The Barksdales: Daria's Southern Heritage Peter Paccione (aka The Historian) When I first heard that Helen's maiden name was Barksdale, alarm bells went off in my head. I vaguely remembered that there had been a Civil War general of that name. I did a little research and found that there had indeed been a Confederate general named William Barksdale. Barksdale is, in fact, a prominent Southern name. I have decided to look further into the Barksdale heritage, to see if it could shed some light on the Morgendorffers today. Everybody knows about Jake's father, "Mad Dog" Morgendorffer. I want to take a fresh look at Helen's side of the family. William Barksdale was born on August 21, 1821 in Smyrna, Tennessee. He attended the University of Nashville, then studied law in Columbus, Mississippi. In 1842, he became the editor of the proslavery Columbus Democrat. During the Mexican War, in 1847-1848, he was a captain in the 2nd Mississippi Regiment, but saw no action. From 1853 to 1861, he served as an at-large Congressman from Mississippi. He was a radical proslavery and state's rights Democrat, and his participation in debate resulted in fistfights and a near duel. With the election of Lincoln in 1860, Barksdale supported secession. He resigned from Congress in January 1861, joined the Confederate army in March, and became colonel of the 13th Mississippi Infantry; in July, he took part in the battle of First Manassas. In the spring of 1862, he fought in the Peninsular campaign, in the Seven Days' battles and at Malvern Hill. He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1862, then fought at Harper's Ferry and Antietam in September. At Fredericksburg in December, Barkdale's brigade was given the job of opposing the crossing of the Rappahannock into the town by the Union troops. He "proved a brave and resourceful soldier whose stubborn aggressiveness perfectly suited Lee's needs." Although the Federals eventually established a bridgehead and occupied the town, Barksdale made the crossing extremely costly for them. Barksdale was a Confederate national hero. In May, 1863, during the battle of Chancellorsville, Barksdale was again in the Fredericksburg area. The Federals again crossed the river and this time drove the Confederates from the heights above the town, including Barkdale's brigade. On the second day at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, after a long wait, Barksdale's brigade was ordered to attack the Federal position in the Peach Orchard. The assault was successful, and the Union troops were forced to abandon the Peach Orchard salient. "Barksdale's drive had been a great success, and it became even more glorious in the golden glow of memory....Barksdale tried to keep up the momentum, tried to keep the bluecoats on the run....Colonels Holder and Griffin of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth regiments saw that the brigade's line was becoming ragged and urged their fire-eating brigadier to pause and reform. 'No,' was his answer. 'Crowd them - we have them on the run. Move your regiments.' Perhaps it was at this time that Barksdale held his sword high, pointed to the front, and shouted, 'Brave Mississippians, one more charge and the day is ours.'" Then, as the brigade was approaching Plum Run, Barksdale was hit by several bullets in the chest and left leg. He fell off his horse, and, after a Union counterattack, was taken to a Union field hospital in a house, where he died early the next day. "In molding the Mississippi regiments into a potent force and leading them to distinction on several fields, Barksdale carved one of the best military records achieved by any of the antebellum political fire-eaters." Douglas Southall Freeman writes that Barksdale "had displayed what no less a person than Lee had styled the 'highest qualities of the soldier.'" Barksdale had a younger brother, Ethelbert, born in 1824. He was also a newspaper editor and politician who attended the Democratic convention of 1860 and the subsequent meeting of Southern Democrats in Richmond. Lincoln's election drove him to support secession, and in 1861 he was elected to the Confederate Congress. He took many controversial positions, including support for the suspension of habeas corpus, the draft, and the arming of slaves. After the war, he returned to newspaper editing, and in 1882 was elected to the first of two terms in Congress. He died in 1893. There is another Barksdale who could be a possible Morgendorffer relative. He is Lt. Eugene Barksdale, for whom Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana is named. He was born in Goshen Springs, Mississippi in 1897. After serving as a fighter pilot in World War I, he became a test pilot, and was killed in 1926 during a test flight. Barksdale is a common name in the South, and I could not find if Helen is descended from the general. But even if she isn't, we know that she is a southern Barksdale, as is apparent from some of the wedding guests in the episode "I Don't.", especially the bridesmaids. In his excellent essay on the Morgendorffer genealogy, Bacner speculates that the personalities of both Daria and Quinn owe much to Jake's father, "Mad Dog" Morgendorffer, and he also theorizes that Quinn takes after Helen. However, in "I Don't", we see that Daria takes after her aunt Amy Barksdale, and that there is even some physical resemblance between them. There is also the probability that Daria inherited her brains from her mother. I believe that Daria and Quinn owe much of their personalities to Helen's side of the family: Daria's intelligence, and also Quinn's impetuousness. The Barksdale sisters, Helen, Amy, and Rita, all seem to have strong characters. This is especially true of Helen, who is obviously the dominant parent in the Morgendorffer family. Helen's intelligence, her strength, her no-nonsense approach to things, have all passed on to Daria. I believe that these qualities could possibly have descended through the Barksdale family in past generations. When I hear Helen talking to Eric on the phone, I wonder if General Barksdale talked to his superiors in a similar fashion. It is certainly possible that Helen and general share the same fighting spirit. All of this is preliminary speculation, of course, and is certainly open to challenge. But I think that I have shown that the Barksdale side of the family should be given consideration in any examination of the Morgendorffers. Bibliography Current, Richard N. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy, vol. 1. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993 Freeman, Douglas Southall. Lee's Lieutenants. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942-44. Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Second Day at Gettysburg. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1993. -Chancellorsville: The Battle and its Aftermath. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996. Harsh, Joseph L. Taken at the Flood. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1999. Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg:The Second Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Rable, George C. Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg! Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Wakelyn, Jon L. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977.