Figures from past teach lesson about Battle of Aiken 2/8/2010 6:51 PM
By HALEY HUGHES Staff writer
East Aiken Elementary students were amazed to see Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, who gave them a history lesson.
On Monday, re-enactors Ed Mann and Wayne Jones, portraying Jackson and Stuart, respectively, shared with several fourth-grade classes the history of the Civil War and Battle of Aiken, which was fought, literally, on York Street at the present location of Aiken's First Baptist Church.
"Unfortunately, when the Battle of Aiken took place, we were dead," Jones said. "But we watched the battle on high. You have to remember that each and every man and woman fighting had one thing on their mind - 'I am fighting for what I believe in.'"
The United States was a hotbed of issues leading up to the Civil War, some that pitted brother against brother, and students were able to name several, having learned in class about taxation and slavery, among other issues.
"Taxation - one you don't hear a lot of - and slavery. Slavery was a very big issue because the U.S. government classified slaves as property," Mann said.
Mann led the students from the attack on Fort Sumter to Harpers Ferry, which fell to Jackson along with a large number of men and supplies in 1862; to the siege at Petersburg; Union Gen. William T. Sherman's Atlanta campaign and his "March to the Sea"; and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse.
"In Sherman's March to the Sea, he and his troops burned everything in their path and killed a lot of farm animals, sometimes just for the sake of killing them," Mann said. "There is a town in Georgia called Madison, and lots of plantations are still there. Why didn't Sherman burn those? The story was he had a girlfriend there."
That elicited a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" and even a few chuckles from the students.
The students heard that Union Maj. Gen. Hugh Kilpatrick wanted to burn the Graniteville Company because owner William Gregg was a signer of the order of secession and of the Battle of Aiken. The Battle of Aiken was fought in February 1865 when Confederate Gen. Joe Wheeler planned to surprise Union troops at an old freight depot. But a premature shot by one of his men alerted the Northern soldiers.
"The history books say the Battle of Aiken was the last Confederate victory," Mann said.
The students had a volley of questions including if the re-enactors' beards were real, and why, if they were dead, were they at East Aiken Elementary on Monday?
"My house is very haunted," a girl said. "I did see a Civil War person walking down my hallway. It was awkward."
East Aiken Elementary students and others across the county will visit the Battle of Aiken re-enactment site on Powell Pond Road Friday, Feb. 19 for school day.
The battle officially starts on Saturday, Feb. 20 with gates open at 9 a.m. The battle is at 2 p.m. Admission at the gate is $12 a person.
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