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Submitted by  John Hyatt, a vistor to the site.

 You had an article that included photos of a reunion flag of Company K, 34th GA Volunteer infantry. I am sending you a photo of a member of that unit, Pleasant Woodard Hyatt, who was captured at Champion Hill, and died as a P.O.W. in Illinois.

I also have a photo of another member of Company K, John A. Daniel. The photo of J.A. Daniel was taken after the war and he is not in uniform, but he is wearing his UCV medal. He is in the photo that you published also. (see this original story) He is one standing in the back holding the flag (last National). The stripe at the end of the flag is coming down behind a lady's hat and makes it look like she has a very strange hat.

I would like to get in contact with the person who has the reunion flag for Co. K. John A. Daniel is my g-great grandfather and he attended those reunions.

Thanks John!

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Captain Montgomery G. Cooper and Union Civil War Vets

For many veterans, their participation in the Civil War was the most important period of their lives. As they aged, many joined veterans’ organizations, where they could meet with old friends and share memories of their service. The two main veterans’ organizations were the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) for southern veterans, and the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) for veterans of the Union army. Annual reunions and parades were among the popular events held by these groups, who were active mainly between the 1890s and 1920s.

This December 1877 column from the National Tribune, a veterans’ publication, illustrates the troubling perception of memories fading – not the memories of those who fought and bled for Union, but those of the citizenry in general:

The events of the war, and the men of the war, are fast fading from the public attention. Its history is growing to be an “Old, Old Story.” Public interest is weakening day by day. The memory of march, and camp, and battle-field, of the long and manly endurance, of the superb and uncomplaining courage, of the mass of sacrifice that redeemed the Nation, is fast dying out. Those who rejoice in the liberty and peace secured by the soldier’s suffering and privation, accept the benefits, but deny or forget the benefactor.

Reflections such as these were typical; veterans seized the initiative and launched a number of campaigns to ensure that what they saw happening was corrected. Sources: Cosmic America and the National Tribune,http://www.museumoffloridahistory.com/exhibits/permanent/civilwar/20.cfm

From The Civil War Parlor on Tumblr

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A reader sent in this photo of a flag. He believes it was given to his Great Grandfather at a Confederate Veteran's reunion. The flag is machine sewn so it could not have been a battle flag, but it is typical of the hand made mementos of the time. 

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her family lived on a homestead, Ivy Green, that Helen's grandfather had built decades earlier. Helen's father, Arthur H. Keller, spent many years as an editor for the Tuscumbia North Alabamian and had served as a captain for the Confederate Army. Helen's paternal grandmother was the second cousin of Robert E. Lee. Helen's mother, Kate Adams, was the daughter of Charles Adams. Though originally from Massachusetts, Charles Adams also fought for the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, earning the rank of brigadier-general.

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T&D CORRESPONDENT SHERRYL M. PETERS
Springfield residents Wayne and Lydia Lackey hold the United Confederate Veterans Iron Cross grave marker they recently found on their property.

SPRINGFIELD, SC — Wayne and Lydia Lackey of Springfield say it’s not unusual for them to find artifacts on their property, known originally as Phillips Plantation,” but what they dug up recently has them puzzled.

 Wayne Lackey said he was planning to put in a corn field and had just tilled up an area when his wife, Lydia, pulled up a United Confederate Veterans Iron Cross.

“Lydia was out in the field pulling out the debris when she grabbed this metallic thing and pulled it out of the ground,” he said.

Mrs. Lackey said she realized it was a marker of some kind.