Happy Confederate Memorial Day.

[Hotfoot]

Confederate Memorial Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[hobub]

Interesting. Thanks for the information.

I recommend Ken Burn's Civil War for good enlightenment about the war between the states. It's an important part of our history as a whole.

[Mikey]

I'm trying to figure out why Pennsylvania (a northern state) is on that list ?

Perhaps because PA was the only Union state to have a civil war battle take place on its soil ?

[hobub]

You're probably right. Opens even more interesting reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of...erate_Veterans

I just wish I could take a metal detector to those sites. I know it's forbidden though. Unless you're an archeologist.

[ScottA]

Yep, been celebrated here for as long as I can remember. Schools are not closed but the state departments are. The First White House of the Confederacy is located here in Montgomery.

First White House of the Confederacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Adam West]

I'm trying to figure out why Pennsylvania (a northern state) is on that list ?

Perhaps because PA was the only Union state to have a civil war battle take place on its soil ?

Maryland was also a Union State and we have Antietam. Although there were skirmishes in most states; Maryland and PA are the only two states that the confederacy invaded with some serious forces.

[Mikey]

Maryland was also a Union State and we have Antietam. Although there were skirmishes in most states; Maryland and PA are the only two states that the confederacy invaded with some serious forces.

I must be absent minded

I always thought all confederate states fell below the Mason-Dixon line, which is where Maryland is.

My bad

[hobub]

I was told by a Gettysburg tour guide from Maryland that it bounced back and forth and ended up a Union state. As did Virginia which led to an ultimite split. Wheeling was the capitol during that split. I guess they wanted the capitol to be as close to Ohio as possible to keep the split permanent. Later moved to Charleston, of course.

[Adam West]

Here is the skinny on Maryland and the Civil War. Maryland was one of those states that was split with many pro-Union and many pro-South. At one time Maryland decided to secede from the Union and join the confederacy but it was not allowed to happen for one simple reason. Washington D.C. would have been surrounded by the confederacy.

Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon line but was officially a Union state...maybe not voluntarily but Union nevertheless.

[megomonkey]

I love all things Civil War. What a fascinating time.

Maryland, I learned this summer, also had an huge freed black population, more than any other southern state combined. Frederick Douglass' wife's family, for example. A very cool state indeed.

My Great-great Grandad was shot in the *** by one of John Singleton Moesby's guerillas. Another ancestor, a Great-great-great Grandad and his son died of dysentary in a Virginia camp, and yet another died in a Confederate prison camp. There 's been a longstanding non-observance of sesesh holidays in my family for almost a 150 years now!

[Hotfoot]

One of my ancesters David Lowry Swain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia was President of UNC and Governer. He led the surrender of Raleigh. David Lowry Swain, 4 Jan. 1801-29 Aug. 1868

I walked my girls to the school bus, took my wife out to breakfast, ran some errands and did some projects around the house before picking up my girls from the bus. We than had a picnic dinner in the backyard. It was a beautiful spring day with temps in the low 80's!

[Adam West]

Maryland was one of those states where literally brother fought brother.

My great, great grandfather fought for the Confederacy even though he was born and raised in Maryland. I don't think it had anything to do with the issue of slavery. He was a big believer in States rights and anonymously joined a unit in Virginia. That's our family theory anyway.

No record exists that he officially fought for either side which doesn't make sense because he was prime drafting age at the time. A relative of mine found his draft card with the words "Gone to Virginia" by his name but he isn't mustered anywhere. There is a lot of other circumstantial evidence and family stories that have been passed down that alsos suggests it. When the war was over, he became the local sheriff and judge for a rural community in Maryland. I was told he never would have been able to have served in this capacity had it been known that he did fight for the South. Interesting stuff either way.

[megomonkey]

Kidding aside, it's hard to judge anybody in the Civil War for their service. Remember, modern scholars frame the entire conflict around slavery, which WAS NOT the real reason most of these guys signed up. State's rights were sacrosanct to them, something modern Americans simply cannot relate to.

Many northern white people, myself included, are aghast to learn their ancestral families owned slaves in the NORTH- not illegal 'til well into the early 19th Century. Horrifyingly, it was everywhere.

That being said, I'm still not wishing anyone a happy sesesh day