Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere New Winter series part 2
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
“… Daniel Morgan had quite a 1775 Gus.”
“How so Johnny?”
“Morgan was in western Virginia -”
“- Around Berryville?”
“Right, though Berryville wasn’t always called that.”
“What else was it called?”
“Battletown.”
“Some big battle happen there Reb?”
“No, just the local kind.”
“Whatcha mean?”
“It was a place you could find a fight if you were looking for one.”
“Oh,” measured Gus, “a boxing town.”
“Sort of.”
“Thunderbolt might have meant something by that.”
“Agreed.”
“A clue,” Gus offered, “that perhaps our sides were looking for a fight and found one.”
“We got divided.”
“We the People did.”
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
“… Daniel Morgan had quite a 1775 Gus.”
“How so Johnny?”
“Morgan was in western Virginia -”
“- Around Berryville?”
“Right, though Berryville wasn’t always called that.”
“What else was it called?”
“Battletown.”
“Some big battle happen there Reb?”
“No, just the local kind.”
“Whatcha mean?”
“It was a place you could find a fight if you were looking for one.”
“Oh,” measured Gus, “a boxing town.”
“Sort of.”
“Thunderbolt might have meant something by that.”
“Agreed.”
“A clue,” Gus offered, “that perhaps our sides were looking for a fight and found one.”
“We got divided.”
“We the People did.”
Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Years
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
“You quoting Lincoln there Reb.”
“He got it from the gospel of Mark.”
“Jesus.”
“Right."
“What of Morgan Reb and his 1775?”
“He and many others in Virginia answered George Washington’s call to Boston.”
“So the Teamster headed to where the action was.”
“And from there to Canada.”
“That’s a long ways from Virginia Reb, what’s Morgan doing there?”
“Trying to capture Quebec.”
“To spread rebellion?”
Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Eve “To spread the rebellion,” confirmed Reb, “and to deny the British a safe landing.”
“For the King’s response to the rebellion.”
“Correct.”
“They didn’t capture Quebec did they Johnny?”
“No Gus,” Reb distinguished, “the opposite happened.”
“Thunderbolt got captured.”
“He did. Morgan and several hundred other rebels surrendered and became prisoners of war on 31 December 1775.”
“Not a happy ending Johnny.”
“Morgan was alive.”
“True, though how’d he get to be Thunderbolt and all?”
“That started later Gus, in 1777 … "
*Next Up: The 240th anniversary of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, Sunday 10 January as part 3 of the Union 2016 winter series.
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner
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