KARL WALLACE
Suzan Comes Home
Richmond is the capital of Virginia, this year many visitors will come to commemorate the 75th
anniversary of the publication of "Gone with the Wind" or the 150th year since the start of the Civil War.
The once-neglected downtown finally feels fresh, lively and full of food—185 restaurants have opened
in the last ten years.
Suzan B. Anthony was born in Richmond into a middle class southern white family. General Sheridan’s
Cavalry destroyed the family home in 1863 the third year of the civil war, and her parents moved to
Appomattox Court Courthouse, thirty-five miles west of Richmond, thinking it a safe haven and
unlikely to attract any fighting. Their home is where General Lee surrendered to General U. S. Grant, in
1865 ending our civil war, and precisely the day the 14th amendment came into being. Abolition! It stated all Americans are created equal. There will be no more slavery regardless of skin color, race,
origin of ancestors. We are all United States Americans.
It had been a hundred years since the Declaration of Independence was written. “Four score and
seven years ago,” as Abraham Lincoln stated in his famous Gettysburg Address. The Emancipation Proclamation. To the Victors go the spoils. The Federal Union now had the authority to:
*Conscript men into the armed forces, if need be, to protect its citizens both internally and externally.
* It could now levy an income tax and did almost immediately so as to help maintain its authority.
*It exists to protect all of its United States against any internal or external efforts to challenge its
existence.
Suzan rode home from Richmond on her horse. She viewed the signing of the surrender and was
much welcomed by her father and mother. It was the last day of the civil war, 4th of July 1865
Karl Wallace
OUT OF THE WEST UPON HER STEED
In the morning mist.
At the break of dawn
Upon the dusty rutted road
That led to Appomattox Town.
The dead Southerners bloated and shot
Lay strewn around.
Sprung from the swift hooves
Her horse goes thundering by
Leaving behind dust from the road rising
Smoking like the mouth of cannon barrels.
A nurse and her horse rode home that day
Upon the trail of a comet, sweeping faster
And faster, the rebellion over,
Foreboding for losers,
Now and forever over.
To read more Karl Wallace writings go to: karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
