GENERAL JOHN BELL HOOD

I have always enjoyed a good book and now that I have time I try and spend a part of each day reading. I love reading about history especially Old West History and Civil War History. I am currently enjoying a book about the Generals of the Civil War. One of the more interesting people in the book is General John Bell Hood. Or at least it is interesting to Me.  

General Hood was present during many of the more fierce battles of the Civil War and was first wounded during the second day at Gettysburg. The wounds from shell fragments would leave his left arm useless for the rest of his life.  After a period of recuperation, he was transferred to the western theater where on September 20, 1863 he was again wounded at the battle of Chickamauga  when a minnie ball struck his right leg.  This wound would require that his leg be amputated just a few inches below the hip.

But his wounds at Gettysburg and at Chickamauga did not stop this tenacious and determined General. Following several months of recuperation, General Hood again returned to duty and in 1864 when he was given command of the Army of Tennessee during the Atlanta Campaign. His decimated army eventually retreated through Alabama and into Tennessee where they were engaged once again at the Battle of Franklin.  Hood's Army further retreated to Nashville where he was soundly defeated and for all intense and purpose the Army of Tennessee was disbanded.  Many of the Army of Tennessee remaining men traveled east to join General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina.  

General Hood traveled to Mississippi to formulate a plan to move reinforcements from Texas and Mississippi to join forces in the east. But before any plan could be formulated General Lee Surrendered at Appomattox and General Joseph Johnston surrendered his forces near Durham, North Carolina. With the war over, General Hood surrender at Natchez, Mississippi and was paroled on May 31, 1865.

I find it interesting that after the war General Hood took up residence in New Orleans where he was a became successful in both the insurance business and as a cotton broker. In 1868, General Hood married Anna Marie Hennen and over the next 10-years the couple had 11 children including three sets of twins.  General and Mrs. Hood were involved in the New Orleans area, contributing to many philanthropic projects including assisting with supporting and raising fund for the widows and orphans, and wounded soldiers.  

The Hood's and their large family were very popular and enjoying life, entertaining visits from old soldiers and friends. But During the winter of 1878-79 a yellow fever epidemic struck the New Orleans Area.  The epidemic ruined General Hoods insurance business, eventually leaving him broke and destitute.  On August 24, 1879 the disease would claim the life of his wife and oldest child and six days later August 30, 1879, General John Bell Hood would also die of yellow fever. He is resting in the Metairie Cemetery near New Orleans, Louisiana.

With the death of both the General and his wife, the question was what would happen to the 10 children all under the age of ten. Enter the Texas Brigade Association.  The Texas Brigade Association was formed in 1872 by the surviving members of General Hood's Texas Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was with the help and support of the Texas Brigade Association that all the children were adopted by seven different families from Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky and New York.  Even after their adoption the Texas Brigade Association continued to support the children.

The Texas Brigade existed until 1933 when it was disbanded as only two veterans remained.

To me the story of General Hood is one of fierce determination. Despite being seriously wounded twice during the Civil War he refused to allow his wound and injuries to define him which earned him the respect those under his command. After the war he was successful in business and as a father and he earned the respect from his community.  Following his death, the veterans who served under him took the opportunity to show their respect for their General by helping and supporting his orphaned children. 

Yes, to me the story of General John Bell Hood is a very interesting one.

A LONG WAY HOME FOR MARY DRAPER INGLES

Since full time retirement has set in, I have found time to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life. One thing that I have rediscovered is how much I enjoy reading a good book.  I am not a fan of E-Books, I like a book that I can hold in my hand and turn actual pages.

I am a big fan of history and enjoy books that document our past. I am luck to live in an area where I am surrounded by history.  One of the books I have been reading recently was about Mary Draper Ingles and over the past few weeks have kind of taken an interest in her incredible story, much of which occurred right here in my own back yard.

Mary Draper Ingles
(Radford News Journal)

Mary Draper was born in Philadelphia in 1732 where she lived with her parents until 1748. It was then that her and her parent moved to the western frontier and established a settlement that was called Drapers Meadows near present day Blacksburg, Virginia.

Two years later Mary married William Ingles. Their marriage was thought to have been the first one recorded in the frontier west of the Allegheny Mountains. While living at Drapers Meadows the couple had two sons, Thomas born in 1751 and George in 1753.

By all account the couple was quiet happy until the summer of 1755. It was then tragedy struck Drapers Meadows. During the late spring an early summer of 1755 a band of Shawnee Warriors travel from their village on the banks of the Ohio River and arrived in the New River Valley. In July the warriors descended on Drapers Meadows killing four settlers including Mary's mother and niece.

Mary, her two sons and several others were taken captive. Mary's husband was injured but escaped into the near by forest.

The Shawnee and their captives traveled for several weeks back to their village near the confluence of the Ohio and Scioto Rivers. Upon arrival at the village, the Shawnee made captives James Cull and Henry Leonard run the gauntlet. The two were kill during this brutal ritual.

During her captivity, Mary and the other female captives were made to work sewing shirts and preparing meat for the winter.  In October, Mary and some of the other women were taken to a salt lick to harvest salt.

It was while working at the salt lick in late October 1755 that Mary and another older woman made good their escape. Armed with only a tomahawk and a knife and two blankets the two women attempted to retrace their route back to the New River Valley. They followed the Ohio River basically until it intersected with the Kanawha River. Living only on walnuts, grapes, blackberries and pawpaw the two women followed the Kanawha to the New River which they eventually followed by home to Drapers Meadows. It is thought that the two women travel over 600-miles, averaging only 10 to 12 miles a day.

Site of Ingles Ferry

Half starved and a shell of her former self, Mary was reunited with her husband who was still recovering from his injuries. The couple move to the bank of the New River where they operated a tavern and a ferry. It was here at a place called Ingles Ferry that Mary and William had four more children.

Their first two children were taken captive during the 1755 raid. George died in captivity but Thomas was eventually ransomed and returned to Virginia in 1768.  Thomas would marry Eleanore Grills and the couple would settle in Burkes Garden. In 1782, history would repeat itself when Shawnee would raid Burkes Garden taking Eleanore and their three children captive. Two of the children were killed but Eleanore and their youngest child would survive and were rescued by Thomas.

Mary and William Ingles lived the rest of their lives at Ingles Ferry. William died in 1782 and Mary lived on at Ingles Ferry until her death 1815 at the age of 82.

Site of Ingles Ferry

Having read about this incredible story, I wanted to see if any of the sites relating to Mary Draper Ingles still existed. Drapers Meadow which is now the campus of Virginia Tech is long gone. A small plaque located near the Duck Pond commemorates the 1755 attack.

After a little research, I was able to locate the site of Ingles Tavern and Ferry. It is on the west bank of the New River near Radford. Not much is left but you can still make out the actual ferry landing and there are a couple of log building near. The land in now private property and posted so I had to view it from the end of the state road.  I am not sure if the Log building are original to the site or were build later.  Maybe I will go back in the summer and see if I can get permission to access the Property.

Grave of Mary Draper Ingles

The last place I was able to locate was Mary's Grave. She is resting in the West View Cemetery in west Radford just a short distance from the Tavern and Ferry. Visitors will have no trouble locating Mary's grave. It is marked by a large stone obelisk located right at the cemetery entrance.

There is some amazing history right in my back door. Now that I have the time, I hope to explore it.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS- GEORGIA vs ALABAMA

The College Football Season came to an end last night in Atlanta  with an all SEC National Championship. So many time championship games fail to live up to all of the pregame hype. Not the case this time as Alabama and Georgia made sure that the game exceeded all expectations.

A lot was was said when Alabama was selected over Ohio State. Many of the pundit said that the selection of two SEC teams in the playoffs was not fair; that is did not represent the diversity of the sport. The also said that the possibility of two SEC teams meeting in the Championship game would not be good for the future of the College Football Playoff.  Many also said that a team that did not win its conference championship should not be considered for the playoff.

The sole missions of the College Football playoff committee was to select the four BEST teams for the Playoff. Not the four most deserving teams, not the four most politically correct teams, not the four best conference champions and certainly not the four most popular teams.  I said at the time I felt like the committee got it right. There was little disagreement in the selection of Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma but when they selected Alabama over Ohio State most people said that Ohio State should have been selected simply because they won their Conference Championship, Not because they were the better team.

I think that any of the four teams would have beat Ohio State. Simply put, Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson would have beaten the Buckeyes and Oklahoma had already beaten them earlier in the season. Simply put, Ohio State wasn't one of the four best teams in the country. The Selection Committee got it right.

That bring me to the game itself. Overall the game was a classic and I enjoyed it, but there were a few thing that I found interesting.

First, why was Mekhi Brown (#48) not ejected for throwing a punch during the game. The officials obviously saw it because they flagged him for Unsportsman like conduct. I have no doubt he would have been immediately ejected if this had occurred during a regular season game.  Also why was he not banished from the bench when he violently charge at coaches and players and had to be physically restrained. Not only was nothing done for his unacceptable conduct on the bench, he was allowed to return to the game. 

Additionally, I must say that I usually like Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, but last night was NOT one of their better efforts.  They appeared be more interested in being politically correct rather than calling the game. They ignored several issues throughout the game.

This was was most evident was when Mekhi Brown was flagged for unsportsman like conduct for throwing a punch. The only comment Fowler and Herbstreit made was "He is lucky he wasn't ejected." This would have been a perfect time to bring in their rules official who was in the booth and ask him why he wasn't ejected. Not only didn't they discuss the non-ejections they made no comment at all when Brown shoved a couple of coaches and player in a violent rage on the Alabama bench. They were silent and the video quickly cut away from the scene of several people trying to restrain Brown.

It would be interesting in hearing why the Brown incident both on the field and on the bench was not addressed by Alabama, the Game Officials and the TV Broadcasts. The reason being is probably the politically correct bull crap of "it's a teaching moment. We want Brown to learn from this." Or this was a young man in a high pressure situation so we can excuse his conduct as competitive behavior.

I call Bull Crap.  Browns actions on the field should have resulted in an ejection.  His actions on the bench should have resulted in him being banished from the bench area for the rest of the game and his future with the football team should be re-evaluated upon return to campus. 

Finally several people that I have talked with today were disappointed with the way the game was officiated.  Again the most glaring issue I have was why Brown was not ejected.  Over all I have seen better officiated game and I have seen worse. In my opinion the officials for the most part was pretty good. Did they miss calls? Sure. Did they cost Georgia the Game. Certainly Not.

With that the College Football Season is over and now we can turn our full attention to College Basketball. And in just about a month Pitchers and Catchers will be reporting to Spring Training.

TV TEDDY

I have refereed basketball for a number of years on the high school level, but let me assure you that I am by no means an expert. A basketball official has to do a lot of thing during the course of a game. He has to get always be in the correct position to make the call. He has to display the proper mechanics to convey the call to the spectators, coaches, players and other officials and he has to know the rules and how to apply them.

In this day and time game administrators also want the officials to be a diplomat, lawyer, psychologist and baby sitter. Such was the case this past weekend with Veteran Referee Ted Valentine who as assigned to work the North Carolina - Florida State Game came under fire for not entertaining the complaint of a so called student athlete.  During the game Carolina Senior Joel Berry II wanted to discuss a "No Call" with Valentine who was the lead official on the baseline.

Valentine can be seen holding his hands out and telling Berry to stop. Basically saying, I'm not going to discuss anything with you. Berry can also be seen continuing toward Valentine who is in the confined space of the base line. It is then that Valentine crosses his arms and turns his back to Berry.

Immediate meltdown ensues. TV announcers start expounding their Political Correct bull crap. Twitter goes into melt down and TV Teddy is once again the center of attention. By the way he is no stranger to attention and controversy. Who could forget his classic confrontations with the legendary Bobby Knight. And just a couple of years back, it was Valentine who had enough of Mick Cronin's whining and belly aching and got right up in his face and gave Mighty Mick a taste of his own medicine.

So it is no surprise that TV Teddy once again finds himself at the center of controversy. Ted is well know for being one of the most colorful and demonstrative officials in the country. He is also evidently regarded as one of the best. Just look at his accomplishments.

He has worked at the highest level of college basketball for almost 30 years. During that time he has work the NCAA Basketball Tournament 28 time. He has worked 10-Final Fours including Four National Championship Games. So he must be doing something right!

First let me say most officials never seek attention. Most like to walk on the floor quietly and unnoticed and hope when the game is over we can walk off the same way.  But this is not Ted Valentine's way. He puts himself out there at the center of attention everywhere he goes. Is this wise? Probably not. But he has done it for almost 30-years and has done it very well.

Despite all of the antics, Ted Valentine is one of the better officials, just look at his accomplishments. Ted Valentine and the other officials are there to call the game, but today, officials are expected to explain every call to the coaches and player. Which brings me to my point. Officials today spend too much time talking to the coaches and player, explaining call and trying to soothe their egos.  If a coach or player needs to have every call explained to them, then they probably shouldn't be on the sidelines or on the court. The college game is trying to turn their referees into diplomats and lawyers where they not only have to explain every call but defend the call.

In my opinion, officials today spend too much time engaging coaches and players in conversation. Referees should make the call, report the call to the table and get on with the game. Let the coaches and players belly ache to a point and then T'em up. Enforce bench decorum and the coaches box. It won't take long for the coaches and player to learn the rules and not require constant explanations.

By not explaining every call, and limiting video reviews the games will be quicker and you won't be constantly interrupting the flow.

Finally, Let me end this rant by saying that the politically correctness police including TV Broadcasters are unfairly crucifying Ted Valentine. The Big Ten has taken two games away from him just so they can say, look what we did. Well, I refuse to jump on board with all this Political Correct Bull Crap. I don't know Ted Valentine personally but I have had some interaction with him at games over the years. Several years ago I was at the Wake Forest - Vanderbilt Game at Memorial Gym. Ted was assigned the game and saw me sitting court side in my Wake Forest attire. He walked over and ask me if I felt out of place. "Just a little," I replied, and he laughed and we talked for a few minutes about basketball and the up coming NCAA Tournament.  It was a cool informal exchange.

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to attend the Big South Tournament at Campbell University.  I was sitting front row directly behind the scorers table.  Ted was assigned one of the early games of the tournament and saw me when he came over to check the book.  He again went out of his way to speak to me, asking me where my Wake Forest Tie Dye was and telling me to take it easy on him today. He shook my hand and we both laughed.

Earlier this year, I saw him at Virginia Tech, he again recognized me and made a point of asking me, "Are you going to follow me around all season?" I told him "You never know where I may pop up." We both laughed and he told me to go easy on him "it's too early in the season." We both laughed.

Ted said after the Berry incident that he was considering retiring, because he was getting tired of everything getting blown out of proportion. He went on to say that he has had a stellar career and it may be time to wind things down.

Could Ted have handled things better, without a doubt Yes. I agree with Ted that this whole thing is a whole lot to do about nothing and has been blown out of proportion. I hope when all of this blows over the college commissioners will grow a back bone and continue to assign him to games and that TV Teddy will continue to walk on the court as one of the best basketball official in the country. I don't have to agree with his calls on the floor. And I don't have to agree with his antics and mannerisms but Ted Valentine has earned my respect both as a basketball official and as a person.

TED VALENTINE DESERVES BETTER.

HOKIES...HOOS...& PANTHERS

This first week of 2018 has seen us having some of the coldest temperatures in recent memory. I can remember single digit temperatures for a day or two but this entire week has seen overnight temperatures hovering near 0 and struggling to get to the 20 degree mark in the day time.  Thursday Morning (Jan. 3) it was 6 degrees when I got up at 7:30 a.m. and this morning it was 3 degrees and never got above 16.

While it has been bitter cold here in the New River Valley, we have not had any snow. The same can't be said for the east coast from Florida to New England.  Place like Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina go 3-4 inches of snow, while Virginia Beach and the Tidewater area of Virginia got upward of a foot. The same storm moved up the coast dumping well over a foot of snow in some parts of New England. 

The cold weather has chased me inside when it come to my daily exercise routine. I have been making a daily visit to the Christiansburg Rec. Center. One of the advantages of living in the Town of Christiansburg is that as a resident I can use the Rec. Center facilities free of charge. The center has an 1/8th of a mile walk/run track, 5-treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals along with an assortment of weighs.

I usually get in about 4-miles in a little over an hour.  Most of the time my routine consists of walking a mile on the track, before heading to the tread mill and getting in 2-miles in a little over 30-minutes which is a pretty brisk pace. Finally I walk another mile on the track.  By the time I am done I have worked up a pretty good sweat.  I have been doing this for the better part of a month now must admit I feel better and on days that I don't get my steps in, I really miss it.

Kerry Blackshear, Jr.
Slams againt UVA

Wednesday Night I ventured over to Cassell Coliseum for act 1 of the Commonwealth Clash between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Virginia Tech Hokies.  The game was the conference home opener for the Hokies and I must say the ACC Schedule Makers doesn't do Virginia Tech any favors. First the game with the Hokies biggest rival is scheduled while the students are away on Christmas Break. 

The powers that be in the ACC need to address this, and move this game to later in January when the Students are back on campus.  This is one of if not the biggest game on the Va. Tech Schedule and it needs to be played before a packed house. This is the third time in the last few years that the Hokies and Cavaliers have met in Blacksburg when the students have been away on break.

Kyle Guy

The second thing that I don't like is that this game was scheduled for 9 p.m. on a week day night. This further reduced the attendance as parent with children are not going to show up and keep them up past midnight.  I understand the need for 9 p.m. games for TV but again not with your biggest rival.

The game its self was nothing to brag about as both teams were still suffering from a New Years Hang over.  Just like at Syracuse earlier in the week, the Hokies weren't hitting from outside and the UVA Defense seem to fluster the Hokies in the Paint.  The UVA Defense also turned the Hokies over 16 time resulting in 23 points off of turnovers.  When it was all over the Cavaliers were headed back to Hooville with a 78-52 win. The two teams meet again in Charlottesville on Saturday February 10 in a 6 p.m. game at John Paul Jones Arena.

Thursday and Friday I pretty much just concentrated on staying warm as the temperatures were in single digits and never got above 20.

Today as I made my way back to Cassell Coliseum for the Noon tip between the Hokies and Pitt Panters is was just 16 degrees. Thank goodness I had a parking pass for the lot directly across the street from the Coliseum so it was only a short walk.

Me and Tim Brando

Today game tipped at noon and it was broadcast on the ACC Network. It was great to see Tim Brando and Mike Gminski back in Blacksburg. I have met Tim a couple of time and in addition to being one of the best broadcasters in the business he is also one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Both Tim and the G-Man are great broadcasters and just down right good people.

The Hokies finally got in the win column in conference play. After playing Pitt Close in the first half, the Hokies behind the hot shooting of Kerry Blackshear, Jr., opened up a lead early in the second half and never looked back. The final score was Virginia Tech 81 and Pittsburgh 67.

On Wednesday Night (January 10) The Hokies travel to Winston Salem to take on my Demon Deacons. I had thought seriously about picking up a ticket on Stub Hub and going but its a 9 p.m. game which would make it close to 2 a.m. before I get home unless I wanted to get a motel and stay over.  I am leaning toward just staying home and watching on TV, but you never know what this old retired guy might do.

It's been a cold, and busy first week of retirement but I must say I have enjoyed it, and I am adapting to this new chapter of my life.

RELAXED - REFRESHED & RETIRED

January 1, 2018 - When I woke up this morning I was officially RETIRED. After working at the same place for more than 43-years it is going to be an adjustment not having a daily schedule. I haven't worked since October 12, 2017, as I had 10-weeks of leave that I had to take before the end of the year or lose. So really have I been adjusting to retirement for the better part of two and a half months.

In those two and a half months I have found that I really don't miss the job all that much.  I certainly don't miss the pain of doing the employee schedule, nor do I miss the never relenting demand of the public. I must say that in the last 40 plus years, the people of today are just plain rude and in some cases stupid. Use to be you could at least try and reason with people and have a discussion. But now days there is not reasoning with them and more often than not a discussion is out of the question. More than ever I realize just how right the person was who said "You can't fix stupid." And there are more stupid people out there than ever before. I don't miss listening to their whining when they don't get their way.

But the biggest thing that I won't miss is the fact that nobody want to accept any responsibility. No matter what the situation is, it is always other peoples fault. People are not willing to look themselves in the mirror and say "it's my fault and I have make a change." They have absolutely no respect for themselves, much less respect for anyone else. 

I do miss the daily interactions with the people in the Communications Center. These people are some of the most dedicated and professional people that I have ever met . They have been a very big part of my life and I truly miss them.

Since being unofficially retired, I have found that my stress level has been greatly reduced. I am sleeping better and I am waking up refreshed and my day is much more relaxed. I have also found that it is a big adjustment noting having to make time for yourself.  When I was working, it was difficult trying to find an hour or so just for me. Whether it was just finding time to kick back and read a book or hitting the rec center for a little exercise, it was stressful just trying to find that time.
Now I have the time and have rediscovered the joy of reading, and just how much I enjoy my daily walks either at the Rec Center, on the Huckleberry or on one of the other trails that we have here in the New River Valley.

While nobody knows what the future holds, I do hope to travel some. I have a trip schedule in March out to the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Dallas and hope to spend the better part of the Month piddlin around the Lone Star State.

In the early planning stages, is a trip this summer up to the the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan and I am also looking at a weekend through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.

One of my bucket list items is to Ride Amtrak across country. Right now I am looking at Riding the Texas Eagle out to Phoenix in October and spending a few days with Chuck and Sharon Shinall at their time share before re-boarding the Texas Eagle and continuing on to Los Angles. While in L. A. I want to rent a car and play tourist before heading up the Coast on the Coast Starlight to San Francisco. After spend a few days in the Bay Area, I want to board the California Zephyr for the return trip across the country.

In the mean time, I am going to dust off the golf clubs and when the weather breaks hit the course and hone my skills at cow pasture pool.  I am also going to keep the camera handy as you never know when a photo opportunity may come up.

So, after 43-years of work, and several months of planning....RETIREMENT is here and I am RETIRED.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!