East Tennessee

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my family traveled to the Chattanoga area. We visited a church in the area and fellowshipped with like-minded believers. We were also able to visit some battlefields on our trek through the State. Tennessee, I have seen, has national battlefields coming out her ears! We went by Parker's Crossroads, Stones River, and Chickamauga. I hope to visit Parker's Crossroads during the second weekend in June and have a book signing. They are having a living history demo that weekend. The picture above was taken on a tower-like memorial at the Chickamauga battlefield. In this area, Longstreet's attacking troops could not be repulsed, even though the Yankees were cutting them down with 7-shot Spencer repeaters.

Pictured above are some of the students I spoke to at Veritas Christian School in Germantown, Tennessee. Here on Monday, May 12, I gave the presentation on the drummer boy, and also my "If My People" speech on the similarities of the War Between the States and the Revolutionary War. To read this essay/speech, click here. It was a blast to see the kids so interested in the histroy that, around our house, we usually take for granted.

On Thursday, I visited the Somerville campus of Veritas Christian Schools. Some kids dressed up on both campuses as part of a "History Mystery" class. Pictured above is a young impersonator of George Washington.

The "Assembly" is the drum call that let soldiers know they were to form ranks.

For the kids, I demonstrated how to load a musket like they did during the war.

At Teacher 2 Teacher Bookstore in Batesville, Arkansas (May 10), I gave a presentation on the drummer boy. My thanks goes to Tammy Cox for hosting the event.

On Sunday (April 27), I spoke at Hasting's Bookstore in Cordova. My appreciation goes out to Michelle Hocker who was very thoughtful and professional; she is doing a great job with this new book store. Sitting is my grandfather, Robert Chandler, who is the genealogy master-mind of the family and has traced our roots back to B.C.

Saturday, April 26---I became a drummer boy at the Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center in a performance that the kids and adults seemed to enjoy immensely. I demonstrated the life of a drummer boy, then told how Stonewall and many other soldiers could defy death on the battlefield. General Jackson said, "God has affixed the time for my death and I do not concern myself about that---but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." The soldier on the left, Rick Cohen, a member of the Tennessee Genealogical Society, also gave a talk about the soldier's life during the war.

Me as the drummer boy.

Jennifer Baker was very hospitable at the Germantown Regional History and
Genealogy Center.



Also on Saturday, I visited Just Kidz Books in Bartlett. Phillip and Lori Mashburn went over and above in making me feel at home here. Thank you so much for your generosity and hospitality! Lori is pictured in the blue shirt.

At Hasting's Book Store in Poplar Bluff, MO, Saturday, April 12, I gave a talk on Stonewall Jackson and the war. I also played a couple tunes on my fife and drum, as well as signed books.

I signed the author's chair, signed by John Grisham and others, at That Bookstore in Blytheville (April 5). The bookstore has a unique history, and was one of Grisham's old stomping grounds. Thank you Norma Bell, Rebecca Smith, and everyone at the store for your hard-work with the book signing.

I would like to thank Phyllis Cowan, owner of the Bread of Life Bookstore in Melbourne, for her hard-work organizing a book signing on her Customer Appreciation Day (April 4). Thanks also to Bob Connell, the radio man with KFFB Fairfield Bay, for the interview.

Photos from Brownsville

Monday, April 7

We are back in Pocahontas after an eventful 1,000 mile drive from Brownsville. View the pictures of our trip.

U.S.-Mexican War re-enactors touch off a cannon at Palo Alto National Battlefield in South Texas.

A re-enactor of a Mexican soldado shows spectators his weapon.



Many of our heroes of the War for Southern Independence had their start in the U.S.-Mexican War and were likely influenced by their tour. For example, why did Stonewall eat lemons and call his wife, "esposita"?


Hands were extended across the border at the International Charro Days Parade in Brownsville, the only international parade in the U.S. Charro is a Mexican word for cowboy.


Spectators watch a vaquero performing rope tricks.


A young Mexican cowboy waves to the crowd during the Charro Days Parade.





A building sports the "Running W" brand at the King Ranch, an over 800,000 acre ranch based in Kingsville, Texas.





Our next-door neighbor in Brownsville was Jian Golder, a Chinese journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Green Light Press. She asked to do an article about our homeschooling and my book. She holds a copy-in-progress of The Orphan and the Beaten Drum.

Friday, February 29

The finsihing touches are being put upon my second book, The Orphan and the Beaten Drum. Those of you who have waited so long for me to complete it are probably rolling your eyes. Nontheless, I hope to have it finished sometime in March. The publication date is still uncertain.

We attended the Brownsville Charro Days parade the other day. The event has been going on for about 76 years and its spirit enlivens the whole city. In a parade yesterday, which was one of many to come, the ninos y ninas were decked out in their colorful fiesta garb in a display of history and culture that rivaled the War for Independence re-enactments back home. I will upload some pictures of the event when I get back to Pocahontas.

martes, 26 de Febrero

Beautiful Southern Texas is my home indefinitely. I have been enjoying 70-80 degree weather here in the Rio Grande Valley. Taking a stroll along the Rio Grande while peeling a fresh grapefruit has been my occupation. For the first time, I have tasted the salty ocean air and seen the billowing waves of the Gulf of Mexico. For this land-lubber and son of the Mid-South, it was quite an experience. On the way home tonight, we were stopped by a border patrol who wanted to make sure we were American citizens. He did not ask for I.D., so I guess the hot Texas sun has failed to brown our skin to an unrecognizable degree.

We also visited Palo Alto Battlefield, a controversial National Park that commemorates the first battle of the Mexican-American War. It was an honor to see the flags that marked the places where once battle lines had been drawn. Texas is also not void of Southern Independence history. Brownsville was called the "back door" of the Confederacy during the war. The South smuggled their cotton across the border into Matamoros and shipped the textile unharmed by the Yankee blockade into Europe. Also, the last battle of the war was fought nearby at Palmito Ranch.

It has been a challenge, as well as a learning experience, to try to communicate with the locals. I have learned to order "limonada" instead of lemonade, and have seen that the Tex-Mex of the central-South does not compare with real Mexican food. Taquitoes are sold everywhere. Popular meat choices are pollo, bistek, and fajita, and the frijoles charros (cowboy beans) are out of this world!

While the days have been filled with many sweet hours, the reason that brought us to Brownsville was a bitter one. We are here to sell my grand-father's house after he passed away last November. His love for everything cowboy reverberates from his pictures of Buffalo Bill and Roy Rogers to the historic Chisolm Trail. And somehow, I think his passion for history has passed to the next generation---as a heritage.

Bryce A. Chandler
Brownsville, Texas