The American Civil War and the Qur'an?!

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum,


I posted this earlier, but only got 30 views. By re-arranging the words in the title of this thread, I hope that more people will be attracted to it.


Anyway, here's what I posted earlier:


I once heard a story from students who studied at a University in the United States. It was so strange that I remembered it for a very long time.


With the Internet revolution, it only took the entry of some key words on the Google website to find out the details of this true story.


In the town of Tuscaloosa in Alabama in 1865, an incident happened during the final stages of the Civil War. The town housed the University of Alabama, and it had an impressive library. Please read the following:

In the center of the campus and immediately in front of the approaching Federals, about eighty-five yards away from the main road, stood the Rotunda, home of the University’s library and natural history collection. Standing in front of the Rotunda were several members of the faculty, including André Deloffre, University librarian and professor of French and Spanish, and Dr. William S. Wyman, professor of Latin and Greek. Colonel Johnston, mounted on a white horse (it was said he sat stiffly), approached the group and made his purpose known. The University was to be burned.

Librarian Deloffre pleaded for the library. Surely this one building could be spared. Colonel Johnston agreed that it would be senseless destruction to burn one of the finest libraries in the South. Hurriedly he scrawled a message to General Croxton asking permission to spare the building, noting that it had no military value. No record exists of the conversation between Johnston and the professors as they waited for a reply, though Dr. Wyman later described Johnston as a “man of culture and literary taste.”

When at last the courier returned, the general’s answer was disheartening. “My orders leave me no discretion,” wrote Croxton. “My orders are to destroy all public buildings.”

What happened next has become a part of the University of Alabama’s mythic fabric. It is said that Colonel Johnston, lamenting the destruction of such a fine library, decided to salvage one volume as a memento. Perhaps he sent one of his aides, or perhaps he sent Librarian Deloffre, or perhaps he went himself, to take one book from the library. The book saved was an English translation of The Koran: Commonly Called The Alcoran Of Mohammed, published in Philadelphia in 1853.

Source: http://www.alabamaheritage.com/vault/UAburning.htm

[emphasis added by myself]


The following is part of an article titled "The History of The Beta Delta Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity", found in the University of Alabama's website:

These two fraternities were the only representatives of the Greek world at the University for the next five years. At the outbreak of the Civil War these ceased to exist because activities necessarily were discontinued due to the depletion of their ranks through enlistments of the students into the Confederate Army. The University as a whole barely existed until April, 1865, when the report came that Union Cavalry, a detachment of Sherman’s Army, was advancing toward Tuscaloosa. The remaining students, mere boys, some hardly in their teens, marched bravely out under command of their professors to meet the invaders. But in spite of this wonderful patriotism, they were overwhelmed by the superior numbers and experience of the Federals. The Student Army was driven one hundred and fifty miles South, where they disbanded and found their different ways home as best they could. Having gained possession of the City, the Federals proceeded to burn all of the University buildings with the exception of the astronomical observatory. An interesting story is connected with the burning of the library, which at that time was one of the finest in the South. The aged librarian having plead in vain with the Union Commander to spare the building, asked as a special favor that he be allowed to remove very rare and valuable volumes. His request was granted and through his endeavor a priceless original of the Koran was saved for posterity. The same commanding officer recently made amends for his act of vandalism by donating to the University’s million dollar drive.

Source: http://www.bama.ua.edu/~uaato/betadelta.htm

[emphasis added by myself]


This particular copy of the translation of the meanings of the Qur'an is still found at and is exhibited in the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library at the University of Alabama. Please read the following:

A Legacy of Warmth and Vitality: The Mansion, the Presidents, and Their Families at The University of Alabama — This exhibition was assembled in conjunction with the UA Past Presidents Family Reunion, held on June 19. The exhibit features photographs, artifacts, manuscript materials, and published materials relating to UA's past presidents and current president, as well as historical materials from the University's rich past through today. Included is an original plan of the campus and ledgers from the University's earliest days, as well as the copy of the Koran that was purported to have been rescued from the library when the campus was burned by federal troops in 1864.

Source: http://dialog.ua.edu/dialog20040823/cal20040823.html

[emphasis added by myself, and note that they got the year of the burning of the library wrong, since it was in 1865 -according to the two earlier quoted articles- and not in 1864]


I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed hearing it, and may I add that whoever made the choice of saving that copy was a very smart man!


Best regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[Globalpeace]

Amazing!

Asslamo Allaikum Brother,

Masha'Allah; Thanks for sharing it as I didn't know about it.

Jazakullah Khairun

 

[abdul Qadir]

:salam2:
thats very interesting ..... mashaAllah .....

"Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian." (Quran 15:9) Allah has guaranteed that He will protect the Qur'an

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum brothers Globalpeace and abdul Qadir,


Thank you for your kind words.


One of the things that really distinguish this story is this; One of the best library's in the South at that time was to be burned, and what book is chosen to be saved?!


I truly believe that the person who chose the translation of the meanings of the Qur'an found this translation fascinating, and unlike any other book he read. I sincerely hope that he reverted to Islam.


Best regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[Globalpeace]

Colonel Thomas M. Johnston (Second Michigan Cavalry)

Asslamo Allaikum Brother,

Why is it that there is almost no military record for this man? We know when he was a young Captain, a Major....What happened to Colonel Thomas M. Johnston after the Alabama campaign?

He seems to have vanished in thin air!

Can anyone else search; I will keep lookin too

 

[BlueFish]

How interesting!

Thanks so much for this interesting historical event. The American Civil War has always been a fond interest of mine. I will enjoy researching this event.
Peace.

 

[Globalpeace]

Asslamo Allaikum Akhi,

A small favour!

May I ask to you to please keep me personally posted/updated on the whereabouts of Colonel Thomas M. Johnston post Alabama?

Whatever you find Insha'Allah.

Jazakullah Khairun

Thanks so much for this interesting historical event. The American Civil War has always been a fond interest of mine. I will enjoy researching this event.
Peace.

 

[BlueFish]

Asslamo Allaikum Akhi,

A small favour!

May I ask to you to please keep me personally posted/updated on the whereabouts of Colonel Thomas M. Johnston post Alabama?

Whatever you find Insha'Allah.

Jazakullah Khairun

No problem brother! Give me a little time, this may need a magnifying glass.
Soon as i find something, u b first to know.
Peace.

 

[BlueFish]

Asalamu alaykum,
Found more info about the one who saved the quran from the library.(Andre Deloffre)

1865 During the American Civil War, the "scorched earth" policy of the North destroyed churches, farms schools, libraries, colleges and a great deal of other property. On the morning of April 4, when the Federal troops reached the campus of the University of Alabama with orders to destroy the university, "Andre’ Deloffre", a modern language professor and custodian of the "Rotunda library" at the university, appealed to the commanding officer, to spare one of the finest libraries in the south. The officer, being sympathetic, sent a courier to General Croxton at his headquarters in "Tuscaloosa" asking permission to save the library, but the general's reply was negative, so the officer reportedly said "I will save one volume as a memento of this occasion" and the volume selected was a rare copy of the Qur'an"http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/009795.php
Not sure what that site was about, just saw that piece on the page.
But also found this;http://www.islam101.com/history/muslim_us_hist.html

This may have been the fate of Colonel Thomas M. Johnston,
Skirmish at Trion

On 31 March 1865, Union Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton's Cavalry of some 1500 troops entered Tuscaloosa County with orders to destroy the State University (military school) and anything else of value to the rebel cause. Near Bucksville they destroyed Saunders Iron Works and William's Tannery (now Tannehill State Park). Learning that Confederate cavalry units under Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and Brig. Gen. W.H. (Red) Jackson were traveling near Trion, some 10-miles distant, Croxton's Brigade rode to intercept. The Union forces camped that night on the farm of Squire John White, and were attacked by Jackson's Cavalry Division as they broke camp at daybreak, 1 April. The skirmish, the first in Tuscaloosa County, occurred about a half-mile south of present-day Vance.
Union losses were heavy in the running fight: some 30 killed or wounded, another 30 captured, and 150 horses lost. Croxton was forced away from his original line of march, retreating to the northeast before turning west towards the Black Warrior River some 40 miles above Tuscaloosa. Crossing to the west bank at Johnson's Ferry or Black Rock Shoals (near old Lock 17 area), the Union raiders resumed their advance on Northport and Tuscaloosa on 3 April. Jackson's Confederate forces suffered several casualties in the skirmish. One soldier from Tennessee, who died several days later in the Squire John White home, was buried nearby by Trion-area citizens.http://www.archives.state.al.us/markers/ituscaloosa.html

You are right he is hard to find. Something to know about the american civil war is it was very nasty, and we are priviledged to have the history we do have. At the end of the war, much of this nation that was left standing was suffering from hard and heavy hearts. Something i think americans sometimes forget is the important history of this nation (USA).

I will let you know if i find more.
Peace.

 

[American Muslim]

Thanks for posting this. I was aware of the story about the university. I belong to the sons of the confederacy, and this story is told very often in newsletters. Mashallah.

 

[Bluegazer]

Assalamu Alaikum,


I think I found some information about Colonel Johnston. But we all have to remember that we do not know for sure who chose the copy of the translation of the meanings of the Qur'an to be saved; was it the librarian [Mr. Andre Deloffre] or Colonel Johnston?


And we know for sure that Colonel Johnston did not take that copy of the translation with him, since that copy is now at the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library at the University of Alabama [as I posted on the first post on this thread].


Come to think of it....we don't know for sure that Johnston did not take the copy with him, since he might have, and then [through a special request from the University of Alabama] he might have returned it.


This point definitely needs more research.


This Colonel's middle initial was W, not M [as in Thomas W. Johnston instead of Thomas M. Johnston].


Thomas W. Johnston started out as a 2nd Lieutenant, Company M of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry Regiment. He was from the town of Marshall, and he was 23 years old at some point in the War.

Source: http://www.michiganinthewar.org/cavalry/2cavm.htm


He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, as shown in the Order of Battle, which shows him as the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry under the command of Brigadier General John T. Croxton [Commanding Officer of the 1st Brigade, which was part of the 1st Division of the Cavalry Corp.].

Source: http://members.aol.com/wwhitby/fed_slma.html


I don't know if he rose to the rank of Colonel, since Lieutenant Colonels are sometimes addressed as Colonels by subordinate officers.


What happened to him after the War?


He returned to his hometown of Marshall [In Michigan] and became the police marshal in 1870. Please read the following, and take note of the name I underlined:

by Roger Graves, Former Chief of Police, 1983/2000

Following is a list of Village and City Marshals, beginning with Charles Dickey, who served the village from 1837 to 1839.

William Lum, 1840
Benjamin Drake, 1841
Bartholimew Banks, 1842 and 43
John B. White, 1844
George Fletcher, 1847 to 1850
George Ingersoll, 1851
George Fletcher, 1852
Horace C. Ladd, 1853
George Fletcher, 1854
Samuel S. Bangs, 1855
George Fletcher, 1856
Norton C. Wilkinson, 1857
the last Village Marshal was Ezra Lusk, 1858.

The village became a city in 1859, and its first city marshal was:

Henry Z. Williams, 1859
Pierpont E. Lacey, 1860
Benjamin E. Dixon, 1861
George Fletcher, 1862
Charles Heine, 1863
Zenas Tillotoson, 1864
John M. Laberteaux, 1865 to 1869
Thomas W. Johnston, 1870
Henry Filkins, 1871
Nathaniel A. Sheman, 1872
Asaph W. Raymond, 1873
Charles A. Gardanier, 1874 and 1875
Otis B. Rowley, 1876
Henry A. Tillotson, 1877
Lawrence A. Shearman, 1878
Charles A. Gardanier, 1879
Isaac H. Bisbee, 1880
John Adams, 1884 and 1885
Orrin Doud, 1886
John Adams, 1887
William L. Buck, 1888
Orrin Doud, 1889
Charles H. Smith, 1890

Source: http://www.cityofmarshall.com/cityDepartments/police.taf?_function=page&name=history


We know that he lived until -at least- 1891. He made a pension claim. Please read the following:

Thomas W. Johnston papers, 1861-1891
Photostats of papers relating to Johnson's pension claim, detailing his service in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry. Johnson commanded the troops who burned the University of Alabama in April 1865.

Source: http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/findingaids/j/


These papers are found in the University of Alabama's W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.


Best regards,

Bluegazer

Wassalamu Alaikum

 

[BlueFish]

Good work brother,
My personal assumption is i think the french librarian saved the quran.
I just can't see a Union Army officer in charge of burning down towns and villages at the end of the war interested in saving literature, let alone the glorious quran!
Deloffre had already fought in the Revolution of France, he was the one wanting to save the whole library. This is most interesting. I wonder how many incidents like this happened in america? Maybe i will take a field trip to Alabama to see the quran that was saved. I hope you can still see it on display.


Peace

 

[Globalpeace]

Differences in Middle Initials?

Asslamo Allaikum,

Masha'Allah, great work Brothers....

Looking at his commanding officer & unit I think we are talking about the same Colonel but why the middle initials different i.e. 'M' and sometimes 'W'; is that a typo?

There have been many French Orientalists & reverts who have done Service (sometimes dis-serivce) to Islam as you may be aware that the Mediterranian coast of France was a hub of Ottoman (Muslim) Navy so the french had contacts with Islam.

There was a revert sister a couple of days ago who was from Toulon and I was telling her about her city...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulon

 

[loveislam1]

Asalam Alioum wa rahamtallah
Subhanallah what an amazing story!

 

[American Muslim]

How often did things like this happen in the south during the civil war...legion.
General Tecumsah Sherman's overarching strategy was to wage total war. Whole cities put to the torch. The idea was to make the war so incredibly horrible that the Southerners would lose the will to fight while their homes and families were destroyed around them.

Funny...this strategy worked then...and against the Indian tribes...and against...

 

[bashaar]

i am not sure if this related but i have a story in my mind which i remember reading about that qur'an belonging to one of the presidents which he later on donated to some museum.

 

[Optimist]

am I allowed to bump this interesting story ?

ooops

 

[TheHumbleWun]

January 4th

Salaam,

Interesting stuff.

 

[aynur7]

Thx for sharing.