There was nothing civil about the Civil War.
And even now, 150 years later, it seems sometimes we're still fighting it -- its causes, its effects and what it all means. It still pits brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. But these days, the battlefields are the various social media platforms where people can exercise their right of free speech -- sometimes too much.
The Confederacy is under fire again because of what it stood for, what it fought for and what it brought to the battle. Mainly, its flag. The Battle Flag, once borne into battle by soldiers from the south, it has become a symbol of hatred and racism.
The flag has always been a part of the scenery in Cajun Country, where I grew up. It hung on the walls in restaurants and bars in my hometown and others. They were sold at K&B, Woolworth's and the gas station. Boys had them painted on their cars and trucks or flew them from their antennas. Lots of people had them as tattoos. They were printed on beach towels and t-shirts. And not everyone who bought them were racist jerks.
I had one, a giant one, on my bedroom wall. My parents probably bought it at a Stuckey's on one of our many trips to Mississippi or Alabama. I pinned it up next to Donny Osmond, not because I was a racist white supremacist, but because I thought it looked cool. It was just a thing to me. But then, no one ever waved it in my face in anger or hate. I have family members, friends and acquaintances who will die boasting that their ancestors fought for that flag and that it doesn't mean what you (and I) think it means.
When I was in the fifth grade (circa, 1972) our class began to study the Civil War. My teacher, Mrs. Smart, put together a display of photos, faux Dixie bills (also probably bought at Stuckey's) and other historical items. I offered the loan of my flag, which was made the centerpiece of the display. One night after school hours, someone broke into the window of the classroom and stole my flag. I never did buy another one.
But in 2015, that flag means something else entirely to so many people. Hate groups have adopted it as their symbol of white supremacy, brought it to anti-integration rallies, waved it as a message to those born darker than they. They didn't pick up the pirate flag or the flag of China or Japan. They picked up the Confederate flag. And there is a reason for that. What it stood for.
So now, nearly 200 years after the end of the Civil War, we are fighting a new war over that flag. People are demanding it come down from where it still flies, to this day, over state capitols. People are demanding that statues and monuments to southern heroes from the war be removed or changed or even destroyed. People are demanding that history be changed.
But what about those of us who can't change their history?
I spend a great deal of my free time searching for my ancestors. I know that I had three great-grandfathers who owned plantations and, in at least one case, yes, slaves. I had several relatives who fought on the losing side.
This is Simeon Dupre,
Born Sept. 23, 1939 in Lafourche or Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Died about 1905 in Houma, Louisiana. He was my father's mother's grandfather, one of 14 children born to Jean Mathurin Fortunat Dupre and Azelie Edmire Pitre. (*In a rather odd footnote, his sister, Pauline Carmelite Dupre was my father's, father's grandmother. Yes, my grandparents were cousins. I am not sure if they knew this.) Simeon's grandfather had come to America from France in the mid-1700s and settled in the German-Acadian Coast area.
He lived somewhere down the bayou in Terrebonne Parish. Census records list his occupation as a farmer. I do not know if he ever owned a slave. I do know he was a private in Company H of the 26th Regimen of the Louisiana Infantry. His son, Germain Dupre, applied for and received a Confederate headstone in 1931 for his father's grave in Bisland Cemetery. Simeon's son, my great-grandfather Germain, spoke very little English well into his senior years. I'm guessing his father didn't either.
This is Joseph Lucius Cincinatus Pitt Lyon
Born, 13 May, 1823, Essex County, New York, Died 16 October, 1884, Little Caillou, Louisiana. My father's paternal grandfather.
In 1849, Lucius' family moved to DeKalb, Illinois. But Lucius chose to join his cousin, George Newell, in a move to Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. George was married to Emily Davis Semple of Terrebonne Parish, and they lived on Semple Plantation, which was located near the present day Bisland Cemetery on Bayou Terrebonne.
George and his family did not stay in Louisiana long, but left for California during the Gold Rush. Lucius stayed behind, however, and worked as an overseer on Woodlawn Plantation in Terrebonne Parish for the Cage family. The overseer was the person who directed the slaves to do their daily work and kept them in line. It was there that he met his first wife, Elizabeth Drumwright of Boydton, Virginia, Mecklinburg County. Eliza was a friend of the Cages.
Lucius and Eliza settled in upper Little Caillou in Terrebonne Parish, adjacent to the present Catholic Chapel on Little Caillou.
On March 21, 1862, Lucius enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company H, 26th Regiment. He was wounded and captured at Vicksburg, but survived and returned to Little Caillou. He signed the oath of allegiance to the United States and was released on July 14, 1866. My cousin, Jerry Lyons, relayed some of the stories Lucius told his children and grandchildren, including that he and his friend walked back to Terrebonne Parish from Vicksburg, a trip of more than 240 miles.
Lucius was the only member of his family to move south to Louisiana. All the other Lyon family members remained in Massachusetts, Illinois and Connecticut. It is entirely possible -- probably even -- that Lucius fought against his own cousins.
Lucius lived 58 years and had 7 children by three of his four wives. He died on October 16, 1894, and is buried at St. Elie Cemetery in Little Caillou.
(Most of this is from "family legend" --- a.k.a., my Grannie Evelyn.)
This is Oscar Joseph Himel
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Oscar Joseph Himel
Owner of Himelaya Planttion in Labadieville |
Born about 1850 in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, he had gone to school in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he became enamored of the thoroughbred horses there. He had some sent home. He was but 16 years old when the Civil War began. Too young to enlist, he volunteered to be a "runner" and use his horses to bring messages the front lines. Eventually, he was captured and imprisoned in Thibodaux (my grandmother used to point out the very building). He also suffered a stab wound in his side (by "The Yankees," Grannie said.) Upon his release, his uncle, Clairville Himel, brought Oscar one of his horses, $50 and the deed to Himelaya Plantation located in Labadieville on 750 acres. Oscar kept the plantation, known as "Oscar's Place," until 1904, when it was sold to the Supreme Sugar Company. The land itself is now mapped as "Supreme."
There is, of course, no official military record for Oscar.
Clairville's brother, Lovincy, was a Captain in the 26th Infantry. Also captured at Vicksburg. His brother Pierre Himel also served, as did numerous Himel cousins.
This is William Wallace Cross
Born May 27, 1841 in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, on the family-owned Orange Grove Plantation. He was the son of
Benjamin Cross, born in Gates County, North Carolina. Benjamin moved to Louisiana in the early 1800s and began acquiring lands which became Orange Grove. He did own several slaves.
Benjamin was not a nice plantation owner and is reported to have treated his slaves horribly. When he died in 1848, he was buried in a family cemetery on the lands. The slaves were so terrified of him, they refused to cut the grass around his tomb.
William was a doctor. He received his Doctorate of Medicine on March 19, 1862, from the New Orleans School of Medicine. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as an Assistant Surgeon, F. and S., 30th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, on November 13, 1862 in New Orleans. He was captured at Vicksburg and forced into service treating wounded from both sides. He was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi, on May 12, 1862.
There also was, allegedly, a French relative who was believed to have been a bugler in the Civil War. I have no record of that.
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These are the branches of my family tree. They are a part of my history as well as America's. I'm assuming I had Lyon relatives who fought for the North, as well as Lucius, who fought for the South. I had ancestors who fought and died in the American Revolution (and possibly one who died at Bunker Hill), as well as the Mexican-American War.
