Interesting how much passion is still present concerning the labels we  
use and embrace to describe a period in  American History 1865-1969.

The terms used before during and after this period are helpful to  
researchers looking for perspective to understand what was happening  
to our kin living in those times.  For example, those in the south who  
petitioned to get pension benefits from the government it had been  
fighting probably found it difficult to fill out paperwork using the  
term War of the Rebellion.  They sought to change the law so that  
pensions could be awarded to those who fought in the south.    Using  
War of the Rebellion to fight for pension benefits was probably a  
difficult task.  And so its description has morphed.  Apparently we  
are still helping it morph as we describe it for our children.

The counting of those who died whether "rebels" or damyankees" is an  
important effort.

We genealogists are a persistent lot are we not?  Even when we  
discover that 7 grandparents ago we have a connection to a pirate or a  
king -  a deserter or honored soldier we press on to find the name and  
the record to shed light on the past which is ours.  Learning from it  
is our challenge too.

Robert
On Mar 28, 2011, at 2:33 PM, Warrenwolff wrote:

> We were taught "The War for Southern Independence".
>
> W.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Other historical terms - But whatever they wanted to call it - A  
> CIVIL WAR - it
>
> was not.
>
> War Between the States
>
> The term "War Between the States" was rarely used during the war but  
> became
>
> prevalent afterward in the South, as part of an effort to perpetuate  
> its
>
> interpretation of the war.
>
> The Confederate government avoided the term "civil war" and referred  
> in official
>
> documents to the "War between the Confederate States of America and  
> the United
>
> States of America". There are a handful of known references during  
> the war to
>
> "the war between the states".  European diplomacy produced a similar  
> formula for
>
> avoiding the phrase "civil war". Queen Victoria's proclamation of  
> British
>
> neutrality referred to "hostilities ... between the Government of  
> the United
>
> States of America and certain States styling themselves the  
> Confederate States
>
> of America".
>
>
>
> After the war, the memoirs of former Confederate officials and  
> veterans (Joseph
>
> E. Johnston, Raphael Semmes, and especially Alexander Stephens)  
> commonly used
>
> the term "War Between the States". In 1898, the United Confederate  
> Veterans
>
> formally endorsed the name. In the early twentieth century, the  
> United Daughters
>
> of the Confederacy (UDC) led a campaign to promote the term "War  
> Between the
>
> States" in the media and in public schools. UDC efforts to convince  
> the United
>
> States Congress to adopt the term, beginning in 1913, were  
> unsuccessful.
>
> Congress has never adopted an official name for the war. The name  
> "War Between
>
> the States" is inscribed on the USMC War Memorial at Arlington  
> National
>
> Cemetery. This name was personally ordered by Lemuel C. Shepherd,  
> Jr., the 20th
>
> Commandant of the Marine Corps.
>
>
>
> Franklin Delano Roosevelt referred to the Civil War as "the four- 
> year War
>
> Between the States".  References to the "War Between the States"  
> appear
>
> occasionally in federal and state court documents.
>
>
>
> The names "Civil War" and "War Between the States" have been used  
> jointly in
>
> some formal contexts. For example, to mark the war's centenary in  
> the 1960s, the
>
> state of Georgia created the "Georgia Civil War Centennial Commission
>
> Commemorating the War Between the States". In 1994, the U.S. Postal  
> Service
>
> issued a series of commemorative stamps entitled "The Civil War /  
> The War
>
> Between the States".
>
>
>
> War of the Rebellion
>
> During and immediately after the war, U.S. officials and pro-Union  
> writers often
>
> referred to Confederates as "Rebels". The earliest histories  
> published in the
>
> northern states commonly refer to the Civil War as "the Great  
> Rebellion" or "the
>
> War of the Rebellion, as do many war monuments.
>
>
>
> The official war records of the United States refer to this war as  
> "The War of
>
> the Rebellion", and are a chief source of historical documentation  
> for those
>
> interested in Civil War research. They are compiled as a 127-volume  
> collection
>
> published by the U.S. War Department under the title The War of the  
> Rebellion: a
>
> Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate  
> Armies, U.S.
>
> Government Printing Office, 1880-1901, referred to as the Official  
> Records.
>
>
>
> War of Secession
>
> War of Secession is occasionally used by people in the South to  
> refer to the
>
> Civil War. In most romance languages, the words used to refer  
> literally
>
> translate to "War of Secession" (e.g. "Guerre de Sécession" in  
> French, "Guerra
>
> de Secesión" in Spanish). This name is also used in Central and  
> Eastern Europe,
>
> i.e. "Sezessionskrieg" is commonly used in Germany, and "Wojna  
> Secesyjna" is
>
> exclusively used in Poland (both literally translate as "war of  
> secession").
>
>
>
> War for Southern Independence
>
> The "War for Southern Independence" is a name used by many  
> Southerners in
>
> reference to the war.  While popular on the Confederate side during  
> the war, the
>
> term's popularity fell in the immediate aftermath of the South's  
> failure to gain
>
> independence. The term resurfaced in the late 20th century. This  
> terminology
>
> aims to parallel usage of the term "American War for Independence."  
> A popular
>
> poem published in the early stages of hostilities was "South  
> Carolina". Its
>
> prologue referred to the war as the "Third War for Independence" (it  
> named the
>
> War of 1812 as the second such war.)  On November 8, 1860, the  
> Charleston
>
> Mercury, a contemporary southern newspaper, stated that "The tea has  
> been thrown
>
> overboard. The Revolution of 1860 has been initiated."
>
>
>
> War for the Union
>
> Some northerners used "The War for the Union", the title of both a  
> December 1861
>
> lecture by the abolitionist leader Wendell Phillips, and a major  
> four-volume
>
> history by Allan Nevins published in the middle of the 20th century.
>
>
>
> Second American Revolution
>
> In the 1920's historian Charles Beard used the term the "Second  
> American
>
> Revolution" to emphasize the changes brought on by the Northern  
> victory. This is
>
> still used by the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, though  
> with the
>
> intent to demonstrate the depth of the South's cause.
>
>
>
> War of Northern Aggression
>
> The "War of Northern Aggression" has been used by those who maintain  
> that the
>
> Union side was the belligerent party in the war.
>
>
>
> War of Southern Aggression
>
> The "War of Southern Aggression," conversely, has been used by those  
> who
>
> maintain that the South was the belligerent party.
>
>
>
>  From: Carole D. Bryant
>
>  Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 10:44 AM
>
>  To: [log in to unmask]
>
>  Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] War between the 'STATS'
>
>
>
>
>
>  Same here in Southern Maryland !!
>
>  Mama said, "It was NOT a 'civil' war!" !!
>
>
>
>  I am a  life long Tennessean and many in my family were in the CSA.  
> In fact
>
>  my  great Grandmother told me, when she was in her eighties, that she
>
>  didn't know "damyankee" was two words until she was grown. Likewise  
> until I was
>
>  grown I had never heard the phrase"War of the Rebellion". It was  
> always
>
>  called The War between the States (having upgraded from the War of
>
>  Northern Aggression). One of my older relatives called it the "Recent
>
>  Unpleasantness"   up into the early 20th century. My own mother  
> warned me  not to call it the
>
>  Civil War. As you can see feelings ran pretty strong  down here!
>
>  Brenta Davis
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  It was also called the War of Rebellion before that became   
> politically
>
>  incorrect to use.
>
>
>
>  On Mar 27, 2011, at 1:11 PM, Fern  wrote:
>
>
>
>> This is especially interesting for families like mine who  had as   
>> many
>
>> soldiers in the CSA
>
>> as they had on the  UNION side.
>
>>
>
>> The War Between the Stats. Yes, that's stats, not  states.
>
>>
>
>> Historians and statisticians are questioning the  statistics of
>
>> Confederate War dead. Official military records compiled  in 1866
>
>> counted 40,275 North Carolina soldiers who died in  uniform.
>
>> Reportedly, North Carolina had more men die in uniform than  any  
>> other
>
>> Confederate state, although not as many as New York in the  Union.  
>> Now
>
>> new investigations seem to show the 1866 claims, made when  records
>
>> were spotty, are highly inaccurate.
>
>>
>
>> While the  new counts are not yet complete, it looks like the true
>
>> count will be  about 31,000 deaths of North Carolina soldiers during
>
>> the war.  Meanwhile, a separate count iis being made of Virginia
>
>> soldiers and it  looks like its final tally will also be about  
>> 31,000,
>
>> far higher than  previous reports.
>
>>
>
>> "It's going to be close," says Virginia  librarian Edwin Ray, the man
>
>> making the count of Virginia deaths in  uniform.
>
>>
>
>> The issue tends to be emotional in the affected  states which have
>
>> pride in their soldiers who died for the losing  cause. Whatever the
>
>> final count, many people will have difficulty  believing it.
>
>>
>
>> New York reported the most deaths of any state:  46,534, according to
>
>> the 1866 federal report.
>
>>
>
>> You can  read more in an article by Cameron McWhirter in the Wall
>
>> Street  Journal at http://goo.gl/usb0U  If this link does not work  
>> -  try
>
>
>
>> this one:
>
>>
>
>  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704662604576202823930087328.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
>
>>
>
>> Another interesting fact is that Cameron McWhirter had family   
>> fighting
>
>> for the CSA   > and this family member was a 'friend' of my   
>> distant cousin General  Abe
>
>> Buford   > who rode with General  Forrest -CSA..
>
>>
>
>>
>
>
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