News from Around the South 9/16 – 9/23

Georgia: ‘One Last Mountain’ Premiere Draws Crowd

MARIETTA — Hundreds of people packed the Strand Theatre on Sunday night to be some of the first to view “Kennesaw: One Last Mountain,” the new film for the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield National Park.

After months of planning, filming and editing, the 35-minute film was presented to a sold out audience just after 8 p.m.

Families, Civil War buffs, Marietta residents and re-enactors, many of whom were in the film, gathered to watch the retelling of one of the pivotal battles of the Civil War.

Before the film began, Ron Carter and Harper Harris played Civil War music on the organ and harmonica as the audience clapped and stomped along.

City Manager Bill Bruton, chair of the 150th Civil War Committee, unveiled a few of the city’s plans for the next nine months leading up to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, which will be June 17, 2014.

The city, as well as the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, will welcome an expected 100,000 people to the area June 26-29 2014, said Nancy Walther, the Superintendent of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

The two mentioned an encampment on Marietta Square, real-life re-enactments of the battles and a of the battles and a constant stream of guided tours throughout the 2,923 acres of the park, complete with re-enactors camping out in the woods.

“These are really sacred grounds with historical significance,” Walther said.

Sitting on the ground, with her hand-sewn white floral dress, hoop skirt and petticoats draped around her, Kim Cole watched the film, alongside her friend Carlie Winegar, who was dressed in a similar green dress.

The two both live in Marietta, and have been involved with Civil War re-enactments for many years.

They were surprised by the number of people who came out for the weekend’s activities, who “crawled,” over the Civil War artifacts that were displayed on the 4th floor of the theatre before the film, Winegar said.

“I think history is something that shouldn’t be lost, and you can preserve it through living history … plus it’s fun,” she added.

Their husbands, Andy Coke and Robert Hale, agreed. The two stood with their rifles and in their soldier’s uniforms throughout the movie, yelling, “Fire,” along with the actors.

Karen Carlisle and her husband, Kee Carlisle, who dressed up earlier Sunday afternoon as a Confederate Solider at the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, were both impressed with the crowd that showed up.

“We just love Kennesaw Mountain, and all of the Civil War history around it,” Karen Carlisle said.

Many people in the audience live near the battlefield, like Anne Strand, the secretary of the Kennesaw Mountain Trail Club.

When she and her husband retired, they became active in the preservation of the park’s trails and history.

Of the movie, she said, “I think it’s wonderful. I saw them filming it; it has an astounding realism.”

Standing in her khaki uniform, which was plastered with badges, Strand spoke with excitement of the coming year’s commemorations, and urged community members to volunteer, donate money and get involved in the battlefield’s sesquicentennial this July.

–Hannah Morgan, Marietta Daily Journal

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Mississippi: Premiere Set for Civil War Film

What started as a research project for Texas attorney Dan Kennerly has turned into a historical film that will premiere Saturday and Sunday at Union University’s W.D. Powell Theatre.

Starring several Union alumni and faculty members, “The Raid on Holly Springs” is a true story about how Holly Springs, Miss., was saved from destruction during the Civil War, according to a news release from the university.

“There is a sort of God-coincidence in the movie,” said David Burke, a professor of theater and the director of the W.D. Powell Theatre. “It’s really why Holly Springs is standing today.”

Kennerly, who directed and wrote the screenplay for the film, said Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was defeated in 1862 during a Confederate raid on Holly Springs. After losing the fight, he ordered one of his colonels to burn Holly Springs to the ground.

Grant’s colonel later made a startling discovery in Holly Springs, Kennerly said, causing the colonel not only to defy Grant’s orders but also to post a cavalry across the city to prevent Grant’s soldiers from starting fires.

“We’re telling a story that has not been told,” Kennerly said, as few historical records detail what happened at Holly Springs.

Described by Burke as a Civil War aficionado, Kennerly learned about the Holly Springs raid while conducting research for a history class he was taking. After searching through Civil War archives and talking with descendants from the raid, he decided to create a film about his findings, the release said.

Kennerly held auditions for the movie in 1998 at Union. He then traveled from Texas to Tennessee to film the movie when his cast and crew were available.

Kennerly recruited Burke as an acting coach, since Burke already was on the sets with his three sons, who had roles in the film, according to the release. During a critical scene at a Holly Springs mansion, however, Burke found himself starring in the movie as well.

One of the actors failed to arrive to the set, Burke said. With more than 40 cast and crew members waiting to start filming, Kennerly asked Burke to try on the uniform intended for the missing actor — and the clothes fit.

“I took about 15 minutes to try to memorize the lines as best as I could,” said Burke, who then stepped into the scene and played a general who laid out the plans to destroy Grant’s army depot.

Ray Eaton, a broadcasting technician at Union, also starred in the film as Grant’s adjutant.

Although the movie was Eaton’s first screen performance, he acted in about 50 plays ranging from comedies to dramas as a student and former Freed-Hardeman University staff member, according to the release. Despite his experience, Eaton joked that his physical appearance was the reason he was selected to be in the movie.

“I had a beard at that time, and I think that probably helped me get the role,” Eaton said. “Because I had a full beard, I didn’t have to put on anything fake.”

Burke said that premiere attendees may recognize more than faculty and alumni in the movie, as many of the scenes were filmed in or near Jackson. Kennerly’s cameraman scouted the region for ideal filming locations, which included Civil War-era homes in Trenton and Holly Springs.

The movie’s completion was delayed for many reasons, Kennerly said, particularly due to editing 20-plus hours of footage. Union alumnus Julian Williamson finished editing the film July 2.

“The Raid on Holly Springs” will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Burke said various cast and crew members will be attending the free premieres, which will include musical performances by the 52nd Regimental String Band from Memphis.

“It’s almost going to be like a family reunion,” Burke said. “There’s going to be a lot of good energy here at Union that weekend.”

-The Jackson Sun

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Mississippi:

Abraham Lincoln will be on campus this week — at least his look-a-like will be.

To commemorate the American Civil War sesquicentennial, the Symposium on Lincoln: the Movie and the Man will be held Monday and Tuesday. The event will include a showing of the 2012 motion picture as well as a panel discussion and lectures from notable speakers including Frank Williams, a former Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice, and George Buss, a nationally acclaimed Lincoln character actor. All events are free and open to the public.

The Office of the President Mark E. Keenum, Mitchell Memorial Library, the Grant Presidential Library, African American Studies and Shackouls Honors College sponsor the symposium.

Frances Coleman, dean of libraries, said the symposium is an excellent opportunity for people to learn about the history and the man.

“Those of us from the South might not know as much as we need or would like to know about Lincoln,” Coleman said.

During the symposium, speakers will separate Hollywood magic and history facts using the 2012 epic historical drama “Lincoln.”

Stephen Cunetto, MSU Libraries’ administrator of systems, said the movie is important to see because it reflects a time in our country that changed the course of history.

“Those issues that are dealt with in the movie are still being dealt with today and had certain ramifications for how things changed,” Cunetto said. “Lincoln certainly was influential in that.”

Lincoln, the movie, sparked the idea of the symposium.

John Marszalek, a retired MSU Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus and executive director and managing editor of the U.S. Grant Association, said Rhonda Keenum, President Keenum’s wife, created the idea of the symposium.

“The whole idea for the symposium came from a dinner when Chief Justice Williams was here and was giving a lecture at the library,” Marszalek said. “During the course of the conversation, the Lincoln movie had just become a big deal, and we were talking about it. Mrs. Keenum said, ‘It would be great if we could do something to make sure the students got to see this, and we could talk about what it was like.’”

Since then, several campus offices have become involved in the creation of the event.

The symposium will begin with a showing of “Lincoln” Monday starting at 7p.m. in McCool Hall’s Taylor Auditorium.

On Tuesday, historians including Marszalek will present lectures related to the movie and Lincoln.

John Middleton, MSU history professor and leader of the African American studies program, will give a lecture on Lincoln and the Thirteenth Amendment.

“I happen to think Lincoln is the greatest president this country has ever had, especially from the African American perspective,” Middleton said. “If you are going to truly understand this country and why we should embrace the opportunities and the liberties that we have, it is important to understand Lincoln and what he did for the country with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.”

A press conference with Lincoln is scheduled for Tuesday as one of the events. Buss, as Lincoln, will deliver the famous “Gettysburg Address.” A panel discussion moderated by Sid Salter, University Relations director, will follow.

Marszalek said he plans on walking Buss around campus to see how many students are startled by the presence of the important president — or at least his look-a-like.

A goal of the symposium is to show people Lincoln’s ongoing influence.

Ravi Perry, political science and public administration professor and member of the African American studies faculty, said Lincoln is an obvious choice, especially in terms of the South and MSU.

“MSU is an ideal place to have such a symposium. It is simple to see that the movie was a huge blockbuster success, and so it is a great opportunity to use it as an educational tool,” Perry said. “Lincoln, in his era, has had a significant reverberating effect on our politics, and Lincoln is also President Obama’s favorite president as he aims to be as transformational in the modern era as Lincoln.”

Lincoln’s influence can still be seen today. His push to end the disenfranchisement of African Americans while granting equality in the Civil Rights Amendments has developed to modern issues.

“It has been extended significantly to be applicable to other groups of people: women, presidential candidates, persons of the LGBT-community and to the poor populations,” Perry said.

For more information about the Symposium on Lincoln: the Movie and the Man and its event schedule, visitguides.library.msstate.edu/lincoln.

-Mary Kate McGowan, The Reflector

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Tennessee:  Chattanooga Home to Graves of Five Southern Generals

Chattanooga area cemeteries are the final resting places of many Civil War veterans.   The area became known for the battles that occurred, for the National Cemetery established  in 1863, and for its industrial growth following the war.  Each of those provided reasons that so many former soldiers are interred here.

Chattanoogan.com photographer Wes Schultz captured images of the headstones of five Civil War generals who are buried in the area.  Much more information is available on each of these men.  The following is a summary.

Francis Marion Walker (1827-1864; burial site at Forest Hills Cemetery in St. Elmo)

Walker was a native of Paris, KY and served in the Confederate States Army.  He fought at the battles of Shiloh and Stones River.  One day before his commission as brigadier general became effective, he was killed in the Battle of Atlanta.

John E. MacGowan (1831-1903; burial site in the older section of Chattanooga Memorial Park in Red Bank).

Born in Ohio, John MacGowan entered the Union Army as a private and rose through the ranks.  After the war, he settled at Chattanooga and became a lawyer.  He later served as editor of The Chattanooga Times.

John T. Wilder (1830-1917; burial site at Forest Hills Cemetery)

Wilder grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York.  Before the war, he was an inventor of several hydraulic machines.  He enlisted in the 1^st Indiana Battery when the Civil War began in April, 1861.  Wilder led troops at Shiloh, Tullahoma, and Chickamauga, where he became known for his Lightning Brigade.  Following the war, he established ironworks at Chattanooga and Rockwood.  Wilder was elected mayor of Chattanooga in 1871, but left the following year to return to private business.  He later became commissioner of the Chattanooga-Chickamauga Military Park.  Wilder Tower is named for him.

Timothy R. Stanley (1810-1874; burial site at National Cemetery)

Stanley was born in Hartford, Ct.  He served with the 18^th Ohio Infantry, and fought with the Union Army as they pushed southeast into the Confederate States through the battles of Nashville, Stones River, Tullahoma, and Chickamauga.  Following the war, Stanley was in the ironworks and banking business.

William P. Sanders (1833-1863; burial site at National Cemetery)

Sanders was from Frankfort, KY.   A West Point graduate (though not a model cadet), he served with the Union Army.  He was a cousin of Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis.  Sanders died in the Siege of Knoxville.  A Knoxville fort was renamed for him.  Today, that area is the Fort Sanders neighborhood of Knoxville.

Many other former Civil War soldiers of all ranks are at eternal rest in the Chattanooga area.

-The Chattanoogan

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