I Wish I Was In The Land Of Cotton

I wish I was in the land of cotton

'Simmon seeds and Sandy Bottom

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

On the occasion of an old friend's 70th birthday, I found myself traveling from Baja Georgia up to Columbus, Georgia over the weekend to celebrate with him.  It was a great gathering and allowed me to catch up with friends many of whom I haven't seen in over twenty years. The journey took me through the heart of the state and the cradle of the Civil War, a war in which my forebears fought on the side of the Confederacy.

It's Dixie's Land that I was born in

Early on a frosty mornin'

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

This horrible and tragic event tore our country to its core and left terrible deep scars, some of which remain to this day.  A small example is the song Dixie.  Though credited as being written by two black brothers who longed for their old homestead in Sandy Bottom, Maryland and copyrighted as Dixie's Land, it is now seen as a symbol of racism and hatred, something it was never intended to be.  It was, in fact, Abraham Lincoln's campaign song.

Them buckwheat cakes and injun batter

Makes you fat or a little fatter

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

Contrary to popular belief, the Civil War was not fought over slavery but over state's rights, one of which was the right to secede from the union.  Of course, a hundred and fifty years later we all know that preserving the union was the right thing to do but the course of events that was the American Civil War forever changed the balance of power and established the federal government as the supreme law of the land.  This comes to mind because on my journey, I passed by the spot near Irwinville, GA where Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America, was captured.

There is a monument erected on the spot where Davis was captured.  He had retreated into the heart of Georgia so-as-to meet up with several of the remaining generals and their armies to form a territory that would defend itself until the Federal government agreed to the Confederate states being readmitted to the union with full states rights and protection of persons and property.  Two companies of Union troops were hot on his trail and stumbled into each other during the night.  Each believing the other to be the enemy, they opened fire on each other killing two of their own men.  Davis and his party surrendered peacefully the following morning.

So hoe it down and scratch that gravel

To Dixie's Land I'm bound to travel

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

 

There is a very nice little museum on the spot stocked with lots of original documents and artifacts from the war.  I was intrigued by this photo.  I can remember as a small boy seeing the "last rebel soldier" in a Veteran's Day parade.  He was ancient looking and was supposedly a young drummer boy during the war.  I am reminded that the war really wasn't that long ago.

Ole missus married Will the weaver

But Willum' was a gay deceiver

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

 

Following Lincoln's assassination hysteria swept the land and this proclamation and reward was offered for Jefferson Davis and his cabinet even though Davis and most of the cabinet were already prisoners or dead.  Testament to the lack of communication in those days.  One hundred thousand dollars in 1865 would be about $10 million today.  Quite a ransom.

For when he put his arms around her

He smiled fierce as a forty-pounder

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

 

The next stop on my tour was the site of the infamous Andersonville prisoner of war camp.  Known then as Camp Sumpter, the camp was originally built to house 10,000 occupants.  But as prisoners began to file in at the rate of 400 a day, the original camp was soon crowded to overflowing eventually topping out at 32,000 persons.  There was no way the one small creek that was the sole source of fresh water could supply demand and no way that the then bedraggled Confederate army could supply enough food and medicine for that many prisoners.  Conditions soon deteriorated into that of a hell hole.  Over 13,000 men died of starvation, malnutrition, disease and exposure.

Ole missus played the foolish part

And died for a man who broke her heart

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

A replica of one of the stockade's gates.  Prisoners came through the outer gate first and then passed through the inner gate into the compound.   "Once inside, men exclaimed: 'Is this hell?'  Verily, the great mass of gaunt, unnatural-looking beings, soot-begrimed, and clad in filthy tatters, that we saw stalking about inside this pen looked, indeed, as if they might belong to a world of lost spirits."... W.B. Smith, 14th Illinois Infantry, October 9, 1864.  The camp commandant, Capt. Henry Wirz, tried repeatedly to find supplies and medical attention for the men, to no avail.  Local families brought what little food and clothing they could spare.  The Confederacy even sent petitions to the Union army offering to turn the prisoners over to them but by that time both armies were so intent on the fighting that neither had the time or resources to help.

When the Union army finally arrived and saw the conditions they understandably sought revenge against the locals but found them to be little better off than the prisoners themselves.  Capt. Wirz was hanged in Washington, D.C. on November 10, 1865.

So here's to the health of the next ole missus

And to all the girls who want to kiss us

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land

The prisoner's graves at the nearby Andersonville National Cemetery.  You cannot come to this place without being deeply moved.  When will we ever learn?

Now if you want to lose your sorrow

Come and sing this song tomorrow

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land