Taunting

[Haversack]

Re: Taunting

I will volnteer right now to be pelted with corn bread.Ha ha.This is a very interesting subject.It does seem that the 2 sides would taunt each other though,if you think about it.

[Tom Craig]

Re: Taunting

Here is an amusing incident from the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry at the battle of Aldie, VA, June 1863.

A squadron of the 1st Mass. was chasing a group of Confederates down the Snickersville Turnpike. The Rebs outpaced the Yanks and got around a corner out of sight. Major Henry Lee Higginson of the 1st Mass then "made faces with his fingers" at the rebs, and they turned around in regimental strength to attack the lone Federal squadron. Higginson for his part was shot, and sabred at least twice, but lived to tell about it.

I have always wondered exactly what they meant by "faces with his fingers" and all I can envision is our modern taunts...anyone know any different?

Take care,
Tom Craig

[Hank Trent]

Re: Taunting

I have always wondered exactly what they meant by "faces with his fingers" and all I can envision is our modern taunts...anyone know any different?

Here's one possible period description of something that might fit that phrase. It's Mark Twain's 1862 description of the position in which a petrified man was found, intended to be a subtle clue that it was all a hoax.

the right thumb resting against the side of the nose; the left thumb partially supported the chin, the fore-finger pressing the inner corner of the left eye and drawing it partly open; the right eye was closed, and the fingers of the right hand spread apart.

Later, admitting the hoax, Mark Twain made it clear the gesture was meant to be significant, though unfortunately too subtly buried in the article: "nobody but me ever discovered and comprehended the peculiar and suggestive position of the petrified man’s hands.”

That's from http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/H...Petrified_Man/

There's an 1880s illustration on that page, showing the petrified man clearly thumbing his nose at his discoverers. However, his hand position doesn't exactly match Mark Twain's description, and Twain's description is in fact a little closer to "making faces with his fingers," since he uses one finger to pull his eye askew.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[New Jerseyman]

Re: Taunting

Neil,

Note to self: Order disposable cornbread for when we do confederate commissary.

Ron Myzie

They could fabricate fake cornbread from tennis balls, which is what was used at an event years ago when the Confeds were supposed to be chucking rocks.

[madasabagofcats]

Re: Taunting

Pickets on the Rappahannock taunting each other before Fredericksburg, from Glory Road by Bruce Catton:

"Oh Yank! How did you like Bull Run?"

"Better bury your dead on South Mountain."

"What do you think of the New York election?"

"What do you think of Ben Butler?"

"Oh the Louisiana Tigers will bring him back to Richmond."

"The Louisiana Tigers? There's none of them left - the last died running."

[Tom Craig]

Re: Taunting

Hank,

Thanks for the info! That about confirms my thoughts...meaning that I always imagined it must be the sort of gesture little kids use, like when they put their thumb to their nose and wiggle their fingers etc.

On a related note, you have to love Twain for his vivid descriptions and subtle jokes. I think we all could learn a lot about mindset and the nuances of accepted behavior by reading Twain's earlier stuff that was written during "our" period.

Take care,
Tom Craig

[Mike Willey]

Re: Taunting

Here is one of my favorites, found way back in '92....posted on the "Ohio in the Civil War" website.


The Twenty-seventh Ohio, which must be remembered by everybody who read of the desperate defense of Battery Robinet, at Corinth, has in its ranks some chaps who love fun as well as a fight. When it came into the service, the old belts and plates which had been manufactured in peace times for the Ohio Volunteer Militia were not all disposed of, and the waists of the twenty-seventh were consequently all labelled, O.V.M. Though the U.S. had displaced most of these initials, a few of the old ones are still in use. On the 4th of October a corporal, wearing one of the old belts, was in command of a squad who were bringing in some rebel prisoners. After our men had passed the compliments of the day with their prisoners, and the canteens were duly emptied, one of the rebels inquires--

"Corporal, what the devil does O.V.M. stand for?"
"Oh, my plate you mean?" says the corporal; "that stands for Ohio Visiting Mississippi. We had a few made on purpose for this campaign."
From: The Spirit Of Woodsfield, Ohio. June 3, 1863


Thanks to: Mike Willey. Zanesville, Ohio 1992

Web Publishing Copyright © 1996 Larry Stevens

Mike Willey
late of the 49th Ohio and Coffee-coolers

[BCIDick]

Re: Taunting

I can think of worse things to be pelted with than cornbread.

In a bad French accent: "Go away or we will taunt you a second time".