You Can't Trust Everything You Read
And now for something a little different:
September 6, 1862: Upon entering the town of Frederick, Maryland, Stonewall Jackson's column supposedly passed by the house of an elderly lady named Barbara Freitchie. Noticing a Union flag flying from a second-story window, Jackson ordered the staff shot away. But as soon as this was done, Freitchie allegedly leaned out the window, grabbed the staff before it fell, and continued to wave it in defiance of the Rebel troops. The story was immortalized ("Shoot, if you must, this old grey head") by abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barbara_Frietchie
Well, immortalized seems to be too strong a word. An informal poll showed only one of my co-workers had ever heard the poem before. (Darn twenty-first century . . .)
It may be just as well. Your humble amateur historian believes Whittier did an injustice to Stonewall Jackson. While there does seem to have been an actual Barbara Freitchie, there is no historical record of Jackson passing by her house. Also, while he had deserters shot on several occasions, a study of Jackson's character strongly suggests he would have drawn the line at shooting up private civilian property.
September 6, 1862: Upon entering the town of Frederick, Maryland, Stonewall Jackson's column supposedly passed by the house of an elderly lady named Barbara Freitchie. Noticing a Union flag flying from a second-story window, Jackson ordered the staff shot away. But as soon as this was done, Freitchie allegedly leaned out the window, grabbed the staff before it fell, and continued to wave it in defiance of the Rebel troops. The story was immortalized ("Shoot, if you must, this old grey head") by abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barbara_Frietchie
Well, immortalized seems to be too strong a word. An informal poll showed only one of my co-workers had ever heard the poem before. (Darn twenty-first century . . .)
It may be just as well. Your humble amateur historian believes Whittier did an injustice to Stonewall Jackson. While there does seem to have been an actual Barbara Freitchie, there is no historical record of Jackson passing by her house. Also, while he had deserters shot on several occasions, a study of Jackson's character strongly suggests he would have drawn the line at shooting up private civilian property.