The confusion probably stems from the fact that Patton went to VMI (before
attending West Point), as did his father, grandfather, and three of his
granduncles, all of whom were from Virginia. Patton's father moved to Los
Angeles as an attorney before Gen. Patton was born.
--Eric
> I'm sorry, but Patton was a Californian. Perhaps you've
> confused him with
> the actor who played him in the movie - George C. Scott - who
> was born in
> Virginia.
>
> -Paul Shelton
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Finkelman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 7:27 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: sherman
>
>
> One might view Sherman as the man who was responsible for
> freeing more human
> being from bondage than any other person. His march from the
> Mississippi to
> the
> Atlantic Ocean resulted in the liberation of more than a
> million slaves and
> the
> destruction of a nation, whose "cornerstone," accoring to its own Vice
> President, was slavery. I suppose we should not be surprised
> that those who
> lost their slaves, and the wealth that came from it, hated
> General Sherman.
> His
> tactics, ironically, were no different that those of laster used by
> Eisenhower,
> Patton (a Virginian) and the rest of the Allied High Command
> in World War
> II, to
> prevent the enemy from making war, by destroying the enemy's
> ability to make
> war. We used the same tactic against Japan, only with
> carpet bombing and
> firebombing.
>
> Gross and vile? Interesting terms. I am not sure what
> "gross" means here
> (disgusting, ill mannered, overweight?) Vile. I would
> reserve that term, at
> least in the American context, to perhaps traitors, who
> having taken oaths
> of
> allegience to the United States, made war against the United
> States when
> they
> did not like the outcome of a presidential election.
>
> Paul Finkelman (father of a first generation Virginian!)
>
> --
> Paul Finkelman
> Chapman Distinguished Professor
> University of Tulsa College of Law
> 3120 East 4th Place
> Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-2499
>
> 918-631-3706 (office)
> 918-631-2194 (fax)
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> Deane wrote:
>
> > Well, let me just say this.
> > I am a 54 year old housewife with nothing but Southern
> roots on each side
> of
> > my family, so I admit to a strong bias.
> > My paternal grandparents were born in North Carolina in the 1880's.
> > My maternal grandparents were born in Tidewater Virginia in
> the 1880's.
> > During my childhood and formative years in the 1950's, it was their
> > reflections on their parents' lives that shaped my thinking
> and taught me
> to
> > regard certain aspects of Southern American history the way I do.
> > I certainly will not bore you folks with that.
> > However, it was my beloved and dear and college degreed (i.e., not
> ignorant
> > red neck) grandparents who taught me that men like Sherman
> were gross and
> > vile.
> > On the other hand, one of my grandfathers (whose name was
> Wade Hampton
> > King) had a brother whose middle name was Grant......that
> brother was
> named
> > after Ulysses Grant. The family legend has it that my
> great-grandfather
> > named that son after the Union general out of gratitude for
> being able to
> > take his horse home from Appomatox.
> > In fairness, I think that it was the horrors of
> Reconstruction.... the
> > salted fields that the Yankee troops had left behind them along with
> > poisoned water wells, needlessly slaughtered live stock,
> the ring-barked
> > fruit and nut trees and the resulting starvation that
> caused the deepest
> and
> > most induring bitterness.
> > I do not think that Margaret Mitchell's book created
> myths. I think that
> > when many Southerners read GONE WITH THE WIND they were
> relieved that
> after
> > so many decades someone had finally come close to putting
> it right and
> > putting it down on paper.....and better yet, folks
> everywhere were reading
> > it and, perhaps, coming to a better understanding, albeit a
> romanticized
> > one, of what Southerners tended to be like.
> > I could go on and on and on, but I won't.
> > I could tell you about the teacher I had in college in the
> 1960's who
> asked
> > me (the only southerner in that small Vermont college), "Is
> it true that
> you
> > Southerners despise the blacks, the Jews and the Catholics.
> And if so,
> why?"
> > I was so flabberghasted that I could not answer except to
> say, "Why no. We
> > just hate Yankees!"
> > I could try to describe to you the anguish on my own
> mother's face as she
> > told me about her own grandmother's stories of eating
> insects and make
> 'tea'
> > out of shoe leather after the "Wah".
> > I can hear my mother now, telling me how her grandmother
> said over and
> over
> > and over,
> > "We were SO hungry."
> > Deane Ferguson Mills
> > a 13th generation Tidewater Virginian and proud of it.
> >
> > > I agree with your assessment of Margaret Mitchell's role
> in tarnishing
> any
> > > understanding of Sherman. But no matter what is
> written, I'm afraid,
> > some
> > > Southerners, and nearly all Native Americans, will
> continue having a
> > > difficult time believing Sherman had any noble purpose in
> waging all out
> > > war, either against the Confederacy, or against the Sioux
> and other
> > Western
> > > peoples he subjugated in the Indian Wars.
> > >
> > > -Paul Shelton
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Jim Watkinson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 3:21 PM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: sherman
> > >
> > >
> > > Harold is right. Total war is key. There was a review
> of a bio of
> > Sherman
> > > 2 or 3 weeks ago in the NYT Review of Books which
> strongly suggested
> that
> > > the man who said "war is hell" believed he could end the
> war sooner --
> and
> > > stop the carnage -- by fighting the war in a differrent
> manner. This
> > seems
> > > to ring true. Margaret Mitchell (and David Selznick)
> probably did more
> to
> > > set back the cause of understanding the war than anyone
> who has ever
> > lived.
> > >
> > > Jim Watkinson
> > >
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