Starke T. Miller

MY SPRING 2026 TOURS SHILOH is on April 18, all day, starting at 9AM to about 4:30, and then Fallen Timbers is optional. Cost is $80 per person. You follow me around in your car to about 18 stops on the Battlefield. There is only limited walking. Sunday April 5 - Part One of Oxford's St. Peters Cemetery. 3 PM to about 4:30. We cover the front half of the old part of the Cemetery. We walk from grave to grave, to see and meet amazing Oxonians, UM Chancellors, Civil War Veterans, Ole Miss Alumni, University Greys and many others. For tips. Sunday April 12 - Sit down on the Ole Miss Circle. 3 to about 4:30. Come hear more Ole Miss history than you have heard in your whole life, from THE expert. Bring a chair. Cost - tips. April 26 - The other half of Oxford's St. Peter's Cemetery. 3PM to 4:30. For Tips. Sunday May 3 - Sit down talk on the Lafayette County Courthouse lawn. 3 to 4:30. Come hear what has happened on that Square: University Greys sign into Mississippi Confederate service, Jefferson Davis speaks, FOUR Yankee invasions, The Courthouse and Square burned, and much more. For tips. Friday May 15 - Ole Miss Oxford tour - 9AM to about 4:30. All day Tour. We start inside the Lyceum and cover University history on the Ole Miss Circle. Then we get into cars and go out to the University Hospital cemetery and the Ole Miss Confederate Monument. Then lunch, the Oxford Square, St. Peters and parts of Oxford. This is the Master Class on Ole Miss/Oxford history, with an emphasis on Civil War history here. You have NEVER heard it all, Cost $80 per person. Sunday May 17 - College Hill Church and Cemetery. An hour and a half sit down talk Cemetery tour. Good Lord I LOVE that 1846 Church and those old Presbyterians! Bring a chair. For tips. Sunday May 24 - Oxford's St Peters Cemetery oddities! Things and people I do not ordinarily cover. 3 to 4:30 Cost tips. Sunday May 31 - Ole Miss Civil War Hospital Cemetery - 3 to 4:30, bring a chair. Out behind Tad Smith Coliseum. come see and hear about 392 Confederate Veteran, UM Hospital patients buried there. Also the Ole Miss Confederate monument is there. For tips. I am not affiliated with the University in any way. I just happen to know their history better than they do after 36 years of research! If you are interested in any of three tours, message or Email me and tell me which one, or ones you want to come to. You pay me the day of the tour, cash or check. I will start posting the details of each tour soon. Ole Miss students come free of charge. Help me out and please share this. I also do private tours on all of this, on most any day of your choosing. THANKS!

I have a talk to give tomorrow over in the Mississippi Delta, at a pretty little town called Merigold. I shall return on Friday, good Lord willin' and the creeks don't rise! (Indians or streams) "Don't cry girls, I'll be BACK!"

You can get many of my stories here by putting my first name, Starke, in the search box in the top right hand corner, and then putting a word out to the side: Ole Miss, Oxford, Burned, Greys, Mississippi, Dorm, Lee, Jackson, Forrest, Foote, Shiloh, Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, Casualties, Building, Lyceum, House, railroad, culvert. That should bring up most of them. Then go to Facebook, and do the same thing with their search box, in the left top corner.

@CaptLowry In my opinion and it’s been argued some heated with people that the war wasn’t completely over slavery it would have to been abolished anyway even if south won it’s the beginning of the war machine the money would love to know what you think about this and I want all your stories

A STORY OF DEVOTION and HARD FACTS On the left is Lieutenant Colonel David Luckie Herron. He was Lt. Colonel of the 44th Mississippi Infantry Regiment. Early in the War they were known as Blythe's Regiment. He was mortally wounded on the first day of Shiloh. On the right is Colonel Herron's body servant, Spencer Williams. Williams went to War with the Colonel. When the Colonel died, Williams took the Colonel's body 22 miles back overland, probably by horse, mule or wagon, to the railhead at Corinth. At night on that journey, Williams lit fires around the Colonels body to keep the wild animals away. I have no idea personally what he did to tolerate the smell. From Corinth, Williams took the Colonel's body by train, back to Coffeeville, Mississippi, for his family to bury him. Coffeeville is about 35 miles South of Oxford, on the Mississippi Central Railroad. There is another story from Shiloh similar to this. A body servant carried on his shoulder, his dead young master at least half the 22 miles to Corinth. He then got him home to Alabama, so his Mamma could have him buried in the family plot. At least those two Mammas got their boys back to bury. They got some closure. Most of those Mothers who lost boys at Shiloh, knew that their sons were thrown into burial pits, were buried alone out in the woods, or they got no real burial at all. As University Grey, Jeremiah Gage told his best friend when he knew he was dying, "Bury me deep Jim, where the beasts won't get me". Gage had seen what happened to many of the Battlefield dead. I hope I just spoiled your lunch or dinner. YOU need to know these facts, for the next flag, or Monument fight. As is often the case, this is not exactly what I intended to write when I sat down, but it is what came out. Thirty five years of research on stories like these will do that. Trust me, there are some stories so gross, that I don't ever tell them. CLICK on both pictures to see them completely. These pictures and this story are courtesy of Grady Howell, my friend, and proud Mississippian, from his book: For Dixie Land, I'll Take My Stand: Somebody's Darling- Images of Mississippi Confederates

Boll Weevils!

COTTON CARNIVAL IN MEMPHIS IN 1959 This is the King and Queen, and all the rest of the royalty?, of Cotton Carnival arriving on the royal barge, on the cobblestones of the Memphis riverfront to kick off Carnival. Let the hoopla and merrymaking begin!!! Not to mention the drinking 🍾🍹🍸🥃🥂🍷🍻🍺 And look out for those Boll Weevils! 🤪😜😝😛🤓🧐😳😟☹️😬😣😮😲😂🤣😂 Stay SOUTHERN my friends!

@JamesKehoe73 You can go buy that coin from Friends of the Hunley. It is $10 plus shipping! I have one. I pass it around at Shiloh when I tell Dixon's story. It is a perfect copy. But, I have a few scratches on mine, and I am beginning to suspect it is not really GOLD! 😃😎😎🥸😳😃

@CaptLowry Can’t make it to Shiloh because injury but damn I want that coin love your posts

GEORGE E. DIXON a COIN, and SHILOH George Dixon was a steamboat Engineer living in Mobile, Alabama when the War came. He was already a member of a pre War militia Company that became part of the 21st Alabama Infantry. His sweetheart, Queenie Bennett, gave him a twenty dollar gold piece, double eagle coin, for good luck, as a token of her affection, and to help get him out of any problem that might come up. The 21st Alabama was sent to Corinth, Mississippi in March of 1862, to help stop the Union troops who had landed at Pittsburg Landing, about three miles from a little Church named Shiloh. Dixon was of course with the Regiment, with his good luck coin in his left front pocket. Confederate Commander Albert S. Johnston had only one chance to save Corinth and the Memphis-Charleston Railroad. He had to surprise attack Grant's Army before Union Commander Buell was able to march over from Nashville and unite with Grant. Johnston and the whole Confederate army marched toward Pittsburg Landing. The 21st Alabama fought early on the morning of April 6, in Spain field, at the Battle of Shiloh. Dixon was shot there, in the coin. The bullet glanced off the coin and went through his hip, and out the back. From Shiloh, Dixon went back to Corinth to a hospital. From there he went home to Mobile on wounded furlough. There at home in Mobile, Dixon got interested in a new Confederate weapon called a Submarine. Dixon transferred to the crew, and he became the Commander of the sub when it was shipped to Charleston to try to break the Union blockade of that port. In February of 1864, the Hunley Submarine went out one night, and it became the first successful Submarine ever. They sank the Union ship the Housatonic. The only problem was, the Hunley never returned from that mission. When the Hunley was finally recovered, there were two pressing questions. How did the crew die, and did Dixon have that gold coin on him. It is thought now that the crew was so badly affected by the concussion of their own blast, that their hearts stopped, and/or their lungs were affected. They were all found in their seats, and not struggling to get out. They died very quickly. George E. Dixon DID have a bent, twenty dollar gold piece, in what was left of his left pants pocket. It held a surprise. When he went back to Mobile after Shiloh, he must have taken it to a jeweler to have it engraved. The jeweler sanded part of one side of the coin smooth, and he engraved what Dixon told him to: Shiloh April 6th 1862 My life preserver G.E.D. After the recovery of the Hunley, the crew's remains received a hero's burial there in Charleston in 2004. You too can have an exact copy of this coin, like I do. Go look on the Hunley site online. They sell for about $18. If you go to Shiloh with me, I will probably take you down to Spain field, and there, I will tell you this story. Then I will show you a picture of Queenie, several pictures of the coin, and then I will hand you my copy of Dixon's coin.

GRANDMOTHER MCDOWELL AND I ARE GOOD SCOTS! ALWAYS HAVE BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE! Most of the Ole Miss University Greys were good SCOTS too.

@DonAlle14811898 Don't worry about that.

@CaptLowry Great story. Especially “Southern Liberty or a Southern grave.” Thanks. I accidentally marked as spam. No idea how to undo it.

CALVIN B. McCALEBB - UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI CLASS of 1861 (Southern liberty or a Southern grave!) Calvin McCalebb's father died before 1850. Half of his Class of 1861 had lost at least ONE parent by the time they entered the University of Mississippi. Modern medicine has changed the world. Count your blessings. McCalebb was from the very small Mississippi town of Wahalak, in Kemper County. When an autograph album was passed around the University in his Senior year by a fellow student, McCalebb wrote his birthday as August 11, 1841, He wanted to be a Lawyer, his Debate Society was at the University was Phi Sigma, His fraternity was Rainbow. Only half the Senior class were in a frat. His girlfriend's name was Julia S. And then he wrote his saying: "Southern liberty or a Southern grave. Peace on earth and a rest in Heaven" Good Lord! He would have no more peace in his lifetime, he would have Southern liberty, and he would find his Southern grave. McCalebb had joined the University of Mississippi student military Company, the University Greys, and he was soon elected First Lieutenant. He fought with them at First Manassas where the Company suffered 20 percent killed and wounded in one charge. McCalebb was unhit. In December of 1861, McCalebb resigned from the Greys, and he joined a Company in the new 35th Mississippi Infantry. He joined with his older brother, Pat, and a Brother in Law , with the last name of Jack, who was the Captain of the Company. The 35th fought at Vicksburg, where they were all surrendered. In early 1864 McCalebb's Company was on Provost duty in Mobile Alabama, a very important Confederate port. He was in the Battle House hotel. Let me quote a family letter: "on leave one day, he started up the winding stairway in the old Battle House, and was looking back speaking to a friend, and tripped and lost his balance and fell over the balustrade to the lobby, and was killed". McCalebb fought for his South, and through an accident, he found his Southern grave in the Confederate Soldiers Cemetery there in Mobile. I trust he earned his rest in Heaven. This is his Senior photo from Ole Miss. His Rainbow Frat pin is on his Cravat, or bow tie. The boys at the University generally wore dark coats, white shirts, larger cravats than McCalebb here, and colorful vests.

LEE and JACKSON One of my favorite Robert E. Lee stories. After the War, Lee took the job as President at small Washington College in Lexington Virginia. Stonewall Jackson had lived and taught there in Lexington at Virginia Military Institute before the War. After Jackson's mortal wounding at Chancellorsville, he was taken home to be buried in Lexington. During Lee's post-War Presidency at Washington College, he would often take rides around the town and the area in the afternoons to get away from people, and to enjoy his special relationship with his old War horse, Traveler. Nobody knows for sure, but it is thought that at least once, General Lee must have gone less than a mile to visit the grave of Stonewall Jackson. Mort Kunstler here, was one of many artists to draw or paint this scene. This one is my favorite. Oh Lord, what thoughts must have gone through Lee's mind! Maybe because I am human, and I have lost too many family and friends, I CAN understand, just a bit, what Lee would have gone through at such a time. I too have stood at too many family and friends graves.

ONE MORE NIGHT WITH STONEWALL JACKSON - The OLD MAN The Robert E. Lee statue that started Monument Avenue in Richmond in 1890 was dedicated in late May of that year. Confederate Veterans from all over Virginia, and from all over the Southeast, attended that dedication. The night before the dedication, and the night after, there were dinners and parties all over town. The morning after the dedication, a Richmond Gentleman, who walked his dog at dawn every day, came across a strange sight in the State Capitol building yard. A statue of Stonewall Jackson had been placed there in 1875. On that morning the Gentleman dog walker found quite a few old Confederate Veterans sleeping in their gray blankets, all around Jackson's statue. He asked one of the few men who had awakened, "Could you find no other beds in Richmond last night?". The old veteran answered, "Oh yes, there were plenty of places; all Richmond was open to us" and turning his eyes to the silent face of his immortal chief on the statue he added, "we were his boys, and we wanted to sleep with the old man just once more." Good Lord, what love and devotion!

@KlausDeVivar Yes! Courtesy of Find a grave. He is one of the few Greys I have not seen in person.

@CaptLowry Is he buried in Mobile?

Here is C. B. McCalebb's page from the autograph book. This is HIS OWN HANDWRITING! I have copies of about 4 of these books from around 1861. This is the best, with all this information for each boy. McCalebb's Class book of 1861 (annual) is at Ole Miss in the Archives. I knew from The Fraternity of Rainbow that he was a member. Also his pin matches Rainbow. From memory, they were absorbed by Beta Theta Pi, after the War.

@suzanne_belk I can post it! This is from Maude M. Brown's personal papers. She wrote the University Greys book in 1940. She corresponded with anyone who knew anyting about the Greys! The Wilborn family had a boy in the Greys.

Go tell Mr. Bryan and Stephen D Lee I said hello! And go visit the Monument, on the State Quad, to the Ole Miss Alumni who helped to get y'all started, Captain Putnam Darden, UM Class of 1856, head of the State of Mississippi Grange. His Monument is in one of the corners of your Quad. I grew up in Memphis with a bunch of State Dogs. I generally like you folks. Y'all are good Mississippians. I DO make some of the Civil War rules in Mississippi! I am on the Governor's Mississippi Battlefield Commission. 😃😃😎😎😃

@CaptLowry Jealous of 100% casualties? To be the flagship of anything you got to get down to at least 95%, sorry I don’t make the rules

1959 OLE MISS ANNUAL The Battle Flag and some of the other Southern symbols come to Ole Miss in 1946, when the returning World War Veterans started waving this flag at football games. They tied together the Southern nick name for the University of Ole Miss - 1897, Colonel Rebel for a mascot - 1927, the name REBELS - 1936, the song Dixie, written in Jackson, Mississippi in 1861 - present at the University since 1861, and the Battle Flag. The University student Company, The University Greys had fought under this flag. They had suffered 100 percent casualties at Gettysburg under it. Nearly all the Southern symbols come about due to the University student Company, the University Greys. They served through all four years of the War in Virginia, under this flag. I have also researched the whole 1860-1861 student body to see how many of them served for the Confederacy. 223 out of 225 University students from that academic year served for the Confederacy. What a record! Those are the basic reasons Ole Miss became THE Southern University. Hotty Toddy!

@DrunkInterlock You are drunk and jealous. GO HOME! 😂🤣😃😃😎🤓🥸🥲🤪😜😝😛🤣😂😃

Name me another Southern University that lost 100 percent of their student Company present, in ANY Battle, much less in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, and then had William Faulkner write about them? Name me a sadder letter, out of the WHOLE War, than Jeremiah Gage's (UM '60, UM Law '61) letter to his Mamma, after being mortally wounded at Gettysburg?! Name me another Southern University that had 99 percent of their 1860-1861 student body join up, 223 out of 225? Most of them were not Greys, but they went home and joined up in local Companies. Name me another Southern University that had its town burned, and the University was ordered burned, but it escaped that fate? Name me another Southern University used as a hospital, with Confederates buried on their campus, including several of its own alumni? Name me another University that had Nathan Bedford Forrest on and off campus during the War? His son fell in love with an Oxford girl during the War. He came back to Ole Miss as a student after the War, as an undergraduate, and a Law student. He married the girl, Miss Taylor Cook. Name me another Southern University as proud of their participation in the War? - Battle flags, Colonel Rebel, Dixie played by the band, Confederate uniforms worn by their band, REBELS, gray pants for the football team, Dixie Week, the nick name Ole Miss. THE Southern University is sure NOT State! A few Southern University's had a few of those things happen, but none had even close to all those things happen.

@suzanne_belk C. B. McCalebb, University of Mississippi, is UP, for you and everybody else to read!

Calvin Breckinridge McCalebb, my 2nd great granduncle. Born in 1842 in Kemper County, was attending school at Ole Miss by 1857. Class of 1861. First served with University Greys, but fell ill. Later enlisted in March 1862 as 1st Sgt Co B, 35 Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers. On Dec 1863, transferred, promoted Inspector Dept., Columbus, MS, order General Johnson. Captured in Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. Paroled July 8, 1863. Died 22 Feb 1864. Buried in Mobile, AL. #comment-1014" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">mississippiconfederates.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/the…