Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought this book because of a radio interview with the author. It has two fascintating, parallel tracks The track suggested by the title describes the outreach by (primarily) Kentucky men's and women's organizations as they pursued a place of refuge for injured, and now-elderly,confederate soldiers in the late 1890s and early 1900s. These veterans were, outrageously, constitutionally prevented from receiving pensions and many were unable to work. The more interesting track is the overall evolution of the the south. Postwar, it was humiliated, downtrodden, impoverished; two decades later, its communal psyche had been transformed, as former confederate soldiers, having gained positions of influence in business and commerce, celebrated their fallen colleagues, often in newly-sewn Confederate uniforms) with statues, parades, and commemorations of all types, transforming what had been a nightmare to "The Lost Cause." I am not a civil war buff by any stretch, but a biography by Douglas Southall Freeman, (himself the quintessential biographer of Lee) sparked my interest and this book, with its excellent character profiles and storytelling, was a great follow-up. I loved it.
Click Here to see more reviews about: My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans
In the wake of America's Civil War, hundreds of thousands of men who fought for the Confederacy trudged back to their homes in the Southland. Some -- due to lingering effects from war wounds, other disabilities, or the horrors of combat -- were unable to care for themselves. Homeless, disabled, and destitute veterans began appearing on the sidewalks of southern cities and towns. In 1902 Kentucky's Confederate veterans organized and built the Kentucky Confederate Home, a luxurious refuge in Pewee Valley for their unfortunate comrades. Until it closed in 1934, the Home was a respectable -- if not always idyllic -- place where disabled and impoverished veterans could spend their last days in comfort and free from want. In My Old Confederate Home: A Respectable Place for Civil War Veterans, Rusty Williams frames the lively history of the Kentucky Confederate Home with the stories of those who built, supported, and managed it: a daring cavalryman-turned-bank-robber, a senile ship captain, a prosperous former madam, and a small-town clergyman whose concern for the veterans cost him his pastorate. Each chapter is peppered with the poignant stories of men who spent their final years as voluntary wards of an institution that required residents to live in a manner which reinforced the mythology of a noble Johnny Reb and a tragic Lost Cause. Based on thorough research utilizing a range of valuable resources, including the Kentucky Confederate Home's operational documents, contemporary accounts, unpublished letters, and family stories, My Old Confederate Home reveals the final, untold chapter of Kentucky's Civil War history.
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