Category: West Virginia

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Georgia Overlook

3/22/2022

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Ferry Hill

Part I of XIII

“This it Reb?”
“Ferry Hill Yank.”
“Fancy place.”
“Henry Kyd Douglas had means.”
“It’s like we’re waiting for him.”
“Saddle up!”
“But who was Kyd?”
“Ask that of any of us Gus.”
“Did we hear the word sedition while in the Valley?”
“Insurrection too.”
“My laughing crow.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not about me, Gus Kotka.”
“Say more.”
“Well …”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Shepherdstown

“… Is that Shepherdstown?”
“West Virginia.”
“Elmwood Cemetery.”
“Kyd’s buried there.”
“Reb, this Antietam thing.”
“Burnside helping Lee and Lee knowing Burnside was helping him.”
“It’s teaching us something about today.”
“Treason.”
“Before we go to Washington.”
“Garland and the thirty Thousand.”
“Because there are modern Burnsides.”
“Agreed.”
“Where’s our flag?”
“This way …”

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Overlook

“… The Georgia Overlook.”
“Can’t see a thing Reb.”
“The bridge is at the top of the flag.”
“I see an arch.”
“Yanks ran across that field.”
“And you Rebs shot ‘em.”
“As quick as we could.”
“How’d you Georgians survive the artillery?”
“There was some.”
“Some?”
“Numbers don’t lie Gus.”
“People do Johnny.”
“Affirmed.”
“Burnside was an artillery officer.”
“West Point.”
“These trees, this Maryland rock, shells exploding, ricocheting ...”
“Right.”
“I don’t understand Johnny.”
“Some things …”

Next Up: 26 March and part II of the series Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Overlooked.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Greenland Gap

7/21/2021

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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

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

12/17/2017

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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

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

12/10/2017

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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

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

11/26/2017

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat On

IX of XIII

“Talking about Mosby helped Reb.”
“How so Gus?”
“Me getting to know the lay of the land around Berryville.”
“Good.”
“Is Snicker’s Gap for real?”
“For real.”
“And you talked with a different ease Johnny.”
“Right.”
“You even used ‘we.’”
“When describing the raid?”
“Yes.”
“I felt that.”
“It sounded right.”
“Yeah?”
“Sounded like you.”
“How so?”
“On.”
“Had to be.”
“You were Reb.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Our

“Those were desperate days Yank.”
“Perseverance was a trait George Washington admired.”
“Indeed.”
“Johnny Reb persevered.”
“I hear ya.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“Not all Johnnies persevered Gus.”
“Deserters.”
“That, and stragglers, feigned-sickers and cowards.”
“Complicated.”
“Always been that way Yank.”
“It’s our strength then.”
“Say more.”
“You, being complicated, that makes our work stronger.”
“’Our work' needs a name Gus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Way

“Sure does.”
“Operation ‘Journeying to End the Representation Usurpation’ doesn’t flow so well.”
“Agreed.”
“Got one in mind?”
“Not yet.”
“Let’s work on that on the road.”
“You sound ready Reb?”
“I think so.”
“Whatcha’ thinking?”
“About making a stop or two before Berryville?”
“In for that.”
“I want to visit some Johnny Rebs.”
“Sure.”
“You with.”
“With you.”
“Nice … Then let’s go Gus.”
“Where are the Rebs?”
“Near those railroad tracks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.”
“Alright!”
“We’ll rally there.”
“Up now Johnny?”
“Up now.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Now

“Woohoo Reb!”
“Woohoo Yank!”
“Up we go!”
“Us and We the People!”

*Next Up: Sunday 3 December and Thereat part X, Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Johnny Rebs.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Summer Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Must Go On

9/16/2016

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Mac

Summer Finale

“Spotlight.”
“Wanna turn and run?”
“No.”
“Just kidding Yank.”
“Further Johnny, as going on is what we’re about.”
“Sure is.”
“We gonna fly to Virginia or walk?”
“Can’t just fly into flying sometimes.”
“Okay.”
“This is the On Our Way path.”
“On Our Way where?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way A

“There.”
“Virginia?”
“Eventually.”
“Where else.”
“On Our Way goes by Lee and Gladys -”
“- Our O‘Jays day.”
“Right.”
“I remember. Anywhere else?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Roni

“Somewhere Gus.”
“Then Virginia.”
“West Virginia too.”
“Well let’s step then.”
“Into the breach.”
“And On Our Way.”

Happy Constitution Day 'Merica!

The next Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb series will begin 21 December: On Our Way Republican Values.

*Next Up: Saturday 24 September and a 2020: Yale University, Chicago Tribune and the Sowers of Constitutional Sepsis.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Summer Union 2016: Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Vera

9/3/2016

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Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Some

Part 10 of 13

“You feeling the way I do Reb?”
“’Bout?”
“Virginia.”
“Yes and no.”
“Yes?”
“Time to be on our way to Virginia.”
“No?”
“Virginia.”
“That’s real clear Johnny.”
“I know.”
“Say more.”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Sunny

“Do you remember when I mistook West Virginia for Virginia?”
“By the Potomac.”
“Right.”
“That was ‘65 and ’62 Johnny.”
“It’s like that.”
“Vera Reb.”
“Faith?”
“You know that one ‘eh?”
“It’s Russian.”
“Okay.”
“How’d you know Vera Gus?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Day

“Fire.”
“Talking around a fire.”
“Right.”
“What am I to keep the faith in Gus?”
“Jonathan Rebel.”
“Me?”
“You.”
“Hmmm,” Johnny paused: “that’s becoming.”
“Let’s add Vera to our Virginia trip Reb.”
“Done.”

*Next Up: The Union 2016 summer series continues on Sunday 11 September with part 11, Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Bring the Boys.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Heal Union: Grant Sides With Lee: Gus and Johnny Track Virginia

6/13/2015

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The Heal Union spring series continues with INDIA.

Gus and Johnny Tracks

“Nice tracks Reb!”
“Right on Gus!”

“Virginia’s pretty – from a hobo’s perspective.”
“This is old Virginia Gus.”
“Whatcha’ mean Reb?”
“Remember the Monster Bridge?”
“Yeah,” Gus recalled, “we said we’d cross the river, the Potomac.”
“We did.”
“Where’s it at?”
“Back the tracks.”
“Back down the tracks is Maryland and Antietam – Sharpsburg.”
“Correct.”
“So we crossed over,” summed Gus, “and we’re in Virginia.”
“Not anymore.”
“You said Virginia was on the other side Johnny – and we was going there.”
“I did.”
“Then what’s up?”
“I was talking like an 1862 Johnny Reb.”
“Compared to …”
“An 1865 Johnny Reb.”
“Okay.”
“Like the one who wrote to Grant.” clarified Reb.
“Lee’s letter to Grant,” Gus followed, “seeking clarification on the terms of his surrender.”
“ – And the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.”
“Right.”
“Lee sought Grant’s help – ”
“We’re not in Virginia?” Gus interrupted.
“Not yet.”
“Can we rally at the Potomac?”
“Sure thing …”

Gus and Johnny Potomac Rally

“There’s that confounded bridge.”
“A different one,” Reb noted, “and over there is Maryland and a place called Ferry Hill.”
“Fairy Hill.”
“Right.”
“And we’re in?”
“Shepherdstown.”
“Virginia.”
“No,” Reb added, “not anymore.”
“West Virginia then.”
“Correct.”
“I get it,” Gus pondered; “the Johnny seeing Virginia was true, just with the war, this land became the star known as West Virginia.”
“In 1863.”
“What is this place?”
“A monument.”
“To Fairies?”

James Rumsey's Steamboat

“To Firsts.”
“How so?”
“Down there by those ruins …”
“Those Fairy stepping stones?”
“No, bridge ruins,” Reb offered, “down there a dude first powered a boat by steam.”
“Here on the Potomac?”
“Yeah.”
“When and who?”
“1787 by James Rumsey.”
“So it’s a monument to a Virginian in West Virginia.”
“Right.”
“True American.”
“We should be going.”
“Back on track.”
“There’re lots of people waiting.”
“Lots?”
“Sure,” confided Reb, “a receiving party even.”
“A party,” Gus gathered, “that’s special.”
“Ready?”
“Am.”

Gus and Johnny Virginia Land

“Welcome Home Gus!”
“Welcome Home Johnny! ~ These Virginians, eh?”
“They are.”
“Lots of em’ too.”
“Correct.”
“So Grant stood up for Lee?”
“He did,” explained Johnny, “as lots of people were in favor of punishing the leaders of the rebellion.”
“Punish men like Lee.”
“Right, so Lee reached out to Grant and suggested the terms of surrender excluded trials.”
“Grant agreed with Lee?”
“He did,” continued Johnny, “and Grant fought for Lee against President Johnson.”
“Grant and Lee working together.”
“President Johnson wanted to punish Lee and the others; Grant was livid and said no way, that he didn’t fight for the surrender of Lee’s army to then see it all blown on a trial.”
“Grant got mad?”
“Yes.”
“So what’s next Johnny?”
“We have a week pass Gus.”
“Weak?”
“Seven days.”
“Oh … and we’re off ‘til the 17th?”
“That’s it.”
“So a ‘hurry up and wait’ moment.”
“Soldier’s time.”
“Right on Reb ~ I’ll do some visiting …”
“Right on Gus ~ me too.”

*Next Heal Union: 240th Bunker Hill and Thomas Knowlton on 17 June.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Somewhere: Georgia Overlook

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Berryvillin’: Greenland Gap

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

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

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

Summer Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Must Go On

Summer Union 2016: Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka Nowhere Vera

Heal Union: Grant Sides With Lee: Gus and Johnny Track Virginia

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