Native Atlantan speaks of William Logan Crittenden:
"A Kentuckian never turns his back on an enemy, and kneels only to God."
WLC was a West Point alum, fought in the Mexican War then went to Cuba with the renegade Spanish Genl, Narciso Lopez. They hoped to overthrow the Spanish-colonial gov't, but things didn't work out and they were all sentenced to death. From jail, Crittenden wrote the US Atty Genl: "I will die like a man."
When the time came, the guards ordered the prisoners (shot in groups of 10) to turn face-away from the guns, & kneel to the ground. This was in keeping with Spanish protocol, but elicited from Crittenden the quote offered above. Whereupon the Spaniards struck his legs with their rifle butts, forcing him to the ground in their desired position. Yet at the very instant the firing squad was about to do its work, Crittenden stood up and spun round, and was thereby shot in the face.
suppose my post-above may strike some as a quaint picture of the "honor"-obsessed Southern man of yesterday-- or 153 years ago to be exact. But I think that if America is to survive for another 153 years, we will have to find some way to instill the spirit and values of William Logan Crittenden into the Southern men-- and Northern and Eastern and Western men-- of tomorrow.
In quiet moments I am skeptical of the outcome, even remembering that all things work to the good for them that trust in God...
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