Lee Jackson day in Virginia

"Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people
designed to make of their victory,
there would have been no surrender at
Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me.
Had I foreseen these results of subjugation,
I would have preferred to die at Appomattox
with my brave men, my sword in my right hand."

Robert E Lee

Source: To Governor Fletcher S. Stockdale (September 1870), as quoted in The Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney, pp. 497-500


"I am in favor of making a thorough trial for peace, and if we fail in this and our state is invaded, to defend it with terrific resistance." - to his nephew, January 1861

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson


With Lee Jackson Day being celebrated in the state of Virginia this past Friday, I think it only fitting to recognise it on a Virginia blog. I'm not going to go into details on my feelings of how it has been handled and celebrated by our state government only in that I am in support of it being recognised. Whether you are a northerner or southerner should really make no difference in the recognition of these two great Virginia leaders.

I have done quite a bit of research into my own family history and every male that I have been able to trace back that lived during the civil war between the ages of 15 and 45 fought in it and most either were killed during it or died as a result of wounds or imprisonment. As far as I can tell, all were pretty much just average poor farmers in Virginia that had no interest in promoting slavery, they were simply doing what practically every other male in that age group at the time in the south felt they had to do, defend their homes and families from attack. Virginia was hit exceptionally hard and was the site of many battle sites, many of which have been preserved as historical sites and make for very interesting places to visit. I encourage anyone who has not visited any of these sites to do so and look into the history of the times from a southern point of view. You may be suprised at what you learn and how much of the southern history is ommitted from todays conventional history and textbooks.