Category: Confederate

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Overlooked

3/26/2022

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Batteries

“… Get overlooked.”
“Say more Reb.”
“It’s how Burnside did things.”
“Always with Lee in mind.”
“Yes.”
“An example.”
“Burnside had two batteries he didn’t use.”
“A battery can fire a thousand rounds.”
“So times two Gus.”
“Two thousands rounds.”
“The ones not used were the 3rd US Artillery, batteries L and M.”
“Burnside’s old unit.”
“When he was in Mexico.”
“And not used all day Johnny, means the afternoon too?”
“The report says, ‘not engaged at Antietam.’”
“Manure.”
“And yet.”
“And yet what?”
“The captain in charge of the Yank batteries was cited for ‘gallant and meritorious service at Antietam.’”
“For not firing?”
“Maybe he helped the wounded.”
“Maybe …”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Fordable

“… So there’s the Antietam.”
“It was fall not spring.”
“More leaves.”
“One of the assaults on the bridge formed down there.”
“Is that an old road Reb?”
“Rohrersville.”
“I imagine it led to Rohrersville.”
“And to Sharpsburg, crossing the Rohrbach Bridge, now called Burnside’s.”
“Germans: Rohrersville and Rohrbach.”
“Yes.”
“What did the Georgians say about the crick?”
“Fordable above and below the bridge.”
“But the Yanks thought otherwise.”
“At all hazards.”
“I imagine Burnside didn’t want to know, didn’t want a different answer.”
“Fait accompli.”
“There were friendlies around, Unionists, and Burnside’s a talker, he could have easily asked a local.”
“Had the answer he wanted.”
“Burnside and the Ninth Corps were in North Carolina, in the swamps.”
“Spring of 1862: Pamlico Sound and New Bern.”
“So what matters a few feet of fresh water Johnny?”
“Preaching to the choir.”
“Let’s go down there.”
“Let’s …”

Next Up: 29 March and part III of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Choir.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Greenland Gap

7/21/2021

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Kennedy Grogan

Part VIII of XIII

“… Here’s a part of me: Kennedy Grogan, C.S.A.”
“In memory of.”
“Killed at Greenland Gap, West Virginia.”
“Where’s that Johnny?”
“About a hundred miles west.”
“Grogan was killed April 25th, 1863.”
“Aged 20 years.”
“There’s no date of birth.”
“Might have been his birthday.”
“The day a Yank …”
“Right.”
“How’d we get here Johnny?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where ‘Mericans like me are killing ‘Mericans like Grogan.”
“Calhoun.”
“Where’d Calhoun learn usurpin’?”
“Yale.”
“A Northern connection.”
“Still.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Greenland Gap

“What do you know about Greenland Gap?”
“Yanks heard us Rebs were on the move, so they guarded the mountain gaps.”
“Grogan?”
“Why you being so formal?”
“Kenny then.”
“Kenny was riding with about fifteen hundred Confederate cavalry.”
“How many Yanks held the gap?”
“Around ninety.”
“Ninety?”
“Yank infantry fortified a few houses and a two-story, made of oak timbers, German church.”
“Turned it into a fort.”
“We assaulted the church after nightfall.”
“Kenny?”
“His unit, the 35th, was part of the assault.”
“Kenny was killed assaulting a fortified church?”
“Looks like.”
“Hear them crows?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin': Grumble

“Do.”
“The assault?”
“With the church aflame, and out of ammunition, the Yanks surrendered.”
“Who were the Yanks?”
“Illinois Irish and Virginians who supported the Union.”
“Grogan is Irish.”
“Yes.”
“Irish killing Irish and Virginians killing Virginians.”
“Correct.”
“Got to keep my sense of humor Johnny.”
“We were mad at the surrendered Yanks.”
“What happened?”
“It was becoming a scene until Grumble Jones showed up and put a stop to it.”
“Grumble?”
“The general in charge, a nickname.”
“Grumble said?”
“They fought like brave men and did their duty. They shall have honorable treatment.”
“Let’s step Johnny.”
“Sure …”

Next Up: 21 August and part IX of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Obelisks and Things.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

2020: Jefferson Davis Knew, So Why Don’t You?

11/3/2019

Jefferson Davis knew, so Lincoln knew.

Since Lincoln knew, Grant knew.

Since Grant knew, Wilson knew.

Since Wilson knew, Roosevelt knew.

Since Roosevelt knew, Kennedy knew.

Since Kennedy knew, …

So ask yourself: Since Jefferson Davis knew how to represent We the People like George Washington and the founders, why don’t you?

*Next Up: 3 January 2020 and a 2020.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Jefferson Davis

10/2/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank RMH: Jefferson Davis

Part 9 of 13

“ … An event.”
“Reb?”
“Yeah Yank.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something?”
“Ask.”
“How did representation work in the Confederate Constitution?”
“Almost the same as the Union.”
“Almost?”
“Like the US one, the Confederate Constitution stipulated representation according to numbers.”
“What number?”
“One Representative for every fifty Thousand.”
“So the Confederacy used the number found in Article the first of the Bill of Rights.”
“Correct.”
“Enumeration?”
“On paper.”
“Never happened?”
“War happened.”
“Did the Confederacy keep the three fifths clause?”
“With an edit.”
“What edit?”
“Instead of saying ‘three fifths of all other Persons,’ the Confederate Constitution changed other Persons to slaves.”
“Telling.”
“Says a lot.”
“And we can say Jefferson Davis knew more about ‘Merican representation than Tell-Lie-Vision does.”
“Yes.”
“Are those cannon?”
“I think so …”

*Next Up: 3 October and part 10 of Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Thomas Sumpter (also Sumter).

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

A New Pamphlet: A Dissenting Opinion from Johnny Reb and Gus Yank about George Thomas

11/14/2018

Set and setting

While waiting for the sun to move again, the spirits Johnny Reb and Gus Yank (Kotka) are sitting at the New York monument on the Antietam battlefield. The two are discussing a dissenting opinion about Union General George Thomas; Johnny and Gus say Thomas was working with (not against) the Confederate States of America and its Anti-Republic cabal.

A Dissenting Opinion from Johnny Reb and Gus Yank about George Thomas
Pamphlet Kindle

*Next Up: Johnny Reb and Gus Yank continue the Somewhere On Our Way We the People series on 21 December 2018.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Gus Yank and Johnny Reb Somewhere On Our Way: Republic

8/11/2018

Republic

13 of 13

“… It looks like Kyd ‘lost’ the orders so they could be found.”
“Reb … that would have been treason against the Confederacy.”
“And for the Republic, what word would you use?”
“I don’t know.”
“Me either Gus.”
“The special orders Johnny, they told the disposition of Confederate forces.”
“The Union knew Lee had divided his army.”
“Lee divided in order to capture Harpers Ferry.”
“Right.”
“Advantage Union.”
“Lee thought the garrison at Harpers Ferry would run.”
“They didn’t.”
“They were ordered not to surrender, and, haphazardly, reinforced.”
“How Johnny?”
“The way time can. Lee could have marched on Harpers Ferry and made them run when he was at Leesburg on 4 September; at that time, we was only about 20 miles from the Ferry and then we could have turned north to Frederick.”
“Reinforcements?”
“The Yanks in Winchester and Martinsburg didn’t run for safety like Lee predicted: instead, they ended up at Harpers Ferry.”
“Total?”
“The delay in not taking the Ferry allowed you Yanks to double the size of the garrison, from say about 6,000 to 12,000.”
“Lot more Yanks Reb.”
“Sure was.”
“That’s why Lee divided his army at Frederick.”
“Those Yanks were a threat to our flank.”
“Because of the Shenandoah Valley.”
“Right.”
“Motive Reb?”
“Why’d Kyd do it Gus?”
“If it was Kyd, what was his reasoning?”
“Maybe save the likes of you.”
“How?”
“Stop the war before you got in it.”
“By ‘losing’ the special orders.”
“The victory strings Yank.”
“What about them?”
“Some victories had strings attached to them; they came at the expense of what you referred to as treason.”
“Treason against the Republic?”
“Which would be support for the Anti-Republic.”
“You’re saying that’s what Kyd knew.”
“He knew.”
“Who did the treasonous acts Johnny?”
“Because of Kyd Gus, I won’t show you just one example, I’ll tell you about two generals that were Anti-Republic Yanks.”
“Generals Johnny?”
“Generals.”
“Will I know them?”
“Their first names are ‘Ambrose’ and ‘George.’”
“Reb … you mean …”

*Next Up: Saturday, 1 September and a new pamphlet release, A Dissenting Opinion from Johnny Reb and Gus Yank about Ambrose Burnside.

Thank you! Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Mysteries

12/17/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Flags

XII of XIII

“Whoa Reb!”
“What?”
“Virginia’s down.”
“I see that.”
“We should put the flag up.”
“Someone should.”
“Us.”
“No, not us.”
“Why?”
“Let’s give a human a chance.”
“Let a human do it you mean?”
“Right.”
“Who are these two?”
“Many things really.”
“There’s no battle flag, like the others: was he a Johnny?”
“He was a Johnny … and also a Confederate.”
“Why no flags?”
“Bit of a mystery.”
“There’s another flag too.”
“I see that Yank.”
“One flag down, two missing and another backgrounding.”
“Plays like a riddle.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Characterize

“They lived a long life: what did they do Reb?”
“I’ll tell a quick version and then we’ll move on.”
“Characterize Johnny.”
“See when they were born?”
“1815.”
“So in 1855 and ’65 …”
“… They were a pair of 40 and then 50 year olds.”
“Alexander represented Virginia in the US House of Representatives.”
“US Rep? – When?”
“One term, 1859 to ‘61.”
“John Brown happened around here and then.”
“And Lincoln was elected in 1860.”
“Alexander: what did he do next?”
“Enlisted, was commissioned, and assigned to General Jackson’s staff.”
“That was fast.”
“Didn’t last long.”
“Why?”
“Alexander switched back to politics; he represented Virginia in the Confederate Provisional Congress and then again in the Confederate States House of Representatives.”
“Wow.”
“After the war, he came back too.”
“How?”
“US Pardon Clerk.”
“Mysteries abounding Johnny.”
“This way to the next one.”
“With ya …”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Mysteries

“… To another young Reb.”
“Another member of Jackson’s staff too.”
“Who’s the Kyd?”
“Remember Ferry Hill Yank?”
“Fairy Hill, of course.”
“Kyd grew-up there, in Maryland.”
“What did he do there?”
“Road the ferries some I imagine.”
“Road the Fairies?”
“Back-and-forth, that and farming.”
“Fairies worked the farm?”
“Moved goods Gus – and you know about ferries.”
“Why so sure Johnny?”
“You were a Yank for three years.”
“So?”
“All Yanks know ferries.”
“Then all Rebs know Fairies.”
“Agreed.”
“What was the point?”
“Kyd grew-up across the Potomac, in Maryland –”
“– And he’s buried in West Virginia.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Henry Kyd Douglas, as far as I know, is the most complicated Johnny Reb there is.”
“Is not was?”
“Kyd’s still a mystery.”
“How so?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Try.”
“Not here Gus.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere?”
“Sure … ready when you are.”
“Thanks … Ready.”
“After you Reb.”
“This way …”

*Next Up: Sunday 24 December and the Thereat finale (part XIII), Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Somewhere.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Memories

12/10/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Boys

XI of XIII

“Now that was some music Reb.”
“Thought you might like that.”
“I did, and I think The Boys here did too.”
“The Boys?”
“Adult Johnnies were all young once, right?”
“Right.”
“I thought I heard some sniffling is what I mean.”
“Memories.”
“Me too.”
“And it was a bit misty Gus.”
“Yes … a bit misty.”
“People from the past gave us a remembrance.”
“The monument?”
“Right.”
“It looks old.”
“Put up after the war.”
“We’re in West Virginia.”
“We are.”
“This monument worked.”
“In a ‘lest we forget’ kind of way?”
“More in a ‘made me remember’ kind of way.”
“About?”
“Let’s visit one of The Boys from Antietam first.”
“Sure ~ step this way.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Doctor

“Doctor?”
“Dr. William S. Parran.”
“Husband too.”
“Yes.”
“‘Born July 5th 1835, Killed at Sharpsburg, September 17th 1862.’”
“Antietam.”
“Look at his age.”
“Young.”
“A 27 year-old doctor.”
“Making me remember Gus.”
“The other day it was all about deserters and cowards Reb.”
“I know.”
“We didn’t mention doctors and martyrs.”
“We didn’t.”
“Mrs. Parran stood here.”
“Easy to imagine.”
“Just ‘cuz the war ended, that wouldn’t mean Mrs. Parran thought-less of her William.”
“Of course not.”
“Or that he wasn’t a martyr to a cause.”
“I hear ya.”
“Before, by the monument, I was thinking of the Confederate Dead as ‘Merican Dead too (or as well).”
“Makes sense.”
“How do The Boys feel about that?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat 'Mericans

“The Boys would like to hear an example from the Yank.”
“Sure: will The Doctor do?”
“Yes.”
“So we all know things fell into civil war in April 1861.”
“Go on.”
“And The Doctor here died 17 months into the war.”
“He did.”
“So 17 months in rebellion, let’s say, and 25 years living under usurpation.”
“It takes time to create a Doc Parran.”
“I was thinking something like that too Reb.”
“Meaning someone born under the laws of the United States of America …”
“… Was killed by the laws of the Usurped States of America.”
“Indeed.”
“The Doctor was as unrepresented as you, me and –”
“– The Boys.”
“They agree?”
“It wasn’t a yell, but it was a solid yes.”
“I’m sort-of-glad they didn’t yell Reb.”
“Me too Yank.”
“What’s next?”
“Another Johnny to visit.”
“Who?”
“The most complicated Johnny I know.”
“Let’s go then.”
“This way Yank.”
“With ya Reb …”

*Next Up: Sunday 17 December and Thereat part XII, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Mysteries.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Around

11/19/2017

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Border

VIII of XIII

“… Berryville was contested territory Gus.”
“The frontier of Mosby’s Confederacy?”
“Right.”
“So Mosby rode through Berryville, for example.”
“Well, in fact, there’s a Berryville story in his memoirs.”
“What happened?”
“It was August of 1864.”
“Before or after the eleventh?”
“A week after.”
“Go on.”
“Yanks were gaining ground in the Shenandoah in order to pressure Richmond.”
“From the west?”
“Right.”
“And Berryville?”
“Roads cross in Berryville; the Union was holding it to protect its supply lines.”
“Holding? – How?”
“General Sheridan had his command there.”
“That’s holding.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Clock

“If Berryville was the center of a clock – ”
“Okay.”
“– Twelve being north, that road connects to Charles Town and Harper’s Ferry.”
“John Brown area.”
“Correct.”
“The three o’clock road Reb?”
“That's Snicker’s Gap.”
“A must see.”
“It crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains.”
“Strategic.”
“Six o’clock has lots of villages and back roads; the main connecting town is Millwood.”
“And the Millwood road?”
“Another gap in the mountains: Ashby’s.”
“I see the significance.”
“And then nine o’clock is Winchester.”
“Morgan.”
“Right.”
“What did the Rebs do Johnny?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Hornets

“Attacked.”
“Sheridan in Berryville?”
“We bypassed Berryville and struck the rear, hitting wagons in a supply train.”
“Vital.”
“Right.”
“Did you just bust up the wagons or what?”
“Yes and no: we took 500 horses, 200 cattle, destroyed around 75 wagons and captured 200 Yanks.”
“How many partisans did that?”
“Couple hundred.”
“How?”
“Howitzer.”
“Cannon?”
“Yes.”
“Mosby had a howitzer?”
“One of his signatures.”
“Leaves a mark.”
“Funny thing is though, the attack almost didn’t happen.”
“Why?”
“We set the howitzer on a yellow-jacket’s nest.”
“Johnny Rebs a running?”
“Like the wind.”
“And then?”
“Then a Johnny rescued the howitzer from the hornets and fired a shot, which was the signal to attack.”
“I was rooting for the hornets Reb.”
“Of course.”
“And you say this Berryville story is in Mosby’s Memoirs?”
“It is Yank.”

*Next Up: Tuesday 21 November and Jesus of Nazareth, Miracles and Faith in Arendt Footnotes #9.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Thereat: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb, On Our Way Representational Solutions

10/1/2017

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Cat

III of XIII

“Look, a Cat.”
“Reb?”
“What?”
“Why you cattin’ Johnny?”
“Maybe Cat’s a sign?”
“Maybe you don’t want to camp talk about Virginia.”
“Could be a sign like Snake and Turkey were.”
“Yet there’s no Morgan.”
“Maybe he’s Cat?”
“Stop with the cat Reb.”
“Cat is looking at something.”
“Yes.”
“Curious?”
“Now I am.”
“Shall we?”
“Sure.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Representational

“Paths Gus.”
“I see.”
“Appears to be three.”
“Indeed.”
“Constitutional paths.”
“The Ways of We the People.”
“Our paths to 2020 Yank and representing We the People according to our numbers, like the Constitution has been saying for 230 years.”
“How old is the representation usurpation Johnny?”
“That began on 9 April 1792, so that would be a 225 year-old usurpation.”
“So we’ve had five years of an un-usurped representation of We the People.”
“Infancy Gus.”
“Not so fancy Reb.”
“It’s Tory Crown fancy.”
“Sounds bad.”
“Tory Crown is the American anti-republic energy that didn’t want the US to be a republic.”
“Still don’t.”
“True.”
“The Confederacy wasn’t a republic, was it Johnny?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Thereat Solutions

“No, we had a Tory Crown influence.”
“The states, like Virginia, were independent states in confederation.”
“Right Gus, so the highest power was the state and not the states united.”
“Like our first government?”
“Like that.”
“What was it called again?”
“The first US government, the one before this one, was based on The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.”
“Right.”
“It had no We the People framework Gus.”
“And it failed.”
“States had one vote regardless of how many people they had.”
“Not good.”
“Connecticut and Virginia were voting equals.”
“Odd.”
“Yet they had great differences in population.”
“Clearly a problem.”
“So the Constitutional Convention solved this problem by guaranteeing a new right: the right to one Representative for every thirty Thousand people in a state, which created the House of Representatives.”
“We the People seen as a solution.”
“And not a problem.”
“So what’s the problem now Johnny?”
“Uh …”

*Next Up: Sunday 8 October and Thereat part IV, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Problems.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner