https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/17e578aa036a64074d1e02e64d104ac5.png 220eb63a8e7de2dd39e8e581b3336efe https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/c3cd22b4409e8ce3c5dcd7de14b3e27f.png b0d7a6fc10f187e601cb7a123f52ccf8 https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/0442d715a0c14baf2604b59c3f111c07.png 99ee9c97517572872a98f2418177a44d https://www.susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/a74fd9a2c91097703de18f8bbbbab313.png 998af0f81cced18d9a5a8e2995c0be39 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memory and Commemoration Subject The topic of the resource Most documents from the height of Civil War memory and commemoration efforts in Mississippi and the larger United States are from the early 20th century. Because of this, they won't be found in the CWRGM collection, which ends in 1882. But CWRGM documents can still help site users think about how the <a href="https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/lost_cause_the">Lost Cause</a> helped erase the memory of white Unionism in Mississippi, of Black military service in the Union armies/navy, and of tremendous socio-economic advances by African-Americans during the era of Reconstruction that were systematically attacked as that era came to a close. The documents in this section help students, educators, researchers, and the public explore the wartime experiences that the Lost Cause helped erase. Some of the earliest examples of wartime dissent that surface in these sample documents occur shortly after the Confederacy passed the Conscription Act, forcibly drafting men into Confederate military service. Instances of this appear in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/24">July 1862 in Kemper County</a> and <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/25">August 1862 in Lowndes County, MS</a>, and you'll notice that they mostly address perceived inefficiencies of the law or its unfair enforcement. A great example of this is the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/23">July 1862 petition from Jasper County</a> opposing illegal implementation of the draft, but not the draft per se. In October 1862, however, the Confederate legislature enacted what became known as the 20 Slave Law to ensure that selected slave holders could remain at home to police enslaved populations and ensure that agricultural production continued. For a summary on this exemption and the frustrations it caused, including complaints that this was now a "rich man's war but a poor man's fight," see <a href="https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/twenty-slave_law">this short essay</a>. Evidence of the growing resistance to conscription in Mississippi surfaces in these sample documents as early as the spring and summer of 1863, with an account from Canton, MS, referencing the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/39">public's sympathy for deserters</a> and another from Union Church in Jefferson County referencing the public's unwillingness to assist in the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/45">arrest of deserters</a>. As late as the spring of 1865, documents can be found in the collection, like this one from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/64">Enterprise, MS</a>, noting the need to round up deserters and locals' unwillingness to assist in the process. On the question of Unionism in Mississippi during and immediately following the war, historians estimate that approximately 500 white Mississippians serve in the <a href="http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/175/mississippi-soldiers-in-the-civil-war">Union Army and Navy</a>, while others expressed their Union sympathies as civilians. Several examples of this exist in these sample documents, but not necessarily in this "Memory and Commemoration" theme. You can find them by doing a keyword search for "Union" at the top of any page in the exhibit. One example of wartime Unionism is found in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/73">James H. Pierce's July 1865 </a>letter to Governor Sharkey, seeking an appointment in recognition of Pierce's loyalty as a "union man" during the war. A <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/77">similar account</a> of longstanding unionism arrived in Sharkey's office that month from a Macon, MS man. Former Confederates noted Unionist support as well, as this <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/68">June 1865 letter</a> from Ripley, MS demonstrates. O. Davis was a former Confederate who accepted that defeat, noting, "the institution of slavery was staked upon the result of the war. We have played and lost and I, for one, am willing to surrender this stake." But Davis protested the idea that Mississippi men who fought for the Union might receive political appointments in the postwar period, insisting that "There is, and will be, for some time much prejudice against Those Southern men who have been in the U.S. army." One of the most powerful documents in this theme is the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/66">May 1865 address</a> by Mississippi's last Confederate governor, Charles Clark. CWRGM is digitizing governors' Legislative Ledgers last, so this image is actually from digitized microfilm and doesn't reflect the quality standards of the project. It's also difficult to read, as you will notice from the incomplete transcription. But if you scroll down a bit, you'll see that this is a speech by Governor Clark to the Mississippi House of Representatives. The state had just surrendered to Union forces and all sitting office-holders, from the governor on down, were sent home, with some concerned that they might be arrested. Clark's speech reflects his determination to shape how history remembers their role in the Confederacy, despite insisting that he "shall leave the story of this contest to after times & the pen of the impartial Historian. Its History can not now be written." Instead, Clark presented one of the earliest histories of the war, listing its causes, the best approach for the future, and how the state's role in the Confederacy should be remembered. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Union Church June 22nd 1863 To His excellency John J. Pettus Governor & Commander in Chief State Miss Sir I have just got through a town through Jefferson, Adams & Wilkinson Counties to [see?] and confer with the Captains Companies "Minute Men" in order to see what would be the most practicable plan to execute Special order No. 158. in the 4th Batt Miss State Troops, In Adams & Wilkinson there are not loyal & obedient men enough to make a corporals guard, They openly and avowedly defy the authority of their officers I am satisfied that nothing but bayonets will establish discipline in the position of the command from those two counties In Jefferson I can report the organization only in a little better state of discipline What few men show any respect for one another do it very reluctantly and with hesitation [ongoing?] they do not wish to except such stringent [?] against their old neighbors and friends. Upon the whole if you could send a good and reliable force of calalry with orders to arrest every Militia man [strikethrough] at [strikethrough] absent with out leave Special order No 158, would be executed much more speedily and effectively, Myself and the various company officers from many causes have lost all influence over and control of the Page 2: command all we want is physical forces sufficient to restablish that control. On arriving at Natchez I conf. that our Quarter Master Capt John H. Foggs had gone to Matemoras Mexico I left an order there for him to report at Head Quarters to settle up. [strikethrough] [unclear] [strikethrough] As you are aware he loses his position by the resignation of Col. Postlethwaite and as you would not appoint another untill he would settle up we are without a Quarter Master which occassions another difficulty in executing my order, When we are ordered to arrest and forward under guard to Head Quarters any mutinous or disobedient soldier, we should either hand transportations or the funds to [procure?] it. we have neither. In the demoralized State of the command we will have to have these men in camp to carry out the order, how are we to get provisions & forage without funds or a Quartermaster to furnished it I mention these few items to show you the hercuilian tasks I have with such scanty means of accomplishing it What few men I could collect, I have now out under orders to arrest and bring to camp all absentees they can find, When I get them I have nothing to feed them with, The citizens ought ^to^ furnish us, but they say the military will not fight & ought not to be fed. With the means I have at command I am Page 3: doing and will do all I can to serve the great cause for which we are struggling, but want the matter to be plainly understood so that two great expextations need not be indulged in in regard to my efforts, when so ominous a task is alotted to me, I speak sincerely when I say that I have done all I could to make the State organization here effective, and believe I have ^a^ clear conscience when I say that I am not [acommentable?] for the demoralization in it Dr. Grafton Adjutant of the Battallion tenders you his resignation He is totally inefficient from physical inability to do the duties of the office and I believe it would add to the service if you accept his resignation,, I have now reported to His excellency the condition of the Battalion as plainly and thoughtfully as I can and if my efforts do not meet your approval, I am perfectly willing the matter should be in outdated by Court Martial Hoping that my efforts will be crowned with more success than this report foreshadows I will close Most obediently J. D. Fairley Maj Comd 4th Batt M. S. T. [strikethrough] P.S. [strikethrough] P.S. I forgot to mention the fact that the two companies from Adams were placed under command of Maj. Wails by special order from yourself. I got a letter from him to day in which he stated, that being unable to execute the order, he had tended his resignation J.D. Fairly Maj &c Page 4: Major J D Fairley 22 June 1863 Answerd 25 June by Dr Grafton Report to Genl [?] for orders Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from J. D. Fairly to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus; June 22, 1863 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_757-945-2-31 Subject The topic of the resource Confederate States of America. Army.; Draft.; Military deserters.; Mississippi. Governor; Pettus, John Jones, 1813-1867. Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from J. D. Fairly to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus asking for troops to be sent to southwest Mississippi to help round up deserters and conscripts. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fairly, J. D. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1863-06-22 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1863