most Confederates went home and, encouraged by the words of Robert E. Lee, tried to be as g citizens as they had been soldi Most, but not all; some ex-Confederates gathered up their fam lies and emigrated. The most successful emigrant were the Confederates who settled in Brazil. Until the fairl cent past, the story of these C federados was not widely known. The subject is getting more att tion these days. Anyone interes ed can learn from many sources the tale of these transplants w made new lives in Brazil, and took their Southern culture wit them. Do a search on Amazon; you will find a few items: a hi torical novel and two histories one published in 2000 and the other in 1995, which is as far know the first serious study of Confederados. Google will lead you to newspaper articles and other items of interest. A sear on youtube will reveal some interesting videos and interviews Brazilians with names like McFadden and Pyles. For many years, their settle ment Americana in Brazil, was an isolated island of English speakers. Its people were large ly isolated from their Portuguese-speaking neighbors as wel as separated from their former homeland. Newer generations of Confederados are assimilated into wider Brazilian society and speak Portuguese as a first language. However, earlier generations spoke only English, an their brand of English opens a door to our linguistic past. Th 1995 book, The Confederados: Old South Immigrants in Brazil, has a very interesting cha ter by Michael Montgomery and Cecil Melo who studied the speech patterns of the denizens
Americana. What these linguists learned was a surprise. Southern American speech has certain well known markers. Anyone listening to a Congressional debate can tell who is t gentleman from Georgia and who is from Ohio. What are these markers? (I promise to avoid technical term
The Mid-South Show Here is my favorite, the post-vocalic r (Another broken
promise). Say Sumter or Monitor. If you can’t hear the r in word, you have found another marker in Sumtuh. Monituh. This marker isn’t exclusive to South, of course (just listen t Bostonian), and many southerners don’t have it, but it is st of the key markers. How about dropping the g at the end of words that end in -i Hillary Clinton did this when she wanted to sound like regula people. I’m countin’ on all you good folks to vote for me and I’m expectin’ to win this elect Again, the marker is not exclus to the South, but a useful mark nonetheless. Finally, Southerners often p long certain vowels, or drawl. Bid and pill, for example, are stretched out and sound almost like bee-ud and pee-ul. Got this? OK. But what does this have to do with the Civil and the Confederados? Linguists Montgomery and Melo listened to the old timers in Americana and got a bit of a surprise. When t analyzed the old Confederados’ speech patterns they found that these markers were largely missing. In some ways they didn sound like their cousins whose grandparents stayed home. The men and women said mile high pie like the gentleman from Ohi Pin and pen didn’t rhyme. As fo dropping the g, they sounded more like Mrs. Clinton when she was speaking to Wall Street bankers instead of hoi polloi. a Confederado doctor gave you a pill the word had only one syllable. The linguists put it this wa “Specifically, the lack of homophony of pen and pin, the lac of drawling, and the relative l of the glideless pronunciation [ai] in Americana all indicate
that Southern English was closer to other varieties of Americ English in the nineteenth century than present-day Southern speech is. Changes in pronuncia tion have apparently taken plac that represent a divergence of Southern English from American English in the twentieth centur In short, Southern speech is in
pronunciation into the Lower South, as many Southerners have migrated out of the hills and into the towns and cities of the Piedmont and beyond, beginning a generation after the war and continuing to recent times.” Robert E. Lee probably asked for a pen when he needed to write a note, and when he mounted Traveller he was going riding, not goin’ ridin’. On July 3, 1863, he probably said, “It is my fault; it is all my fault,” the way an Ohioan would say it, not the way his Georgia colleague would. “It is mah fault; it is all mah fault,” said Martin Sheen’s Lee in the movie. His dialogue coach was pleased with the sound, which was what the audience expected, but Lee probably sounded more as Meade would have sounded had their roles been reversed. There is (fortunately in my view) one marker that the good people of Americana did have: no post-vocalic r. In this regard there was no change between the language of the nineteenthcentury Lower South and the language of the Confederados. When Sheen’s Lee blessed out Joseph Fuqua’s Jeb Stuart on the night of July 1-2 for the cavalryman’s failure to keep him informed, Sheen got it right, “It must nevuh, nevuh happen again!”
Gould Hagler is the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation (Mercer University Press, 2014), available from Mercer University Press, retail outlets, online sellers, and directly from
Vol. 42, No. 3 Battlefield Of Franklin Land Pres
By GreGory L. Wade FRANKLIN, Tenn. — What is considered the bloodiest acreage the Nov. 30, 1864, Battle of Fran
is now being reclaimed as part of evolving Carter Hill Battlefield Local preservation leaders recent
from owners Reid and Brenda Lovell after a months-long proces of coordinating various funding sources for the critical 1.6 acre
adjoin the Carter House, a major battle landmark. Details were recently provided a press conference led by Frankli Charge board member Julian Bibb, who praised the “remarkable transition” of the Franklin battlefie
Franklin’s Charge is a coalition civic and preservation groups who joined together more than ten yea ago to purchase local battlegroun Over 150 years ago the Army of Tennessee stepped off in a series of charges to be virtually destro by Federals under John Schofield
hopes of taking Franklin and late Nashville. At that time, most of the terr was open farmland on the outskirt of what was once a small Middle Tennessee farming community. Over time development covered much of the battlefield with houses, ligh
dustry, and small businesses. All that remained of the criti area where the Confederates temporarily broke the Federal line w the small farmhouse and a few acr known as the Carter House farm. The 1.6 acres purchased, which
adjoin the southern boundary of t Carter House property, is compris of two lots. Today, they are occu
that were turned over to the City of Franklin Parks Department by Franklin’s Charge and the Battle o Franklin’s Trust (BOFT), managers
of the Carter House the nearby Car ton Plantation. The structures wil removed in coming months, possibly relocated for other use. The purchase is only the latest in a long and arduous effort to re build the Franklin battlefield. “It had to be a miracle,” quipp
Civil War Trust (CWT) President James Lighthizer, referring to the most recent acquisition. Local res ident Michael Grainger, long time Trust board member and former chairman, said, “Local leadership has been incredible and will conti
ue to be a partner [with the CWT]. In 2005, after years of frustra attempting to preserve Franklin ba tleground, local preservationists cided it would have to be done the hard way, by buying properties, of ten with buildings on them. The largest parcel of land was
originally a local golf course sla to be sold to a developer to build houses on what was the right flank of the Confederate attack north to ward the Federal lines just south the town. It was then that Franklin’s Cha came into existence. Funds have
chase from private donors, the CWT the City of Franklin and others. T 110-acre segment, now fully interpreted and known as the Eastern Flank Battlefield, is what got the preservation ball rolling in Frank
Since that time nine other parc in proximity to the Carter House have been purchased and have been, or will be, turned over to the Fra
at the Lovell purchase regory L. Wade photos)
Bibb. But it was the land just south Carter House, long considered the most bloodied ground in Franklin, and some say in America, that was the most coveted. BOFT Chief Executive Officer
Eric Jacobson noted, “to not have this ground reclaimed and preserv would be like having Omaha Beach cut out of Normandy.” The most recent acquisition evolved when Franklin’s Charge an the BOFT began discussions with t Lovells, who have a strong sense
the history of the land, having g up in Franklin. “I was born and raised in Fran lin on ground many believe should have been a national park,” said Lovell. He recalled when visitors came to town and had to envision
what happened, not walk on ground where it transpired. “My great-grandfather, who fou here, and my parents would be pro of what we are doing here today,” said at the press conference. The Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously
in February to fund part of the remaining debt on the Lovell property purchase. The previously
basis over seven years. These funds will cover the bal now bridged by a local bank and w
be derived from the city’s hoteltel tax. Local banker Chuck Isaac was instrumental in working out t loans. All the city funds are all
by his employer, First Farmers an Merchants Bank.