When I was young we would often play war in the woods behind our house. The opposing forces never changed, it was either Cowboys versus Indians or the North versus the South. If you were assigned to either be a Cowboy or an Indian it wasn't such a big deal. But to have to fight on the side of the North took a lot of convincing and I can't remember how many times when whoever was picked for the north left to go home rather than fight for the Yankees.
I always assumed this was a product of my geographic upbringing along with some family historical nudging. With the southern name "Lee" there was always a whisper in our genealogy that we were related to the great Robert E. Lee. (Not true) This trip down memory lane just sparked another memory of visiting my great-grandmother on the Lee side before her death. I was only around six or so and as my family were ushered into her room she suddenly started yelling, "Get that Yankee out of here!" I looked around to see who else had entered the room but she insisted that one of was the Yankee. But it quickly got worse. "Get that lying, no-good, Sherman out of my room!" she screamed. Now I knew for sure that she had lost it. I don't care how badly someone hurt your feelings this was an insult that was considered out-of-bounds by everyone I knew. To call someone Sherman was the ultimate insult to one's character and I had never heard it uttered out loud until that moment.
In school, contrary to popular opinion, we were taught the truth behind the civil war. But growing up in Chattanooga there were several instances that we visited battlefields and cemetery's on school field trips or as excursions with our family and friends. All of us children knew by heart the details of the "Battle Above The Clouds" and the heroism of the boys in gray as they fought to maintain control of the railroads and rivers running through Chattanooga. We knew who won but it was always an unspoken truth that we also knew who should have won.
When I grew up, went to college, lived in different states I was surprised to discover that this "Lost Cause" idea was prevalent around not only the South but in Western and Mid-West States as well. I have a good friend that used to be active in the Civil War Re-enactment hobby and he described an interesting experience. Even in re-enactments of the Battle of Bull Run, and other Northern battle sites, the majority of the participants insisted on portraying a southern soldier. In fact, sometimes it was impossible to accurately depict the battle because of the slanted majority of soldiers that wanted to fight for the South. How is it that the Southern cause remains such a source of pride, especially when you consider it was the loser in the war?
First of all the South really is different in its makeup from the rest of the country, though this is rapidly changing over the last thirty years. Scattered among the towns and cities of the South are an extraordinary number of Civil War monuments, all bringing to life the War Between The States. Visiting Stone Mountain park in Georgia you could, until recently, watch a nightly laser show depicting the men (Stonewall Jackson, Robert E Lee, and Jefferson Davis) who are carved into the mountain coming to life as they ride again for the honor of the Confederacy. One of the most defiant monuments to the Confederate cause is located in Abbeville, South Carolina. With the usual reverence for the bravery and valor of the Southern battle dead, you'll also find a more blatant quote, "The world shall yet decide, in truth's clear far-off light, that the soldiers who wore the gray and died with Lee were right." The Civil War is one of the only conflicts in all of history where the losers wrote the history. (This monument was erected in 1906 and then replaced with a new monument in 1996) The cause, which so many Southern men and women died and sacrificed all they had, was a morally right revolution, if you believe the many monuments of belief throughout the South.
Being a child of the South, it is extraordinary to imagine another cause in history, rising from the ashes of defeat with such force and endurance. Is this because Southerners are better story-tellers? Is it because the clouds of time have allowed the romance of the cause to become the truth? Is it because the South really longs to be free from the restrictions of this United States? Is it because the South retains so much of the charm of old? I don't know the answer to these questions but I do know this, the myth of the Southern rebellion is not going away anytime soon.
