My ancestors fought on both sides of the American
Civil War.
And though I am a member of The Sons of Confederate
Veterans organization, and though my gg uncle, a veteran of the war which
separated brothers, was a one time national commander of The United Confederate
Veterans organization, given the passage of time, and the understanding we now
have, I would be hard-pressed to say to which side I might have given my
allegiance.
We live in an age of political correctness. Bad is
called good, and good is called bad. It occurs to me that the soldiers who
fought on both sides of the conflict, especially the citizens who lived south
of the border, lived in an age of military correctness.
To give you an example, my ggg uncle, Joshua Frier,
and his brothers, though they and their father were pro-union in their mindset
and loyalty, since they happened to live in central Florida felt compelled to
enlist in the Florida Reserves; a branch of the Confederate Army. And enlist
they did. Ultimately, Joshua’s brother, Samuel, deserted his post, was tracked
down by Confederate bounty hunters, and murdered in cold blood.
Another of my relatives, my gg grandfather Isaac Ring,
migrated from the State of Maine for reasons of health before that great war,
and settled in Georgia. As a result, after the conflict began, and he delayed
as long as possible, he was compelled to enlist in the Georgia militia.
Ultimately, Isaac was captured by Union forces, and interned in the Yankee
prison at Elmira, New York. Can you imagine how popular a Yankee wearing a
Confederate uniform was among his guards?
It was, indeed, a whole ‘nother season, and much less
about being politically correct and much more about being militarily correct.
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