Three Iron Horses and a Butterfly
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Cato Brockington, the youngest of Abram and Harriett Brockington’s four children, was a survivor of the War Between the States, and a war hero of sorts. It is said that when Cato was a mere 12 years old, the plantation owner, Peter Samuel Bacot, in a demonstration of his support for the Confederacy, loaned him to Major William Cannon of Darlington to serve beside the Major in the War. His duty was to be a “body servant” and attend to the major’s horses, but rest assured he performed many other tasks more closely related to the War. The duties of body servants varied greatly. Basically Cato was charged with keeping the Major’s quarters clean, washing his clothes, cleaning his uniforms, running errands, grooming and feeding his horses and tending to his wounds. Occasionally when the situation arose, although he was still a slave, he was expected to fight in battles. Legend has it he was at the First Battle of Bull Run in Manassas Virginia, on July 21, 1861. According to family lore, Cato had two favorite stories about the War that he enjoyed relating. The first one dealt with the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas). To fully appreciate this story we need to briefly re-visit Civil War History 101. Thomas Jonathon “Stonewall” Jackson, educated at West Point, was a high profile Confederate General during the Civil War. In some quarters he is regarded as one of the most gifted tactical commanders in American history who rose to prominence and the rank of Major General. It is said that he excelled in the First Battle of Bull Run. The story goes that as the Confederate lines began to weaken and falter under heavy assault by Union forces, Jackson’s troops provided crucial reinforcement on Henry House Hill. A version of the battle published in the Charleston Mercury Newspaper on July 25, 1961, and in other papers in the South, stated that their bravery inspired Confederate Brig. Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr. of South Carolina to the extent that he shouted to his own brigade, “look there is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians.” Cato often related that during the barrage of gunfire he personally observed and clearly overheard General Bee make that historic statement, just moments before he was killed. Hence, he witnessed the historic coinage of the moniker “Stonewall Jackson”. Cato was there in the heat of this famous battle, on the front line, as a mere twelve year old.
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About the Book
This is a treatise on family history and is primarily about three gentlemen and a woman. They represent ancestors, from three different generations, who nobly carried their family torch and established high standards to which succeeding generations would aspire. These ancestors respectively, are two male slaves, the son of a freed slave and a daughter of the son of a freed slave. Their lives spanned three vastly different eras of American history, and each of them remarkably exhibited immense courage, patience, intelligence, insight, resourcefulness, the ability to endure, the willingness to struggle and the faith to sacrifice against all odds. Embedded in their landscapes were enormous setbacks, perils and personal tragedy, however each of them elected to move forward in a bold and ambitious manner like the iconic “Iron Horse.” At a juncture in American history when our individual futures are severely challenged, these four are featured because their stories are very illuminating, because they were, under the circumstances, heroic ancestors who withstood many of the challenges of their eras, because they possessed great character, and not because of any amount of materiality they accumulated. Their stories serve to memorialize the victims of bondage and Jim Crow and to communicate the history, culture and principles of two proud American families. There are noted ancestors of other families across this great country that deserve a similar distinction and maybe this treatise will inspire such an undertaking.
About the Author
Arthur Harcourt Bolden is a retired biochemist and molecular biologist. At the renowned National Institutes of Health and the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology he studied inositol biosynthesis, DNA and protein synthesis, as well as DNA methylation, having published over 30 articles in those genre. Researchers at those institutions have had a profound effect on healthcare world-wide, saving millions of lives. The author is proud to be a part of that legacy, that achievement. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, Howard University and Fairleigh Dickerson University. He is married to the former Jacqueline Matthews of Martinsville, Virginia, and they currently reside in Coral Springs, Florida, where they are avid golfers, travelers, gardeners and community volunteers.