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Civil War soldiers at Gettysburg Civil War soldiers at Gettysburg Civil War Friendship Union and Confederate Brothers During the Civil War a number of cases were recorded in which
Masons on one side of the war extended kindnesses to those on the other
side. At Vicksburg, two days after the city fell, Masons on
both sides got together and held a lodge meeting. Confederate lodge members
even assisted in the burial of the captain of one of the Union vessels which
had captured the strategic town. At Jacksonville State University in Alabama, the head
of the History Department reported that stories were plentiful about
plantation owners displaying Masonic rings or aprons to marauding Yankee
troops, who then obligingly left their properties unharmed. He pointed out
that in the path of Sherman’s march to the sea, you can find a number of
plantation houses still standing where one would have expected to find only
charred ruins. At Gettysburg, Pickett's Charge was an infantry
assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George
G. Meade's Union positions on Cemetery Ridge. It occurred on July 3, 1863,
the last day of that famous battle. After the fateful Charge, a
Confederate general lay dying. On his bloody bed, he asked about a fellow
Mason who happened to be on the Union side. The Mason, an aide to one of the
Union generals, came to him . . . and gave him dying comfort. In Charleston, South Carolina, Lt. George Dixon . . . a
Mason . . . was commander of the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley. When he
boarded that little vessel on Feb. 17, 1864, he carried with him a badge
from Mobile Lodge No. 40. The Hunley sank the USS Housatonic that night,
becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. But the Hunley was
also sunk, and the lodge badge went to the bottom of Charleston Harbor along
with its owner. They would stay there for 136 years. The Hunley was finally
lifted off the bottom, in August of the year 2000. Three years later the
bones of Lt. Dixon and his crew were buried in a Charleston cemetery. Dixon
was buried with Masonic rites, which were provided by the modern-day members
of his lodge. To be remembered by an acquaintance for a month is
good. To be remembered by a friend for twenty years is
pleasing. To be remembered by brothers for 136 years . . . is to be a Mason. Sources: This talk was presented by Sanford Holst at Home Lodge No. 721 in California. It was published online at www.MasonicSourcebook.com on 29 April 2011. Earlier source was American History by Suite 101, "Masons on Both Sides of Civil War, Fraternal Bond Transcended Enmity Between Blue and Gray" by Gene Owens 2 June 2009. If you pass this piece of history on to others, please credit the sources. Civil War Friends and Soldiers at Gettysburg _________________________________ How does a secretive society build men who are this generous to their brothers among "the enemy"? The roots of these and other unusual practices in Masonry are deeply explored in the book Sworn in Secret. The Scottish Rite Journal calls this new book, "Thought-provoking, well researched and well written." Sworn in Secret ___________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Rare books, Civil War, Best books, Directory, Masons Templars Quarry Project, Buffalo Bill Cody, Old Time Freemasonry Sworn in Secret, Early American, Knights Templar, Civil War3 Latest books, Born in Blood, Solomon's Temple, Coil's Encyclopedia York Rite, Allen Roberts, John Robinson, 2010 symposium, Allen Price Grand Lodge England, Holy Grail, Kabbalah, Nadia, Robert Burns Freemasonry education, UCLA, Stonemasons, Scottish Lodge US Lodges, UK Lodges, Canada Lodges, Australia Lodges Templar Swords, Freemason, Templar Trials, Civil War2, Table Lodge Origin of Freemasonry, Templar History, Freemasons history © 2008-2024 Sanford Holst - web design by webwizards |
The Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial at Gettysburg was crafted by Ron Tunison. It shows the mortally-wounded Confederate Brigadier Gen-eral Lewis Addison Armistead being comforted by Union Captain Henry H. Bingham. Both men were Masons. Vicksburg during the Civil War Lincoln at Gettysburg CSS Hunley -. |