Hamilton Co., TN, military units in the War of the Rebellion

During the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865), the standard composition of a regiment was ten companies, usually, but not always, organized into battalions.  The number of companies could vary from a few as eight to as many as twelve.  Independent battalions existed with anywhere from two to six companies.

Provisional Army of Tennessee

Inspired like the rest of his peers in the Southern plantocracy by romantic delusions of grandeur derived from the Victorian writings of Walter Scott, Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard initiated an attack on federally-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor that led to its surrender the next day, 13 April 1861.  Two days later, POTUS Abraham Lincoln issued a call-up to the states remaining in the Union for 75,000 volunteers to defend that Union enforce its laws, making that day, 15 April, one of the worst Mondays in American history commemorated every year on the IRS’ Tax Day.

Musters of militia forces throughout the State of Tennessee began almost immediately after Lincoln’s call-up, but no legal basis for that existed until 6 May 1861.  On that day, the General Assembly passed a declaration of independence and articles of secession, followed the same day by authorization for what became the short-lived Provisional Army of Tennessee.  Gov. Isham Harris became commander-in-chief of the new outfit.  Two major generals supervised operations in the field, Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow and Maj. Gen. Samuel Anderson.

The first regiment organized was in Virginia days before the secession vote in Tennessee.  The 1st Confederate Infantry, also known as the 1st Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, PACS, was organized under Col. Peter Turney at Winchester, Franklin Co., Tennessee, on 29 April 1861, arriving in Virginia to be mustered in on 8 June 1861.  The same day Turney’s organized his regiment, the Hamilton County Home Guards were being organized at Chickamauga, Hamilton Co., Tennessee, by Capt. George L. Gillespie, who joined Turney’s regiment three days later.  The first regiment organized for the Provisional Army of Tennessee was Maney’s 1st Tennessee Infantry organized under Col. George Maney at Nashville on 9 May 1861; it was mustered into Confederate service with that designation on 1 August 1861.

Harris divided the Provisional Army of Tennessee into three geographical departments.  He assigned Maj. Gen. Pillow overall command of the Provisional Army of Tennessee with headquarters in Memphis and direct command of the Department of West Tennessee; Maj. Gen. Anderson command of the Department of Middle Tennessee with headquarters in Nashville; and Brig. Gen. Richard Caswell command of the Department of East Tennessee.  In addition, Harris assigned Brig. Gen. Robert C. Foster command of militia forces at Camp Cheatham, Robertson Co.; Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer command of militia forces at Camp Trousdale, Sumner Co.; Brig. Gen. Frank Cheatham command of Camp Brown at Union City, Obion Co.; and Brig. Gen. John L.T. Sneed command of Fort Wright at Randolph, Tipton Co.

These arrangements did not last long as the units, facilities, arms, munitions, and other supplies were transferred into Confederate service.  Initially the state’s Dept. of West Tennessee came under direct Confederate control on 13 July 1861 when Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk, Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana (which he remained until killed in battle) and chief founder of the University of the South at Sewanee, Franklin Co., Tennessee, assumed command of the Confederate Department No.2 (essentially the West that lay east of the Mississippi and south of the Tennessee).  The state’s Dept. of Middle Tennessee was fully Confederate by 31 July.  In the state’s Dept. of East Tennessee, the troops mostly remained in the Provisional Army of Tennessee well into the fall, though Brig. Gen. Zollicoffer, taken into Confederate service on 9 July 1861, was given command of the Confederate District of East Tennessee under Polk’s Department No. 2 on 1 August 1861, though his troops had not yet been mustered into Confederate service and still belonged to the Provisional Army of Tennessee.

Though local units immediately began organizing all across the state, there were two major call-ups for troops state-wide: one at June for volunteers to muster in Nashville, and one in September for volunteers to muster in Memphis.  Interestlingly, state records show that a regiment-sized group of freedmen mixed with a few slaves reported to Nashville in June, while two regiment-sized groups of freedmen and slaves reported at Memphis.  Both groups were accepted into the Provisional Army of Tennessee, but were rejected for Confederate service when the units were transferred.

Confederate units from Hamilton Co.

These are the Confederate units either organized in Hamilton County or organized elsewhere made up partially or wholly with men from Hamilton County.  Though many of these units were operational locally many months before the first date for them, they are listed in order of the latter for convenience.

During the war, supporters of the Confederates government in or from the county organized one company of artillery, one company of dragoons (mounted infantry), nine companies of cavalry, twelve companies of infantry, one battalion of partisan rangers (mostly men from out of state), two guerrilla companies, and two home guard companies.

PAT = Provisional Army of Tennessee
PACS = Provisional Army of the Confederate States
ACSA = Army of the Confederate States of America (planned as the CSA’s regular army)

(Gordon’s) Mountain Rifles (later the Raccoon Roughs), organized under Capt. John B. Gordon in the tri-state area mid-April 1861 with men from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, originally as cavalry.  After being refused for service in Tennessee and Georgia, it became Co. I, 6th Alabama Infantry, PACS, on 14 May 1861.  They later became Co. D, 6th Alabama Infantry, PACS.  The regiment surrendered under Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appamattox, Virginia, on 9 April 1865 as part of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Hamilton County Home Guards organized under Capt. George L. Gillespie at Chickamauga, Hamilton Co., Tennessee, on 29 April 1861 with men from the county.  Gillespie signed on with Turney’s 1st Confederate Infantry three days later, but the Hamilton County Home Guards remained local.

Chattanooga Home Guards organized under Capt. Michael Harrington about the same time (April 1861) as the outfit Gillespie organized at Chickamauga.  Needless to say, it ceased operation with the federal occupation of the city in September 1863.

Hamilton Grays, Tennessee Infantry organized under Capt. John D. Powell at Chattanooga in May 1861; originally it was a local militia outfit called simply the Volunteer Company.  On 11 June 1861, it became Co. B, 2nd East Tennessee Infantry, PAT.  On 15 August 1861, it became Co. A, 19th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  The regiment ended the war as Cos. C and H, 3rd Consolidated Infantry, Army of Tennessee, and surrendered under Lt. Gen. Alexander Stewart at Durham Station, North Carolina, on 25 April 1865.

Marsh Blues, Tennessee Infantry organized under Francis M. Walker at Chattanooga in May 1861.  On 11 June 1861, Co. A, 2nd East Tennessee Infantry, PAT.  On 15 August 1861, it became Co. I, 19th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  The regiment ended the war as Cos. C and H, 3rd Consolidated Infantry, Army of Tennessee, and surrendered under Lt. Gen. Alexander Stewart at Durham Station, North Carolina, on 25 April 1865.

(Ragsdale’s) Lookout Rangers, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. William Ragsdale at Knoxville, Tennessee, on 15 June 1861 with men from Hamilton County, Tennessee.  On 29 August 1861, it became Co. A, 4th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS.  On 24 May 1862, the 4th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion consolidated with the 5th Tennessee Cavalry Battlion and Co. A, 4th Battalion became Co. H, (Ashby’s) 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, PACS, then commanded by Hamilton County resident Col. Henry Marshall Ashby.  The regiment surrendered under Lt. Gen. William Hardee as part of the Department of Tennessee and Georgia at Durham Station, North Carolina on 26 April 1865.

Snow’s Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. William Snow at a Methodist campground in northwestern Bradley County, Tennessee, on 7 August 1861, with men from eastern Hamilton County.  It soon became Co. C, (Brazelton’s) 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS.  On 27 March 1862, the company was redesignated Co. B, Brazelton’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry, PACS, but that unit never fully materialized.  On 12 May 1862, the battalion was reorganized and the company became Co. C, (Carter’s) 14th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS.  On 14 November 1862, with the addition of four companies, including two from Thomas’ Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders, the battalion finally did upgrade to a regiment, and the company became Co. B, (Carter’s) 1st Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  At the end of the war, it was in the Department of East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia under Brig. Gen. John Echols, who disbanded his command at Christiansburg, Virginia, on 12 April 1865.  However, Brig. Gen. Echols and several units formerly of the command, including Vaughn’s Brigade of which Carter’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry was a part, attempted to link up with Gen. Joe Johnston’s command then others.  Carter’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry surrendered under Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn as part of his brigade at Washington, Georgia, on 9 May 1865.

Spiller’s Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. C. C. Spiller at Chattanooga on 11 August 1861, with men mostly from the Third Civil District of Hamilton Co. (North Chattanooga, Red Bank), Tennessee and some from North Alabama.  The company became Co. B, (McClellan’s) 5th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS, on 29 August 1861.  When the battalion became part of Ashby’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry on 24 May 1862, this unit became Co. B, Spiller’s Cavalry Battalion, PACS (the other known unit was Ingles’ Co. F, also formerly of McClellan’s Battalion).  In August 1862, the battalion dissolved and this company became Co. H, (Murray’s) 4th Tennessee Cavalry (while Ingles’ company became Co. B of that regiment).  On 23 January 1863, Murray’s regiment dissolved and this company became Co. H, 8th Tennessee Cavalry (also known as Baxter Smith’s 4th Tennessee Cavalry).  This last regiment ended the war as part of Wade’s Cavalry Command and surrendered under Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton at Charlotte, North Carolina, on 3 May 1865.

Bird Rangers, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. John F. White at Knoxville on 24 August 1861, with men from the Fifteenth Civil District of Hamilton County (southeast corner, east of Ooltewah Creek), Tennessee, North Georgia, and North Alabama.  On 7 January 1862, it became Co. F, (Roger’s) 1st Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  On 12 August 1862, it became Co. A, 13th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS.  On 16 December 1862, it became Co. A, (McKenzie’s) 5th Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  On 9 April 1865, the regiment was with Hampton’s Cavalry Command, but surrendered with the Army of Tennessee as part of Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps at Durham Station, North Carolina, on 26 April 1865.

Co. G, 3rd East Tennessee Infantry, PAT, organized under Capt. C.D. McFarland at Knoxville in August 1861 with men from Hamilton County, Tennessee.  In October 1861, it became Co. G, 26th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  On 8 November 1862, it became 2nd Co. K, 1st Confederate Infantry, ACSA.  The regiment surrendered under Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appamattox, Virginia, on 9 April 1865 as part of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Co. H, 3rd East Tennessee Infantry, PAT, organized under James Clark Gordon  at Knoxville in August 1861 with men from Hamilton County, Tennessee, and North Georgia.  In October 1861, it became (1st) Co. H, 26th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  On 8 November 1862, it became (2nd) Co. I, 1st Confederate Infantry, ACSA.  The regiment surrendered under Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appamattox, Virginia, on 9 April 1865 as part of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Co. D, 1st East Tennessee Rifles, PAT, organized under Capt. Rufus M. Tankesley at Chattanooga in August or September 1861 with men from the Second and Third Civil Districts of the county (Moccasin Point, North Chattanooga, later Red Bank, Browns Chapel).  On 26 October 1861, it was redesignated Co. D, 7th Tennessee Infantry, PACS, as part of a temporary brigade under Brig. Gen. William H. Carroll, the regiment’s former commanding officer. In December 1861, the unit’s designation was changed to Co. D, 37th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  On 9 June 1863, the 37th Tennessee Infantry consolidated with the 15th Tennessee Infantry as the 15th/37th Tennessee Infantry.  On 28 September 1864, the 15th/37th Tennessee Infantry was consolidated with other regiments as the 2nd/10th/15th/20th/30th/37th Tennessee Infantry.  At the end of the war, the unit was part of the 4th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry (2nd, 3rd, 10th, 15th, 18th, 20th, 26th, 30th, 32nd, 37th, 45th regiments), which surrendered under Lt. Alexander P. Stewart at Durham Station, North Carolina, 26 April 1865.

Co. H, 1st East Tennessee Rifles, PAT, organized under Capt. Isaac B. Nichols in Hamilton Co. Tennessee, in August or September 1861 with men from the Fifth and Fifteenth Civil Districts of (southeast corner, Concord, Chickamauga, Tyner, Zion Hill), Hamilton Co. and North Georgia.  On 26 October 1861, it was redesignated Co. H, 7th Tennessee Infantry as part of a temporary brigade under Brig. Gen. William H. Carroll, the regiment’s former commanding officer. In December 1861, the unit’s designation was changed to Co. H, 37th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  On 9 June 1863, the 37th Tennessee Infantry consolidated with the 15th Tennessee Infantry as the 15th/37th Tennessee Infantry.  On 28 September 1864, the 15th/37th Tennessee Infantry was consolidated with other regiments as the 2nd/10th/15th/20th/30th/37th Tennessee Infantry.  At the end of the war, the unit was part of the 4th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry (2nd, 3rd, 10th, 15th, 18th, 20th, 26th, 30th, 32nd, 37th, 45th regiments), which surrendered under Lt. Alexander P. Stewart at Durham Station, North Carolina, 26 April 1865.

Co. I, 5th East Tennessee Infantry, PAT, organized under Capt. John Pack at DeKalb County, Alabama, in early September 1861, mostly with men from that county but also from Hamilton and Bledsoe Cos. in Tennessee.  It was soon redesignated (1st) Co. I, 35th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  The company disbanded April 1862 and its men were redistributed to other companies in the regiment.

Co. K, 5th East Tennessee Infantry, PAT, organized under Capt. Lawson Guthrie at Ooltewah, Hamilton Co., Tennessee, on 17 October 1861 with men from eastern Hamilton County.   On 14 December 1861, it became Co. K, 43rd Tennessee Infantry, PACS, the regiment commanded by Col. James W. Gillespie of Euchee in Rhea Co., Tennessee.  At the end of the war, it was in the Department of East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia under Brig. Gen. John Echols, who disbanded his command at Christiansburg, Virginia, on 12 April 1865.  However, Brig. Gen. Echols and several units formerly of the command, including Vaughn’s Brigade of which the 43rd Tennessee Infantry was a part, attempted to link up with Gen. Joe Johnston’s command then others.  The 43rd Tennessee Infantry surrendered under Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn as part of his brigade at Washington, Georgia, on 9 May 1865.

McKenzie’s Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. George W. McKenzie on 1 November 1861 at Decatur, Meigs Co., Tennessee, with men from Meigs and Hamilton Cos.  On 7 January 1862, it became Co. B, Rogers’ 1st Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  On 12 August 1862, it became Co. C, McKenzie’s 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS.  Finally, on 16 December 1862, it became Co. C, McKenzie’s 5th Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  On 9 April 1865, the regiment was with Hampton’s Cavalry Command, but surrendered with the Army of Tennessee as part of Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps at Durham Station, North Carolina, on 26 April 1865.

 (Lea’s) Lookout Rangers, Tennessee Cavalry organized by Capt. Allen Lea at Nashville on 1 November 1861, with men from DeKalb Co., Alabama, and Marion and Hamilton Cos., Tennessee, as part of (Smith’s) 10th/11th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, PACS, which later grew into Smith’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  In the summer of 1862 Smith’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry dissolved.  Some of the former Lookout Rangers joined Co. A, 11th Alabama Cavalry Battalion; most reorganized under Capt. Lea as Co. D, 19th Alabama Partisan Ranger Battalion (aka 2nd Alabama Partisan Ranger Battalion), PACS.  From 15 April 1863 forward,  it was Co. I, 7th Alabama Cavalry, PACS, which later became the 9th Alabama Cavalry, PACS.  The regiment surrendered under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart as part of the Army of Tennessee on 26 April 1865 at Durham Station, North Carolina.  Lea, by then a major, resigned his commission on 30 January 1863; he later enlisted in the 1st Tennessee and Alabama Vidette Cavalry, USA, on 19 September 1863, ultimately rising to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

Co. H, 36th Tennessee Infantry, PACS, organized under Capt. James Warren Clift with men from northern Hamilton County, Tennessee, and became part of the 36th Tennessee Infantry when it organized at Knoxville on 26 February 1862.  The regiment only survived until the end of June, and on 30 June 1862 this company was combined with Cos. I and K of the same regiment as Co. L, 35th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  From September 1863, the 35th Tennessee Infantry formed a consolidated regiment with the 48th Tennessee Infantry, but by July 1864 it was separate again.  At the end of the war, the regiment formed Cos. A and F, 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry (4th, 5th, 19th, 24th, 31st, 33rd, 35th, 38th, 48th regiments), surrendering under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart on 26 April 1865 at Durham Station, North Carolina, as part of the Army of Tennessee.

Co. K, 36th Tennessee Infantry, PACS, organized under Capt. John A. Smith with men in the vicinity of Harrison, Hamilton County, Tennessee, and its environs, and became part of the 36th Tennessee Infantry when it organized at Knoxville on 26 February 1862.  The regiment only survived until the end of June, and on 30 June 1862 this company was combined with Cos. H and I of the same regiment as Co. L, 35th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  From September 1863, the 35th Tennessee Infantry formed a consolidated regiment with the 48th Tennessee Infantry, but by July 1864 it was separate again.  At the end of the war, the regiment formed Cos. A and F, 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry (4th, 5th, 19th, 24th, 31st, 33rd, 35th, 38th, 48th regiments), surrendering under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart on 26 April 1865 at Durham Station, North Carolina, as part of the Army of Tennessee.

Tyner’s Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized at Tyner under Capt. John S. Tyner with men from Tyner, Harrison, and Ooltewah in Hamilton County, Tennessee.  On 1 April 1862, the company joined with three other Tennessee companies, two Alabama companies, and Major Henry Clay King’s Kentucky Cavalry Battalion as the (2nd) Co. K, 1st Confederate Cavalry, ACSA (also known as 12th Confederate Cavalry) organized at Spring Creek, Madison County, Tennessee.  Ultimately it became part of Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps, then was detached from the regiment as Tyner’s Company of Sappers and Miners.  The company later transferred to Forrest’s Cavalry Corps, PACS, and surrendered under Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest at Gainesville, Alabama, 9 May 1865.

Lookout Battery,  Tennessee Light Artillery, also known as Barry’s Company, organized under Capt. Robert L. Barry at Chattanooga on 15 May 1862 with men from Hamilton Co., Tennessee.  Attached to several brigades and sometimes operating independently, on 12 June 1864, it became part of Myrick’s Artillery Battalion.  It surrendered under Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor as part of his Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana on 4 May 1865.

Carter’s Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized under George W. Carter at Chattanooga on 14 June 1862, and in August 1862 became  Co. A, (Murray’s) 4th Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  After Murray’s regiment dissolved on 23 January 1863, Carter formed Carter’s Battalion of Mounted Scouts, an independent partisan unit.  In September 1864, the company consolidated with Windle’s 1st Co. A of Gore’s (previously Dibrell’s) 13th Tennessee Cavalry (aka 8th Tennessee Cavalry) as (2nd) Co. A, 13th Tennessee Cavalry, PACS.  At the end of the war, it formed part of Hampton’s Cavalry Command and served as part of President Jefferson Davis’ escort under Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn, who surrendered at Washington, Georgia, on 9 May 1865.

Clark’s Independent Company, Tennessee Cavalry organized under Capt. J.W. Clark at Chattanooga on 31 August 1862.  Much of its duty consisted of being the escort of various generals, most often Maj. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, under whom (by then a Lieutenant General) the company surrendered at New Orleans, Louisiana, along with the District of Arkansas and West Louisiana of the Department of the Trans-Mississippi and the Army (but not the Department) of the Trans-Mississippi on 26 May 1865.

Mitchell’s Mountain Rifles, Tennessee Infantry organized under Capt. Thomas Mitchell at Chattanooga on 1 October 1862.  On 23 January 1863, it became (3rd) Co. F, 35th Tennessee Infantry, PACS.  From September 1863, the 35th Tennessee Infantry formed a consolidated regiment with the 48th Tennessee Infantry, but by July 1864 it was separate again.  At the end of the war, the regiment formed Cos. A and F, 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry (4th, 5th, 19th, 24th, 31st, 33rd, 35th, 38th, 48th regiments), surrendering under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart on 26 April 1865 at Durham Station, North Carolina, as part of the Army of Tennessee.

Co. D, Avery’s 23rd Squadron of Georgia Dragoons, PACS, organized under Capt. William J. Rogers at Wauhatchie, Hamilton County, Tennessee, in October 1862.  In January 1863, that battalion became the nucleus of (Avery’s) 4th Georgia Cavalry, PACS, which in January 1865 was redesignated the 12th Georgia Cavalry, PACS.  It surrendered under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart as part of the Army of Tennessee on 26 April 1865 at Durham Station, North Carolina.

19th Alabama Partisan Ranger Battalion, PACS, usually called the 2nd Alabama Partisan Ranger Battalion, PACS, organized under Maj. Zachariah Thomason at Chattanooga on 21 November 1862, intended to be part of Howard’s Legion (3rd Confederate Cavalry).  In practice, that never happened and the battalion operated independently or alongside Mead’s Partisan Rangers.  On 15 April 1863, Thomason’s battalion combined with Maj. John C. Malone’s 14th Alabama Partisan Ranger Battalion as the 7th Alabama Cavalry, PACS, known after 5 September 1864 as the 9th Alabama Cavalry, PACS.  The regiment surrendered under Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart as part of the Army of Tennessee on 26 April 1863 at Durham Station, North Carolina.

Snow’s Scouts organized under Capt. William Snow in the Snow Hill and Ooltewah vicinity after his resignation from the army on 12 May 1862.  Apparently his plantation house had substantial earthworks around it, probably qualifying it as a fort, since it is reported to have withstood a cannon barrage by Union troops during the occupation.  The unit dissolved when Snow and his family moved to what became Lake County, Tennessee, near the end of the war.

Osborne’s Scouts organized under Capt. Thomas Osborne in what was then the Fifth Civil District, Hamilton Co., Tennessee (Spring Creek, Concord, Chickamauga, Tyner), probably in 1863.  The unit operated in the mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.  After Osborne was killed in June 1864 during a raid by Col. George W. Kirk of the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry, himself an irregular, the unit was known as Jenkins’ Scouts, after its new leader, Capt. Lafayette Jenkins, operating into the spring of 1865.  Jenkins’ Scouts surrendered under Gen. Joe Johnston as part of the Division of the West.

Postbellum Confederate Veterans & Allied Orders

United Confederate Veterans Association

On 15 September 1885, former Capt. Joseph Shipp organized Confederate veterans of Hamilton County as N.B. Forrest Camp No. 3, Confederate Veterans.  Shipp became the chief instigator and organizer of UCVA.

N.B. Forrest Camp No. 4, Chattanooga & Hamilton County, 1889, one of the founding camps of the UCVA.

United Sons of Confederate Veterans

In the summer of 1890, N.B. Forrest Camp No. 4 organized the Francis M. Walker Camp No. 1, Sons of Confederate Soldiers, which later became the county’s chapter of this organization, which dropped the “United” in 1912 to become just the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Jonathan W. Bachman Camp No. 3, Chattanooga & Hamilton County, one of the founding camps of USCV, 1896

United Daughters of the Confederacy

Precursors to the Chattanooga chapter of this organization include the Confederate Memorial Association and the Confederate Monument Association, both founded in 1867, combining in 1874 as the Chattanooga Confederate Memorial Association.

Founded in Nashville in 1894 as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, UDC was and is not connected to the UCVA or the (U)SCV.  It is not a veterans organization but one promoting Confederate heritage and the memory of the Lost Cause.

Gen. A.P. Stewart Chapter No. 81, Chattanooga, 5 September 1896

Gen. Francis Marion Walker Chapter No. 784  (founded as Gen. John B. Gordon Chapter), St. Elmo, 1904

Children of the Confederacy

A subsidiary of the UDC founded in 1896.

Jonathan W. Bachman Chapter No. 21, Chattanooga

Union units from Hamilton County

These are the Union units either organized in Hamilton County or organized elsewhere made up partially or wholly with men from Hamilton County.  Though many of these units were operational locally many months before the first date for them, they are listed in order of the latter for convenience.

During the war, supporters of the Union government in or from the county organized one company of cavalry, one regiment of dragoons, one company of dragoons, four regiments of infantry, one regiment of militia, and one company of home guards.

7th Tennessee Federal Militia, referred to in some Confederate dispatches as Clift’s Home Guards (not to be confused with the later unit raised by Capt. James Clift of Warren Co.) organized under Col. William Clift at Sale Creek Campground on 10 August 1861.  It was based on the county’s prewar 37th Tennessee Militia of which Col. Clift had been commander.  The regiment voted to disband on 13 November 1861, with one group dispersing to the mountains, one group traveling north to join the federal army, and the smallest group, including Col. Clift and Lt. Col. Shelton, trying to carry on guerrilla warfare.

Co. I, 2nd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, USA, organized under Capt. William H.H. Robins at Sale Creek, Hamilton Co., Tennessee, on 27 November 1861 (probably with vets from Clift's 7th Tennessee Militia), and mustered into the regiment at Cumberland Ford, Kentucky, on 28 February 1862 for a 3-year term of service dated from the unit's organization.  The unit, known locally as the Sale Creek 65, was among the majority of the regiment captured at the Battle of Rogersville on 6 November 1863 by the troops of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry, CSA.  They were first sent to Richmond, Virginia, for a few months before being transferred to the notorious camp at Andersonville, Georgia, where they were reportedly singled out for especially harsh treatment.  Most of the unit died there, with only a handful returning home after the war.

For more on these soldiers, see:  David Brown’s “The Sale Creek 65 And Their Civil War Fate” at https://www.chattanoogan.com/2022/12/5/460420/The-Sale-Creek-65-And-Their-Civil-War.aspx

Co. C, 5th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, USA, organized under Capt. Charles McCaleb at Harrison, Hamilton Co., Tennessee on 25 February 1862 with men from the county.  It was mustered into service on 28 March 1862.  It mustered out 4 April 1865.

Co. G, 5th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, USA, organized under Capt. Judge B. Clingan at Pine Knot, Campbell Co., Tennessee, in May 1862 with men from Hamilton and Bradley Cos.

In addition to the above two companies, Hamilton Co. men served individually in Cos. E, F, H, I, and K of the 5th Tennessee Volunteers.

7th (East) Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, USA, organized under Col. William Clift at Huntsville, Scott Co., Tennessee, beginning 1 June 1862, with men from Hamilton (many of them veterans of Clift’s previous regiment), Scott, Anderson, and Morgan Cos.  After serving for a year as a partisan unit, the regiment disbanded on 1 June 1863 and its men distributed to other units, most of them previous to that date.  Cos. A and F, 8th Tennessee Volunteers, USA, were initially composed entirely of 7th Tennessee veterans, including their commanders.  The regiment’s cavalry soldiers mustered into Cos. A, E, and G, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, USA; the regiment later consolidated with the 9th Tennessee Cavalry, USA.  Other units with 7th Tennessee Volunteer veterans were Co. I, 1st Tennessee Volunteers, USA; Co. I, 5th Tennessee Volunteers, USA; and Co. I, 2nd Tennessee Volunteers.  Col. Clift himself was assigned to the staff of Brig. Gen. John M. Shackleford of the 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps.

44th U.S. Colored Troops, USA, organized under Col. Lewis Johnson at Chattanooga from 7 April-16 September 1864.  It was based at Chattanooga throughout its existence, though it did garrison duty in various parts of North Georgia, took part in the Nashville Campaign, and fought guerrillas in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia.  It mustered out 30 April 1866 at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

42nd U.S. Colored Troops, USA, organized under Col. Joseph R. Putnam at Chattanooga and Nashville from 20 April 1864-6 July 1865.  This regiment was specifically organized as an invalid regiment, one for men unfit for the rigors for combat, and it remained at Chattanooga doing garrison and fatigue during its entire existence.  It mustered out 30 January 1866 at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Co. E, 5th Tennessee Mounted Infantry, USA, organized uder Capt. Polasky W. Norwood at Cleveland, Bradley Co., Tennessee,  on 8 October 1864 with men from Hamilton, Bradley, and Meigs Cos.  It mustered out at Chattanooga on 17 July 1865.

Co. D, 10th Tennessee Cavalry mustered under Capt. Calvin Simmons at Nashville on 25 Janaury 1864 with ment from Hamilton and McMinn Cos.  It mustered out with the rest of the regiment at Nashville on 1 August 1865.

18th Ohio Veteran Infantry, USA, organized under Capt. John M. Benedict at Chattanooga on 31 October 1864 with veterans of the 1st, 2nd, 18th, 24th and 35th Ohio Infantries.  It mustered out 9 October 1865 at Augusta, Georgia.

6th Tennessee Mounted Infantry, USA, organized under Lt. Col. George A. Gowin at Chattanooga on 24 October 1864.  It mustered out at Nashville on 30 June 1865.

Civic Guard of Chattanooga organized under Col. Edwin McCook at Chattanooga on 3 December 1864.  It was dissolved on or before 30 April 1866, the day the last military units of the federal occupation mustered out.

Postbellum Union Veterans & Allied Orders

The Grand Army of the Republic was first established in 1866, but activity waned significantly.  A revival in the 1880s brought expansive growth to the organization and its off-shoots.

Grand Army of the Republic

In addition to Chattanooga being headquarters for the Tennessee Department of GAR, Hamilton County supported these chapters.

Lookout Post No. 2, Chattanooga, est. 28 February 1882

Chickamauga Post No. 22, Chattanooga (for veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops), est. 25 September 1884

Robert L. McCook Post No. 36, Soddy

Mission Ridge Post No. 45, Chattanooga, est. 5 June 1886

Gordon Grainger Post No. 84, Sale Creek

Sons of Veterans U.S.A.

Created by the G.A.R. in 1881, this association adopted the name Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in 1925.

Chattanooga Camp No. 7, est. 1914

National Woman’s Relief Corps

The GAR organized this association as its official women’s auxiliary in 1883, and it still exists nationally.  Units of the NWRC were attached to brother posts of the GAR and carried the same name, except in the case here of Liberty W.R.C.

Mission Ridge W.R.C. No. 1, Chattanooga, est. 3 December 1886

Lookout W.R.C. No. 2, Chattanooga, est. April 1888

Chickamauga W.R.C. No. 7, Ridgedale, est. 1880s

Liberty W.R.C. No. 4, Chattanooga, est. 1915

Daughters of Union Veterans

Originally named the National Alliance of the Daughters of Veterans of the United States of America

Mary West Gahagan Tent No. 5

Society of the Army of the Cumberland

This organization established in 1870 for veteran commissioned officers of that particularly Union field army had two chapters in the county. 

Lookout Mountain Camp, SAC

Moccasin Point Camp, SAC

In the 1880s, the two camps merged as the Mountain City Club.

A Tale of Two Revolutions: Russia and Iran

After Tom Perez’s “Night of the Long Knives” purge of progressives and entrenchment of centrists at the Democratic National Committee, no self-respecting leftist can hold anything for the Democratic Party but contempt.  A thoroughly corrupt organization cannot be reformed, period.  Capitalism cannot be reformed.  Neoliberal bodies such as the EU or the UK of GB and NI, and the US of A for that matter, cannot be reformed.  The U.S. Democratic Party cannot be reformed.  With the direction of the Democratic Party now locked in with a jammed autopilot headed for the same neoliberal destination to which it was been turned since the late 1970s, it’s time for any true leftist remaining in the party under delusions of changing its nature to say “No!”, or rather, “No more!” to the Scorpion and to abandon ship.  In the second decade of the 21st century, a vote for a Democrat is a vote for Trump just as much as a vote for a Republican.  Resistance is not futile, but hoping for change from an establishment whose foundation is the status quo is.

Speaking of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, which has been a topic of much discussion this year, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that in the 20th century there was just not one major workers’ revolution on the planet but two.  The revolutions in China, Cuba, Viet Nam, Nicaragua, etc., were anti-colonial more than proletarian and tainted by the fact they followed the post-Revolution Comintern doctrine, which is why I don’t include them.  The other revolution I’m talking about is the Iranian Revolution, the one which eventually overthrew the Shah and actually began in the summer of 1977.

In June 1977, after a long train of abuses and usurpations inflicted by the imperial government returned to power by the mullahs in 1953, the police were sent into South Tehran to clear the slums for Pahlavi-style gentrification.  Thousands fought back and continued to do so throughout the summer.  On 27 August that summer, the Shah’s police finally gave up and left.  During this time, other forces began to stir.  Mosaddegh’s National Front woke up, the Bazaar Association of small businesses reorganized, and the Writers Guild began to call for radical change. 

Later in the fall, the student movement for democracy was born and the Khomeinist mullahs organized into the Combatant Clergy Association.  On this latter, it’s important to recognize that in Iran at the time, there were two strains of Islamism, the Black Islamism of Khomeini which was fundmentalist, reactionary, and clericalist, and the red Islamism of Ali Shariati, which was more of a Muslim form of Christian Liberation Theology and progressive, popularist, and democratic.  One was for the benefit of the few, the other was for the benefit of the many.

By December 1977, the National Front and the Freedom Movement, an organization which represented a point between its secular partner and the Red Islamists, announced the the Iranian Committee for the Defense of Freedom and Human Rights, brainchild of Red Islamist Ayatollah Abolfazl Zanjani and Fatollah Banisadr, brother of the later president Abolhassan Banisadr.

Though students, bazaaris, and clergy led and participated in many of the demonstrations that began in January 1978, it was the repeated massive local and national strikes by workers throughout the country which brought down the government.   Though such actions began in 1977, they did not begin in earnest until a year later in the fall of 1978.  Strikes shut down the country, particularly  after oil industry workers joined the struggle and began to issue political as well as industrial demands.  Strikes of workers were invariably supported by sympathy strikes by bazaaris and students.  The economy of the country all but froze solid.  Workers took over factories and plants and refineries and ran them through shoras, which translated into Russian is soviets.  Community governance and order was maintained through komitehs, or committees, mostly controlled by workers, peasants, or other people’s groups, at least at first.

By the end of 1978, the Khomeinists had adopted much of the rhetoric of its Red Islamist counterparts following the tenets of Ali Shariati, which is when they began to talk about raising the fortunes of the Mostazafin, the Dispossessed.

The Iranian Revolution ended with the Ten Days of February, just as the Russian Revolution ended with Ten Days in October.

Almost immediately after the victory on 11 February, Khomeini, whose full name and title at the time was Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Mostafavi Moussavi Khomeini, organized forces to usurp control of the people, the workers, the bazaaris, the peasants, and the poor and place it in the hands of his own close acolytes. 

On 12 February, he announced to formation of the Central Revolutionary Komiteh to take control of all the local komitehs. 

On 24 February, he established the Central Revolutionary Court, which began executions on 5 March. 

On 26 February, he repealed the progressive Family Protection Acts which provided legal protection for the rights of women in marriage. 

On 7 March, Khomeini dismissed all female judges and imposed compulsory hijab on women entering government buildings, though was forced to back down temporarily on the latter by the enormous turnout in opposition the next day, International Women’s Day.

At the end of March, the population voted in a referendum in which the two options were the constitution drafted ostensibly by the Provisional Revolutionary Government but actual following explicit dictates of the Council of Islamic Revolution, or a return to constitutional monarchy under the Shah.  The additional feature of the ballot not being secret ensured a 98% approval, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was proclaimed on April Fools Day.

On May Day that year, the march of 1.5 million workers through the streets of Tehran, plus countless others across the nation, signalled the beginning of a general strike against the changes being made against the will of the people.  Six days later, Khomeini established the Army of the Guardians of the Revolution, or Revolutionary Guards (known in Farsi as Sepahi), to put down the general strike, rid the komitehs of secular elements, and destroy the proletarian shoras and replace them with Islamist versions.  Even these latter were eventually crushed when they began to follow their own interests rather than that of the central cabal.

A year later, Khomeini went after the universities, closing them down for the Iranian Cultural Revolution carried out by the Basij-e Mostazafin, or Basiji, under the auspices of the Cultural Revolution Headquarters led by Ali Khamenei and its subordinate Islamic Holy Councils of Reconstruction.  The Sepahi and the Basiji did not originate as instruments of national defense against US-instigated Iraqi aggression but as instruments of oppression.

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 bears striking resemblance on many points to the Russian Revolution of 1917: both usurped revolutions from broad-based coalitions of disparate forces led by workers; both had significant 10-day periods, “Ten Days that Shook the World” vs. “Ten Days that Changed Iran”; both imposed constitutions on their respective countries without any debate; both turned on and slaughtered allies that had helped them come to power; both faced invasion and war almost immediately after coming to power; both used those wars as an excuse to eliminate dissidents in mass numbers; both carried out mass purges and executions a decade after their assumption of power; both became one party states – the Communist Party in the USSR and the Party of God in the IRI; and both were led by bitter, vindictive, unscrupulous long-term exiles who lied about their intentions, gave lip service to the goals of the true left, and pursued absolute power in the name of ideology and the establishment of a totalitarian state.

Tune in next time for a short critique of ideological Leninism and brief details of what a truly Cooperative Commonwealth would look like.

Esteghlal, azadi, edalat-e ejtemah-e.  Independence, freedom, social justice.  Rooz-e ma khahad aman, omidvaram.  Our day will come, inshallah.  Keep the faith.  Peace out.

Outline of the Iranian Revolution and the Early Islamic Republic: http://notesfromtheninthcircle.blogspot.com/2011/06/outline-of-iranian-revolution-and-early.html

A Response of Shaun King and Others on the Las Vegas Massacre

Despite killing 59 people and wounding 527 in a fusillade of gunfire that lasted nearly ten minutes, Stephen Paddock was not a terrorist.  At least as far as we know at this time.  He sowed terror, no doubt, as did the Son of Sam, but neither of the two left any sort of manifesto or even single statement detailing political motives, or motives of any kind, for that matter.  A political motive is what separates a terrorist from a generic mass murderer.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

About two weeks before the Las Vegas massacre, Emanuel Kidega Samson, a Sudan-born legal resident and apparently practising Christian, walked into Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Antioch, Tennessee, to which he had once belonged, and sprayed it with gunfire after shooting down one of the parishioners in the parking lot.  No reputable news source referred to Samson as a terrorist, despite the fact that he is non-native and non-white.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

A little over two years ago, a Palestinian-American named Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez attacked two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was at first branded as a “terrorist”.  However, investigation quickly showed that Mohammad, a graduate of a local high school and of the city’s university, had been suffering from severe depression and bipolar disorder accompanied with abuse of several different substances, and by the end of the week, local authorities and media were talking about him more as a long wolf who had a mental breakdown.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

About a year later, Omar Mateen, an Afghani-American U.S. citizen, walked into The Pulse nighclub in Orlando, Florida, an establishment catering primarily to the gay community, and killed 49 people and wounded 58 with gunfire.  Though at the time he swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, spiritual leader of Daesh or ISIS, and claimed to be part of the mujahadeen, investigation turned up no prior connection between Mateen and al-Baghdadi or any other part of Daesh, so the claims were dismissed and this brown-skinned immigrant citizen of Middle Eastern origin was labelled a “lone wolf” by both law enforcement and reputable media sources.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

Each of these shooters was a “lone wolf”, and has been described as such by both law enforcement and media sources.  A “lone wolf” is someone acting outside of an organization on their own.  Many of the recent terror attacks in Europe have been carried out by just such “lone wolves” and have been referred to as such by law enforcement and media at the time.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

Andreas Breivek, who killed 77 and wounded 319 people in Norway, targeting the Norwegian Labour Party, was another such “lone wolf”.  However, since he most definitely carried out his atrocity for definite political reasons, he without a doubt fits the definition of a “terrorist” and was called such by law enforcement and media sources at the time.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

The Wounded Knee Massacre carried out by troopers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry was a mass murder inflicted almost entirely with gunfire but is different than what is now called a “mass shooting” on several accounts.  First, it was carried out by agents of the state, not a single private individual; second, there were many more shooters than a single individual or couple of individuals; third, it counts more as a genocide.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

While the mass killings of African Americans such as those in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rosewood, Florida, and Philips County, Arkansas, involved a lot of gunfire, those were perpetrated by mobs, sometimes with their intended victims returning fire in self-defense and often lasted more than a whole day.  Hate crimes?  Yes.  Genocide?  Yes.  Mass shootings, in the modern sense of the word?  Nope, not unless you’re an ally of the NRA trying to draw attention from the catastrophes caused by their change in direction with the beginning of their acceptance of money from the arms industry’s merchants of death.  Sorry about that, Mr. King.

The reason white people, or really any other variety of human native to or legally resident in the United States is not charged as “terrorists” is because the federal government has no statute that covers such incidents.  That is an omission that should be corrected, along with establishing Australian levels of gun control to stop our ongoing Holocaust of each other.  One Nation Under Fire, from each other and from the police.

Vegas, the Pledge, the Anthem, and Black Lives

On the evening of Sunday, 1 October, a single human in Las Vegas, Nevada, using his arsenal of assault rifles with extended clips, killed 59 other humans and wounded 527 more humans, making 586 human victims in all, in the space of about 10 minutes.  That same amount of time is roughly equivalent to one of my pieces for a Left Ungagged podcast.  So, remember that number, 586, and let’s start counting: one, two, three, four…to be continued.

This mass shooting was brought to you by the archaic and badly misinterpreted Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the National Rifle Association, the Federalist Society, the conservative wing of the Supreme Court, the Republican Party, the Christian Right, and American ammosexuals from sea to shining sea.  To these individuals and groups, Second Amendment rights and the rights to profit of the arms industry’s merchants of death count more than the rights to life, health, and safety and freedom from fear of his victims.  Don’t be surprised if one day the government alters the U.S. national motto to “There is no god but Profit and Ayn Rand is its Prophet”; in the name of truth in advertising, of course.

By 1426 EDT on today, 4 October, there had been 46,873 shooting incidents leaving 11,725 people dead by gunfire and 23,795 people wounded by gunfire in the USA in 2017.  The Christian Dominionist words “under God” inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance after the phrase “one Nation” should be changed to “under fire”.  Because that’s what the USA is; one nation under fire.  Or, to put it another way, “Houston, we have a problem”.

The Pledge of Allegiance, by the way, originated as nothing more than a sales gimmick.  Its author, Francis Bellamy wrote it and devised the ritual for its recitation for a campaign by the mail order company he worked for to sell flags to every school in the country.  He introduced the Pledge on Columbus Day in 1892, which is fitting from pretty much any point of view.  The method Bellamy prescribed for saluting the flag during recitation of his pledge was with a stiff right arm palm down fingers pointed to the flag, a gesture that became quite familiar in Europe during the 1930s, and now you know the true origin of that salute.

Until Bellamy’s campaign, the only institutions which flew the national flag were buildings of the federal government and military and naval installations.  Within a few years, nearly every school in the United States had its own flag to which its children were marched out and lined up daily to pledge their loyalty and submission to American imperial capitalism.

Francis’ cousin Edward Bellamy wrote America’s third best selling novel of the 19th century novel published in 1887 called Looking Backward, a utopian science fiction conception of a completely socialized America a century later that launched a primarily bourgeois socialist movement which swept the country.  Locals were called Nationalist Clubs and the philosophy of the movement became known as Nationalism, in this case meaning the Nation, as in the people, against Capital.  This is the first known link of nationalism with socialism.

Looking Backward is not the only fictional work to launch a movement.  In 1905,  Thomas Dixon published the novel The Clansman, a highly romanticized view of the post-Civil War Reconstruction and of the Ku Klux Klan.  In 1915, D.W. Griffith turned it into the pioneering film The Birth of a Nation.  Besides being the first film ever shown in the White House and leaving the very racist President Woodrow Wilson in tears, it inspired a group of anti-Semitic terrorists known as the Knights of Mary Phagan to reorganize themselves as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.  The latter organization was established at the future site of candidate Bill Clinton’s “tough-on-crime” speech in Stone Mountain, Georgia, during the 1992 Democratic primaries standing in front of row upon row of Afro-American inmates from the nearby prison.

In 1899, the US Navy adopted the Star-Spangled Banner as its official song.  Racist-in-Chief Wilson adopted it for military occasions in 1916, and the National Baseball League started playing it at the World Series in 1918.  To distract the nation from the stock market crash and Great Depression in 1929, a movement began to adopt the Star-Spangled Banner as the USA’s official national anthem.  It culminated in 1931 with President Herbert Hoover, signing the law making it so.  The anthem did not become standard before all baseball games until World War II, and while it’s been played before football games since the same time, players never appeared on the field for it until the 2009 season, when Barack Obama’s Department of Defense began paying money to the National Football League (that’s “football” as in American football, not what we Yanks call soccer) for them to do so.

Which takes us partly back to the beginning of this piece so we can move forward.  Of the 11,725 people killed and 23,795 people wounded by gunfire in the USA thus far  in 2017, 1,560 of those people were shot by cops, with 908 victims of police homicide dying by gunfire or some other means, a disproportionate number of them people of color, mostly black.  That bodycount is the original reason for the “take a knee” protests started last year by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, now spreading across the NFL and spilling over into Major League Baseball as well as college and high school football.

Pastor John Pavlovitz suggested that if your immediate response to the shooting of a man or woman of color is to try and justify why he or she is dead instead of asking why they were shot, you are part of the problem.  Think of Trump’s statement after Charlottesville that “there was violence on both sides, both sides”.  Think of every time when a person of color was gunned down by a trigger happy cop when Obama invariably said, “We don’t have all the facts yet.  We don’t really know what happened”, even though there were almost always dozens of witnesses and/or video of the event.

To those in power, and to too many juries in America, blue lives always matter more than black, no matter what the complexion of their own skin may be.  The very reason for the slogan “Black Lives Matter”, according to Alicia Garza, is because to in America, especially to those in power, they don’t, even though they should.

This morning in their weekly meeting, the commissioners of Hamilton County in Tennessee voted along party lines to keep the bust of Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart, wearing his Confederate uniform, on the courthouse lawn right in front of the main door.  True, after the war, Stewart, a distant relative of mine, played a huge role in the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park for its first 25 years, but having his statue on our county’s front lawn with him in the uniform of an army that attacked this country is a bit like having a statue of Kurt Waldheim is his Waffen SS uniform on the front lawn of the United Nations because of his service as secretary-general. 

It would not surprise me a bit if next week the commission passes a resolution supporting the NRA’s view of the outdated Second Amendment, which is in serious and urgent need of repeal.

…581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586.

Jesus died at Sukkot, not Pesach-Matzot

Jesus the Nazorean, aka Jesus Christ, aka Iesous Christos, aka Iesous Chrestos, aka Iesous Nazaraios, aka Isho Nasraya was not crucified at the time of Passover and the Feast of Matzot, or Unleavened Bread, but several months later in the year, at the time of Sukkot, or Tabernacles.  And what’s more, the evidence for this incontrovertible fact lies within the Gospel of Mark and its derivatives, with scattered indications even in the Gospel of John.

There are, by the way, evidences in the New Testament of at least four separate editions, if you will, of the Gospel of Mark at various stages of development.

Jesus was not a Jew, at least not to the native population of Palestine in the first century CE.  At the time, to a native resident of Palestine, the word “Jew” signified a person historically resident in and descendant of a long line of residents in the province of Judea.  Which is why the writers of the Gospel of John refer to Jesus’ opponents as “Jews”, seemingly not including him.  Jesus was a Galilean, and in the mileiu of Palestine Galileans were in held little better regard than the Samaritans.  So, we have Jews or Judeans, Galileans, and Samaritans; the other two ethnic subgroups in Palestine were the Idumeans and Pereans, both of higher status to Judeans than Galileans, with Samaritans held as pariahs by all other four groups.  For simplicity here, I’ll be using the word “Jews” for the all the different groups collectively and “Judeans” for the ethnic subgroup of Judea.

There were colonies of Jews and Samaritans throughout the Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia; these were the Diaspora.  Gentiles, or Goyim, made no distinction between them, but in Palestine the Judeans held Jews of the Diaspora to be roughly on the level of Galileans.  Why these distinctions are important to the matter at hand will become clear. 

First and foremost, the central and most imporant festival of Palestinian Jews until the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem was Sukkot, while among the Diaspora Jews it was Passover and Matzot. 

Second, the two macrogroups, Palestinian Jews and Diaspora Jews, had different schema of messianic expectations.

The Jews of Palestine, with variations of course within the group, did not look for a single messiah, but in fact for four.  These were Elijah, the Messiah ben Joseph or Messiah ben Ephraim, the Messiah ben David or Messiah ben Judah, and The Righteous Priest or Messiah ben Levi.  The Essenes had their own version, looking for Messiahs of Aaron and of Israel. 

The masses in Palestine looked for these four messiahs to come at different times along their religious calendar.  Passover and Matzot were the time when they expected the return of Elijah the prophet.  Shavuot, or Pentecost, was when they expected the Messiah ben Joseph.  Sukkot was when they expected the Messiah ben David with the Righteous Priest beside him.

The gospels clearly portray Jesus as the Messiah ben David, even in the much later additions at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, who among Palestinian Jews was expected at Sukkot.  Strike one against the traditional timetable.

The palms carried by pilgrims in procession on what to traditionalists is the first Palm Sunday was and still are a feature of Sukkot not Passover-Matzot nor of any other occasion.  Likewise, though the entire group of Hallel psalms (113-118) is recited daily throughout all festivals, the singing of the two verses upon which the cries of the people on the so-called first Palm Sunday are based, Psalm 118:25-26, was unique to one of the rites of Sukkot.  That rite took place every day of the festival after the additional sacrifices for the festival that took place after the first of the ordinary daily sacrifices (there were two sets of these, one in morning and one in afternoon) when the priests and Levites led the congregation in circumabulation around the altar, waving their palms as they processed.

The blood and water which the gospels portray pouring out of our protagonist’s side when it is pierced with a spear represent another motif tying the crucifixion of Jesus the Nazorean to the messianic festival. 

As I said before, Sukkot was the big festival in Palestine, and for this festival if not for the other two major feasts, Jews made an effort to go up to Jerusalem for the duration.  Every day of Sukkot, participants in the festival would go home or to wherever they were lodging, sleep, and return at midnight for a party that lasted until dawn.  At dawn, Levites would lead a procession of the congregation to the Pool of Siloam south of the temple compound, with the congregation singing and waving their palms while the Levites played instruments.  When they returned with a pitcher of water, the officiating priest would take it and a pitcher of wine and pour them simultaneously over the altar.  Although water was poured over the altar every morning before the first sacrifices of the day, there was no such pomp and circumstance nor was wine poured over it except during Sukkot.

Finally, the festival of Sukkot is an eight-day festival, seven days for the festival of Sukkot itself and one more at the end called Shemini Atzeret, counted as a Sabbath, attached but separate, which matches the timeline of the week of the Passion as presented in the gospels, beginning on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter Sunday, much better.

The central importance of Sukkot vanished with and its festivities at the thorough destruction of the temple and its compound along with the city of Jerusalem after its surrender to the Roman armies in 70 CE at the end of the Great Jewish War.  To Diaspora Jews, and eventually to Palestinian Jews, as well as to Gentile converts to Judaism and later Christianity, for the one whose followers claimed as the Messiah ben David to have come to Jerusalem at the time of Sukkot rather than Passover would make no sense.  But the imagery of Palm Sunday was just too good to discard along with the rest of the story, so it was retained, out of place.

The destruction of the temple and its compound, by the way, was complete.  Not one stone was left standing, even of the compound wall surrounding the Temple Mount.  According to Josephus, who was there, the only structures to remain standing were the western wall of the city, on the other side of the city from the temple, and three towers of Herod’s former palace in the Upper City.  The wall identified by mystic Isaac Luria in the 15th century as the Western Wall of the Jewish temple compound was constructed not by Herod but by Hadrian, emperor of Rome, for the compound of the temples to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, when the city of Aelia was built atop the ruins of Jerusalem in the fourth decade of the 2nd century CE.

I would say “sorry to burst your bubble” but in fact, if I have, that would be a lie.  And since I actually enjoy having my own preconceived notions and ideas overturned if done convincingly with facts, I am at least consistent.

On Neo-Confederate Subculture

First, I'm happy to report that the dean and the chapter of the Episcopal Church USA’s National Cathedral along with the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C., announced this week (on 12 September) that they will be removing two windows of two panes each honoring Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, complete with Confederate flags, from their installation in the walls of the cathedral.  The windows, paid for by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, were installed in 1953.  The announcement stated unequivocably that these windows do not represent the values of the Episcopal Church and should be removed immediately, deconsecrated, and stored out of sight until further disposal is decided.  Good for you, bishop, dean, and chapter, and thank you.  I say that as an Episcopalian, as an American, as a Terran, and as a child of the Universe.

Looking at the matter objectively and without prejudice, bereft of the late war and postbellum revisionism that is the foundation of the mythical Lost Cause to which were more myths were later added by the neo-Confederate school of 1890-1930, there is no question whatsoever that the Confederate States of America, the Confederacy, was established to maintain and to further propogate a socioeconomic political system of plantocracy based on the life enslavement of African and Afro-American men, women, and children.

But rarely do humans look at history objectively and without prejudice, else American history books would relate that the Union, the states not part of the Great Secession, fought to maintain and to further propogate imperial capitalism, and to keep the Southern states as both a source of raw materials and a domestic market for manufactured goods.

Neither set of leaders had pure motives.  Karl Marx, who wrote numerous articles in support of the Northern cause, was quite well aware of the true motives of its leaders but deemed the enslavement of humans, especially based on race, to be more evil than imperial capitalism.  As for the soldiers in the field on both sides who did the fighting and bleeding and killing and dying, they for the most part fought for the same reasons as the rank and file of all armies of wars past and present: conscription, manufactured patriotism, and defence of home, and not home as in homeland but as in home, family, local area, state in this case.

One element of post-bellum history largely overlooked is the number of exiled Confederates who fled to other countries in the aftermath.  Confederate colonies arose in Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Venezuela, and Canada, but by far the largest of all, estimated between ten and twenty thousand, grew up in the Empire of Brasil.  Of all these, only the colonies in Brasil survived as a distinct entity, today known, by themselves and their neighbors, as Los Confederados de Brasil.  Los Confederados are not divided by race and are in fact multiracial, with members of the ethnic group showing dominant physical traits of either Caucasian or African or even Native American ancestry, sometimes all three, but all clearly mixed.

Even year Los Confederados send a number of their young people to the Motherland, to the Southern states that were briefly the Confederacy, usually hosted by a chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  It is quite an experience to hear a multiracial group of youth switch from speaking Portugese among themselves to Southern English, and not just Southern English, but American English of the Deep South from a century and a half ago complete with an accent to rival that of Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett O’Hara.

Speaking of which, author Margaret Mitchell based her character Melanie Hamilton on her distant cousin Sister Mary Melody, formerly Mary McCarthy, and her character Rhett Butler on her more famous distant cousin Doc Holliday.  Yes, THAT Doc Holliday, the best friend of Morgan Earp and his brothers in the Old West.  The ancestors of both Mary and Doc, betrothed until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, came from Ulster.

For Los Confederados de Brasil, Confederate identity does not represent white supremacy nor the subjugation of one race by another but a shared history which makes them unique as a people, in their case not one that includes those across racial lines so much as one in which racial lines have been completely obliterated.  In the same way, not all those in America who believe with a mythical version of Confederate history, who cling to symbols of the Confederacy as part of their heritage and personal identity are white supremacists or bigots or racists.

Contrary to what the Southern Poverty Law Center claims, membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans is not restricted to those who can prove direct lineal descent from a former Confederate soldier.  In fact, for basic membership a claim is enough, and that can be through either direct lineal or collateral (uncle, cousin, even in-law), and there is even an associate membership for those who have not even that familial relationship.  Furthermore, anyone descended lineally or collaterally from anyone who received a pension as a Confederate soldier is eligible for full membership, and there are quite a few Afro-Americans on those rolls.

This is not a plug for the organization; I simply despise bullshit no matter what its source, even from an organization like the SPLC with which I am in otherwise wholehearted agreement.

If use of Confederate imagery and/or symbols necessarily makes one an ignorant bigoted white supremacist, then explaining Canadian Mohawk Robbie Roberson’s motives for writing the song, “The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down” becomes more than a little problematic.  It is, in fact, a coded protest against the Viet Nam War, drawing an analogy between the poor whites who fought for the Confederacy and the working class Americans, white, black, Chicano, and Asian, who fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia. 

If you blanketly condemn all use of the symbols, then you condemn Robbie Roberson, as well as Joan Baez who covered the song.  You also condemn Fred Hampton of the Chicago Black Panthers, who formed the original, pre-Jesse Jackson, Rainbow Coalition that sprang from their partnership with the Young Patriots of Uptown in Chicago who rocked the Confederate flag, specifically the battle flag of the Army of Tennessee, and sang Dixie as their anthemn.

Most of the American subculture which identifies with the former Confederacy for whatever reason is not racist but tribal, either from family history or residence.  Back when I was substitute teaching, I did a week subbing for a history teacher at Howard High School here, the oldest public school in the county and one almost entirely Afro-American.  At the time, the class was covering the Civil War.  I went there quite excited to share what I had learned of the First Colored Brigade of the Union Army of the Cumberland stationed in Chattanooga during the occupation.  As I perused their artwork on the walls outside the classroom interspersed with imaginary letters to or soldiers and swethearts, however, most identified with the Confederacy.  Why?  Because the South was their home.

However, the nature and history of the Confederate subculture and neo-Confederate mythology lend themselves far too easily to cooptation by racist, white supremacist, Christian dominionist organizations like the League of the South, which is the source of the latest racist ahistorical buzzword, “Anglo-Celtic”.  In addition to penetrate the former branch of the Scottish Nationalist Party in America, leading to its dissolution by its parent, members of the League of the South have penetrated all too many Scottish heritage events, often having tables at Highland Games across the country.

During protests in Ringgold, Georgia, over Roy Barnes unilateral change of the state flag from its 1950s form with the Army of Northern Virginia version of the Southern Cross to what it is now, local advocates of the former flag booed and jeered members of the League of the South speaking as members of the Conservative Citizens Council so vociferously that they foled under police guard.

During my single year of membership in SCV, League of the South penetration of it was mostly confined to the Southern Brigade of the Georgia Division.  Since then, however, it has taken over leadership of both the Georgia Division and the national organization, though several pockets of resistance remain.  Keeping in mind that personal use of Confederate symbols do not necessarily constitute an expression of white supremacism, such display by local, state, or federal government entities does, in fact, validate that very thing.  The only places Confederate monuments and memorabilia belong are in Civil War military parks, museums, and cemeteries, just as the only acceptable place for Confederate cosplay, or for that matter Union cosplay, is at Civil War reenactments.

If history buffs or Confederate romanticists want to commemorate former Confederate generals truly worthy of venerable remembrance, erect monuments and statues to James Longstreet and William Mahone, both of whom worked hard to build a biracial society in the postbellum South, Longstreet in New Orleans fighting with Afro-American militia against the Knights of the White Camelia and Mahone leading the biracial Readjuster Party in Virginia against the Redemptionist Bourbon Democrats.  Or Irish-American general Patrick Cleburne, who literally risked his life by proposing to free the slaves, along with their families, and make them full citizens in return for service in the Confederate army.

Before It Was Scotland: Hen Ogledd

Before it was Scotland, everything north of River Tweed was held by tribes speaking Brythonic languages or variations thereof.  As much as the south of the island of Great Britain, the shape of northern society developed largely in reaction to the Roman invasions, though none of the lands north of Hadrian’s Wall were held for long.  Two of the major factors influencing what shape those societies took were the defensive works known as Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall.

This essay covers mostly Scotland south of the Firths and all of the kingdoms including those much farther south that collectively were known to the Welsh as Hen Ogledd, the “Old North”.

Hadrian’s Wall

After visiting Britannia during the final year of Legatus Falco as governor in 122, Imperator Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus ordered the construction of an elaborate defensive works on the line between Pons Aelius (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) in the east and Luguvalium (Carlisle) in the west.

This limites, or defensive wall, the largest in the Imperium Romanum, included a massive stone wall built on a stone base.  Every mile between the two ends was marked by a gate with a milecastle (small fort with two towers) garrisoned by twenty to thirty limitanei (border soldiers), eighty of these in all).  There was also a large fort every five miles for a total of twenty-five.  A deep ditch guarded the Wall to the north, and to the south, beyond the military road stretching coast-to-coast was the Vallum, unique in the empire, a ditch half as deep as the northern one with embankments on either side.

This massive fortification, ten feet wide and twenty feet tall, was known as Hadrian’s Wall, but for most of its existence in use was simply called The Wall.  It was also supported by a line of forts running to the north.  Later it ends were extended to the fort of Segedunum (Wallsend) in the east and the fort of Mais (Bowness-on-Solway) in the west.

Antonine Wall, 141-164

In 141, Legatus Augusti Quintus Lollius Urbicus subdued the south of Scotland once again.  The next year the Romans began constructing the Antonine Wall (named for Imperator Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius) across the narrow neck of land between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. 

The wall was anchored in the west by the fort at Old Kirkpatrick in the west and the fort at Carriden in the east, with fourteen forts between them and smaller forlets in support.  In addition, a fort at Bishopton on the right bank of River Clyde and a fort at Camelon (Camlann in Gaelic) north of the wall two miles east of Falkirk provided additional support.

This construction of the wall, much of it still existing, was of earth, ten feet tall and sixteen feet wide, and almost certainly topped with a wooden palisade.  Like its senior to the south, it had forts along its length, sixteen in all, with smaller fortlets between them.  It was abandoned in 164 when the Romans again withdrew to Hadrian’s Wall.

Construction of this wall affected the Damnonii more than any other people as it cut off their northern regions from easy intercourse with their southern cousins.

Claudius Ptolemaeus c. 150

The Romans, at least in the first two centuries, referred to all the people beyond Hadrian’s Wall as Brittunculi, or “Little Britons”, leaving little doubt about their ethnicity.

South of the Firths and north of Hadrian’s Wall, i.e., “between the Walls” (Hadrian’s and Antonine), in the later province of Valentia, there were six tribes:  Damnoni, Votadini, Novantae, Selgovae, Anavionenses, and Gadeni (the first four known from Ptolemy, the last two from other sources).  The Maeatae may be another (see below).  The territories of the Damnoni and the Votadini spread across the Antonine Wall, as did the Votadini with Hadrian’s Wall.

South of Hadrian’s Wall, in the region that later became the province of Britannia Secunda and amounted to the dominion of the Brigantes in their prime, lived Brigantes, Carvetii (in English Cumbria), Textoverdi, Lopocares, Setantii, Parisii (in East Riding of York), and Gabrantovices.

Identity of the Maeatae

Most authorities place the Maeatae just north of the Antonine Wall and the Caledoni to the north of them, but some place the Maeatae between the Walls.  In later centuries Irish chroniclers refer to the kingdom of Manaw as Miathi, probably an Irish cognate for the same group.  This leads to the conclusion that the group so named either alone or at the head of a broader coalition lived in what became known as Manaw, or Manaw Goddodin. 

At the time Dio first mentions them, he refers to the Maeatae as living “next to the Wall which splits the island”, which usually refers to Hadrian’s Wall, which supports that last contention, though the other evidence suggests that the individual tribe of Maeatae were none other than those former Damnonii living north of the Antonine Wall cut off from easy commerce with their cousins and left to their own devices.  Especially since the Damnonii are known to have spread north to include Stirling, Menteith, Strathearn, and Fothriff, precisely the territory of Manaw.

Dio’s reference dates from the 2nd century and likely refers to the confederation, while the Irish references are from the early 7th century and probably refer to its chief tribe, the former Damnonii north of the Antonine Wall who had formed into a separate people.

Revolt of Carausius, 286-274

From 259 to 274, the Britanniae belonged to the Imperium Galliarum along with Galliae (the Gauls), Hispaniae (the Spains) and Germaniae (the Germanies), but the center of that secession lay on the Continent, specifically the Germaniae.

In 286, Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Valerius Carausius, praefectus of the Classis Britannica (the imperial fleet in the British Channel) based at Dubris (Dover), revolted and set himself up as emperor of Britanniae and northern Gaul.  After ruling for eight years, he was murdered and usurped by his treasurer, Allectus, following a serious military setback in 294 at the hands of the western Caesar (the empire was then under the Tertrarchy), Caesar Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius.

After finally defeating Allectus once and for all, Constantius Chlorus, as he is commonly known, then set about reorganizing the Britanniae once again, attempting to dilute any more power bases for revolt.  Such as the one his son, Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, used to make himself Augustus and Imperator in 306.  He divided the two Britanniae into four: Maxima Caesariensis, based in Londinium (London); Britannia Prima, based in Corinium (Circenchester); Flavia Caesariensis, based in Lindum (Lincoln); and Britannia Secunda, based in Eboracum (York).  Thus the Britanniae became a diocese, with the governor of the first province ranked as a consularis while the other three ranked as praefecti, with a vicarius over them all.

The death of Constantine the Great, 337

At the death of Constantinus Augustus, the Imperium Romanum divided into three praetorian praefectures (a fourth was added later).  The Diocese of Britanniae fell under the Praetorian Prefecture of Galliae, which also included Galliae, Septem provincae, Hispaniae, Germaniae, and Tingitana (more or less Morocco).

In the Diocese of Britanniae, there were three commands, who officially reported to the Magister Militum per Galliae: 

Comes Maritimi Tractus per Britanniae, later known as Comes Litoris Saxonici, whose command included the limitanei of the coastal forts (3000 foot, 600 horse), as well as Legio II Augusta.

Dux Limitum Britanniarum, whose command included the limitanei of the North (14,000 foot, 900 horse), as well as Legio VI Victrix.

Comes Militum Britanniarum whose command included mobile comitatenses of 2200 foot and 200 horse.

Legio XX Valeria probably remained stationed at Deva Victrix (Chester) on what later became the Welsh border.

Though one is never specifically listed, the overall commander of Roman forces in Britanniae would have been called Magister Militum per Britanniae.  That such a position existed is evident from the history of later usurper Maxen Wledig, as he was and is known to the Welsh.

The naval forces of the British Channel, the Classis Britannica under a praefectus, were based at Dubris (Dover, England) in Britanniae and Bononia Gesoriacum (Boulogne, France) in Galliae.

Two commands in Galliae fell under the overall command of the Comes Litoris Saxonici: Dux Belgicae Segundae (limitanei in coastal Belgica and Germania) and Dux Tractus Armoricani et Nervicani (limitanei in coastal Armorica and Nervica).

Magnentius, 350-353

In January 350, the general who would go on to become Flavius Magnus Magnentius Augustus rose against the rule, or rather misrule, of Imperator Flavius Iulius Constans Augustus, son of Constantine the Great.  He quickly won support throughout the Prefecture of Galliae.  However, the popularity and strength of support for the dynasty descended from Constantine proved too great, and Magnentius committed suicide after his defeat in the Battle of Mons Seleucis in 353.

One of the reasons for his popular support was his toleration of pagans, Jews, and Christian religious dissidents such as Arians.

The Great Conspiracy, 360-369

Historian Ammianus Marcellinus refers to the “Scoti” and the “Picti” raiding Britanniae (the Britains, south of the Wall) in 360, then again in 364, this time in conjunction with the “Attacotti” and the “Saxonici”. 

In 367, the Great Conspiracy breaks out, with the Roman garrisons along Hadrian’s Wall rebeling in conjunction with native frontier troops known as areani; northern and western Britanniae are overwhelmed.  In the midst of the chaos, Valentinus, an exile from Pannonia, and others begin planning a revolt.   The Great Conspiracy is finally defeated by a force under Flavius Theodosius, Comes Britanniarum.  Afterwards, he disbands the areani and organizes a new civil administration.

While these internal struggles ensued, the Picti, Attacotti, and Scoti were attacking Britannia and the Saxonici and the Franci attacking northern Gaul.

In 369, Comes Flavius Theodosius created the province of Valentia, which is usually held to have lain within the territory “between the Walls”.  The province is noted in the Notitia Dignitatum of circa 420, and was considered important enough to have a consularis rather than a praefectus as governor.

Identity of the Attacotti

The identity of the Attacotti has been a subject of much dispute. 

From the 18th century, the prevailing view was that Attacotti is a Latin corruption of the Irish aithechthuatha, or daortuatha, the subject or slave tribes.  This view declined at the end of the 19th century, though it has again become popular.  Others in the 19th century hypothesized that it referred to those from the extreme north of the island, what are now Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross, as its inhabitants were then known as the Catti. 

The Notitia Dignitatum of the early 5th century lists four units of Attacotti in the ranks of the imperial army, indicating residence within or at least geographic closeness to the Imperium Romanum.  That being the case makes more likely the third, and minority, opinion that Attacotti refers to a confederation of the tribes between the Walls, being a later name for the Maeatae or a succeeding or even rival confederation.

More raids

In 381, there was a fourth wave of raiding by Scoti, Picti, and Saxonici.  After their defeat in 382, Flavius Magnus Maximus, Magister Militum per Britanniae, brought over Aed Brosc of the Deisi and a contingent of his people as foederati, settling them among the Demetae in what is now southwest Wales, to help repel further raids. 

Maximus also assigned praefecti gentium to commands in the north among the peoples “between the Walls”:  Quintilius son of Clemens at Dinas y Brython (Alt Clut/Dunbarton); Paternus son of Tacitus at Din Paladur (Traprain Law); Catellius Decianus at Din Gefron (Yeavering Bell); and Antonius Donatus Gregorius (son of Magnus Maximus) in Novant; he later transfers to Demetia in Wales.  Ruling dynasties later traced their descent back to these praefecti.

Revolt of Maximus, 383-388

In 383, the general’s troops proclaimed him Imperator Flavius Magnus Maximus Augustus against the then current emperor of the West, Imperator Flavius Valentinianus Augustus, who at the time was 12 years old.  Intervention by the emperor of the East, Imperator Flavius Theodosius Augustus, stopped Maximus for gaining the entire West but won agreement for him to rule what amounted to the Prefecture of Galliae.

Unlike Magnentius, Maximus was quite harsh towards religious dissenters of all stripes, and is responsible to the first executions of Christians on grounds of heresy, Priscillian and six of his companions, over the strenuous objections of St. Martin of Tours.  On the other hands, he issued an edict censuring Christians of Rome for burning down a synagogue in 387, for which he was rebuked by Aurelius Ambrosius, bishop of Rome, known to history as St. Ambrose.

That same year, Maximus, known to the Welsh as Macsen Wledig, had violated his treaty with Theodosius I by pushing out Valentinus II from Milan, then the imperial capital of the West which provoked a response that led to his ouster.

Dominatus Interruptus

In 406, responding to the invasion of Galliae by the Suebi, Alani, Vandali, and Burgundi, the legions of Britain revolt and nominate a usurper named Marcus as emperor.  Marcus was killed by his troops the next year because of hesitation and replaced with Gratian.  Gratian was killed because he also would not cross over to Galliae by troops who then proclaimed Flavius Claudius Constantinus as Constantine III.  This general then crossed over with the three legions, each of leaving behind a skeleton crew along with the nonlegionary limitanei.

In 409, the Saxonici began raiding the shores of Britanniae and Armorica in large numbers, and there were Irish incursions into Venedotia, Cornovia, Siluria, Demetia, and the Gower Peninsula.

Cut off by the chaos, the people of those regions appealed to Ravenna (then the capital) for assistance, but Imperator Caesar Flavius Honorius Augustus, who had his hands full with the Huns and Constantine III, told them to attend their own affairs.  Therefore, they expelled their remaining imperial officials and declared independence.

In 411, Imperator Caesar Flavius Claudius Constantinus Augustus,  last emperor from Britanniae, was captured at Arles and executed at Ravenna soon afterward.

By 417, the revolts in Armorica and Britanniae were suppressed, and some level of imperial presence returned to both regions.

A few medieval sources list 448 as the last year in which there is any Roman presence in Britanniae, but to what that might be referring is hazy.  However, since other sources report for this year that, “Civil war and plague ravage Britain”, it is plausible some degree of imperial government still existed up to that time.  Also, it’s hard to imagine Romanized Britons not maintaining some sort of contact with the Kingdom of Soissons (457-486) in northern Gaul, as we know they were doing with Armorica, which considered itself an exclave of the empire.

Birth of the Old North

The beginning of the collection of kingdoms known to the Welsh as “Hen Ogledd” (literally, “the Old North”) was in 410, when Coelistius, last Dux Limitum Britanniarum, assumed political as well as military control of Britannia Secunda, possibly with some influence in Valentia, effectively becoming King of the North, if you will.  Coelistius is the person upon whom the medieval Welsh legends of Coel Hen, “Old King Cole”, are based.

According to histories compiled by Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn of Gwynedd (820-878), Coel Hen died in battle against the Dal Riata and the Picts near the Water of Coyl in the later Ayrshire in the year 420.  This demonstrates both the reach of Coel’s authority to the territory “between the Walls” and the colonization by the later Argyll by the Dal Riata early in the 5th century.

In the meantime, the Council of Britanniae continued to govern in the south.  This was the likely point at which the fortunes of the north and the south of Roman Britain parted ways.

Previously the thought had been that The Wall was abandoned with the withdrawal of the legions, but archaeology has since proven this was not the case, though at this writing no one knows how long it was able to be maintained.  The Wall was the border between the two provinces over which the “king of the North” asserted his authority.

Tribes of Valentia

Damnonii were the biggest in the north after the Brigantes, taking up the later Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire, and Stirlingshire, and the districts of Menteith, Strathearn, Fothriff.

Novantae occupied the later Wigtonshire.

Anavionenses lived in the district of Annandale.

Selgovae took up the later Kirkcudbrightshire and western Dumfriesshire.

Gadeni lived in the later Roxburghshire.

Votadini occupied the Lothians, Peeblesshire, and Berwickshire.

Tribes of Maxima Caesariensis

Carvetii held Cumbria, or at least Cumberland.

Textoverdi lived in the upper South Tyne Valley and may have been at one time a subtribe of the Brigantes.

Lopocares lived along the River Tyne and may have been at one time a subtribe of the Brigantes.

Brigantes, by far the largest group in Britannia, held the Yorkshires, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Westmoreland, and south Northumberland.

Setantii took up Lancashire and may have been at one time a subtribe of the Brigantes.

Parisii occupied the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Gabrantovices lived on the Yorkshire coast of the Oceanus Germanicus.

Kingdoms of the Old North

In 420, Coelistius, first (and last) “King of the North” died, and the lands of his office, were divided between his “descendants”, probably subordinate officers, but they may have included actual sons as well.  Three of those below preexisted Coelisitius’ death, one of them by centuries.  The two German lands (Beornicia and Deira) included in the list were not part of “the Old North”, but they did exist at the time.

Manaw – Identification in Irish annals of this kingdom with the Miathi, almost certainly an Irish corruption of Maeatae, leads to the conclusion that it was the same group or the lead group within a broader coalition that outsiders dubbed with its name, as in the case of the Caledones dubbed for the Caledonii.  This kingdom lay about the head of the Firth of Forth, at least from the parish of Clackmannan in the north to the parish of Slamannan in the south.  If it did not fall in 638 along with Eidyn and Goddodin, it certainly fell in 663 when Oswiu conquered southern Alba.  In the records, it is often called Manaw Goddodin to distinguish it from Yns Manaw, the Isle of Mann.

Alt Clut/Ystrad Clud/Cumbria - Around 410, the Damnonii or their descendents established the kingdom that became known as Alt Clut, with the capital at Dinas y Brython (Dunbarton).  It was under serious pressure after the fall of Rheged then Caer Gwenddoleu from the advance of Northumbria, with Eadberht conquering Kyle in 752.  Generally known as Alt Clut until Vikings destroyed its seat in 870, when the capital moved to Govan and the land became known as Ystrad Clud, or Srath Cluid (Strathclyde) to its neighbors (restricted as it was to the later county of Lanarkshire, which was known as Clydesdale before the county was erected).  Just a few years later, however, conquest of Northumbria by the Danes in 867 enabled Ystrad Clud to expand southward to include the later English counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, hence the change of annalists and chroniclers to the term Cumbria.  It became a dependency of Alba in the latter 11th century.  Cumbria was incorporated into Alba in 1124.

Novant/Wyr Enouant – Called Novant in the poems of the Old North and Wyr Enouant in later Welsh, this kingdom arose in 418 among the Novantae, ruled by descendents of Antonius Donatus Gregorius.  In 683, Wyr Enouant fell to Beornicia.  That was the end of Novant, but the region later gained quasi-independence in another guise as Galloway.  The country is not heard of again until the appearance of “Jacob of Galwegia” at the Chester council in 973.

Caer Ebrauc – Also seen as just Ebrauc, from Eboracum, this kingdom based in what became York was by far the dominant among the states of the Old North, at least in its early decades.  Strictly speaking, its direct power was limited to the region south of the Wall and only became a distinct entity after Bryneich and Deifr broke away in 420 after the death of Coelistius.  It fell to the armies of Deira in 580 in the aftermath of a disastrous expedition against Beornicia.

Goddodin - Founded about the time Coelistius’ death (420), this kingdom of the Votadini lay between the eastern border of Manaw and the northern border of Bryneich, taking in everything east of Slamannan south to Hadrian’s Wall, later restricted to the north of River Tweed.  It was conquered by Northumbria in 638.

In 671, Northumbria established a sub-kingdom called Din Baer north of River Tweed and east of River Avon which may have lasted until the fall of Northumbria to the Danes in 867, at which time the north of that kingdom became the province of Beornicia (its rulers being first called earldormen, then high reeves, and finally eorls).

Bryneich - Straddling the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall, it began as the kingdom of the southern Votadini just after the death of Coelistius (420).  Its north border was River Tweed, its south border equidistant from the Wall.  Its king was expelled from Din Guardi (Bamburgh) in 547 by Ida of Bernicia, who subsequently occupied it, but Bryneich itself continued at least to the end of the 6th century, the period of its last known king, Morcant Bulc.

Gwynedd – Became associated with the Old North when the governor or ruler of Goddodin, Cunedda ap Aeternus, was transferred to what is now northwest Wales to deal with the influx of Irish immigrants who left their name as Venedotia (from Feni) in 452.  Gwynedd was cut off from the rest of the Old North when Argoed fell to Mercia in 613.  It eventually became the dominant region of the Kingdom of Wales.

Rheged – Running from the Solway Firth south to border Powys and Gwynedd, this kingdom rose to become powerfull enough to rival, then eclipse Ebrauc.  It broke away from the greater northern kingdom around 450 with its capital as Caer Ligualid, the former Luguvalium and later Carlisle.  In 535, its southern region broke away as Argoed.   The decline of its fortunes began to decline when its king, Urien ap Cynfarch (whose son was Owen), was assassinated at the behest of Morcant Bulc in 590.  It finally assimilated into Beornicia by peaceful means about 643, due to the marriage in 638 to Rieinmellt, heiress of Rheged, to Oswiu, the future king.

Elmet – Occupying South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and eastern Derbyshire, this little known kingdom lay south of Ebrauc, east of the Pennines, and west of Deifr.  It was carved out of the Northern Kingdom about 470 and conquered by Edwin of Deira in 617.

Pennines – This is the name given to the kingdom known to have occupied the entire chain of the Pennine Mountain beginning about 470.  It divided into three around 525.

Calchfynydd – Mentioned in one single poem in the Book of Taliesen, its name also survives in the name of one of its rulers, Cadrawd Calchfynydd, to whom Welsh sources refer as one of the Men of the North (Gwyr y Ogledd).  It was probably founded under the name Cynwidion by Cynfelyn ap Arthwys, youngest son of the king of the Pennines, in Northamptionshire and the vicinity around 480.  That’s outside the geographic area of Hen Ogledd but is included here, like Gwynedd, because of the family connection.  Cuthwulf of the Gewissae conquered the kingdom in 571 and absorbed it into his own.

Arfderydd – Better known by the name of its capital, Caer Gwenddoleu (Carwinley), it occupied what is now the parish of Arthuret in the former county of Cumberland.  It was carved out of Rheged around 505 and conquered by the joint forces of Ebrauc, Dent, and Alt Clut in 573 over possession of Caerlaverock.  Afterwards, it was dependent on Rheged, though it remained separate until both were conquered by the Northumbrians.

Dunoting – Also known as Dent, was the northern of the three kingdoms into which the Pennines divided in 525.  It was overrun by Beornicia in 591.

Craven – Only recently recognized to have existed and given this name by historians, this was the central of the three kingdoms into which the Pennines divided in 525.  Bernicia conquered it along with its southern sister in 590.

Peak – With a named based on conjecture from the Anglian people who later occupied it (the Pecaestan), this third of the three kingdoms into which the Pennines divided in 525 was conquered by Bernicia in 590, like its sister to the immediate north.

Argoed – More often called South Rheged, this kingdom split from Rheged in 535 and remained independent until 613, when it was conquered by Mercia.  Even then, Mercia allowed its king, Llywarch Hen, to remain on the throne as a subordinate until 620, when they expelled him to Powys, where he becames a bard of the rank of Aneirin, Taleisin, and Myrddin.

Eidyn – This kingdom, a division from Goddodin, arose in about the year 545.  It spread at least from Din Eidyn (Edinburgh) to Caer Eidyn (Carriden) but may have included all of Mid Lothian.  It fell in 638 along with Goddodin.

Bernicia – Beginning as a coastal settlement on the island of Medcaut in the late 530s or early 540s, this kingdom may have been built on a foundation of a laeti colony under Ochta and Ebissa in 452, expanding into a kingdom that eventually swallowed its host by the end of the century.

Deira – In the late 550s, an Anglish leader named Aelle landed with his followers on the coast of Deifr and rapidly spead inland.

Aeron – Was not part of the Hen Ogledd, though it is known from many of the same sources as Manaw and plays a cameo role in several places in Northern British literature, and was not in the vicinity of Ayr.  It lay in the valley of the River Earn, or Strath Eireann, Gaelic for “Valley of the Irish”, which in old Brythonic (as well as modern Welsh) is Ystrad Aeron.

Timeline of the Old North

297 – Caesar Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius (Constantius Chlorus) divides Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior into four new provinces: Maxima Caesariensis (Eboracum); Britannia Prima (Londinium); Britannia Secunda (Corinium); and Flavia Caesariensis (Lindum).

369 – An additional province, Valentia, is added in the north, probably in southern Scotland between the Walls, with its seat at Luguvalium.  Its governor is a consularis.

382 – Fourth wave of raiding by Scotti, Pictii, and Saxonici.  After their defeat, Flavius Magnus Maximus, Magister Militum per Britanniae, assigns praefecti gentium to commands in the north:

Quintilius son of Clemens at Alt Clut (Dinas y Brython/Dunbarton); Paternus son of Tacitus at Din Paladur (Traprain Law); Catellius Decianus at Din Gefron (Yeavering Bell); Antonius Donatus Gregorius (son of Magnus Maximus) in Novant.  Ruling dynasties later trace their descent back to these praefecti.

405 – Fourth wave of raiding by Scotti, Pictii, and Saxonici. 

409 – The people of Britanniae and of Armorica appeal to Rome for assistance with marauders.  emperor Honorius tells them to attend their own affairs; therefore, they expel their imperial officials and declare independence.

410-650  - Sub-Roman Britain’s Heroic Age.

410 - Coelistius, the Coel Hen of Welsh legend, assumes control of the North, the area known to the Cymry as Hen Ogledd, its people as the Gwyr y Gogledd, most likely as the last official Dux Limitum Britanniarum.  His authority covers the provinces of Britannia Secunda and Valentia.

411-429 – Raiding of Britanniae by Pictii, Scotti, and Saxonici.

417 – The revolts in Armorica and Britanniae are suppressed, followed by the return of some level of imperial presence in both regions.

418 – Descendants of Antonius Donatus establish a Sub-Roman kingdom in Wyr Enouant (Novant), the area that eventually becomes Galloway.

420 - Death of Coel Hen in battle against the Picts and Dal Riata invading Alt Clut near the Water of Coyl in the later county of Ayrshire.  The lands of his office are divided between his descendants, known as the Coelingas, becoming Ebrauc, Bryneich (Din Guardi/Bamburgh), Deifr, Rheged, Argoed, Peak, Elmet, and Calchfynydd. 

446 – The Britonici appeal to Patricius Aetius for military assistance against the Pictii and the Scotti, but he has his hands full with Attila the Hun. 

448 – According to some chronicles and annals, the end of Roman presence in Britanniae was in this year, plausible given that others note for this year that “civil war and plague ravage Britain”, implying a serious disruption.

450 - Rheged is formed out of Northern Britain.  The new domain reaches from the southern border of Alt Clud to the northern border of Gwynedd.

452 - According to the Historia Brittonum, Cunedda Wledig ap Aeternus and his retinue are transferred from Manaw to Gwynedd, called Venedotia in Latin (from Feni, the Irish); Germanius ap Coelistius is transferred from Gododdin to Manaw; and the Frisian foederati Ochta and Ebissa are sent to replace Germanius.

470 – Establishment of the kingdom of Peak in the southern Pennines.

471 - Ceretic of Alt Clut raids the Irish Coast and carries off some of St. Patrick’s new flock and sells them into slavery, receiving a written reprimand from the Irish evangelist.

520 - Pabo Post Prydain of Peak abdicates his throne and retires, as a hermit, to Ynys Mon. 

525 - The kingdom of Dent is established in the Pennines.

Gabran mac Domangairt of Dal Riata, marries Lleian, daughter of Brychan of Manaw and niece of Cedric of Alt Clut, and settles with his men and their families in the region. 

535 - Sawyl Penuchel of Peak is expelled from his kingdom by Bernicia and flees to Powys. 

Death of Meirchion Gul of Rheged; the southern part of the kingdom breaks away as Argoed. 

537 – According to the Annales Cambriae, the Battle of Camlann where “Arthur and Medraut fell” was fought this year.  Camlann is Scottish Gaelic for Camelon, the Roman fort north of the Antonine Wall two miles west of Falkirk.

547 - The king of Bryneich is expelled from his fortress of Din Guardi (Bamburgh) by the Angles and Frisians, whose leader, Ida, becomes king of Beornicia. 

550 - War between Alt Clut and Gwynedd.

558 – Bridei mac Maelchon (ap Maelgwn) of Fortrenn defeats Gabran mac Domangairt.

559 – Deifr falls to the Angles and Frisians under Aelle of the Angeln dynasty Icelingas, who renames it Deira.

560 – Elidyr of Alt Clut invades Gwynedd in right of his wife, trying to expel brother-in-law, Rhun Hir ap Maelgwn, but dies at the Battle of the Cadnant. 

565 – Riderch Hael of Alt Clut mounts a revenge attack on Rhun Hir of Gwynedd.  Rhun marches on Alt Clut and reinforces the armies of his half-brother, Bridei, in Pictavia. 

569 - Aedan mac Gabrain of the Dal Riata establishes himself as king of Manaw by right through his mother; he is married to Demlech, daughter of Maelgwn Wledig of Gwynedd.

570 - The kingdom of Elmet founded.

570-575 - The Northern British Alliance is forged between kingdoms of Rheged, Alt Clut, Bryneich, and Elmet.  They fight the Beornicians at the Battles of Gwen Ystrad and the Cells of Berwyn.

573 - Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc ally themselves with Dunod Fawr of Dent and Riderch Hael of Alt Clut.  They march north to claim the fort at Caerlaverock from Gwendoleu of Caer Gwendoleu.  The latter is killed in the Battle of Arthuret and his bard, Myrddin Wyllt, flees into the Coed Celyddon, where he goes mad and becomes a prophet.

575 - Owein of Rheged kills Theodoric of Bernicia at the Battle of Leeming Lane. 

580 - The army of Peredur and Gwrgi of Ebrauc marches north to fight Bernicia.  Both are killed by Adda’s forces at Caer Greu. 

The Deirans rise up under Aelle, and move on the city of Ebrauc.  Peredur’s son Gwrgant Gwron is forced to flee; Ebrauc falls, with Catraeth going to Rheged.

586 – Battle of Circinn and death of Bridei ap Maelgwn; accession of Garnait mac Dornelch (or mac Aedan).  He is succeeded by Garnait son of Damelach.

588 - Aedan mac Gabhrain wins the Battle of Leithri.

590 - Siege of Lindisfarne. The Northern British Alliance (Rheged, Alt Clut, Bryneich, Elmet) lays siege to Hussa of Beornicia and almost exterminates the Beornicians.  Urien Rheged is assassinated at the behest of his jealous ally Morcant Bulc of Bryneich.  Beornicians recover while internal squabbles tear the British Alliance apart. 

Peak falls to Beornicia. 

591 - Dunod Mawr of Dent mounts an invasion of Rheged, but is repulsed by its king, Owein, and his brother, Pasgen.  Elffin of Rheged is simultaneously attacked by Gwallawc Marchawc Trin of Elmet.

593 - Morcant Bulc of Bryneich invades Rheged and kills Owein in battle.  Pasgen of Rheged flees to the Gower Peninsula.  A greatly diminished Rheged continues under the rule of their brother, Rhun.

594 - Battle of Manaw, which Adomnan calls the Battle of Miathi, in which Aedan mac Gabhrain of the Dal Riata is victorious, but with the loss of his sons Eochaid Finn and Artur.

595 - The aging Donud Mawr of Dent dies fighting off a Bernician invasion.  His kingdom is overrun and his family flees to join his grandson in Gwynedd.

598 - Mynyddog Mwynfawr of Din Eidyn and Cynan of Gododdin ride south to fight Beornicia against enormous odds at the Battle of Catterick, seat of Rheged.  The British are victorious, though Geraint of Dyfneint (Dumnonia) is killed in the fighting. 

599 - Death of Taliesin, poet for Urien map Cynfarch of Rheged, great-great-great-grandson of Coel Hen, and for Owain map Urien.  His works are collected in the Llyfr Taliesin.

600 - Aneirin of Dent writes the poem Y Gododdin recording the events of the Battle of Catterick.

603 - Battle of Degastan between Aethelfrith of Bernicia and Aedan of the Dal Riata, with support from Mael Umai mac Baetain of Cenel nEogain and Fiachnae mac Baetain of Dal nAraidi, king of Ulster, resulting in a devasting defeat for the Scotti in which Domangart mac Aedan dies, along with Aethelfrith’s brothers Theodbald and Eanfirth.

604 – Aethelfrith of Bernicia conquers Deira and unites the two kingdoms as Northumbria.

605 – Beornicia conquers Rheged and penetrates of Galloway.

608 - Death of Aedan mac Gabhrain of the Dal Riata. 

Argoed falls to Mercia.

616 – Rheged falls to Mercia. 

Aethelfrith of Bernicia is killed by Edwin of Deira at the Battle of the River Idle and his children escape north; his heir, Eanfrith, flees to Fortrenn and the rest to Eochaid Buide of Dal Riata.

617 - Edwin of Deira conquers Elmet.  Ceretic of Elmet is killed in the fighting.

620 - Llywarch Hen is expelled from Argoed, probably by Edwin of Deira, and flees to Powys to become a famous bard.

623 - Edwin of Deira is baptised by Rhun of Rheged.

630 – Calchwynedd falls to the Middle Angles and the Chiltern Saxons. 

633 - Death of the great bard, Llywarch Hen of Argoed, supposedly aged one hundred.  His works include Canu Hedledd and Geraint son of Erbin.

635 – St. Aidan is sent out from Iona to the Angles of Northhumbria, where he founds a monastery on the island of Medcaut (Lindisfarena). 

638 – Din Eidyn and and Gododdin fall to Northumbria, their aristocracy escaping to Alt Clut. 

Rhianfelt, heiress of Rheged, marries Oswiu of Northumbria.  Northumbria embraces Rheged in a peaceful takeover, and also becomes overlord of Circinn.

642 - Owen ap Beli of Alt Clut kills Domnall Brecc at the Battle of Strathcarron.

653 – Talorgan ap Eanfrith becomes king of Fortrenn.

654 – Oswiu is the first to assume the title king of Northumbria as supreme ruler of the united realms of Beornicia and Deira.

663 – Oswiu of Northumbria invades the southern Picts and establishes overlordship over Fibh, Circinn, and Strath Eireann.

664 - The Synod of Whitby.

671 – Northumbria establishes the sub-kingdom of Din Baer in the former territory of the Gododdin, also called Lleuddiniawn (Lothian).

672 –Ecgfrith of Northumbria conquers Cumberland (English Cumbria) and Dumfries.

683 – The kingdom of Wyr Enouant ruled by the line of Antonius Donatus falls to invasion from Beornicia.

685 - Ecgfrith of Northumbria marches his army north to engage the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere.  The Dal Riata and Alt Clut Britons join the Picts in a thorough defeat of the Anglish forces.  The latter lose much land south of the Forth to Dumnagual II of Alt Clut in the process.

697 – Bridei mac Der-Ilei subjugates Caitt.

706 – Death of Bridei mac Dargart of Fortrenn; Nechtan mac Dargart of the Cenel Comgaill ascends the throne.

711 – Northumbria invades Pictavia and is defeated in Manaw.

722 - Death of Beli of Alt Clut; Teudebur ap Beli succeeds to the throne.

729 – The Picts invade Manaw and are defeated.

750 – The Alt Clut Britons under Teudebur defeat Talorcan mac Oengusa at the Battle of Mugdock.  Decline of the power of Oengus I of Fortrenn. 

Elidyr ap Sandde moves the exiled royal house of Argoed from Powys to the Isle of Man. 

Eadbert of Northumbria conquers the plain of Kyle

756 - Oengus I of Fortrenn and Eadberht of Northumbria successfully attack Dumnagual of Alt Clut at Dinas y Brython; however, Alt Clut subsequently wipes out Eadberht's entire force at the Battle of Newburgh-on-Tyne.

793 - Lindisfarne is destroyed by the Norse.

844 – The Battle of the Plains of Manaw is fought between River Avon and River Carron.

871 – Dinas y Brython, seat of Alt Clut and its king, Artgal, is destroyed by Olaf of the Norse kingdom of Dublin and his Viking warriors.  The capital of Alt Clut is moved to Govan and the kingdom becomes known as Ystrad Clud.

872 - Artgal of Ystrad Clud is slain through the connivance of Causantin mac Cinaeda, Ri Cruithintuath, and his Viking allies.  Artgal's son, Rhun, succeeds to the throne.

878 – Death of Rhun of Ystrad Clud.  Succession of his son, Eochaid, who also attempts to assert his claims to the throne of all Picts through his mother.

889 - Eochaid of Ystrad Clud and Giric Mac Rath of the Picts are deposed by Viking invaders.  Domnall mac Caustantin becomes Ri Cruithintuath, the last to be so called.

890 - Domnall Ri Cruithintuath expels the Briton aristocracy of Ystrad Clud.  They flee south to North Cymru (Gwenydd).

927 – Ystrad Clud extends its southern border to River Eamont, close to Penrith, upon which it becomes known as Cumbria.

945 – Edmund I cedes Cumberland to Malcolm I.

960 – Alba captures Edinburgh/Dunedin, the former Din Eidyn.

973 – Maccus mac Arailt of the Isles, Kenneth III of Alba, and Malcolm of Strathclyde form a defensive alliance.

John, Lord of Galwegia (Galloway), Malcolm of the Cumbrians, Dyfnwal, Kenneth of Alba, Maccus mac Arailt of the Isles, Iago of Gwynedd, and others meet with Edgar I the Peaceful at Chesterfield, where he recognizes Alba’s possession of Lothian.

1014 – Battle of Clontarf

1018 – Mael Coluim mac Cinaeda brings Bernicia north of the Tweed under his control.

1054 – Siward of Northumbria defeats Macbeth in battle, places Malcolm ap Owain Foel (“Malcolm, son of the king of the Cumbrians”) on the throne of Cumbria. 

1072 – Gospatric, formerly Earl of Northumbria, is expelled to the north, where he recieves vast lands as Earl of Lothian, essentially the lands of the former Dinbaer.

1092 – William Rufus conquers Cumberland and incorporates it into England as the Earldom of Carlisle

1124 – David I mac Malcolm, Prince of the Cumbrians, usurps the throne of his nephew Malcolm mac Alexander (I) and assumes the throne, uniting Alba with Cumbria and Lothian into the Kingdom of the Brets and the Scots.

Scotland in the Middle Ages

Beginning with Malcolm III Ceannmor mac Duncan, monarchs in the north began using the Latin title “rex Scottorum” along with “ri Albann”. 

In 1124, David I united Alba (the north), Cumbria, and Lothian as one nation under a single set of laws called the Law of the Brets and Scots.  From his reign through that of Alexander III, that royal title was also written as “rex Brettorum et Scottorum”, as in the seal of the latter.  With the accession of John I Balliol, the sole official title became “rex Scottorum”.

Moray frequently reasserted its claims to leadership or independence in the next few centuries, most notably during the reign of Macbethad mac Findlaeich, noted as both king of Moray and king of Fortrenn, who defeated Duncan I to become king of Alba.  The Fortrenn-Caledon rivalry continued on in the struggles of the MacHeths and MacWilliams, whose strength lay in Moray and Ross, against the main line of the Cenel Connaill (or Kindred of St. Columba) in Scotland that lasted until 1215 and 1230 respectively.  Both families, frequently allied in “rebellion”, are disinherited branches of the main royal line but had intermarried with the local dynasty of Moray and Ross that traced back to both Cenel Loairn and the Pictish kings of Fortrenn.