The General Went
Right on Fighting
When llu* war was over General Hill
laiinelied a new kind of campaign for
•‘The Land We Love.”
»;/
T. II.
РЕЛКС1:
In all history il would be difficult
to imagine a more inopportune place
to begin publishing a monthly maga¬
zine. devoted to literature and the fine
arts, than North Carolina in the period
following the War Between the States,
but that is just the task that was under¬
taken by General Daniel Harvey Hill.
The first issue of The Land
»'«•
Love appeared in May of 1866. just
one year after the war ended. North
Carolina and all of the former Con¬
federate States were destitute to a de¬
gree that is almost unbelievable today.
Poverty was the common bond. Most
of the state's male citizens were unable
to vote, disenfranchised and not even
considered to be citizens by the radi¬
cal. carpetbagger, scalawag govern¬
ment. Money was practically non¬
existent.
Why then, in such an atmosphere,
would anyone wish to publish a maga¬
zine?
Perhaps the reason could be found
in the title itself. General Hill had
fought for Southern Independence for
four long, hard years. He had been a
somewhat controversial figure, due in
large measure to the fact that he felt
no restraint when it came to criticism
of his superiors, but he was a fighter.
A West Point graduate, he had been
twice decorated for gallantry during
the war with Mexico and had earned a
reputation for being completely with¬
out fear.
Turncoats Blasted
General Hill accepted the defeat of
the Confederate Army, but never did
repudiate the cause for which he and
so many others had fought valiantly,
nor could he accept the radical. Re¬
construction government that had
been forced on his beloved South.
That first issue of the magazine was
published with no mention of the rea¬
sons behind it. but they soon became
apparent. In addition to being a "New
Monthly Magazine. Devoted to Litera¬
ture and the Fine Arts.” there was a
rather lengthy editorial in each issue
that gave the gifted General fine op¬
portunity to hit back at those who
aimed at destroying the South. He
never pulled any punches when it
came to blasting those who tried to
crush The Land He Loved, but his
choicest barbs were aimed at those
whom he considered to be turncoats.
The few despicable creatures who had
been loud in their praise of The Con¬
federacy when things were going well,
but now tried to ingratiate themselves
to their radical rulers by saying they
had never believed in secession and
had really been unionists all the time.
There was only one advertisement
in that first issue, that being one ex¬
tolling the virtues of Springwood, Se¬
lect Home School For Young Ladies,
located near Leesburg. Virginia. It was
endorsed by a number of well-known
Confederate officers, including Robert
E. Lee and Hill.
Gcncol Domd Hooey Hill
When "The lond Wc Lo.c" fir»» oppeored in
1866, ond throughout the first ycor of publico-
lion, this aoi the cover dcugn.
In the issue of March 1867. the in¬
side front and back cover contained
what could be considered as a state¬
ment of policy by General Hill. It gives
the modern day student of history rea¬
son to wonder why it was not in the
very first issue, almost a year earlier.
Parts of it are here quoted.
"TO OUR PATRONS"
"At a lime when devotion to
the South was regarded as trea¬
son to the Union, and when timid
or time-serving men were de¬
sirous of demonstrating their na¬
tionality by ignoring their own
section, we flung our banner to
the breeze inscribed with the
motto ‘The Land We Love*. We
believed then and believe now
that the land of our birth. — the
laud for which we battled four
long years — deserved the en¬
thusiastic attachment of her chil¬
dren and the admiration of the
world. We have acted upon this
sentiment, and have ever main¬
tained and avowed our fealty to
our own beautiful south. Accord¬
ingly. we have sought not merely
to present the usual literary at¬
traction of a Magazine — articles
from the pens of eminent schol¬
ars, statesmen, de vines, poets
and essayists, — wc have aimed
also to vindicate the truth of his¬
tory. and to preserve a rec¬
ord of those glorious deeds whose
THE STATE. May 1. 1972
9
