Next week, we will look at the final five characters you need to know about, but in the meantime…do you have any questions? About these characters, about the book, about content that might be brought up? Please ask in the comments or feel free to contact me via the form on the contact page! I will be making more posts about To Save a Life in the coming weeks, so any and all suggestions are welcome!
 
Question of the Day: Have you read TSAL yet? Who are you most excited to meet?
 
Have a Blessed Day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Welcome back to Life of Heritage Corner! A while back, I mentioned that I might do a post on the Lincoln Assassination in this series. It was met with requests, so I decided to go for it! The murder of the 16th president has long been of interest to me, because of all the stories and people involved and misconceptions surrounding motives and perspectives of the “main characters,” if you will. Today, I’m sharing some bits I find particularly interesting that aren’t usually covered. Let’s roll!

Not many people know that Lincoln actually died on the floor of the president’s box in Ford’s Theater. Dr. Charles Leale was the first to treat Lincoln, resuscitating him with mouth to mouth. Lincoln was then carried to the Peterson House across the street from the theater in an attempt to salvage Lincoln’s reputation. (The idea of the president dying in a theater on Good Friday was appalling to the general population. Funny no one seemed to care that he had been there in the first place…)

Mary Lincoln was understandably distraught over the events of that night, and, never being a lady of strong mental stability, was in a hysterical state of mind. This however does not justify Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in banning her from the bedside. She was not with her husband in his last moments because of him. Heartless, cruel and inexcusable.

Obviously inappropriate, but since the flag’s stars did not match the actual number of states in the Union at that time, I suppose I’ll let that slide *halo*

John Wilkes Booth’s father and mother were both from England. They later came to America and I will agree, Booth was an American citizen. But he was not a southerner. That’s not something you can change just by moving to a certain part of the country. That takes generations. Booth grew up in Maryland, another mark against him being “southern.” Sure, it’s south of the Mason-Dixon, but culturally, the south doesn’t consider them as a southern state 😉 (And don’t come telling me my baby is gonna be half yankee, lol! The Peterson clan might have the accent but not the culture, and they haven’t been in Maryland long enough to be yankees; they are from Tennessee 😉)

Tad was representing the Lincoln family at Ford’s rival theater, Grover’s, watching Aladdin and his Magic Lamp. A chaperone was with him. And how did he learn his father was shot? From a man who got up on stage and announced it to the crowd. All people could hear following this announcement was Tad, 12-years-old, screaming.

Booth had been planning for over a year to kidnap Lincoln and turn him over the Confederacy to use as a bargaining chip. This plan was not endorsed by any Confederate organizations and it’s very unlikely that President Davis was even aware of this proposition.

The Garrett family had housed Booth for a day prior to the showdown with federal troops. But it wasn’t until the soldiers showed up and surrounded their barn that they learned the identity of their guest.

A soldier from Mosby’s rangers, Jett was the one who introduced Booth to the Garretts and ultimately led the federal entourage to the farm.

The whole reason she was put on trial was because her son was a friend of Booth’s and they had held meetings in her house about the kidnapping scheme. Did she aid Booth in his escape? Yes, ultimately. Does that warrant a death sentence? No.

I cannot prove anything one way or the other. I personally believe it was Booth that was killed, but there is a lot of evidence about connections to the assassination that magically disappeared. And it’s interesting that no one came after Stanton, who put his stamp of approval on many atrocities committed by the Union, including the murder of civilians and torture and murder of Prisoners of War. Pages of previously intact diary entries in Booth’s date book disappeared after falling into Stanton’s hands. Postmortem photographs of Booth also disappeared. Some claimed that the dead man had auburn hair, not black and they were silenced. Booth’s body was hidden from the public.

Again, I’m not saying it wasn’t Booth, but we haven’t been told the whole story. Stanton wasn’t above hiding or destroying evidence that didn’t fit his narrative. He proved that by hiding the shawl that Jefferson Davis was wearing when he was captured so the public wouldn’t find out that the president wasn’t wearing a dress. Scientists and historians have been trying to get Booth’s body released for a DNA test, but have been blocked on every turn. Just saying, there’s more to this story that we may never know.

Don’t come after me, I’m just sharing both sides of the story XP
 

Which fact surprised you the most? Have one you would like to share? Interested in some resources on Lincoln, the assassination and the “Booth Conspiracy?” Let me know in the comments if I should do another post on the resources I’ve found!
 
Have a blessed day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

I don’t know about you, but I love me some totally random facts! And even more so, I love me a totally random battle that not many people have heard about! So today, we are going to look at what many say is the actual first battle of the War Between the States!

1| Where and When. This battle took place on June 10th, 1861, 160 years ago! The battle took place in Big Bethel Virginia and is one of the lesser-known battles of the war.

2| It All Happened Here. Many people refer to either Ft. Sumter or First Manassas when talking of the first battle of the War Between the States. But Big Bethel is actually the first.

3| Looking at the Numbers… As with most battles of the war, the Confederate Soldiers were outnumbered. They had under 1,500 men while the Union invaders had around 3,500. But you know us, that makes the odds about even! *halo*

4| The Men Behind the Moment. Two lesser-known Generals were in command of the opposing armies. For the federals, Brigadier General Ebenezer W. Peirce led them into battle. For the Confederacy, it was Colonel John B. Magruder.

5| Confederate Gold Star Family. This battle saw the death of the very first Confederate soldier in the field. Private Henry Wyatt was the sole Confederate soldier killed in the battle, the only fatality of 8 Southern soldiers injured.

6| How did he Die? Being the first enlisted casualty of battle, it’s no wonder we know how it happened. Colonel D. H. Hill requested 4 volunteers to set fire to a house federal troops had commandeered and were using to pin down the Southern troops with their firepower. Henry was one of them. They never made it to the house, and Henry died in the line of fire.

7| The Fate of the House. After Henry’s death, the volunteers were recalled and the house was taken out by artillery fire.

8| Why Here? Confederate Forces hoped to dislodge troops from Ft. Monroe, reclaiming it for the Confederacy. Unfortunately, the same fort where Custis Lee (Robert E. Lee’s son) was born at remained the only Southern Fort in Virginia to remain in federal control through the entire war.

9| Tar Heel Legacy. North Carolina has often been known as the state that was “First at Big Bethel and Last at Palmito Ranch.” We lost more soldiers than any other state and sent the most men to the Confederate Army. As usual, we had a big hand in the events at the battle of Big Bethel.

10| The Victorious Victors *Halo* The Confederacy of course. They couldn’t let the first battle at home be won by the opposing army!


Have you heard of this battle before today? Is this the first time? I encourage you to do some research and share some of your findings in the comments below!

Have a Blessed Day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Hello! Today, I have a fun collaboration with Author Kassie Angle to share with you today! We are expounding on a total of 10 things that Military and Ministry kids (MKs) can relate to! So click here to read her post first, then slide on down to read 6-10 here! (PSST! If you are subscribed to my email list, you get to know my take on the first 5!)

Note || I can only speak for myself on these issues and my own personal experience. Attitude is everything, and if you are raised with a selfless mindset, that makes all the difference!

Ministry kids vary, but a lot of us have moved several times. Traveling a lot during the year counts too 😉 I have personally moved five times in my life, living in four different locations. Military kids can undoubtedly sympathize with me here! When dad gets stationed somewhere else, its pack up and go. The same is true for Ministry kids. We go where Dad and our family has been called to! And I’ve been excited every time! There was never a choice in the matter, and that didn’t bother me. It’s not my choice to make anyway. Just accept it, embrace it, and enjoy the ride!

My siblings are my best friends, not gonna lie. I don’t need other people to change that for me. While I certainly enjoy having friends as we travel, I get along just fine (I’m one of seven kids, y’all, things are never dull 😉).

That being said, as a ministry kid, I have learned the importance of a friendly spirit, while being on guard. Are these people going to be a good influence on me? Can I help them in some way while I’m here? Can I bring honor to God through my relationship with them, no matter how long or short term it is?

I can’t vouch for anyone else, but most of my friends are much older or at least a few years younger than me! My generation tends toward cliques, and I want no part of that. Some places we go, I don’t “hit it off” with anyone. Other places, it’s like we’ve known each other for life!

The long and short of it is, I’m not looking for friends. It’s just a bonus when I find one!

Yes, yes, yes! I cannot fathom trying to be a ministry family while trying to attend a school, Christian or not! We need to be flexible, and (in an average year XP), we have a lot of out of town meetings. It’s not possible to always leave everyone behind (we sing when our dad preaches), and no school on earth would put up with us being gone so much, lol! I can imagine that being a military kid would also benefit when you’re never sure when Dad will have some time off for a quick trip to visit family. And who wants to do school when dad just got home from Afghanistan in the middle of October??? Seriously! So as homeschoolers, when things come up, and we need time off, we can double up to take days off or make-up days we missed.

Also, ministry/military kids tend to be some of the most patriotic kids around (I am not saying you have to be in the ministry or the military to be patriotic 😉), so we tend to reject mainstream educational trends. With homeschool, we know precisely what our kiddos are learning and can make sure that what they learn is Biblical and Historically sound!

And hence I try to come up with a way to explain this. The short answer is, it’s impossible, but anyone in either group is nodding their head right now. We have our inside jokes and favorite books/films. We have our favorite events of the year and the games we play. We understand each other pretty well, and we know when one of us is being a little over dramatic about a situation 😊 I mean, you don’t have to be one of us to play with us or talk with us, but you might not understand all of our references, just saying 😉

Not proud in the sense that we are boastful. I think a better word for it is grateful, appreciative that God chose us for this, even when we didn’t. I am so thankful to be a ministry kid, and I hope my kids someday will have the same privilege. God is so good, and He writes the best life stories.

Are you letting Him write yours?
 
That's it for now! Don't forget to swing by Kassie's blog if you haven't already!
Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Welcome back to Soldier Life! Today, I’m doing a post on the Lieutenant Colonel! I’ve done some advanced research, and I’m gonna go ahead and tell you that information on the Lieutenant Colonel and the full Colonel is not as detailed as the lower ranks. So be prepared for these posts to be shorter 😉

As usual, I will link the last post in this series here. And also, I will give my general disclaimer that I am not a military nor 1860’s expert. These are just things I wished I had known about the era or thought other authors/history buffs would find helpful/interesting. The posts are non-biased and intended for all readers. I hope you enjoy!

Unlike our British counterparts, during the War Between the states, a Lieutenant Colonel was not the commander of a regiment. In fact, there were no duties specified for him at all! It was simply understood that if the full colonel were to be injured, killed, or otherwise absent, he was to take command. So naturally, he would need to understand the duties of regiment commander. When the Lieutenant Colonel was present, he was subject to whatever duties the Colonel required of him. Sometimes these were tasks he could have preformed himself but could be delegated to a subordinate.

According to Kautz’s Customs of Service for Officers of the Army, “The Lieutenant-Colonel, when not the senior officer of the Regiment, has precisely the same kind of duties that the Major is required to perform: Field Officer of the Day, the Command of Detachments, Field Officer’s Court-Martial, etc.  Four companies are sufficient to constitute a Lieutenant-Colonel’s Command, when the Regiment is divided about among several posts.”

So, if you have a Lieutenant Colonel in your story, just make sure you have him giving orders and filling out paperwork and being saluted by those lower-ranking 😊 You should be good to go!
 
That’s it for now! Hope you have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22