Born to Blush Unseen

The opportunity to talk with and/or interview those participants of America’s War Between the States is long past.  A few taped or filmed interviews of veterans of that great Civil conflict do exist, however, those are, of course, limited in number and content.  Historians are left to interpret, analyze and reanalyze memories, sketches and diaries-most of which have been published for some time.  Many, hopefully, have yet to be discovered.

Diaries particularly are valued by historians for several reasons.  While many detailed and published memories were penned by participants of major rank, diarists of this conflict tended to be men or women (Mary Chestnut) of a more common and seemingly less important status. The subjects and hardships of which they wrote, speak volumes of the conditions  endured-the events experienced and the state of mind that prevailed in those who left this written legacy.  More important, too, is the fact that most diary entries were written immediately or within days of the events described.  This, of course, made for greater accuracy in the relating of events than did the general officers’ official battle reports, which were often written weeks or even months after a particular battle, skirmish or campaign.

When one considers the extremely high illiteracy rate among the rank and file of both nations’ armies, we narrow down considerably the number of men who were literate, or barely so.  We may narrow down still more those of that group who did, in fact, commit to paper their daily experiences and when we narrow down still more those diaries which survived the war and/or the years thereafter, we begin to realize the great historical value of these often hastily scribbled pearls of the past.

The soldier of 1861-65 was unique in that a very large percentage of troops of both North and South armies did, at least, see combat; a situation unlike the first and second World Wars where a high percentage of enlisted men never saw combat at all.  Yet, during the sectional conflict in America, more lives were lost to sickness and disease than to battle casualties.  It is very rare, therefore, to find a soldier, Confederate or Union, who not only maintained a diary, but  did so with great intellectual ability.  One man, from secession to surrender, wounded numerous times while serving with Jackson, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, perhaps more than any other personifies the agony of torn allegiance between citizens, neighbors and family. He relates his experiences as they occurred and reflects on them again after the war with the wisdom and maturation sharpened by time and distance.

John Riley Phillips was born August 24, 1839 in a small log cabin surrounded by forest and hills west of Philippi, West Virginia.  His family was typical of that region and era in that they were poor, even by standards of that time, and they earned their meager living, farming.  Completely illiterate, Riley attended school for the first time when he was ten years old.  Within three months, he was able to read virtually any book available.  His superior intellect was evident, it glowed like an ember in this dark region of poverty.  Learning and reading became his passion, and his boyhood friends became those, who like he, were intellectual in nature and interest.  While hard work on the farm was essential to life, leisure time was dedicated to study, the collecting of books and newspapers and even the formation of a small library.

By eighteen, Riley dreamed of moving to Texas and becoming a lawyer.  At the age of twenty Riley worked as a laborer, constructing the courthouse for Tucker County, VA, in the town of St. George. He returned home the next year to farm and to teach school during the winter of 1860-61.

The election of Abraham Lincoln in November of 1860 released the brakes of a “war wagon” that was destined to roll downhill with increasing speed and fury-a fury desired by some, dreaded by most, but which affected everyone in North America.  People throughout the South perceived Lincoln’s election as the first cannon shot of a sectional war.  Actually, many in other parts of the country agreed.  Even before the election, those Lincoln supporters hoped his victory was to be the gauntlet thrown, the challenge finally made and the final act of an evolving play, a play that projected a theme of numbers and a lesson in democracy-that being the Union ruled by majority.  The South also understood that this election was the play’s climax.   However, the theme was interpreted differently as was the lesson in democracy; that being the Union ‘take it or leave it’, and leave it they did, John Phillips marching with them.