Confederate Links

Bridgit Barger
Special Collections Research

“Confederate Veteran” is an encyclopedia-esque series from Special Collections.  It includes various articles from different newspapers from the South around the time of the Civil War and Reconstruction.  The two articles that really caught my eye were both from the “Confederate Veteran: Volume 33.”

From a newspaper stationed in Richmond Virginia, there was a specific article from November 3, 1870 that struck me as interesting.  It first stated that Robert E. Lee was portrayed as a traitor in the North for pledging his allegiance to Virginia during the Civil War, rather than the United States’ government.  Titled “Tribute to Robert E. Lee,” it told the story of an address delivered by former Confederate president Jefferson Davis.  Davis “eloquently” paid tribute to his dear friend Robert E. Lee.

Although the Confederacy at this point was considered null and void, Davis still referred to his fellow Southern citizens as “soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy.”  He declared that Lee was an honorable, honest man, and defended all of Lee’s actions by stating that “Lee was not educated by the federal government, but by Virginia.”  Davis insisted that in order to properly understand exactly what Lee did and why, the United States had to realize that Lee’s first duty was to his home state of Virginia, not the Confederate States of America.

The second article was actually an obituary from Alabama in 1886 entitled "A True Patriot." Sumeral Dennis, Sr. fought in the War of 1812 and the Civil War.  Not only a decorated soldier, Dennis also helped to “locate and name” the majority of Montgomery’s streets.  During the “War Between the States,” he led a large group of men, even at an old age.  He died in 1886, and the newspaper also included a pleasant portrait of Dennis, a formidable old man, posing with his Confederate rifle.

The link between these two newspaper articles that I found interesting was that the South still had enormous pride in the old Confederacy, regardless of what the Confederacy represented and fought for.  This was strongly evident in both articles – Lee was consistently heralded as a hero, and Dennis, a (seemingly) lowly soldier, was praised throughout his obituary for his war work, particularly in the Civil War.  These articles were published almost ten years after the War itself, yet Southern citizens were consistently “hyping up” the Confederacy and everything it represented.