"Blessed and protected by the hand of God.”
November 6, 2016 11:29 AM Subscribe
The American Civil War is perhaps the most exhaustively studied period in the history of the United States, but there are still some stories that have slipped through the cracks or have been subtly washed from the pages of America’s past. One such rarely examined fragment is that of the Great Revival and the Coming of the Natural Man.
Lieutenant Biddle was so fervent in his belief that God was on the side of the South that on October 14, 1863 in Prince William County, Virginia, at the Battle of Briscoe Station, he divested himself of his uniform and, as he put it, “all weapons of man that might protect him.” In other words, as a testament to his faith, Biddle chose to walk naked into pitched battle as lead shot blazed around him. Though the Confederates were defeated at the Battle of Briscoe Station, suffering some 1,380 casualties, Biddle survived unscathed. When called before his commanding officer, Biddle stood firm in his conviction that he would continue to go to battle “as I was born” and “let God’s favor for the Confederacy shine upon my natural skin.”
More pictures (NSFW).
Wikipedia page
LiarTownUSA previously
Lieutenant Biddle was so fervent in his belief that God was on the side of the South that on October 14, 1863 in Prince William County, Virginia, at the Battle of Briscoe Station, he divested himself of his uniform and, as he put it, “all weapons of man that might protect him.” In other words, as a testament to his faith, Biddle chose to walk naked into pitched battle as lead shot blazed around him. Though the Confederates were defeated at the Battle of Briscoe Station, suffering some 1,380 casualties, Biddle survived unscathed. When called before his commanding officer, Biddle stood firm in his conviction that he would continue to go to battle “as I was born” and “let God’s favor for the Confederacy shine upon my natural skin.”
More pictures (NSFW).
Wikipedia page
LiarTownUSA previously
"They couldn't hit an elephant's trunk at this dist..."
posted by Devonian at 11:37 AM on November 6, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 11:37 AM on November 6, 2016 [9 favorites]
Same piece, reblogged on a Tumblr that has a readable style sheet.
posted by Shmuel510 at 11:58 AM on November 6, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Shmuel510 at 11:58 AM on November 6, 2016 [3 favorites]
Totally negates the efficacy of abreviated attire.
posted by clavdivs at 12:08 PM on November 6, 2016
posted by clavdivs at 12:08 PM on November 6, 2016
From the wikipedia link: The traditional donga style of stick fighting...
posted by ashbury at 12:22 PM on November 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ashbury at 12:22 PM on November 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
I guess if you've been fighting long enough, all sorts of crazy things start to make sense.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:04 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:04 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
Can you imagine hating black people so much that you think god's going to protect your bare wiener in battle?
posted by FirstMateKate at 1:31 PM on November 6, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by FirstMateKate at 1:31 PM on November 6, 2016 [20 favorites]
They tried to confine him to bare-acks....
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:34 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:34 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
Can you imagine hating black people so much that you think god's going to protect your bare wiener in battle?
That hurts my brain. How would hating anything lead to a belief of divine protection over anything at all. *Head Explodes*
posted by grobertson at 1:44 PM on November 6, 2016
That hurts my brain. How would hating anything lead to a belief of divine protection over anything at all. *Head Explodes*
posted by grobertson at 1:44 PM on November 6, 2016
"This is my rifle, this is my gun ..."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:56 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:56 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
"It is good that war is so terrible, else we'd just be hanging around in a field with these nekkid fellas." --Gen Robert E Lee
"War is won by who goes the furthest with the mostest (clothes remaining)." Col Nathan B Forrest
"Most men can stand adversity, but if you want to measure his character, have a man join the infantry without trousers." --Abehammerb Lincoln
"Let us cross over the river, and see what those naked men are doing on the other side." --Stonewall Jackson
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:23 PM on November 6, 2016 [18 favorites]
"War is won by who goes the furthest with the mostest (clothes remaining)." Col Nathan B Forrest
"Most men can stand adversity, but if you want to measure his character, have a man join the infantry without trousers." --Abehammerb Lincoln
"Let us cross over the river, and see what those naked men are doing on the other side." --Stonewall Jackson
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 2:23 PM on November 6, 2016 [18 favorites]
In modern Liberia, soldiers under "General Butt Naked" Joshua Blahyi fought naked in order to terrorize their opponents.
Huh.
posted by valkane at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
Huh.
posted by valkane at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
IIRC, the Cherokees figured out very quickly that your chance of surviving a gunshot wound improve if the ball doesn't take some cloth along into your body, which is why they stripped nearly naked for combat.
Including Cherokees fighting on both sides of the Civil War.
Prior to the arrival of the musket, Native Americans did armor up in buckskin and bone shields to blunt the impact of handheld weapons.
posted by ocschwar at 4:40 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
Including Cherokees fighting on both sides of the Civil War.
Prior to the arrival of the musket, Native Americans did armor up in buckskin and bone shields to blunt the impact of handheld weapons.
posted by ocschwar at 4:40 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
Antietam? I hardly know him!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:01 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:01 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
"Say, Lemuel?"
"What's that, Obadiah?"
"Well, Lemuel, I know our uniforms is blue, and the Johnny Rebs is wearin' gray..."
"Surely, Obadiah, surely. Gray as my sweet Rosalie's eyes."
"She must be a sweet gal indeed, Lemuel, if she's anything like that Daguerreotype you showed me around the campfire. But there's just one thing I can't seem to settle in my mind."
"Well, ask, friend Obadiah, ask, and if it's any bit of fact that the good Lord has given me to know, I'll for certain share it with you, like you shared the last of your water with me on the battlefield at Gettysburg."
"So, we're in blue, Johnny Reb is in Gray, but who the Hell are them peach bastards fighting for?"
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:53 PM on November 6, 2016 [11 favorites]
"What's that, Obadiah?"
"Well, Lemuel, I know our uniforms is blue, and the Johnny Rebs is wearin' gray..."
"Surely, Obadiah, surely. Gray as my sweet Rosalie's eyes."
"She must be a sweet gal indeed, Lemuel, if she's anything like that Daguerreotype you showed me around the campfire. But there's just one thing I can't seem to settle in my mind."
"Well, ask, friend Obadiah, ask, and if it's any bit of fact that the good Lord has given me to know, I'll for certain share it with you, like you shared the last of your water with me on the battlefield at Gettysburg."
"So, we're in blue, Johnny Reb is in Gray, but who the Hell are them peach bastards fighting for?"
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:53 PM on November 6, 2016 [11 favorites]
Burn it. Burn it to the sea. Then when you're done, burn it again. Don't forget the salt.
posted by Sphinx at 6:49 PM on November 6, 2016
posted by Sphinx at 6:49 PM on November 6, 2016
For those of you who don't know, this is definitely satire.
posted by Philipschall at 7:43 PM on November 6, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by Philipschall at 7:43 PM on November 6, 2016 [9 favorites]
Yeah, something about a 'Liar Town' URL makes me skeptical, as well.
But for a while there Yossarian was also a Natural Man.
posted by Rash at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
But for a while there Yossarian was also a Natural Man.
posted by Rash at 8:37 PM on November 6, 2016 [4 favorites]
Someone cast Joaquin Phoenix in an adaptation of this please (ik it's satire)
posted by asockpuppet at 8:58 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by asockpuppet at 8:58 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm having difficulty linking to it from here, but if you haven't encountered Liar Town USA before you really should do a web search for Apple Cabin Foods.
posted by JHarris at 9:40 PM on November 6, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 9:40 PM on November 6, 2016 [5 favorites]
We went with Apple Cabin Foods for the wall calendar this year. Both adults and children like it, which is a nice bonus I'm not sure Sean intended. Also, if you think it's too surreal of a parody, you probably just haven't seen all the grocery circulars in your city yet.
posted by michaelh at 10:57 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by michaelh at 10:57 PM on November 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
In modern Liberia, soldiers under "General Butt Naked" Joshua Blahyi fought naked in order to terrorize their opponents.
Vice docu from 2012.... features (among other things) Liberian drug taking, dead people, epic brutality, internal organs, grinding poverty, chaos, mayhem, religion. It's, er, exceedingly graphic (but no nudity): The Redemption of Butt Naked
posted by Mister Bijou at 4:28 AM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Vice docu from 2012.... features (among other things) Liberian drug taking, dead people, epic brutality, internal organs, grinding poverty, chaos, mayhem, religion. It's, er, exceedingly graphic (but no nudity): The Redemption of Butt Naked
posted by Mister Bijou at 4:28 AM on November 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Apple Cabin Foods
Now I'm hungry for a breakfast of Meadow Friends and Peach Travis.
posted by Nelson at 7:08 AM on November 7, 2016
Now I'm hungry for a breakfast of Meadow Friends and Peach Travis.
posted by Nelson at 7:08 AM on November 7, 2016
I was sad that this wasn't real.
Me, too. I have SUCH a craving for Peaceful Oat Goblins.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:21 AM on November 7, 2016
Me, too. I have SUCH a craving for Peaceful Oat Goblins.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:21 AM on November 7, 2016
$1/lb. for Yard Meat? That's a bargoon.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:24 AM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:24 AM on November 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
THANK YOU for reminding me that LiarTownUSA is reality
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:14 AM on November 8, 2016
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:14 AM on November 8, 2016
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posted by jim in austin at 11:36 AM on November 6, 2016 [7 favorites]