2016-03-08- Winter Speaker Event - "The Life of the Confederate Soldier"
Arthur
Green is a military historian whose own family history in Monmouth
County dates back to 1680 and is populated with ancestors who served
in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. So maybe his fascination for all
things military is in his genes. From childhood, he has collected and
researched uniforms, equipment, weapons—the stuff of waging war and
the stories behind it. He is next in the Museum Speakers Series,
appearing 7:15, Tuesday, March 8, at the auditorium of the old
Oakhurst Schoolhouse (Board Offices), 163 Monmouth Rd., Oakhurst.
He’s bringing with him items from his collection to illustrate the
life of a Civil War soldier.
“I’ve
chosen to talk about the Confederate soldier,” Arthur explains,
“because it tells a little-understood but interesting story.” It
is the story of how the Southern agrarian society with limited
manufacturing capability and few raw materials— was able to
mobilize and equip an army. The North had the factories, distribution
channels, and financial resources to provision its troops. The South
relied on determination, innovation, and the personal involvement of
its population.
The difference is seen in uniforms and equipment. The Confederates
emphasized functionality. Their uniform was not a fashion statement.
No cuffs, limited trim. Non-traditional materials substituted for
things like leather and wool. Everyone, even Mrs. Robert E. Lee,
worked on provisions. The story is that when told the war had ended,
she lay down her knitting, having finished just one sock of a pair,
saying “our soldier will not need these now.”
Click [_] box on the bottom right of the video for fullscreen