It's just an ordinary little town, but I was inordinately excited. I came here not for the sleepy little modern town of about 2,000, but to find the Abbeville of 150 years ago. I didn't end up talking to anyone here much, though I had planned to, and I think it's because I see the town not in its peaceful, sunny present, but it its tragic, romantic past. I see a ragtag group of optimistic young farm boys marching off to drive away the Yankee invader. And most of them never returned. Crazy, I know, but it was a very powerful experience for me, and I don't think the modern folk of Abbeville would really have understood.
Here's your history post for the day:
The 15th Regiment of Alabama Infantry was a Confederate volunteer infantry unit from the state of Alabama during the American Civil War. Recruited from six counties in the southeastern part of the state, it fought mostly with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, though it also saw brief service with Braxton Bragg and the Army of Tennessee before returning to Virginia for the duration of the war. Out of 1958 men listed on the regimental rolls throughout the conflict, 261 are known to have fallen in battle, with sources listing an additional 416 deaths due to disease, 218 were captured (46 died), 66 deserted and 61 were transferred or discharged. By the end of the war, only 170 men remained to be paroled.
The 15th Alabama is most famous for being the regiment that confronted the 20th Maine on Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. Despite several ferocious assaults, the 15th Alabama was ultimately unable to dislodge the Union troops, and was eventually forced to retreat in the face of a desperate bayonet charge led by the 20th Maine's commander, Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain. This assault was recreated in Ronald F. Maxwell's 1993 film Gettysburg.
William C. Oates. The "C" stands for Calvin; he went by "Cal."The 'G' Company, from Henry County, was formed by William C. Oates, a lawyer and newspaperman from Abbeville. Oates, who would later command the whole regiment at Little Round Top, put together a company composed mostly of Irishmen recruited from the area, calling them "Henry Pioneers" or "Henry County Pioneers". Other observers, after seeing their colorful uniforms (bright red shirts, with Richmond grey frock coats and trousers), dubbed them "Oates' Zouaves".
While details of the specific uniforms worn by other companies of the 15th has not been preserved, Oates' Co. "G" is recorded to have sported, in addition to their red and gray clothing, a "colorful and diverse attire of headgear". Each cap bore an "HP" insignia, which stood for "Henry Pioneers" (though some said it actually meant "Hell's Pelters"). Each soldier also wore a "secession badge", with the motto: "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity", which had been the motto of the French Revolution.
The 15th participated in quite a few battles, the most famous of which was Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
We started out by just driving around. We came across this old house:
Then we found a war memorial with Calvin Kirkland's name on it. Calvin Kirkland is Karl's Civil War persona. He was a 22 year-old farmer who was killed at the Second Battle of Manassas in Virginia.
And check out the name of the main street downtown:
I spent the whole afternoon in the library, and I have a whole bunch of notes on Abbeville history. If you're interested.
The old Abbeville cemetery is right next to the library.
We took pictures of a bunch of homes, but they're not exciting enough to post. But as we were driving along a country road, Claire spotted this lovely place and called it "Uncle Rufus' Farm." I asked her why he got such a nice farm and we didn't. She said that Calvin is a carpenter, and I guess if I'm making up the rules of this game, then I'd better play along!
We decided this one is Captain Brock's house. Doesn't it look Captain-y?
Country road. It actually looks a lot like Washington here, except for pine trees, not firs.
Splinch.I think the Captain should have invested our money locally!
We ate dinner at "Huggin' Molly's" - cheese grits, fried pickles, fried green tomatoes. Had to try them, but I'm so-o-o-o ready for a salad!
Huggin' Molly's was pretty cool inside. Besides featuring a totally cool movie poster of "To Kill a Mockingbird", it was set up like a pharmacy and soda fountain.
These pictures don't really reflect my experience with Abbeville. They're what I saw on the outside, but I actually spent most of my time immersed in library books like some demented Hermione Granger, and that's where I found the Abbeville I was seeking.
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