As for my ancestor, Ellison Hatfield, and his military service, I kept finding statements that led me to think he had departed from Gettysburg after Pickett's Charge (Ellison was a Confederate lieutenant and had his own command) and gone home to fight no more. Well, after some research I got to the bottom of the story. He went home after the fight, alright. But only after accompanying General Lee to Appomatox Courthouse to witness Lee's surrender to Grant. At that point he surrendered his command, packed his things and came home to Mingo County, a decorated hero.
So there's the newest reason I can claim to be a Hatfield...we aren't quitters and never back down from a fight, always loyal to the cause we believe in. Before anyone jumps on the "you're a Johnny Reb southerner, blah blah blah..." Yep, I am. By birth. But my fight would have been staked on the fight for state's rights, and never slavery, which I abhor. My favorite scene in the movie "Gettysburg" is Jeff Daniels, as Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, asking a Confederate prioner why he was fighting even when all seemed lost. "I don't know about other folk...I'm fattin' for my rats. All of us here, that's what we're fattin' for." "Your what?" "For our rats. The rat to live my life like I see fit. Why can't you just live the way you want to live, and let us live the way we do? Live and let live, I hear some folks say. Be lot less fuss and bother if more folks took it to heart"
Yep, I'm a Hatfield because Hatfields fought to preserve the rights they believed proper and good. The right of local municipalities and state governments to govern themselves with the cooperation and not the interference of the federal government. But that argument will wait for another day...'cause I'm a Hatfied. And you aren't.
No comments:
Post a Comment