Something for the weekend. Donald Sutherland as Confederate General Pierre Beauregard calms a group of Confederate civilians under bombardment by Union forces in besieged Charleston by singing The Bonnie Blue Flag. This is from the 1999 movie The Hunley, a film about the Confederate proto-submarine. (My late brother-in-law, Charles Stringer, had a caneo as a Confederate amputee soldier. ) Sutherland has always been a Hollywood liberal, and this scene demonstrates just how recent the politicization of all things Confederate has been by the Left in this country.
The CSS Hunley was a tribute to Rebel ingenuity. Working far beyond cutting edge technology, the Confederates in besieged Charleston produced a workable submarine. It cost the lives of three crews, but on its first and final combat mission on February 17, 1864, it sent the USS Housatonic, a sloop of war, to the bottom of the entrance of Charleston harbor, with the Hunley and her crew being lost in her moment of victory.
An outstanding actor, notwithstanding his political dementia. Great acting job in ‘Ordinary People’. And many other roles.
My brother and I used to sing “The Bonnie Blue Flag” when we were in 8th and 9th grade in Mobile. Good catchy tune.
In the wake of recent events I’ve thought why not substitute the Bonnie Blue flag for the Stars and Bars by those who want to honor their Southern or Virginia heritage and their ancestors’ sacrifice instead of the Stars and Bars battle flag?
Unfortunately, the Bonnie Blue would soon become a bone of contention. Before the mess this summer one rebel flag noted displayed on a front porch on a rural county road. Since then many a Stars and Bars bumper sticker or flag is seen. There are even cakes with flags now for sale. Not because people are racist but because they don’t want to be told what to do. They don’t want someone telling them what they are thinking or feel. They don’t want their family history forgotten. As Come Heres we know locals from all walks of life whose families settled in the county circa late 1600s and 1700s and they are darn proud of their adventurous ancestors whether they were landed gentry or indentured servants.
Submarines have been dangerous to others and to themselves from the very beginning. The sea is most unforgiving.
Google “Bonnie Blue Flag” – much to learn. The first flag of the Texas Republic, from 1836-1839 was a bonnie blue flag with a single golden star [not the white star of the South] . Some think the Texians borrowed it from the short-lived Republic of Florida flag. DeZavala added the letters T E X A S later between the points of the star. The blue portion of the Texas flag today is the Bonnie Blue Flag. The music was taken from an Irish folk song, The Irish Jaunting Car. Look up the lyrics and you will learn the good Irishman Larry Doolin respected Queen VIctoria and feared neither the Russian Czar nor Satan. The Bonnie Blue is what flew over Ft Sumpter until it was taken. The music plays a role in the movies GONE WITH THE WIND and THE HORSE SOLDIERS. Guy, Texas
almost forgot: of course when Melanie Wilks says Scarlet’s and Rhett’s little daughter has eyes as blue as the bonnie blue flag, that is how Eugenia Victoria Butler got the nickname “Bonnie Blue Butler.”
Two appearances in The Horse Sodiers, loosely based on Grierson’s Raid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpsJF7ZSpq4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj1_p18LdaQ