This is one of my favorite stories about the Civil War and I wanted to relay it, but apologies in advance for not providing any link. (I read about this event several years ago and have forgotten from which book -- it may have been Shelby Foote's Trilogy but not certain.)
The event occurred at a Gettysburg dedication ceremony within a one or two years of the battle. The head of ceremonies (mayor?) had learned about a ~100 year-old American Revolutionary veteran who lived in the area and still had his wits about him. There would be no better way to commemorate the day than to have the ancient warrior say a few words at the solemn occasion.
He stood upon the ceremony stage; removed his hat; smoothed a few strands of his snow white hair; and cleared his throat several times and then began with words something like these:
"When we were defeated at the Battle of Yorktown..."
All of a sudden a look of horror and amusement could be seen on the faces of his audience. The Master of Ceremonies stood right up, gently tapped the old veteran on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry to say you must be mixed up -- we defeated the British at Yorktown."
The poor old veteran looked a little dazed and confused so he paused for a few moments, tilted his head, cleared his throat once again and started anew:
"When I surrendered to the American troops at Yorktown..."
Well, that was it. Everyone was sure that time had made a complete scramble of the old man's memory. But truth be told, his memory was just fine!
Turns out that the veteran was actually a Hessian soldier who had indeed surrendered at Yorktown, subsequently settling down in a Pennsylvania Dutch village. He had no family and had long outlived all his contemporaries, so it was just assumed that the revered, ancient American Revolutionary soldier was just that -- an American!
John Burns - ( New Window )
Not a remarkable story by itself. Many descendants of presidents and founding fathers fought at Gettysburg including Adams, Revere, Hamilton and Patrick Henry. What’s remarkable is John Tyler has another grandson who is still alive today: Harrison Ruffin Tyler, age 92.
One grandson fought at Gettysburg, another still living.
Not a remarkable story by itself. Many descendants of presidents and founding fathers fought at Gettysburg including Adams, Revere, Hamilton and Patrick Henry. What’s remarkable is John Tyler has another grandson who is still alive today: Harrison Ruffin Tyler, age 92.
One grandson fought at Gettysburg, another still living.
Heard this story a few years back. Fathered children very very late in life was a family tradition!
After Robert E. Lee died in 1877, their oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, sued the federal government for confiscating Arlington illegally; the Supreme Court agreed and gave it back to him. But what could the Lee family do with an estate littered with corpses? George Lee sold it back to the federal government for $150,000.
It's not just those wars. There is an alarming number of high school and college students that don't know what the holocaust was.
Um, no. Gettysburg was 1863.
As Jim in Fairfax noted, the Battle of Gettysburg was 1863. The ancient Hessian soldier fought as a teenager at Yorktown. As an aside, many Hessians melted into the colonial landscape, getting hold of very cheap, productive land that would have been unavailable to them had they returned home to Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Hanau and half a dozen other German states.
Ooops.