Rhett at West Point. . .

Personally, I always wondered how old Rhett Butler was when he started at West Point, and when he was expelled from said military institute.  An internet search, revealed this gem Institutional Survival: Evolution of the Admissions Process During the United States Military Academy's First Century by CPT Jeffrey S. Buchanan, LTC C. McKenna and MAJ H. Raugh.   This paper states that in 1839, Congress raised the minimum age for new cadets to 16.

At the end of the novel, Rhett states he is 45 in 1873, which means he was born in late 1827 or sometime in 1828.   Based on that, he probably started in at West Point in 1844.   West Point is a four year institution and when he served in the Confederate Army, Rhett was placed in the artillery.   Due to his military knowledge, he probably finished at least 2 or more years of his education.   "Everyone knew in detail how he had been expelled from West Point for drunkenness and 'something about women'.  That terrific scandal concerning the Charleston girl he had compromised and the brother he had killed was public property. . . . that his father, a charming old gentleman with an iron will and a ramrod for a backbone, had cast him out without a penny when he was twenty and even stricken his name from the family Bible.  After that he had wandered to California in the gold rush of 1849 and thence to South America and Cuba, and reports of his activities were none to savory" (p.153).  There seemed to be sometime from his expulsion from the academy to his expulsion from his home.

For more information on antebellum West Point History Net has a good article, Life at West Point of Future Professional American Civil War Officers that is not very long, but describes life as a plebe, courses of studies, and the fact the Academy mostly focused on turning out engineers and scientist to help build the nation.

Also, How Do We Run On: A Gone With The Wind Scrapbook has an excellent post on West Point education in the 1840's, and a wonderful comment on real students who were expelled-Edgar Allan Poe being one of those students.

Contraception during the Victorian/Civil War era

Scarlett learned about abortion through Mamie Bart, but she didn't learn about contraception, or perhaps she wouldn't be so quick to kick Rhett out of her bed.  One presumes, Rhett knew about contraception, but chose not to share this information with his wife.  It's something I always wondered about. Here are some links to contraception during the mid-nineteenth century.

Percy Skuy, a former President of Ortho, had one of the largest collections of contraception old and new in the world.  His collection is housed at Case Western University, who in turned made some webpages on the history of contraception, including soldiers in the Civil War.  Only Union soldiers are mentioned.  There is also a page on Condoms and Sponges, both of which were available during the 1800's.

Contraception: Civil War Style provides another overview of contraception options in the 1800s.

Charles Knowlton wrote one of the early works on population control,  Fruits of Philosophy , which included information on contraception, though the efficacy of the options seem questionable.

Planned Parenthood has a great paper A History of Birth Control Methods, which cites sources and provides information on a variety of methods old and new.

A little Rhett Comic to share. . .

I feel it also needs : Good with Kids, Divine Dancer, Will Kiss You till You Faint, Wealthy, and Will Spoil You, but that might require more controllers.

The Great Charleston Fire of 1861

So in searching the net about Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War, I was surprised to learn that in December of 1861 there was a great fire that destroyed a 1/3 of the city.  Monuments, landmarks, and historical colonial homes were burned, and thousands left homeless.    Here are some links with information on this event.


The Post and Courier-Charleston at War: Charleston Beaten Down by Great Fire

Smithsonian Magazine.com-The Destruction of Charleston in the Civil War

The Civil War Gazette has an actual article from Harper's Weekly

Seven Score and Ten Year Ago-December 12th, 1861

Gone with the Wind and Astrology

Astrology is one of my hobbies, and I like to speculate on what the natal charts of each character would be.  There are several articles on the internet that mention Margaret Mitchell had an interest in astrology, and that the characters in GWTW are based on the 12 Zodiac signs.  The only birthday of a character known for sure is Beau Wilkes.  He would've been a triple Virgo (sun/moon/rising).  Here are some articles/posts on that subject.

Gone with the Wind: The Zodical Parade by Alex Trenowith

Gone with the Wind is a thinly disguised astrological allegory. . .urban legend or fact?

Rhett Butler. . .

Found this blog, The Death of Rhett Butler, that is a rebuttal of Gone with the Wind, written from Rhett's wards perspective.  Just thought I'd share.

Nursing. . .

Victorian Breastfeeding- I always assumed Scarlett nursed all her children.  Here are pictures of women nursing their children and how it was a measure of a woman's worth and maternal ability to nurse.

The article links to this pinterest page, which has more images from a variety of time periods.