings and evenings should be tolerable and offer respite.

If you need anything while your down here or need any information before hand, don't hesitate to PM me. My wife and I will be glad to help out in any way!
Oh my goodness, you are so kind!
Southern hospitality: not just a cliché!
@Jackson'sArm and I are going on a 3-day tour being led by the great Ed Bearss and Terry Winschell. Been looking forward to it for months... but am suddenly starting to get a bit nervous about humidity. Hopefully, it won't be too bad!
 
@alan polk , your photos and your words are wonderful. Many, many thanks for the effort you've put into this thread.

I was in Mississippi briefly. And from the photos I've seen here on this site, I think it was too brief, and that I need to revisit soon.

Mississippians, any suggestions for when I should visit these lovely places? Will I melt into a puddle in the summer? Should I leave my wool sweaters at home? :tongue:
Linen wrinkles, but it sure does feel good. When in the cotton fields, wear cotton.:mstickle:
 
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Took my son to the park yesterday. He needed service hours for school and this was a perfect opportunity to volunteer. The volunteers placed thousands of flags on Union graves and later was the rededication of the Missouri Monument, where my son helped set up chairs and passed out pamphlets to folks attending the event. I journeyed around the park in the meantime.
Very well done, enjoyed your tour and thoughts very much.
 
Linen wrinkles, but it sure does feel good. When in the cotton fields, wear cotton.:mstickle:
Linen and I know each other well. :D I work with linen and have little bits of it floating all over the house. (In fact, I think there's some in my keyboard!)
 
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The ridge line in the background of this artist's rendering is where Needham's regiment (38th Mississippi) was positioned and where he was mortally wounded around June 5 or 6.
 
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View of part of the ridge today showing the line of Needham's Regiment. Somewhere between the marker in the foreground and the one in the far distance is where I believe he received his mortal head wound.

About 100 yards or so beyond the distant marker, a crafty Yankee had constructed a tower made of railroad ties that loomed high above the Confederate lines in this sector of the battlefield. It was called "Coonskin's Tower."
 

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This artist's rendering shows "Coonskin's Tower." The view of the picture is looking west. The troops in the foreground are Federals. The sniper would be shooting out of the left side (of picture) or southside of the tower and down into the redan and trench line where the 38th and Needham would have been huddling in their ditches.

I've often wondered if Needham was mortally wounded by a sniper from this tower. It's something I think about everytime I visit his grave.
 
....unadorned, but well kept.
I've been thinking about this. So would it be wrong to place American flags on these graves as well? If the Confederate flag is something that would cause disruption (and these graves do not need that kind of chaos), would an American flag and some kind of ceremony like the one you attended earlier be a good way to remember these men?

I know they fought under a different flag.
I know the men themselves are long gone and unaffected by our ceremonies.

But I still see the men of Soldiers' Rest as Americans. After reading your beautiful description of the flags on Union graves, seeing the lonely Confederate ones just didn't sit well with me.
 
I've been thinking about this. So would it be wrong to place American flags on these graves as well? If the Confederate flag is something that would cause disruption (and these graves do not need that kind of chaos), would an American flag and some kind of ceremony like the one you attended earlier be a good way to remember these men?

I know they fought under a different flag.
I know the men themselves are long gone and unaffected by our ceremonies.

But I still see the men of Soldiers' Rest as Americans. After reading your beautiful description of the flags on Union graves, seeing the lonely Confederate ones just didn't sit well with me.

That's a very interesting question and one, frankly, I have not thought about much. I suppose it would not be wrong at all. But something about it seems odd to me, and I'm sure that has more to do with "tradition" than it does with confusing which side he fought for.

The Confederate battle flag has taken such a political hit that they're just hard to find now. Stores just don't want to deal with the controversy. When I was a kid, most of the corner stores always carried them, so it was easy to get one and place it on a marker without much effort, and, for sure, without controversy.

Its not that way anymore. Personally, I would rather place a Confederate National, but they're really, really hard to find - for lazy folks like me, I guess. But The First National has not yet been subsumed by controversy as much as the battle flag and could be used to honor Confederates without the Klan connection.

But the times have changed so quickly.

I guess it just hit me while visiting Needham and after honoring Union dead, with all the fanfare that went with that honoring, contrasted with the isolation and lack of fanfare at Soldier's Rest. For someone who grew up in the South, remembering how it used to be as a kid - well, it's just weird, and it felt weird after leaving the park and going to see Needham with nothing to show.

And it never crossed my mind that I might put an American flag on his grave! And that is equally weird too, in its own way. Heck, not until you brought it up did I try to process the idea! And you can tell by my rambling voice that I'm still trying to figure it out!

I could see, though, how some people might get upset by others placing an American flag on a Confederate grave - that is, symbolically aligning the present American flag with a soldier who served for the ideas expressed by the Confederacy.

Maybe the only folks who might have been perfectly fine with the idea were the old veterans, north and south, years after the war when Civil War parks were coming into existence and when focus on unity between the states was highlighted and pursued. One can see, by visiting the Civil War parks those veterans left to us, how the theme of unity shines greater than any theme of divisiveness. And I think it is in that spirit that you made your suggestion.

It certainly shows how smart you are:thumbsup:
 
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Maybe the only folks who might have been perfectly fine with the idea were the old veterans, north and south, years after the war when Civil War parks were coming into existence and when focus on unity between the states were highlighted and pursued. One can see, by visiting the Civil War parks those veterans left to us, how the theme of unity shines greater than any theme of divisiveness. And I think it is in that spirit that you made your suggestion.
That's exactly what I was thinking.

If it were up to me, you guys could use any flag of your choice. Or ~ and here's a really off-the-wall thought, brought to you by my 6:30 am, pre-coffee brain ~ perhaps some kind of flag/symbol that includes both sides to signify unification. (I'm sure re-reading this idea at 8:30 pm this evening, I'll be like, "OMG, Lori... :rolleyes:. Quit sniffin' the nag champa.")

But like you said, times have changed. And the last thing any resting place needs is controversy.

My suggestion is an odd one for sure! And that is why I asked you ~ I knew you would be patient with me. :smile: I wouldn't ask just anyone for fear they'd assume I meant to flippantly place the flag of the victor over the graves of those who lost. (And that is definitely NOT what I meant.) Or assume that I was too dim to realize these are men who fought to separate from the Union.

As far as I'm concerned, they were Americans before, during, and after the war. I don't like to see them go completely unnoticed on a day when others are being honored. If not flags and fanfare, which I would understand not sitting well with everyone, what about flowers? Something to signify that their loss matters too.

Thank you, Alan, for thinking this out with me and for your kind response. :happy: (And for being patient with my weird ideas.)
 
Oh my goodness, you are so kind!
Southern hospitality: not just a cliché!
@Jackson'sArm and I are going on a 3-day tour being led by the great Ed Bearss and Terry Winschell. Been looking forward to it for months... but am suddenly starting to get a bit nervous about humidity. Hopefully, it won't be too bad!
KansasFreestater, when is your Vicksburg trip? Hope we get to read all about it.
 
That's exactly what I was thinking.

If it were up to me, you guys could use any flag of your choice. Or ~ and here's a really off-the-wall thought, brought to you by my 6:30 am, pre-coffee brain ~ perhaps some kind of flag/symbol that includes both sides to signify unification. (I'm sure re-reading this idea at 8:30 pm this evening, I'll be like, "OMG, Lori... :rolleyes:. Quit sniffin' the nag champa.")

But like you said, times have changed. And the last thing any resting place needs is controversy.

My suggestion is an odd one for sure! And that is why I asked you ~ I knew you would be patient with me. :smile: I wouldn't ask just anyone for fear they'd assume I meant to flippantly place the flag of the victor over the graves of those who lost. (And that is definitely NOT what I meant.) Or assume that I was too dim to realize these are men who fought to separate from the Union.

As far as I'm concerned, they were Americans before, during, and after the war. I don't like to see them go completely unnoticed on a day when others are being honored. If not flags and fanfare, which I would understand not sitting well with everyone, what about flowers? Something to signify that their loss matters too.

Thank you, Alan, for thinking this out with me and for your kind response. :happy: (And for being patient with my weird ideas.)
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could create a flag that unites each side? Say an Eagle with a banner of stars with the motto, " We fought, We perished. We rest in peace, United once more".
 
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