To Steve Mullen re: What would Ulysses do?
You said in this column that you imagine S. D. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest rode their mounted soldiers through at some point. (Highway 45A near the Clay County line) Forrest certainly did.
The story has been handed down (and may be in the Clay County history) that Forrest camped on our property on the Chuquatonchee Creek just west of WP during the war. He came up and ate breakfast with the two old-maid ladies who owned the property at that time. I have read a Forrest biography, and he spent several days in WP. The book told that he was pacing up and down at the WP depot, trying to figure out what to do. Someone interrupted him, aggravating him, and he punched them.
His soldiers may have fought in the battle of Tibbee Creek which took place about where the Chuquatonchee runs into the Tibbee, west of Highway 45A. I”m sure some of the reenactors around here know the details.
I”m sure Lee and Forrest would have been as revolted as I am by the silver “pony.” Clay County hasn”t had any luck getting rid of it. It”s in Lowndes County, but no one from Columbus has to look at it. Maybe some day one of the tornadoes going through here will smash it. I can hope anyway.
I enjoy reading your editorials.
Sylvia Barkemeyer Williams, West Point
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