August 17, 1863: 7th TN near Orange Courthouse, Virginia / JT Present I have been reading Confederates in the Attic, by Tony Horwitz, and greatly enjoying it. It contains much humor and thought-provoking insight about the legacy of the Civil War in the South. I recommend it to any of you interested in the subject. Last week I found a quote in the book that is worth sharing because it is very relevant to this blog about the 7th Tennessee: “”History is lived forward but it is written in retrospect,” the English historian C.V. Wedgwood observed. “We know the end before we consider the beginning and we can never wholly recapture what it was to know the beginning only.”” Pages 334-5. Jeremiah Turner was living the history forward which I am only repeating in retrospect, and I cannot know the beginning only without knowing the end which has long since passed. I wish I could know how it really looked to Jeremiah as he was living it - not knowing where it was going or how long it would last, or even how many more days of life were ahead of him. I can speculate and raise questions and try to piece together things written by other people who were there, but I will never recapture Jeremiah’s experience. One reason for writing this day-by-day is to at least get a sense of the passing of weeks and months and years as the soldier was living them. I began writing this two years and three months ago. How much has happened to you since May, 2011? Miles traveled since leaving Tennessee: 2819 Order of Command: Army of Northern Virginia: General Robert E. Lee Third Corps: Lieutenant General A. P. Hill Heth’s Division: Major General Henry Heth Archer’s Brigade (Third Brigade): Brigadier General H. H. Walker
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 22:01:15 +0000
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