Posted on 08/19/2003 6:14:00 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
The death of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Oct. 12, 1870, prompted a host of public meetings and gatherings and an outpouring of feelings about a hero of the era.
In Kentucky, one of the largest gatherings took place in Louisville where two speakers were chosen to give the main talks.
One was an obvious selection: John Cabell Breckinridge, a former U.S. vice president and senator, fellow Confederate general and former Confederate Secretary of War.
The other speaker, however, was not so obvious in the years immediately following the war when feelings still ran high.
He had been a strong Union supporter during the Civil War. He had proudly proclaimed himself an abolitionist. As a state legislator, he had authored a resolution calling for the state to "expel the invaders" when Confederate troops entered the commonwealth in September 1861. Moreover, he served as adjutant general for the commonwealth during the war in charge of Home Guard defenses against rebel troops.
His name was John W. Finnell.
Finnell's speech honoring Lee showed an abiding respect for the South's most distinguished general that could only help heal the war's scars and underscored that even enemies remain brothers in arms.
Finnell was born in Winchester on Dec. 24, 1821, the son of Nimrod L. Finnell, a printer by trade.
He graduated from Transylvania University while still a teen-ager, learned the printing business and then switched to law and politics.
He served in the state House of Representatives as representative from Nicholas County in 1845 and 1846. As a young, up-and-coming member of the Whig Party, he caught the eye of Gov. John J. Crittenden who in 1848 made him secretary of state. Finnell was only 27 years old.
By the 1850s, Finnell had moved to Covington where he opened a law office and married Elizabeth Tureman, whom he had met while living in Nicolas County.
The year 1861 proved pivotal for Finnell. He again sought a seat in the state House of Representatives but this time from Kenton County. He ran and won as a pro-Union supporter.
Of more importance, on Oct.12, 1861 as the hostilities began their sixth month, Finnell was appointed by Gov. Beriah MaGoffin to be state adjutant general.
The appointment put him in charge of state military operations, including the organization and use of Home Guards, made up usually of Union supporters too young or too old for regular military service.
The Louisville Journal, some months after his appointment, praised Magoffin's choice of Finnell as the "happiest possible one'' and called Finnell "a patriot of unimpeachable purity, a ready and accomplished man of affairs, a gentleman and a Kentuckian without reproach.''
Finnell gained local support when he announced plans to purchase underclothing for the Home Guard from Covington suppliers, with the Ladies Soldier's Relief Society overseeing the operations. The writer noted the work would be timely for poor, unemployed women in Covington.
Among Finnell's first orders were to merge Home Guard units that had lost members to either the Union or Confederate armies to restore their strength, arrest Union deserters and restrict the use of alcohol by his troops.
Finnell served as state adjutant general until September 1863, when his benefactor, Gov. Magoffin, resigned and James Fisher Robinson was appointed to complete his term.
Finnell's speech honoring Lee came just five years after the war's end.
He called the Confederate general a tower of strength, whose life was not diminished by defeat.
He termed Lee a Christian gentleman, who turned to teaching after the war and who embarked on that new career with the same enthusiasm he had shown as a soldier.
Finally, Finnell said Lee was not a man of one section of the country or of one time, but rather a man who belonged to all of the country and all ages.
The study of Northern Kentucky history is an avocation of staff writer Jim Reis, who covers suburban Kenton County for The Kentucky Post.
Political agendas, power, and money might be the motivator for these present-day revisionists and their game. They make profit by twisting the stories and sacred memory of these brave men. The sell books, push programs, and masquerade as "educators" or "historians." Sadly, many folks believe their spiteful tales and choose not to believe otherwise.
When it so happens that those soldiers are being used to an immoral and tyrannical end, and when it so happens that those soldiers are frequently engaged in the criminal acts of rape, looting, and murder against the civilian populations of the state, then no. There is nothing wrong with acting in self defense to impede them including by force if necessary.
Try the founding fathers. It's one of the reasons why we have a second amendment
"By the principles of the American revolution, arbitrary power may and ought to be resisted even by arms if necessary -- The time may come when it shall be the duty of a State, in order to preserve itself from the oppression of the general government, to have recourse to the sword" - Luther Martin, 1788
Thanks for the warning.
Again
<snip>
To: stainlessbanner
Robert Lee's minions were the ones killing U. S. troops.
11 posted on 08/15/2003 6:48 AM EDT by Grand Old Partisan (You can read about my history of the GOP at www.republicanbasics.com)
</snip>
"Ads in taglines are off limits" -JimRob
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.