Wednesday, February 6, 2008

ABC Wednesday: "C" is for Confederates




"C" is for Confederates: During the American Civil War the Southern states that seceeded from the Union formed a Confederacy, which gave more power to the individual states instead of the federal government. The Confederates in the above photo are from last year's reenactment at Olustee, Fl. It was a very cold morning (for us anyway - strong wind, temperatures around 40 F., and a wind chill in the low 30's F.) Many of the soldiers were huddled around their camp fires trying to stay warm. The flag in the foreground conveniently was situated so that the name "Ocean Pond" was showing - appropriate because the Confederates referred to the Battle of Olustee as the Battle of Ocean Pond. Conventional naming practices differed between North and South: the North tended to name battles after the nearest body of water (Bull Run, Anteitam, Beaver Dam Creek, etc.) while the Confederates tended to name battles after the nearest town (Manassas, Sharpsburg, Mechanicsville, etc.). Olustee is rare because the Confederates used the nearest body of water (Ocean Pond) while the Yankees used the nearest town (Olustee) - they flip flopped on this one!

21 comments:

dot said...

Interesting post! Growing up I lived near Mobile Bay and we found lots of bullets and buttons in our yard.

Max-e said...

The civil war was a great tragedy -we have also had more than our fair share of wars.
I find it interesting how it is still remembered today, through the re-enactment of the battles

Lilli & Nevada said...

What a great post very interesting

Sharon said...

I would love to go to this, I need to check into that.

Rune Eide said...

Interesting piece of history lore!

FO - 2 said...

Interesting. More American history. I read Dot`s comment. She found traces from the war.... Interesting as well.
Happy ABC! :)

ArneA said...

Interesting.
Con-federates is not con=with but con=contra=against the federal as far as I can interpret
Correct?

Daryl said...

I saw a reenactment in VA 2 yrs ago .. such amazing detail .. great recapage .. excellent photo!

Alan said...

Sharon - this year's is on the 15th, 16th, 17th of this month (February).

Arnea - actually it is not related to Contra. Confederacy in this sense just means: an alliance between persons, parties, states, etc., for some purpose. It can also be defined as a conspiracy, but I've seen no connection to "Contra" as we would know it.

bonnie said...

Isn't that the strangest thing, to switch naming rules. I love the photo, the tents, the fire.

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Penglyn
That a great C for Confederates and I like the photo and story both very much, Thanks for telling us.

Come and see my ABC's photography
JoAnn Holland
Participant in ABC wednesday

Petunia said...

Very nice shot and interesting reading.

mrsnesbitt said...

Wednesdays are always a time of discovery don't you think?

Dragonstar said...

Another informative post. Thank you.

Andrea said...

Nice post. Interesting.

Katney said...

You got two weeks out of that reenactment. The pictures are great.

Neva said...

I love your reenactment photos....they are awesome..... nice "C"!

DeeMom said...

your picture and commentary are wonderfully done

VP said...

If you'd posted this in black & white it would have looked just like photos from the real thing!

Sharon said...

Nice c post, your picture and info was interesting! We got to visit the camp of a reinactment here a couple of years ago. Do you participate in it?

Janet said...

Interesting and certainly not what many others would have. Great photo.