https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/333426873287cd4abf3458ae8c7484ca.png d8921ebb6eccb7eba28e321286618df3 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/3951cdcd34e7f5c38d5868e66a173402.png 52be0e99d55c82fea1fd6b57b8be3fd2 https://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/files/original/001801e6a1cefa82ef29513c2e7fb1d2.png 7221101aa0e8dc3eebf9c6f598925b2d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Memory and Commemoration Subject The topic of the resource Most documents from the height of Civil War memory and commemoration efforts in Mississippi and the larger United States are from the early 20th century. Because of this, they won't be found in the CWRGM collection, which ends in 1882. But CWRGM documents can still help site users think about how the <a href="https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/lost_cause_the">Lost Cause</a> helped erase the memory of white Unionism in Mississippi, of Black military service in the Union armies/navy, and of tremendous socio-economic advances by African-Americans during the era of Reconstruction that were systematically attacked as that era came to a close. The documents in this section help students, educators, researchers, and the public explore the wartime experiences that the Lost Cause helped erase. Some of the earliest examples of wartime dissent that surface in these sample documents occur shortly after the Confederacy passed the Conscription Act, forcibly drafting men into Confederate military service. Instances of this appear in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/24">July 1862 in Kemper County</a> and <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/25">August 1862 in Lowndes County, MS</a>, and you'll notice that they mostly address perceived inefficiencies of the law or its unfair enforcement. A great example of this is the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/23">July 1862 petition from Jasper County</a> opposing illegal implementation of the draft, but not the draft per se. In October 1862, however, the Confederate legislature enacted what became known as the 20 Slave Law to ensure that selected slave holders could remain at home to police enslaved populations and ensure that agricultural production continued. For a summary on this exemption and the frustrations it caused, including complaints that this was now a "rich man's war but a poor man's fight," see <a href="https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/twenty-slave_law">this short essay</a>. Evidence of the growing resistance to conscription in Mississippi surfaces in these sample documents as early as the spring and summer of 1863, with an account from Canton, MS, referencing the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/39">public's sympathy for deserters</a> and another from Union Church in Jefferson County referencing the public's unwillingness to assist in the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/45">arrest of deserters</a>. As late as the spring of 1865, documents can be found in the collection, like this one from <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/64">Enterprise, MS</a>, noting the need to round up deserters and locals' unwillingness to assist in the process. On the question of Unionism in Mississippi during and immediately following the war, historians estimate that approximately 500 white Mississippians serve in the <a href="http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/175/mississippi-soldiers-in-the-civil-war">Union Army and Navy</a>, while others expressed their Union sympathies as civilians. Several examples of this exist in these sample documents, but not necessarily in this "Memory and Commemoration" theme. You can find them by doing a keyword search for "Union" at the top of any page in the exhibit. One example of wartime Unionism is found in <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/73">James H. Pierce's July 1865 </a>letter to Governor Sharkey, seeking an appointment in recognition of Pierce's loyalty as a "union man" during the war. A <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/77">similar account</a> of longstanding unionism arrived in Sharkey's office that month from a Macon, MS man. Former Confederates noted Unionist support as well, as this <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/68">June 1865 letter</a> from Ripley, MS demonstrates. O. Davis was a former Confederate who accepted that defeat, noting, "the institution of slavery was staked upon the result of the war. We have played and lost and I, for one, am willing to surrender this stake." But Davis protested the idea that Mississippi men who fought for the Union might receive political appointments in the postwar period, insisting that "There is, and will be, for some time much prejudice against Those Southern men who have been in the U.S. army." One of the most powerful documents in this theme is the <a href="http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/items/show/66">May 1865 address</a> by Mississippi's last Confederate governor, Charles Clark. CWRGM is digitizing governors' Legislative Ledgers last, so this image is actually from digitized microfilm and doesn't reflect the quality standards of the project. It's also difficult to read, as you will notice from the incomplete transcription. But if you scroll down a bit, you'll see that this is a speech by Governor Clark to the Mississippi House of Representatives. The state had just surrendered to Union forces and all sitting office-holders, from the governor on down, were sent home, with some concerned that they might be arrested. Clark's speech reflects his determination to shape how history remembers their role in the Confederacy, despite insisting that he "shall leave the story of this contest to after times & the pen of the impartial Historian. Its History can not now be written." Instead, Clark presented one of the earliest histories of the war, listing its causes, the best approach for the future, and how the state's role in the Confederacy should be remembered. (Written by Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.) Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Page 1: Hd Qrs Military Post Enterprise Miss Feby 21st 1865. Colonel, Sir I respectfully ask permission to bring to the notice of the Lieut General commanding this Department the subject of returning men to the field, who are absent from their commands. The lack of mounted men to arrest these absentees is a serious draw back on those who have the matter in charge. To remedy this want, to some extent, the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, have heretofore passed an act requiring all state officers, who are exempted from conscription by order of the Governor; to arrest all absentees from the army, found in their counties. The penalty for neglect of this duty, is that they shall be reported to the Grand jury, and upon conviction, their office to be declared vacant, and the party conscribed. But their being no courts held in two thirds of the counties, this penalty amounts to nothing, and the law is not inforced—in fact it cannot be with any prospect of imediate remedy, for the reason that in ordi-nary times, it would require two years to convict a man under the law. There ^are^ from thirty to fifty men exempted in each county in the state, who in fact have nothing to do an official ch[strikethrough]unknown[strikethrough]achter, that requires three days in a month These men all have horses, and can travel over their counties five days in a week, and still perform all their official duties—they know every man in the county—where he lives, to what part of the army he belongs, and when he is at home: so that if they would perform their duty, it would give a respectable sized company of mounted men in each coun-ty. To remedy this defect and to provide a speedy and ef-fective penalty against against these exempts, I must respectfully submit, the propriety of Lieut Genl Taylor, inviting the at-tention of the Governor and Legislature, now in session to the subject, and suggest ^that^ the passage of law, authorizing the Enrolling officer in each county to call upon these exempts Page 2: and require them to give a certain portion of their time to this duty, and upon neglect or failure to comply, that the officer report the fact to the Governor, who shall revoke their exemptions, and place them immediately sent to the field:— would [reside?] the present law effective and be the means, of obviating the necessity of making details from the army to perform this police duty. I hope Sir, you will not consider me as presuming, in offering these suggestions to my supervise officer, un-asked, but receive them as the convictions that have presented themselves to my mind, in the discharge of my official duties. I am Sir—very Respectfully Your Obedient Servant M S Ward Major Comd Post. To Colonel E Surget. A. A. G. Meredian Miss Page 3: Hd. Qrs. Military Post. Enterprise Miss Feby 21st, 1865 Major M. S. Ward Comd.g .Post Calling attention to the subject of returning ab-sentees to the army, and making some suggestions thereon. Hd Qrs Dept Ala Miss & E. La Meridian Feby 23d 1865 Respectfully referred to His Excellency Gov Clark for his consideration, It would doubtless be to the interest of the service should the Legis[gap]lature take some such action as is suggested by Maj Ward. R. Taylor Lieut Genl # 35 [?] Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from M.S. Ward to E. Surget; February 21, 1865 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context mdah_768-950-06-15 Subject The topic of the resource Clark, Charles, 1811-1877; Confederate States of America. Army.; Military deserters.; Mississippi. Governor; Description An account of the resource From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Clark Collection. Letter from M. S. Ward, commander of the Post at Enterprise, Mississippi, to E. Surget concerning the use of exempt county officials to capture deserters from the army. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ward, M. S. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (electronic version); Mississippi Digital Library. (electronic version) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-02-21 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Funding for this project provided by The Dale Center for Study of War and Society-USM, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Digital Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the Watson-Brown Foundation Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES; http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1865