[Ads-l] Conversation about accents with Valerie Fridland (3)

[James Landau]

One data point on the question of when the Southern accent appeared:
 ttps://www.google.com/books/edition/Mr_Lincoln_s_Army/PVuMCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mr+lincoln%27s+army%2Bgrimes+davis&pg=PT209&printsec=frontcover
Bruce Catton Mr. Lincoln's Army
One data point on when the Southern accent appeared:
"[one Union officer] was a Mississippian   by birth---one of two Mississippians in theregular army, it was said, who had stuck with the Union when the war came.  He was Colonel Benamin F. Davis, calledGrimes Davis at West Point “ <snip> [Colonel Davis was a Union cavalryofficer when Lee’s Army surrounded Harper’s Ferry on September 14, 1862.  Instead of surrendering, he led Union cavalryon a night-time escape through Confederate lines. ]  
"[the Union cavalry] ran into a big Rebel wagon train,escorted by a small detachment of cavalry, bound for Sharpsburg.  It was too dark for anybody see the color ofhis uniform, and Davis had a fine Mississippi accent, so he simply posed as aConfederate officer and notified the driver of the leading wagon that he was toturn sharply to the right he got to the fork in the road…”

James Landau
jjjrlandau at netscape.com


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