March 7, 2021

Washington, District of Columbia (2011)

From FB:

“I took the Metro in this morning with the poorer cousin of Russell Brand. I especially liked the cowboy boots and torn black jeans with leopard skin long johns poking through. Those would have made a cute pair of panties…”

Still Valid

From FB (2012):

Oldest Daughter: “Daddy, you’re like a fire troll. When you get angry (pats head) this pops up.”

Charleston, South Carolina (2013)

From FB:

“Walked into class this morning and this girl starts asking people, “330? 330? 330?” I have no idea what she’s talking about. Everyone asks what she’s talking about and she laughingly says last night they were all coming back to the dorms and somebody in Room 330 was singing the Righteous Brothers and apparently having a good time.

Then a bunch of other people jumped in and laughingly said they had heard it, too.

I hid my head in shame for a few minutes to see what they said about the quality of the singing, and when nobody said it sucked, I sheepishly lifted my head and screamed, “IT WAS ME!!!!!!!!!”

Petersburg, Virginia (2018)

From FB:

“500 Confederates were instantly killed when the German-speaking former coal miners from Pennsylvania dug a tunnel and set off a large mine under their lines to unsuccessfully try and end the stalemate. Another 5,000 were killed in the ensuing battle to reclaim the line. The carnage was made famous in the movie version of “Cold Mountain.”

Columbia, South Carolina (2019)

From FB:

“I first learned of the LeMat 1861 revolver after reading “Cold Mountain.” W.P. Inman carries one and utilizes this formidible Navy pistol with devestating efffect. Nine shots of .42 caliber rounds plus an underbarrel carrying a shotgun shell as a last resort.”

Asheville, North Carolina (2020)

From FB:

“In the novel, Inman is wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg and decides he’s seen enough war and wants only to return home to Cold Mountain to reunite with his true love, Ava Monroe, only to be killed by motley members of the North Carolina Home Guard. In reality, William Pinkney Inman fought in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Malvern Hill and other battles, and was later shot in the neck in Petersburg in 1864 at the Battle of the Crater. He spent time convalescing at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond before being sent to a hospital in Raleigh, from which he deserted.

From there it appears he went to Knoxville (which was held by the Union) and swore an oath of allegiance to the United States Government. He was later rumored to have been killed along with another man by the Home Guard or bushwhackers, but the latest evidence suggests he and the other man were working as “pilots” to guide Union forces through enemy lines to Union strongholds along the North Carolina and South Carolina border when they were killed by Confederate troops.

Regardless, “Cold Mountain” is an amazing book.

It’s too bad the actors in the film were so horribly miscast and the movie turned out to be such a dud.

Asheville, North Carolina (2020)

From FB:

“Six Inman sons fought for the Confederacy and the family had previously served their country honorably in the American Revolution.”

Asheville, North Carolina (2020)

“Luckily after about 20 minutes of searching and triangulating where the grave might be using photographs from Find A Grave, my middle daughter found it.

Inman is buried under the white marble stone between his father, Joshua, and his mother, Mary.”

Asheville, North Carolina (2020)

“I was looking for the grave of former Confederate soldier William Pinkney Inman, who served as the inspiration for the main character in Charles Frazier’s superb 1997 novel “Cold Mountain.” The cemetery was huge, the sun was going down, we had no map, and the gravestones had been worn by time and weather so as to be almost unreadable…”