M-I-Crooked Letter-Crooked Letter-I-Hunchback

How many of you learned how to spell Mississippi with the little rhyme, "M - I - Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter I, humpback, humpback I?

I'm curious if I learned to spell it this way because I have parents who grew up in the South or if all kids of my generation learned this way!

As I crossed the mighty Mississippi River into Vicksburg, I recalled the names of no less than ten ancestors who were captured and paroled during the Battle of Vicksburg. They were rugged farmers pulling life from the soil. Their names reflected the patriotism of their parents...James Madison Beard, George Washington Beard, Jefferson. Their names reflected their faith, John Wesley Poston. Their great-grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War and were awarded land in Alabama for doing so. They loved their nation.

None of them owned slaves. The vast majority of the landowners in this state did not. They fought for their rights to exist unmolested on their land. I've read in diaries that many felt that if it came to a fight the Federals would come in, seize their land and shoot them all down. I'm haunted by the ideas that motivated them to fight yet know there must have been a strong sense of duty, honor and a feeling that they had been betrayed. I can't help wonder how I would have felt if I had been in their shoes. I can't help wonder how I would react today if the government came in and took my property without recompense and told me what I could and could not do.

Question to self: How the heck did they fight in this HUMIDITY wearing WOOL shirts?