Linkaroma, Well, Not Really

Are folks out of touch with anything but their own? I think so, and apparently, I'm not the only one to think so too. Hence this piece on NPR about this fellar, a fellow Libertarian, that wrote a book about it.

This is like linkaroma...

A story I read from back home. Again, next county over, Henderson. Now, let me tell you about the Green River. It goes down the Atlantic side of the mountain and enters the Broad. Don't confuse the Broad with the French Broad. The Broad goes down to the Atlantic and the French Broad is a tributary of the Tennessee. Historical note, the Battle of Cowpens was fought on the Green River Road. The Green River Bridge on I-26 is the tallest (so I've heard, shoot me in comments if I'm wrong) in the eastern US. But, off on Pintacle Mountain is a logging project that, well, read the story.

I need more links...Well, maybe I don't.

One of my buddies got a letter from a 9 year old girl today. I guess from a school project. She asked allot of questions, one of which..."What's your favorite thing about the war?"


One of my favorite Authors is John Ehle. He is from Asheville but he doesn't live there. He wrote The Winter People and another story, The Journey of August King.
He also wrote a good book on the Trail of Tears. Both The Winter People and The Journey of August King were made into movies. But, we will concern ourselves with The Journey of August King. It was made back in the mid 90's in Western North Carolina. A girl I worked with was an extra in it. Allot of scenes on Black Balsam Knob with a clear shot of Sam's Knob...Big Sam, Little Sam, the place folks call The Grave Yard Fields. They used those places as a community setting, and it ain't suitable to a community. One scene had a Red Bone Hound with a freeze brand. So, you can see, I don't think they did a good job of making it. (The Winter people had a better budget, they landed Kurt Russell)It's a good story though. Now, I admit, I've never read the book. I have The Winter People and my mother gave me an old tattered and battered copy that I was reading for the flight back across the water. Another admission...I just saw the movie for the first time night before last. Yep...Well, about the time it came out, I was never confronted by the opportunity to see it. About the time it came out on DVD, OK, Video at the time, I met a pretty girl and fell in Love. You'd think I would have watched it with her? but, for whatever reason, it wasn't well known. I didn't even know it was a John Ehle story. Well, the tattered and battered copy of The Winter People was dropped in the Atlanta Air Port and not recovered. So, I ordered a new copy and well, there was The Journey of August King.

It's a story about a widower helping a run away slave girl.

And it's time to stop typing.
The Appalachianist

A Paradoxing Post

It's a little after 9 AM here on a Friday. It's cool outside. it's hardly been cold at all and hasn't rained in a few weeks. In a few days I go on my Mid-Tour Leave. I look forward to it, though I have nothing to look forward to. Colder weather, rain...My own bed. Oh yeah, grass beneath my feet, trees and hills...Dogs barking in the distance.

The Jolly Red Headed Giant hooked me up. He gave me his set for Christmas and I'm having fun with it. I believe he got it when it was on sale though.

I try to keep up with news back home, eases the boredom. This is a boring place. One thing I've kept up with is troubles for the Sheriff's department in the next county over, Henderson. A while back, the Sheriff decided to take a leave of absence because he had been diagnosed Bi-Polar. Some weeks later a concerned citizen, a man named Hill, went to the Commissioners about hearing tell of a pay off in a sexual harassment suit. It turned out to be credible. The Commisioners were unaware that the County's Insurance had paid out for a settlement. That's a little spooky, but, a county like Henderson is a complex thing. The Commisioners asked the Sheriff for answers, he decided to retire. Apparently it's not stopping there. This same man that approached the Commissioners to begin with went back to them about "rumors". Now he is petitioning for an investigation of the Sheriff's Department. In the meantime the Henderson County Sheriff's Department is doing it's job.

It's a paradox of our society. A cop catches a murderer or a thief. He's a "Good Guy". A cop beats up a drunk or sells the drugs he confiscated(thievery?). He's a "Bad Guy". Now, I don't have anything against Henderson County. This could be so, could be not. It's me making talk mainly. But the Libertarian in me says "Ha Ha! Why do we make people anymore powerful than they need to be?". Sometimes things get messy and people get hurt. Maybe there is no "Good Guy" or "Bad Guy", but a "Not a Bad Guy" and a "Not a Good Guy"? I have no conclusion. But I know Hill's not a bad guy. And I know that some people will treat him like one for simply disturbing the status qua. While all along he has forced nothing on anyone for "their own good", or imposed his belief for a "greater purpose". That is another paradox of our society, biting the hand that defends.

Last night I was thinking about what it's like to look for the brighter side of people. It's bright like a flame flickering from a candle. It dances in the dark to it's own rhythm, it is light and it gives a warmth...And it can burn. That's not a paradox, that's just life.


Life is full of paradoxes (Insert grinning Icon here).
The Appalachianist

The 26th December 1776

My Commanding General brought up the Battle of Trenton the other day while speaking to us. Trenton was a significant victory for the Continental Army. One point the CG made was that the Continental Army was about to have allot of Enlistments expire. And the atack improved morale greatly.

When asked most people will say, "Yeah! Washington crossed the Deleware and attacked the British." but there is more to the story than that statement. Yes, Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Night and the wee hours of the 26th as a storm came in. With the poweder wet, or even damp, firing muskets was doubtful. Washington ordered to fight with bayonets. The assemblige after crossing the river was slow and maybe even clumbsy, but apparently they settled out the chaos quick enough. Anyone who has ever been on an Assault Force can relate.

One point that most people don't know or forget about, it was not the British per say that Washington's force attacked. It was Hessians, German mecenaries, brought in by the Crown. Hessians were professional troops and if they were not feared, they were definitley respected. The victory over such a force added to the Continentals weight.

Something else, it was one battle than two future Presidents were in. Two Americans were wounded, one Washingtons cousin, and the other a future President, that nearly died, James Monroe.
For a little more reading on the Battle of Trenton, go here.

And boys and girls, that is your quic history teaser for the day.
The Appalachianist

This Week

It's Friday, the 11th of November. Yeah, Veterans Day. So, let's get started with a little something to get your blood pumping. The Punk Rock is optionalTotaly optional man.
...

Veteran's Day
Yeah, Veterans Day. You can ask allot of school kids what day it is nad they will tell you. I don't think allot of them can tell you where it came from. The 11th of November 1918, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...Today is 11/11/11.

He was our enemy, but the charctor of All Quiet on the Western Front, was killed on the 11th of October, 1918.

There is something bad though. You may have seen it in the news, maybe you've not. But there has been somewhat of a scandal at Dover Air Force Base. Dover is where he deceased have been taken from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was reading in The Stars and Stripes that some of the Service Members killed were cremated and then their ashes were dumped in a land fill. I won't make any further comment...

November 10th 1775
Yesterday was the Marine Corps Birthday. They really get into it, and that's good. But, where I want to talk about it is in a significant context to us as a Nation. The year is 1775. That's our year, still we don't have the Spirit of 76, but that was the year the American Revolution was coming to surface. We had a fledging Army since June of that year*. We were'nt going to compeat with the british very well if we could not engage their Navy. So, on October 13th, the Continental Navy was born. I imagine that that was no small feat. It would take quite a bit of material and effort to equip a Navy. Eventually John Paul Jones was in Command of a borrowed ship from the French.**Roughly a month after the Navy started being formed, the Marine corps was born. The Navy needed Marines to protect it, and to be an assault force for it. Well, after that, we didn't have much in the line of ships, but we had a Navy with Marines to support them.

The Royal Navy, despite holding it's gains from the Seven Years War against the French, was not all too prepared for delivering more troops across the Atlantic and the Gun Ships to support that. For them it was not just a war against the rebellous Colonies, but, the French and the Spanish. They had allot of water to cover...And the timber they had been using for heir masts came from the forests of New England.They were stretched thin.

Stretched thin or not, they had a Navy, and we didn't. When who ever it was went into Tung's Tavern and recruited the first Marine, well, as poorly equiped as either of them may have been, they had the most important thing...A person. It was sloppy, at times hap hazard, but we were compeating.


Arifjan Kuwait
Now, back to the future. Allot of people here are getting sick. It took a little longer than usual for it to start going around. It takes about a month or so and it's been about two months. It alread hit me. I went to Qatar for a week with one mean head cold.

Admenastrative Note
I'm taking on the daunting task of tagging all of the posts from my blog, over 600 of them. I never did it before. But, over time, as I found people doing searches for information on my stats, it started to make sense that I do.


*Trivia question! When did the first Commander of that Army, the Continental Army, take command?

** I get tired of French jokes, though we owed the French monarchy more than the post French Revolution Government, we owe allot to the French, Marquis De Laffayette, being one of them.

I've said enough.
The Appalachianist

The Great Awakening

I had once been told that the American Revolution began with a Baptist Revival. That is somewhat true, I think it was the pre running of the Methodist. While in our history books we're told that religious persecution was the primary factor in the migration of Europeans to the New World, and how we came to promote religious tolerance on account of it; this is not entirely so. A man named George Whitefield caused quite a stir in New England and eventually as far down as Savanna. Jonathan Edwards was another. The Puritans of new England didn't take well to them and they had the political power, having laws passed to prevent them from spreading their view of the Gospel. But Whitefield was a charismatic preacher. Benjamin Franklin went to hear him preach out of doubt about the size of crowds that the man drew. He would preach to 25,000 people without a microphone. Ben Franklin had to see it for himself. After which Franklin and some other men raised money to have a meeting house built to house the Revivals or any other religious event. Many of the people in the Great Awakening did not want to pay taxes to a church that they disagreed with, and resisted at risk of being jailed and fined. These were seeds of Revolution, another chemical in the mix. "The Age of Enlightenment" rising.

I'm now reading a book on Ethan Allen. If you don't know who Ethan Allen was, he was a major player in the American Revolution. . He was the leader of The Green Mountain Boys, which was not a backwoods militia as you would think. He,rather easily, captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. The British Garison knew nothing of the events at Concord Green due to word being sent around Nova Scotia and down the St. Lawrence.

Here is where I wanted to go into talking about another man in the bloody history of Lake Champlain, Robert Rogers. I had read a great book about his life earlier this summer. But, these two men are a complicated history.

The Appalachianist

"The Brave Captain Kirkwood"

Today is the 17Th of January. You've seen every image of Martin Luther King Jr. and heard "I have a dream" sound bites all day long. You know it's Martin Luther King Jr. day. The media is not going to let you forget. If you ask me, and you just did, you read my blog, it's a bunch of silly hero worship. Don't get me wrong. I have allot of respect and admiration for the man. He was a Freedom Fighter. He was not the only one sticking up for the colored folk, allot more did. But, to carry on like all of this, it's hero worship. He was just a man trying to do the right thing. Thanks to the way everyone acts, allot of others are becoming forgotten. Allot of lessons go with them.

But, let's back up to get to the reason of this post. Today is the 17Th of January and in 1781 on this day backwoods militias and Continentals stood toe to toe with a well organized and disciplined British Legion and won. Lord Cornwallis had lost one of his flanking forces already at Kings Mountain and with Cowpens, he lost the other. Afterwards Cornwallis chased Nathanial Greene to his demise at Yorktown.



With Yorktown, the British were finally forced to admit defeat. It was something a long time coming. The Tories of New England seemed to only be with the King in spirit. The British openly talked of writing off those Colonies. The British had taken troops from where ever they could be spared and hired Germans soldiers to fight. Their Navy was stretched thin from Gilbatrar to Dominica and proving not up to the task. The French and Spanish smelled blood and were eager to help the United States. The Continental Army and Militias were becoming a more professional force and despite some humiliating defeats were managing to drain the British as they attempted to re colonize the South. It was too much for Britain. Something finally gave.



What was taking place in the backwoods of the Southern States was a brutal guerrilla warfare. South Carolina had around 800 different skirmishes. It was not pretty. Loyalists and Whigs fought bloody fights and left each others families hungry. Many of the men at Cowpens were the expendables. Young men without families to feed, widowers and the like. Many had had experience as Continental Soldiers and were serving a time in the Militia. The Continentals were far from their homes in Maryland and Delaware.



Maybe you've figured it out by now, but I went down to the Battlefield this last weekend and snapped a few pictures.

Captain Kirkwood was the Commander of the Delaware Company of Continentals. The Company was noted for their actions, as well as himself. Cpt. Kirkwood never rose further in rank and was never highly decorated. He was killed after the Revolution fighting Indians. From what I've read, he never asked for nothing.

I would say, the best book to read on the battle itself, is "A Devil Of Wipping"

Remember The Waxaws
The Appalachianist

1775

I'm sitting here trying to get a bid on E-Bay, Ssshhh...Otherwise, I'd be out messing with something another. But, today is the 4th of July, fireworks, hot dogs, pretty girls in shorts...But, not subjects of some crown. Though, we have become subservient in a complicated tangle of confusion, disorientation, bewildered by a maze of self serving corruption. Let's not get into that, lets not let that mess of folks ruin OUR Day.

So, in the summer of 1776, some smart men sat down and wrote out a truly magnificent statement, The Declaration of Independence. But, let's not focus on what it said, but what had been going on. We call this "our nations birthday", but Lexington and Concord had been fought over a year before. The Guns of Ticonderoga were captured in May 1775. Bunker Hill or Breed's Hill, was fought on 17 June 1775, the Army had officially been created three days prior, 14 June 1775, with the Navy following on 13 October and the Marines on the 10th of November. Creating, manning and supplying Armed Forces is something that Nations do. And, while many issues were being hammered out, not in essence, but, in spirit, in reality the 13 Rebel Colonies were, The United States. The Deceleration of Independence only validated an idea, that had become a reality.

Let me further emphasize, When the likes of Cornwallis, Ferguson, Tarleton, and some lesser known figures went south, captured Charleston what Historians explain that they were doing was trying to reestablish South Carolina as a British Colony...In hopes that Tories would rise up and the rest of the Southern Colonies would fall in line. They did create a foothold, but it ultimately failed. Southern Rebels were far more passionate than Southern Tories.

So did my attempt on E-Bay...Hit the button too late. 2 seconds....Oh well, I've lost the girl, lost my pride, lost my mind and thought I'd lost my way, but found that I was right where I needed to be...Then I figured out it's true, "you'll never lose your mind as long as your heart always reminds you where you left it".

One Cooley song deserves another...


The whole point, I'm making is, it didn't take a piece of paper to make us free...It took an Idea, one that was radical...Farmers and Frontiersman turned the world up side down...
The Appalachinist

Friday's Children

Here lately I've turned into a Revolutionary War Buff. I speak of the American Revolution, sometimes foreigners read this. I recently read a book on Cowpens that I've been meaning to read for a time. A very good book that breaks it down by experiences of those that were there and time and space. Time and space are everything in combat. A man being shot at has a very small world.

In reading this I became more enthralled with the war. Most Americans have a comic book sort of understanding of the conflict. To a point I did, myself. Our Nation spawned from violence. From the point of the first Englishmen setting foot on the shores on through the Revolution. A smaller, poorly equipped Army of amateurs managed to wear down and defeat a larger well equipped, highly professional Army with a great amount of resources at it's disposal. During the Revolution, more Americans served in the British Army than were in the Continental Army. "Nothing but bloody animals, Friday's Children..." Out numbered and out equipped. Often fleeing from the Fusiliers bayonets.

(That was from the 1985 film "Revolution". A good, well made movie without heroes that didn't do so well.)

Then on the other hand how did a highly disciplined fighting force, state of the art for the time, such as the British Army find it's self conceding to the Colonies that it sought so hard to control. It had a great amount of resources at it's disposal, both through out the empire and on portions of the Continent that it did control. It had a powerful and vast Navy to back it, bring reinforcements and supplies. yet, it conceded to a fledgling Nation of former Colonies that hardly had a plug nickel to it's name.

It fascinates me.
The Appalachianist