I was responding to my old friend Jamie, and didn’t intend to get involved in a general discussion of this issue. However, the unfortunate wording of your post requires a response.

If you had read the older issues of the Confederate Veteran magazine you would know....

Sir, it is a mistake to assume that I have not read the old UCV Confederate Veteran. I think the size and content of my Civil War library and research files would astound you. I have 20 years’ worth of issues of CV. I have read them all, and I refer back to them quite often.

.... the subject of Southerners taxes going to pay for Union Vet pensions was a major gripe of ex Confederates.

Certainly it was major gripe of those who took the time to write letters about it, but you can’t make sweeping generalizations regarding the attitude of Confederate veterans as a whole by what you read in the CV – well, you can, I guess, but it would be meaningless. To begin with, based on the circulation numbers printed in the CV from time-to-time, only a small percentage of Confederate veterans subscribed to the magazine. In fact, low circulation numbers was a chronic editorial complaint in the CV.

Further, the CV was an eclectic and highly partisan publication, which attracted all sorts of letters, not to mention lawsuits. Some of the letters, as you said, were critical of the tax burden generated by the Federal veterans’ pension system. However, other letters were critical of the Confederate veterans’ pension system, and some were critical of both. Some complained about the tax burden, some complained because Confederate veterans were not authorized to apply for U.S. pensions, and some were openly contemptuous of anyone who received any kind of government “hand-out”. Some were critical of government spending of any kind. But to use these examples to infer that Confederate veterans as a group had strong feelings, one way or the other, not to mention a "major gripe," about the pension system requires a gigantic leap of faith.

The CV published letters on all sorts of issues. Some were complimentary of Lincoln, some were critical of Lee. One could just as easily make that giant leap of faith and infer that Confederate veterans were in fundamental disarray over these issues, too.

The only way you can come anywhere near formulating a valid opinion as to what “most” Confederates believed is to read, in addition to the CV, other Southern partisan publications, such as Southern Historical Society Papers, the Southern Bivuouac, et al; as well as resolutions discussed and voted on in the various veterans’ organizations, letters and editorials in Southern newspapers, motions made and debated in Southern legislatures, and, above all, the letters, diaries, memoirs, reminisences and books written by Confederate veterans. Anyone can add up the number of letters printed in the CV on a given subject and develop an opinion on just about anything, but the result has no historical validity. It would be no different than someone adding up the number of posts on this message board on a given subject, and inferring that the majority of Southerners feel a certain way about something. It may say something about the opinion of a minority of the small number of people who post on this board, but it has no meaning that can be inferred outside of this narrow universe. Ditto with the “posts” in the CV.

If you really want to read some "major gripes" about pensions, you should read issues of Southern newspapers published at the time that the various Southern states were considering enacting a pension system for disabled Confederate veterans. The vehemence of some of those letters and editorials is simply outrageous. One was so radical that I still remember verbatim a phrase the writer used, when he said that handing out pensions would "make the name of Confederate veteran a stench in the nostrils of all true Southerners." Shall we also infer that because of letters like that, a majority of Southerners had a "major gripe" with pensioning their disabled veterans and war widows?

Finally, lest anyone who reads my remarks on the Confederate Veteran feels like kicking me in the shins for dissing the magazine, please don’t jump the gun. In my humble opinion, the CV is a good and extremely valuable resource for historians and others interested in our history. It is chock-full of veterans’ reminiscences about battles and generals, elegies and obituaries of deceased veterans, and other wonderful things. I love it. But when it strays into political and social issues, its letters and editorials must be taken with copious grains of salt. People generally write on those subjects because they feel strongly about them, and strong feelings sometimes result in rants. The CV had it share of rants, which are most interesting to read, but need to be considered with skepticism. Just because you happen to agree with something you read, doesn't necessarily mean that what you read is accurate.

And with that, I think I've ridden this old horse about as far as I care to.