December 2012
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I Salute The Confederate Flag; With Affection, Reverence, And Undying Devotion To The Cause For Which It Stands.
From The Adjutant The General Robert E. Rodes Camp 262, Sons of Confederate Veterans, will meet on Thursday night, December 13, 2012. The meeting starts at 7 PM in the Tuscaloosa Public Library Rotary Room, 2nd Floor. The Library is located at 1801 Jack Warner Parkway. The program for December will be DVD’s on General Rodes and on his battles. Annual dues were due August 1, 2012, and are delinquent after August 31st, 2012. Annual dues are $60.00 ($30.00 National, $10.00 Alabama Division and $20.00 our camp); $67.50 if delinquent. Please make your checks payable to: Gen. R.E. Rodes Camp 262, SCV, and mail them to: Gen. R.E. Rodes Camp 262, SCV, PO Box 1417, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403. The Index of Articles and the listing of Camp Officers are now on Page Two. Look for “Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #262 Tuscaloosa, AL” on Facebook, and “Like” us.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Confederate New Year. Please remember those with illnesses within their families this holiday Season Confederate Winter by Mort Kunstler
James (Jim) B. Simms
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, and is the oldest hereditary organization for male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Organized at Richmond, Virginia in 1896; the SCV continues to serve as a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to ensuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved. Membership is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate military.
Upcoming Events 2012 13 December - Camp Meeting
2013 10 January - Camp Meeting 22-25 - TBD - January - Lee/Jackson Dinner 14 March - Camp Meeting 11 April - Camp Meeting 22-26 - TBD - Confederate Memorial Day Ceremony
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Officers of the Rodes Camp Commander
David Allen
1st Lieutenant Commander
John Harris
2nd Lieutenant Commander & Adjutant
Frank Delbridge
Color Sergeant
Clyde Biggs
Chaplain
John Clayton
Newsletter
James Simms
jbsimms@comcast.net
Website
Brad Smith
tidepridebrad@gmail.com
danptal@aol.com
Reb41st@aol.com
Inside This Edition Page
Page
3 General Rodes Biography
27 Confederate View of Yankees
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Tuscaloosa County Historical Markers
28 Man Removes Confederate Bones from Grave
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Area Reenactment Dates
28 CWT Interpretive Trail in Tennessee
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Fifth Alabama Regiment Band Dates
29 Wirz Exonerated
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Website Report
30 Southern Valor
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News From the Rodes Camp
33 WBTS Casualties Revisited
10 Alabama News
34 Obsession in Confederate Flag
13 Alabama Personalities
35 Monument Dedicated to Sherman Victims
14 Alabama Born Generals
36 NC Limitations on Confederate Flag
15 Alabama Camps and hospitals
36 Lincoln Document For Sale
15 Alabama WBTS Shipwrecks
36 Flags in California Shop
16 Alabama WBTS Timeline
37 Music Wins Album of the Year
17 Alabama WBTS Units
38 Library of Congress to Release Documents
19 Events Leading to the WBTS
39 Confederate Statue Restored After Damaged
21 This Month in the WBTS
40 Six Secessionist Movements
21 Confederate Generals Birthdays
42 73rd Anniversary of Gone With The Wind
22 Civil War Trust News
44 Lost in the 60’s
24 Museum of the Confederacy News
44 Trace Adkins Defends Confederate Earpiece
25 LTG Joseph Wheeler Scholarship
45 Dixie State (UT) Considers Name Change
25 Fredericksburg 1862
45 Preserving Art
26 Confederate Christmas Ideas
46 Charleston Home Seeking Repairs
26 Bob Dylan Sings “Dixie”
48 NC Monument Dedicated to Black Soldiers
26 Tennessee Ernie Ford Songs of the South 48 Confederate Group Will Not Back Down 26 "Confederado" Immigrants of Brazil
49 Re-enactors Logistics Nightmare
27 Stonewall Jackson and the Draft
50 Jefferson Davis Thanksgiving Proclamations
The Rodes Brigade Report is a monthly publication by the Robert E. Rodes SCV Camp #262 to preserve the history and legacy of the citizen-soldiers who, in fighting for the Confederacy, personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built. Non-member subscriptions are available for $15. Please send information, comments, or inquiries to Robert E. Rodes Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp #262, PO Box 1417, Tuscaloosa, AL 34501; or to James Simms at jbsimms@comcast.net .
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General Robert Emmet Rodes (1829-1864) The Robert E. Rodes Camp #262 is named in memory of Robert Emmet Rodes. General Rodes was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 30, 1829; the son of General David Rodes and Martha Yancey. Attending Virginia Military Institute, he graduated in July 1848, standing 10th in a class of 24 graduates; Assistant Professor (Physical Science, Chemistry, Tactics) at VMI, 1848-1850. He married Virginia Hortense Woodruff (1833-1907), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama in September 1857. They had 2 children: Robert Emmet Rodes, Jr. (1863-1925) and a daughter, Bell Yancey Rodes (18651931). He taught at VMI as an assistant professor until 1851. He left when a promotion he wanted to full professor was given instead to Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, a future Confederate general and commander of his. Rodes used his civil engineering skills to become chief engineer for the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He held this position until the start of the Civil War. Although born a Virginian, he chose to serve his adopted state of Alabama. He started his Confederate service as a Colonel in command of the 5th Alabama Infantry regiment, in the brigade commanded by Major General Richard S. Ewell, with which he first saw combat at the 1st Bull Run, He was promoted to Brigadier General on October 21, 1861, and commanded a brigade under Major General Daniel H. Hill. In the Peninsula Campaign, Rodes was wounded in the arm at Seven Pines and was assigned to light duty in the defenses of Richmond, Virginia while he recuperated. He recovered in time for General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the north in September, 1862, fighting at South Mountain and Sharpsburg. At Sharpsburg, he commanded one of two brigades that held out so long against the Union assault on the sunken road, or "Bloody Lane", at the center of the Confederate line, suffering heavy casualties. Rodes was lightly wounded by shell fragments. At Chancellorsville, Rodes was a division commander in Stonewall Jackson's corps. He was the only division-level commander in Lee's army who had not graduated from West Point. He was temporarily placed in command of the corps on May 2, 1863, when Jackson was mortally wounded and Lieutenant General A.P. Hill was also wounded, but Lee quickly replaced him with the more experienced Major General J.E.B. Stuart. Jackson on his deathbed recommended that Rodes be promoted to Major General and this promotion was back-dated to be effective May 2nd. When Lee reorganized the Army of Northern Virginia to compensate for the loss of Jackson, Rodes joined the II Corps under Ewell. At Gettysburg, on July 1, Rodes led the assault south from Oak Hill against the right flank of the Union I Corps. Although he successfully routed the division of Major Gen. John C. Robinson and drove it back through the town, the attack was not as well coordinated or pursued as aggressively as his reputation would have implied. His division sat mostly idle for the remaining two days of the battle. After performing poorly at Gettysburg, and recovered his reputation somewhat by performing better at Spotsylvania Court House. Rodes continued to fight with Ewell's corps through the Overland Campaign of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Ewell was replaced by Major General Jubal A. Early and his corps was sent by Lee to the Shenandoah Valley to draw Union forces away from the Siege of Petersburg, in the Valley Campaign. They conducted a long and successful raid down the Valley, into Maryland, and reached the outskirts of Washington, D.C., before turning back. Major Gen. Philip Sheridan was sent by Grant to drive Early from the Valley. On September 19, 1864, Sheridan attacked the Confederates at Opequon/3rd Winchester. Several wives of Confederate officers were chased from town during the attack and Rodes managed to save Major Gen. John B. Gordon's wife from capture. Rodes and Gordon prepared to attack Sheridan's forces when Rodes was struck in the back of his head by a Union shell fragment. He died on the field outside Winchester. Rodes was a modest but inspiring leader. He was mourned by the Confederacy as a promising, brave, and aggressive officer killed before he could achieve greatness. Lee and other high-ranking officers wrote sympathetic statements. He was buried with his family in The Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia next to his brother, Virginius Hudson Rodes; and his parents. His wife Virginia Hortense is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; her home state. His Major Commands included Rode’s Brigade/D.H. Hill’s Division and Rodes Division/II Corps.
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Replace your regular Alabama car Tag with an Alabama SCV specialty car Tag!!
Remember: 1. The SCV Specialty Tag is an OFFICIAL, LEGALLY RECOGNIZED LICENSE PLATE as established by an act of the Alabama Legislature. The Battle Flag exhibited in this manner can NOT be discriminated against or removed by any government entity, corporation, employer or person without violating the law. IMAGINE! While politicians remove our flag from public view, one at a time, we will be displaying our Flag by the thousands to the public, furthering Confederate Pride and Loyalty. 2. You may personalize this tag with up to 5 letters and/or numbers, AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. (ALDIV, ALREB, 33ALA, 5THAL, CSSAL, etc.). Ask the Tag clerk when ordering. How to buy: 1. When your current regular tag expires, go to the County's Probate Judge's Office or County Tag Office and say, "I want to order the Specialty Car Tag of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in place of my regular car tag." 2. You may personalize (*) this tag with up to 5 letters / numbers. Ask the Tag Clerk when ordering. (AT No EXTRA CHARGE.) This cost is $50.00 (in addition to the regular cost of an Alabama car tag), of which $41.25 goes to the Alabama Division, SCV to promote and protect our Confederate Heritage and History. You may reserve your choice before you go by going to: https://www.alabamainteractive.org/dorpt/UserHome.str ALABAMA REGISTRATION (TAG) FEE SCHEDULE http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/motorvehicle/mvforms/feeschedule.htm Be sure to select the SCV tag! The cost of reserving a personalized plate is $2 and payment must be made online using either VISA or MASTERCARD. Once approved, the reservation will be valid for five business days. You will not be charged if DOR rejects your request.
Alabama SCV Car Tag T-Shirt
Most of you are aware that the Alabama Division has a new t-shirt that promotes the SCV car tag approved for sale in the State of Alabama. Pictured is Morgan Strain wearing the new shirt. The front of the shirt has an Alabama state flag on it with Alabama Division above the flag. Please contact Northeast Brigade Commander Tom Strain at tom@ssnurseries.com or at 729-8501 to order the shirts. Order blank here: http://www.aladivscv.com/forms/OrderBlank.pdf
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Historical Markers of the Tuscaloosa Area Site of Franklin Hall (The Mound) Franklin Hall, an early University dormitory designed by Capt. William Nichols, was erected on this site in 1835. Was one of the buildings destroyed by the Union raid on April 4, 1865. After Civil War the remains of structure were shaped into present mound. By early 20th century this mound had become traditional site for honorary tappings by The University. Marker donated by Phi Mu Sorority in commemoration of its 50th anniversary at the University of Alabama.
Northport First United Methodist Church Organized 1837, moved to present location, 1849, where churches have been rebuilt in 1855 and 1913. The bell of this church sounded the tocsin at the approach of Gen. John T. Croxton's Union Troops in their raid in Tuscaloosa, April 3, 1865.
Upcoming Area Reenactment Dates and Locations There are no reenactments scheduled for December
2012 5th Alabama Regiment Band Event Calendar Dickens Christmas Concert
Tues...Dec. 4
Northport, AL
Website Report for November For the month of November, there were 27 visits and 52 page views. All time, there have been 1,718 visits and 4, 087 page views.
News of the Rodes Camp The Rodes Camp wishes to extend it’s sympathies and condolences to our Adjutant, Frank Delbridge, on the passing of his wife Linda on November 28, 2012 after an extended illness.
New Markers Placed at the Grave site of Virginia Hortense Rodes
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Rodes Camp News (Continued):
Compatriot Jess Ellards gave November’s program on trench warfare from Fort Mahorne to World War One.
UDC - FOF - PAVERS ORDER FORM As you all are aware, we, the Friends of Forrest, are in a full blown war with our local domestic terrorist, Rose Sanders, her husband Senator Hank Sanders and now they have brought in the national organizations that have been waging war on our heritage & culture for years. Let me assure you...WE HAVE THE HIGH GROUND AND WE ARE GOING TO WIN! We are in a truce at this time...I will be able to expound more on that in the upcoming days. In the meantime, my job is to raise money...AGAIN! I know a lot of you might be saying, "well, I have been giving to this effort for years...when is it gonna stop and when is Pat Godwin going to stop asking me for money"....Gentlemen, there are not words adequate enough to express to you my most sincere gratitude for everything y'all have done for us and General Forrest here in Selma through all these years, plus the committed money for the reward for the information leading to the arrest & conviction of the perpetrators of the theft of the NBF bust. I am just an humble player in this theater of war...I have told many folks through the years, that I really think this entire project from its inception has been Providential. There are people who walk the planet for their entire life, and then when the time comes for them to stand at their judgment, they wonder why they have been here and feel they have lived a lifetime not knowing why they were here and wondering what they have done with their lives during their time here. I am blessed to KNOW why I am here...our Lord has allowed me to be just a small part in this effort to pay homage to General Forrest that is properly due him...especially here in Selma Alabama where he only had about 3000 troops against more than 13,000 of the best equipped troops in the history of the world..this took extreme raw courage and commitment to duty to his country! Based on the history of Selma, I truly believe that General Forrest's spirit STILL LIVES HERE IN SELMA...and there is a reason this war continues to exonerate him in OUR time as he was exonerated in HIS time. Confederate Circle will be an historical learning site ...we plan to have historical markers telling the history of the circle, the Ladies Memorial Association, Selma chapter 53 UDC, Elodie Todd Dawson, the Confederate Monument, the Forrest Monument...we are installing two more flag poles - one will fly the Confederate Battle Flag (the soldiers flag) one will fly the Stars & Bars (the daughters flag) and we plan to move the existing flag pole to the Forrest Monument and fly Gen Forrest's 7th Tenn Cavalry flag (the Battle Flag without the center star ). We plan to have the heavy duty wrought iron park benches within the circle also. We are planning to re-landscape the Circle with Southern trees, flowers & shrubs. There is sooo much to tell and I will be putting out a detailed report soon...however, please be assured that SECURING the FORREST monument and the entire Confederate Circle is the objective...we will have state of the art security system installed with 24/7 surveillance. There also will be LED lights installed on the Forrest Monument and the Confederate Monument. We will be offering an opportunity to sponsor the flag poles ($2100 each), a park bench (cost is unknown right now) bronze historical markers, and the bronze historical plaques that will be attached to the eight-sided pedestal that the entire Forrest monument will be placed upon. There will be a 5 foot wrought iron period correct fence installed around the Forrest monument, as well. I am currently working on the order forms for the sponsorship of these features. Thank you again for your continued faithful support of the Forrest Monument effort here in Selma...again, I will be putting out a detailed report soon. Confederately yours, Pat Godwin Friends of Forrest oldsouth@zebra.net
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Rodes News (Continued): ORDER FORM Name:__________________________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________________________ City/St/Zip______________________________________________________________ Phone:__________________________________________________________________ (Home) (cell) e-mail__________________________________________________________________ Please engrave my 4” x 8” paver as follows: (Max. 3 Lines, 19 Characters per line) ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___
S. D. Lee Institute - St. Augustine, FL THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION: SOUTHERN VIEWS Brag Bowling
The Sons of Confederates Blog
July 8, 2012
It is my pleasure to announce the scheduling of the 2013 Stephen Dill Lee Institute in St. Augustine, Florida, at the Renaissance Hotel on February 1-2. Hosting the event will be the Florida Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It is the aim of the Institute to examine the ramifications of the Emancipation Proclamation from an academic perspective, which truly differs from prevailing contemporary mainstream dogma. We are pleased to announce the following will speak at the event: 1. Donald Livingston -- "How the North Failed to Respond to the Moral Challenge of Slavery" 2. Colonel Jonathan White -- "Forty Acres and a Mule: Miscarriages of Justice in Post-Emancipation Federal Policy" 3. Kirkpatrick Sale --Emancipation Hell: The Disaster the Emancipation Proclamation Wrought" 4. Marshall De Rosa --"Emancipation in the Confederacy: What the Ruling Class doesn’t want you to know and why" 5. Kent Masterson Brown -- To be Announced Please join us and our outstanding faculty for a one of a kind academic experience on February 1-2, 2013. We will soon have our website, http://www.StephenDillLeeInstitute.com20 up and running with event and hotel information. Thanks for supporting our efforts. Brag Bowling Stephen Dill Lee Institute http://sonsofconfederateveterans.blogspot.com/2012/07/s-d-lee-institute-st-augustine-fl.html
Alabama Guardian Program From the October 2012 issue of the Alabama Confederate Purpose: The program is designed to honor the memory of our Confederate ancestors and through its implementation will provide the preservation of their final resting places and will document for future generations their sacrifices. Eligibility: Any Alabama Division camp member in good standing, who is at least 12 years of age and who has demonstrated his desire and ability to serve as a GUARDIAN. All compatriots are encouraged to participate in the program to honor our ancestors and to protect their final resting place. 1. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: He shall care for and protect the gave(s) of a Confederate Veteran, ensuring that the gravesite is kept clean and well maintained year round. He shall perform these duties personally unless he is physically unable because of health reasons. At no time shall these responsibilities be passed on to another without the approval of the GUARDIAN committee for the Alabama Division. He will be responsible to appropriately mark the grave so it is designated as a final resting place of a Confederate Veteran.
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Rodes Camp News (Continued):
This can be by stone, plaque, Cross of Honor, etc. He will also be responsible for replacing or repairing any marker that is worn, damaged or destroyed. He shall personally visit the grave a minimum of four times a year to include Confederate Memorial Day or at least one week prior. He shall place a wreath or a small Confederate flag or both on the grave. 2. APPLICATIONS, REVIEWS & APPROVAL: Individuals who wish to participate in the GUARDIAN program must complete and submit the Guardian Application form to their Camp Commander. The Camp Commander will submit the form to the Guardian Committee of the Division. The application must be accompanied with a map showing the location of the gravesite along with written driving instructions to the cemetery. A before photograph of the gravesite must also be submitted before approval. An after photograph can be submitted for the file as work is completed. The applicant must also remit a one-time $10.00 fee with the application to cover the cost of the GUARDIAN pin and certificate, which will be awarded upon the candidate’s approval for membership in the GUARDIAN program. The fee is non-refundable. Individuals who are not accepted into the GUARDIAN program will be given an explanation in writing by the Review Committee. The applicant can request an appeal of the decision. The Review Committee will review the applicants appeal and render a decision. The decision of the Review Committee is final. 3. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Multiple Gravesites: GUARDIANS may care for more than one gravesite and will be recognized by the Guardian Review Committee. Special certificates or indications on the Guardian pin may be authorized to signify the care of multiple veterans’ graves. Normally no more than 25 gravesites will be authorized for a Guardian to care for. The Review Committee may authorize more than 25 on a case by case basis under the advice of the applicants Camp Commander. Forfeiture of Guardian position: A Guardian who cannot meet the requirements of his position due to relocation, health or other reasons must notify the Review Committee. All fees are non-refundable. Bequeathing of GUARDIAN position: A Guardian may transfer his responsibilities as a Guardian to another SCV member in good standing with prior approval by the Review Committee. There is $10.00 fee for transferring the Guardianship. This fee will cover the new Guardian’s membership pin and certificate. If he is already in the Guardian program there will be a $3.00 fee to cover the certificate designating the new guardianship he is undertaking. Revocation of GUARDIAN status: The Review Committee may revoke the status of a participant in the Guardian program if he fails to carry out his duties and responsibilities as outlined. The Committee reserves the right to inspect, with or without notice, any GUARDIAN’S Confederate Veteran’s gravesite to confirm compliance with all of the rules and regulations specified in the program. Wilderness Gravesite: This is a gravesite that is completely neglected or abandoned in a remote area. Application for this special designation must be accompanied with before and after pictures of the gravesite and the Guardian must meet all other requirements of the program. If this status is approved the applicant will be approved to wear a silver star on a ribbon attached to the Guardian pin. Dan Williams of the St. Clair County Camp #308 is the new administrator of the Division Alabama Guardian program. Dan’s address is 104 Evelyn St., Trussville, Alabama 35173. Please use the new application listed on page 17. National Guardian applications continue to be sent to Jimmy Hill. ALABAMA GUARDIAN PROGRAM APPLICATION Turn Application into Camp Commander Name of Applicant:_________________________________________________________ Address:___________________________________________ City:__________________ Zip Code:________________ Phone #: ( )_______________ E-Mail Address:________________________________________ SCV Camp Name & Number:__________________________________________________ Location:________________________________________________ GRAVESITE DETAILS Confederate Veterans Name:___________________________________________________ Rank:__________________ Unit:__________________________________ Co.:_________ Born:___/___/____ Died:___/___/____ Condition of site: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent (circle one) Location of Grave: (Include name of cemetery, city and county):_______________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ (Continued Next Page)
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Rodes Camp News (Continued): Marker on Grave denoting Confederate Service:_______________ Cross of Honor? _______ Documentation of Confederate Service:_List book, service record, etc ._____________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ I affirm that all the information here is true and accurate. I agree to faithfully care for and protect this Confederate Veteran’s grave in accordance with the GUARIAN PROGRAM rules for as long as I am able. In the event I cannot carry out my duties, I shall notify the Review Committee immediately. I also understand that the Review Committee can revoke my status as a GUARDIAN for good cause. Signature:__________________________________________ Date:___/___/____ Camp Commander:___________________________________ Date:___/___/____ Mail Application, Map and Photos to: Alabama Guardian Program 104 Evelyn St. Trussville, Alabama 35173 ******************* DO NOT WRITE ON LINES BELOW ********************** 1. Application Approved____________ Disapproved____________
Date___/___/____
2. Wilderness Grave Status Approved________ Disapproved________ Date___/___/____ Approval signature: _________________________________________________18 ALA
Mechanized Cavalry, Alabama Division From the October 2012 issue of the Alabama Confederate When we look into our ancestors who fought to defend their homeland, we see that they cut a swath of the social economic spectrum of the time. White, black and red men took up arms. Jew, Christian and non believers face death side by side. Yeoman farmers, merchants, college professors and planters stood together risking their lives and fortunes. Today their descendents are just as diverse, coming from all backgrounds and professions. We have varied interests as well. In each of our camps we have some who come to hear historic lectures, some who are re enactors, others who are committed to historic research, and those whose passion is finding and honoring graves of those who fought. We also have throughout the SCV those who have a passion for riding motorcycles and use that passion to forward the cause. You may have them in your camps, and if not you surely have seen them at events with their vests proudly displaying that they are a member of the SCV Mechanized Cavalry. From a small group that joined together a little over 20 years ago they have grown to a group of approximately 1700 members spread across the States and overseas. They are first and foremost SCV members, they just happen to also love to ride motorcycles. They are camp commanders, division officers, and national officers. Because of the patch on their back they are often highly visible at events, and they are workers in the SCV. During the re enactment of President Davis being sworn in, they were one of the largest contingents in the parade to the Capital. At the National Convention in Murfreesboro they put on a motorcycle ride and a motorcycle show, showcasing the SCV to the community in a very public way. In Kentucky they are the prime movers in the care of the General Tilghman home. They as a group have made a strong commitment to retiring the debt owned on the General Johnston monument. And in Alabama they have been a significant contributor over the last few years to the effort to replace grave markers of Unknowns in Tuscumbia Alabama. You will find them at grave dedications honoring our ancestors and in NW Alabama you will find a cannon crew manned solely by Mechanized Cavalry members. Each year they have an annual ride that this year took several hundred to North Georgia where they toured the Chickamauga Battlefield and Lookout Mountain. Members from as far away as Texas made the ride filling hotel rooms and making an economic impact on a small North Georgia town. The 2013 ride takes them to the Jackson, Mississippi area for more rides, tours of historic sites, and good fellowship. The Mechanized Cavalry may not look like the typical SCV member with whom you may be familiar. But like our ancestors who while different in so many ways were dedicated to the cause, so today we have members from different backgrounds are committed to the memory of our ancestors. If you are interested finding out more check out their website (http://alabamascvmc.weoka.com) or ask one of those men wearing the vest. (Continued Next Page)
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Rodes Camp News (Continued):
They will be happy to tell you about the Mechanized Cavalry or discuss their heritage with you. They might also invite you to “ride as you would with Forrest”. SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS MECHANIZED CAVALRY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION DATE__________________________ PLEASE PRINT LEGIBLY YOUR NAME______________________________________________________ ADDRESS_________________________________________________________ CITY_____________________________________________________ STATE______________ ZIP____________________ HOME PHONE_________________________CELL_____________________ EMAIL_______________________________________________________________________________ SCV CAMP AND REFERRING SCV-MECHANIZED CAVALRY MEMBER DETAILS: MEMBER OF SCV CAMP & NUMBER______________________________________________________ SCV MEMBERSHIP ID #____________________________________________________ REFERRED BY SCV-MECHANIZED CAVALRY MEMBER_________________________________________ MECHANIZED CAVALRY #_____________________SCV MEMBERSHIP #____________________ INFORMATION YOU WISH TO SHARE CO-RIDER_______________________________ MOTORCYCLE TYPE____________________________ Signature___________________________________________________________________________ Print And Mail This Completed Form, a Copy Of Your SCV Membership ID Card and Your $100.00 For A One Time Non-Refundable Application Fee, Any “Service Mark” Distributed Is On Loan Only, Remaing The Property Of The Organization. Contact Platoon Leaders For Rockers, Not Included In The Fee. Mail To: Captain Pat McMurry 7131 Oak Drive, Concord, A L. 35023 www.scvmccsa.org
News From Alabama National Champions Paul F. Burnum’s Black Bears go undefeated for five seasons By John N. Harris (Originally published in Old Southern Times Magazine, Issue 139 and in digital mediums. Used with permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
6000 screaming Tuscaloosa black Bear fans were waiting to see an unofficial National Championship with Senn High School of Chicago, Illinois in football. Yes, it was the North versus the South just like 61 years earlier. This was the largest crowd to witness a High School football contest South of the Mason and Dixon line. The Illinois team from the Windy City had invaded the Druid City of Tuscaloosa on an invitation from Coach Paul F. Burnum. The Chicago team had arrived at the train station two days earlier expecting a bitter welcome from their Southern brethren, but instead was greeted by the Black Bear Band playing their instruments. Coach Burnum had the team escorted around town in automobiles by the Bear Cheerleaders (girlfriends and sisters of the Bear team). Coach Burnum walked into the dressing room. “I’m just so ashamed to put you out there against those players from that big city, they are going to whip you; and these are the Grandsons of the men who came South and wrecked the University and raped your Grandmothers.” Halfback Dwight Deal took in what coach had said. His Grandfather had told him about an Easter morning in April 1865 when Yankee invaders came to their home and ate Easter eggs that were cooked for him and his sister. His Grandfather told him that when the soldiers left, they took his 13 year old brother with them and did not hear from him until the next day when he had been turned loose. “OK men,” Coach Burnum said, “let’s go see what you can do.” The Grid Champions of the south stampeded onto Denny Field tearing down the wire fence surrounding the field. Today, there would be no surrender at Appomattox by General Lee and there would be no surrender by the Tuscaloosa Black Bears. Burnum’s Bears Tilled and Plowed their way thru the Northern Champions lines for touchdown after touchdown unitl finally after the last second had run down, the improbable had happened. (Continued Next Page)
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Champions (Continued):
Never was there so much pride shown in Tuscaloosa that day when the Bears not only won the football game, but had destroyed the Chicago team 41-0. So who were the stars of the game? There were no stars on the team. Everybody had to contribute to win this game. A team effort-and talk about class. The team had chosen two players that had season -ending injuries before the season started as the captains for this game. So, who was Paul Francis Burnum? I had a chance to sit down with his daughter, Paula Sue Hayes recently at her home on Queen City Avenue in Tuscaloosa to get some insights into the mind of this amazing motivator on the Gridiron. “Daddy was born in Cullman, Alabama in 1902; Paul his Father was a doctor. Not impressed with ‘Francis’, he called himself ‘Frank’ in school. He went to Saint Benedict Monastery School there.” “Daddy ran away from home at 17 years old and played semi-professional baseball; he was left-handed so he was called ‘lefty’. He came back and finished high school and wen to the University of Alabama where he graduated in 1923. Daddy came to Tuscaloosa in 1924 and started coaching the Tuscaloosa Black Bears in 1925. Football at the high school level was only a few years old at the time.” “Daddy got his first by driving around the rural areas of Tuscaloosa County and if he saw a nice big looking boy plowing the field, he would say ‘Son, how would you like to play football? I’ll teach you.’ “ “So he collected these boys, brought them to Tuscaloosa and boarded them. After he got his team enrolled after he got his team enrolled at Tuscaloosa High School, he would take the kids way out somewhere for training and would have no contact with civilization for a whole week learning about football.” “Sometimes he would have his kids up at 4 am in the summertime before it got too hot. He coached all sports at Tuscaloosa High included girls’ basketball and Mr. Matt Clinton, who contributed much to the history of Tuscaloosa; was Athletic Director under Mr. Burnham. “ “Daddy was a very good psychologist. And he was so successful with his teams, that teams from other states such as Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Washington, D.C wanted to challenge his kids in competition.” “In 1930, Dr. George Denny, President of the university of Alabama called Daddy to speak with him at his office. He told Coach Burnham ‘you had so much success at the high School, why don’t you come and coach at the University?’ Coach was so honored by this that he bowed and shook his hand, backed out of his office into the hall and Dr. Denny said ‘Paul come back’ so he went back in and Dr. Denny asked ‘Don’t you want to know what the pay is?’. “So Daddy was hired on as coach of the freshman football team under Coach Wallace Wade and with Assistant Paul William Bryant; and Special Teams under Coach Red Drew. He also helped coach the basketball team under Coach Hank Crisp. Coach Burnum coached the freshman team at Alabama for 13 years with winning records. He also trained under Coach Knute Rockne of Notre Dame; helped to install the first lights at Denny Stadium, established the first Quarterback club; the first Little League baseball team; and was instrumental in luring Coach Paul William Bryant back to Tuscaloosa. Have we got a street named for Paul Frances Burnum yet? “ Tuscaloosa High School 1925-1929 44 wins, 0 Losses, 1 Tie State Champions 1925 co-Champs / Cullman 1926 State Champions 1927-State Champions 1928-State Champions 1929-State Champions
FB HB QB E T T C EB E
All State J. Bowers, E.H. Bagwell, B. Hughes J. Suther H. Holley, T.J. Hundertmark F. Kendall T. Abernathy T. Beard R. Clements P. Cochrane B. Swain
National Champions SENN/Chicago 42-0 Lakeland, FL 35-6 McKinley, Washington, DC 19-6 University City, St. Louis, MO 18-12 HB T QB FB FB T
All Southern John Suther 1925-26 Teeny Beard 1927-28 Hillman Holley 1927-28 Pat Cochrane 1928 Buck Hughes 1929 John Hundertmark 1929
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Another Kind of Digging: The Search for the Real Story of the Selma Arsenal Article and Photos by William E. Lockridge
American Digger Magazine May-June 2007
On the morning of Wednesday, the 29th of November, 1922; a British archeologist named Howard Carter, together with fellow Briton Lord Carnovan and three more associates stodd a the door to an ancient Egyptian tomb. As the head archeologist, Carter was the one to first pierce the sealed entry to the tomb of the boy-king of Egypt; Tutankhamen (today best known by the moniker “King Tut”), and peer into the darkness. Impatiently, waiting for Carter to describe what he saw as Carter extended a hand-held A Nashville candle into the musty ante-chamber, Lord Carnarvon finally asked Carter, “Can you see Military anything?” Carter replied in an awe filled voice, “Yes, wonderful things!” College Cadet After 33 years of digging, Howard Carter had found the greatest treasure yet Button dug up discovered in the modern era of Egyptology and perhaps all of modern archeology. His by a friend of findings started a worldwide firestorm of interest in classical archeology. An even greater the author in controversy as to who had the rights of ownership to the more than 5,000 artifacts found a Selma, AL in the tomb continues to this day. backyard. A classical history lesson in a metal detecting magazine? Why King Tut’s Tomb? Old news (very old indeed – like 4,500 years or so) you say? Much like the artifacts discovered by Carter and Carnarvon 84 years ago, there are many “wonderful things” behind closed doors awaiting rediscovery today. Returning from a recent research trip to Alabama, I could only describe my “discoveries” in much the same way as Howard Carter did in responding to Lord Carnarvon. And in my case, there was certainly more than one door. A little background sets up this tale up nicely. Over 40 years ago, an experienced metal detecting relic hunter took a young teenager out for his first real relic hunt at the site of the old CS Selma Arsenal. The results were interesting, but not spectacular (if only I had known then…). The most interesting finds were several parts to rifle/muskets, a “Cowboy” sized side knife blade and a diamond ring. Naturally, the more experienced relic hunter and owner of the thennewish T-10 detector got the ring and the younger digger (yours truly) got the rusty stuff. For the next 40 years, I thought frequently about the fun and profit that could result from owning a metal detector, but did nothing about it. School, military, work, and location changes to areas where that war A 3-1/2 inch long CS Naval wasn’t fought., all contributed to the frustration of my relic fantasies. Even Watercap fuse recovered living on Tennessee’s Treasure Coast for 10 years couldn’t get me going. from the Alabama River. But Selma’s mysteries lurked in my memory as well as my future. Recently, health issues brought on a lifestyle change ad a premature retirement for me. Ultimately, those same health issues forced me into a schedule of indoor activities almost exclusively. So, with Selma still lurking in my thoughts, I set out to obtain and study all the books written about Selma and her role during the War of Northern Aggression. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much available except for the work done by a local historian named Sol Tepper, Sr. Mr. Tepper was a local historian, diver, metal detectorist, lecturer, writer, and in general, the cheerleader, if not project leader, for almost anything dealing with the local community and Selma during that war. His work far exceeded the generally available material in passages of Hardy’s “Selma-Her Institutions and Her Men” and Jackson’s “The Story of Selma.” Not much else was available in either McMillian’s “Alabama Confederate Reader” or Owen’s “The History of Alabama.” The other document I found of particular interest was written by Mr. Ernest B. Johnson of Selma, who had authored a thesis titled “Selma, Alabama as a Center of Confederate War Production, 1860-1865,” in conjunction with his A “Haiman Style” sand Bachelors of History at Harvard College in 1952. This very insightful work cast Confederate States brought out many of the otherwise pieces of the story of Civil War Selma. He tongue from a two-piece was among the first to delve into the reasons Selma grew into such a massive buckle, revocered from and important center of production in the Confederate States. Iron, coal, labor, the Alabama River food crops, cotton, lumber, transportation, and geography all contributed to the rapid and successful development of Selma as the South’s second largest and most successful center of supply, manufacturing, and logistics. Only Richmond outpaced the operations in Selma in overall wartime production. To date, I have identified over 60 different products or items that were produced in Selma during the war. This is a conservative estimate as evidenced by the fact that cannon projectiles are counted as only one item in this enumeration, and the variety of shot, shell, grape, and canister produced there numbered in the scores, if not hundreds. (Continued Next Page)
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Selma Arsenal (Continued):
Frustrated by the limited written references available concerning Selma and that war, I began to consider a “do-it-yourself” approach to the discovery and documentation of artifacts, relics, and records. In the meantime, I managed to acquire an old White’s Eagle II detector which I desperately wanted to put ot use. Unable to “go digging” as frequently or in the same way that most relic and treasure hunters do, I eventually found another way to satisfy much of my hunger for locating “lost” artifacts and treasures. The urge to locate and study Selma-related artifacts and documents, coupled with my physical limitations has resulted into what is now one of the most interesting and enjoyable projects I’ve ever experienced. Oval CS with Stars recovered Beginning with a “round-up” of all my childhood friends whom I knew east of Selma over 45 years possessed Selma relics years ago, I then sought out those people whom I had ago. Some believe this to be never any direct contact. Without exception, every person contacted offered a Leach & Rigdon piece made access to their collections and/or knowledge that they had about Selma’s in both Selma and other history. And so progressed the project that has brought me to this doorstep locations of so many “Tut’s Tomb” type collections. A typical “research trip” consists of a long drive to locations in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi or wherever I have been able to locate and arrange to examine material. Frequently, this means meeting the collecter at home after a hard day during the work week. Due to the these conditions, I have missed opportunities to examine complete collections and frequently find myself restricted to simply documenting those artifacts most easily accessed or of the highest level of interest. Even having taken photos of hundreds upon hundreds of of artifacts and now having over 1,750 images related to Selma recovered or linked relics, there are at least that many more items still to be photographed and those are just the ones that I am aware of at this moment. It isn’t that the collectors won’t show their collections, but one has to show some real purpose in the asking. Having a legitimate purpose to approach a stranger and offering absolute assurance for credit or confidentiality can make a huge difference in terms of access. Gaining access to some collection won’t just happen automatically, but purposeful study and reference will open doors to some artifacts that have seldom seen by more than a few people. One recently visited relic hunter had only been opened to one other person a single occasion within the past 15 years. The view , upon passing through multiple locked doors, was stunning and indescribable except to say that there were multiple rare and exotic artifacts evident throughout the crowded space. Eat your hearts out, Carter and Carnarvon! Is this as exciting as digging one’s own “keepers?” Probably not for some folks, but in my humble opinion, the opportunities to see so much material of such high quality and to get to hold and examine such rare material far outweigh ownership issues. Many of the diggers I have met loudly lament the humid, bug-pestered, days of mid-summer for the physical price inflicted in order to dig. Dry, hard ground and planted crops add to their frustration. Chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes, fire ants, and even larger critters do little to enhance such days. On the other hand, much of my success has occurred in the air conditioned rooms of collectors, museums, and libraries. Not always is this the case, but indoor relic research certainly offers options to the horsepower end of a shovel on those days when “only mad dogs”, Englishmen (and metal detectorists) venture out in the mid-day sun. I want to thank all who have assisted on this project. What started out as plans for a book on the Selma Arsenal has progressed far beyond a single volume, but the search for information and images associated with Selma during the war is a process. As such it will likely never end, at least in my lifetime. Bill Lockridge was born in Selma and raised on the battlefield there. His varied career flying helicopters in Viet Nam, as well as civilian flying to Gulf oil rigs, flight instructor, airport manager, aviation consultant, and adjunct university professor. A licensed gunsmith for a dozen years, he is an NRA Life Member, SCV Member, avid outdoorsman and lifelong history buff.
Alabama Personalities from the WBTS Thomas Hill Watts (1819-1892) — also known as Thomas H. Watts — of Alabama. Born near Greenville, Butler County, Ala., January 3, 1819. Lawyer; member of Alabama state house of representatives, 1842-45, 1880-81; member of Alabama state senate, 1847-53; candidate for U.S. Representative from Alabama 1st District, 1855; delegate to Alabama secession convention, 1861; colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; Confederate Attorney General, 1862-63; Governor of Alabama, 1863-65. Baptist. Arrested by Union forces in Union Springs, Alabama, in May 1865, and imprisoned for a few weeks. Died in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Ala., September 16, 1892 (age 73 years, 257 days). Interment at Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Ala. (Continued Next Page)
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Alabama Personalities (Continued): Albert S. Elmore — of Montgomery, Montgomery County, Ala.; Mobile, Mobile County, Ala. Son of John Archer Elmore; half-brother of Franklin Harper Elmore and Benjamin F. Elmore; brother-in-law of Benjamin Fitzpatrick and Dixon Hall Lewis; brother of Rush Elmore. Secretary of state of Alabama, 1865 -66; U.S. Collector of Customs, 1869. Burial location unknown. Jefferson Davis - President of the Confederate States of America, had a number of connections to Alabama. After his election as President he traveled from his home state of Mississippi—via Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia (there was no Mississippi/Alabama railroad at the time), and through Opelika and Auburn—to Montgomery. Once in Montgomery Davis was inaugurated on February 18, 1861, on the portico of the Alabama capitol. A star marks the spot where he stood as he was inaugurated. Davis and his family lived in Montgomery until May, when the Confederate capital moved to Richmond, Virginia. In Montgomery the Davis family lived at the corner of Bibb and Lee in what is known as the First White House of the Confederacy, which is now on Washington Avenue and open to visitors. Davis attended St. John's Episcopal Church, where visitors to the Montgomery church can still see his pew today. Davis's father-in-law, William. B. Howell, moved to Montgomery with his wife in 1862. He died there in 1863 and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Their daughter, Varina (Mrs. Jefferson Davis), visited them in Montgomery once she had moved to Richmond with her husband. Visits to Alabama by Davis after he had moved from Montgomery in 1861: 1862 Davis visited Montgomery and Mobile. 1863 Davis visited Montgomery, Selma, Demopolis, Mobile. 1875 Davis visited Montgomery. 1886 Davis spoke at cornerstone-laying for monument to Confederate Soldiers and Sailors of Alabama beside capitol in Montgomery; was saluted at Tuskegee and Auburn on his way to Atlanta. 1893 Davis's body lay in-state at capitol en route from New Orleans to burial in Richmond.
Alabama Born Generals Brigidier General John Gregg Gregg was born in Lawrenceville, Alabama; to Nathan Gregg and Sarah Pearsall Camp on September 28, 1828. He graduated from LaGrange College (now the University of North Alabama) in 1847, where he was subsequently employed as a professor of mathematics. He later studied law in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Gregg relocated to Freestone County, Texas, in 1852 and settled in the town of Fairfield, Texas. He was elected as a district judge and served in that position from 1855 until 1860. In 1858, Gregg married Mary Francis Garth from Alabama, daughter of Jesse Winston Garth, a Unionist who was willing to give up his hundreds of slaves if it meant saving the Union. Gregg was one of the founders of the Freestone County Pioneer, the first newspaper in Freestone County. He used his paper and political clout to call for a Secession Convention following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860. Gregg served as a delegate to the Texas Secession Convention in Austin, in January 1861. The delegation issued the Ordinance of Secession on February 1, 1861. Gregg was one of six members of the convention that were elected to represent Texas in the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Alabama, and later in Richmond, Virginia. Gregg served in the Provisional Confederate Congress on February 15, 1861, and which he resigned in August 1861 to enter the Confederate Army. He returned to Texas and formed the 7th Texas Infantry, becoming its Colonel in September. Gregg and the 7th saw their first action at the Battle of Fort Donelson from February 12 to February 16, 1862, where they were captured along with most of the garrison. He was sent to Fort Warren in Boston, Massachusetts for confinement. Gregg was exchanged on August 15, 1862 and was promoted to Brigadier General on August 29. His was sent to Mississippi for service in the Western Theater of the Civil War; assigned to 10th Brigade, 1st Division of the Army of Mississippi, from October 24, 1862 to March 1863. Gregg's 10th Brigade was then assigned to the 3rd District of the Department of Mississippi & Eastern Louisiana from March to May 1863. His command, now styled Gregg's Brigade, was attached to William H.T. Walker’s 's Division in the Department of the West on May 10, 1863. Gregg's first major action in Mississippi came at the Battle of Raymond, on May 12, 1863, where his 3000-man brigade fought a tough 6-hour battle against the XVII Corps, 10,000 strong, under the command of Union Major General James B. McPherson. Gregg was forced to retreat back to Jackson, Mississippi after the battle, where he would be involved in the Battle of Jackson on May 14, 1863. (Continued Next Page)
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Alabama Generals (Continued):
Gregg's Brigade formed part of the Reserve Corps of the Army of Tennessee briefly that September. During the Battle of Chickamauga, he was assigned to Bushrod Johnson’s Division, Third Corps in the Army of Tennessee on September 19. Gregg was severely wounded on September 20, when he was hit in the neck. After recovering from his wounds, Gregg was given command of the famous Hood’s Texas Brigade in Rober E, Lee’s 's Army on Northern Virginia. Gregg and his brigade participated in the Eastern Campaigns of the Spring of 1864, seeing action at the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the Battle of Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg. During the fighting in the Wilderness, Gregg was wounded on May 6, 1864, and then went with Lee's army to Petersburg until 1864. Gregg was struck in the neck for a second time and killed along the Charles City Road, near Richmond, Virginia. He was shot while leading a counterattack at the Battle of Darbytown and New Market Roads. His widow, Mary Garth Gregg, traveled through the lines to retrieve his body and was interred at the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Gregg County, Texas, was named for John Gregg when it was formed in 1873. A bust of General Gregg, who appears older than his thirty-six years, is in the entrance to the Courthouse at his namesake Gregg County in Longview, Texas.
Alabama Camps and Hospitals Eufaula: A Wayside Hospital established in 1863 in the "Old Baily House". Wayside Hospital (Selma): Established by the Ladies Military Aid Society after October 1863 in a large building on the corner of Broad and Water Streets.Reference: [W. J. Donald, "Alabama Confederate Hospitals", Alabama Review, vol. 15, p.271-281 (Oct. 1962), and vol. 16, p. 64-78 (Jan. 1963)] In his text, W. J. Donald says "the first organized effort to care for sick or wounded Confederate soldiers [was] made by the Ladies Aid Society of Montgomery at its meeting on June 14, 1861." He continues that "most [Alabama hospitals] were established in pre-existing buildings and, in a few instances, tent hospitals were used.... Some hospitals were closed during the war when no longer needed [and] others, such as those of the Tennessee Valley, were closed by enemy occupation." Additional Camps, names unknown: Reform, AL, located on Hopewell Hill (in the spot that the water tower for Reform is now located). It was used for drilling new recruits (a camp of instruction?) Units using this site are unknown; possibly certain companies of the 41st Ala. Inf. Tuscaloosa. It was a camp of instruction. Physical location is unknown, but possibly it was located on the spot that University Mall is now located. Tuscaloosa also had a supply depot, which may have been located at the camp. There was also a P.O.W. camp that existed in Tuscaloosa early in the war, and it too may have been at the same location. Olney, AL, in southern Pickens Co. It could best be described as a permanent recruitment camp. It may have also been a supply depot. A store located there was contracted directly with Gen'l Forrest for supplying the needs of his cavalry. (Many units were formed at the Olney camp.)
Alabama WBTS Shipwrecks barge. Confederate. Length 117 feet, beam 26 feet. Capacity of 900 cotton bales. Was scuttled by Confederates to act as obstruction at the Dog River Bar in Mobile Bay. (Irion, Mobile Bay Ship Channel, Mobile Harbor, 62.) launch from USS Cincinnati. Union. Sank while dragging for torpedoes on April 14, 1865, in the Blakely River, with three killed. The wreck was raised to within 2 feet of the surface, but the mooring parted, and strain brought the rope to stern, so the launch sank back into the water and was not recovered. (ORN, 22:96, 131; Porter, Naval History, 786.) ram. Confederate. Unnamed side-wheel ram under construction. Was destroyed on the stocks at Oven Bluff sometime during the war. (WCWN, 209.) schooner. Confederate. Carried cotton and naval stores. Grounded a mile or so south of Fort Morgan on January 23, 1862, while trying to come out of the eastern Swash Channel. The USS Huntsville and USS R. R. Cuyler set the schooner afire. (ORN, 17:82–83.) (Continued Next Page)
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Alabama WBTS Shipwrecks (Continued): schooner. Confederate. Ran ashore by the USS Kanawha in early July 1862. Was burned by the Confederates near Mobile. (ORN, 18:669.) schooner. Confederate. Cargo of cotton. Beached on shoals eastward of the northern point of Sand Island during a gale, on its way out of Mobile Bay. Was destroyed by the crew on December 15, 1862. (ORN, 19:412–13.) schooner. Confederate. Was scuttled to act as an obstruction at the Dog River Bar during the Civil War. (Irion, Mobile Bay Ship Channel, Mobile Harbor, 62.) steamboats. Confederate. Two steamboats. Cargo of cotton, corn, and commissaries. Was burned along with the steamboats Augusta, Henry J. King, and Milliner on the Coosa River on April 14, 1865, at Montgomery by Wilson’s Union raiders. (OR, 49:1:352.) CWC U.S. Department of the Navy, Civil War Chronology, 1861–1865 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1971). DANFS U.S. Department of the Navy, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, 8 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1959–81). EAS Bruce D. Berman, Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks (Boston: Mariners Press, 1972). LLC Stephen R. Wise, Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running in the Civil War (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988). MSV William M. Lytle and Forrest R. Holdcamper, Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States: 1790–1868, “The Lytle Holdcamper List,” ed. C. Bradford Mitchell (Staten Island, N.Y.: Steamship Historical Society of America, 1975). NUMA National Underwater and Marine Association, founded by Clive Cussler, www.numa.net. OR The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901), ser. 1 unless noted otherwise. ORA Thomas Yoseloff, ed., The Official Atlas of the Civil War (New York: Harper and Row, 1967). ORN Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, 30 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1894–1922). SCH Robert Wilden Nesser, Statistical and Chronological History of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1907 (New York: Burt Franklin, 1970). WCWN Paul H. Silverstone, Warships of the Civil War Navies (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1989). WPD Frederick Way Jr., Way’s Packet Directory, 1848–1983 (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1983). WSTD Frederick Way Jr. and Joseph W. Rutter, Way’s Steam Towboat Directory (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1990).
Timeline of Events in Alabama During the WBTS Dec. 6, 1860: Alabama Governor Andrew Barry Moore calls for the election of delegates to secession convention. Dec. 24, 1860: Election of delegates to Alabama secession convention. Dec. 2, 1861: Governor Shorter vows in his inaugural address that "Alabamians never will surrender." Dec. 1862: Union raid up the Choctawhatchee River (northern Florida/southeastern Alabama). Aware of the inadequate Confederate defenses in the area ; a combined force of sailors from the USS Charlotte and the 91st Infantry Volunteers moved up the Choctawhatchee River to seize a steamship called the Bloomer. On December 27th, the Bloomer was seized without discovery, whereas the citizens of Geneva did not discover the presence of the raiding party until the engine of the Bloomer was fired. A defense was thwarted when issues of a lack of weapons, the propriety of going out of state, and concerns over drawing a response by the Yankees. Dec. 1, 1863: Former CSA Attorney General, Thomas Hill Watts, is inaugurated as governor. Dec. 12, 1863: The legislature appropriates $3 million to be distributed to purchase corn for indigent soldiers' families. Dec. 9, 1864: Governor Watts to Gen. Richard Taylor: "The cries of starving people are coming up to me almost every day from that section [north Alabama]."
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Alabama Units in the WBTS Twenty-Eight Alabama Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized at Shelby Springs, March 29, 1862, about 1100 strong, to serve "for three years or the war." Shortly after the battle of Shiloh, the regiment reached Corinth, where many of the men died of disease. Brigaded under Gen. T. Rapier (shortly after succeeded by Gen. Duncan and Col. Manigault), with the Tenth and Nineteenth South Carolina, and Thirty-fourth Alabama - to which the Twenty-fourth Alabama was soon after added - the Twenty-eighth was first under fire in a skirmish at Corinth, where it lost two men. From Tupelo to Chattanooga, thence into Kentucky with Gen. Bragg, and the regiment fell back to middle Tennessee with the army. It fought at Murfreesboro with many casualties, but captured a battery. The winter and spring were passed near Tullahoma, and the regiment was hotly engaged at Chickamauga, losing largely in killed and wounded. At Lookout Mountain the regiment was nearly surrounded by the enemy, and fought desperately, losing 172 killed, wounded, and captured. It was also engaged two days later at Mission Ridge with some loss. During the winter, at Dalton, the Twenty-eighth re-enlisted "for the war." It participated in the severe campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, taking part in all the fighting, and losing largely in proportion to the men it had present for duty. The regiment followed Gen. Hood into Tennessee, and took part in the desperate and fruitless struggles at Franklin and Nashville, with severe loss. From that tragic theatre it went to North Carolina, where it was consolidated with the Twenty-fourth and Thirty-fourth Alabama, with J.C. Carter of Montgomery as colonel, Starke H. Oliver of Mobile as lieutenant colonel, and P.G. Wood of Dallas as major. The regiment surrendered at Greenesboro, N.C. in Sharpe's brigade, Hill's division, S.D. Lee's corps.
Twenty-Ninth Alabama Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized at Pensacola in February, 1862, by the addition of two companies to the Fourth Alabama battalion - a body of eight companies, which had been organized the autumn before at Montgomery. The regiment remained at Pensacola till it was evacuated, suffering much from diseases that usually afflict raw troops. It then lay between Pollard and Pensacola for over a year, when it was ordered to Mobile, and there remained from July 1863 to April 1864, save a short time that it was at Pollard. The regiment then joined the Army of Tennessee at Resaca, in time to initiate the Atlanta-Dalton campaign, and was brigaded with the First, Seventeenth, and Twenty-sixth of Alabama, and Thirtyseventh of Mississippi regiments, commanded at different intervals by Col. Murphey of Montgomery, Gen. O'Neal of Lauderdale, and Gen. Shelley of Talladega. The Twenty-ninth was engaged at the battle of Resaca with a loss of about 100 killed and wounded, out of 1100 men engaged. At New Hope the loss was very heavy, and at Peach-tree Creek the regiment was cut to pieces. Again, July 28, near Atlanta, half of the regiment was killed and wounded in the fierce and protracted assault on the enemy's line. The Twenty-ninth then moved into Tennessee with Gen. Hood, and lost very heavily in casualties at Franklin, and largely in casualties and prisoners at Nashville. A remnant of it moved into the Carolinas, and was engaged at Kinston and Bentonville with considerable loss. About 90 men surrendered at Greensboro, N.C.
Thirtieth Alabama The Thirtieth was organized at Talladega April 16, 1862, and reported for duty at once to Chattanooga. Sent further into east Tennessee, it was brigaded under Gen. Reynolds of Tennessee, then under Gen. Stevenson. The regiment skirmished at Tazewell and Cumberland Gap, and moved into Kentucky, but was not engaged. On the return to Tennessee, the Thirtieth was brigaded with the Twentieth, Twenty-third, Thirty-first, and Forty-sixth Alabama, under Gen. Tracy of Madison, and in December was sent to Vicksburg with the other portions of Stevenson's division. In the spring the regiment fought with few casualties at Port Gibson, but was bathed in blood at Baker's Creek, where it lost 229 men killed, wounded, and missing - half of its number - and had four ensigns killed, and its colors rent by 63 balls and 16 shell fragments. Pent up in Vicksburg, the Thirtieth suffered severely in casualties during the siege, and was captured with the fortress. Paroled, the regiment recruited at Dempolis, and proceeded, with other portions of the brigade - now under Gen. Pettus of Dallas - to the main army near Chattanooga. The regiment was engaged without loss at Mission Ridge, and wintered at Dalton. At Rocky-face the Thirtieth suffered severely, and lightly at Resaca. From there to Atlanta its tattered colors floated at the front of the fire-tried Army of Tennessee, the regiment losing heavily at New Hope, Atlanta, and Jonesboro. Proceeding into Tennessee, the Thirtieth was cut up at Nashville, but was part of the rear guard back to Duck River. Transferred to North Carolina, the regiment fought at Kinston and Bentonville, suffering severely in casualties. With the army the Thirtieth surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina, about 100 men being present for duty. (Continued Next Page)
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AL Civil War Units (Continued): Thirty-First Alabama Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized at Talladega, in April 1861, and reported to Gen. Leadbetter at Chattanooga shortly after. It then moved up to Knoxville, where it was brigaded under Gen. Barton, Stevenson's division. The regiment was at the investment of Cumberland Gap, and took part in the fight at Tazewell. With Gen. E.K. Smith's column it was in the Kentucky campaign, without coming up with the enemy. When the forces came back, it was permanently brigaded with the Twentieth, Twenty-third, Thirtieth, and Forty-sixth Alabama, and under Gen. Tracy of Madison. In December, the Thirty-first accompanied Stevenson's division to Vicksburg. In May 1863 it was initiated into the sternest duties of war at Port Gibson, where the regiment suffered severely. It fought at Baker's Creek, and the loss was very heavy. As part of the garrison of Vicksburg, the regiment shared in the dangers and privations of that siege, and, after losing a number killed and wounded, was surrendered with the fortress. Placed in parole camp at Demopolis, the Thirty-first was soon exchanged. With Gen. Pettus in command of the brigade, the regiment joined the army of Tennessee, and was engaged with slight loss at Mission Ridge. It wintered at Dalton, and in the memorable campaign from Dalton to Atlanta it bore a full share in the dangers and hardships which have made it a bloody but proud page in Southern annals. It followed Gen. Hood into Tennessee, and after sustaining severe losses at Columbia and Nashville, was the rear-guard of the retreating army. Transferred to North Carolina, the regiment was hotly engaged at Bentonville, and a fragment of the 1100 with which it entered the service stacked arms at Greensboro, as part of Pettus' brigade.
Thirty-Second Alabama Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized at Mobile, in April 1862, and three months later proceeded to Tennessee. It was first under fire at Bridgeport, where it forded the Tennessee in the face of the enemy. Shortly after, the regiment captured Stevenson, with valuable stores. It operated in the middle of Tennessee, part of the time under Gen. Forrest, and was surprised and overpowered at Lavergne, losing a number of prisoners. Placed in Gen. D.W. Adams' brigade, the Thirty-second fought with severe loss at Murfreesboro. Having wintered at Tullahoma, the regiment was part of the force sent to Mississippi to the relief of Vicksburg. It was in the trenches at Jackson, and, without loss, repulsed an assault in the enemy, 260 of whose dead were counted and buried in front of its position. Two or three months later, the Thirty-second rejoined the Army of Tennessee, and participated in the battle of Chicamauga with small loss. It was then transferred from Adams' brigade to that of Gen. Clayton of Barbour, and consolidated with the Fifty-eighth Alabama, where its further record will be found.
Thirty-Third Alabama Infantry Regiment The Thirty-third was organized at Pensacola in April 1862, and proceeded to Corinth just after the battle of Shiloh. Placed in the brigade commanded by Col. Hawthorn of Arkansas, the regiment remained at Tupelo till the Kentucky campaign was entered on. It was part of the brigade of Gen. Wood of Lauderdale, and in Buckner's division, and was present at the capture of Mumfordsville. At Perryville the Thirty-third received its first terrible lesson in the horrors of battle, for it entered that conflict about 500 strong, and came out with 88 rank and file, the others having fallen in the bloody struggle. It came out of Kentucky with the army, and at Murfeesboro the loss of the regiment was comparatively large, for it was in Cleburne's division. The remainder of the winter was spent in camps near Tullahoma, and the regiment retired behind the Tennessee during the summer. In the grand forward movement on the enemy's line at Chicamauga, the Thirty-third suffered very heavily. Gen. M.P. Lowery of Mississippi having relieved Gen. Wood of the command of the brigade - Sixteenth, Thirty-third Mississippi regiments, and Gibson's (Ala.) and Newman's (Tenn.) battalions - the Thirty-third was effectively engaged at Mission Ridge without loss. It was part of the wall of fire that checked the exultant federals at Ringgold Gap, where it lost but one man. The regiment passed the winter at Dalton, and was in the incessant battle from there to Atlanta, fighting during the day and entrenching at night, and losing many by the casualties of battle, particularly at New Hope, and around Atlanta. Having followed Gen. Hood into Tennessee, it moved to the assault of the enemy's works at Franklin, with 285 men, and lost over two-thirds of them, mostly killed. Transferred to North Carolina, the Thirty-third took part in the operations there, and a remnant was there surrendered.
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Events Leading to the WBTS: 1860 - U.S. slave population in the 1860 United States Census: 3,954,174. - The United States Census of 1860 concludes the U.S. population is 31,443,321, which is an increase of 35.4 percent over the 23,191,875 persons enumerated during the 1850 Census. - The 1860 Census shows 26 percent of all Northerners but only 10 percent of Southerners live in towns or cities. The census also shows that 80 per cent of the Southern workforce but only 40 per cent of the Northern work force works in agriculture. - Southern opposition kills the Pacific Railway Bill of 1860. President Buchanan vetoes a homestead act. - February 27: Lincoln gives his Cooper Institute speech against the spread of slavery. - Also in February, U.S. Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi presents a resolution stating the Southern position on slavery, including adoption of a Federal slave code for the territories. - Knights of the Golden Circle reach maximum popularity and plan to invade Mexico to expand slave territory. - April 23–May 3: The Democrat Party convention begins in Charleston, South Carolina. Southern radicals, or "fire-eaters", oppose front runner Stephen A. Douglas's bid for the party's Presidential nomination. The Democrats begin splitting North and South as many Southern delegates walk out. Douglas cannot secure the two-thirds of the vote needed for the nomination. After 57 ballots, the convention adjourns to meet in Baltimore 6 weeks later. - May 9: Former Whigs from the border states form the Constitutional Union Party and nominate former U.S. Senator John C. Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for VicePresident on a one-issue platform of national unity. - William H. Seward of New York, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania are leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, along with more moderate Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, when the Republican convention convenes in Chicago on May 16. Lincoln supporters from Illinois skillfully gain commitments for Lincoln. On May 18, Lincoln wins the Republican Party nomination for President. The Republicans adopt a concrete, precise and moderately worded platform which includes the exclusion of slavery from the territories “but the affirmation of the right of states to order and control their own "domestic institutions." - June 18: The main group of Democrats meeting in Baltimore, bolstered by some new Douglas Democrat delegates from Southern states who were seated to the exclusion of the Southern delegates from the previous session of the convention, nominates Douglas for President. - June 28: Southern Democrats nominate Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President. Their platform endorses a national slave code. - Honduran militia stops another filibuster effort by William Walker. They capture and execute him before a firing squad on September 12, 1860.
- November 6: Abraham Lincoln wins the 1860 presidential election on a platform that includes the
prohibition of slavery in new states and territories. Lincoln wins all of the electoral votes in all of the free states except New Jersey where he wins 4 votes and Douglas wins 3. The official count of electoral votes occurs February 13, 1861. - November 7, 9: Charleston, South Carolina authorities arrest a Federal officer. The officer attempted to move supplies to Fort Moultrie from Charleston Arsenal. Two days later, the Palmetto Flag of South Carolina is raised over the Charleston harbor batteries. - November 10: The South Carolina legislature calls a convention to consider whether the State should secede from the Union for December 17. U.S. Senators James Chesnut, Jr. and James Henry Hammond of South Carolina resign from the U.S. Senate. - November 14: Congressman Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, later Vice President of the Confederate States of America, speaks to the Georgia legislature in opposition to secession.
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Events (Continued): - November 15: Major Robert Anderson of the First United States Artillery, a 55-year old career army officer from Kentucky, was ordered to take command of Fort Moultrie and the defenses in Charleston Harbor, including Fort Sumter. - November 15: United States Navy Lieutenant Tunis Craven informs authorities in Washington, D.C. that he is proceeding to take moves to protect Fort Taylor at Key West, Florida and Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Craven rightly suspects Southern States will try to seize federal property and military supplies. - November 20: Lincoln says that his administration will permit states to control their own internal affairs. - November 23: Major Anderson requests reinforcements for his small force at Charleston. - December 4: President Buchanan condemns Northern interference with slave policies of Southern states but also says states have no right to secede from the Union. - December 8, 1860–January 8, 1861: Buchanan administration cabinet members from the South resign. Secretary of the Treasury Howell Cobb of Georgia resigns on December 8. On December 23, President Buchanan asks for the resignation of Secretary of War John B. Floyd, a former governor of Virginia, whose actions appear to favor the Southern secessionists. He arranged to shift weapons from Pittsburgh and other locations to the South. The War Department stops the transfer of weapons from Pittsburgh on January 3. Floyd resigns on December 29. United States Secretary of the Interior Jacob Thompson of Mississippi resigns on January 8, 1861. - December 10: South Carolina delegates meet with Buchanan and believe he agrees not to change military situation at Charleston. - December 11: Major Don Carlos Buell delivers a message to Major Anderson from Secretary of War Floyd. Anderson is authorized to put his command in any of the forts at Charleston to resist their seizure. Later in the month Floyd says Anderson violated the President's pledge to keep the status quo pending further discussions and the garrison should be removed from Charleston. Floyd soon will join the Confederacy. - December 12: Secretary of State Lewis Cass of Michigan resigns. He believes President Buchanan should reinforce the Charleston forts and is unhappy about Buchanan's lack of action. - December 17, 20, 24: The South Carolina Secession Convention begins on December 17. On December 20, Secession begins when the convention declares "that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of the 'United States of America' is hereby dissolved." The convention published a Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union in explanation and support of their position. The document cites "encroachments on the reserved rights of the states" and "an increasing hostility of the non-slaveholding states to the institution of slavery" and "the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States, whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery" as among the causes. On December 24, South Carolina Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens declares the act of secession in effect. - December 18, 1860–January 15, 1861: Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposes the "Crittenden Compromise". Its main features are a constitutional amendment that would reinstate the Missouri Compromise line between free and slave territory and retention of the fugitive slave law and slavery where it existed, including in the District of Columbia. On January 16, 1861, the Crittenden Compromise is effectively defeated in the United States Senate. - December 20: Vice President John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, unsuccessful candidate of the Southern Democrats for President and later Confederate general and Secretary of War, appoints a Committee of Thirteen U.S. Senators of differing views, including Jefferson Davis, Robert Toombs, William Seward and Stephen A. Douglas, to consider the state of the nation and to propose solutions to the crisis. On December 31, the Committee reports they are unable to agree on a compromise proposal. - December 21, 24: The four United States Congressmen from South Carolina withdraw from the U.S. House of Representatives, but on December 24 the House refuses their resignations. (Continued Next Page)
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Events (Continued): - December 26, 27, 30: Under cover of darkness, Major Anderson moves the Federal garrison at Charleston, South Carolina from Fort Moultrie, which is indefensible from the landward side, to the unfinished Fort Sumter, which is located on an island in Charleston harbor. He spikes the guns of Fort Moultrie. Secessionists react angrily and feel betrayed because they thought President Buchanan would maintain the status quo. The next day South Carolina troops occupy the abandoned Fort Moultrie and another fortification, Castle Pinckney, which had been occupied only by an ordnance sergeant. On December 30, South Carolina troops seize the Charleston Arsenal. - December 28: Buchanan meets with South Carolina commissioners as "private gentlemen." They demand removal of federal troops from Charleston. Buchanan states he needs more time to consider the situation. On December 31, Buchanan says Congress must define the relations between the Federal government and South Carolina and that he will not withdraw the troops from Charleston. - December 30, 1860–March 28, 1861: Brevet Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, asks permission from President Buchanan to reinforce and resupply Fort Sumter but receives no reply. On March 3, 1861, Scott will tell Secretary of State–designate William Seward that Fort Sumter can not be relieved. On March 5, he will tell President Lincoln that he agrees with Major Anderson's assessment that the situation at Charleston could only be saved for the Union with 20,000 reinforcements. On March 6, Scott says the U.S. Army can do no more to relieve Fort Sumter and only the U.S. Navy could aid the fort's garrison. On March 11, he again advises President Lincoln that it would take many months for the army to be able to reinforce Fort Sumter. On March 28, Scott recommends to the President that Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida be evacuated.
This Month in the WBTS December 7, 1862: Battle of Prairie Grove. December 13, 1862: Fredericksburg, Va., Union troops under Gen. Ambrose Burnside were repulsed in their efforts to reach Richmond by the forces of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet. It was a major Union defeat, with more than 12,000 Union casualties. Confederate losses were 5,309. December 15, 1864: Battle of Nashville, Tennessee. Hood's Rebel Army of 23,000 is crushed at Nashville by 55,000 Federals, including Negro troops under General George H. Thomas. The Confederate Army of Tennessee ceases as an effective fighting force. December 20, 1864: Confederates evacuate Savannah, Georgia. December 21, 1864: Savannah, Georgia, is occupied by Sherman's troops, ending the "March to the Sea." Sherman reached Savannah, leaving behind a 300 mile long path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta. December 26, 1862: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou. December 31, 1862: Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River), Tennessee.
Confederate Generals Birthdays Brig. General Archibald Gracie Jr. - 1 Dec. 1832 - New York, N.Y. Brig. General Micah Jenkins - 1 Dec. 1835 - Edisto Island, S.C. Maj. General William Mahone - 1 Dec. 1826 Southampton Co., Va. Brig. General Rufus Barringer - 2 Dec. 1821 - Cabarrus Co., N.C. Brig. General Henry Alexander Wise - 3 Dec. 1806 - Accomack, Va. Maj. General William Wing Loring - 4 Dec. 1818 - Wilmington, N.C. Brig. General Henry Eustace McCulloch - 6 Dec. 1816 - Rutherford Co., Tenn. Brig. General Robert Bullock - 8 Dec. 1828 - Greenville, N.C. Brig. General Joseph Orville Shelby - 12 Dec. 1830 - Lexington, Ky. Brig. General Stand Watie - 12 Dec. 1806 - near present day Rome, Ga. Brig. General Daniel Harris Reynolds - 14 Dec. 1832 - Centerburg, Ohio
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Confederate Generals B’days (Continued): Brig. General Allen Thomas - 14 Dec. 1830 - Howard Co., Md. Brig. General Robert Selden Garnett - 16 Dec. 1819 - Essex, Va. Brig. General Samuel Garland Jr. - 16 Dec. 1830 - Lynchburg, Va. Maj. General Henry Heth - 16 Dec. 1825 - Chesterfield Co., Va. Maj. General Samuel Jones - 17 Dec. 1819 - Powhatan Co., Va. Brig. General James Thadeus Holtzclaw - 17 Dec. 1833 - Henry Co., Ga. Brig. General Thomas Pleasant Dockery - 18 Dec. 1833 - North Carolina Maj. General Arnold Elzey - 18 Dec. 1816 - Somerset Co., Md. Brig. General James Jay Archer - 19 Dec. 1817 - Bel Air, Md. Brig. General John Carpenter Carter - 19 Dec. 1837 - Waynesborough, Ga. Brig. General Richard Lucian Page - 20 Dec. 1807 - Clarke Co., Va. Brig. General Daniel Addison Weisiger - 23 Dec. 1818 - Chesterfield Co., Va Brig. General Milledge Luke Bonham - 25 Dec. 1813 - Red Bank, S.C. Brig. General Preston Smith - 25 Dec. 1823 - Giles Co., Tenn. Brig. General William Nelson Pendleton - 26 Dec. 1809 - Richmond, Va. Brig. General Charles Miller Shelly - 28 Dec. 1833 - Sullivan Co., Tenn. Maj. General William Booth Taliaferro - 28 Dec. 1822 - Gloucester Co., Va. Brig. General Albert Pike - 29 Dec. 1809 - Newburyport, Mass. Brig. General James Cantey - 30 Dec. 1818 - Camden, S.C. Brig. General Mark Perrin Lowery - 30 Dec. 1828 - McNairy Co., Tenn.
Give the Gift of History Searching for a gift for that special someone who is passionate about the Civil War and preserving our nation's history? Check out our large selection of unique Civil War Gifts » "Give an Acre" – Battlefield land saved
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Looking for a final chance to save battlefields in 2012? Check out our current preservation opportunites »
From our President November 2012 Dear Civil War Preservationist, How many times in life do you get to do something that is truly heroic? How many times do you get the chance - not just to preserve - but to reclaim, restore and even resurrect a part of America's history that seemed to have been lost forever? In 2005 the Trust worked to buy and restore the "Pizza Hut" property at Franklin. I can remember swinging the sledge hammer against the sides of that building, helping begin the site's transformation into a battlefield park. Now, in the final days of 2012, we have another grand opportunity to reclaim more of the once-lost Franklin Battlefield. Along with two other great tracts, the Trust, working with our friends at Franklin's Charge, is now pushing to reclaim the "strip center." We've been waiting a long time to preserve this property. Instead of paving over our nation's history, we will reclaim it, and make it a must-see destination! I can't wait to swing my sledge hammer once more. Join me in saving this hallowed ground. - Jim Lighthizer, Civil War Trust President
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CWT News (Continued):
Save the Franklin Battlefield The Trust is proud to announce a new opportunity to reclaim perhaps the bloodiest acre of any Civil War battlefield - the very ground where Confederate soldiers under the command of Pat Cleburne, Hiram Granbury, and Francis Cockrell were locked in a savage struggle with men from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Learn more about our efforts to reclaim the "strip center" and two other key tracts at Franklin. Save Franklin » RESTORING FRANKLIN, TRACT BY TRACT: Learn more about the efforts by the Trust and local preservation partners to reclaim, tract by tract, the core of the Franklin battlefield. Learn More » BULL RUN BATTLE APP FOR IPAD: Download our new Bull Run HD Battle App to your Apple iPad or iPad Mini. Our new Battle App for the iPad takes full advantage of the larger screen sizes and delivers additional battlefield imagery. Download the App Today » VIDEO: THE BREAKTHROUGH AT FRANKLIN: Historian Eric Jacobson describes the terrible fighting near the center of the Federal line at the Battle of Franklin - land that the Trust is now working to reclaim. Watch the Video » NEW 2013 CIVIL WAR TRUST CALENDAR: Get your stunning, full-color Civil War Trust 2013 Wall Calendar, featuring a Civil War fact for each day of the year and beautiful photos from our annual photo contest. Order Your Calendar Today » UPDATED ABRAHAM LINCOLN PAGE: Check out our expanded Abraham Lincoln page. Historian videos, lesson plans, photo exhibits, primary sources, history articles, and so much more await you. Visit the Page » GIVE AN ACRE! : Looking for a unique gift for someone who is passionate about the Civil War and preserving our battlefields? How about putting an acre of battlefield land into their stockings? Give an Acre » VIDEO: RECLAIMING THE BATTLEFIELD: Historian Eric Jacobson talks about the opportunity to reclaim the "strip center" at Franklin - possibly the bloodiest acre that the Trust will ever have the chance to save. Read the Article » GREAT NEWS FROM GAINES' MILL: Read more about our victory at Gaines' Mill. The 285 acres saved at Gaines' Mill greatly expands the amount of saved land at this landmark Seven Days battlefield. Read More » GIFT MEMBERSHIPS: Help expand our ranks. Give the gift of history; give a Civil War Trust membership to a friend, family member, or colleague. Our online giving page allows you to send e-cards to your designated recipients. Gift Membership Page » 10 FACTS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN: How much do you know about the Battle of Franklin? Did you know that the Confederate assault on November 30, 1864 was larger than Pickett's Charge? Learn More » VIDEO: LINCOLN AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY: Curator Frank Goodyear showcases some of the most interesting Lincoln portraits in the collection at the National Portrait Gallery. Watch the Video » VIDEO: THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS: Civil War historian Jared Frederick describes the significance of President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Gettysburg Address. Watch the Video » NOVEMBER CIVIL WAR BATTLES: Expand your knowledge of the Civil War by learning more about some of the great Civil War battles that occurred in the month of November. Access our history articles, photos, maps, and links for the battles listed below: Chattanooga » Mine Run »
Spring Hill »
Franklin »
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CWT News (Continued): Dispatches From the Front Lines Civil War preservation news from around the country Civil War Trust sets sights on raising $339,000 for Franklin properties Finding Common Ground: A Preferred Development Plan for the Wilderness Battlefield Gateway Area Schedule for Battle of Fredericksburg 150th Commemorations Schedule for the Battle of Stones River 150th Commemoration 2012 Shapes Up as Banner Year for Future of Franklin's Historic Past (Tennessean.com) The "Interpretive Choice" in Spielberg's Lincoln A Little Mystery Solved-the Jackson Rock, and a Little Commercial Crassness Thanksgiving 1862 in the Defenses of Washington Near Chain Bridge
Letter from the Development Team Dear Member, "Tis the season to be jolly!" And all of us who are associated with the Museum of the Confederacy have a lot about which to be jolly and thankful: 2012 has been a remarkable year. Thanks to each and every one of you for being such an important part of all that has been accomplished. With only 26 days to go, we hope you have the Museum in your year-end giving plans. With only several weeks left until the end of the tax year, and with the uncertainties of the tax laws in 2013, this would be a grand time for you to remember the Museum in your last gifts of 2012. You have always been so generous and we know we can count on you again. Let's send 2012 out with a flourish and welcome 2013 in with a rush of glad tidings and joyous expectations for the Museum of the Confederacy. Thank you and Happy Holidays; O.T. Crowther Vice President for Advancement
Museum of the Confederacy Launches New Online Version of the Haversack Store Just in time for the Holidays, the Museum of the Confederacy has rolled out a new and improved online wing of the Haversack Gift Shop. Featuring Civil War-themed books, toys, posters, and novelties, the online store provides a comprehensive and convenient location to shop for the Civil War buff in your life. Members, your 10% store discount is honored online as well! Log onto the Members Only section of the MOC website to find out how. Click here to start shopping today.
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MOC News (Continued):
New Addition to the Wilkinson Video Showcase: Flag Conservation at the Museum of the Confederacy In the early 1990s, the Museum of the Confederacy initiated a long-term flag conservation program to conserve, increase access, and allow further research of the most definitive collection of Confederate flags in existence. One of the most recent and successful projects of this program was the conservation of the Caroline Greys flag. Learn more about the amazing reconstruction of this flag and about the process of conserving a flag by clicking here. Members can enjoy bonus footage of the Flag Conservation video in the Members Only section of the MOC website.
2012 is Winding Down! It's nearly the end of the calendar year! That means time is running out to make tax-deductible donations to the Museum of the Confederacy for the 2012 tax year! We've set a goal of $100,000 we hope to raise by December 31st. We can't do it without your help! A great way to support the operations of the Museum of the Confederacy is to make a gift to the Annual Fund. These gifts help the Museum continue its mission, and as a recognized non-profit institution, donations to the MOC mean a tax write-off for you! You can donate online by clicking here, or contact the Museum's Development Department at (855) 649-1861 ext. 143. Annual Fund donations help preserve the collection for future generations, and your support is greatly appreciated.
A Lasting Legacy for Future Generations We deeply appreciate your financial generosity to the Museum. Your support enables us to remain the world's most comprehensive collection of Confederate artifacts, offering educational and research programs to students and scholars from all over the world. Through your gifts to the Museum, you are personally a part of the MOC's accomplishments, which is something of which to be proud. You can play a critical role in the Museum's future as well by establishing a planned gift in your will, living trust, retirement plan, or insurance policy. Your planned gift can be made for any amount and is revocable at any time. Creating a planned gift to the Museum can also benefit your family by substantially reducing estate taxes. Your legacy of a planned gift to the MOC can have a lasting impact on the future of the Museum, preserving its treasured heritage for future generations. Please let us know if you create a planned gift to the Museum so that we may thank you and ensure that we carry out your wishes. To inform the Museum of your planned gift or to learn more about planned giving, please call Constance Bowden, Development Officer, at (855) 649-1861 ext 144, or cbowden@moc.org.
The Alabama Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Lt. General Joseph Wheeler Scholarship Guidelines For Awarding Of The Alabama Division Sons Of Confederate Veterans Lt. General Joseph Wheeler Scholarship For more information, go to http://www.aladivscv.com/forms/wheeler_scholarship.pdf
Fredericksburg 1862 From the Dixie Rose Relief Society Facebook page "The city [Fredericksburg] was almost deserted, General Lee advising the citizens to leave their homes as soon as it became apparent that a battle would be fought here. Still a few, loath to leave their all to the ravages of an army, decided to remain and trust to fate. But soon after the firing along the river began, we saw groups of women and children and a few old men in the glim twilight of the morning rushing along the roads out from the city as fast as their feeble limbs and tender feet could carry them, hunting a safe retreat in the backwoods until the cloud of war broke or passed over. (Continued Next Page)
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Fredericksburg (Continued):
Some were, carrying babes in their arms, others dragging little children along by the hands, with a few articles of bedding or wearing apparel under their arms or thrown over their shoulders. The old men tottered along in the rear, giving words of comfort and cheer to the excited and frightened women and little ones. It was a sickening sight to see these helpless and inoffensive people hurrying away from the dangers of battle in the chilly morning of December, seeking some safe haunt in the backwoods, yet they bore it all without murmur or complaint." ~ D. Augustus Dickert (2nd Lt D. Augustus Dickert Kershaw Brigade) As the two armies began the gunfire and shelling, virtually every house suffered damage. The residents who remained suffered frightful horror, as described by Fanny White, who was just ten at the time: "… I ran out into the yard, and as I turned toward the cellar steps I beheld what seemed to me the most brilliant light that I had ever seen….A shell had ex ploded at the back of the garden….As I looked, my aunt reached out her arms and pulled me, quivering with terror, into the cellar….For long hours the only sounds that greeted our ears were the whizzing and moaning of the shells and the crash of falling bricks and timber. My mother and we three children were seated on a low bed with [our servant] Caroline...huddled as close as she could get, trying to keep warm….My aunt was cowering inside [the large old fashioned fireplace]; every time a ball rolled through the house or a shell exploded she would draw herself up and moan and shiver."
Confederate Christmas Ideas from Military Issue magazine. http://www.militaryissue.com/search_results.po?product=&category=&search=confederate&start=0
Civil War Personal Checks http://www.bradfordexchangechecks.com/products/1800399001_Patriotic%20Personal% 20Checks.html
Bob Dylan sings “Dixie” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBXNwxjU4I
Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings Civil War Songs Of The South http://www.rhapsody.com/album/Alb.47210851
The Confederate Flag Still Flies in the South An award-winning 2001 documentary of the present day descendants of the "Confederado" immigrants to Brazil. It is set against the background of the "Festa Confederada". http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fVJrv5V-uMY
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Stonewall Jackson and the Confederate Draft March 30, 1862 (Sunday)
At the end of February 1861, Richmond gave President Jefferson Davis the power to “assume control of all military operations in every State.” In May of the same year, he did away with short term enlistments, requiring recruits to remain in the army until the war was over. With the surge of one-year enlistments immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter, by the end of 1861, the Confederate Army was soon to be reduced to a mere fraction of its number if something was not soon done to entice the men to reenlist. A fifty dollar bounty and two-month furlough worked some magic. It did not, however, solve anything permanently. By the middle of winter, 1862, volunteers to the Rebel cause were slow to enlist. The pomp and gusto surrounding Fort Sumter was gone. In another attempt to save their army, the Confederate Congress Governor John realized they needed to gain new recruits (not just reenlistments), and that a centralized control must be held over the army.3 Letcher The act being debated would give authorities in Richmond the power to call upon every able-bodied male between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five to serve their new nation. On March 28, Davis gave an impassioned (and uncharacteristically short) speech before Congress, urging them to pass the conscription act. Davis reasoned that “all persons of intermediate ages not legally exempt for good cause, should pay their debt of military service to the country, that the burdens should not fall exclusively on the most ardent and patriotic.”4 The next day, Virginia’s Governor Letcher, figuring that the national Congress would pass the bill, disbanded the militia, transferring them into the Confederate Army. In Posters, such as doing this, he did not create new regiments for the new recruits, but instead, placed 5 this from 1861, them within already established regiments in order to bring them to full strength. This policy would remain in the South throughout the war. It had some positive didn't really effects. For one, green troops would be placed alongside veteran troops, allowing the work so well anymore. more experienced soldiers to bring the less experienced up to speed. It also maintained regimental identity. As the war progressed, new conscripts would have some idea what their unit had been through prior to their arrival. In the North, things were done in the opposite manner, new conscripts funneled into new regiments, the advantages of the Southern method completely lost. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Stonewall Jackson by James I. Robertson, MacMillan Press, 1997. [↩] Shenandoah 1862 by Peter Cozzens, University of North Carolina Press, 2008. [↩] Conscription and Conflict in the Confederacy by Albert Burton Moore, University of South Carolina Press, 1924. [↩] Speech before Congress, March 28, 1862. As printed in The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, Volume 2, 1862. [↩] 5. Shenandoah 1862 by Peter Cozzens, University of North Carolina Press, 2008. [↩]
http://civilwardailygazette.com/2012/03/30/stonewall-jackson-and-the-confederate-draft/
A Confederate's View of the Yankee People Said to be written by a Confederate officer captured at Gettysburg who was writing to some friends on another subject when his mind turned to the Yankees: "They believed their manners and customs more enlightened, their intelligence and culture immeasurably superior. Brim-full of hypocritical cant and puritan ideas, they preach, pray, and whine. The most parsimonious of wretches, they extol charity; the most inveterate blasphemers, they are the readiest exporters; the worst of dastards, they are the most shameless boasters; the most selfish of men, they are the most blatant philanthropists; the blackest-hearted hypocrites, they are religious fanatics. They are agitators and schemers, braggarts and deceivers, swindlers and extortioners, and yet pretend to Godliness, truth, purity, and humanity. The shibboleth of their faith is, 'The union must and shall be preserved,' and they hold on to this with all the obstinancy peculiar to their nature. They say that we are a benighted people, and are trying to pull down that which God himself built up. "Many of these bigots express great astonishment at finding the majority of our men could read and write; they have actually been educated to regard the Southern people as grossly illiterate, and little better than savages. The whole nation lives, breathes, and prospers in delusions; and their chiefs control the spring of the social and political machine with masterly hands. "I could but conclude that the Northern people were bent upon the destruction of the South. All appeared to deprecate the war, but were unwilling to listen to a separation of the old union. They justified the acts of usurpation on the part of their government, and seem submissive to the tyranny of its acts on the plea of military necessity; (Continued Next Page)
28 they say that the union is better than the Constitution, and bow their necks to the yoke in the hope of success against us. A great many, I believe, act from honest and conscientious principles; many from fear and favor; but the large majority entertained a deep-seated hatred, envy, and jealousy towards the Southern people and their institutions. "They know (yet they pretend not to believe it) that Southern men and women are their superiors in everything relating to bravery, honesty, virtue, and refinement, and they have become more convinced of this since the present war; consequently, their worst passions have become aroused, and they give way to frenzy and fanaticism. We must not deceive ourselves; they are bent upon our destruction, and differ mainly in the means of accomplishing this end. However, much as sections and parties that hate each other, yet, as a whole, they hate us more. "They are so entirely incongruous to our people that they and their descendants will ever be our natural enemies."
Yankees (Continued):
Submitted by Commander David Allen
Man admits to removing Confederate soldier's remains from Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Staff Reports The Springfield News Leader Springfield, MO November 7, 2012
A man will pay restitution and perform community service after admitting to removing human remains from Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. Coy Matthew Hamilton, 31, of Springfield will pay $5,351 to the National Park Service and perform 60 hours of community service to avoid federal prosecution, David Ketchmark, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri said today in a news release. Hamilton said he found the remains in February 2011 as he was canoeing down Wilson’s Creek, through National Battlefield, looking for archaeological artifacts. Hamilton said he saw a bone sticking out of an eroded embankment by the creek, the release said. Hamilton tried removing the bone but broke it. He started to dig and removed several bones. “Ten days later, Hamilton, through an intermediary, turned the bones in to the National Park Service,” the release said. In April 2011, Dr. Caven Clark with the National Park Service, reported that the skeleton, which was about 29 percent complete, was of a person at least 20 years old at the time of death. Through further investigation, including recovery of buttons with the skeleton, Clark determined the remains are most likely from a Confederate soldier. Hamilton could have been prosecuted for excavating, damaging or removing any archaeological resource located on public lands without a permit, the release said. http://www.news-leader.com/article/20121107/NEWS01/311070122/1264/RSS?nclick_check=1
Civil War Trust opens interpretive trail Staff Reports The Civil War Courier Morristown, TN November 9, 2012
(SRING HILL, Tenn.) – Earlier this month, the Civil War Trust, the nation’s largest battlefield preservation organization has unveiled its latest interpretive walking trail, a half-mile loop that connects to the grounds of Rippavilla Plantation, showcasing the battle and the resulting escape of Union forces on November 29, 1864. The new trail augments the Trust’s earlier interpretation efforts at the battlefield — the five-stop Battle of Spring Hill Trail, located on a 110-acre section of preserved battlefield owned by the Trust and Maury County a short distance to the east. The effort is part of the Tennessee Civil War Trails program and received generous funding support from the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. “Actually walking the land of a Civil War battlefield brings history to life like no other experience,” said Trust president Jim Lighthizer. “The preservation and interpretation of this land at Rippavilla will allow visitors to understand the unique story of this battle more thoroughly than ever before. We are deeply grateful to the partners who helped make the planning, funding and creation of this trail a reality.” Following a decision by General Motors, LLC (GM) to divest itself of surplus holdings in the region, the uncertain fate of historically significant land at Spring Hill placed the battlefield on a variety of “endangered” lists. In September 2010, the Trust was joined at a press conference by Sen. Lamar Alexander to formally announce the beginning of a public-private partnership to preserve this important 84-acre property. The project received a $1.9 million matching grant from the federal American Battlefield Protection Program, an arm of the National Park Service. Ultimately, the Trust acquired this property through a fee-simple purchase, while an adjacent 100-acre parcel was conveyed directly from GM to Rippavilla, creating a 184-acre historic park surrounding the stately home and museum. The landmark opportunity was hailed by then-governor Phil Bredesen as “a tremendous boon for Middle Tennessee, and the entire nation.” (Continued Next Page)
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Trail (Continued):
On November 29, 1864, on ground just north of Rippavilla, Gen. William B. Bate’s Confederate division encountered elements of Gen. John M. Schofield’s Union army, as it attempted to slip northward along the Columbia Pike to join a Union army at Nashville. Fighting erupted across the property as the two sides cautiously maneuvered in the autumn twilight. But Bate’s advance toward the pike was halted; and, although Confederate troops were encamped across the property just a few yards away, the Federals pulled off perhaps the greatest escape of the entire war — some 20,000 of them slipping past in the night and setting the stage for the bloody and decisive Battle of Franklin—a small town that lay between Spring Hill and Nashville. http://www.civilwarcourier.com/?p=26392
Commander of Andersonville Exonerated After 150 Years Ray McBerry Enterprises in a Georgia SCV Press Release
November 11, 2012
On Sunday afternoon, November 4, memorial services honoring Capt. Henry Wirz were held in Andersonville, Georgia, the site of one of the saddest stories of the American War Between the States. Hanged as a scapegoat shortly following the War, Captain Wirz has a tall obelisk monument dedicated to his memory in downtown Andersonville, and natives of the region who know well the truths behind the years of revisionist history hold services in his memory each fall. Now, after 150 years, the true story of the Andersonville is finally being told as part of the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the War. The story of Andersonville is well known, often having been told by Hollywood, writers, and historians. The true story of Andersonville is not as well known. Established as the location of a prisoner of war camp by the Confederacy during the War for Southern Independence because of its remote location from the front of the War and because of the location of the rail depot for transport, Camp Sumter at Andersonville was one of the primary POW camps in the South during the War. Of the 45,000 Union prisoners held at Andersonville during the War, more than 12,000 perished, mainly from malnutrition and dysentery. The nearly 28 percent mortality rate among the prisoners is a sad fact of the War but is also one that is often grossly over reported, particularly in light of the fact that at the same Camp, 226 of the roughly 1,000 Confederate guards also died from the same conditions. Approximately the same number of Confederate guards and Union prisoners died at Andersonville because of the blockade that the Union had enforced upon the South, along with the scorched earth policy practiced by Sherman as he marched through Georgia and the Carolinas. Food and medical supplies were simply not to be had at that late date during the War. To his credit, Captain Wirz attempted to alleviate the suffering of the Union prisoners by paroling five Union officers and sending them to the Union lines to offer the prisoners at Andersonville as an exchange for Confederate prisoners. In spite of the fact that the Union soldiers reported the scarcity of food and medicine available to the Confederates in Andersonville, their pleas fell on deaf ears with Union leadership. Union General Ulysses S. Grant had enacted a nationwide ban on prisoner exchanges; knowing that the South did not possess the food and supplies to properly care for prisoners, Grant sealed their fate by refusing to even accept an offer by Captain Wirz to provide food and medical relief for the prisoners. Following the War, Captain Wirz was blamed for the malnutrition and lack of medical service provided to the prisoners in Andersonville. His efforts to alleviate their suffering went unheard; and on November 10, 1865 at 10:32 a.m., Henry Wirz was hanged in Washington, D.C. In an act of barbarity, his body was dismembered; and parts of it were placed on public display in Northern museums. For the last 150 years, both Captain Wirz and the South have been blamed for the death of the prisoners who fell at Andersonville; but little has been said of his efforts to save them or of the same percentages of Confederate guards who died at the Camp. Still less is reported of the atrocities which occurred against Confederate POW's in Union prison camps such as Elmyra Prison, New York where 25 percent of the prisoners died, or Camp Douglas, Illinois where more than 25 percent of the Confederate prisoners died as compared to less than five percent of the guards stationed there throughout the War. In fact, Senate Resolution 97, a joint resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in 1865, ordered that Confederate POW's should be intentionally subjected to malnutrition, lack of medical attention, and exposure to the elements. While the stated purpose of the new U.S. policy was retaliation for the poor treatment of Union POW's, it addressed neither the problem of the South having adequate food and medicine for prisoners nor the refusal of President Lincoln to provide for prisoner exchanges in order to alleviate the suffering of Union prisoners. For interviews regarding the story of Andersonville or for more information on the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the War, please call Jack Bridwell, Division Commander for the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans at 1-866SCV-in-GA or visit online at www.GeorgiaSCV.org
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Russell Kirk's "Southern Valor" Clyde N. Wilson The Imaginative Conservative
September 12, 2012
M.E. Bradford, who departed this vale of tears one year before his friend Russell Kirk, published an appreciation of Kirk in the pages of The Intercollegiate Review eighteen years ago. He likened Kirk, aptly, to his "neglected predecessor in American thought," Orestes Brownson. Brownson was a widely learned and deeply earnest conservative democrat of the nineteenth century, who (like Kirk) "settled in Michigan, and ended up a Roman Catholic and a traditionalist."[1] Brownson was also a disciple of John C. Calhoun, an advocate of federalism, and a defender in the North of the Southern people both before and after the War between the States. Brownson's twenty volumes of collected works reflect a lifelong engagement in defense in the public order of Christianity, tradition, and genuine social justice. His likeness to Kirk is indeed compelling in every respect, not the least in that these two men of letters from the Deep North appreciated the necessity of encompassing the South in any persuasive and viable traditionalist vision of American society. Privately, Bradford liked to tell the story of how his Vanderbilt mentor, the poet and unreconstructed Southern Agrarian Donald Davidson, had met the young man Kirk sometime in the early fifties before Kirk had burst on the scene with the first edition of The Conservative Mind. "Dr. Don" instructed Bradford that Kirk was a man whose friendship and collaboration were to be cherished—and so they were for three decades. Davidson's admiration for Kirk was reciprocated. In a late piece Kirk wrote: Browsing in 1939 in the library at Michigan State College, an earnest sophomore, I happened upon a new book...entitled The Attack on Leviathan, and subtitled Regionalism and Nationalism in the United States. It was written eloquently, and for me it made coherent the misgivings I had felt concerning the political notions popular in the 1930s. The book was so good that I assumed all intelligent Americans were reading it.[2] Only later did Kirk learn that Davidson's book had been ignored by the intelligentsia and pulped by its publisher not long after it appeared. Many years after, Kirk put The Attack on Leviathan on his list of the ten most important conservative books, along with Burke, Adams, Brownson, Tocqueville, Roepke, Eliot, and others. And he saw to its republication in his Library of Conservative Thought. "Both before and after the Civil War," Kirk wrote in drawing up his list of ten, "half the important conservative books of America have been written in the South."[3] He might have added that many if not all of the Northern conservatives he celebrated in The Conservative Mind, like Cooper, Melville, and Brownson, had a Southern tinge and Southern sympathies. In his characteristically charming style, which eschewed the journalistic, polemical, and pedantic, and hearkened back more than any other writer of our time to the graceful, gentlemanly communication of eighteenth century Britain, Kirk observed, in another late piece: More than sixty years ago, when I was a fourth-grader in the very northern town of Plymouth, Michigan, twelve Southerners published a book entitled I'll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. That same volume, a heartfelt defense of the permanent things in the South's culture, has been discussed ever since....Young men and women who come to study with me in my northern fastness discover this literature—even without my having commented on any of it—and read the books, night upon night, even to the witching hour of three.[5] On many other occasions Kirk praised the Southern Agrarians, whom he likened to the "Celts of the Twilight," going often to battle but seldom to victory. "The authors of I'll Take My Stand did not propound a rigorous ideology or display a model of Utopia; the principle purpose it was to open eyes to the illusions of Modernism." Their position was "not the only mode of conservative thought, but it is an important mode."[5] The aims that Kirk correctly ascribed to the Southern writers were, of course, his own; and the same is true of their disciple Richard Weaver and of every other twentieth-century thinker worthy to wear the colors of traditionalist. They were engaged in a common struggle—a fight, as Bradford put it, against "discontinuity, rupture, and drastic innovation."[6] That is to say, they stood against that strong current of Americanism that regards our country as a notion, an unfinished infinitely malleable proposition for progress and democracy. America was, rather, though a new land in the wilderness, a fabric of culture stretching back to Jerusalem, Rome, Athens, and London. Which is, of course, self-evidently true and yet ignored in most of our public discourse, including the words of many who fancy themselves "conservatives." As Bradford described it in his essay on Kirk's achievements: "Kirk's amiable but unremitting determination is to require of our generation a grudging admission that America has a religious, a moral, and therefore a political genealogy; a patrimony that could be called unrevolutionary and not at all modern...."[7] Russell Kirk was invariably "amiable," as Bradford put it, as well as eclectic and generous. His conservatism was never an ideology but a wide net that captured all who gave allegiance to "the permanent things." ("The permanent things" and the "moral imagination" were two of Kirk's favorite phrases.) Only very rarely was he provoked into a mild irritation with those he felt were not true defenders of the permanent things, such as libertarians and neo-conservatives. (Continued Next Page)
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Valor (Continued):
Thus, while Kirk did not like to emphasize differences, being a student of history he understood perfectly well tensions and incompatibilities between different ways of being conservative. The incompatibility, for instance, between the tradition represented by Randolph, and Calhoun, and Brownson, on the one hand, and that of Alexander Hamilton, on the other hand, that dubious conservative who "fascinates those numerous Americans among whom the acquisitive instinct is confounded with the conservative tendency."[8] This Kirk, in The Conservative Mind, put very gently, but it is clear which side he was on in the division that runs all through American history and makes even today a gulf dividing those who call themselves "conservatives." Irving L. Horowitz, Kirk's publisher in recent times, in a moving and very insightful memorial tribute, commented that "for Russell, what ought to be is at least as important as what is in the conduct of human affairs." And, "he understood that our world was comprised, if not shrouded, in mystery and paradox; and hence in need of dispositions and not dogmas."[9] This is quite far from that often prevailing progressive and pragmatic side of the American spirit, which prefers results to mysteries. Horowitz describes in his reference to "disposition" what was one of Kirk's main themes always: the moral imagination, that Western man at his best reflected and was guided by spiritual apprehensions and historical wisdom, not by the abstractions of social improvers and their little pamphlets and party platforms. This is the chief lesson Kirk drew from Burke and Kirk's chief legacy to us. "Moral" because only in such a full mythopoeic role can man, made in the image of God and not merely a culture-bearing animal, fulfill his real ethical nature. "Imagination" because the employment of that faculty leads to understandings liberated from the material and animal and because most of the really important wisdom of the race is preserved in imaginative and not rationalistic form. Patrick Buchanan, in his tribute to Kirk, put the same lesson in slightly different words. He summarized Kirk's primary message as the truth that ideology, the curse of our sad century, is merely a sham religion that takes possession of a soul that is empty. Whether it is fascism, Marxism, democratic capitalism, "the end of history," or any other secular utopia.[10] This rejection of ideology is a mode of thinking, and living, that Kirk shared with the Southern Agrarians and with the subject of his first book, Randolph of Roanoke: A Study in Conservative Thought (1951). For many years I have asked persons at various conservative gatherings what books have most influenced their thinking. A surprisingly large number, over three decades or more, have pointed to Kirk’s Randolph, more than have mentioned The Conservative Mind. That a conservative of Kirk’s stamp should value the south should not shock anyone. It was, after all, Randolph, the quintessentially Southern statesman, who said: "I love liberty and hate equality,” thus summing up the American traditionalist’s creed as well as it has ever been done. Where else in America than in the South could Kirk find substantial and continuing traditions to oppose egalitarianism and utilitarianism, to affirm the American link with British culture and a propertied order, a preference for local liberties and prescriptive rights, and a distaste for abstract schemes and rationalistic progress? For in fact, as Kirk recognized in the section of The Conservative Mind which he entitled "Southern Valor," the South, for reasons historians have long contended about, has retained more firmly than elsewhere a kind of primal, telluric connection with the tradition of Old Western Man, both selfconsciously in political revolt and unconsciously in its folk fabric. All of which is evidenced clearly by the statistics on Christian orthodoxy, personal and local loyalty, and willingness to fight. (Since this is providential it can be a source of satisfaction but not of self-satisfaction for Southerners.) What Kirk called "Southern Valor" and what Richard Weaver described as the "older religiousness of the South" is simply Burke's "the cheap defense of nations," "the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise," and "unbought grace of life." (This is also the reason, to quote a title by Davidson, "Why the Modern South Has a Great Literature.") Kirk's Southern alliance is not surprising then, any more than was Brownson's. Nevertheless, at the time he published Randolph of Roanoke it was daring to choose as his exemplary American conservative and Burkean the most intransigently Southern of all American statesmen. This Kirk well realized, because he addressed that very matter in the book's opening passage. What relevance could the ideas of the eccentric Randolph have for postwar America? America, which presently finds herself the chief protector of the traditions of Western society and therefore a conservative nation, has suffered from a paucity of men of conservative intellect. She needs to reexamine her first principles, if she is to withstand the social atomization which most of the world is experiencing.[11] Here Kirk was not only explaining his attention to Randolph of Roanoke, but describing his own life's work, which was then at its beginning. And the words are perhaps truer now, getting nigh on half a century after they were written, than ever before. In response to this felt need of the early 1950s, Kirk pointed out that Calhoun was at last receiving the attention he deserved, which indeed he was, from conservative and moderate scholars like Peter Drucker, Margaret Coit, Clinton Rossiter, Felix Morley, and others. The study of Randolph was even more justified then; his thought "was an appeal to tradition, and against the god Whirl, and it has its disciples yet."[12] (Continued Next Page)
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Valor (Continued):
At this date, when we take for granted the learning that Kirk, Weaver, Bradford, and others have made conventional in regard to the Southern aspect of American conservatism, it is easy to forget how bold was Kirk's strategy. The received wisdom of American conservatism, such as it was at that time of its intellectual nadir, followed Henry Adams's nasty writings in which Randolph was presented as a crazed genius, "the sable arm of the South." The South was regarded, and nowhere more so than among the acquisitive Hamiltonian conservatives, as the most radical and, indeed, evil part of America, least of all a repository of essential values. When it was not ignored entirely. In a chapter called "Change Is Not Reform," Kirk felt compelled to argue down the prejudice that Randolph was not a statesman at all. For too many Americans, a statesman was not he who preserved the ancient constitution, shaping when necessary, but he who hacked it down to clear the ground for ever newer and grander constructions. Wrote Kirk: Truly conservative statesmen—leaders whose chief desire is the preservation of the ancient values of society—have been rare here; often men called conservatives have been eager for alteration of a nature calculated to encourage a very different kind of society—Hamilton most conspicuous among them. Professed devotion to the cause of undefined progress and innovation has been virtually a prerequisite for political advancement...." In this Kirk was strictly in the tradition of Southern politics. Like the Founding Fathers and the Southern writers he admired, Russell Kirk was a genuine man of letters, effortlessly combining the wisdom of history and literature with the needs of the daily world—a rare thing in our time of journalism and "social science." The man of letters, though broadly learned and capable of a scholarly exposition or a philosophical argument, is not a pedant. Able to turn out a craftsman-like story or poem, yet he is not a self-conscious artist. Willing, if the times are so disjointed as to demand it, to pen a scathing political polemic, he definitely is not an ideologue. American culture and public life are in a perilously low state, but how much worse off we would be if it had not been for Russell Kirk and his valorous life in behalf of the moral imagination that is the essence of our civilization. We have no better example of resourceful defense of unchanging principle, through bad times and worse.[14] Clyde N. Wilson is distinguished professor emeritus of history at the University of South Carolina, where he was the editor of the multivolume The Papers of John C. Calhoun and a number of other books including The Essential Calhoun in Russell Kirk's Library of Conservative Thought. Reprinted with the gracious permission of The Intercollegiate Review (Fall 1994).
Notes: 1. "A Proper Patrimony: Russell Kirk and America's Moral Genealogy," in M.E. Bradford, A Better Guide than Reason: Studies in the American Revolution (LaSalle, IL: Sherwood Sugden, 1979), p.215. It was first published in The Intercollegiate Review, vol. 12 no.1, fill 1976. 2. "Donald Davidson and the South's Conservatism," in Russell Kirk's The Politics of Prudence (Bryn Mawr, PA: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 1993), pp. 99-100. 3. "Ten Conservative Books," in The Politics of Prudence, p. 54. 4. The Politics of Prudence, p. 107. 5. Ibid., p. 112. 6. A Better Guide, p. 208. 7. Ibid., p. 29. 8. Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind, From Burke to Eliot, 4th revised edition (New York: Avon Books, 1968), p. 80. 9. Irving Louis Horowitz, "Remarks Delivered at a Memorial Service for Russell Kirk at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Washington, D.C." Typescript, pp. 1-2. 10. Patrick J. Buchanan, "Russell Kirk: Giant of American Conservatism," in Putting America First,vol.l. no.5 (June 1994): 2. 11. Russell Kirk, Randolph of Roanoke: A Study in Conservative Thought (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951), pp. 1-2. 12. Ibid., p. 2. 13. Ibid., p. 134. 14. Crisis: A Journal of Lay Catholic Opinion in its October 1993 issue (vol. 11, no. 9) has published five substantial essays on Kirk's career and contributions.
http://www.imaginativeconservative.org/2012/08/russell-kirks-southern-valor.html
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New Estimate Raises Civil War Death Toll
Guy Gugliotta
new york times
new york, ny April 12, 2012
For 110 years, the numbers stood as gospel: 618,222 men died in theCivil War, 360,222 from the North and 258,000 from the South — by far the greatest toll of any war in American history. But new research shows that the numbers were far too low. By combing through newly digitized census data from the 19th century, J. David Hacker, a demographic historian from Binghamton University in New York, has recalculated the death toll and increased it by more than 20 percent — to 750,000. The new figure is already winning acceptance from scholars. Civil War History, the journal that published Dr. Hacker’s paper, called it “among the most consequential pieces ever to appear” in its pages. And a pre-eminent authority on the era, Eric Foner, a historian at Columbia University, said: “It even further elevates the significance of the Civil War and makes a dramatic statement about how the war is a central moment in American history. It helps you understand, particularly in the South with a much smaller population, what a devastating experience this was.” The old figure dates back well over a century, the work of two Union Army veterans who were passionate amateur historians: William F. Fox and Thomas Leonard Livermore. Fox, who had fought at Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, knew well the horrors of the Civil War. He did his research the hard way, reading every muster list, battlefield report and pension record he could find. In his 1889 treatise “Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1861-1865,” Fox presented an immense mass of information. Besides the aggregate death count, researchers could learn that the Fifth New Hampshire lost more soldiers (295 killed) than any other Union regiment; that Gettysburg and Waterloo were almost equivalent battles, with each of the four combatant armies suffering about 23,000 casualties; that the Union Army had 166 regiments of black troops; and that the average Union soldier was 5 feet 8 1/4 inches tall and weighed 143 1/2 pounds. Fox’s estimate of Confederate battlefield deaths was much rougher, however: a “round number” of 94,000, a figure compiled from after-action reports. In 1900, Livermore set out to make a more complete count. In his book, “Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America, 1861-65,” he reasoned that if the Confederates had lost proportionally the same number of soldiers to disease as the Union had, the actual number of Confederate dead should rise to 258,000. And that was that. The Fox-Livermore numbers continued to be cited well into the 21st century, even though few historians were satisfied with them. Among many others, James M. McPherson used them without citing the source in “Battle Cry of Freedom,” his Pulitzer-winning 1988 history of the war. Enter Dr. Hacker, a specialist in 19th-century demographics, who was accustomed to using a system called the two-census method to calculate mortality. That method compares the number of 20-to-30year-olds in one census with the number of 30-to-40-year-olds in the next census, 10 years later. The difference in the two figures is the number of people who died in that age group. Pretty simple — but, Dr. Hacker soon realized, too simple for counting Civil War dead. Published census data from the era did not differentiate between native-born Americans and immigrants; about 500,000 foreign-born soldiers served in the Union Army alone. “If you have a lot of immigrants age 20 moving in during one decade, it looks like negative mortality 10 years later,” Dr. Hacker said. While the Census Bureau in 1860 asked people their birthplace, the information never made it into the printed report. As for Livermore’s assumption that deaths from disease could be correlated with battlefield deaths, Dr. Hacker found that wanting too. The Union had better medical care, food and shelter, especially in the war’s final years, suggesting that Southern losses to disease were probably much higher. Also, research has shown that soldiers from rural areas were more susceptible to disease and died at a higher rate than city dwellers. The Confederate Army had a higher percentage of farm boys. Dr. Hacker said he realized in 2010 that a rigorous recalculation could finally be made if he used newly available detailed census data presented on the Internet by the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota. The center’s Integrated Public Use Microdata Series had put representative samples of in-depth, sortable information for individuals counted in 19th-century censuses. This meant that by sorting by place of birth, Dr. Hacker could count only the native-born. Another hurdle was what Dr. Hacker called the “dreadful” 1870 census, a badly handled undercount taken when the ashes of the war were still warm. But he reasoned a way around that problem. Because the census takers would quite likely have missed as many women as men, he decided to look at the ratio of male to female deaths in 1870. Next, he examined mortality figures from the decades on either side of the war — the 1850s and 1870s — so that he could get an idea of the “normal” ratio of male to female deaths for a given decade. (Continued Next Page)
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Casualties (Continued):
When he compared those ratios to that of 1860-70, he reasoned, he would see a dramatic spike in male mortality. And he did. Subtracting normal attrition from the male side of the equation left him with a rough estimate of war dead. It was a better estimate than Fox and Livermore had produced, but Dr. Hacker made it clear that his was not the final answer. He had made several assumptions, each of which stole accuracy from the final result. Among them: that there were no war-related deaths of white women; that the expected normal mortality rate in the 1860s would be the average of the rates in the 1850s and 1870s; that foreign soldiers died at the same rate as native-born soldiers; and that the War Department figure of 36,000 black war dead had to be accepted as accurate because black women suffered so terribly both during and after the war that they could not be used as a control for male mortality. The study had two significant shortcomings. Dr. Hacker could make no estimate of civilian deaths, an enduring question among historians, “because the overall number is too small relative to the overall number of soldiers killed.” And he could not tell how many of the battlefield dead belonged to each side. “You could assume that everyone born in the Deep South fought for the Confederacy and everyone born in the North fought for the Union,” he said. “But the border states were a nightmare, and my confidence in the results broke down quickly.” With all the uncertainties, Dr. Hacker said, the data suggested that 650,000 to 850,000 men died as a result of the war; he chose the midpoint as his estimate. He emphasized that his methodology was far from perfect. “Part of me thinks it is just a curiosity,” he said of the new estimate. “But wars have profound economic, demographic and social costs,” he went on. “We’re seeing at least 37,000 more widows here, and 90,000 more orphans. That’s a profound social impact, and it’s our duty to get it right.” Guy Gugliotta is the author of the new book “Freedom’s Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/civil-war-toll-up-by-20-percent-in-new-estimate.html? pagewanted=all
Submitted by Compatriot Walter Dockery
America's Simple-Minded Obsession with the Confederate Flag Journalists love to recycle old clichés about the rebel banner. But its days as an official symbol of Southern pride are rapidly coming to an end. Staff
The Atlantic new york, city August 16, 2012
Next month's Democratic National Convention and the nomination of the nation's first black president for a second term in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, will provide an ideal backdrop for those looking to assess the region's progress on the racial front. At front and center for many sits the Confederate flag. Reports are likely to resemble this recent article from The Charlotte Observer, written by Elizabeth Leland, who believes that "remnants of the Old South linger in our region -- and none as divisive as the Confederate flag." Such articles follow a well-worn pattern that includes interviews with one or two white southern men who fly the flag on their property or pickup truck and believe it represents "heritage, not hate." (As an auto mechanic quoted in Leland's story puts it, "I've lived here since I was a little rascal and A pickup truck decked out with my daddy always had an American flag and a Confederate flag, Confederate and U.S. flags drives south and I do, too.") of Miami. (Reuters) This affirmation of benign Southern pride is typically followed by a quote from a local historian who reminds us of the centrality of slavery and white supremacy to the Confederate cause. The author's inevitable plea "that it is time we put it away" leaves the reader with the impression that an inordinate number of white southerners remain preoccupied with the flag. This overly simplistic narrative masks a more complex history, as well as evidence suggesting that attitudes about the Confederate flag are, in fact, continually evolving in the South. (Continued Next Page)
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Not all Confederate soldiers fought under the blue St. Andrew's cross (more accurately, the saltire). And apart from its use during veterans events, the flag's visibility was minimal during the decades following the war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the United Daughters of the Confederacy sought to protect the flag's connection to the men in the ranks by maintaining a strict code governing its usage in public. Misuse and alignment with questionable causes, they believed, would not only soil the meaning of the flag, but the memory of the Confederacy and the righteousness of its cause as well. By the 1940s, however, the flag could be seen at University of Mississippi football games and other popular events, ushering in what historian John Coski has called a "flag fad." That fad eventually extended to the far reaches of the nation, and the flag can now be seen on every kind of trinket and tchotchke imaginable. However, the flag's most lasting legacy -- and the source of much of the controversy today -- can be traced to its use as a symbol of "Massive Resistance" by the Dixiecrats beginning in 1948 and continuing through the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. During that period, the flag became the standard for those committed to defending classrooms, bus depots, and other public spaces (now battlefields themselves) from black encroachment. In fact, the flag's use throughout the 20th century covered a time span significantly longer than its presence on Civil War battlefields. Its placement atop southern statehouses like South Carolina ultimately reinforced the flag's connection to segregation and racism. Confederate flags no longer enjoy those privileged perches. In fact, over the past few years, white and black southerners have become less tolerant of the public display of the flag, which has relegated its supporters to the sidelines and a much more defensive posture. Last year, the city of Lexington, Virginia, banned the flying of the flag from public fixtures. This past spring, the Museum of the Confederacy opened a new branch at Appomattox that did not include the display of the flag outside its doors. Finally, late last year, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond removed Confederate flags flying on the grounds of the Confederate Memorial Chapel, which the museum oversees. The museum's decision led to the creation of a grassroots group called the Virginia Flaggers, but despite daily protests in front of the museum and a social media presence, its efforts have met with no success. The Sons of Confederate Veterans utilized their mailing lists and other resources in response to all three events, but they also have little to show for their efforts. These shifting fault lines suggest that while white and black southerners may tolerate the right of the individual to display the flag on private property, its display on public grounds and at other institutions will be met with suspicion and openly challenged. None of this easily fits into the popular narrative of a region mired in the past that uses a 19th century flag to pit the races against one another. I suspect there will be few, if any, Confederate flags to count during the coverage of next month's DNC, and that should tell us a great deal about how far we've come as a nation. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/08/americas-simple-minded-obsession-with-the-confederateflag/261236/
Monument to Victims of War Crimes Dedicated in Roswell, GA. Ray McBerry Enterprises in a Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans Press Release October 22, 2012
It reads like something taken from the tragedies of Bosnia, Iraq, and Cambodia. An invading army entered a small town left undefended and proceeded to burn the cotton mills, which were the only industry native to the region and the only livelihood of the remaining inhabitants of the small town. Nearly 400 of the surviving women, children, and elderly men who worked in the mills were rounded up, arrested for treason as civilians, found guilty by the ranking commander of the invading army, and summarily sentenced to deportation out of their native region. The 400 victims were then subjected to a forced march of thirteen miles, where they were herded into locomotive cattle cars. Many did not survive the ensuing trip of more than 400 miles; and most of those who did were never heard from again in their native region. This historical story is not that of some third world country but of Georgia citizens who suffered as the victims of war crimes at the hand of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in Roswell, Georgia during his infamous "march to the sea" during the War Between the States. The incident of July 10, 1864 ignited outrage against the atrocities of Northern troops in both the North and the South during the War and nearly resulted in the entrance of England into the War on the side of the Confederacy. In 2000, a Victorian style monument dedicated to the memory of the 400 Roswell mill workers was erected in the park on Sloan Street in Roswell; and on Saturday, September 30, 2012, a history marker which tells the story was placed near the monument as a joint effort of the local Sons of Confederate, Veterans Roswell Mills Camp 1547 and Georgia's Civil War Commission as part of the ongoing commemoration of the Sesquicentennial (150th) Anniversary of the War. More is planned in 2014 on the 150th anniversary of the deportation of the Roswell mill workers.
For interviews regarding the historical monument dedicated to the Roswell victims or for more information, please call Jack Bridwell, Division Commander for the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans at 1-866-SCV-in-GA or visit online at http://www.GeorgiaSCV.org
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Haywood to limit display of Confederate flag Jon Ostendorff Ashville Citizen-Times Asheville, NC November 19, 2012
WAYNESVILLE — A move by Haywood County leaders to limit the posting of Confederate flags on the courthouse lawn is unconstitutional, according to a prominent attorney representing the Sons of Confederate Veterans in North Carolina. We believe that it is patently unconstitutional if it’s adopted the way they have worded it,” said Kirk D. Lyons, chief trial counsel of the Southern Legal Resource Center. http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20121119/NEWS01/121119013/Haywood-limit-display-Confederate-flag? nclick_check=1
Lincoln document on sale in Philly for $900,000 Joann Loviglio msn.com news
November 20, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A document signed by President Abraham Lincoln ordering Union blockades of Confederate ports, marking the official start of the Civil War, is for sale. The Raab Collection in Philadelphia said Tuesday it is selling the document, which it calls one of the most important in American history. The asking price is $900,000. Lincoln's proclamation is dated April 19, 1861 — a week after the first shots of the conflict were fired at South Carolina's Fort Sumter. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion ascribed Lincoln's April 19 blockade order as the official beginning of the war. "This action was bold and with great risk," said Nathan Raab, vice president of The Raab Collection. "Lincoln was aware that the blockading of ports was an act of war." Some of the president's cabinet objected the move, saying it could be seen as a de facto recognition of the Confederate States of America as a sovereign nation because countries do not blockade their own ports. Lincoln, however, "was less interested in the legal definitions of 'war' than in victory, and he approved it despite the objections," Raab said. The document, which has been owned by a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous, was exhibited recently at museums including the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Ill. The single-page manuscript authorizes Lincoln's secretary of state to "affix the Seal of the United States to a Proclamation setting on foot a Blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas." The seal was affixed to the blockade proclamation announced that day, effectively declaring war on the Confederacy. Between 1861 and 1865, the Union Navy blockade successfully crippled the Confederate economy by largely preventing the import of supplies and ammunition and the export of cotton and other trade goods to and from ports along 3,500 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The strategy, part of Gen. Winfield Scott's so-called Anaconda Plan, is seen by historians as a key factor in the Union's victory. http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20121120&id=15817868
Confederate Battle Flags Displayed in Felton Shop Window with Message: "History, Not Hate Alex Darocy Santa Cruz Indymedia Santa Cruz, CA
November 22, 2012
Today, a Thanksgiving trip to The Witch's Cottage, an antique shop located in Felton, revealed what has been a slow moving topic of discussion as of late in the small town located in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains: the shop is currently displaying two Confederate flags in its front windows, along with a hand written statement taped nearby that reads: "History...Not Hate." One is what appears to be a full sized replica-version of a Confederate battle flag, and the other is a smaller sticker labeled as being produced in 1999 by Eagle Emblems Inc., which sells a variety of military-style, "emblematic" products. The shop is located along Highway 9, and in addition to the Confederate flags, two American flags also hang, and visible are stickers with statements supporting the American troops, and a sticker denoting membership in the San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce. The main shop window is full of what look to be 1970s and 1980s era pop culture curios. (Continued Next Page)
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It's uncertain what the "local" reaction will be to the Confederate flags, or if there has been any attempts by the public to communicate with the owner about them. The Witch's Cottage is located in a small and somewhat isolated shopping strip along a state highway that sees very little foot or bicycle traffic. For comparison, in 2009 a Nazi flag was displayed from an apartment window above Pacific Avenue in a busy location of downtown Santa Cruz, and the resulting protests received coverage by a variety of commercial media outlets. Rapidly, community members who were offended and wanted the flag to be removed began a letter writing campaign aimed at the apartment's owner and management, who then created a rule banning the public display of hate symbols by tenants. The flag was removed shortly after that. The small towns located along Highway 9 in the San Lorenzo Valley have, like most areas in Santa Cruz County, experienced a regular pattern of racially motivated crime and other incidents over the years. In 2005, several reported incidents of violence against people of color motivated the community of Boulder Creek to combat it in a variety of ways, including holding a candlelight vigil to make a public statement against racism. In 2008, the San Lorenzo Valley based organization "For the People" operated in violence intervention and youth development, working with "gang-affiliated" youth. It was mentioned specifically on their website that included those in "white power" gangs. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) describes the Confederate flag as a, "state sponsored symbol of white supremacy," and many of that organization's actions include working for the removal of the Confederate flag from governmental and public displays across the country. The Confederate flags that hang at The Witch's Cottage are of the battle flag variety, and when the Texas NAACP was working to have the Confederate flag removed from license plates in that state, they stated in a press release that, "any objective person should understand that the Confederate Battle Flag represents repression and is a badge of slavery. Besides that, we all know that the Confederacy had an official flag and the Battle Flag was not one that was adopted by the Confederacy nor did it ever fly over Texas. It was adopted by hate groups as a means of expressing anti-Black sentiments and the rest is history. If there was a desire simply to honor one’s ancestors it for certain would not be by using this particular flag." The Texas NAACP didn't mince words with their arguments, and the organization went on to state that the display of the Confederate flag would lead to the "psychological harm" of African Americans, and that it is a symbol of "discrimination, disrespect and hatred." The national branch of the NAACP has also worked to have the Confederate flag removed from "private" enterprises, most notably when expressing disappointment with to the band Lynard Skynard when that group recently decided to reverse a decision to remove the Confederate flag from their concerts. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/11/22/18726250.php
Cross over the River, a Confederate Collection wins Album of the Year Not your normal subject matter, but Jed Marum composer, picker and singer created an album that trumped all telling the story of the South! Mark Vogel The Nolan Curve Washington, DC November 23, 2012
Every year tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Southerners participate in parades, battle re-enactments, cotillions, balls, and living history to portray and celebrate the South and its past. The interest in the South is much larger than those who take time to relive and recreate the noble and tragic history of Dixie. The South is alive today. No not a South that embraces slavery, but a South that embraces Christ, the Southland and all its mysteries and magic. The South is not dead, rather a revival of its culture, pride, and unique regional identity is percolating just below the surface. No, a visiting Yankee might not see it. But if'n you turn off the paved road and get back where the creek runs through the woods, well you might not only find a still brewing "white lightening", but may be you may even hear a tune floating through the air. Follow that tune‌ ou see there is a man, Jed Marum, who is singing in taverns and inns, at crossroads and meetings. Boston born, Jed is Celt, and his roots are deep. When he moved from the northeast to Texas some years ago, it was as if his soul had found its home. One of his most humorous tunes is I didn't know I was Yankee 'til I moved to Texas. Few songs I have heard so truly tell of the unique character and traits of Texas in the brevity and wit of this foot stomping tune. Jed be blessed with one of the truest of Irish gifts, he can tell a yarn with not only words, but song. Jed is story teller, a musician, a composer who is gifted in his ability to conjure up, and express in ballads the feelings of the Celts of the South one hundred and fifty years ago. (Continued Next Page)
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Cross Over the River (Continued): He is comfortable with the logic and soul that originally brought us the melodies of Scotland and Ireland. He is so comfortable that he writes modern music that brings forth the spirit of the Celts who were the heart of gray clad legions defending the South from an invading horde intent on conquering and breaking the spirit of Dixie. But, there are alot of men across the South who can pick a guitar, or banjo, and harmonize the great songs of the past. But there are not too many who can write modern-day memories of the past. In 2009 Jed's melodies and lyrics in Cross Over the River, A Confederate Collection earned JP Folk ALBUM OF THE YEAR! The story of the South is not oft told, and very little known even by people who are born in Dixie today. For example, how do you think a Southerner would have felt about the hanging of the terrorist John Brown? Do today's students or citizens realize that the very first man killed at Harper's Ferry, Virginia by John Brown was a free black man?! Or, what thoughts went through the minds of the men who rode to Lawrence, Kansas to repay a vengeful debt for Yankee atrocities against Southerners in Missouri? And then there's Shenandoah's run, a musical tale that tells of the final days of the Confederacy's last commerce raider. The Shenandoah operated in the northern Pacific and Bering Sea obliterating the Yankee whaling fleet of the day! When it's captain learned of the surrender of the Confederacy a decision had to be made, what to do with the noble Shenandoah? Listen to this song and find out! And if your blood fought in the bloody battles of the western theatre, whether you be rooted in Yankeeland or the magnolias of the South, you know of the South's most famous Irish general, Patrick Cleburne. Jed's ballad, titled Stonewall of the West, fills an Irishman with the pride we feel when we remember our great warriors. There are old traditional songs like Cindy, Shenandoah, and Backland Races. And still other songs of Jed's composition; Come Back Katy, Monaghan's Lament, Hard Times and After the Dance. Simply put, this is an album I can't stop playing. But when I do, I reach for another of Jed's. Jed's music reaches past the American Civil War to tell the story of the Celts over centuries. My favorite is Sands of Aberdeen. These collections of songs demonstrate the softer side of Jed, and bring peace to my being. As the world, through "diversity" moves to homogeneity I long for my own past, my own traditions and loves. You see I am Irish, Scot, German and Southern. For me, I could ask for no more in terms of the past that has been mixed in my blood. Jed touches three of those lines in a way only a descendant can feel. Jed's music is available at his site. But to be honest, to really enjoy him, you need to bring him to you. Jed travels nationwide. Contact him; see what you can work out. The larger your event, the more you are gonna be very happy you were to bring him to your people. But don't be afraid to contact him for anything, small or large. I sit with a smile on my face....I know Jed and believe I can call him a "kin soul." http://www.nolanchart.com/article9972-cross-over-the-river-a-confederate-collection-wins-album-of-the-year.html
Library Of Congress 'Civil War In America' Exhibit Displays Documents, Letters For The 1st Time Brett Zongker The Huffington Post Washington, DC November 24, 2012
WASHINGTON -- Letters and diaries from those who lived through the Civil War offer a new glimpse at the arguments that split the nation 150 years ago and some of the festering debates that survive today. The Library of Congress, which holds the largest collection of Civil War documents, pulled 200 items from its holdings to reveal both private and public thoughts from dozens of famous and ordinary citizens who lived in the North and the South. Many are being shown for the first time. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, for one, was grappling with divided federal and state allegiances. He believed his greater allegiance was to his native Virginia, as he wrote to a friend about resigning his U.S. Army commission. "Sympathizing with you in the troubles that are pressing so heavily upon our beloved country & entirely agreeing with you in your notions of allegiance, I have been unable to make up my mind to raise my hand against my native state, my relatives, my children & my home," he wrote in 1861. "I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army." Lee's handwritten letter is among dozens of writings from individuals who experienced the war. They are featured in the new exhibit "The Civil War in America" at the library in Washington until June 2013. Their voices also are being heard again in a new blog created for the exhibition. For a limited time in 2013, the extensive display will feature the original draft of President Abraham Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and rarely shown copies of the Gettysburg Address. Beyond the generals and famous battles, though, curators set out to tell a broader story about what Lincoln called "a people's contest." (Continued Next Page)
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This is a war that trickled down into almost every home," said Civil War manuscript specialist Michelle Krowl. "Even people who may seem very far removed from the war are going to be impacted on some level. So it's a very human story." Curators laid out a chronological journey from before the first shots were fired to the deep scars soldiers brought home in the end. While some still debate the root causes of the war, for Benjamin Tucker Tanner in 1860, the cause was clear, as he wrote from South Carolina in his diary. "The country seems to be bordering on a civil war all on account of slavery," wrote the future minister. "I pray God to rule and overrule all to his own glory and the good of man." A personal letter from Mary Todd Lincoln in 1862 was recently acquired by the library and is being publicly displayed for the first time. In the handwritten note on stationery with a black border, Mary Lincoln reveals her deep grief over the death of her son Willie months earlier. Krowl said Mary Lincoln's grief is also evident in the new movie, "Lincoln." "When you read this letter ... you just get a palpable feeling of how in the depth that she's been and she's now finally coming out of her grief, at least to resume public affairs," Krowl said. All the documents in the exhibit are original. They include a massive map Gen. Stonewall Jackson commissioned of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to prepare for a major campaign. The library also is displaying personal items from Lincoln, including the contents of his pockets on the night he was assassinated, and the pocket diary of Clara Barton who would constantly record details about soldiers she met and later founded the American Red Cross. Some of the closing words come from soldiers who lost their right arms or hands in battle and had to learn to write left-handed. They joined a left-handed penmanship contest and shared their stories. "I think this exhibition will have a lot of resonance for people," said exhibit director Cheryl Regan. "Certainly soldiers returning home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are going to be incredibly moved by these stories." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/24/library-of-congress-civil_n_2185032.html
Volunteer restoring broken Confederate soldier statue in Franklin County Damaged by a vehicle in 2007, the statue that was outside the courthouse is having its pieces restored and cracks repaired by a man with a keen interest in the War Between the States. Duncan Adams The Roanoke Times Roanoke, VA November 25, 2012
The Confederate soldier's head snapped off and much of the rest of him shattered into fragments big and small. Workers gathered the remnants, right down to the marble dust. And marble dust is one component of the mix of materials John Kirtley is using to help return the statue to something akin to a permanent whole. On June 7, 2007, a pickup truck driven by a Rocky Mount man veered off South Main Street and crashed into the pedestal that displayed the statue on the lawn of the Franklin County Courthouse. The Italian marble tribute to the county's Confederate dead toppled. "It just busted all to pieces," said Linda Stanley, special projects coordinator for the Franklin County Historical Society. The statue had been dedicated Dec. 1, 1910, after a prolonged effort and fundraising campaign by the Jubal Early Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and member Essie Smith. Stanley said many people John Kirtley works carefully on the statue of a grieved in 2007 about the monument's destruction. Ultimately, a combination of insurance money, donations and a Confederate soldier that was damaged when a truck contribution from the Franklin County Board of Supervisors paid for the crashed into it on the lawn creation and installation of a new monument. The new statue was dedicated of the Franklin County Aug. 7, 2010. The Vermont company that created the new statue used Courthouse in 2007. epoxy to reassemble the bulk of the broken figure to use as a model. Kirtley works in And Stanley said she needled, wheedled and whined until the county landscaping, but agreed to agreed to loan the original statue to the historical museum on South Main tackle the restoration job Street. The museum spent about $700 to shore up its front porch and that is as a volunteer. Special to where the weighty statue stands and where it will likely stay, Stanley said. The Roanoke Times /Sam On Tuesday morning, Kirtley began his one-man project of Southern Dean reconstruction. With a trowel or fingertip he worked a mix of white concrete, marble dust and acrylic epoxy into the various cracks and seams that make evident the statue's fracture and previous reassembly. He said he hopes the statue's traumatic past will be less visible when he's done. The goal is to put back the original material so the seams won't be so noticeable," he said. (Continued Next Page)
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On Tuesday morning, Kirtley began his one-man project of Southern reconstruction. With a trowel or fingertip he worked a mix of white concrete, marble dust and acrylic epoxy into the various cracks and seams that make evident the statue's fracture and previous reassembly. He said he hopes the statue's traumatic past will be less visible when he's done. The goal is to put back the original material so the seams won't be so noticeable," he said. Kirtley, 45, is a Roanoke native and resident. He is a landscaper whose company, Hillbilly Pond Works, specializes in creating water features. He is also an artist and was intimately involved, along with others, with the design and construction of the Vinton-Roanoke County Veterans Monument on the grounds of the Vinton War Memorial. The down economy of recent years has often left Kirtley and many other landscape specialists with time on their hands. "Right now, business is nil for us," he said. "So, we struggle." The damaged statue now As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Kirtley has participated stands on the front porch in Civil War re-enactments and is keenly interested in the war's history. He of the Franklin County and Stanley met at a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting. He told Stanley Historical Society on South he was willing to work on the statue as a volunteer. "My mother always said my heart was too big to be in business for myself," Kirtley said, smiling. Main Street. Stanley was thrilled. "Oh, my goodness. I just don't have the words," she said. "I can't imagine what the cost would be if we had to pay him by the hour or for the job." Kirtley said he anticipates he will complete the repair work by spring. "I'm going to do it slowly, a little bit at a time," he said. "I want to make sure that what I start at the beginning of the day will be done by the end of the day." The repair will require crafting a few new pieces to replace shattered features such as a large portion of the scabbard for the statue's sword. But a missing thumb will remain absent, Stanley said, as a testimony to the figure's age and history. Kirtley said he hopes lichen that has grown on the marble will remain. According to the historical society, about 2,500 men from Franklin County served in the Confederate forces during the Civil War. "At least 300 did not return. Countless others were ravaged by disease and wounds, many losing limbs, partial use of their bodies and suffering other trauma associated with war." In a letter dated Sept. 15, 1905, Booker T. Washington, born into slavery in April 1856 on a Franklin County farm, expressed his willingness to contribute money toward the monument to the Confederate dead. He wrote, "In one way or another, by letter or otherwise, I have kept somewhat in touch with members of the Burroughs family, to which I belonged during the days of slavery." Stanley said history suggests Washington donated $50. http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/317183
6 secessionist movements from throughout U.S. history Editorial Staff The Week new york city, ny November 27, 2012
A Texas plan to secede is making headlines, and we all know about the Confederate states leaving the Union. But that's not all... It's not just the Civil War! Throughout American history, there have been many secessionist movements (or secessionist-like movements), with states trying to leave the U.S. and regions trying to leave their states. Here are just a few examples: 1. The Kingdom of Beaver Island: Beaver Island, a small island in Lake Michigan, became the home of Mormon leader James Strangand his followers — called Strangites — in 1848. Two years later, Strang declared himself king of the church — complete with crown, scepter, robe, and a harem of 15 wives. However, most of the island's inhabitants were his followers, so he essentially became King of Beaver Island. The power got to his head, and he began forcing his rule onto the non-believers, causing some violence between the two factions. In 1856, the USS Michigan pulled into the harbor and invited Strang aboard. As he was walking towards the ship, he was shot in the back by disgruntled followers, who then ran up the gangplank and escaped. Shortly after the assassination, angry mobs from surrounding islands eventually forced the Strangites from their homes, thus ending the short-lived Kingdom of Beaver Island. 2. The State of Superior: Concern over a perceived lack of interest from the Michigan state government, the people of the Upper Peninsula (U.P.), affectionately known as "Yoopers," have been trying to secede and form the State of Superior since at least 1897. The movement gained momentum after 1957 when a bridge connecting the U.P. region to Lower Michigan made it easier for southern (Continued Next Page)
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"Trolls" (people who live "below the bridge") and Yoopers to mingle. This animosity continued into the mid-1980s, when 20,000 signatures were collected and submitted to the state for a secession request. However, the number was shy of the 36,000 required, and the request subsequently denied. 3. The Great Republic of Rough and Ready: Rough and Ready, California, was a mining town founded in 1849 by the Rough and Ready Company of Wisconsin. As the town's population rapidly exploded to 3,000, lawlessness was on the rise — and the U.S. government was not much help squelching the rampant crime. Additionally, a new federal tax on mining operations added fuel to the region's civil unrest. Seeing little support from Washington, on April 7, 1850, the townspeople voted to secede from the Union. But just three months later, as the Fourth of July approached, The Great Republic of Rough and Ready wanted to have a celebration (which seems odd considering they were no longer, technically, Americans). When nearby Nevada City wouldn't sell liquor to "foreign miners," it was decided that maybe America wasn't so bad after all. 4. The Conch Republic: In the early-1980s, the U.S. Border Patrol set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the Florida Keys in an effort to stop illegal drugs and immigrants. The time to check everyone's identification at the checkpoint resulted in a 20-mile traffic jam that turned tourists away, thus damaging the economy in the Keys. After numerous legal attempts to have the checkpoint removed, on April 23, 1982, Key West mayor Dennis Wardlow declared the Florida Keys were seceding from the Union. Moments later, now-Prime Minister Wardlow symbolically declared war on the U.S. by breaking a stale piece of Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform. One minute later, Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the U.S. Naval Base at Key West and surrendered, thus ending the Conch Republic's Civil Rebellion. He then immediately asked for $1 billion in federal aid to help rebuild his war-torn nation's economy. 5. The State of Jefferson: Northern California and southern Oregon have been trying to merge since 1852. The attempts have been met with mixed results, though the "State of Jefferson" movement of 1941 came closest to making it happen. The region felt it was being ignored by their respective state legislatures, so in response the people created the "State of Jefferson Citizen's Committee" to explore the possibilities of secession. To help rally their cause, they developed a state flag made up of a gold miner's pan with two black X's inside, representing the double-cross they felt the Oregon and California state governments had pulled. On December 4, 1941, Judge John Childs was elected governor of Jefferson in the state's temporary capital of Yreka, CA. But the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor a few days later and secession was put aside. 6. Alaska: For decades, a well-organized separatist movement has campaigned to turn America's largest state into its own nation. The bitterness dates back to 1958, when Alaska's citizens were given a simple yes-or-no vote on statehood. Many Alaskans felt they were denied more options on the issue, prompting a land developer named Joe Vogler to organize a re-vote that would offer Alaskans four possibilities — remain a territory, become a state, take commonwealth status, or become a separate nation. Using the vote as his platform, Vogler ran for governor in 1974 — and soon made a habit of it. With colorful slogans such as, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions," Vogler spearheaded the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), and his campaign has twice topped 5 percent of the vote. More surprisingly, former U.S. interior secretary Wally Hickel got elected governor on the AIP ticket in 1990. Unfortunately for the party, Hickel only ran on the ticket because he lost the Republican primary. Never a supporter of the plebiscite idea, Hickel left the AIP and rejoined the Republicans in 1994. In 2006, Alaska took part in the first-ever North American Secessionist Convention, joining other groups from Vermont, Hawaii, and the South. As for Vogler, he was murdered in 1993 — reportedly the result of an argument over a business deal. Honoring his wish to never be buried in U.S. soil, Vogler was laid to rest in Canada's Yukon Territory. http://news.yahoo.com/6-secessionist-movements-throughout-u-history-154000117.html
The only one I see missing is The State of Franklin (also the Free Republic of Franklin) was an unrecognized, autonomous territory" located in what is today eastern Tennessee. Franklin was created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered by North Carolina as a cession to Congress to help pay off debts related to the American War for Independence. It was founded with the intent of becoming the fourteenth state of the new United States.
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Brentwood re-enactor teaches lessons about Civil War Local man relishes chance to impart lessons Bonnie Burch The Tennessean Nashville, TN November 27, 2012
FRANKLIN — The glow from 10,000 luminarias at twilight Friday will commemorate the soldiers who perished 148 years ago in the Battle of Franklin. Among the spectators in the Illumination Ceremony will be those who honor the combatants in 19thcentury style, with woolen uniforms, leather cartridge bags and replica muskets. But it takes more organization to be a Civil War re-enactor than just showing up in garb from that historical time period, said Joe Grosson, a Brentwood man who coordinated last year’s Civil War Days. “The way it works, generally, is that in each area there is a company that represents a militia that would have existed at the beginning of the war,” he said. Companies are rather large, sometimes encompassing thousands of individuals. Re-enactor men and women are further divided into Confederate Col. Joe Grosson of battalions, regiments, units and corps, including those for infantry, cavalry, artillery, signal corps, medical corps and more. Brentwood teaches young A history lesson: “The re-enactor does not portray a particular 'soldiers' how to properly handle person (in the war) but functions more in the role of a soldier that they their muskets last month in are trying to represent,” said Grosson, who is a Confederate colonel in Raymond, Miss. / Rogelio V. the re-enactor world. Solis / Associated Press There is also a civilian corps that includes re-enactors demonstrating how people lived in the 1800s through candle-making, cooking over an open fire and weaving. “What has been the motivator for me is that it’s pretty evident that the schools don’t do a very good job of explaining the history of our country. A lot of kids have no idea what the war was about and why it was even fought. I have learned the need and desire to share that knowledge,” Grosson said. In 2011, Civil War Days attracted 8,000 spectators, 700 re-enactors and 21 pieces of heavy artillery in the large-scale mock-up of the Battle of Franklin, held on the 200-acre Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin. That’s still a pretty small event, Grosson said. The annual Battle of Gettysburg re-enactment typically attracts 20,000 to 25,000 people. Next year’s Gettysburg National Civil War Re-enactment, to be held July 4-7, is the 150th and could end up attracting an even larger crowd. No local re-enactment: There was no 2012 edition of the Franklin event, as most of the troops, including Grosson, were called to a national event in Mississippi to re-enact the Vicksburg campaign, Grosson said. Blue and Gray Days earlier this month at the Historic Carnton Plantation included a little “skirmish,” but the emphasis was on other things at the two-day event, including a blacksmith demonstration, a Civil War photography display and an actor portraying President Abraham Lincoln. The next big local re-enactment is set for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin in 2014. “My wife and I are both retired, and we’re both easing our way out of it. It looks like the 150th will be my final activity in the hobby,” said Grosson, who got into Civil War re-enactments more than 20 years ago when his son showed an interest. He met his wife, Cynthia Sweet, on the faux battlefield when both were privates. Instead of wearing a hoop skirt and petticoat, Sweet participates in re-enactments as a male Confederate infantry captain. “The rules say that if you can’t determine the sex from 25 feet away, then she can hide the sex any way she wants,” Grosson said. Now retired from the Navy, Sweet hides her longer hair under a wig during Civil War re-enactments. But Grosson and Sweet won’t be lighting a candle in commemoration Friday. Instead, they’ll be on a cruise. There will be re-enactors in Civil War garb at the illumination ceremony, but no conflicts are planned for the event, which begins at 4:45 p.m. near The Carter House, ground zero for the Nov. 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin that resulted in more than 8,000 casualties. http://www.tennessean.com/article/DN/20121127/WILLIAMSON08/311270017/Brentwood-re-enactor-teacheslessons-about-Civil-War?odyssey=nav%7chead&nclick_check=1
73rd Anniversary of “Gone With the Wind” Premiere Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
Cumming, GA November 28, 2012
Do you, your parents or grandparents remember the year 1939 when…. The clock was turned back for the premiere of Gone with the Wind at the Loews Grand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia? This beautiful theater was sadly destroyed by fire in 1978 but many folks still remember when Hollywood came to Atlanta to celebrate that wonderful movie and Atlanta’s own author
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43 Margaret Mitchell whose book about the Southern people and the War Between the States would be read by millions of people around the world and be made into an exciting motion picture that has become a classic. Do you remember when a movie premiere was a red carpet affair of excitement and you could take your family to the movies without worrying about the language or sexual content of the film? “News that Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett O’Hara’s little sister, died Monday brought tears to the eyes of Connie Sutherland, director of Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum”—June 13, 2012 the Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, Georgia. Ann Rutherford, who died on Monday, June 11, 2012, was a friend of Marietta and was present for the 70th Anniversary re-premiere of Gone with the Wind at Marietta, Georgia’s beautifully restored Strand Theater. Atlanta loved Ann Rutherford! : Mrs. Rutherford was also present at the premiere of Gone with the Wind, arriving in Atlanta, Georgia at 10 AM on December 13, 1939 at the Terminal Railroad Station and stayed at the Georgina Terrace Hotel as most of the stars. The railroad station was torn down in 1972 but the building that was the hotel still remains. Two years before the United States entered World War II; there was great jubilation throughout America, especially in the Southland, in anticipation of the world premiere of Gone with the Wind during the Christmas Season of 1939, just 74 years after the end of the “War Between the States” and Saturday, December 15, 2012 marks the 73rd anniversary of that classic movie which opens with: “There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.” Gone with the Wind won 8 Oscars for 1939, including Best Picture, and; Hattie McDaniel, the first Black American to win an Academy Award, expressed her heart-felt pride with tears of joy, when she was presented the 1939 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her unforgettable role as “Mammy.” Victor Fleming won the Academy Award for Best Director and even though Max Steiner did not receive an award for his excellent music score, the “Gone with the Wind” theme song has become the most recognizable and played tune in the world. Vivien Leigh, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role, humbly and eloquently summed her appreciation by thanking Producer David O. Selznick. And, who can forget Olivia De Havilland as the pure-sweet Melanie Hamilton, Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. Atlanta’s Mayor William B. Hartsfield proclaimed a three-day festival for this grand event and encouraged all women to wear hoop skirts and men to wear Old South attire. Friday, December 15, 1939, has been described as an icy-cold day in Atlanta but folks warmed to the excitement of the premiere of “Gone with the Wind”–The Selznick International Pictures “Technicolor” Production of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Release of Margaret Mitchell’s novel about the Old South at the Loews Grand Theater. Do you remember Thomas Mitchell who played (Gerald O’Hara) telling daughter Scarlett: “Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O’Hara, that Tara, that land doesn’t mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” And, we all wept when Bonnie Blue Butler, the daughter of Rhett and Scarlett—played by Cammie King, was killed in a pony accident. Anne Rutherford, who played Scarlett’s sister Carreen, took time to visit the Confederate Veterans at the soldier’s home and the stars toured the famous “Cyclorama” at nearby Grant Park. The festivities surrounding the premiere of Gone with the Wind included a parade down Peachtree Street with over three-hundred thousand people cheering the playing of “Dixie,” waving Confederate flags and shouting Rebel Yells. Many people also witnessed the lighting of the “Eternal Flame of the Confederacy,” an 1855 gas lamp that survived the 1864 Battle of Atlanta. The lamp remained for many years on the northeast corner of Whitehall and Alabama Streets. Mrs. Thomas J. Ripley, President of Atlanta Chapter No. 18 United Daughters of the Confederacy, re-lit the great light with Mr. T. Guy Woolford, Commandant of the Old Guard by her side.
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Lost in the 60s of Drive-in Movies, Catfish, and Dixie Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
Cumming, GA November 28, 2012
Do you remember the late Southern-American columnist, comedian and speaker Lewis Grizzard {October 20, 1946 –March 20, 1994} who made us laugh, think and be proud of whom we are? There are few that write with the heart and soul of Mr. Grizzard who wrote and spoke compassionately about subjects that included the American-South. This letter is dedicated in memory of an American-son of Dixie, Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr. Do you remember when people didn’t always apologize for America and Lewis Grizzard,with his witty humor and Southern accent was un-apologetically proud of his Southern birth and that of his Confederate ancestors who defended their homes, family and way of life during the War Between the States, 1861-1865? In an article from February 5, 1993, Mr. Grizzard Wrote quote, “Whatever the reason, there was a citizenry that once saw fit to fight and die and I come from all that, and I look at those people as brave and gallant, and a frightful force until their hearts and their lands were burnt away. I will never turn my back on that heritage.” Unquote My memories of the 1960s include Saturday night supper with my family at the Rio Vista Restaurant on Stewart Avenue that featured all you can eat catfish or fried chicken and golden brown “melt in your mouth” hush puppies for a dollar and a quarter and later a double-feature movie at the Stewart Drive-in theater. Stewart Avenue Theater were named after a Confederate soldier but sadly the street has since been renamed and the theater is gone. The Starlight Six is the only drive-in theater remaining in Atlanta, Georgia. See their website at: http://starlightdrivein.com/#/movies/ New York City the “Big Apple” was famous in the 60s for the Broadway shows and folks came way down South in “Dixie” for Tara, Southern Belles and a taste of our famous Southern Hospitality. Soul Food Restaurants were also popular in the South with a deliciously different cuisine that included: ham hocks, black eyed peas,turnips and hush puppies that are just down home Southern food. The Academy Award winning movie in 1965 was “The Sound of Music” with Julie Andrews that premiered in New York City and later in Atlanta for a near two year run at Martin’s Georgia Cinerama Theater which was located on Peachtree Street near the Fabulous Fox Theater. During the 1960s America celebrated the War Between the States Centennial, 1961-1965, the Vietnam War was in its early days and we mourned the deaths of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1963 and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, and the Dan Emmett song Dixie was still played at college football games from the Dixie Redcoat Marching Band at the University of Georgia to the “Pride of the South” University Of Mississippi Band at Ole Miss where Colonel Reb was the school mascot. In 1965, Atlanta’s Minor League team the Atlanta Crackers played their last season at the new Fulton County, Georgia stadium and the following year the Major League Team the Atlanta Braves made their debut at that stadium… And, what about current Braves Veteran of 19 years Chipper Jones who celebrated his 40thbirthday this year? Did you know the “Beatles” tour of the USA included Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in August of 1965? Elvis Presley, Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Beach Boys were hot on the Rock and Roll scene and Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Roy Acuff performed at the Ryman Auditorium then Home of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. Do you remember the Hullabaloo show on NBC during 1965 and 66 that aired the top pop hits of the day with guest hosts that included: Michael Landon, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jerry Lewis? Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Americas Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969, Colonel Sanders Kentucky “finger licking good” fried chicken was served at Davis Brothers Cafeteria, Jacobs Drug Stores where Coca Cola was first served still thrive band the “Popeye Club” with Office Don aired live in the early 60s from WSB TV White Columns on Peachtree in Atlanta. Wherever you call home, memories with family and friends last forever. Ya’ll come back now, you here! http://cumminghome.com/lost-in-the-60s-of-drive-in-movies-catfish-and-dixie/
Trace Adkins Defends Himself Over Confederate Flag Criticism US Weekly Staff US Weekly Tampa, FL November 30, 2012
Attention Trace Adkins: a nationally televised holiday special might not be the best place to show off that new Confederate flag earpiece. The country star, 50, seems to have missed that memo, unfortunately, donning the accessory to perform "The Christmas Song" at the Rockefeller Center tree lighting Wednesday, Nov. 28. The Stars and Bars, which served as the Confederacy's flag during the Civil War, is still a frequently used -(Continued Next Page)
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and highly controversial -- symbol. Some argue that the flag is merely a representation of Southern heritage, while others see its use as tacit support for the Confederacy's most abhorrent legacy: slavery. Not surprisingly, Twitter users were none too pleased with Adkins' memorabilia, calling the singer out for what they viewed as a poor equipment choice. The Louisiana-born, ultra-conservative performer has yet to speak out about the matter, although he certainly is a proud Southerner. As E! News points out, Adkins is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which he discusses in his autobiography, A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/trace-adkins-confederate-flag-earpiece-sparks-controversy-atrockefeller-center-tree-lighting-20122911#ixzz2DgHA1fGk
Trace Adkins defends earpiece: http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=777492&gt1=28189
Emotional forum debates 'Dixie' in UT college name Staff Reports The San Francisco Chronicle san francisco, ca November 30, 2012
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — Dixie State College of Utah got its name after Mormon settlers, primarily from the South, tried to turn the warm region into a cotton-growing mecca in the 1800s. But some people argue the moniker carries negative, Deep South connotations and should be stricken from the name of the campus that features a statue of Confederate soldiers and only recently retired the Rebel as its school mascot. "The question really is, do you want to be perceived by everybody else on the planet as a defiant school promoting racism, or do you want to be perceived as a respectable school which promotes the high ideals of our society?" said community member Richard Hutchins, who attended a Thursday forum exploring a potential name change. Hutchins was one of more than 100 people at the emotional meeting in St. George that was organized as the school with about 10,000 students seeks to become a university, The Spectrum of St. George reported (http://bit.ly/Tx2tw7). With that status expected in January, the debate over Dixie — and the school's identity — is heating up. “The name most likely won't change after this because where do you go after you've reached university status?" said Erik Sorenson, president of the marketing company researching the change. "This is who Dixie State is going to be for the next 100 plus years." Other names under consideration include Zion Union, Utah, Utah Southwestern University, Red Rock University, and St. George University. But some people want to keep the name or a variation of it, saying it's part of the region's heritage and doesn't have racial subtext among Utahns who have long known the area as "Utah's Dixie." "I think we are becoming over-concerned about political correctness and ruining our heritage. I don't think we have to give up one for the other," said Margaret Leigh, a St. George resident. Former faculty member Connie Corbett Keate pointed out a name change would affect everything from school songs to an iconic "D'' emblazoned on a nearby hillside. The heritage argument isn't swaying opponents of the current name. Some gathered around the campus soldier statue before the forum, holding candles and draping a sheet over its metallic Confederate flag. "Frankly, I understand the feelings of tradition. However, the success of the university and of the students will be severely hindered by the name Dixie," said Michael Eaton, an adjunct English professor at Dixie State, according to The Spectrum. http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Emotional-forum-debates-Dixie-in-UT-college-name-4081571.php#ixzz2DlwGGnFv Amid name debate, Dixie removes Confederate statue: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55417642-78/ dixie-statue-college-confederate.html.csp
Preserving Art: Four Seasons of the Confederacy Murals set for restoration Staff
The Civil War Courier Morristown, TN November 30, 2012
The Confederate Memorial Military Murals by Charles Hoffbauer (1875-1957) are an American treasure. The paintings, depicting the four seasons of the Confederacy, have been on display in Richmond, Virginia since 1921, first as part of the Confederate Memorial Association (CMA) headquarters and then as the largest collection piece at the Virginia Historical Society VHS).
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The murals were commissioned by the Confederate Memorial Association and painted between 1913 and 1920. Hoffbaur left in the middle of his work to fight for his native France in World War I. When he returned, a weary soldier who now knew the horrors of the trench, he altered his plans for the murals to depict the more violent, bloody reality of war. With the exception of the cycloramas at Gettysburg and Grant Park in Atlanta, there are few large-scale pieces of Civil War artwork on public view. Their scale alone would make them important pieces, but their content and context are even more important. Hoffman’s murals were painted directly onto canvas that had been glued to plaster walls. In numerous areas the paint is flaking, and the canvas is detaching from the wall. A century of dust, dirt and grime has dimmed the glory of these monumental paintings, and the lessons they teach stand imperiled. The brave and anguished faces of soldiers are hardly identifiable under the layers of soot and grime. Conservation work on the paintings started last year. Conservators are The Spring Mural depicts moving inch by inch to meticulously clean the massive pieces. Thomas Jonathan The story behind the murals, the artist’s background, he painting process, “Stonewall” Jackson reviewing his troops in the the proximity to the R.E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers home, and the history Shenandoah Valley. of the CMA and Virginia Historical Society, is equally as interesting as the conservation process which includes black light photographs, cleaning with Qtips and Mason jars, uncovering changes in the original artwork, and advanced cleaning processes discovered mid-way through. The murals depicts four seasons of the Confederacy. The Spring Mural (East Wall) depicts General Stonewall Jackson reviewing his troops in the Shenandoah Valley. The Jackson Mural, the first season, celebrates the early military successes of the Confederacy. The Summer Mural (South Wall) is the artist’s imaginary grouping of more than a dozen of the most illustrious southern commanders to mark the middle years of the Confederacy at its greatest strength. The Autumn Mural (West Wall) portrays General J.E.B. Stuart leading his cavalrymen on a foray through the Virginia woods. The Winter Mural (North Wall) depicts an artillery battery in retreat through the snow, its equipment shattered, its men on the verge of exhaustion. Sketches and the final painting show a horrific battle scene. The grim image of fallen men and horses are especially poignant when viewed as a gallery experience. In all, more than a million and a half horses and mules were killed during the American Civil War and the toll on human life is staggering. Restoring the Hoffbaurer Murals is a project of the Virginia Historical Society and is made possible by a Save America’s Treasurers grant awarded by a partnership between the National Endowment for the arts and the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The grant comes with a challenge to match it with private support – your support. The conservation project is scheduled to be completed in 2014. As allowed by the work, the VHS will let visitors view the conservation project as it progresses. VHS is located at 428 North Blvd. in Richmond. Visit http://vahistorical.org/hoffbauer/ to learn more about the project. http://www.civilwarcourier.com/?p=30068
Confederate Home charity needs to repair past damage to serve the future Robert Behre The Post and Courier Charleston, SC December 2, 2012
Charleston’s Confederate Home took shape in the ashes of the Civil War as a haven for women and children whose lives had been turned upside down. The war ended almost 150 years ago, but the city still has people in need. While the home has evolved in many ways — residents no longer need to have a tie to a Confederate soldier —it continues to try to meet that need. “This is one of Charleston’s oldest charitable institutions,” said Barbara Zimmerman, chairwoman of the board that runs the nonprofit home, “and it’s still serving the city.” But both time and water are taking their toll here, and if left unchecked, they pose a threat to the home’s buildings and the people they serve. A Resident’s Story: Alma “Sally” Montague arrived in Charleston to The Confederate Home already has made some repairs as visit a friend at the Confederate Home two decades ago and moved in 30 needed for safety, such as the days later. new, higher piazza rails along its She has lived here ever since and enjoys interacting with the other third floor. residents of (Continued Next Page)
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limited means and with the artists and authors who have studios47 in this vast complex of 19th century buildings between Broad and Chalmers streets. “It really is a wonderful mixture of people here,” she said. She also enjoys the affordability — no Confederate Home History resident pays more than $400 rent a month, 1800 Gilbert Chalmers builds a double tenement at 62 utilities included —and prime location just down from City Hall. And then there’s the Broad St., a few years after a fire scorches the picturesque courtyard —one that attracts neighborhood. socialites and celebrities, such as Susan 1819 Chalmers’ building hosts President James Monroe Sarandon’s daughter, to hold weddings and other special events there. during his trip to Charleston. Montague said this is the only one of five charitable homes built for Confederate widows 1834 The Carolina Hotel occupies the site, as new after the Civil War that still continues a construction is added behind 62 Broad. mission of providing quality housing to those with a legitimate need. 1845 The U.S. District Court moves into a former Ultimately, that is what’s at stake as the tenement at 23-25 Chalmers St. home grapples with the kinds of problems commonly found in the city’s old buildings. 1860 U.S. District Judge Andrew Magrath suspends ‘Less Quality Oriented’ : Jim Wigley is federal court in Charleston, and he returns a year later well acquainted with the threats facing the to the same room as a judge for the Confederacy. Confederate Home. The contractor has worked here off and on 1867 Amarinthea Yates Snowden and nine other women for several years, mostly addressing life-safety lease the above buildings to create the home for issues such as outdated fire alarm and Mothers, Widows and Daughters of Confederate Soldiers electrical systems and a third-floor piazza rail of Charleston. that was both too flimsy and too low. He has worked closely with the Confederate 1886 The great earthquake damages the home, and it Home’s board, a group of 14 women who run receives major repairs. The Broad Street facade is the home. Wigley recently led Zimmerman redone in the Second Empire style, with a mansard roof and two other board members on a tour of and pressed metal dormers. some of the most troublesome spots, beginning on the roof, which is accessed through a small 1901 The home receives a $30,000 state grant that room with a foul smell. helps expand its limited educational offerings, and its The roof, repaired after Hurricane Hugo, name is changed to “The Confederate Home and needs more work, as does the metal flashing, College.” particularly around the building on Broad 1923 The Confederate Home and College stops offering Street, the oldest in the complex. Many windows also need repainting. classes because the College of Charleston has begun But those repairs aren’t even as important admitting women (but it keeps its name). as some electrical upgrades and other work needed for safety. “A lot of work here was 1989 The buildings receive substantial repairs after done by volunteer labor over the past 100 Hurricane Hugo. years. It was well intended, but less quality oriented,” Wigley said. “We’ve pulled out a mile 2008 The Confederate Home renovates the former federal courtroom as a space for wedding receptions and of obsolete pipes and gas lines.” Many units still rely on window air other events, which, along with studio spaces rented to conditioning units and small space heaters to artists, generates income to run the home. remain comfortable, and while they have worked in the past, they increase the chance of fire. Safety Is The Goal: A few years ago, Wigley’s team restored the building’s historic courtroom off Chalmers Street, a space now leased out for special events. But the home’s rental income from those events, artists’ studios and apartments is nowhere near enough to pay for the repairs needed today. Board member Margaret Garrett said the board hopes to raise about $530,000 to finance the new round of work that’s needed. While that’s more than the home’s annual budget, it is not a big number relative to other restorations in the neighborhood. The city spent more than $3 million restoring Market Hall, a similarly old building just a fraction of the home’s size. But the goal is not to make the home all spiffy, just a safe and secure place to live. After all, part of its charm is its visible age, such as the few porcelain sinks that still can be found on the exterior walls outside some units. Montague said the home would not be the same if it were fixed up the same as other fine homes nearby. “It wouldn’t be the same if it were all beautiful.” Critical Needs: With a successful fundraising campaign, Wigley and others should be able to address the home’s most critical needs. Also, the money will go toward major repairs and upgrades to two apartments that currently cannot be rented. (Continued Next Page)
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Getting those units back online would allow the home to increase the number of residents it serves from 13 to 15 or 16. And that would be a relief to those who still need the home, whose mission began in the wake of the Civil War’s devastation but still is relevant today. The challenge of providing decent, affordable housing in downtown Charleston remains, long after firsthand memories of the war have vanished. While the Confederate Home once required its residents to have a connection to an ancestor who had fought for the South, that policy is no longer in place. And Montague would know, despite her Southern-sounding last name. “I’m from Vermont,” she said, “and I find a lot of humor in that.” http://postandcourier.com/article/20121202/PC16/121209872/confederate-home-charity-needs-to-repair-pastdamage-to-serve-the-future&source=RSS
Dedication set for monument to black Confederates Staff Reports Charlotte Observer Charlotte, NC December 5, 2012
A ceremony is set for Saturday in Monroe as Union County prepares to honor 10 black men, nine of whom were slaves, who served in the Confederate Army and much later received small state pensions. A marker commemorating their service will be dedicated at 2 p.m. at the Old County Courthouse off North Main Street. The public is invited to attend the event, which will include Civil War re-enactors and descendants of some of the men. Union County commissioners have proclaimed the day as “Confederate Pensioners of Color Day” in the county. An amateur historian and Sons of Confederate Veterans member spearheaded the drive to recognize the men. The keynote speaker is Earl Ijames, with the N.C. Museum of History. Another scheduled speaker is N.C. Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/12/05/3708295/monument-ceremony-set-for-saturday.html
Confederate group refuses to surrender Caitlian Bowling Smoky Mountain News Waynesville, NC December 5, 2012
The ongoing Confederate flag tug-of-war in Haywood County took an unusual turn last week. Confederate supporters banned from flying the Confederate Battle Flag on the courthouse lawn have taken to flying the Mississippi state flag instead. The move by Confederate supporters aims to side-step a new county policy that would ban displays of the Confederate Battle Flag. While the county is still working out the exact language, its proposed policy — as well as the interim policy now in effect —allows official government flags only. But, defenders of the Confederate Battle Flag found a loophole in that language. It stipulates only official government flags are allowed on county property — and it just so happens there’s a government flag out there that contains the Confederate Battle Flag as part of its design. Confederate supporters scoured state, county and even city flags around the nation that they could display legally while continuing to fight for the right to exhibit the Confederate Battle Flag itself. And, sure enough, they found one — the Mississippi state flag. The flag has three stripes, one blue, one white and one red. Most importantly, however, the Confederate Battle Flag is depicted in the upper, left-hand corner. Kirk Lyons, chief trial counsel with the Southern Legal Resource Center, was jolly and chuckled when he talked about finding the loophole while sitting outside the Haywood County historic courthouse last Friday with the state flag of Mississippi in hand. “Please instruct the County Maintenance staff that the display of the Mississippi State flag comports in every way with the interim ‘Display Policy’ adopted by the Haywood County Board of Commissioners … and therefore should not be removed or molested in anyway,” Lyons wrote in a letter to county attorney Chip Killian. Because the Mississippi state flag is a government flag, it will remain on county property. The county is not going to take any action at this time,” Killian said. The language allowing the display of any “official government flag” was intentionally left vague. Limiting the policy to only the Haywood County, N.C. and U.S. flags would pose a conundrum every summer when the Folkmoot International folk and dance festival comes to town. Large flags from other countries are draped from the historic courthouse during the two-week festival. Without the proper language in place, those flags could no longer be flown on county property. (Continued Next Page)
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However, an official county display policy is not yet set in stone. “I think the whole thing is under review,” Killian said. It appears the county would have to modify the language if it wants to close up the loophole. At the earliest, the board of commissioners will vote on the policy at its Dec. 12 meeting. While the proposed policy would ban displays of the Confederate Battle Flag at any time under any circumstance, the First National Flag of the Confederacy could be displayed from 7 p.m. May 9 to 7 a.m. May 11 to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day, unless permission is otherwise requested. Just because they found a loophole does not mean that Confederate flag proponents are willing to settle for the Mississippi state flag forever. Lyons called the policy unconstitutional and said he and others will continue to fight against it. How we got here: Haywood County leaders may have won a battle, but it’s unclear who will win the war over what can and cannot be displayed — particularly when it comes to the Confederate Flag — on county property. A philosophical fight broke out in August over miniature Confederate Battle Flags being stuck in the ground around the base of a Confederate Memorial on the lawn of the historic courthouse in Waynesville. Confederate supporters say the flags were meant to honor Southern heritage and Civil War veterans, but county leaders got complaints from some who see the flags as divisive and offensive symbols of past racism. The scuffle turned into a full-blown standoff when the county board of commissioners temporarily prohibited the flags from being displayed until it could craft a policy detailing when, where and what can be placed on county property by outside groups. Haywood County had no such policy on its books previously. The county attorney got to work crafting one, however, and presented a draft version to the board of commissioners last Monday. http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/9432-confederate-group-refuses-to-surrender
Logistical nightmare Planning re-enactment almost as complicated as staging original battle Frank Scott DeWitt Era Enterprise DeWitt, AR December 6, 2012
On Jan. 9, 1863, 33,000 Union troops began a three-day assault on Fort Hindman, at what is now Arkansas Post National Memorial, manned by about 5,000 Confederate troops. The attack was the culmination of months of planning and involved lots of logistical nightmares on both sides. On Jan. 19 and 20, 2013, a re-enactment will be held near the original site to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle. The planning and logistics involved in the re-enactment make the original battle seem like a picnic. “You would not believe everything that’s involved” in planning the re-enactment, said Arkansas Post Museum State Park superintendent Christy Murphy, one of the organizers of the re-enactment. “Logistics is a nightmare,” Murphy continued. “There are thousands of things to think of — food, transportation, water, ice, hay, firewood — the list is endless. It’s like throwing a party for 3,000 people.” Volunteers, including Murphy and members of the Arkansas Post National Memorial staff, started meeting to plan the re-enactment last January. “We started meeting hard and heavy — at least once or twice a week — since June,” Murphy said. She laughed ruefully. “If I had known all that would be involved, we would have started two years ago.” About 100 volunteers will be involved. “We’ll have people giving interpretive programs, working with registration, handling traffic control, driving shuttle vans and probably doing other things we haven’t thought of yet,” Murphy said. Plans for the re-enactment are still far from final, but the event will involve 500-1,000 re-enactors, both soldiers and period civilians. Troops on the Union side and artillery units on both sides will camp at Arkansas Post Museum; Confederate troops will camp at APNM. Both camps will be open to visitors the two days of the event. Trips for school classes are also being planned. The battle itself, which will resemble the actual fight as much as possible, will be held on a field next to the state park. The site was donated by Ray and Tommy Holzhauer, who lease it. Besides the 1,000 re-enactors, volunteers hope to draw about 1,000 spectators each day. There’s no way that many cars can park near the battle site, so spectators will park in Gillett and be shuttled to the site by charter bus. The re-enactors will provide their own lodging (period reproduction tents) and food, but battle organizers still have a lot to arrange. The re-enactors need “350 bales of straw for seating and putting around their tents, about four cords of firewood, water, ice — all kinds of things,” Murphy said. “My brain has been going around in circles for months.” (Continued Next Page)
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Logistics (Continued):
Even if she had known all the work involved before she started planning the re-enactment, “I would still have done it,” Murphy said. “Having a re-enactment this size in this area is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s worth all the work.” http://dewitt-ee.com/articles/2012/12/05/news/doc50bf64b482583362586963.txt
Jefferson Davis' 1861 & 1862 Thanksgiving Proclamations WHEREAS, it hath pleased Almighty God, the Sovereign Disposer of events, to protect and defend us hitherto in our conflicts with our enemies as to be unto them a shield. And whereas, with grateful thanks we recognize His hand and acknowledge that not unto us, but unto Him, belongeth the victory, and in humble dependence upon His almighty strength, and trusting in the justness of our purpose, we appeal to Him that He may set at naught the efforts of our enemies, and humble them to confusion and shame. Now therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, in view of impending conflict, do hereby set apart Friday, the 15th day of November, as a day of national humiliation and prayer, and do hereby invite the reverend clergy and the people of these Confederate States to repair on that day to their homes and usual places of public worship, and to implore blessing of Almighty God upon our people, that he may give us victory over our enemies, preserve our homes and altars from pollution, and secure to us the restoration of peace and prosperity. Given under hand and seal of the Confederate States at Richmond, this the 31st day of October, year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty one. By the President, JEFFERSON DAVIS
THANKSGIVING DAY 1862 for victory in battle BY JEFFERSON DAVIS To the People of the Confederate States: Once more upon the plains of Manassas have our armies been blessed by the Lord of Hosts with a triumph over our enemies. It is my privilege to invite you once more to His footstool, not now in the garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies received at His hand. A few months since, and our enemies poured forth their invading legions upon our soil. They laid waste our fields, polluted our altars and violated the sanctity of our homes. Around our capital they gathered their forces, and with boastful threats, claimed it as already their prize. The brave troops which rallied to its defense have extinguished these vain hopes, and, under the guidance of the same almighty hand, have scattered our enemies and driven them back in dismay. Uniting these defeated forces and the various armies which had been ravaging our coasts with the army of invasion in Northern Virginia, our enemies have renewed their attempt to subjugate us at the very place where their first effort was defeated, and the vengeance of retributive justice has overtaken the entire host in a second and complete overthrow. To this signal success accorded to our arms in the East has been graciously added another equally brilliant in the West. On the very day on which our forces were led to victory on the Plains of Manassas, in Virginia, the same Almighty arm assisted us to overcome our enemies at Richmond, in Kentucky. Thus, at one and the same time, have two great hostile armies been stricken down, and the wicked designs of their armies been set at naught. In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In his hand is the issue of all events, and to him should we, in an especial manner, ascribe the honor of this great deliverance. Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September inst., as a day of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas; and I do hereby invite the people of the Confederate States to meet on that day at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which surround us, to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and security. (Continued Next Page)
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Proclamation (Continued):
Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this fourth day of September, A.D.1862. JEFFERSON DAVIS http://genebrooks.blogspot.com/2009/11/jefferson-davis-1861-1862-thanksgiving.html
The North an Absolute Dictator of the Republic: There was no “Lost Cause” as Jefferson Davis was correct in predicting that struggles for the principle of constitutional government would emerge once again, in other forms and at other times. There was indeed established by the North a “Myth of Saving the Glorious Union” which claimed that religion and morality were on the side of the righteous victors, and that they had eradicated an “outpost of Satan’s dominion” in defeating Southerners seeking political independence. In no way had they saved the constitutional and fraternal Union as the Founders’ had erected it. “[But] there were persons in Congress and out who would not believe the war had come to an end until those who had caused it were adequately punished, the Negro set on the road to first-class citizenship, and the Republican party assured of political dominance. As early as May 5, 1865, The Independent, which spoke for what came to be called the radical Republicans in Congress, was asserting: “There is one, and only one, sure and safe policy for the immediate future, namely: The North must remain the absolute Dictator of the Republic until the spirit of the North shall become the spirit of the whole country…the South is still unpurged of her treason. Prostrate in the dust she is no less a traitor at this hour than when her head was erect. They cannot be trusted with authority over their former slaves; they cannot be trusted with authority over the re-cemented Republic…The only hope for the South is to give the ballot to the Negro and in denying it to the rebels.” In like spirit George W. Julian of Indiana would “indict, convict and hang Jefferson Davis in the name of God; as for Robert E. Lee, unmolested in Virginia, hang him too. And stop there? Not at all. I would hang liberally while I had my hand in.” Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio suggested that “if the Negroes by insurrection could contrive to slay one-half of the Southern whites, the remaining half would then hold them in respect and treat them with justice.” Charles Sumner would seize all rebel property and distribute it to the Negroes, give them the vote, and let them rule the section. In President Andrew Johnson’s third annual message, “he opposed granting the Negro the vote on grounds that “no independent government of any form has ever been successful in (his) hands.” Yet Johnson’s point was that Negroes just out of slavery knew so little of public affairs that their voting would consist of nothing more “than carrying a ballot to the place where they were directed to deposit it.” The war would not be over until the Southern people were “repentant” to the point of accepting intellectual, social and economic changes, perhaps even a political rearrangement. The symbol of these changes was to be the Negro. Just as slavery had been the symbol of all that had divided North and South, so now all the differences had to do with the Negro. The trouble with symbols is that they vastly oversimplify situations and tend unconsciously to stir emotions, and to reduce material interest to the pattern of right versus wrong. Why did Congress now insist on taking a hand in control (of Reconstruction)? The object, of course, was to give the legislature under Republican dominance the power to do with the South what the victor in the war thought should be done. The Negro was now a three-fifths man, and his vote, if granted or refused, was a party matter. In either case, it might determine party control. It could not be forgotten that Wade Hampton’s brother had told Whitelaw Reid that if the Negro were given the ballot, “the old owners would cast the vote of their people almost as absolutely and securely as they cast their own. If Northern men expected in this way to build up a Northern party in the South, they were gravely mistaken.” Yet if it worked the other way, the future of Republican rule was assured.” (Reconstruction: The Ending of the Civil War. Avery O. Craven, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969, pp. 93133)
McClellan's Two to One Odds Against Lee General Dwight Eisenhower said of General Robert E. Lee: “From deep conviction I simply say this: a nation of Lee’s caliber would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to the land….we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained. Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall.” “At the battle of South Mountain….The enemy were exceedingly anxious to force the passage of this mountain gap and by overtaking Lee and bringing on a decisive engagement, relieve their beleaguered friends at Harper’s Ferry, (Continued Next Page)
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McClellan (Continued):
who numbered more than eleven thousand men, with thirteen thousand small arms and seventy-three cannon. But the heroic [Southern] defenders of the pass, though but a handful in comparison with the immense and thoroughly equipped force assailing them, and though subjected to very heavy losses from first to last, yielded not an inch of their ground until nightfall, and then, their purpose being accomplished, retired unmolested to take their place in the ranks of death at Sharpsburg. The historic battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam – “this great battle” as General Lee called it in his report – occurred on the 17th day of September, three days after the fight at South Mountain, and D.H. Hill’s division, with [General George] Anderson’s brigade on its right, wearied and worn out by continuous marching and fighting, took position in the centre of the line on the left of the Boonesboro road. [General James] Longstreet was on the right, and [Stonewall] Jackson, who had captured Harper’s Ferry with its little army and all its supplies, occupied the extreme left. McClellan and Lee at last stood face to face. General McClellan said, before the Committee of Investigation on the Conduct of the War: “Our forces at the battle of Antietam were: total in action, eighty-seven thousand, one hundred and sixty-four.” General Lee, in his report, says: “The great battle was fought by less than forty thousand men on our side” – that is to say, that the Confederates were outnumbered by more than two to one. The first [enemy] assault was made on the Confederate left, where Jackson was posted, and the unequal struggle between the six thousand men under him and the eighteen thousand of the attacking columns was one of the most desperate and sanguinary of the war, as the list of casualties abundantly proves, but the enemy were repulsed. They then attacked the Confederate centre and right with the same overwhelming numbers, and, after temporary success, were again repulsed.” (Southern Historical Society Papers, XIV, Rev. J. William Jones, editor, January to December 1886, excerpts, pp. 393-394) Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission www.ncwbts150.com "The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
From the Editor
Thank you to everyone for allowing me to be your editor over the past year.
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Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations. Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to our forefathers, who gave us the undeniable birthright of our Southern Heritage and the vision, desire, and courage to see it perpetuated.
To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish.
“The Principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form." President Jefferson Davis, CSA
You can know a man in all his depth or shallowness by his attitude toward the Southern Banner. A People Without Pride in Their Heritage, Is a Nation Without Purpose." - Walter E. Dockery
LEST WE FORGET Our quest shall ever be That we shall again see The Battle Flag of Lee Returned to the dome of the First Capital of the Confederacy