Articles: April Return to Appomattox
April 25, 2015 By Dennis Halpin
The chilly weather on the road to surrender was in sharp contrast to that balmy Palm Sunday of April 1865: “As the blazing yellow sun climbed high overhead, the winding country lanes in the rural stillness of Appomattox couldn’t have appeared less suited for capturing the smoldering moment about to take place,” writes historian Jay Winik in his classic “April 1865: The Month That Saved America.” (page 183). In April 2015, by contrast, a damp morning fog turned the surrounding pine forests into eerie specters. The shadows in the mist resembled, in the mind’s eye, the ranks of grey-uniformed soldiers marching in retreat.
Viewing the landscape also recalled the words of the second verse of God Bless America: “From the green fields of Virginia.” But the cows munching contentedly on the green grass were in sharp contrast to what was found in April 1865. Then all the cattle were dead or stolen away, as recorded in the mournful words intoned by singer Joan Baez in the folk classic The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. “In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive.” No cattle then on the road from Richmond to Appomattox to feed the ragged, starving Army of Northern Virginia.
Viewing the landscape also recalled the words of the second verse of God Bless America: “From the green fields of Virginia.” But the cows munching contentedly on the green grass were in sharp contrast to what was found in April 1865. Then all the cattle were dead or stolen away, as recorded in the mournful words intoned by singer Joan Baez in the folk classic The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. “In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive.” No cattle then on the road from Richmond to Appomattox to feed the ragged, starving Army of Northern Virginia.
So what led to this April journey to Appomattox for the re-enactment of General Lee’s surrender to General Grant? It was the dreams of my great-grandfather, Patrick Foley. Born on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1829 in County Kerry, Ireland, Patrick got out of Ireland in a hurry not because of the potato famine but because of some illegal moonshining up in the Kerry hills. He settled in the bustling new city of Chicago where he landed a job as a cook at one of that city’s upscale hotels. His job reportedly led him to attendance at the Wigwam, a convention center where, on May 18, 1860, the newly formed Republican Party nominated a prairie lawyer named Abraham Lincoln as its standard bearer for president. Patrick wouldn’t have seen Lincoln there though, as the nominee remained in Springfield to receive the news by wire.
Nonetheless, Patrick was hooked on loyalty to Lincoln for life. ...
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/04/april_return_to_appomattox.html#ixzz3YJSZ3VJYNonetheless, Patrick was hooked on loyalty to Lincoln for life. ...
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