- Apr 26, 2011
- 2,779
Kevin Costner is in Romania filming his new movie about the Hatfield and McCoy feud. There were several instances of these kinds of feuds in southern and eastern Kentucky, but that one was the most notable of them all. At first I was puzzled why Costner made the decision to shoot in Romania, but as I pondered about it I realize that it was a good decision. Eastern Europe and the rest of Europe will truly appreciate the history of that feud; ESPECIALLY THE BALKANS.
Germany was made up of nearly 500 independent micro countries before Napoleon came through conquering. That left room for much strife similar to some of those old east Kentucky (and western West Virginia) feuds. The Balkans region is known for its mountainous terrain and violent past as well, and it more closely mimics what went on in post Civil War Appalachia. Italy also is known for its historical regional and stubborn independence as are the Scots-Irish, which are descendants of the warring Scottish clans that King James I displaced to Ireland because they would not stop fighting. Those same Scotch-Irish made up the core of the hardest fighting border ruffians that settled in Appalachia. When you read the following Wikipedia link, take note that one of the Hatfields was named after the psychopathic killer William "Bloody Bill" Anderson that used to fight under Confederate irregular guerrilla chieftain William Clark Quantrill (Quantrill's Raiders) in a region of central and western Missouri known as "Little Dixie". That region's settlers were descendants of many of the Scots-Irish that settled in east Kentucky Appalachia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dixie_(Missouri)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Balkans
The Border War in Missouri and the Appalachia feuds are mere infants compared to the history of warfare in the Balkans, as the Balkans were crucial strategically for Medo-Persia, Grecia and the Roman Empire, and just about every world power before and since those empires.
Based on my brief explanations and the Wikipedia bit, we now see why it was a magnificent decision for Costner to film in Romania.
Guerrilla warfare
William T. Anderson
See also: Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers
The Battle of Wilson's Creek was the last large scale engagement in the state until Price returned in 1864 in a last-ditch attempt to capture the state. Between 1862 and 1864, the state endured guerrilla warfare in which southern partisan rangers and Bushwhackers battled the Kansas irregulars known as Jayhawkers and Redlegs or "Redleggers" (from the red gaiters they wore around their lower legs) and the allied Union forces.
Jayhawker raids against perceived civilian "Confederate sympathizers" alienated Missourians and made maintaining the peace even harder for the Unionist provisional government. As Major General Henry Halleck wrote General John C. Frémont in September 1861, [Jayhawker raider] Jim Hale had to be removed from the Kansas border as "A few more such raids" would render Missouri "as unanimous against us as is Eastern Virginia."[11] While Jayhawker violence alienated communities who would've otherwise been loyal supporters of the Union, marauding bands of pro-secession bushwhackers sustained guerrilla war and outright banditry, especially in Missouri's northern counties. Major General John Pope and , who oversaw northern Missouri, blamed local citizens for not doing enough to put down bushwhacker guerrillas, and ordered locals to raise militias to counter them. "Refusal to do so would bring an occupying force of federal soldiers into their counties."[11] Pope, Ewing and Frémont's heavy-handed approach alienated even those civilians who were suffering at the hands of the bushwhackers.
Although guerrilla warfare occurred throughout much of the state, most of the incidents occurred in northern Missouri and were characterized by ambushes of individuals or families in rural areas. These incidents were particularly nefarious because their vigilante nature was outside the command and control of either side and often pitted neighbor against neighbor. Civilians on all sides faced looting, violence and other depredations.
Among the more notorious incidents of guerrilla warfare were the Sacking of Osceola, burning of Platte City and the Centralia Massacre. Among the famous bushwhackers were Quantrill's Raiders and Bloody Bill Anderson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_in_the_American_Civil_War
NOTE: The Hatfields and McCoys didn't start feuding until 13 years after the end of "The War Between the States" (Known as "The Civil War" in border regions and the North). That shows how deep the hatred ran. Further to the west, in Missouri, most of the Border Ruffian vs. Jayhawker feuds helped stoke the Civil War as much as 7 years before it started. The "Border Wars" on Missouri's western front started in 1854. Many towns were burned and many men, women and children were gunned down. It all happened for some of the same reasons it happened in parts of the Balkans and east Kentucky: Some people don't like their neighbors interfering with their business as it pertains to their independent perception of a quality of life.
Germany was made up of nearly 500 independent micro countries before Napoleon came through conquering. That left room for much strife similar to some of those old east Kentucky (and western West Virginia) feuds. The Balkans region is known for its mountainous terrain and violent past as well, and it more closely mimics what went on in post Civil War Appalachia. Italy also is known for its historical regional and stubborn independence as are the Scots-Irish, which are descendants of the warring Scottish clans that King James I displaced to Ireland because they would not stop fighting. Those same Scotch-Irish made up the core of the hardest fighting border ruffians that settled in Appalachia. When you read the following Wikipedia link, take note that one of the Hatfields was named after the psychopathic killer William "Bloody Bill" Anderson that used to fight under Confederate irregular guerrilla chieftain William Clark Quantrill (Quantrill's Raiders) in a region of central and western Missouri known as "Little Dixie". That region's settlers were descendants of many of the Scots-Irish that settled in east Kentucky Appalachia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy_feud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Dixie_(Missouri)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Balkans
The Border War in Missouri and the Appalachia feuds are mere infants compared to the history of warfare in the Balkans, as the Balkans were crucial strategically for Medo-Persia, Grecia and the Roman Empire, and just about every world power before and since those empires.
Based on my brief explanations and the Wikipedia bit, we now see why it was a magnificent decision for Costner to film in Romania.
Guerrilla warfare
William T. Anderson
See also: Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers
The Battle of Wilson's Creek was the last large scale engagement in the state until Price returned in 1864 in a last-ditch attempt to capture the state. Between 1862 and 1864, the state endured guerrilla warfare in which southern partisan rangers and Bushwhackers battled the Kansas irregulars known as Jayhawkers and Redlegs or "Redleggers" (from the red gaiters they wore around their lower legs) and the allied Union forces.
Jayhawker raids against perceived civilian "Confederate sympathizers" alienated Missourians and made maintaining the peace even harder for the Unionist provisional government. As Major General Henry Halleck wrote General John C. Frémont in September 1861, [Jayhawker raider] Jim Hale had to be removed from the Kansas border as "A few more such raids" would render Missouri "as unanimous against us as is Eastern Virginia."[11] While Jayhawker violence alienated communities who would've otherwise been loyal supporters of the Union, marauding bands of pro-secession bushwhackers sustained guerrilla war and outright banditry, especially in Missouri's northern counties. Major General John Pope and , who oversaw northern Missouri, blamed local citizens for not doing enough to put down bushwhacker guerrillas, and ordered locals to raise militias to counter them. "Refusal to do so would bring an occupying force of federal soldiers into their counties."[11] Pope, Ewing and Frémont's heavy-handed approach alienated even those civilians who were suffering at the hands of the bushwhackers.
Although guerrilla warfare occurred throughout much of the state, most of the incidents occurred in northern Missouri and were characterized by ambushes of individuals or families in rural areas. These incidents were particularly nefarious because their vigilante nature was outside the command and control of either side and often pitted neighbor against neighbor. Civilians on all sides faced looting, violence and other depredations.
Among the more notorious incidents of guerrilla warfare were the Sacking of Osceola, burning of Platte City and the Centralia Massacre. Among the famous bushwhackers were Quantrill's Raiders and Bloody Bill Anderson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_in_the_American_Civil_War
NOTE: The Hatfields and McCoys didn't start feuding until 13 years after the end of "The War Between the States" (Known as "The Civil War" in border regions and the North). That shows how deep the hatred ran. Further to the west, in Missouri, most of the Border Ruffian vs. Jayhawker feuds helped stoke the Civil War as much as 7 years before it started. The "Border Wars" on Missouri's western front started in 1854. Many towns were burned and many men, women and children were gunned down. It all happened for some of the same reasons it happened in parts of the Balkans and east Kentucky: Some people don't like their neighbors interfering with their business as it pertains to their independent perception of a quality of life.
