April is Confederate History Month in Alabama. Monday was Confederate Memorial Day. Did you remember? 

We are into the second year of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. April of 1861 saw hostilities break out between North and South, and 147 years ago on April 9, the war ended with the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s forces in Virginia. On that same day, the last major battle of the war was fought here in Baldwin County near the township of Blakeley and became known as The Battle of Blakely.

Please notice the two spellings of the same word in the previous sentence. The town is named for Josiah Blakeley, with the letter “e” being used twice. The name given to the battle is “Blakely,” with one “e”; because that is how it is written in the official record, the Northern record. To the victors goes the history.

My personal remembrance began in March when I attended a symposium concerning the Battle of Blakeley (please note my rebellious, Southern and correct spelling of the name) held at, and near the park. It was an information-packed two days that I am still trying to assimilate, and is of great value to me since I am writing a historical novel about the battle.

My next observance occurred the first week of April when I camped in the park. Those of you who read this column two weeks ago will remember my remarks concerning that campout. Although I was there to support the princesses and their church group, I had another agenda: to remember those who had fought and died there so many years ago and to revere the works of their hands that still stand today.

I took the girls on a walking tour of the fortifications, and to some of the other historical sites there. The hike took four hours. The battle on that April 9th lasted less than half an hour. 

There was much more to it than the actual fighting. The fort had been under siege since April 1, and afterward, there were mopping up operations on the part of the Yankees and escaping for the Rebels. There are many stories of Rebel escapes and attempts that failed. It was a long and deadly night.

I slipped out of my tent in the early morning dark and wandered among the fortifications to get a feel for the experience of being on that field at night, and tried to imagine how it must have been to be one of less than 3,000, facing five times your number and wondering what the morrow might bring. It was chilling to be out there alone, and it wasn’t just the cool, April night. There is a real presence, and I did get a sense of how they must have felt.

My memorial observance continued with my election and induction into the Fort Blakeley Camp 1864 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans upon the record of my Confederate ancestor, 2nd Lt. Evans Atwood, Co. A/G, 21st Arkansas, reformed 15th Arkansas NW. It was time I honored him so, and I am proud to do it, especially during the sesquicentennial. 

I attended a memorial service at Confederate Rest Cemetery near Point Clear. There are 300 to 400 Confederate soldiers buried there in mass graves.  Only a few are identified and have markers. The names of the rest are lost to history due to a fire at the Grand Hotel, which served as a hospital during the war. Most of the dead were patients there. 

You might wonder why all this remembrance. The answer is simple, because it is my heritage. Popular or not, it is who I am, and I am proud to claim it.

The cause of the Confederacy has become tarnished. Those who honor the Stars and Bars are often seen as racist, or at best, stuck with honoring a lost cause. I do so hope the cause is not lost, because the cause was freedom.

The South was fighting against unfair tariffs, unequal representation in Congress, and a tyrannical government bent on destroying their way of life. If those causes sound familiar, they should. They are the same ones the united Colonies fought for against England less than 90 years before.

Granted, there were some unsavory aspects to Southern culture in the 1860s that needed to be changed. There were plantation owners and such, who were slaveholders, but the majority of Confederate soldiers did not own slaves.

Fighting and dying to keep the rich man rich may have kept some on the battlefields for a few months, but how do we explain those who stayed to the task for four years?  What were they fighting for?

The Missouri troops, which were the backbone of the defense at Fort Blakeley, had fought in many battles all across the South, and it is recorded that every one of them had been wounded at least once, some as many as six times. Missouri was not even a slave state. What cause were these men willing to give so much to defend? Freedom was the cause, and that is all. The same cause that made their grandfathers stand up to King George. They were honoring their heritage.

I do hope we never lose sight of that great cause, or the will to fight for it, because as soon as we do, it will be taken from us. We should honor all who fought for freedoms in the Civil War, South and North. They are deserving of our remembrance. May we ever be willing to stand and bear arms against anyone who would take away what they gave so much to guarantee.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human-interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, and his other works viewed at: www.starchasers.us, or david@starchasers.us.