A song for the Union (bonus)

T'was before the war in 1860 when I captured John Brown raiding Harper's Ferry (I know that was a while  ago but i still remember it :]). So he was in his cell and i was on guard duty for his corridor and then he goes "Mr. Lee may I have a scrap of paper?" I look at him and I was very surprised. I asked him why and he said "I dunno just wanted to jot something down. So, as a good guard, I got him a pen and some paper and then he started writing a lot of stuff down on it. But not in the form of a letter, it was like he was writing a poem. When he was done he asked me "Mr. Lee can you revise this for spelling errors?" I was so shocked at his request, I thought it was a trap but it wasn't every few minutes I would glance up from the paper to see what old John was doing and he just looked at me and said "Well, how is it?" I just shrugged and kept reading. It was interesting to tell you the truth. I told him I would keep it, and copy it when my shift ended and give him his original copy. So that's what I did. I'll leave you guys with my copy of his song (I'll attach a video at a future date):

It has profanity....

1865 Blog

April 21, 1865

Dear Mary,

The Union army has inflicted many casualties on our army. Leaving us with only 25,000 men. Our men are hungry and are low on supplies. This is why I made the decision to surrender to Grant. I guess it was the right decision. We are now a part of the United States again. It was quite a casual event, he wore tattered clothes while I wore my last best uniform. He was very courteous and reminded me that we had known each other in the Mexican-American War. He gave us 25,000 rations. We had to hand over our weapons, our flags and our will to fight them. Luckily I was able to keep Traveler and the musket I brought from home- just like the other soldiers. I will be home very soon. All I need is one more train ride.

With love,
Robert

1864 Blog

December 22, 1864

Dear Mary,

I think it is only right to save you the trouble of listening to the horrid Union rumors that fly around in Virginia. So Sherman's March was way to extreme, the Union says it "was necessary to subdue the South". No, they are false, don't believe that. The truth is they marched to Atlanta pretty worn out because they were low on resources and our armies kept clashing. We had wanted to hold out until November to seek peace from the new president, but alas no. The Union sabotaged our plan once again, they just had to march from Atlanta to Savannah setting slaves free (which we agree with) and burning, destroying and robbing the civilian's property (that is what is excess). I'm sure Rooney would have loved to watch it after all he loves the bonfires at our camping trips, I'm sure he would have  loved to see the city set ablaze. While our six other children watch in terror, Rooney would probably have a bucket of popcorn on his lap watching the battle unfold. :)Anyway I just wanted to let you know if the Yanks give you a hard time about that now you know the facts. :) Oh and tell Agnes and Annie they did a really good job on their painting and that they should make more :)

I'll be home soon, I promise:
Robert

Annie and Agnes (bonus)

My daughters Annie and Agnes drew this picture and sent it to me. I always keep it in my haversack.

1863 blog post

November 29, 1863

Dear Mary,

I hope all is well with you and the children, they are probably very worried about me. I have sent them parcels filled with goodies for Christmas I hope they enjoy it. Anyway, once i tell you about the Battle of Gettysburg, you could probably tell it to them for story-time. Oh and I really did like the picture of Traveler that the kids made for me. I always keep it in my haversack. Okay, I've been off topic too much O_O. So here we go. It was five months ago when we marched up to Pennsylvania- July first. We arrived at the outskirts of Gettysburg and we started to come at them and they started shooting at us, but we overpowered them to the point where they were running backwards in the streets of Gettysburg-it was hilarious!! Oh gosh if only I could send you a picture. I really wanted to make the South very proud when I won a battle in the North, but I guess I was wrong. All I did was lose the battle and let the North take control of the Mississippi, it split us in half. I guess it was arrogance that ate me up, egging me to march up and fight in the North and win, but alas no, that would never work. I could try again but that would be too risky.  I should probably defend instead of assault. Also, slightly off topic, I think the North's president is trying to steal your pecan pie recipe- I know its been passed down, but from where?

-Robert

P.S. I really liked the haversack that you sent me. It made all the other soldiers jealous.
P.P.S. I believe Carter wants to speak with you about coming over in my place for Christmas dinner to surprise the kids- you should talk with him, he'll be glad to see you.

PIE PIE PIE! (bonus)

The other day we were celebrating Thanksgiving in the mess hall. When one of the lieutenant colonels brought out some fresh peaches and bread. He claimed to have obtained them by raiding a farm of a Northerner, he said the farmers' faces were priceless. I wish i could have been there anyway, seeing the peaches reminded me of my wife Mary's peach pie that she always bakes on Thanksgiving. She also bakes the best pecan pie. I'll leave the recipes here in case you want to try...

To make the peach pie you will need:

1. 2/3 cup sugar
2. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4. 5 to 5 1/2 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches (5 to 6 medium)*
5. 1 teaspoon lemon juice
6. 1 unbaked pie crust
7. patience and time :) 

Steps:
To start off, mix sugar, flour and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in peaches and lemon juice. Spoon into crust. While second crust is still in pan, remove crimp with sharp knife. Remove crust from pan and center frozen crust upside down on top of filled pie. Let thaw 10 minutes; crimp edges together. Cut 2 or 3 slits in top crust. Bake for about 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice is thick and bubbly. Cool at least 2 hours.

*dried peaches work too!

I saw Abraham Lincoln's pecan pie recipe, it looked quite similar to Mary's. I think the North is trying to steal our recipes! Anyway here's the recipe:

To start off you must gather your ingredients:

1. 1 cup Dark Corn Syrup
2. 3 eggs
3. 1 cup granulated sugar
4. 2 tablespoons butter, melted
5. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6. 1–1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans
7. 1 (9-inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust

Then mix the corn syrup, eggs, sugar butter, vanilla together in a bowl. Then stir in your pecans. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Let cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!

1862 Blog

25 October 1862

Dear Mary and Carter,

I hope ya'll are doing okay. My troops and I decided that we should go ahead and march into Union territory and fight them. And we did just that in the battle of Sharpsburg. I decided it was a good idea since I was on a win streak that summer. We were trying to invade them. See the tide kept changing throughout the day. We had a big advantage over the Union. 1) they had no leader  2) they have no battle experience. and 3) we chose better fighting positions. The Union claimed they won because they "stopped an invasion" but we were more strategic throughout the battle. Did I mention that there were many times where McClellan could have beat us but he never took the opportunity so they fired him. I would have paid to see Lincoln yell at him, it must have been funny.

All the best,

Robert