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Page 4 - Wednesday, December 8, 2021
The Millen News
themillennews .com
Opinions, yours and ours
from the
Editor’s Desk
-Joe Brady
Millen News Editor
This is a busy time
for all of us. Some
of us are busier than
others with Christ
mas shopping and
attending parties. I
remember well hav
ing to do all of that.
However, there does
reach a time for those
of us who don’t have
children, that the
hustle and bustle of
Christmas becomes a
thing of the past.
My family no longer buys gifts and as I told a cus
tomer this weekend at the auction house, we don’t even
draw names. In fact, we haven’t gotten together since
the pandemic and now, like so many other things, we
have probably gotten out of the habit.
But, Christmas changes as we get older. The magic of
Christmas is in the heart of children. It’s Santa Claus,
cookies, Rudolph and all that. It’s the visions of sugar
plums dancing in the heads of kids. But what about we
adults?
It was Ebenezer Scrooge who said, “I will keep Christ
mas in my heart all year long. I will live in the Past,
the Present, and the Future.” But how do we do that? I
don’t have those answers. I wish I could be more like
Mama when it comes to Christmas. She has managed to
retain childlike enthusiasm during December. How do
we keep Christmas from becoming just “another” day?
Reverands Brad, Joshua, and Larry, would tell us to re
member Christ in Christmas. Ok, a lot of us do that. I’m
at church on Christmas Eve, I’m sure there are more
people than just me sitting in those pews. Believe it or
not, I think out of all the holiday movies, The Polar Ex
press gives the best explanation. Adults lose the magic
of Christmas.
We can remember vividly the Christmases of our
childhood, the Past. One of the few times Mama didn’t
have to threaten me to get in bed! But, like sister in
Polar Express, eventually the bell no longer rang. The
magic was gone.
So, all of these ponderings, and I still don’t know how
to recapture that old Christmas Magic. I think if I had
one wish this year, it would be to look on the holiday
with the eyes of a child. In fact, that is my wish for all
of you; as we embark on the busiest time of year may
we all look on the holiday with the eyes of the innocent.
May you all have the Merriest of Christmases! That’s
all for now, take care.
flreffer
to the
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A scant few days after the
fighting at Buckhead Creek and
Reynold’s Plantation between
Kilpatrick and Wheeler, the full
effect of the war came to Millen
and Lawton. On December 2nd,
lead elements of 20th and 14th
corps of the Union army arrived
in Millen and the vicinity of
Buck Head Creek. The area was
already scarred by the scourge
of war, with the Union col
umns crossing the same ground
vacated at haste by Kilpatrick
less than a week before. Despite
Wheeler rebuilding the bridges
over Buckhead Creek to follow
after Kilpatrick and his Union
raid, when troops under U.S.
Unearthing Camp Lawton
Dr. Ryan McNutt, Ph.D, FSAScot, R.RA.
Flowers of the Forest
Army Brig Gen John W. Geary,
commanding Second Division
of the 20th Corps arrived De
cember 2nd, 1864, Geary noted
“[t]he bridge was destroyed and
the enemy’s pickets fired upon
us from the eastern bank. These
were soon driven away by a
regiment of my command, and
the bridge was reconstructed
by the Michigan Engineers. I
crossed it with my advance at 3
p. m., and encamped on the east
side of the creek in the vicinity
of Buck Head Church (United
States, 1880, p. 269).” The pres
ence of pickets might imply that
despite the large Union force,
around this time in 1864, there
was still a heavy Confederate
force in the vicinity. This is
echoed by the itinerary note for
December 1 stl 864 for the Third
Brigade, Third Division of the
14th corps, which discussed
them bivouacking that after
noon on the bank of Buck Head
Creek. The entry also notes an
increased amount of skirmish
ing with Confederate cavalry,
leading to five casualties, two of
them killed.
The reason for this appears in
Confederate correspondence
between Maj Gen Wheeler and
Maj General Wayne: Wheeler
specifically notes that he left be
hind a regiment under a Captain
S.P. Dobbs, who was supposed
to report directly to General
Wayne. Fortunately, a letter
from Dobbs to Wheeler also
survives, which give us some
ideas of the tactical role of
Confederate skirmishers in the
vicinity of Buckhead Creek.
And which regiment he com
manded, which was the 9th
Alabama Cavalry. The 9th has
an incredibly confusing regi
mental history, which is the
norm for this late war period.
Derived from combining the
14th Alabama Partisan Rang
ers with Malone’s Battalion,
See LAWTON page 6
Eaqle Notes
-Tara Cooper, Jenkins County
School Superintendent
My family plans a trip each
year during the Thanksgiving
break. We have discovered that
we like the beach in November.
So we have been to Florida
twice, and this year we went to
Gulf Shores, Alabama. So many
have asked why we would want
to go to a beach in the winter,
and since that is a valid ques
tion, I’ll share. No one is there
but us (seemingly). It’s quiet.
It’s peaceful. There are no waits
in restaurants. My boys like
playing ball on the beach. I like
shells, the salty air, the sound
and the smell of the ocean. The
ocean is a balm to my soul. And
the boys like a peaceful mama
and wife. So we go.
This year, I was especially pin
ing for the sea. I was troubled.
my boys were unsettled, and
my husband was as well. We
knew that the calm of that place
would be restorative for all of
us. But do you know the very
first thing that happened? There
was a “threat” at the Atlanta
airport. Unfortunately, I have
recently become very familiar
with threats. And I was upset,
but very understanding of the
process that the airport had to
complete. So we had to “de
plane” our flight and wait over
two hours for the threat to be
neutralized. A loaded gun went
off or some such. I still don’t
know the whole story, but I did
know that there was a lesson
there.
We could have canceled our
trip and gone back home. We
could have been too scared
to go into the Atlanta airport
later. We could have ranted and
raved -1 mean seriously, how
did a man get a loaded gun to
actually go off in the security
area? We could have dwelled
on all of that, and gotten mad or
acted ugly, but what we actually
did .. .was have some serious,
meaningful conversations with
our sons. Now, to be honest,
we had some very Christian
answers for our boys, because,
well, Jesus is our way. For the
purpose of this column. I’ll stick
to some other explanations.
The main question from my
children was why? Why do
people make threats and want
to do others harm? The simple
answer is that things happen
that we cannot control. We have
to concentrate on what we can
control. We have to exhibit self
discipline and encourage others
to do the same. Discipline, my
friends, does not just mean
punishment. Discipline is es
sential to a fulfilling life.
There are so many worldly
distractions that affect our
discipline. It takes strength and
willful decisions. And it takes
positive examples from others.
Teachers, parents, adults in
the community, and even our
older youth - these are who
our children emulate. Not to
oversimplify this, but if we’d
love each other, help each
other, and support each other
instead of tearing each other
down, what a difference we
would see! There is too much
judgment in our adults through
politics and pettiness that we
See EAGLE page 6
Pastor Brad Asbury
pastorbradasbury@gmail.com
True and Lasting Peace
The word peace is often
associated with the statement,
“We are living in peace times,”
which indicates an absence
of war. Others use “peace
times” to describe the absence
of turmoil or strife. This is
confusing when you put this
definition into the context of
Luke 2:14. In Luke 2:14 the
angels began to sing, declaring
the birth of the Savior. Their
words rang through the dark
night proclaiming, “Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth
peace among those with whom
He is pleased.”
The birth of Jesus brought
with it the announcement of
peace. Yet, since the birth
of Jesus, how many of us
live with continual peace as
defined above? How many of
us have lived with the absence
of turmoil and strife? How
many years in history have we
lived with an absence of war?
Unfortunately, when sin entered
the world in Genesis 3 peace
was broken. Peace was broken
and the presence of strife,
tumioil, sickness, death, and
so much more began to occur
to the inhabitants of the earth.
Even more, the relationship
between God and man was
broken, and the relationship
between man and man came
with great strife.
When Jesus entered the
world, He began the process of
restoring peace on earth. The
declaration of the angels of
peace being on the earth was
good news of great joy! When
the ministry of Jesus began.
He revealed that He came to
reverse the curse of sin. He
healed the sick, raised the dead,
cast out demons, and forgave
sin. Everything that was bad
was starting to be made new.
Jesus brought a new day of
hope.
Eventually, Jesus would be
taken to a cross. He would be
beaten for the transgressions of
man, not for anything He had
done; and He would die in the
place of sinners. He did this so
that the relationship between
man and God could be restored
for all those who would believe
by faith. When one believes by
faith, the Holy Spirit indwells
man giving man the peace that
Jesus promised. Therefore,
even in the middle of chaos
man can have peace. Jesus even
promised that in this world we
would have tribulation, but
Jesus would give us peace.
The peace we have is rooted
in the hope that we have in
Christ and His promises to us.
The work He began while He
walked among us continues
today, but it will finally
complete in Heaven where
there will be an absence of all
things bad. Hope and peace
are tied together. WE believe
and we hope in that which is
to come, which will grant to us
peace.
On this second week of
advent, a time where we
reflect on the peace that God
brought, rest in the peace that
is now yours in Christ Jesus.
Celebrate the peace that passes
all understanding. Even more,
celebrate the giver of this great
peace!
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