Why Some Southern College Campuses Cannot Escape their Confederate Past: The University of Mississippi

Why Some Southern College Campuses Cannot Escape their Confederate Past: The University of Mississippi

Ole Miss has been in the news several times in the last couple of years, dealing with its Civil War and Civil Rights legacy. In 2010, the university made headlines when they changed their school mascot away from one that highlighted its Confederate heritage. In 2014, an Ole Miss fraternity was shut down after students placed a noose on the statue of James Meredith, the first black student to enroll in the all-white school. Most recently, the university joined the Confederate flag debate when the students and faculty chose to remove the state flag, which includes Confederate symbols, from the campus.

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Suicide by Enemy Fire? The Cases of Hill and Garnett

Suicide by Enemy Fire? The Cases of Hill and Garnett

Death is an occupational hazard for the soldier; it is a basic rule of warfare that there will be casualties.  A soldier faces death when they enter battle, and accepts that they must be willing to die for their country, their cause, or whatever motivation has brought them to the front line.  But it there a point where being willing to die becomes wanting to die, and does that desire for death border on the question of suicide?  Let us examine two well known Confederate cases, those of Richard Garnett and Ambrose Powell Hill.  Now, I understand that painting one or both of these men’s deaths as suicides might ruffle a few feathers, but that is not necessarily my purpose there.  I merely want to put the question out there.  Did they want to die? Can suicide result from committing to risky behaviors outside the necessity of the situation, not just intentionally harming oneself?  Were these two cases “suicide by cop” type situations or were these just casualties of war?

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The “great battle which would naturally decide the contest”: John Badger Bachelder and the Creation of Gettysburg

The “great battle which would naturally decide the contest”: John Badger Bachelder and the Creation of Gettysburg

The creation of Gettysburg as legend and central turning point of the war and the creation of Gettysburg as a field of monuments centers on one man: John Badger Bachelder.  Bachelder was not a Civil War veteran, nor did he ever serve in the military, yet he is the key to answering the question of how Gettysburg came to be what we know today.

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