"Roundheads and Ramblings"

February 2015

New Characters: Gretchen Schwimmer

Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 3:48 PM

Gretchen Schwimmer, the Mennonite girl Eddie Grenville has decided to marry. Her family of Swiss immigrants are establishing themselves in SC as sausage and cheese-makers, bringing old-world traditions to their new home. Their plain life-style also appeals to Eddie, because it centers around a farm that produces everything the people need.

To the rest of the Grenville family, however, the Mennonite customs will be puzzling. Their family ties are much closer than most Southerners are used to. "Family" refers to all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. The women dress in simple high-necked, long-sleeved gowns, frequently with a crisp white bibbed apron over the dress and a small white prayer cap. Gretchen will not accept an engagement ring because her people do not approve of jewelry. Their religious services do not depend upon a church or a minister. Any member can speak or pray as the spirit moves. Music plays a huge part in their lives, which should please Susan, but it is vocal, not instrumental. Food is simple and filling but not fancy. And special occasions are usually celebrated outdoors.

Life in the Schwimmer community is a long way from the cotillions and ladies parlors of Susan Grenville's South Carolina upbringing. Will she be shocked or engaged by the differences?

New Characters: The Mysterious Member of the Ku Klux Klan

Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 3:31 PM

Meet the Klan!

This is a clipping from a picture taken in 1870. You'll notice that these members of the Ku Klux Klan have their faces covered (as well they should!), but these are not the white conical masks and white gowns of the modern Klan. During the period of Reconstruction, the Klan was a new phenomenon. They had figured out that they needed to be anonymous and protected from being identified, but it was too early for them to have much in the way of organization or official uniforms.

The Klan made its appearance in South Carolina around 1868-1870. The members were clerks, shopkeepers, or craftsmen, who worked at mundane jobs during the day and then came out to play at night. They made their own masks, found a bit of rope, or a club, or a fiery torch, and amused themselves by making threats and terrifying newly-freed slaves.

The mysterious Klan member who visits Jonathan Grenville several times in Yankee Reconstructed is something of an anomaly, in that he operates on his own rather than as a part of a mob. He supports white supremacy and has no scruples about lynching a troublesome black man or a white man, either, for that matter. But he is also concerned that people understand why he does so, and that concern sets him apart. Will we ever know who he is? Perhaps.

Most Klansmen were middle-aged white men, most of whom had not fought in the Civil War. Why? Because the real veterans of the Civil War were often embittered by the war experience and unwilling to have much to do with those who only played at continuing to fight. Those former soldiers who were physically able and willing to cause trouble were more likely to join bands of "red shirts" led by their former commanding officers.

You've heard the description of a dog whose bark was worse than his bite. Well, that also describes the Klansmen. They were bullies who could be stymied by firm resistance. The Red Shirts, on the other hand seldom barked, but when they bit, they caused major damage. Both groups supported the Democratic Party and its efforts to keep Negroes from voting or owning property. Both hoped that somehow the Old South could be restored to its former glory. Both groups will play important roles in Yankee Reconstructed.

Crossover Character: Wade Hampton

Posted on Monday, February 23, 2015 4:20 PM

Wade Hampton III was the only son of South Carolina’s largest slave-owner. From childhood he was trained to follow in his father’s footsteps. The family held vast tracts of land and occupied many of the state’s political offices. Young Wade was also handsome, charismatic, and full of derring-do. Long before he became a soldier, he had a reputation as a bear-killer. He was a legend long before he actually did anything to earn that reputation.

In the years leading up to the war, Hampton was against the dissolution of the Union, but once South Carolina took that fateful step, he supported his state. His military career started when the governor made him a Colonel and encouraged him to recruit a legion of 10,000 soldiers. He did so easily. Hampton made a brief appearance in "Damned Yankee" when Charlotte Grenville’s young husband became one of his recruits. Slightly later, Johnnie Grenville also joined Hampton’s Legion.

After the war, Hampton stepped out of the spotlight and turned his attention to rebuilding his family’s fortunes. He refused an offer to become Governor of the state, preferring to influence politics from a less visible position. But as Reconstruction proceeded, he took over leadership of the Democratic Party and gathered the support of many of the young men who had fought under him during the war. It should come as no surprise that Johnnie Grenville would be one of them.

New Characters: Henrietta McLeod

Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2015 12:22 PM

Just look at that face! There is deep sadness in her eyes, and bitterness pulls her mouth into a tight-lipped grimace. Yet whatever life has done to her, it has failed to break her spirit. She stands erect, her chin fairly begging someone to try to oppose her. She takes pride in her appearance, her earrings heavy with jewels and her mourning dress adorned with an oversized cameo. She has done her best to control her unruly curls, but she makes no apology for them. The overall impression is of an older woman, but her lack of wrinkles or sagging jawline both suggest that she is probably no older than Susan Grenville.

This is Henrietta McLeod, a Confederate war widow who has buried not only her husband but also her son. To readers of the Charleston Mercury she is better known as "Boadicea." The name comes from the Celtic queen of England's distant history-- the brave woman who stood against Roman occupation of the British Isles. Henrietta sees herself as playing a similar role. Having lost most of her family to an invading army, she would take up arms herself to preserve what remained of her glorious land. In the articles she writes for the local newspaper, she calls upon all true Southerners to join her in continuing to fight for the "Lost Cause". And she particularly encourages the women of the South -- those who, like her, have lost their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons -- to band together with pride and determination. Where a traditional army had failed, she argues, a band of strong women could prevail.

Immediately after the war, she moved to Charleston and purchased the house next door to the Dubois House on Legare Street. In the following years, she would go on to create an organization for women alone -- one that would come to represent all the confederacy had stood for. But during Reconstruction, her words are all she has to use as weapons, and use them she does, to persuade one woman at a time to join her cause. Will she be a challenge to Susan, or a threat?

Crossover Character: Gen. Rufus Saxton

Posted on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 3:05 PM

General Rufus Saxton came to South Carolina as Chief Quartermaster for the South Carolina Expeditionary Force responsible for the victory at Port Royal. He was an honest man, reasonable, straightforward, and a thoroughgoing abolitionist. When he was put in charge of the missionaries and plantation managers who were working in the Beaufort area, he proved to be diplomatic but at the same time consistent in his support for the slaves of the region. He managed the recruitment and organization of the first black regiments in South Carolina, and helped Laura Towne extend her educational efforts throughout the Sea Islands.

After the war, he found a new job as head of the Freedmen’s Bureau in South Carolina. When his goals conflicted with those of President Andrew Johnson, the president removed him from that office. But it soon became apparent that not even a president could get away with treating the Medal of Honor recipient unfairly, and his appointment was quickly restored. In many ways, he serves as the key to success for those who, like Jonathan Grenville, want to treat the former slaves with respect and dignity.

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