Their Juneteenth was the 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July — or Independence Day, if you prefer — or Declaration Day, if you like. My point is to be happy today, and every day to be honest. Be proud to be an American, for as Ben Carson said, “I already won the Lottery; I was born in America and know the Lord.”

A year ago, I posted “The day John Adams predicted” which has proved to be my most-read newsletter post. You can read or re-read it here.

This year, I want to address those in our country who do not celebrate the holiday for whatever reason. They may think patriotism is corny or fireworks are too loud or they are better than we lowly patriot creatures who own side-by-sides and whose final words are “hold my beer.”

(I really do own a side-by-side but I never went mudding. Sad, ain’t it?)

I address those refuseniks by repeating what General McAuliffe told the Germans who demanded his surrender in the Battle of the Bulge — NUTS!

As Americans, we owe this day and that flag all that we are because without fighting for our independence from Great Britain (as it was known then) we would never have earned it. We would be like Canadians, subjects not citizens.

There is only one place in America that ever had anything close to a credible issue with the Fourth of July, and that was Vicksburg, Mississippi, which surrendered to Union forces led by General Grant on July 4, 1863, after a 47-day siege. It was part of his Western campaign in the Civil War.

Grant had already taken the state capital of Jackson, but that town was not all that important. Vicksburg was the key to control of the Mississippi. The Confederates led by General Pemberton were pretty much starved into submission. They surrendered on July 4, 1863, giving Grant a victory that along with the failure of General Lee at Gettysburg pretty much ended all hopes of a Confederate victory.

Grant’s victory was not simply strategic. Jeff Davis’s home plantation was located on Davis Bend across from his brother Joe’s plantation. That had to be demoralizing to the Democrat president of the Confederacy. The Union army freed his slaves and gave his land to them. Now that was the only reparations anyone should have had.

To be fair, few Southerners owned slaves. The suffering the people of Vicksburg endured was harsh but as William Tecumseh Sherman told his critics who had wanted the war and later got the heebie-jeebies over it, war is hell. Legend holds that Vicksburg refused to celebrate the Fourth of July for generations.

Mississippi Matters pretty much summed up this legend, noting, “For most people living in America, July 4th brings to mind that day back in 1776 when the 13 colonies officially declared themselves independent of Great Britain, thus creating the United States of America as a distinct, sovereign nation.

“But for about 75 years, citizens of Vicksburg didn’t have the heart to celebrate Independence Day, or regard the day as anything to celebrate at all, because of the events of July 4, 1863.”

But like I said, it is a legend. People in Vicksburg celebrated the Fourth all along.

Andy Hall wrote four years ago, “Celebrating Independence Day in Vicksburg, 1877.”

He gave as proof a story in the Vicksburg Daily Commercial on July 3.

It said, “Tomorrow being the anniversary of our Nations independence, all patriotic citizens of this great Republic are expected to observe it as a holiday. We desire to be reckoned among this class of patriotic citizens, consequently no paper will be issued from this office to-morrow. The glorious Fourth happens to come in hot weather this year, and we are glad to be able to observe it ’neath the shade of country forests.”

A July 5 story said, “True, there was no general suspension of business, as indicated by closed doors, but so far as the profits of trade were concerned doors might as well have been closed, for the salesrooms were deserted almost entirely. Everybody was out of town, apparently, enjoying the holiday in some way.”

So while the town officially didn’t celebrate the date, many people did, especially the black people freed by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

The Vicksburg Herald reported on July 5, 1884, “All the high-toned colored people that reside for miles around excurted on the steamer Cherokee yesterday to Anthony’s Ferry, in celebration of the glorious fourth. A colored picnic on DeSoto Island was also a strong feature of the days celebrations in the Hill City.”

The same publication reported on July 4, 1918, “Many Vicksburgers will participate in the celebration of Independence Day today. A barbecue and picnic at Swett’s Pond will be the chief feature of attraction during the day and tonight, beginning at 8:30 o’clock, an appropriate and patriotic program will be presented at the Carnegie Library. Many of the stores of the city will close during the afternoon hours, in order to allow their clerks to attend the barbecue. Conveyances will operate between the grounds and city throughout the day.”

Some Vicksburgers never failed to celebrate the Fourth.

Earnest McBride wrote two years ago, “July 4, 1864: Black and white Vicksburg took holiday to Davis Bend.”

Yes, a year after Vicksburg fell, 600 former slaves — as well as many teachers and northerners — went by boat to Jeff Davis’s plantation 20 miles south of Vicksburg to celebrate the Fourth.

McBride wrote, “While some people complain that black people had no cause for celebrating the Fourth of July in the nation’s past, black military history researcher Bennie McRae of Trotwood, Ohio, says the black people celebrating that first July 4 at Davis Bend were entitled to celebrate because of their involvement with the war effort.”

Black soldiers acquitted themselves in battle and black spies gave the union army great intelligence to help win the siege.

McBride wrote, “Jefferson Davis owned 131 slaves in 1860, his biographer William J. Cooper writes. Davis’s older brother, Joseph, who owned the adjacent plantation Hurricane, had 345. Three other plantations existed on Davis Bend. They also had black people living there in bondage, although the numbers are not readily available.

“The mixed bag of partygoers never lost sight of the fact that the Davis property had been ‘the home of traitors and oppressors of the poor’ and they emblazoned the house with the label ‘The House Jeff Built’ as they sang and partied into the early evening.”

Their Juneteenth was the Fourth of July! Don’t tell me the Emancipation Proclamation was meaningless because it freed thousands of slaves on July 4, 1863, including those owned by Jefferson Davis.

The National Park Service recognized this. It wrote:

July 4, 1863: Slavery Ends in Vicksburg.

When Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, on July 4, 1863, the city of Vicksburg became a beacon of freedom in the heart of the Confederacy. The American Civil War would drag on for nearly two more years, but the war in Vicksburg was done.

As many as 20,000 enslaved people flocked to Vicksburg following the siege, seeking freedom and protection from the U.S. Army. Some came individually, but many came in large groups, often following Union soldiers returning to the city after raids into the interior of Mississippi. As General Sherman returned to Vicksburg following the 1864 Meridian Expedition, he estimated he had “a full 5,000 negroes” accompanying his troops.

They overloaded the city and many lived in terrible conditions.

But they were free at last.

Eventually, the nation healed and all of Vicksburg resumed celebrating the Fourth.

World War II and the death of just about every confederate soldier had ended any reason to hold that grudge. The town gave a parade and party on July 4, 1947, for General Eisenhower, who defeated real Nazis. He stayed at the home of Ray and Elie Lum.

Ray was a character. His obituary said, “Ray Lum was a mule skinner, a livestock trader, an auctioneer, and an American original. He was a one-of-a-kind figure who seems to have stepped full-blooded from the pages of Mark Twain. In his special world he was famous for trading, for tale-telling, and for common-sense lessons that had made him a savvy bargainer and a shrewd businessman.

“His home and his auction barn were in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where mules were his main interest, but in trading he fanned out over twenty states and even into Mexico. A west Texas newspaper reported his fame this way: ‘He is known all over cow country for his honest fair dealing and gentlemanly attitude. A letter addressed to him anywhere in Texas probably would be delivered.’”

Lum was a legend worth remembering.

Vicksburg’s alleged grudge with the Fourth of July is not.