Singleton wanted to replace fantasy with facts about the Civil War

General William T. Sherman

(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 “Replace fantasy with facts about the Civil War” was originally published in the Aug. 13, 1992 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

We are fast becoming a country of make-believers. We live in a total world of fantasy. We do not seek out the true facts as we did in earlier years about any given subject.

There is no investigation into the background of a subject. We are teaching our history to the young of this country as we want it taught, not like it actually happened.

Today, as I try and write this article, there is much controversy as to whether the battle flag of the Confederacy will be allowed to continue to fly over our state Capitol.

Many false allegations ride the winds of our news media and in the minds of our people about the terrible atrocities that were supposedly committed under this historic banner of the Rebel army.

Many stories are conjured up while no truth is to be found in any of them. True, there was a great war that took place within our country. It’s true that in many instances, brother fought brother and father faced son across the lines of battle. But I know of no war that has ever been fought where there weren’t some atrocities committed by either side. Our Civil War was no exception.

We sit before our boob tubes and absorb this so-called entertainment, such as “Gone With the Wind” and read the book, “Scarlet.” Then we believe beyond a shadow of doubt that everyone in the South lived in great mansions and know for a fact that every while family owned massive numbers of poor, hard-working slaves.

We do not bother to research for the truth to find that only five percent owned slaves. Or to read further and find out that less than one-half of one percent owned more than five. Or that many of the whites were worse off at this time in our history than many of the slaves.

We have fast forgotten that the largest slave owner in this country was a black man. He boasted of owning over 4,000. Also, if we search the same small print that has fast been pulled from our book shelves, we will also find the largest slave trader in the world was also black. He sold over 2-1/2 million of his own people.

You are now asking what this has to do with flying the Confederate battle flag. It means that we should know our mistakes and admit them. Let the flag fly over our Capitol, as a reminder that never again will all citizens of our country allow such a thing as this to happen.

All under 16

We give no thought to the more than 300,000 young men, all under age 16, who fought on both sides in this terrible conflict. We don’t bother to learn the name of that one small boy, who had not yet reached his tenth birthday, yet he wore the Union uniform and did his bit during the Battle of Shiloh.

And no mention is made of a 74-year-old man who cast his lost with the Confederacy, also at Shiloh. We think it cool when we hear the tragic story of a Union sharpshooter by the name of Slade, who was ordered to “take down” a Confederate officer who commanded a rear guard during the retreat from Shiloh.

Obeying the order, Slade killed the young officer, only to find out later he had killed his only son who had left home a year before and joined the cause of the Confederacy. Today, father and son sleep side by side on a rocky hillside near Corinth, Miss., known as Stony Lonesome.

Or perhaps, the tragic story of George M. Lamkin of Winona, Miss., who was seriously wounded at Shiloh before his 12^th birthday. This wound was to make him a cripple for the rest of his life.

If one bothers to take the time to read of the horrors of the prison camps like Andersonville and Camp Douglas, one will find that the death camps of the Nazis were little or no different.

Atrocities of Sherman

But then, no one believes the atrocities of Sherman and his army during his march to the sea after the fall of Atlanta. The rape and pillage of the countryside by this soldiers makes the savage Attila the Hun look quite mild and gentle.

More than 6,000 much-needed horses and mules were taken from the farms along his march and bunched together in large groups. Their throats were then cut by the butchers of Sherman’s army. Sherman knew that these slain animals could not be used to help grow much-needed food.

In returning to our world of fantasy and make believe, I heard it said that General Sherman was a kind and mild-mannered man. I couldn’t believe my ears, hearing these words come from someone who is supposed to know our history.

Perhaps, this person should bother to seek out some of the terrible atrocities of this army under Sherman’s command. Would this one believe that Sherman’s army was followed by over 2,800 so-called freed slaves?

The army had raped, pillage and burned everything in their path. Upon reaching the bayous of Savannah, Sherman placed his army on flatboats and ferried them to the Savannah side of the bayous. The flatboats returned to pick up the followers of his army. Upon reaching midstream with the freed slaves, Sherman ordered the flatboats sunk with cannon fire. His orders were carried out. There were no survivors.

Flags and banners mean many things to many people. We should not get disturbed if one we don’t lie or believe in is displayed or flown in our presence. These flags or banners should only further our determination that we will do everything possible to make this a better and stronger nation. And, that we will survive and correct our past mistakes. We will strive to become closer and live in harmony with all our fellow citizens.

The laws of God apply to all, yesterday and today. And make no mistake, they will apply also to the coming tomorrows. I believe that the time is at hand. Our survival depends on all. Will we go the way of the Romans, or will we join hands and come together as one? The choice is ours. Only we can decide.

(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.)