|
Showing 1 - 9 of
9 matches in All Departments
In January 1868, a Union veteran named Gilbert Bates set out from
his Wisconsin farm for Vicksburg, Mississippi, to prove a point and
win a bet: that he could safely walk across the post-Civil War
South - alone, unarmed, with no money - while carrying the flag of
the United States. The effort quickly riveted the attention of
Americans everywhere, who weren’t yet sure the country could
meaningfully reunite after their fratricidal war. Mark Twain
believed Bates would be abused, attacked, possibly even scalped,
during this time when the U.S. Army still occupied the South,
resentment ran high, and groups like the KKK were spreading terror.
Starting from Vicksburg, Bates walked 1,400 miles through
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and
Virginia, through places where Grant shattered Confederate arms and
Sherman’s men razed the land. He was never harmed - and almost
always greeted with hospitality, generosity, and celebration. En
route, Bates sold photos of himself with the Stars and Stripes to
raise money for widows and orphans and eventually called off the
bet, which he would’ve lost on a technicality: even though he
successfully traveled the South unharmed and reached Washington,
DC, in the agreed-upon timeframe, he was not allowed to raise his
flag above the U.S. Capitol and had to settle for the unfinished
Washington Monument. This is a deeply researched book that taps
into big- and small-town newspaper coverage that described Bates's
journey across the American South and his reception. It recounts
the courage of a former soldier who believed strongly in the bonds
of Union and Lincoln's "mystic chords of memory" and underscores
the missed opportunities for a more perfect union.
|
You may like...
She Said
Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, …
DVD
R93
Discovery Miles 930
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.