A NIGHTMARE
Narrative of an Unknown Confederate Soldier Who Died Defending His Country
by Paul Burr
I awoke from a slumber sleep near where the Southland once existed. Oh, it was a horrible emotion I then experienced!
I saw a huge tower-sign of some sort. It read 'Once upon a time there existed a Country laden with magnolias and honeysuckle vines. The folks were most splendid with character of Southern Christian hospitality—once upon a time'. Behind this sign I saw rivers overflowing with pollution and emitting a stench unbearable to breath. I lay there in wonder.
"What has happened?" I asked myself. "The last time and place I remember was Drewry’s Bluff in Virginia. It was May 16th, 1864. Shot and shell filled the air around me. I was scared, but I remained Brave and Loyal to my Country. I pulled the rammer from my musket as the yankee shot and shell came whizzing by my head. My Confederate Heart all but stopped beating at that moment. As I poured the powder down the barrel of my best friend, my trusted musket, I saw my brother fall on the battlefield. He, too, had remained loyal, even unto death. At the very moment I raised my musket to send another yankee to hell, I felt a mighty pain sweep through my body. The blood was warm as it ran down my neck. I knew it was the end for me on Gods Earth".
As I lay there thinking my final thoughts, I felt secure knowing the Southern Race, from which I was born, would defend my noble stance against the tyranny of an enemy who stripped us of the principles our Forefathers had shed sacred blood to defend. I now knew I wasn’t in battle for I remembered I had been shot dead on the battlefield in Virginia in May of 1864. But that was all I knew.
I arose and approached a citizen of whatever world I’d found myself.
He stared at my pants, torn and ragged, and then my shoes, of which I had none. His eyes then rose to a piece of shirt which lay draped across my back, then lastly to my tattered hat which smelled of sweat and mold. Suddenly a puzzled look, one like I had never seen before, spread across his face.
He stuttered, then, with a voice crackling like an old wagon wheel, asked, "Are ... are you a Confederate Soldier"?
I replied, "I am a Confederate Soldier who died for my Country, the Confederate States of America, which lies within the Southland".
The stranger then matter-of-factly said, "Mister, the Confederate States of America never existed. It was only in the hearts and minds of a people who once thought they could procure a land and fly their Flag and live in peace. All they wanted was to be left alone to live their way of life. No sir, it is only a myth, it really never did exist. At one time folks believed the Confederate States of America did actually exist. There were some notes found in an old diary which was written over a hundred years ago in the year 2003. In the diary someone wrote, 'We will be forgotten because we have failed in Vindicating the Cause for which our Confederate Ancestors fought and died. There is talk now that the South is secondary to the USA, and the CSA should only be for our hearts to ponder. One day in future years, the revisionist writers of history will claim we only existed in our hearts and minds. As time travels we will be written entirely out of historical events.' The diary was dated April 17, 2003. However the diary was proved to be a hoax two years ago in 2099. So you see, there is only ONE flag and ONE Country and that’s the way it has always been".
Only then did I realize my own people had sent me to hell ... and the nightmare had only begun.
Paul Burr
Sgt Ivy Ritchie 1734
Albemarle NC