One if by Land Adventures

I grew up in the South.  Anyone that talks with me personally can’t escape my drawl and sentences punctuated with the ever present “Ya’ll”.  My hometown in Arkansas is situated close to two Civil War battlefields, Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove.  Some of my fondest memories as a child were going to visit my grandmother in Prairie Grove and we’d often end up having a picnic over at the old battlefield.

I don’t remember our area being obsessed with memorializing the Civil War.  I don’t recall elaborate reenactments, although I’m sure they happened.  I do recall the miniseries The Blue and the Grey being filmed close to my house and how cool I thought it was that Gregory Peck was just strolling around our town square.  Other than that, the Civil War just seemed like another historical event.

In 2000, I moved to Rhode Island for a one year teaching stint.  As a joke, one of my colleagues gave me a copy of Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz.  He said it might make me feel less homesick.  I laughed it off and the book went onto a bookshelf to collect dust for several months.

After securing a job in Florida for the next school year, I invited my dad to help me move.  My mom had just passed away after a long illness and thought it might be some good bonding time for my dad and I.  In packing up, the book piqued my interest and I began reading it.  Each chapter was a mixture of being bizarrely funny, but also terrifying as well. I kept thinking that Horwitz elaborated and stretched the story a bit because that didn’t seem to be the South that I grew up in.

After we got the car loaded and the moving truck on its way, dad and I began our journey down to Florida.  We stopped in Washington D.C. along the way and decided Charleston would be a nice place to visit too.

In scanning the news, an article appeared in the newspaper about the recent raising of The Hunley, a Confederate submarine.  I began having a history nerdgasm at the thought of seeing it and convinced my dad that it was worth it.  Luckily, my dad was always easy to convince of these things and we went out in search of where they were conserving it.

Once we finally found the location, I began to feel that I had stepped into the pages of Confederates in the Attic.  Our tour guide, a gristly old fellow who looked as if he could have been a veteran of the Civil War, led us into an exhibit area.  Gone were references to the “Civil War”.  That terminology was changed to “The War of Northern Aggression” which I had heard of but never actually seen in a museum exhibit.

The tour guide continued us on explaining that all conservation work could only be seen via a closed circuit feed.  This was a complete buzzkill, because what was the point of trekking there if you couldn’t actually see the thing? Despite the disappointment, we sat on benches and watched The Hunley being worked on.

Afterwards, we were led into another exhibit area where the Confederate flag was hanging from the wall.  With tears in his eyes, the tour guide talked about how beautiful the flag was and how it represented heritage and not hate.  The rest of our die hard southern group nodded, dabbing at their eyes a bit.  I could tell at this point that my dad was starting to get wierded out.

And then…..

We were led into a darkened room with several lanterns providing light, casting shadows along yet another Confederate flag and COFFINS!  The coffins were on hand to place the bodies of those that lost their lives aboard the Hunley.  At a later date, the bodies were to be buried.  At this point, my dad and I both felt like bolting for the door because it became a little too much like some bizarro horror movie where the protagonists get eaten and never heard from again.  My dad, who rarely ever let on that anything fazed him, turned to me and said “Son, where in the hell did you bring me?”  We decided it was just about time to go and left the Hunley to its conservation progress, which is still going on 17 years later.

As a teacher and history buff, I have always been interested in the Civil War.  It was one of my favorite units to teach.  During my road trips, you’ll find me veering off the interstate to visit obscure Civil War sites.  I’m still shocked that my fiancee stayed with me after the trip to the grave of Stonewall Jackson’s arm.

I used to always start my unit on the Civil War by saying that it is a war that we are still fighting. My students would usually greet that statement with a ‘Yeah right, Mr. Fowler’ but by the end of the unit they’d be recognizing how the conflict still affects us today.   I’d point on the controversy about the Confederate flag and more often than not, there would be some news story that would pop up during our study which illustrated the point.

I am still quite stunned how the Civil War has become such a huge topic of debate and how it has divided us yet again over the last few months.  In Tampa, a long forgotten Confederate monument is headline news with protesters on each side lining up to express their opinions about it.  Should it be taken down and removed to another location or leave it be?  It was announced the other day that if it were to be removed then it would be at the cost of private funds.  The money was raised by the public in less than a day!

My personal opinion is that these statues and memorials have their place either in a museum or a battlefield where the actual war was fought.  I don’t believe that we can wipe them away from the landscape completely, but I’ve never thought they belonged in public square and such.  Through the years, people have countered me by screaming “Heritage not hate!”  both verbally and with grotesque t-shirts and bumper stickers that are often sold at Civil War reenactments.  I’ve been told that it’s also about patriotism.

These arguments, like the Confederate flag, have never flown with me.  The merchandise says it all. There is a racist attitude prevalent in it.  I took my students to a local Civil War reenactment on a voluntary weekend field trip for several years.  They too, felt like theywere stepping into Confederates in the Attic.  Often they were in shock of merchandise on sale that were blatantly racist.  One African-American student went with us one year and one moron shouted to her “Hey, go pick my cotton!”

I’ve also never bought into the whole patriotic argument.  One cannot worship the Confederate flag and then proclaim to be an American patriot at the same time.  The Confederacy wanted to split from the United States.  Those who led and fought were committing treason by joining the cause.  I am the descendent of Confederates.  In fact, one of my ancestors owned slaves.  I’m not proud of that history but I do have to accept it.

We can’t simply forget that the Civil War happened.  I think it’s a very important time in our history to study, but I do believe that there is a difference between learning and worshipping the history.

I could continue on for pages, but it’s getting to the point of rambling.  Perhaps, I should just take Tina Fey’s advice and get sheet caked.  That and some wine could work wonders.