CHAPTER XI
As in wars before and after the Civil War, people were eager to help the
boys who were doing the fighting. Knitting and sewing groups sprang up.
It is said the product was much the same as some we saw in WW I and II,
showing more zeal than ability. Many jokes were made about the garments
knitted for their saddle horses...surely not for men...and the sox,
apparently misquoted from pairs knitted for a size 14 foot and a size
five. The Texans, like nost Southerners, went to war thinking the
conflict would soon be over. They wrote home for what they needed and
some brother or father supplied provisions when money was slow coming
from the treasury at Richmond. Strict orders came out from headquarters
regarding the uniforms Jeff Davis and his soldier leaders meant for the
Southern Rebel soldiers to wear, but the cupboard was bare when Texas
soldiers needed uniforms of any sort...and these had to be provided by
the men themselves. This need gave rise to the plans laid in Wheelock
for the mill to make woolen cloth and cotton cloth for uniforms. This
plans too long in realizations came to nothing for the soldiers as we
know, but it showed the temper of the community and the sacrifices that
were made for the Confederate Army by civilians. Some may have tongue in
cheek when considering this Wheelock plan as a sacrifice...it might
better be considered a gamble in which all stakes were lost and no one
was the winner.
Horseracing and betting were a pass time for soldier and civilian alike
and the stories are innumerable in the early settlements of races and
tricks played on friend and enemy in the sport. Card games were time
consuming and the men were eager to get into such games as Keno, euchre,
Fare and chuck-a-luck, while the ladies who indulged in card games with
gentlemen were usually playing hearts or whist, later called
bridge-whist. Dancing was another passtime and delight indulged in
throughout the country except where prohibited by church prejudice and
parental disapproval.
It is an interesting observation that after a session of the oratorical
fire and brimstone enjoyed in Camp Meetings, the dancing slowed up for a
while as did gambling and other forms of "vice" enjoyed by soldiers far
from home and the watchful eye of family and family friends who
sometimes have a greater deterrent influence on boys and young men than
do the family preachments. But, since memory is short and man is
mortal, once the sound of the preachers' voices faded from the brush
arbor or the camp ground the resumption of the gambling, racing,
drinking, girling was quick and easy for the majority.
It is interesting for the children of James Volney Cavitt and their
progony to know something of the temper of the uncle of their father,
Cornolia Ann Rutland Taylor Cavitt, whose mother was the daughter of
Gen. Braxton Bragg's brother. In 1862 a general order was issued by
Braxton Bragg, who was president of the Temperance Society, to all
commanders of all grades to stamp out drunkeness among the troops. It
stated, "More than half the labor of the courts-martial result from it
(drunkenness), demoralization, disease and death often prove it....More
lives are lost from drunkenness than from enemy shot or shell."
The names given to the bootleg liquor were descriptive of the effects
upon the imbiber. There was red-eye, pop-skull, and rifle-knock-knee.
The means of making these poisons were described in letters home from
soldiers....and the inventiveness then was similar to the prescriptions
for bathtub gin in the more recent prohibition era.
A typical Cavitt remark was made by Jim Cavitt, son of Volney, son of
Ann and Andrew Cavitt, with regard to drinking or abstaining. The matter
was under discussion as to the children of Volney and Clara Sparks
Cavitt having been by and large temperate people, Jim remarked, "I
believe it is no virtue to a teetotler if, like me, he hates the taste
of the stuff. On the other hand, Joe who really lilies the taste of the
fermented and distilled fruits of the field has shown a great deal of
self discipline by refraining fron drinking and therefore deserves
credit for strength of character in this matter."
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The most beautiful things in the world cannot be
seen or touched. It must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
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Wishes, Wants, and Dreams....a few poetic illusions
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...It is in silence where music lies...
Yanni
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One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem,
and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Goethe
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