George Singleton writes of the lessons of the War Between the States

George Buster Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Ancestors’ mistakes make good lessons,” was originally published in the April 14, 1988 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I have been requested by some readers to write again on the Civil War. I thank them for their interest and their faith in me, and I hope that through these articles more interest will be created about this period in our history and more attention will be devoted to the lessons in our ancestors’ mistakes.

During the hectic days of the dreaded war, many strange and fascinating events took place among the soldiers who wore both the Blue and Gray uniforms. Some of these strange happenings continue even to this day to baffle the scholars of the war and that period in history.

Very few realize that four of Abraham Lincoln’s brothers-in-law wore the uniform of the Confederacy. One of these, Lt. David P. Todd, was charged with brutality to Union prisoners in Richmond, Va.

Criticized Lincoln

Mary Lincoln’s brother, Dr. George C. Todd, was a volunteer surgeon, and was quoted as saying that President Lincoln was “one of the greatest scoundrels unhung.”

Ben Hardin Helm, killed as a Confederate general at Chickamauga, was married to one of Mary Lincoln’s sisters. Mary’s other two sisters were also married to Confederate officers.

At the Battle of Bull Run, Frederick Hubbard of the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, who wore the uniform of the Gray, for the first time in seven years met Henry Hubbard of the 1^st Minnesota Infantry, who wore the uniform of the Union Army. The brothers were wounded, and by coincidence were placed side by side in a stable which served as a hospital.

Gen. Jeb Stuart’s chief of staff, Maj. H.B. McClellan, had four brothers who wore the uniform of the Union Army and also a first cousin, George B. McClellan, who was twice commander of the Army of the Potomac.

Confederate sons-in-law

Would you believe that Gen. Philip St. George Cooke of the Union Army had three daughters who married generals, one with the Union and two with the Confederates? One of the latter was Mrs. Jeb Stuart. Gen. Cooke’s son, John, became a Southern general, and did not speak to his father for several years after the war. When Stuart made his famous ride, around a big Union army, he galloped through a sector where his father-in-law was in command.

And during the terrible battle of Gettysburg, John Wentz, an 87-year-old farmer, hid in the cellar of his home while, in the yard above, his son, whom he had not seen for 24 years, fought in Gray with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans. The younger Wentz entered the cellar, found his father sleeping, and left a note pinned to his coat.

And not far away was another divided family. John Culp, owner of Culp’s Mill, had one son in Gray and one in Blue. Both took part in the bitter fighting for the slopes of their home place.

During a part of the above battle, Capt. John L. Inglis of the Confederate Army led his Florida company on a valiant charge, overran the Federal guns, and accepted the surrender of the commander, his brother.

The soil of our great nation is stained with the blood of brother against brother, father against son. The four years from 1861 through 1865 were like no other period our nation and the world had ever witnessed.

I believe that with the passing of my generation, the little knowledge that us who have loved and studied the period surrounding the Civil War will disappear into oblivion. And with this passing, some of the greatness that has endured among our people will have disappeared also. Then our fantasy world will purse only the pleasant things; the world of make believe will sprout forth a fairy-tale history, which has already begun to appear on the horizon. What a great pity!

Remember that history does not repeat itself. Only the people repeat themselves, when they let ignorance and the lack of self-discipline guide them away from the lessons that history left so that we might benefit.

“Those that heed not the lessons left to us by our ancestors are doomed to stagger and fall by the pathways of history, and be trampled by the masses, who have heeded these lessons, and have gained strength and discipline by their teachings…”

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)