Friday, August 7, 2015

My Cross

Via Carl



Two of my ancestors were in General Rodes' Division.


(My G, G Grandfather) Emanuel Frederick Bryan Koonce 
 My great, great grandfather, E.F.B. Koonce, was a Corporal in Company G, 2nd NC, and was killed in action on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville. 
 (Koonce is my surname, as my aunt adopted me after my mother died at 28 when I was 13 months old. [Actually, I lived with my grandparents until 5]. BT)

  ******************************

Via comment from Anonymous below.

Looks like the Battle of Chancellorsville

"The men were in position, eagerly awaiting the signal; their quick intelligence had already realized the situation, and all was life and animation. Across the narrow clearing stretched the long grey lines, penetrating far into the forest on either flank; in the centre, on the road, were four Napoleon guns, the horses fretting with excitement.

Rodes brigades were formed in the following order left to right: Iverson, O'Neal, Doles, Colqiutt, Ramseur.

Far to the rear, the rifles glistening under the long shafts of the setting sun, the heavy columns of A.P. Hill's division were rapidly advancing, and the rumble of the artillery, closing to the front. grew louder and louder. Jackson, watch in hand, sat silent on Little Sorrel, his slouched hat drawn low over his eyes, and his lips tightly compressed. On his right was General Rodes, tall, lithe, and soldierly, and on Rodes right was Major Blackford.

"Are you ready, General Rodes?" said Jackson.

"Yes sir" said Rodes, impatient as his men.

"You can go forward, sir" said Jackson.

A nod from Rodes was sufficient order to Blackford, and the woods rang with the notes of a single bugle."

Quoted from -
Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War Vol. 2 by Colonel G.F.R. Henderson
Red in OleVirginny

10 comments:

  1. Thanks. I needed this. For 35 years I have quoted W.H. Auden when counseling individuals or groups. he wrote:
    "We would rather be ruined than changed. Rather die in our dread than climb up on the cross of the present moment and let our illusions die."

    Having now several bearable physical crosses, I have wondered of late what my main cross really is. I think it is still the cross of my Scottish ancestor, George "the Jacobite" Marjoriebanks, the cross of St. Andrew and it's variations. He came to South Carolina as a white British slave and fathered a line of unreconstructible hillbillies, all free men.

    I will never tire of posting a quote from a great book given me by son Vern, who told me in my kitchen last week "the fire took all my books and $2000 fire-resistant gun cabinet and guns."

    Major R. E. Wilson, formerly of the 1st North Carolina Battalion of Sharpshooters, spoke the southern mind when he said, “If I ever disown, repudiate, or apologize for the cause for which Lee fought and Jackson died, let the lightnings of Heaven rend me, and the scorn of all good men and true women be my portion. Sun, moon, starts, all fall on me when I cease to love the Confederacy. ‘Tis the cause, not the fate of the cause, that is glorious.”
    From Southern By The Grace Of God, Michael Andrew Grissom, p. 164.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. fathered a line of unreconstructible hillbillies,

      Good job!

      Delete
  2. My direct ancestor and his brother were in Rhodes Division.

    Grenadier1

    ReplyDelete
  3. What is in this post that I'm supposed to be seeing which I'm not seeing?

    There's nothing but a blank space.

    But, I'll google "Rhodes Division".

    ReplyDelete
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Rodes

    http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/confederate-headquarters/rodes-division/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry and I re-posted it. Thanks. Check it out now. Stirring, to say the least.

      Delete
  5. Looks like the Battle of Chancellorsville -
    "The men were in position, eagerly awaiting the signal; their quick intelligence had already realized the situation, and all was life and animation. Across the narrow clearing stretched the long grey lines, penetrating far into the forest on either flank; in the centre, on the road, were four Napoleon guns, the horses fretting with excitement.
    Rodes brigades were formed in the following order left to right: Iverson, O'Neal, Doles, Colqiutt, Ramseur.
    Far to the rear, the rifles glistening under the long shafts of the setting sun, the heavy columns of A.P. Hill's division were rapidly advancing, and the rumble of the artillery, closing to the front. grew louder and louder. Jackson, watch in hand, sat silent on Little Sorrel, his slouched hat drawn low over his eyes, and his lips tightly compressed. On his right was General Rodes, tall, lithe, and soldierly, and on Rodes right was Major Blackford.
    "Are you ready, General Rodes?" said Jackson.
    "Yes sir" said Rodes, impatient as his men.
    "You can go forward, sir" said Jackson.
    A nod from Rodes was sufficient order to Blackford, and the woods rang with the notes of a single bugle."
    Quoted from -
    Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War Vol. 2 by Colonel G.F.R. Henderson
    Red in OleVirginny

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wonderful and I'll add it to the post. Thank you.

      Delete