Reidsville Confederate monument being assembled in cemetary

By McClatchy News Service
Published: Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Reidsville Confederate Monument might be gone, but workers began installing the soldier’s base in the city-owned Greenview Cemetery on Wednesday, May 15.

“This is a positive step in the right direction,” Former United Daughters of the Confederacy president and current UDC Monument Committee chair Aileen Ezell said.

Almost two years ago, the monument became the height of controversy in the city of Reidsville. On May 23 of 201, Mark Anthony Vincent, 42, of Greensboro drove his work van into the base, knocking the soldier off and shattering it to pieces.

The city took the base of the monument down after an August 23, 2011 earthquake. City Manager Michael Pearce said the earthquake made him realize the base sat precariously after the accident. He determined it a safety issue.

The base remained outside the Public Works building since the removal. Crews worked in the cemetery to reconstruct and clean the base of the monument on Wednesday.

It remains unclear when the soldier might be installed. In a February interview, Ezell said there wasn't a timetable to install the new soldier. She did add that this soldier would have a Confederate uniform. The previous monument’s designer outfitted the soldier in Union attire.

The UDC claimed ownership of the monument shortly after it fell. The city searched for records saying otherwise and never found any.

Traveler’s Insurance Company, who represents Vincent, paid the UDC $105,000. The UDC said it planned to use the money to recreate the soldier for the monument and use the original base as the platform.

City officials helped the UDC find a new location for the monument. The city deeded a plot of land in Greenview Cemetery to the UDC years prior. The plot houses the body of Confederate soldiers.

The Confederate monument continues to be a controversial issue in the community. After the 2011 earthquake, a group, the Historical Preservation Action Committee formed to ensure the monument returned to its original location in the South Scales and West Morehead Streets intersection.

In December 2011, the UDC made an announcement it planned to move the monument to the cemetery.

HPAC filed a lawsuit against the UDC and the city to stop the monuments removal. The lawsuit included the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources as well.

HPAC dropped the city and the UDC from the lawsuit. Davidson County Superior Court Judge Mark Klass dismissed the case citing the organization lacked standing to bring it forward. Rockingham County Judge Moses Massey dismissed the case as well.

HPAC and the Sons of the Confederate Veterans’ lawyer, Tim Wyatt, argued the dismissal before the North Carolina Court of Appeals on April 24. The three judges, Ann Maria Calabria, Douglas McCollough and Sanford Steelman have 90 days to make a ruling on whether the two groups have legal standing.

HPAC spokesperson Diane Parnell said the organization declined comment until the court ruled on the case.

Copyright © 2013 Halifax Media Group

On The Web:   http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/region-state/reidsville-confederate-monument-being-assembled-in-cemetary-1.143808

 

A Macon Cemetery Gets New Marker Honoring Civil War Veterans

New Marker Is Unveiled By Local Group at Rose Hill Cemetery
NewsCentral Staff
Story Created: May 15, 2013

Macon's Civil War history is now visible at a local cemetery.

A special marker was dedicated at the Rose Hill Cemetery on Wednesday morning.

The interpretive marker will share the story behind Soldier's Square at the Cemetery.

Soldier's Square contains the remains of 884 known Confederate soldiers from all over the south including the border-states who died in Macon's hospitals during the Civil War.

The marker is part of Macon's Civil War Sesquicentennial's commemoration of the Civil War 150 years ago.

The group plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by placed additional markers in Macon over the next few months.

On The Web:   http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/A-Macon-Cemetary-Gets-New-Marker-Honoring-Civil-War-Veterans-207649561.html

 

Heritage group appeals city's Confederate flag ban

May 16, 2013

RICHMOND — The Sons of Confederate Veterans is challenging in a federal appeals court Lexington’s limits on the flying of the Confederate flag.

Arguments are scheduled Thursday before three judges in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In September 2011, Lexington officials adopted an ordinance that prohibits the flying of the Confederate flag on city-owned light poles. It limits flags that may fly on the poles to those representing the city, the U.S. and the state of Virginia.

The city enacted the rule after some residents complained that the flag is an offensive, divisive symbol of the South’s history of slavery. It says it can dictate what flies on city property.

Attorneys for the Southern heritage group argue the ordinance violates the group’s constitutional right to free speech, among other claims.

Copyright © 2013 www.newsleader.com

On The Web:   http://www.newsleader.com/viewart/20130516/NEWS01/305160002/Heritage-group-appeals-city-s-Confederate-flag-ban

 

Flying Confederate Flag Ends In Suspension For DeWitt Junior

By Nick Perreault

The confederate flag brings out all kinds of emotions and one student in DeWiitt was suspended from school for flying it on his truck after he was told to take it down.

But as our Nick Perreault explains, some students and parents think the school may have gone too far.

Wednesday, Connor McKinnon spent the day at home instead of at school.

 

"I pulled into the parking lot, like a regular day," said DeWitt Junior Connor McKinnon.

Ten minutes into school Tuesday, DeWitt junior Connor Mckinnon found himself in the principals office for bringing a 6x6 confederate flag with him to school.

"They asked me to take it down because their have been lots of complaints, so I just walked out to my truck and took it down," McKinnon said.

But on the way out of the school lot, McKinnon couldn't leave well enough alone, he put it back up, officials noticed and suspended him for the next day.

"I see what they are trying to do with it and maintain at the school," said DeWitt Senior Victoria Marinas.

Senior Victoria Marinas says with six days left for most seniors, it could be a way of warning students to avoid senior pranks.

"They suspend him for a day fair? I suppose if he put it up deliberately after they told him not to," said DeWitt Senior Carolyn Metevier.

But for one parent, suspension is a little too far.

"That surprises me, it is just a flag," one parent said.

McKinnon's mother says it's unfortunate her son is being used as an example of what not to do.

"There's kids that drink and do drugs and all kinds of stuff, he flew a flag."

"If you got it to fly it, fly it," McKinnon said.

But flying It comes at a cost and it's a lesson McKinnon now says he's learned firsthand.

© Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WLNS

On The Web:   http://www.wlns.com/story/22265955/flying-confederate-flag-ends-in-suspension-for-dewitt-junior

 

‘We must always remember’: SCV, UDC cite need to preserve history at Confederate Memorial event

May 14, 2013
By MISSY RICHARDSON, T&D Correspondent

         

“A lot of people would like to push us under the rug and pretend that we didn’t exist,” Buzz Braxton of Rivers Bridge Camp #842, Sons of Confederate Veterans, told those gathered for the annual Confederate Memorial Day program on Memorial Plaza in downtown Orangeburg Saturday afternoon.

“We must preserve the good name of the Confederate soldier ... We must always remember and honor” those who fought for the Confederacy, Braxton said.

Firing cannons that echoed across the square to commemorate Confederate Memorial Day were Charley and Danny Dempsey and Allen Rush of the Olin M. Dantzler Camp #73, SCV. A rifle volley was presented by Ron Udell and other members of the Brig. Gen. E. Porter Alexander Camp, SCV, of Augusta, Ga.

“I love that,” said Karen Black, president of the Paul McMichael Chapter #427, United Daughters of the Confederacy, when the cannons roared.

Lt. Commander Irvin Shuler of the Eutaw Regiment Camp #1189, SCV, said Saturday’s ceremony was held to honor Confederate heroes. Shuler thanked everyone in attendance, noting that area SCV camps had started the day by celebrating Confederate Memorial Day at the Calhoun County Courthouse in St. Matthews.

Dwight Horton, commander of the Olin M. Dantzler Camp #73, SCV, said the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy are the “last line of defense” in preserving the history of the Confederacy.

“As long as I am standing and breathing, I will teach my grandchildren to remember,” Horton said. “We must always remember and recognize the Confederate veterans and the families that they left behind.”

Keynote speaker the Rev. Ed Westbury of the Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw Camp #82, SCV, of Camden spoke of Confederate heroes and what they lost. Among those he mentioned was Wiley Clyburn, an African-American Confederate soldier.

“He was a hero,” Westbury said. “It is time for us to stop worrying about being politically correct. We have to be true to God and to ourselves.

“We are here today to honor our Confederates because it is our duty.”

Westbury said 60,000 men from South Carolina fought in the Civil War and more than 17,000 paid the ultimate price by giving their lives to defend their way of life and their homeland.

The ceremony was closed with prayer and the singing of “Dixie.”

© Copyright 2013, The Times and Democrat

On The Web:   http://thetandd.com/news/local/military/we-must-always-remember-scv-udc-cite-need-to-preserve/article_d4c980ce-bc21-11e2-b484-0019bb2963f4.html

 

The Constitutional Right of Secession

by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
TomWoods.com

Mike Church and Brion McClanahan have produced what looks to be an excellent new edition of Albert Taylor Bledsoe’s 19th-century work Is Davis a Traitor? or Was Secession a Constitutional Right Previous to the War of 1861? Having read the book myself years ago, I can tell you it is indeed an excellent work, full of information no one encounters in school, but which helps you break out of the establishment’s suffocating box.

You can download a free chapter here.

The brain dead establishment’s contribution to this discussion is to shout “neo-Confederate!” or express outrage that we peons would even raise what our betters have told us is a closed question. But the arguments for the constitutionality of secession are very strong, and are not refuted by calling secession backward, out of date, stupid, not-progressive, etc. – especially after the experience of the 20th century, for heaven’s sake – or pretending that anyone who favors decentralization secretly supports or is indifferent to slavery. The massive slave states of the 20th-century world could have used rather more decentralization, wouldn’t you say? William Lloyd Garrison favored the secession of the North; presumably even the thought controllers would balk at calling Garrison a “neo-Confederate.”

Thanks to Mike and Brion. I am proud to say that Brion McClanahan teaches U.S. history with me at my LibertyClassroom.com.

Copyright © 2013 Tom Woods

On The Web:   http://lewrockwell.com/woods/woods235.html

 

Mo. school bans Confederate shirt honoring dead student

A controversy is brewing in Nixa, Mo., after the city's high school banned tribute T-shirts to a recently deceased student because the clothing featured a Confederate flag.

 

Colby Snider, 18, was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning last year, KSPR reported. To honor him, his friends and family designed a T-shirt listing Snider's favorite activities, traits and sayings. They also emblazoned the garment with a Confederate flag and the words "heritage not hate."

Those close to Snider, including his mother and brother, planned to wear the shirt on the anniversary of his death, but were told by school officials that no Confederate flags were allowed on school grounds because of a particularly odious history of racial harassment in Nixa, the Riverfront Times reported.

"The policy was developed after the Confederate battle flag was used in various racial incidents," Zac Rantz, communications director for Nixa Public Schools, told the Times. "This policy first stemmed from events that occurred in the mid-1990s and has been reaffirmed by boards since that time because the Confederate battle flag has continued to be used in racial threats against students."

According to Rantz, agitators have driven around Nixa in the recent past with Confederate flags harassing minorities, hung nooses from their rearview mirrors, dangled an effigy over a bridge, defaced lockers at the high school and posted signs over water fountains.

"Ultimately, many families who were being harassed and threatened chose to leave Nixa," he said in the statement.

Because the incidents have continued up until the present school year, Rantz said school officials have decided to reaffirm the city's ban on the "racially inflammatory" symbol.

"When the symbol is used in a way that threatens students and it results in a material and substantive disruption to the educational environment where students are afraid to come to school, then it is not allowed," he said in his statement.

The Snider family and those close to the deceased student disagree with the city's decision to ban the tribute.

"The Rebel flag doesn't cause hate. People cause hate," Jodie Snider, Colby's mother, told the Times. "To all of us, it's about being from the South. ... This is about being Southern, living the Southern way. It's not about whether you're black or white."

Snider told the paper that she didn't believe the school had a legitimate reason to ban the shirt or the flag. She mentioned nonprohibited shirts that say "It's okay to be gay" and asked why she was forced to be tolerant of others' views when they weren’t compelled to be tolerant of hers.

Colby's 15-year-old brother, Colin, was recently sent home from school for wearing the shirt, according to Jodie.

"He should be able to honor his brother," Snider told the Times.

© 2013 Microsoft

On The Web:   http://news.msn.com/us/mo-school-bans-confederate-shirt-honoring-dead-student

 

105-year-old Confederate statue stirs controversy in Loudoun

Wednesday - 5/15/2013

By Hank Silverberg

LEESBURG, Va. - A statue of a Confederate soldier that has stood in front of the historic courthouse in Loudoun County since 1908 is now being called inappropriate and a local lawyer says it should be removed.

The statue was erected to honor the war dead at a time when many Civil war veterans were still alive.

The statue shows a Confederate soldier standing guard with his rifle ready.

An inscription, carved into the stone monument, says, "In memory of the Confederate Soldiers of Loudoun County, Va. Erected May 28, 1908."

But Loudoun County, deeply divided over the war in 1861, may not have healed old wounds.

Attorney John Flannery, who often has cases in the courthouse, wants the statue moved elsewhere. He says it's intimidating to some of his clients.

"It deters people. It chills them from believing they can get a fair shake in court," he says.

Flannery says he's actually had clients who are afraid they won't get justice in a courthouse after seeing the statue.

"It's a living, active courthouse, which already has challenges in terms of discrimination in terms of persons of color, and not only them."

But he will get an argument from many local folks. Local historian Gene Scheel says the statue is not a symbol, it's history.

"In 1908, a statue like this was considered to be an honor, that's history."

He says intact remnants of the past are good teaching tools.

"Practically every county that I've been to in Virginia has its Confederate memorial or monument," says Scheel, noting that Richmond has a whole row of them.

On the North King Street in front of the Loudoun Courthouse, there was mixed opinion about the statue.

"I am actually from the North and was a little bit surprised by it when I moved down here," says Annie Carlson. But adds that she can understand why that statue is there.

But Richard Gallagher, who was actually once a client of Flannery's, says he's surprised by the idea of moving the statue.

"I think its crazy. It's part of our history," he says.

Flannery thinks the statue should be at a museum or a cemetery, not the courthouse. He hasn't decided yet how to move forward with his request for moving the statue, and he says he does expect opposition.

© 2013 WTOP

On The Web:   http://wtop.com/159/3322329/Confederate-statue-stirs-controversy

 

Put your business where you heart is...with Dixie!
 
From: johnyreb43@yahoo.com
 
Gentlemen and Belles,
 
I have created a commercially oriented pro South group on Linked In called Southern Pride.
 
This group is intended to link professionals and business people of a Pro South orientation.  If you belong to LinkedIn I invite you to the link below to join.
 
If you do not belong to LinkedIn but share my belief that we should use the economic power of those with a Southern heart to help invigorate Dixie and re-assert our regional unity, then form a Southern Pride Chapter where you live or in your particular commercial discipline.
 
Yankees are adept at using money to further their ideas; I believe we should economics to further the Cause!
 
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Southern-Pride-revival-regional-patriotism-4889970?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr
 
God Bless the Corps and Dixie,
 
Mark Vogl

 

JJJr.  SCV stands like a stone wall Again!
 
From: fofoml@juno.com
 
http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2013/05/ex-constituents-ask-judge-to-sentence.html


 
Will we see the SCV take advantage of Jesse Jr. going off to jail, or once again stand by as the chance to correct the dis-service he has done to the National Parks, and his "It’s all about slavery", socialism agenda.
 
Also see link near bottom that says in part-----------
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. understands very well what Southern heritage is all about, and what it would mean to eliminate it. The Southern political tradition is opposed to big government. It is opposed to socialism. If you want socialism, if you want the government to act as an armed nursemaid for the entire population, and provide for them from cradle to grave, then Southern culture and tradition most certainly stand in your way. It's what Alexander Stephens once said, "The Cause of the South is the Cause of us all." And he was right. If leftists like Jackson and Obama have their way, Lincoln's Revolution will be brought to its natural conclusion, which Jesse Jackson tells us means the redefining of the Constitution, and the redefinition of America.
 
A Grandson of "THE OLD REBEL"--FRED C. WILHITE~~Forrest's-Orphans Camp~1744, PO Box 10, Calhoun, KY 42327.  270-785-4594  kyscv.orgWHAT WOULD GENERAL FORREST DO? KEEP UP THE SKEER! Join The Flaggers.
 
 

“……That North Carolina Should Not Lose Her Sovereignty as a State”


 
“North Carolina emerged from the Revolution imbued with a strong particularistic spirit. Emphasis upon and interest in State matters absorbed the energies of political leaders.
 
The result was that the State took little interest in the affairs of the Confederation.  When the Congress invited the States to send delegates to Philadelphia in 1787 for the purpose of revising the Article of Confederation, the General Assembly appointed a delegation of five to represent the State.
 
The North Carolina delegation represented the views of the conservative minority in the State which desired a strong central government….[but it] was not representative of the views of the majority of North Carolinians who were apparently well-satisfied with the government provided by the Articles.
 
It is not to be supposed that the North Carolina delegates, though they desired a stronger Union, favored a genuine national government rather than a confederation of States.
 
Although they favored strengthening the powers of the central government, they did not intend that North Carolina should lose her sovereignty as a State.
 
Upon completion of the new Constitution, provision was made for its ratification by conventions in the States. The anti-federalists, led by Willie Jones in the northeast,
 
Timothy Bloodworth in the southeast, Judge Samuel Spencer, Joseph McDowell and Thomas Person in the central and western counties, campaigned vigorously.
 
They denounced the federal judiciary, declared that the poor would be burdened with taxation, pointed to the lack of provisions guaranteeing the rights of individuals,
 
and criticized the failure to protect the rights of the States. Public opinion crystallized on the issue of ratification.  The anti-federalists were successful and elected a large majority of delegates to the convention. The farmers of North Carolina looked upon the Constitution as an instrument designed to aid the commercial interests.
 
In the debate over the clause making the Constitution, the laws of the United States, and all treaties made under the authority of the United States the supreme law of the land, Timothy Bloodworth….declared that the new Constitution “would sweep off all the constitutions of the States,” would be “a total repeal of every act and constitution of the States,” and would produce “an abolition of State governments.”
 
On this point the Federalist leaders adhered to sound State sovereignty doctrine, holding in general that the new Constitution was a compact between the States.
 
Both William R. Davie and Richard Dobbs Spaight, members of the Philadelphia convention, declared that the new government intended a stronger Union without destroying the sovereignty of the States.”  Read more at --http://www.ncwbts150.com/Test1.php
 
(The Secession Movement in North Carolina, Joseph Carlyle Sitterson, UNC Press, 1939, pp. 23-25)

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial
www.ncwbts150.com
“The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission”
 
 

Twenty Dollars Additional Pay for Volunteers
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
The following letter from Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall of Texas to her daughter in early 1861 relates the Fort Sumter affair in which Senator Wigfall obtained the surrender of Major Robert Anderson, and a very low opinion of how Northern volunteers were attracted to the colors
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Twenty Dollars Additional Pay for Volunteers:
 
“Montgomery, April 26 [1861].
 
“The people here are all in fine spirits….No one doubts our success…I suppose the chief fighting will be in Maryland and Virginia…..
 
April 29:  You allude to reports given in the Northern papers of the Fort Sumter affair. It is only what might have been expected of them, that they would garble and misrepresent the truth; but I must confess that Major Anderson’s silence, and the disingenuous bulletin he sent to Cameron have surprised me.
 
He takes care not to tell the whole truth, and any one to read his statement would suppose he had only come out on those conditions, whereas, he surrendered unconditionally – the US flag was lowered without salute while your father was in the fort. This was seen, not only by your father, but by the thousands who were on the watch, and it was only owing to General Beauregard’s generosity (misplaced, it seems, now) that he was allowed to raise it again, and to salute it on coming out of the Fort, and take it with him….And this conduct too, after the kind and generous treatment he met with from the Carolinians.
 
I don’t think though that the military enthusiasm can be very high at the North as I see they are offering $20 additional pay to volunteers a month. That speaks volumes. I suppose it is to be accounted for in the anxiety to get rid of the mod population who might be troublesome at home.”
 
(A Southern Girl in ’61, The War-Time Memories of a Confederate Senator’s Daughter, Mrs. D. Giraud Wright, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905, pp. 49 -51)
 
 

Va Flaggers Update 5-14-2013: Jeff-Davis Monument Incident
 
From: suzn68@comcast.net


 
“Vulneratus Non Victus”
 
On Thursday, May 9th, I was on my way back from the Stonewall Jackson Shrine at Guinea Station when I received a message from Va Flagger and friend, TriPp Lewis.  He stated that Rob Walker, the VCU student who had been following the Va Flaggers for the past 6 months and filming our efforts for a documentary, had just called him to report that he had thwarted an attempted vandalism at the Jefferson Davis Statue on Monument Ave., on his way home from his final exam at VCU.
 
Shortly thereafter, I was phoned into a three way call, and Rob repeated the description of his story.  As you can imagine, we were taken in by his dramatic and breathless account of the events.   He even sent us...photos of the taser/club that was used at the scene.
 
At the end of the phone call, I asked Rob for permission to post the account, and he gave me permission to do so.
 
My intention in sharing the post was twofold:  1) I wanted Rob to get recognition for his efforts…and 2) I hoped it would serve as a deterrent for others who might attempt the same.  As you might know, our monuments have been the subject of several attacks over the past months.
 
Our first indications that there may be a problem came in the form of an email from Navy Personnel who had seen the report and questioned Mr. Walker’s claim of Military Service on the USS Cole.  At this point, we had no reason to doubt Mr. Walker, and simply asked him to provide the necessary proof to the gentlemen who had made the request.  When Mr. Walker was not forthcoming with documents that could prove his service, we felt that while we considered it a private matter, it did create some doubt in our minds as to whether he was being truthful.
 
At this point, we decided we needed to further investigate the claims he had made regarding the incident at the monument, but it was Saturday…I was out of town for my son’s college graduation from Liberty University, and our Flaggers were all very busy, attending no less than three Confederate events in the Richmond area that day.
 
Sunday was Mother’s Day, so Sunday evening was the first chance we had to meet and we began researching his claims.  We could find no mention of the event on the Richmond Police Department’s incident report and contacted Mr. Walker to question this.  He insisted that he WAS telling the truth and promised to produce the police report on the next day, Monday, May 13th.
 
At noon Monday, we contacted Mr. Walker again, and he told us that they would not give him the report over the phone and that he would not be able to pick it up in person as he was out of town for the summer.
 
Assuming by now that we had been royally duped, we decided to make absolutely sure of the facts before we made any further statements.  At 8:45 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, May 14th, I went to Richmond Police Headquarters at 200 N. Grace Street and inquired as to whether there were any incidents reported at the monument location, during the time frame Mr. Walker had told us it happened.  RPD officials searched and found no record of any report filed.
 
As I put pen to hand, we still have no idea why Mr. Walker went to such lengths to create such an elaborate story, or what his intentions were.  He will still not admit that the account was false and we are left with the task of cleaning up the mess he has created with his fabrication and (apparent) outright lies.
 
I cannot properly express my sincere apologies for having released this story without first getting police corroboration.  I honestly can say that I never imagined anyone would go to all the trouble of fabricating such a tale, and am sad to have learned another hard lesson in having to question everyone’s motives, and trusting no one.
 
We are officially retracting our statements in the release of May 10th, and respectfully request that if you forwarded that email, that you do the same with this one so that we might reach everyone who received the false report.
 
I hope and pray that you will not consider this misplaced trust a reflection on any of the men and women who make up the Va Flaggers.  Although the Anti-Confederate Bloggers (affectionately referred to as “Floggers”) are attempting to suggest otherwise, Mr. Walker was not a Va Flagger.  He had chosen us as the subject of his documentary work and we had allowed him the freedom to travel with us and film our activities.  Up until the evening of May 10th, we never had any reason to believe that he was anything other than honest with us, and are still shocked at this turn of events.
 
As of today, we are severing all ties with Mr. Walker, as we have no desire to be even associated with anyone who does not know the value of honesty and truth, something that we work hard every day to promote, in our defense of the Confederate Soldier.
 
This revelation, and the personal attacks which have ensued, were a punch in the gut to me, and it is obvious that our enemies intend to attempt to use the incident to continue their quest to silence us and squelch the Flagging movement...  a movement that, despite their best efforts, has taken a foothold among Southerners who are fed up with the constant attacks on our heritage,  and is growing in numbers and support every day.  Please know, that while we take away a valuable lesson in this, it will in no way deter us from continuing the work that we have begun… protecting the honor of the Confederate Soldier and the flags under which he fought and died…and defending the heritage.
 
Finally, I can't end this narrative without thanking the Anti-Confederate “Floggers” referred to earlier. Although their motive in covering this incident on their blogs was obviously to cast negative attention on the Virginia Flaggers, which is their habit and history, their posting about it has nevertheless helped to bring awareness of the incident to a wider audience, which will now also be aware of this clarification.
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 
 

Truths About Slavery

Posted on May 12, 2013   
By Al Benson Jr.

If you listen to the current and recent stories about slavery and the slave trade you will be led to think of it as an entirely Southern institution. You will think it was created by Southerners for the benefit of Southerners and that no one else had anything to do with it. This is how you are supposed to think. This is how your public school “education” has programmed you to think. Truth has little or nothing to do with it. You are “educated” to believe “Marxist” truth whether you realize it or not. However, those who have educated your teachers realize it even if the teachers don’t.

Most of the time, though, Marxist truth (whatever supports the current agenda) will be a far cry from reality. This is one more reason to remove your kids from public school.

One small example here, from Donnie Kennedy’s book Myths of American Slavery: “On April 21, 1861, the American slaver Nightengale, affectionately known as the ‘Prince of Slavers” was built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, fitted out for the slave trade in Salem, Massachusetts, and its captain was from New York. When captured by the USS Saratoga, the Nightengale was flying the United States flag, and had more than nine hundred slaves on board. One of the last American vessels to be captured in the slave trade was the Erie, Nathaniel Gordon of Portland, Maine, commander. It should be noted that these vessels were not bringing slaves into the South.” How come, you might ask? Well, for a couple good reasons—one was that the Constitution of the Confederate States did not allow the importation of African slaves. Another reason was that the Union blockage had pretty much curtailed any importation of slaves into the South. Don’t expect to find this kind of information in your history books. They are usually so full of the “Uncle Toms’ Cabin” sort of fables they frequently have no room for the truth.

You are never told that, in much of the North, slavery was abolished to protect the white population from having to compete with slave labor. Lincoln, contrary to the popular myths about his fondness for black people and how he “grew” into this cherished position, felt that blacks were inferior and he was strongly in favor of moving them out of the country once they became free. He never changed that opinion. Donnie Kennedy’s book states, on page 165,: “Add to these the state of Illinois, which, in 1862 (while its sons were pillaging the South) by an overwhelming vote of the people, passed an amendment to the state constitution declaring that ‘no negro or mulatto shall immigrate or settle in this state.” If you ever noticed, the “underground railway” to free slaves ran all the way from different places in the South up into Canada. It didn’t end in New York or Michigan or wherever, and part of the reason for this was that most Northern folks did not want the blacks living too close to them.

Recently an article by Donald W. Livingston appeared on http://lewrockwell.com which dealt, to some degree, with the slavery issue. The name of the article was Lincoln’s Inversion of the American Union. Dr. Livingston made several interesting points. He noted: “Only around fiteeen percent of southerners even owned slaves, and the great majority of those had holdings of one to six. Jefferson Davis was an enlightened slave holder who said that once the Confederacy gained its independence, it would mean the end of slavery. The Confederate Cabinet agreed to abolish slavery within five years after the cessation of hostilities in exchange for recognition by Britain and France. Southerners were not fighting to preserve slavery, but simply and solely because they were being invaded. And the North certainly did not invade to abolish slavery. Nor should this be surprising considering the Negrophobia that prevailed everywhere in the North. It was assumed by the vast majority of Americans, North and South, that America was a white European polity, and that the Indian and African populations were not—and were never to be—full participants in that polity.“ Dr. Livingston cited a passage from the Oregon state constitution to prove this. Again, where have you read this in your “history” books? Dr. Livingston noted that free blacks in Northern states were “severely regulated.” All you ever see in the “history” books are comments about how Jim Crow laws were enacted in the South. You are never told they had the same thing in the North. That part is just omitted.

And why did the northern states emancipate the blacks who had been slaves there? Dr. Livingston observed: “Emancipation laws in the antebellum North were designed to rid the North of its African population. They typically declared that the children of slaves born after a certain date would, upon reaching a certain age, be emancipated. This meant the adult slaves were not freed and that families could be sold South before the children reached the age of emancipation. Emancipation led to a reduction of the African population in the North, not to an increase, as it did in the South.” And that was the sole reason, in most cases, for African emancipation up North. Sell the slaves South and then complain about Southern slaver holders and the “sin”of slavery. If it was a sin for Southerners to own them wasn’t it also a sin for Northerners to own them? Hush! You ain’t supposed to ask that question! Livingston pointed out that: “Even abolitionists were careful to point out that it was not the slave they loved but the slaveholder they hated, and that emancipation did not at all mean social and political equality with whites.” This is the part you are never told about.

So basically the abolitionists hated the South and Southerners and they used the slaves as a wedge to pry the South apart from its foundations. If you look at the theological underpinnings of many of the abolitionists the reason for this is apparent. Their agenda called for much more than freeing slaves. That was the foot in the Southern door and that’s all it was.

I have never forgotten the story my father told me years ago. When he was a boy he knew an ex-slave. They used to fish in the same river and got talking. The old slave talked about what life had been like before he was free. He told my Dad that the family that owned them always treated them well and they had grown to love them. After the 13th Amendment was passed freeing them, many of the slaves did not want to leave what, to them, was home. One day the Yankee soldiers came and to them they were free and so they should pack up whatever they could carry on their backs and go. One of the slaves, with a little presence of mind asked the soldier “If we free then why can’t we stay if we want to?” My Dad never forgot the soldier’s reply. He told the slave “You’re free to go but not to stay.” How typical of Yankee/Marxist “freedom.” You’re free to do what we tell you to do but not what you might want to do. How different is our “freedom” today? “Reconstruction” still marches on! But, with our public school “educations” we still don’t get the message.

On The Web:   http://revisedhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/truths-about-slavery/

 

Confederate flags should have stayed

To the Editor:

I am very upset over the Confederate flag removal.

I agree 100 percent with Bruce Gillam Sr., and certainly not with the editorials that have been in your paper.

I can't understand how two people can make a fuss and get it taken down. I am sure most of the people don't agree with taking it down (but don't voice their opinion). I always thought majority ruled.

I liked the quote about Mount Rushmore: "George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both owned slaves -- Do they hide Mountt Rushmore? Isn't it true we should not forget our mistakes least we repeat them?"

Mr. Gillam deserves our respect and admiration. I am sure most all of us had family years ago on both sides. They aren't worried about it -- it’s part of history and this should go all the way to the Senate and House.

Just like gun laws -- if you don't agree, then don't buy one. But that’s a whole other topic

Alice Willman
Wessington Springs

 

Confederate flag memorial shirts stir tensions at Nixa High

May 12, 2013

NIXA — The student dress code at Nixa High School explicitly bans images of the Confederate battle flag.

“Clothing with racially inflammatory or verbally harassing material such as Confederate flags or swastikas shall not be worn,” the student handbook states.

Thursday night, a group of students walked into a school board meeting together, clad in black, the color of mourning. Their T-shirts bore Confederate flags across the chests with the slogan “heritage not hate,” in challenge of a policy enacted in the 1990s.

The students stood in defiance in the mourning of Colby Snider, who died May 1, 2012, of carbon monoxide poisoning. His friends had planned to wear the shirts to school on the anniversary of his death but were told the shirts violated the dress code. Some students wore the shirts anyway and were disciplined.

The Nixa Board of Education had extra chairs and sheriff’s deputies in its meeting room as residents of the school district addressed the board regarding the confederate flag ban. Colby’s mother, Jodie Snider, was the first to speak.

“This is not about hate crimes; it’s not about hate against anybody else. This is about — the shirts are about my son,” Snider said. “He really did love other people, and we do too. This was a part of his heritage, it was about Dukes of Hazzard-style stuff.”

Speech and debate teacher Jeremy Sullivan says the controversy with the shirts memorializing Snider shed light on a larger controversy of racial tensions at the school. Because the speech and debate team had an end-of-year party scheduled on the same night as the board of education meeting, Sullivan helped a pair of students record statements on video that the school board watched.

“My soul aches for what these two young people have had to endure,” Sullivan said.

Jacob Baird says he has been harassed in both junior high and high school.

“For the three years I have lived in Nixa, I have always been bullied for being black, something I can’t even control,” Baird said. “It hurt knowing every day when I woke up I had to go to school being called (racial slurs).”

Awreon Riley, who identified herself as “a mixed-race kid at a Confederate flag school,” said Colby Snider’s friends could have honored his memory in a way that didn’t conjure negative feelings from other kids.

“All I see now are Confederate flags. People say it’s to honor a loved one who has passed and the symbol is for them, but that’s not right. Honor someone in other ways, ways that don’t tear others down,” Riley said.

Sullivan encouraged the Nixa Board of Education not to change the high school policy that bans confederate flags from being displayed on clothing.

“It is imperative that our district continue to do everything within its power to provide a safe and secure learning environment for all students regardless of color,” Sullivan said.

Snider wanted Colby’s friends to be allowed to wear the T-shirts with the Confederate flag for a day.

She told the board that the flag does not represent racism and hate to the group of students who wanted to wear it.

“This culture is changing, it’s not the same as it was 20 years ago,” Snider said. “There’s hate crimes everywhere, and we need to stop that by education.”

Education begins with the faculty at Nixa Junior High and Nixa High School. Superintendent Stephen Kleinsmith says diversity training for teachers will be a continuous process across the district.

“We mean business. It’s crucial that every day when parents send their loved ones to school they are doing so to where there is physical, emotional, mental security and safety, and caring learning environments for them to do what the public pays for, and that is to educate nearly 6,000 students,” Kleinsmith said.

The school board opted to maintain the ban on Confederate flags at Nixa High School. The group of students clad in black stood together and left the meeting room in silence.

Copyright © 2013 www.news-leader.com

On The Web:   http://www.news-leader.com/article/20130510/NEWS01/305100120/nixa-school-ban-confederate-flag?nclick_check=1

 

Saturday, May 11, 2013

TENNESSEE PASSES HERITAGE PROTECTION ACT

The N. B. Forrest Camp 215 of Memphis, and the Tennessee Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans are pleased to announce the passage of the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has recently signed into law the Heritage Protection Act. This law, which applies to the entire state and all cities, prohibits the renaming, removal, or relocating of any military monument or item, such as a statue or flag display, or park, and includes streets and school names, or any other item so honoring a military unit or person. It is effective as of April 1, 2013, and applies to any military item from the French and Indian War through the Mid-East wars, and all US wars in between, including the War Between the States.

This legislation, the basic text of which was written by Lee Millar, SCV Chief of Protocol and Lt Cdr of the Tennessee Division, was introduced to the Legislature by Tenn Div Cdr Mike Beck to the Senate and Millar to the House, and was passed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate by a combined vote of 95-25. Thanks also to those many compatriots who wrote in to their senators and representatives in support.

This law will assist in the Memphis issue with the Nathan Bedford Forrest Park anti-renaming campaign, and will clearly hereafter protect the Forrest Statue, as well as the Jefferson Davis Statute, and the SCV Confederate cannons in Confederate Park. It will also protect scores of other Confederate and War For Southern Independence sites throughout Tennessee.

The new law is one of the greatest documents in modern history for the protection and preservation of this state's and nation's military history and heritage. It is hoped that other states will now take up the initiative.

On The Web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/05/tennessee-passes-heritage-protection-act.html

 

Surgeon: Stonewall Jackson death likely pneumonia

Posted:   05/10/2013
By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press

Historians and doctors have debated for decades what medical complications caused the death of legendary Confederate fighter Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, felled by friendly fire from his troops during the Civil War.

Shot three times while returning from scouting enemy lines in the Virginia wilderness, Jackson was badly wounded in the left arm by one of the large bullets the night of May 2, 1863. Blood gushed from a severed artery. It took at least two hours to get him to a field hospital, and Jackson was dropped twice in a stretcher before his arm was amputated. He died days later at 39.

Scholars have long questioned whether it was an infection or pneumonia that killed Jackson, who gained the nickname "Stonewall" early in the war and went on to be lionized in the South and feared in the North because of his military exploits.

On Friday, the 150th anniversary of Jackson's death, a trauma surgeon with experience on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan revealed his diagnosis of Jackson's death after reinvestigating the medical record. After reviewing the 1860s files and subsequent reports, University of Maryland surgeon and professor Joseph DuBose told The Associated Press that Jackson most likely died of pneumonia.

DuBose is confirming the original diagnosis given by Jackson's personal physician, the famed Confederate doctor Hunter H. McGuire.

"You would be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified than him for the treatment of this injury and taking care of Stonewall Jackson," DuBose said. "I do defer to him in some regard. I kind of have to. He's not only the treating physician; he's also the only source of information."

McGuire's original medical notes were lost when he was captured by Union soldiers. He recreated them from memory three years later for the Richmond Medical Journal.

Pneumonia was common in the Civil War, becoming the third most fatal disease for soldiers.

Jackson was the subject of an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore that reviews medical diagnoses of historical figures. In the past, researchers have reviewed the deaths of Alexander the Great, Edgar Allan Poe and Abraham Lincoln, among others.

DuBose is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, where Jackson was a professor before the Civil War. A large statue of Jackson stands near the campus barracks. So, his legacy and death were ingrained in DuBose's experience as a cadet.

Jackson was shot by soldiers from the 18th North Carolina regiment in a moment of confusion. He had led a surprise attack in the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia, and the Confederates drove Union forces back about three miles. Civil War historian James I. Robertson Jr. recounts that Jackson wasn't satisfied and rode out at night to review the enemy's position. When he rode back, he was shot by his own soldiers.

Then, being dropped during a frantic nighttime rescue may well have contributed to Jackson's death, DuBose found.

"If he had been dropped and had a pulmonary contusion, or bruise of the lung, it creates an area of the lung that doesn't clear secretions real well, and it can be a focus that pneumonia can start in," DuBose said. "That's probably what happened in this particular instance."

DuBose, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said pulmonary embolism—a blockage of the major blood vessel in the lung—still occurs in nearly 6 percent of combat casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is even more common among those who have amputations, as Jackson did.

Still, the debate will continue over Jackson's death.

Dr. Philip Mackowiak, an internist who organizes the conference each year, said he differs with DuBose on the Jackson case. He reviewed the records and said he believes a recurrent pulmonary emboli destroyed Jackson's lung over time, leading to his death. The medical records don't describe Jackson coughing, as one would expect with pneumonia, Mackowiak said.

It's impossible to know for sure what killed Jackson. But DuBose said modern medicine could have saved him. Jackson's doctor didn't have the tools or knowledge to treat the complications after the shooting.

Robertson, a former Virginia Tech historian and professor who wrote Jackson's biography, said he has been persuaded that sepsis, caused by severe infection, killed Jackson, due to his chaotic rescue and unsanitary conditions. He noted, though, doctors at the time agreed Jackson had pneumonia.

"Unfortunately, medicine in the mid-19th century was still in the dark ages," he said. "Obviously, I'm not overly concerned with how he died. I'm terribly concerned that he died."

Jackson was a pivotal figure and perhaps the most esteemed soldier in the war, Robertson said. He was known for secrecy and speed to execute surprise flank attacks for Gen. Robert E. Lee's strategy.

"He was killed in what may be the high-water mark of the Confederacy," Robertson said. "You can make a case that after Chancellorsville, it's just a question of time for Lee."

Copyright 2013 The Denver Post

On The Web:   http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_23214673/surgeon-stonewall-jackson-death-likely-pneumonia

 

Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Can states assert their original rights and the law of self-preservation?
By Ken Bachand

All serious students of American history should be acquainted with the Alien and Sedition Acts passed during the John Adams administration and the Kentucky and Vuirginia Resolutions that were passed in response. But most do not know that James Madison, author of the Virginia Resolutions, later redefined them in favor of the supremacy of the central government. Take special note of the underlined parts of the last paragraph of the excerpt below and consider how well Madison’s solutions for solving such issues have worked in just the last twenty years.

In his Kentucky Resolutions, drafted in secret, Jefferson, then the vice president, explained that the federal union was a compact among states which had delegated only "certain definite powers" to the national government, reserving all other powers to themselves. Thus, Jefferson argued that if any acts of the federal government went beyond the powers that had been delegated to it, every state had the right "to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power." Since Congress had trampled upon the Constitution, Jefferson considered it crucial to reestablish a "rampart" to protect the minority "against the passions and the powers of a majority."

Madison's Virginia Resolutions were slightly more moderate in tone than Jefferson's. Like Jefferson, Madison portrayed the union as a "compact to which the states are parties" and issued an impassioned warning against federal legislation that represented a deliberate and dangerous exercise of power not granted to the national government by the Constitution. But, instead of using Jefferson's belligerent scare word "nullification," Madison used the blander verb "interpose," asserting that states were "in duty bound to interpose for arresting the progress" of unconstitutional legislation.

In truth, Jefferson and Madison were less interested in offering a new theory of nullification or in asserting state sovereignty than in protecting the integrity of the First Amendment. Madison excoriated the Sedition Act's violation of First Amendment rights of conscience and freedom of the press as well as the "right of freely examining public characters and measures." The results of the intimidating Sedition Act, he had warned, would be citizens' withdrawal from public life and the ensuing "deadly lethargy" that always characterizes despotic regimes.

But Jefferson had ventured farther into dangerous territory, arguing that any additional unconstitutional assumptions of power and violations of rights would "necessarily drive these States into revolution and blood." Freedom of the mind, he believed, mattered even more than constitutional government and union. If called to defend that freedom, Jefferson wrote to a friend in 1799, "every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom."

In the end, how critical a role did the resolutions play? Not only had the Kentucky legislature deleted Jefferson's references to nullification in the final version of the resolutions that they approved, no other states joined Virginia and Kentucky in their protest. On the contrary, ten state legislatures censured Kentucky and Virginia. And even the then-governor of Virginia, James Monroe, never sought to prevent the enforcement of the Sedition Act.

And yet some southerners would never forget the principles embedded in those resolutions. Far from disappearing, they became the impassioned rallying cry of the states' rights movement, reawakened and mobilized by John Calhoun. Terms like "nullification," "interposition," and "state sovereignty" would become the mantra of states' rights proponents.

Guilt-stricken that he had provided the foundational arguments for Calhoun's states' rights doctrine—a theory that threatened the very survival of the Constitution and the nation—Madison, during the last years of his life, would painstakingly strive to argue the resolutions away and to underscore their benign intentions.

Anxious to exculpate himself of the taint of the states' rights ideology, Madison presented his own explication of the Virginia Resolutions, presenting a panoply of sensible thoughts. He pointed out that the utterly banal—and constitutional—matter of a protective tariff on imported woolen goods paled in importance next to the government's unconstitutional violation of the Bill of Rights. He insisted that he believed fervently in a perpetual union and had never intended to suggest that the minority could overrule the majority or that states could withdraw from the union. The Virginia Resolutions had referred only to the rights of the states in the plural to nullify federal laws and not, as Calhoun contended, to the right of a single state to nullify a law; and the verb "interpose" was meant only to suggest an appeal to public opinion, not resistance. It could even be argued that the immediate goal of the resolutions was to empower the majority of Americans in the next election by inspiring them to overthrow the Federalists in 1800. In that electoral campaign, the resolutions indeed proved supremely effective, for they played a vital role in galvanizing public opinion on behalf of Thomas Jefferson, who defeated Federalist John Adams.

Still, Madison's efforts in the early 1830s to deny that the resolutions had made the case for states' rights came too late. By then, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions already symbolized a potent strain of southern thought that would be used to buttress Calhoun's doctrine of nullification—and more The ideas that Madison and Jefferson had expressed in 1798, intentionally or not, had ignited a fire that would be impossible to quench.

Despite Madison's attempt to dilute the import and the repercussions of his resolutions, Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina would thank him in early 1830 for the contribution that his Virginia Resolutions had made to the nullification cause. It was unfortunate that the resolutions of 1798 had been forgotten by so many citizens, Hayne told Madison, for the result of that forgetfulness was "the alarming assumptions of power on the part of the federal government." Now, nothing could save southerners, the South Carolinian wrote, "from consolidation and its inevitable consequences, the separation of the States, but the restoration of the principles of '98."

But Madison longed only to affirm his nationalist credentials. Though his defense of tariffs had already provoked opposition, at the risk of inciting still more attacks on himself, he responded to Hayne's letter of praise with a long and scholarly denunciation of nullification, published in 1830 for all to read in the North American Review.

The Constitution, Madison argued in his essay, could not be "altered or annulled at the will of the individual states." With twenty-four states already in the Union, a multiplicity of independent decisions was untenable; indeed, the vital principle could only be uniform laws for all. Nullification would simply overturn the fundamental principle of free government—majority rule—with the ultimate effect of overturning the government itself.

Madison did not deny that egregious legislation—like the Alien and Sedition Acts—might be passed. But the most effective means for opposing such intolerable legislation, he now argued, was not nullification, but rather a variety of constitutional remedies: the influence of senators and representatives in Congress; the power of the Supreme Court to determine the parameters of state and national authority; the responsibility of the president to the people; the liability of the executive and the judiciary to impeachment; and, finally, the ballot box. Indeed, he reminded his readers that, in the first presidential election following the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson had triumphed, and that the new president, a champion of freedom of speech and the press, had let the Sedition Act expire. Failing the ballot box, there was still another option available to the states: a constitutional amendment. Only if every constitutional resort collapsed, then and only then, he allowed, could states assert "their original rights and the law of self-preservation."

On The Web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/05/can-states-assert-their-original-rights.html

 

We Don’t Grasp the Yankee/Marxist Mindset
Posted on May 10, 2013   

By Al Benson Jr.

There were some leaders in the South during the War of Northern Aggression that watched Northern armies get defeated again and again and they wondered why the Northern government just didn’t give up and let them go and end all the carnage on both sides. As sincere as these men were, they did not grasp the Yankee/Marxist mindset, just as many do not in our day.

They did not realize (and still do not) that the prime agenda of the Yankee/Marxist is to remake the world and all its people in his own image. He can never stop until he completes this task. His combat against those who deviate from his holy agenda is ongoing and never-ending. He seeks to get his own way and push his own agenda—no matter what—and no matter how long it takes. This is the Yankee/Marxist’s “holy” calling—all must be remade in his image and for that to happen all memory of Almighty God must be done away with so that all anyone ever remembers is the Yankee/Marxist “deity.”

He’s not there yet and in God’s economy he never will be, but that doesn’t keep him from continually trying.

That was true during the War of Northern Aggression and it is still true today. If he can’t accomplish his ends one way, he will seek to use another, but he will not quit—not ever. We need to grasp this and we mostly don’t.

The current Marxist administration has sought to remove our Second Amendment rights. In a recent senate vote they lost on all three attempts to do away with those rights. Many pro-gun folks think that was the end of it and our Second Amendment rights are now safe because the Senate voted to keep them. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In a recent article on http://www.infowars.com Obama vowed to continue pushing his gun control agenda, no matter how he has to do it The article said: “…he called the recent failures to pass gun control legislation the ‘first round’ and pledged to keep pushing his agenda” So don’t think we are off the hook because he lost the first round.

While Obama has hinted that he’d like to pass gun control legislation, he’s not above trying to issue an executive decree if legislation doesn’t work. So don’t think you are home free. The gun grabbers will be back, one way or another, by hook or by crook. They mean to dismantle the Second Amendment and if we do not stay continually alert they will do it—anyway they have to.

After all, the world has to be remade in the image of the Beast, er, I mean the Yankee/Marxist and his minions in Washington are not about to deviate from that agenda. The Christians and patriots that seek to oppose this need the same tenacity. Will we have it?

On The Web:   http://revisedhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/we-dont-grasp-the-yankeemarxist-mindset/

Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ex-constituents ask judge to sentence Jesse Jackson Jr. to hard time

This story just gets better with every update! And this latest report about JJJr's bitter ex-constituents wanting the book thrown at him is just the icing on the cake:

Several of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-Ill.) constituents are asking a federal judge to show him no mercy when he hands down his sentence.

The charges of using campaign funds for personal use, which Jackson has pleaded guilty to, are worse than murder, Chicago resident Gregory Ritter said in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins.

“[M]urder would be a lighter crime, as these defendants have used the political hopes and dreams of the constituents as a blank check for deceit,” Ritter wrote.

Southerners everywhere can't help but feel that justice has been served - after all the nasty things JJJr said about the South, it looks like he's getting his just rewards.

On The Web:   http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2013/05/ex-constituents-ask-judge-to-sentence.html

 

Marked for history: Group makes sure Confederate veterans aren't forgotten

By Molly McGowan / Times-News
Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2013

GRAHAM — Since April, members of a local Sons of Confederate Veterans camp have been diligently visiting cemeteries across Alamance County, marking the weathered stones of more than 400 soldiers who died fighting for the Confederacy.

About 12 men in the Col. Charles F. Fisher Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp 813, were tasked with placing replicas of the 1861 North Carolina state flag and the first national flag of the Confederacy at the graves — and they had a deadline.

Al Boswell, past commander of the local unit, said the goal was to have all the flags up by May 10 — the date on which North Carolina celebrates Confederate Memorial Day.

“There’s other states that do it in April,” said Boswell. “We do it in May.”

Boswell said that’s because after the Civil War ended in 1867, a group of women in Raleigh chose May 10 to remember fallen Confederate soldiers, since Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson had died on that date in 1863.

The Col. Charles F. Fisher Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp 813 has been marking all the Confederate graves in Alamance County for the past 10 years, Boswell said. There are about 43 Confederate graves in Burlington’s Pine Hill Cemetery, another 23 in the cemetery at St. Marks’ Church, and about four or five in Elon’s Magnolia Cemetery, he said.

Many of the worn stone surfaces are inscribed with only the soldiers’ name and birth and death dates, but some bear the “C.S.A.” that hearkens back to a time when the Confederate States of America existed.

The grave of H.R. Smith in Pine Hill Cemetery designates him as a soldier who served in the C.S.A. Company E., 3rd North Carolina Regiment, 10th Battalion. The inscription under Thomas Brooks’ name, also in Pine Hill Cemetery, states, “Pvt. 6 N.C. State Troops C.S.A.”

Those men and their comrades will be remembered at a Saturday memorial event, held a day later than the official Confederate Memorial Day, said Boswell. Members of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans Unit and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter 944 will gather Saturday morning at the Alamance County Historic Courthouse in Graham.

“We will be flying the first national flag of the Confederacy at the courthouse,” said Boswell. “There will be firing of muskets at 9 (a.m.)”

He said the group will lay a wreath at the Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown Graham, then do the same at the Alamance County War Memorial in front of the Alamance County Criminal Courts Building on Elm Street. The memorial service, which is open to the public, will close there with speeches at 2 p.m.

“This is our small way of honoring these men,” said Boswell. “If we don’t, nobody will, and they’ll be forgotten.”

Copyright © 2013 Halifax Media Group

On The Web:   http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/top-news/marked-for-history-group-makes-sure-confederate-veterans-aren-t-forgotten-1.139607

 

Confederate flag is not racist one
Thursday, May 9th, 2013

Last week, the VA Center in Hot Springs removed two  Confederate flags hanging in a historical display after two African-American patients there complained about them being racist. The two were at the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and were reportedly released about two weeks early from the programs with full credit.

Shortly after the two men were on their way home, the flags were put up again in the rotunda display at the VA. Steven DiStasio, director of the VA Black Hills Health System, said the flags were returned because of their historical significance and their role in showing respect for all veterans. He said the flags were temporarily removed out of respect for the complaints made by the two veterans.

We agree that the Confederate flag is part of our history, just as much as the Civil War is an important part of this country’s history. The Civil War was mainly fought by the Southern states because they were opposed to a centralized federal government proposed by President Lincoln, not because they wanted to continue with slave ownership on their plantations. In fact, Southern slave owners were already granting freedom for slaves before the war started.

The Civil War was about states’ rights as opposed to a centralized federal government in Washington, D.C. Southern states wanted their independence from the heavy hand of a federal government and they were willing to go to war to keep their independence. The more populated North was also more heavily industrialized and able to produce more guns and ammunition to conquer the South. The Civil War today is still referred to by some Southerners as “The War of Northern Aggression.”

DiStasio correctly points out that the VA Center in Hot Springs was originally constructed to house veterans of the Civil War. These were not just Union veterans, but veterans from the Confederate states as well. Both sides fought under their own flags for a cause they believed was right and just. Above all, men and women from both sides who fought in this terrible and bloody war were all Americans.

Unfortunately, over the years the Confederate flag has been used by the white-supremist, Southern-based Ku Klux Klan in their ceremonies. We can certainly understand why Blacks would want to connect this flag with racism. The flag itself is not racist. It has been taken up in the past by a racist group that is condemned for its historical hate of Black Americans. The Klan also wraps itself in the folds of the American flag, which is also disgusting.

The flag of the Confederacy is an important part of our history. It was carried through all the bloody battles of the Civil War by Americans living in Southern states. It, along with the American flag, doesn’t deserve to be linked with slavery or racism in any way. It should continue hanging as an important part of our nation’s history.

©Copyright 2004-2013 Custer County Chronicle

On The Web:   http://www.custercountynews.com/cms/news/story-690570.html

 

Nixa school board reaffirms ban on confederate flag after public input

by Joe Daues, KSPR News
May 9, 2013

A group of parents crowded into the Nixa school board meeting Thursday night (5-9) some of them to talk about a policy banning the confederate flag.

District policy does not allow clothing with the confederate flag in schools.

About 50 people attended the regular meeting.  Last week some students were suspended after wearing a shirt that showed a confederate flag in honor of the late Colby Snider.  About a dozen people shared their opinions with the board at the meeting.
    
The school board reaffirmed its policy banning the confederate flag.

On The Web:  http://www.kspr.com/news/kspr-nixa-mo-school-board-reaffirms-ban-of-confederate-flag-20130509,0,3504120.story

 

Nixa School Board Reaffirms Ban as T-Shirt Controversy Escalates
By: Laura Kennedy
Updated: May 9, 2013

NIXA, Mo. -- The Nixa School District heard at least a dozen public comments about a banned article of clothing Thursday night.

Two weeks ago, a student was sent home from school when he wore a confederate flag shirt and refused to change clothes. The shirt is a memorial to his brother Colby Snider, who died one year ago.

Snider's family says he loved the symbol of the rebel flag, so his family and friends wanted to wear the flag shirts in his memory.

But the school district said no, which is why a group of concerned citizens made their case to the school board.

The Nixa Public School District has a policy specifically banning the confederate flag from students' clothing. District leaders say there has been a history of violent acts associated with the symbol in this area, so their policy is specific and concrete.

But Colby's family says the flag doesn't mean anything hateful to them. The shirts read "heritage, not hate." They feel they should be able to wear the shirts to school.

"I want to wear this shirt to memorialize my brother and in no way to hate anybody or anything like that it's simply where I come from and where my family comes from," Colby's brother Collin Snider said.

"We have had a history of racial tension in this school district and based on events that happened 20 years ago we have deemed the confederate battle flag to be one of the things that creates a disruptive and threatening environment  for some of our students. For that we do not allow it in our schools, period, no exceptions," Nixa Public Schools Director of Communication Zac Rantz said.

The school board heard the public comment from Colby's family and friends. However, they decided to uphold the ban.

Had they decided to allow the shirts, it would've been an exception to a rule that's been in this district for more than 20 years.

©1998 - 2013 Ozarksfirst.com

On The Web:   http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=805172

 

New Government and New Union
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Any of the States outside of the South could have requested admission to the new American Confederacy, admitted by many to be a more perfect union with previous defects remedied.  Below, Senator Robert M.T. Hunter of Virginia addresses the United States Senate on January 11, 1861.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
New Government and New Union:
 
“Mr. President, I have not sought to speak hitherto on the momentous question of the day, because I did not believe that any good would be accomplished…the disease seemed to me to be so deeply seated that none but the most radical remedies would suffice; and I had no hope that the public mind of the North was in a condition to receive any such proposition. All must see that the bonds which have hitherto bound together the members of this Confederacy are parting like flax before the fire of popular passion.
 
We cannot recall the past; we cannot restore the dead; but the hope and the trust of those who desire a Union, are that we may be able to reconstruct a new Government and a new Union, which may perhaps be more permanent and efficient than the old.
 
A President has been nominated and elected by a sectional majority, who was known to have avowed and to entertain [radical] opinions; [a] standard bearer who has made [threatening] declarations in regard to the rights of the South.
 
Is it surprising, then, that the Southern States should say: “It is not safe for us to remain longer in a Government which may be directed as an instrument of hostility against us; it is not safe for us to remain linger under the rule of a Government whose President may misuse his patronage for the very purpose of stirring up civil strife among us, and also for the purpose of creating civil war in our midst?
 
I say, therefore, sir, that the South is bound to take this course [of independence] unless it can get some guarantees which will protect it in the Union, some constitutional guarantees which will serve that end….
 
But, sir, I maintain that coercion, if it were possible, is not right; and if it were right, it is not possible. [The] only effect of an attempt at coercion would be to destroy the chances of a reconstruction of the Union, or, in other words, to defeat all the hopes that are left to the friends of a Union in the country.
 
I proceed then, Mr. President, to make my proposition, that this Federal Government cannot be carried on within the limits and jurisdiction of a State, without the assent, the aid, and the sympathy of its people.  In the first place, it depends on the Legislatures of the several States to elect members of this body. If a majority of States, although they might represent a small minority of the people, were to refuse to send Senators here, your Government is gone; you have lost one of the most important arms of the system; you no longer have a Senate.
 
But sir, that is not all. To obtain the right of exclusive legislation within dock-yards, forts, your custom-houses? Where would you have your locus in quo, from which to administer the functions and powers of this General Government? Everywhere, if they were to refuse to give you this assent, you would be under State jurisdiction; and thus it would be in the power of the State constantly to thwart, obstruct, and prevent the administration of Federal power, within her limits and jurisdictions.
 
So too, it is in the power of the States, if they choose, if they undertake to withdraw their assent from this Constitution, to defeat these great ends of the Union….the framers of the Constitution supposed that this Federal Government would only be an authorized Government within a State so long as it had the assent of the people of that State; and when the people of that State withdrew their assent, it was not the authorized Government; and therefore they provided no means for enforcing its powers and for exercising its jurisdictions.
 
Sir, the only mode in which you could protect the administration of the Federal affairs and the Federal jurisdiction within the State, would be to set aside the State government by force, and to reduce it to a territorial condition; and then what would be the result? You first coerce a State because it secedes from thirty-two other members of this Confederacy; and you turn around and secede yourselves from it by reducing it from a condition of a State to the position of a Territory!”
 
(The Politics of Dissolution, Marshall L. DeRosa, editor, Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 240-253)

 

Confederate Flags removed at South Dakota Va
 
From: george8576@att.net
 
Chuck,
 
Please see attachment for a letter I am about to send to my Mississippi representatives regarding the removal of Confederate Flags at the South Dakota, VA center. I also intend to send this to VA administrator and South Dakota's representatives.
 
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/confederate-flags-at-hot-spring-va-being-removed-again/article_062f4f34-9a13-5260-8fad-f004513275f8.html
 
I present this document for anyone to use. please edit to your needs.
 
Included in the attachment are several facts that need to be pointed out to all concerned parties. 
 
As  Confederate descendants we must stand up and defend our heritage against all attcaks. If we do not defend what we believe is right, who will? certainly not the Sons or daughters of the Confederacy. The task falls to everyday people like us.
 
George Purvis
Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education
 
Congressman/Senator
 
Sir (Madam) it has come to my attention that Janet Murphy, director of the VA Midwest Health Care Network in Eagan, Minn., Wednesday that the controversial flags would be removed from a Freedom Shrine display in the rotunda of the main VA building in Hot Springs South Dakota. This action was taken because of the complaints of two (people).
 
I note the reason given for this action are based on ignorance of history and I am sure some biased in the part of of Ms Murphy
 
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons—
 
1. "To ensure the Hot Springs VA Medical Center is a place of healing for all veterans, the Confederate flags will be removed from the Freedom Shrine display, located in the rotunda of the main building," Murphy said.
 
The Confederate flags have nothing to do with healing nor does the United States Flag.  Healing is the job of the medical personnel working at the VA center.
 
2. “DeMouchette said he had been in contact with members of Colorado's congressional delegation about getting the flags removed. He said he understood that the flags have historical value but believes their place to be in a museum setting.”
 
Isn’t that exactly what Freedom Shrine is supposed to be?
 
3. “Whatever the actual intent of the flags or their value, they have come to represent racism and oppression for African-Americans and other minorities, DeMouchette said’
 
Mr. DeMouchette apparently has no idea of the history of the United States Flag or the history of the United States. He should do some research on the KKK and find out what their official flag is. He should look up slavery and see how long it existed under the US Flag. He should look up the treatment of the Native Americans during the Plains Wars and Japanese Americans during WWII. He should look up the treatment of the Jews during our so called “Civil war”. Mr. DeMouchette would find plenty of racism stains the United States Flag.
 
4. U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., agreed in a statement sent by her staff.
 
5. "I believe this was the right decision," she said. "Veterans of all backgrounds should feel welcome at our VA facilities."
 
Ok now I feel uncomfortable when I visit a Federal building with the United States flying. In fact due to Lincoln’s total war policy on the South I feel uncomfortable any time I see the United States Flag. I wonder just when the United States government will attack me.
 
With these points being made I feel that Ms Murphy should be removed from her job. It is obvious she has no education an in history yet is allowed to make decisions about another’s heritage through ignorance.
 
I take this time to remind you of some historical points regarding the Confederate battle Flag:
 
When the Spanish-American War concluded successfully in December 1898, President McKinley used this as an opportunity to “mend the fences”. Remember, as part of the conciliation, several former Confederate officers were commissioned as generals to include former Confederate cavalry general, Wheeler. This is what McKinley said:
 
On 14 December 1898 he gave a speech in which he urged reconciliation based on the outstanding service of Southerners during the recent war with Spain. “…every soldier’s grave made during our unfortunate civil war [sic] is a tribute to American valor [my emphasis]… And the time has now come… when in the spirit of fraternity we should share in the care of the graves of the Confederate soldiers…The cordial feeling now happily existing between the North and South prompts this gracious act and if it needed further justification it is found in the gallant loyalty to the Union and the flag so conspicuously shown in the year just passed by the sons and grandsons of those heroic dead.”
 
Congressional Appropriations Act, FY 1901, signed 6 June 1900Congress passed an act of appropriations for $2,500 that enabled the “Secretary of War to have reburied in some suitable spot in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, and to place proper headstones at their graves, the bodies of about 128 Confederate soldiers now buried in the National Soldiers Home near Washington, D.C., and the bodies of about 136 Confederate soldiers now buried in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia.”
 
Remarks: More important than the amount (worth substantially more in 1900 than in 2000) is the move to support reconciliation by Congressional act. In 1906, Confederate Battle flags were ordered to be returned to the states from whence they originated. Some states refused to return the flags. Wisconsin still has at least one flag it refuses to return.
 
Congressional Act of 9 March 1906  (P.L. 38, 59th Congress, Chap. 631-34 Stat. 56)
 
Authorized the furnishing of headstones for the graves of Confederates who died, primarily in Union prison camps and were buried in Federal cemeteries.
 
Remarks: This act formally reaffirmed Confederate soldiers as military combatants with legal standing. It granted recognition to deceased Confederate soldiers commensurate with the status of deceased Union soldiers.
 
U .S. Public Law 810, Approved by 17th Congress 26 February 1929
(45 Stat 1307 – Currently on the books as 38 U.S. Code, Sec. 2306)
 
This law, passed by the U.S. Congress, authorized the “Secretary of War to erect headstones over the graves of soldiers who served in the Confederate Army and to direct him to preserve in the records of the War Department the names and places of burial of all soldiers for whom such headstones shall have been erected.”
 
Remarks: This act broadened the scope of recognition further for all Confederate soldiers to receive burial benefits equivalent to Union soldiers. It authorized the use of U.S. government (public) funds to mark Confederate graves and record their locations.
 
U.S. Public Law 85-425: Sec. 410 Approved 23 May 1958        US Statutes at Large Volume 72, Part 1, Page 133-134)
 
The Administrator shall pay to each person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War a monthly pension in the same amounts and subject to the same conditions as would have been applicable to such person under the laws in effect on December 31, 1957, if his service in such forces had been service in the military or naval forces of the United States.
 
Remarks: While this was only a gesture since the last Confederate veteran died in 1958, it is meaningful in that only forty-five years ago (from 2003), the Congress of the United States saw fit to consider Confederate soldiers as equivalent to U.S. soldiers for service benefits. This final act of reconciliation was made almost one hundred years after the beginning of the war and was meant as symbolism more than substantive reward.
 
Additional Note by the Critical History: Under current U.S. Federal Code, Confederate Veterans are equivalent to Union Veterans.
 
U.S. Code Title 38 – Veterans’ Benefits, Part II – General Benefits, Chapter 15 – Pension for Non-Service-Connected Disability or Death or for Service, Subchapter I – General, § 1501. Definitions: (3) The term “Civil War veteran” includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and the term “active military or naval service” includes active service in those forces.
 
In a nutshell Confederate Veterans are US veterans and their flag should be honored just as the United State Flag is honored. All races served under the Confederate Flag regardless if they were White, Black or Indian. The Federal government has no business practicing cultural genocide.
 
George Purvis
 
 

Va Flaggers Update 5-9-2013 - Chancellorsville
 
From: suzn68@comcast.net


 
The Sesquicentennial of the Battle of Chancellorsville brought huge crowds (and the “Custermobile”!) to Spotsylvania, VA.  The Va Flaggers had representation on Saturday and Sunday…forwarding the colors, educating attendees, and having a REALLY good time!
 
On Saturday, May 4th, Va  Flagger  John Grigsby  attended with his wife, daughters, and parents.  He filed the following report:
 
“First let me say that this event was apparently planned by a Yankee transplant.  There were more Yankee re-enactors, Yankee music, Yankee camps, and Yankee propaganda on the “official” agenda.
 
We flagged the “Custermobile” and handed out stick Confederate Battle Flags.  I asked the Custermobile attendants if Custer was really on the outside of the trailer.  They denied it.  I told them that I thought he was and offered to find it.  Found it.  Pointed it out to them and then one of the attendants pointed out the deserted Richmond picture and blamed it on the CSA as an atrocity.  I suggested that he might not want to debate me about atrocities.  I asked him about Sherman’s March to the Sea and the plunder of Stafford County and the Shenandoah.  He asked me if I was born in Virginia.  I said no, South Carolina but that I was a Commonwealth taxpayer and I did not appreciate this portrayal of my history---it is historically inaccurate and politically correct.  He engaged my wife and told her that if I did not leave he was going to have me moved by the Sheriff.  I invited him to do so if he thought I was disturbing anyone other than the fact that he came over and attacked me.
 
~~~~~~~~~~
 
On Sunday, I would attend solo...
 
I arrived at approx.. 11:30 a.m. and rigged my 2nd National.  I thought it appropriate, since it was just a few days after the Sesquicentennial of its official adoption, and since it was considered Jackson’s flag.  Turned out to be a great choice!  I first toured the vendor area and Sutlers’ tents.  Along the way, I was asked to pose for some photos and received many inquiries about the flag.  My favorite question was “Which state flag is that you are carrying?”.  ;) These kinds of questions gave me a great opportunity to explain the history of our flags, and the honor of the men who fought and died under them.
 
As I made my way to the afternoon re-enactment (the battle of Salem Church) I ran into friends in the 10th VA.
 
Along the way, I was greeted by many cheers for the flag and greetings from old and new friends.  A group of Yankee re-enactors gave me a bit of a hard time, but when I gave it back to them, they laughed and asked me to pose with them for a photo.
 
At the re-enactment, I was joined in the stands by several friends from the Mechanized Cavalry.  We had a BLAST, cheering on our boys and enjoying the battle sights and sounds. At one point, we sang a chorus of the Bonnie Blue Flag as a unit marched by, and the crowd cheered when we were done.  A young black kid was sitting right in front of me and he turned around when we finished, gave me a thumbs up, and said “nice song!”.  I waved the flag and we cheered as our boys filed by.  I love the photo below of one young Confederate, giving the boys a little help from the stands.  ;)
 
I have the highest respect for the men and women who spend so much time and money preparing for and participating in these re-enactments and living history encampments. It was a great honor to be a spectator at this event and I am personally very thankful for all of the preparation and hard work that made it possible.
 
After the re-enactment, I visited the Confederate Cemetery on the recommendation of Tracy Wright and I was not disappointed.  It is one of the most beautiful and well- kept Confederate cemeteries I have ever visited, and as you approach the center and monument, a beautiful Confederate Battle Flag can be seen flying in honor and memory of the dead who rest there.  It is truly a glorious sight.  I learned from Greg Randall that his SCV camp is responsible for getting that flag put up, and also for the upkeep and maintenance of the cemetery.  VERY well done, gentlemen!
 
After visiting the cemetery, I made my way back over to the Courthouse (thanks , Jimmy Cochrane of Knibb’s  Battery for the lift!) and spent some time flagging the “Custermobile”.  For those of you who are unaware, what we call the Custermobile is the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission’s “Civil War Historymobile”, which, I  am sorry to say, contains hardly anything Confederate, at all.
 
I talked with some of the visitors and was able to share with them some information about our Confederate history in Virginia, and about our flags.  I shared literature and posed for photos.  My time was limited, as the event closed down shortly thereafter, but I was able to spend some time engaging folks as they left.
 
Overall, it was a BEAUTIFUL day and a great opportunity to forward the colors.  Interaction was 100% positive and there were many opportunities to share truth and tell of the honor and glory of our Confederate ancestors.
 
Event coverage and great photos here: 
http://fredericksburg.com/CivilWar/cw150/chancellorsville?______array
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
 
Thursday, May 9th:  7:30 p.m. Last Night: A Candlelight Tour at Jackson Shrine. Join park historians for an hour-long program marking the 150th anniversary of Jackson's last night. At Jackson Shrine, 12019 Stonewall Jackson Road, 22580.
 
Friday, May 10th:  7:00 p.m.  SPOTLIGHT: This Friday 5/10/13, join camp members as we remember the 149th Anniversary of the Battle of Chester Station @ 7pm at the monument (next to the YMCA on West Hundred Rd.) as we remember the dead of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. This battle is our camp namesake so please join us as we expect a 30 minute service in remembrance of this occasion. SCV - Chester Station Camp #1503
 
Saturday, May 11th:  11:00 a.m. - Annual J.E.B. Stuart Memorial Service at the Yellow Tavern Monument in Glen Allen, VA, sponsored by the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705, UDC.
 
Saturday, May 11th: 11:00 a.m. - General J.E.B. Stuart Life Celebration.  The Stuart-Mosby Historical Society will gather at Hollywood Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. for a service at the grave of General James Ewell Brown Stuart commemorating the General’s life.
 
Saturday, May 11th:  4:00 p.m. - Confederate Medal of Honor Memorial Service, Blanford Church on the grounds of Blanford Cemetery in Petersburg.
 
Monday, May 27th:  3:00 p.m. The Dearing - Beauregard Camp # 1813 will be presenting the 15th Annual Memorial Day Service at historic Blandford Cemetery on Memorial Hill in Petersburg, VA. Special guest speaker is award winning writer and historian Michael C. Hardy. Music will be provided by noted Southern singer, songwriter and actor Stan Clardy. The service is dedicated to Sgt. Daniel A. McIntosh, CO I, 26th NC Regiment and Pvt William A. Vickers, CO H, 49th NC Regiment.
 
Saturday, June 8th:  Annual birthday ceremony for Jefferson F. Davis, at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.  Keynote speaker will be Mr. Bert Hayes-Davis, great great grandson of Jeff Davis.
 
Monday, June 24th:  6:30 p.m. - Susan and Barry will be traveling to Va Beach to speak to the Princess Anne Camp #484 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Gus and George's Spaghetti and Steakhouse, 4312 Virginia Beach, VA
 
Saturday, June 29th:  10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 22nd Annual Point Lookout Pilgrimage, Confederate Memorial Park, Point Lookout, MD.
 
Saturday, August 17th:  Susan will travel to Tampa, FL to speak to the August meeting of the Gen. Jubal A. Early SCV Camp #556.
 
 

VA FLAGGER DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER MAKES CITIZENS ARREST OF VANDALS ATTEMPTING TO DEFACE THE JEFFERSON DAVIS MONUMENT ON MONUMENT AVE. IN RICHMOND
 
On Thursday evening, May 9th, VCU Film student Rob Walker left class after turning in his short film, “Va Flaggers at Oakwood” for his final exam. 
 
At approximately 9:00 p.m, he drove past the Jefferson Davis Monument on Monument Avenue and observed two young white males at the monument.   Suspicious, he circled the monument to try and find out what they were up to.  On first glance, it appeared they were doing something to the iron fencing.
 
When Rob pulled up in front of them, he saw that they had a screwdriver, and were attempting to scrape or carve something into the stone of the monument.  He immediately called 911 and dropped the phone in the car seat so that emergency personnel would be alerted and be able to record the confrontation.  From the car, Rob yelled at the men to stop what they were doing and drop the screwdriver.  They refused, and began swearing and shouting at him.
 
I should mention that Rob is a US Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He was injured in, but survived the attack on the USS Cole.
 
Rob also used to drive a Taxi, and carries with him at all times, from his days as a driver, a cattle prod/club, with a taser on one end.
 
Armed with the club, he approached the men and again, told them to drop the screwdriver.  The man with the screwdriver refused, and waved it at him in a threatening manner.  When the man came closer, Rob punched the club into his chest and tasered him, at which time the man was rendered helpless and Rob was able to subdue him.  At this point, the other vandal ran off, skeered.
 
As the subdued vandal came to, Rob (who, by the way, is 6’ plus a bunch)  was able to keep him on the ground by resting his knee on his back, and applying his body weight with his knee.  Meanwhile, the vandal who ran away had returned, and taken position across the street.  After a few minutes, the punk must have decided the police weren’t coming, most likely because they had not seen Rob call them.   He then picked up a stick and came back over to the monument, apparently to attempt to free his partner in crime. BIG mistake.
 
When the man swung the stick at Rob, Rob blocked it with the club, broke the stick in two, and tagged the vandal with the taser.  Down went the second vandal... lying helpless on the ground beside his friend.
 
Until the police arrived, Rob held the screwdriver wielding vandal down,  and, as necessary, reached over to give the other punk a gentle tag of voltage each time he recovered enough and attempted to escape.
 
When the police arrived, they handcuffed the vandals and proceeded to give Rob a lecture about how risky it is to make a citizen’s arrest, especially over an offense so “trivial” as misdemeanor vandalism.  Rob told them that he does not consider vandalism of a Confederate monument “trivial”.   He said that if he attempted to spray paint graffiti on the White House, snipers would take him out with one bullet to the head, so what he did was quite gentle in comparison.
 
On Veterans’ Day, 2012, Rob happened upon the Va Flaggers as we were out bringing awareness to the vandalism to the RE Lee Monument the night before.  He stopped to interview us, was intrigued by what we were all about, and has been following us ever since, documenting our efforts, and along the way, gaining a whole new respect for the Confederate Veterans we honor.
 
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151315522159274.526020.698334273&type=3
 
We do not believe there are ANY coincidences or happenstance in what has transpired since we began our work 20 months ago.  There is no denying God’s hand in this… in bringing Rob to Monument Ave. last November, and then, miraculously again last night at the exact moment and time to prevent what could have been irreparable damage to one of our most treasured monuments AND facilitating the first arrest (that we are aware of) of these punk vandals that have no regard for the rule of law:  neither God’s nor man’s.
 
We encourage each of you to send a note of thanks to Rob Walker, for his bravery and courage in protecting the Jefferson Davis Monument, a NATIONAL treasure, and his help in apprehending the worthless individuals who sought to desecrate it.
 
Email:  Rob P. Walker, Jr.:  walkerrp@vcu.edu
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 
 

From: Phil Walters <gatorstick@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: Fri, May 10, 2013
Subject: Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210
To: scvcamp1316@att.net
Cc: David McCallister <drmmystery1881@gmail.com>, Gregory Tisdale <gregorytisdale@yahoo.com>, bobbyrsmith@hotmail.com

Commander Davis,

On April 27, 2013 the Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210 Sons of Confederate Veterans celebrated our one year anniversary. Wish you could have celebrated with us.

I visited the new Florida Division webpage. Very nice although I have an inquiry. At this site http://tampaflag.info/ & this site http://www.florida-scv.org/faf-tampa.html only the Jubal A. Early camp is listed as a contact for the page. While camp 556 is the caretaker camp and rightly deserves to be recognized as such, they are not the only active camp  in the area. Tampa’s Confederate Memorial Park is a beacon for the cause. With the advanced information and material upon the website of the Judah P. Benjamin camp, I respectfully ask for a link to the camp to be added to any and all internet based point of contact information links relating to Confederate Park.

For the links page, http://www.florida-scv.org/Links.html Might  I suggest adding:

Southern heritage 411 http://southernheritage411.com/

Dixie Outfitters: http://dixieoutfitters.com/

Southern View of History: The war for Southern Independence: http://www.scv674.org/SH-Table.htm

Black Confederate-Extensive information: http://dixieoutfitters.com/p/black-confederates

Also, at this site- Webpage: http://www.florida-scv.org/fl-in-the-war.html  “Civil War” is named multiple times………………..

Deo vindice!

Phil Walters
1st Lt Commander/Acting Adjutant-Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210 Sons of Confederate Veterans
Commander, 9th Brigade, Florida Division Sons of Confederate Veterans

 

Words That Replace Thought

by Thomas Sowell

If there is ever a contest for words that substitute for thought, "diversity" should be recognized as the undisputed world champion.

You don't need a speck of evidence, or a single step of logic, when you rhapsodize about the supposed benefits of diversity. The very idea of testing this wonderful, magical word against something as ugly as reality seems almost sordid.

To ask whether institutions that promote diversity 24/7 end up with better or worse relations between the races than institutions that pay no attention to it is only to get yourself regarded as a bad person. To cite hard evidence that places obsessed with diversity have worse race relations is to risk getting yourself labeled an incorrigible racist. Free thinking is not free.

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the government has a "compelling interest" in promoting diversity – apparently more compelling than the 14th Amendment's requirement of "equal protection" of the law for everybody.

How does a racially homogeneous country like Japan manage to have high quality education, without the essential ingredient of diversity, for which there is supposedly a "compelling" need?

Conversely, why does India, one of the most diverse nations on Earth, have a record of intergroup intolerance and lethal violence today that is worse than that in the days of our Jim Crow South?

Even to ask such questions is to provoke charges of unworthy tactics, and motives too low to be dignified with an answer. Not that the true believers in diversity could answer anyway.

Among the candidates for runner-up to "diversity" as the top word for making thought obsolete is "fair."

Apparently everyone is entitled to a "fair share" of a society's prosperity, whether they worked 16-hour days to help create that prosperity or did nothing more than live off the taxpayers or depend on begging or crime to bring in a few bucks.

Apparently we owe them something just for gracing us with their presence, even if we feel that we could do without them quite well.

At the other end of the income scale, the rich are supposed to pay their "fair share" of taxes. But at neither end of the income scale is a "fair share" defined as a particular number or proportion, or in any other concrete way. It is just a political synonym for "more," dressed up in moralistic-sounding rhetoric. What "fair" really means is more arbitrary power for government.

Another word that shuts down thought is "access." People who fail to meet the standards for anything from college admission to a mortgage loan are often said to have been denied "access" or opportunity.

But equal access or equal opportunity is not the same as equal probability of success. Republicans are not denied an equal opportunity to vote in California, even though the chances of a Republican candidate actually getting elected in California are far less than the chances of a Democrat getting elected.

By the same token, if everyone is allowed to apply for college admission, or for a mortgage loan, and their applications are all judged by the same standards, then they have equal opportunity, even if the village idiot has a lower probability of getting into the Ivy League, and someone with a bad credit history is less likely to be lent money.

"Affordable" is another popular word that serves as a substitute for thought. To say that everyone is entitled to "affordable housing" is very different from saying that everyone should decide what kind of housing he or she can afford.

Government programs to promote "affordable housing" are programs to allow some people to decide what housing they want and force other people – taxpayers, landlords or whatever – to absorb a share of the cost of a decision that they had no voice in making.

More generally, making various things "affordable" in no way increases the amount of wealth in a society above what it would be when prices are "prohibitively expensive." On the contrary, price controls reduce incentives to produce.

None of this is rocket science. But if you don't stop and think, it doesn't matter whether you are a genius or a moron. Words that stop people from thinking reduce even smart people to the same level as morons.

Copyright © 2013 Creators Syndicate

On The Web:   http://lewrockwell.com/sowell/sowell135.html

 

Honest Examination of Race
by Walter E. Williams

One definition given for insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; it might also be a definition of stupidity. Let's look at some cities where large percentages of black Americans live under poor conditions.

Experiencing a violent crime rate of 2,137 per 100,000 of the population, Detroit is the nation's most dangerous city. Rounding out Forbes magazine's 2012 list of the 10 most dangerous cities are St Louis; Oakland, Calif.; Memphis, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Stockton, Calif.; Cleveland; and Buffalo, N.Y. The most common characteristic of these predominantly black cities is that for decades, all of them have been run by Democratic and presumably liberal administrations. Some cities – such as Detroit, Buffalo, Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia – haven't elected a Republican mayor for more than a half-century. What's more is that in most of these cities, blacks have been mayors, chiefs of police, school superintendents and principals and have dominated city councils.

You might ask, "What's the point, Williams?" Let's be clear about it. I'm not stating that there's a causal relationship between crime, poverty and squalor on the one hand and, on the other, Democratic and black political control over a city. Nor am I saying that blacks ought to vote Republican. What I am saying is that if one is strategizing on how to improve the lives of the poorest black people, he wants to leave off his to-do list election of Democrats and black politicians. Also to be left off the to-do list is a civil rights agenda. Racial discrimination has little to do with major problems confronting black people.

Today 72 percent of black babies are born out of wedlock. Being born and finding out that your mother is 17 years old, that your grandmother is 35 and that you don't know who or where your father is is not a good start on life. In fact, it's a near guarantee for school dropout, poverty and crime, but such a start in life has nothing to do with racial discrimination.

Law-abiding poor black people suffer the nation's highest rates of criminal victimization from assaults and homicide. More than 50 percent of homicide victims are black. Would anyone claim that this victimization is caused by racist groups preying on the black community? In addition to victimization, the level of lawlessness in many black communities has the full effect of a law banning economic growth. That's because the thugs are equal-opportunity thugs who will rip off a black-owned business just as they'd rip off a white-owned business.

Black education is a disaster, but who runs the violent, disruptive big-city schools, where education is all but impossible? For the most part, it's not white people. Go to a city such as Detroit and you'll find that blacks have been superintendents, principals and most of the teachers for years. Most black high-school students, in Detroit and other cities, can't read, write and compute as well as sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade white students, but is it because of racism? What the elite teach is not only futile but counterproductive. For example, speaking standard English in an English-speaking country is critical for self-improvement. But that's not the lesson from the nation's multiculturalists, who call for the celebration of native languages and dialects. Sloppy-minded academics and assorted hustlers have taught that poor English, gangsta rap, men wearing pigtails and thug behavior should not be criticized but become a part of the celebration of diversity.

Black people could benefit from an honest examination of the bill of goods they've been sold. Such an examination would not come from black politicians, civil rights leaders or the black and white liberal elite. Those people have benefited politically and financially from keeping black Americans in a constant state of grievance based on alleged racial discrimination. The long-term solution for the problems that many black Americans face begins with an absolute rejection of the self-serving agenda of hustlers and poverty pimps.

Copyright © 2013 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

On The Web:   http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams168.html

Vote for Gen. Lee's Arlington House


 
Go the following website and vote for Gen. Lee's Arlington House to receive a grant to rehabilitate the conservatory and the windows.
 
Each vote counts 50 points.  The contest ends Friday and you can vote everyday! 
 
https://www.preservedmv.com/competitors
 
 

Passing of Commander Jim Hayward of the John T. Lesley camp SCV
 
From: gatorstick@tampabay.rr.com
 
Obituary for James Hayward-Founder and past Commander of the John T. Lesley camp Sons of Confederate Veterans
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tbo/obituary.aspx?n=james-b-hayward&pid=164685988&fhid=5953#fbLoggedOut
 
My condolences to the Hayward family.
 
Compatriot and Brother Jim Hayward  brought forth a passion for our Heritage and culture through word and deed, sowing the foundation for the Tampa Bay area's active historical, cultural and Southern Heritage activities. A true patriot of country and community, Jim's leadership footprint will never be duplicated however; as the song we often sing reminds us; "Ole times there are not forgotten...." we won't forget you either.
 
Thank you Jim for your inspiration and legacy. Rest in peace Brother.
 
Capt. Phil Walters
GatorGuides.com
1st Lt Commander Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210 Sons of Confederate veterans
Commander-9th Brigade Florida Division-Sons of Confederate Veterans
 
Folks;
 
Jim Hayward was a cultural icon to many, most notable with the Southern Heritage community. He founded the Capt. John T. Lesley camp Sons of Confederate Veterans and was it’s Commander for years, providing a foundation for much of the Tampa Bay area activities we currently host today. I’m asking all available within reach of this message to send condolences to the Hayward family and if possible, to attend the funeral at 11 am Saturday Stowers Funeral Home 401 W Brandon Blvd Brandon 813-877-1393. Graveside immediately following at Oaklawn Cemetery on North Wheeler Street in Plant City.
 
The family has requested a Confederate contingency at both locations including a Rifle solute at graveside and for a Confederate flag to be draped upon the coffin. Additionally, a Masonic ritual has also been requested. All able to attend please do so. Commander Mike Herring of the Gen. Jubal A. Early camp SCV (813-681-6922) is coordinating the CS graveside service.
 
Oaklawn Cemetery Plant City
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?address=%5B2000-2009%5D+N+Wheeler+St&city=Plant+City&state=FL&zipcode=33563&redirect=true
 
Phil Walters  813-968-6154
1st Lt. Commander-Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210 Sons of Confederate Veterans
Commander, 9th Brigade, Florida Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sponsor- Capt. JJ Dickinson “Gray Ghost” 1971 AMC Javelin
 
 

Government by War and Carnage
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net

Senator Joseph Lane (1801-1881) was born in North Carolina, moved early in life with his family to Kentucky, then to Indiana where he served from 1821-1846 intermittently as a State legislator. A colonel of the Second Indiana Volunteer Regiment in the Mexican War, he rose to the rank of brigadier-general.  In 1849, President James Polk appointed him Governor of the Territory of Oregon; upon the admission of Oregon to the Union he served in the US Senate from 1859-1861.  He was nominated for Vice President on the Democratic ticket of John Breckinridge and Lane. Senator Lane pleaded to his colleagues, “In God’s name, let us have peace.”  The following are brief excerpts from his Senate speech.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon, Speech in the United States Senate, March 2, 1861:
 
Mr. President….I am for the Union upon the principles of the Constitution, and not a traitor. None but a coward will even think me a traitor; and if anybody thinks I am, let him test me. [The South] will go out of this Union and into one of their own; forming a great, homogeneous, and glorious Southern confederacy. And it has been, Senators, in your power to prevent this; it is and has been for you to say….whether the Union should be saved or not.
 
If a people of a State, believing themselves oppressed, undertake to establish a Government, independent of which they formerly owed allegiance, and the latter interferes with the movement, and employs force to prevent such a consummation, no one who acknowledges the great truth that the basis of free government is the “consent of the governed,” will deny that such interference is an act of usurpation and tyranny.
 
One of the framers of the Constitution….has left on record his views of the injustice, impracticability, and inefficiency of force as a means of coercing States into obedience to Federal authority. The subject being under consideration in the convention which framed the Constitution:
 
“Mr. Madison observed, that the more he reflected on the use of force, the more he doubted the practicability, the justice, and the efficiency of it, when applied collectively, and not individually. A Union of the States containing such an ingredient, seemed to provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment, and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound. He hoped that such a system would be framed as might render this resource unnecessary; and moved that the clause be postponed.” (Madison Papers, Debates in the Federal Convention, vol. 5, p. 140)
 
Among the statesmen of the Revolution – those who participated in the formation of our Government – there was no one who had such exalted notions of the power and dignity of the Federal Government, as the great [Alexander] Hamilton. He was a consolidationist. The advocates of coercion might expect to obtain “aid and comfort” from the recorded declarations of one of his political faith.  But an examination of his writings will show….[that] he was the advocate of leniency and conciliation towards refractory States, and deprecated a resort to force as madness and folly. He said, in a debate on this subject:
 
“It has been observed, to coerce the States is one of the maddest projects that was ever devised. A failure of compliance will never be confined to a single State. This being the case, can we suppose it wise to hazard a civil war?  Suppose Massachusetts, or any large State, should refuse and Congress should attempt to compel them, would they not have influence to procure assistance, especially from those States which are in the same situation as themselves? What picture does this idea represent to our view?  A complying State at war with a non-complying State; Congress marching the troops of one State into the bosom of another….Here is a nation at war with itself.  Can any reasonable man be well disposed towards a Government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself – a Government which can exist only by the sword?  Every such war must involve the innocent with the guilty. This single consideration should be sufficient to dispose every peaceable citizen against such a Government.” (Elliot’s Debates, vol. 2, p. 233)
 
(The Politics of Dissolution, Marshall L. DeRosa, editor, Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 308; 314-315)
 
 

Southern Movement
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
 
To All:
         
The leadership of all our organizations within the Southern Movement could take a cue from Wayne LaPierre president of the National Rifle Association. Not only does he not back down in the face of our enemies he vigorously confronts & attacks them. Something Southern organizations woefully lack at the top.
  
While all will give us history lessons on a subject we all know so well, they are not doing enough to defend the little we have left of Southern history heritage & culture. Heritage violations in Memphis, Selma, Stone Mountain & the V.A. Hospital in South Dakota are but a few that comes to mind.
  
While the Sons of Confederate Veterans charge a yearly due of $55.00 the National Rifle Association only charges $35.00 N.R.A. membership has gone through the roof, at my last count they had gained something like, 600,000 members. Why, reasonable dues but, more importantly the national leaders are actually leading from the front.
  
Under Obama money is scarce so in the future I will only join those organizations that deliver over matters that affect my life & those of my family members here in the present where we all live.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville Alabama
 
 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Memo to the South: Go Ahead, Secede Already!

Fine with me, too bad you didn't let us go before instead of instigating a bloodbath.

A solid block of Southern states continues to refuse to expand Medicaid, thus squashing one of the linchpins of the president’s health-care reform. The South will likely be the last and most stubborn battleground in the fight for gay marriage. Gun control? The more the two sides seem to get cozier with each other, the faster gun-control legislation gets watered down—and more and more red states are passing laws making it legal to carry a concealed weapon. As for immigration, the red states seem to be relaxing their anti-immigrant fervor, but nothing approaching new legislation is even on the horizon.

The sad truth is that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” can only be achieved at this point if the nation is split in half. Far from being fanciful or fanatical, the proponents of secession have a stronger grasp of political reality than just about anyone else. In fact, there are serious reasons why the North itself should take the lead in a secessionist movement.

Just think what America would look like without its mostly Southern states.

On The Web:   http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2013/05/memo-to-south-go-ahead-secede-already.html

 

Like it or not, Confederacy our history

The Daily Republic, in its editorial April 24, said Confederate flags should have no place in South Dakota even in museums. Why? It is a part of the history of our great nation and of South Dakota as well.

During the Revolutionary War, all English commanders had a list of signers to the Declaration of Independence. Two-thirds of them were murdered and/or their homes burned to the ground.

 

There was a lot of killing and destruction to innocent civilians. My great-great-great-great Grandpa Jonathan Gillam fought in the Revolutionary War, and my great-great-great Grandpa Jonathan Jr. fought in the War of 1812. Should we ban the English flag from display? It is a part of our history.

During World War II, Hitler tried to change the history of the German people with atrocities too numerous to mention. My stepfather Floyd Stevens entered World War II from Howard. In his last battle liberating a concentration camp with POWs, he took a Nazi flag. He and all members of his unit signed their names on that flag. Should I destroy that flag because it was the banner of true evil or proudly display it to thank those who served to rid our world of that evil? It is a part of our history.

My great-great-great-great Grandpa Jonathan was dead by the time of the Civil War, but he lost one son, 10 grandsons and 25 great-grandsons in that war. They all believed in one united nation. One of his great-grandsons was Ezekiel Gillam (my grandpa). He fought with the Iowa infantry. After the war, he moved his family to Rapid City, which at the time was little more than a general store with a post office, a bank, a blacksmith shop and a livery stable.

Ezekiel’s eldest daughter married Lorenzo Taylor, a Confederate veteran from North Carolina. He was 12 years old at war’s end. Lorenzo’s eldest daughter was the first editor for the Rapid City Journal. Her eldest daughter was the first female in South Dakota to pass the bar exam. Should we now remove his Civil War headstone at Mountain View Cemetery in Rapid City because he was a drummer boy for the Confederacy? Should the accomplishments of my great uncle and his family here in South Dakota be stricken from history because he fought under the Confederate flag?

All from the South did not fight for slavery. There were other reasons as well. Just as after the war’s end many moved on to be pioneers and patriots here in South Dakota as well. If you are interested in doing away with all history of slavery, think of all you would need to shun. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson — they owned slaves. Do we hide Mount Rushmore? Isn’t it true we should not forget our mistakes lest we repeat them?

You see, good or bad, it is all part of our history, and no one has the right to remove it.

BRUCE GILLAM SR.

 

Déjà vu All Over Again? The Audacity of Truth

By J.D. Longstreet
Friday, May 3, 2013
   
I recently had a “commenter” question my loyalty to America as a result of my hypothesizing that we, as a nation, may be headed for another civil war.  It was an honest appraisal of our current situation, as I see it, and one at which I gingerly arrived with a great deal of uncertainty and tentativeness.

The commenter was from a northern state, which lies on the US/Canadian border.  So far as I am able to determine, his state has never been invaded, conquered, and occupied by a foreign power. Mine has.

Now let’s be clear:  We southerners still, to this day, bear the scars of that conflagration.  A hundred and fifty years is but as a moment in time here in the South.

On May tenth, we Tar Heels will celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.  The National Flag of the Confederacy will fly over our State Capitol Building.  Celebrations will be held all over the state as well as memorial services to honor our Confederate ancestors.

We lost – yet – we celebrate the effort, the fight for “The Cause.”

Now, maybe it is because it is a part of who we are as southerners, that the past remains so alive, so vibrant here. Maybe it is because so many of us have bothered to look at what actually caused the break up of the Union in the first place.

When one’s ancestors are referred to as “traitors” one is often compelled to investigate in an attempt to learn WHY.

We quickly learn the accusation is a lie.  But—we also learn of the circumstances in the United States in the 1800s that practically insured the southern people would have to separate from the US in order to preserve the form of government given us by the Founding Fathers.

The result of the war would—and did—insure that the United States would have a STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT and NOT a government answerable to the states and subject to the states as the Founders intended.

The original Constitution of the United States of America died at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on the afternoon of April 9th, 1865, when Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia in the parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home.

When one lends oneself to a study of the period one cannot help but see the similarities of the relationship between the US government and the people of the US – especially the people of the southern states—then and now.  I must tell you, it is chilling!

It was the study of the circumstances leading up to the “War for Southern Independence,” as we southerners like to call it, that prompted me to point out that the US finds itself, today, in similar circumstances that might lead to another civil war in the country.

At CNSNEWS.COM on May 2nd, 2013, there is an article entitled: “Poll: 29% of Registered Voters Believe Armed Revolution Might Be Necessary in Next Few Years.”  The article was written by Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr.  The lead-off paragraph says:  “Twenty-nine percent of registered voters think that an armed revolution might be necessary in the next few years in order to protect liberties, according to a Public Mind poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University.”

(Fairleigh Dickinson University is the largest (12000+ students) independent university in New Jersey.

So, it would seem this old scribe isn’t alone in worrying about the possibility that the nation may go to war with itself in the near future.

Here in the southeast, it is likely we recognize the signs far more quickly that folks from other regions of this great country.  If so, then it is simply because we have been there (here?)  before.

In my home state of South Carolina cannon balls from Sherman’s artillery can still be seen embedded in the walls of the State Capitol Building.

As I write, I sit a few minutes drive from the last Confederate fort to fall to the Union, Fort Fisher.  It was the death knell for the Confederacy.  Resupply for the Confederacy was ended.  The Union siege of Fort Fisher, especially the ship to shore bombardment,  was not equaled until the Second World War.

On a drive through the American Southeast you will see multiple flagpoles in the front yards of many homes flying Old Glory from high atop the pole.  Granted, you may see a state flag, or even one or more of the Confederate national flags, or even the Confederate Battle Flag or the famous Gadsden Flag (The “Don’t Tread On me Flag) flying BELOW Old Glory… on the same pole.  To a Southerner that is not the least bit confusing.  We are proud Americans, Southern Americans, to be sure, proud of our heritage. But our allegiance, first and foremost, is to the United States.

Yes.  We DO worry that it could all happen again.  And I remain convinced that the possibility grows greater every time the federal government accrues more power to itself.

Sort of like the canary in the mine shaft, we southerners might be a bit more sensitive to overbearing government simply because our region has experienced it before.  For instance, it can be argued that “Reconstruction” of the South, after the war, actually did MORE harm to the South than the war itself.  (The US sucked at nation building even then!)

I’m not sure, exactly, what it says about a nation, when the direct descendent of a host of Confederate soldiers steps forward to warn America against making the same mistakes America made in the mid 1800s (which led to a civil war) and he is denigrated for having the audacity to draw attention to obvious preparations being made by both citizens and government for just such an horrendous event.

Seems to me we should be able to analyze what went wrong then and, at least, make an attempt to avoid making the very same mistakes.  We already know where that road leads. If we can’t do that, then we are already lost.

© J. D. Longstreet

On The Web:  http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/54942

 

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Keep Stone Mountain carving a Confederate Memorial
By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net

A young man asked me why do they want to change the carving at Stone Mountain Park?

The question should also be why do some people continue to try erasing history? There is a petition drive to change the beautiful historic carving at Stone Mountain Memorial Park near Atlanta, Georgia? See link below of news story from 11 Alive of Atlanta, Georgia including their interview with me. A special thank you to Mr. Dan Coleman who participated in the debate that followed.

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/3/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed

Read what I said including, “Like previous campaigns criticizing other Confederate Memorials, he sees the petition to remove the carving of Jefferson, Lee and Jackson as an attack on the truth.”

A on line poll currently shows 95 percent of the people want to keep the Stone Mountain Carving of our heroes Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson as it is.

Let me caution you with this poll that we also won most of the polls for the 1956 Georgia “Soldier’s Memorial flag” our official State flag of Georgia conceived by Judge John Sammons Bells that was unceremoniously taken down in 2001. They did not listen to the people of Georgia back then.

Mississippian’s however were allowed to vote on their 1890s State flag, that also includes the Confederate Battle flag in the design, and they chose to keep it. Georgian’s were allowed to vote on a State flag but their 1956 flag with the Confederate flag it its design, was excluded in the vote. Democracy was at work in Mississippi but not Georgia.

Stone Mountain has been filmed many times including in the 1954 movie “A Man called Peter” starring Richard Todd as Reverend Peter Marshall and Jean Peters as his wife.

Take the time to learn about the South’s President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson who died 150 years ago on May 10, 1863 and share with your family.

Jefferson and wife Varina Davis adopted a Black child, Jim Limber Davis, in February 1864 and.

Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910, 'The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson."

Let’s not erase history!

On The web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/05/keep-stone-mountain-carving-confederate.html

 

Confederate flags at Hot Spring VA being removed again

Kevin Woster
Journal staff

Two Confederate flags in an historical display at the VA Medical Center in Hot Springs have again been removed, this time by a directive from a regional official.

And it looks like the flags will not be hung there again.

Janet Murphy, director of the VA Midwest Health Care Network in Eagan, Minn., announced Wednesday that the controversial flags would be removed from a Freedom Shrine display in the rotunda of the main VA building in Hot Springs.

Murphy, who oversees VA health-care facilities in all or parts of 10 states, made the decision two weeks after officials for the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health System initially responded to complaints from two African-American veterans by temporarily taking down the flags.

But Black Hills VA Health System Director Steve DiStasio and other officials put the flags back up on April 23, citing their historical value in a system that honors all of the nation's veterans.

After another week of controversy that included a call for the removal of the flags by U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., Murphy stepped in and reversed DiStasio.

"To ensure the Hot Springs VA Medical Center is a place of healing for all veterans, the Confederate flags will be removed from the Freedom Shrine display, located in the rotunda of the main building," Murphy said in a news release Wednesday. "This action is consistent with continued accomplishment of the medical center's core mission, which is to provide quality health-care service to veterans. We thank everyone for their interest and concern for our veterans and apologize to anyone offended by the display."

The flags were initially removed after complaints from two African-American veterans receiving treatment at the VA center. The two veterans said they considered the flags to be symbols of racism.

The flags were put up again after the two veterans were given an early release from treatment programs at the Hot Springs VA center and left town. One of them, 49-year-old Desert Storm veteran Craig DeMouchette of Denver, said Wednesday that he was thrilled to learn of Murphy's intervention.

"Wow, that is awesome," he said. "That is great news."

DeMouchette said he had been in contact with members of Colorado's congressional delegation about getting the flags removed. He said he understood that the flags have historical value but believes their place to be in a museum setting.

Whatever the actual intent of the flags or their value, they have come to represent racism and oppression for African-Americans and other minorities, DeMouchette said.

"Were they taken out of original context? Yeah, in a way. But in today's society they still represent hatred to minorities," he said. "They have a place in history, no doubt, but it's a dark place. It is offensive."

Another veteran at the VA center for treatment disagrees. Anthony Gibson, a 52-year-old Navy veteran from Salt Lake City, checked Wednesday morning and confirmed that the Confederate flags had been removed from a display.

Gibson said it was "ludicrous to me that they would take that part of history down because somebody was uncomfortable with it."

DiStasio was right to return the flags to the display as a stand for historical perspective and respect for all veterans, Gibson said. The flags were removed because of political pressure that bows to inaccurate perceptions caused by the misuse of the Confederate battle flag by hate groups, he said.

"Taking down those flags gives credibility to those hate groups," Gibson said. "And do you know who loses here? It's the Confederate soldiers and the history of the United States."

Johnson, who is chairman of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on VA issues, complimented the VA on this week's decision.

"The VA has done the right thing in taking down the Confederate flags in Hot Springs," he said in a quote provided by his staff. "With this issue behind us, the VA can return its focus to taking care of the health needs of our veterans."

U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., agreed in a statement sent by her staff.

"I believe this was the right decision," she said. "Veterans of all backgrounds should feel welcome at our VA facilities."

As he did last week, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., avoided taking a position on whether the Confederate flags should be removed. He again focused on leaving such decisions up to the VA.

"As I stated in the past, the VA knows how to best provide an environment of care to make our veterans feel comfortable," Thune said. "Hopefully this decision allows the patients and staff at the VA to focus on the healing process and moving forward."

A spokesman for Murphy said other flags in the display will remain. The removal of the Confederate flags, she said, is permanent.

© Copyright 2013, Rapid City Journal

On The Web:   http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/confederate-flags-at-hot-spring-va-being-removed-again/article_062f4f34-9a13-5260-8fad-f004513275f8.html

 

Secession a Necessary Path to Reunion
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Below, Senator Robert M.T. Hunter of Virginia addresses the United States Senate on January 11, 1861.  Senator Hunter was correct that the North would not take the freedmen northward to live free among them; they would be used by the North as substitutes for white northerners in the ranks, and given land in the South to keep them from moving northward to compete with Northern labor.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Secession a Necessary Path to Reunion:
 
“But, Mr. President, I say that if coercion were right, it is impossible. I acknowledge that you may make a civil war which will produce immense disasters in both sections of the country; I acknowledge that you can inflict immeasurable evils and great calamities upon both the contending sections; but as to supposing that either one could subdue the other so as to place it under its yoke, and impose its laws upon it, I do not entertain the idea for an instant.
 
Why, sir, how would this war of coercion be waged? It would take $100,000,000 yearly, for you cannot wage it with less than a hundred thousand men; and where would you get this sum? Not from imports; for what would the imports for the northern portion of the Confederacy  be when you took from them all that comes in return for the exports of the South?
 
You would have to sustain the war by loans and direct taxation; and is it to be supposed that the people would bear such burdens in such a cause as that? [Would] they submit to such a scheme of taxation for the purpose of enforcing their yoke upon other people – for the purpose of depriving those other people of the right of self-government?
 
Whose would be the commerce that would be preyed upon? Not the Southern commerce. That would go in foreign bottoms. The commerce to be preyed upon by privateers would be the commerce of the other section of the Confederacy.
 
You could not steal our negroes. Your own people would not allow you to take them and set them free among them, to enter into competition with them for labor and wages. How could you carry on such a war, sir?
 
And what would you get in return [for the naval blockade]? Would the customs that you thus collected pay the expense of the blockade? Would they pay half the expenses of the blockade? It is manifest they would not.
 
I say then, Mr. President, that it is idle to talk of coercion. But suppose you could succeed – I put the question to you now – suppose you had succeeded according to your utmost wishes; supposed you had conquered the South; that you had subjugated the entire section; that you had reduced those States to the condition of dependent provinces; how would you exercise your power? Would you repeat the experiment of the British West Indies – of the Island of Jamaica? Would your people stand by to see the cultivated fields return to the bush, the white man gradually reduced to the level of the negro, and the negro remitted to his primitive condition of barbarism? Would the great  interests of civilization and humanity permit such a result? 
 
[Why] not cede back the forts to those States that claim to have seceded, and to have withdrawn from this Confederacy? What do you want with them? What do you want with the forts in the harbor at Charleston? If you do not mean to coerce South Carolina, they are of no use to you; if you do mean to coerce her, you ought not to have them.
 
The whole thing lies in a nutshell; because, if you do mean to use them for the purpose of coercion, you light up the flames of civil war, and there is no telling when those flames will be extinguished……
 
Secession does not necessarily destroy the Union, or rather the hopes of reunion; it may turn out to be the necessary path to reconstruction. The secession of the Roman people to the Sacred Mount did not destroy Rome. On the contrary, it led to a reconstruction of the constitution, to the tribunitian veto, to new securities for the equality and liberty of the people. The Roman Government became more permanent and powerful than before, and the Roman people benefited from the change.
 
I say, therefore, that, so far as I can weigh the question, it is no more a question of Union, but of reunion. To produce reunion, it is essential that the Southern States should be allowed to take that position which it is obvious they are going to take, in peace. You must give too, all the time you can, and offer all the opportunities you may, to those who desire to make an effort for the reconstruction of this Confederacy.
 
Sir, I say I am one of those….I also believe that the interests of mankind, our own interests, and he interests of our confederacies, would then require that we should reconstruct the old Union if we can, or rather construct a new Union on terms of equality and of justice.”
 
(The Politics of Dissolution, Marshall L. DeRosa, editor, Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 253-258)

 

Stone Mountain Relief
 
From: gatorstick@tampabay.rr.com
To: vincent.fort@senate.ga.gov
 
In regards to Senator Fort’s comments at the link below:
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/3/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed
 
Senator Fort,

 
The carving upon Stone Mount depict the figures of three of America’s greatest men; men of courage, integrity, fortitude and honor, qualities that are sorely lacking in ANYONE who would suggest altering this relief of these men of principle.
 
It’s a well-known fact that the populace of America via the Politically Correct attributes of the public school system is ignorant of the mosaic that composes the history of this country. Some of our history is outstanding, some mundane, some horrendous but it’s our common history regardless and none should be altered for political purposes. If American contained a people of putrid or horrible morals & character, then why are we so prosperous, peaceful and good when people around the globe with millenniums of history are still killing each other daily? It’s because we are a people of character, charity and honor as passed to us from those before us who tended to do the right thing when needed.
 
As a native Georgian descending from the founding families of Georgia that settled the frontier hundreds of years ago I regard any affront to the magnificent artwork of world renown upon the face of Stone Mountain as an attack upon human culture of the same magnitude as that of the Taliban in Afghanistan as waged upon the antiquities of that country. It’s despicable.
 
Since your statements during your interview reflect a lack of study and comprehension of the role the United States and especially the Northern states played in the slavery issue, including the Northern role as slave traders which provided seed money for much of the economic foundation of the New England states, (yes, they held slaves there too. Read “Northern Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery” by Anne Farrow) you should busy yourself in other endeavors of society that are in dire need of attention. Please set yourself to work solving maladies of  today such as drug use, black crime & teenage murder, graduation rates, youth pregnancy, single parenthood, joblessness and other worthy causes rather than perpetuating stupidity upon an  honorable icon that only draws support in the hearts of the ignorant.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Captain Phil Walters
Tampa, Fl.
 
A native Georgian
 
 

* * * PLEASE!!! I NEED YOUR HELP!!! Please make this message for help go viral!.
 
by Tim Manning Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 2:29am...
 
PLEASE REPORT THIS IN MANY FB PAGES AND WEBSITES! Please pardon my typos. I am in pain and moderate shock from what just happened which I am trying to write about. It is 4 am and I am still not calmed down enough to sleep!
 
Tonight 7-10 male Law Enforcement Officers in heavy body armour broke into my home and did much destruction. I am injured, but do not know how bad. The 1st year Sheriff Deputy, Greta Vaughan who broke and entered into my house two weeks ago giving no reason, that we were going to bring charges against but were not permitted to do when to a judge and got a search warrant for my home and took over $25-30,000 worth of my handguns, all in absolutely new condition some worth $2,000+ each. She wanted to search for guns since Christopher always open carries. Sheriff Deputies blocked Christopher from entering the Forsyth Court House last week. That is another whole story.
 
I am much overweight and they forced me to lie on my stomach on the floor for over 30 minutes. My physician has said to not rest on my stomach since it puts unnecessary pressure on my heart. I sleep on my back. I was then handcuffed and was not permitted to witness the search or use my cell phone. My knee and my back are now in much pain. I do not have the money for a trip to the ER and will phone my doctor tomorrow and find a chiropractor. My left and right knees are also injured and really hurting. I just took 8 IBP for pain. I am too tired and frustrated to go to the ER tonight. They also took some of my Virginia Heritage Foundation historical articles about the South that I use where I go to speak.
 
Two men were Police from Kernersville, NC and one with a vest that said Homeland Security Investigation. Some were in plain clothes and the rest in Forsyth County Sheriffs gear.
 
I asked "Am I under arrest?" They said no. I asked "Am I being detained?" They said "Yes, for the duration of the search." For a while I had on two sets of handcuffs while I explained to them that I was a Pastor who trained pastors for many years and that I had counseled LEOs for nearly 30 years who were having family problems for gratis in the cities where I pastured and taught.
 
They busted in my front door of this $300,000+ home and busted in a set of rear French doors. They threatened to "bust-up" my car windows. Then they set a diversionary explosive in my entrance hallway. I had gone to the top of the stairs to see what was happening at my front door. They did not announce themselves. When the explosive went off I got flat on the second floor carpet seeing that there were too many people here to resist. The noise was so close I thought I had been shot. I was only about 10 feet away from the device. It blew pictures off of my walls, broke glass inside of the house and blew my hearing and air controls off of the wall in the hall and blew on of the batteries into the kitchen. The house is a wreck.
 
I have no weapon now for self-defense. None . . . If I can get new handguns I will keep them at another location. If any of you have 9 mm, 357 mags, or 45 LC or 45 ACP and would like to make a donation to my safety please phone me at (336) 420-5355.
 
At the same time Forsyth County Sheriffs pinged my sons phone and sent a total of 6 men to arrest him on a minor charge. They took him to a jail in Greensboro . . . remember that my son is a Fugitive Recovery Agent for the Department of Insurance of State of North Carolina and has national authority. 
 
When they came in my door I was on my cell phone speaking to my mother in Columbia, SC. She went into a panic when she heard all of the screaming at me. My wife was still in training in Oklahoma and Mom called her to let her know what was happening. She called me about twice a minute for over an hour, but they would not permit me to answer my phone. So she called one of our neighbors
 
Just before this strike we had a phone call from a Forsyth County Sheriff saying that Christopher "was targeted for death!!!" And that he would never be safe in this State and that I had been saying things against the government. He said that we are being targeted for death. When the Forsyth Sheriff's left the Guilford County Judge Magistrate, the Magistrate looked at Christopher and laughed and told him to get out of his jail and that he was refusing to lock him up. We are on friendly terms with judges in several counties where Christopher has made captures. Christopher soon arrived here in Kernersville warning me that I would not be safe sleeping at home and I am making other sleep arrangements.
 
I discussed the Constitution of the USA with my captors who knew none of the Amendments and what they meant. They asked me to sign a paper which I refused. They ask me if I were injured. I told them that I was not feeling well but was not sure how injured I was. They said, "He is not injured," and left after about 3 hours. We have already made a number of phone calls and have three lawyers working on this and we are asking for Federal and State Protection from DHS and the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department. I expect to have several Federal Marshal's protecting us by tomorrow morning.
 
They took five of Christopher's badges from his room and swore to the judge signing the Search Warrant that Christopher does not work for the State of North Carolina. Man are they in for a rude awakening. If you do not hear from me regularly during the next thirty days it may well be that one or both of us have been executed to the Forsyth Sheriff's Department. We have a good recording of them talking about their plans at the arrest of Christopher that they do not know about. My son is still calling trying to get me to leave the house tonight.
 
Please call your local newspapers and ask them to call us to get the word out while we are alive . . . please. Also you may want to call some of the phone numbers below. I would begin with the governor's office and then the FBI and then the Newspapers in your area.
 
It is people like us who speak out and refuse to be silent over such bully tactics. They will have to kill me to silence me and I am sure the thought is already in their minds. I would not be surprised to see my home torched. That is their ignorant style.
 
Forsyth County Sheriff's Department non-emergency number (336) 727-2112.
 
Forsyth County Sheriff's Department Internal Affairs (336) ?.
 
NC Governor McCrory Office (919) 733-5811.
 
NC Governor McCrory Fax (919) 733-2120.
 
NC Attorney General  1-877-5-NO-SCAM, at (919) 716-6000 from outside of North     Carolina.
 
FBI 1801 Stanley Rd, Greensboro, NC 27407 (336) 855-7770.
 
This happened on May 01, 2013.
 
More later. Thank you for reading and caring. Please pray for us. Signed Timothy D. Manning and Christopher D. Manning.
 
 

Chancellorsville: The South gains a crucial victory but loses the general who won it

Apr. 27, 2013

At 5:15 p.m. on May 2, 1863, a doomed Confederate officer with striking blue eyes sat on his horse holding his pocket watch in the Virginia wilderness west of Fredericksburg.

He wore a civilian black rubber raincoat and gauntlets as he waited for the last of his 21,000 soldiers to spread through the woods into an attack formation a mile and half long.

There were only a few hours of daylight left, and his men had been marching all day. But the officer had carefully maneuvered his 45 regiments into position to launch one of the greatest assaults of the Civil War.

As the minutes ticked by, he asked a subordinate: “Are you ready?” Yes, came the reply.

“You can go forward, then.”

Here, two miles from a crossroads mansion called Chancellorsville, which would give this battle its name, Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and the Confederate States of America stood at the pinnacle of triumph.

Jackson’s forces would shortly sweep through woods, routing surprised Union soldiers at their dinner fires and culminating in a resounding victory that seemed to bring the South within reach of independence.

The battle would elevate the already-famous Jackson to mythical status and place him among the ranks of history’s best military leaders.

His death eight days later would cripple the Confederacy, and like Abraham Lincoln’s, would provide one of the most wrenching scenes of the Civil War.

And his funeral would become the largest public gathering in the South during the conflict. “With impious hearts we inveighed against the will of God in the destruction of our idol,” Richmond memoirist Sally Putnam wrote.

Orphaned as a child, Jackson had grown to become like a zealous Old Testament warrior, biographers have said, leading an army of Christian soldiers in defense not necessarily of slavery, but of piety.

He is the biblical Joshua slaying the Amalekites in the Book of Exodus.

But catastrophe awaited Jackson — and the Confederacy — in the dense woods up ahead that night. As the attack went forward, and the Union soldiers fled from the screaming rebels, the moon rose over the forest.

Jackson and an entourage rode out between the lines to reconnoiter. Picking his way back in the darkness, he surprised a jittery Southern infantry regiment that mistook the group for enemy horsemen.

In what is perhaps the best-known friendly-fire episode in American history, the rebel soldiers unleashed a volley at their famous commander, wounding him grievously in the left arm.

In a harrowing scene, Jackson was caught on a plunging horse in no-man’s land as the Confederate and Union soldiers, now both alarmed, fired on each other with muskets and cannon. He was helped to safety, but only after stretcher bearers dropped him.

His left arm was amputated at the shoulder and he was taken to a rear area, where he briefly rallied.

But eight days later, after his stricken wife sang him hymns and brought him his newborn daughter for a last visit, he died of pneumonia, murmuring battlefield orders in his delirium.

Although it was not evident at the time, some historians believe Jackson’s death began the ruin of the Confederacy. The Southern disaster at Gettysburg two months later only confirmed the start of the eclipse.

“The road to Appomattox — where the war ended — began on that Saturday night” at Chancellorsville, James I. Robertson Jr., Jackson’s best biographer, has said. “With his death, the southern confederacy began to die as well.”

“It was just a tragedy for the South,” Robertson said in an interview, “the greatest personal loss that the South suffered in that war . . . a horrible blow.”

Civil War scholar Robert Krick said: “It’s hard to imagine the war going the way it did with Jackson present.”

And in death, Jackson became the South’s great martyr, like Lincoln later in the North. His body lay in state in Richmond in a casket with a window, and then wound its way through tens of thousands of mourners across Virginia to his adopted home, in Lexington, Va.

To this day, signs on Interstate 95 identify the little house where he died as his “shrine.” There are also schools that bear his name, as well as a hotel, a hospital, a decommissioned submarine, numerous thoroughfares, a lake and several towns across the country. The Virginia Senate recognizes him every year on his birthday.

But all that lay ahead on May 2, 1863.

That evening, bugles sounded down the line as the Confederate host began its advance through the woods, preceded by frightened deer, rabbits and other wildlife.

Jackson rode behind, caught up in the stampede and the excitement, urging his men forward to cut off the Union army. He wanted more than victory. He wanted its destruction.

“Press on!” he cried. “Press on!”

Five months earlier, on a cold, quiet night, Jackson had led his weary and hungry staff toward a grand brick mansion perched on a plateau near the Rappahannock River in Caroline County, Va.

The woman of the house recalled years later that the general had an earache.

The place was called Moss Neck Manor and was the country home of Richard Corbin, the scion of an aristocratic Virginia family. He was fighting in a Confederate cavalry regiment and would be killed in battle nine months later.

It was Dec. 16, and Jackson and his command were fresh from the slaughter at Fredericksburg, a brutal battle that had ended three days before with the Confederates’ thorough defeat of the Union army, about 11 miles upriver.

Jackson had taken his corps downriver to check a report of an enemy crossing, but found it to be a false alarm. Night had fallen and now he and his men had been caught in the open with no food and no place to camp.

Jackson had resisted taking refuge in the house, preferring to stay with his men. But he relented finally in the cold, saying, “Let’s go to the Moss Neck house.”

The stately home — which still stands — was elegant, low-slung and comfortable, and it was part of the Corbins’ 1,600-acre plantation, from which most of the slaves had fled.

At the time, the house was occupied by, among others, the absent owner’s wife, Roberta, their only child, a 5-year-old daughter named Jane, and Roberta’s charming sister-in-law, Kate Corbin.

Here, in the plantation business office, Jackson would spend the winter, resting, refitting and reflecting, perhaps, on the tumult of the past 19 months.

They were intoxicating times, in which he had risen from an eccentric professor at the Virginia Military Institute to the war’s most celebrated general.

He had earned the nickname “Stonewall” for the steadiness of his men at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861. He had run several Union armies ragged in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862.

In August that year, he had outfoxed another Union army at the Second Battle of Bull Run. He had bagged Harpers Ferry and withstood withering Union attacks at the Battle of Antietam in September. And he helped with the rebel victory at Fredericksburg in December.

At Chancellorsville, he had proposed to his commander, Gen. Robert Lee, that they split their outnumbered army. While Lee held the Yankees’ attention, Jackson would march his men quietly across the Union Army’s front, and then pounce on its right flank.

It was an audacious gamble, but Lee agreed and the plan worked. The Union army, under Gen. Joseph Hooker, was unhinged and then pummeled until it fled back across the Rappahannock River three days later.

It was one of the greatest coups of the war.

Handsome and clean-shaven as a young man, Jackson appears in an 1863 photograph as a bearded patriarch with a receding hairline. The soldiers called him “Old Jack,” though he was only 38.

A native of Clarksburg, in what is today West Virginia — about 35 miles southwest of Morgantown — he was a West Point graduate and a veteran of the Mexican War. He spoke Spanish and had traveled in Europe.

But death had already claimed his first wife and two infant children, and it informed his already deep religious faith. He saw the hand of God at work everywhere, especially on the battlefield, and sought to obey, and execute, His will in all things.

He was, however, extremely secretive, sharing his plans with few subordinates, and he became known for feuding bitterly with fellow officers when his instructions were not obeyed to the letter.

His confidants were seldom his top lieutenants. Instead, he gathered around him an unusual military “family.”

They included an extraordinary mapmaker, a top aide who was the son of an Episcopal minister, a former divinity student, his physician, a favorite clergyman, and his leased slave.

Most settled around Moss Neck for the winter, when the fighting ceased.

Jackson slept in the plantation business office with the Rev. Beverly Tucker Lacy, an old friend who became his chief chaplain and would be with the general in his final hours.

Jackson’s top aide, Maj. Alexander Swift “Sandie” Pendleton, 22, bunked in with the physician, Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, 27.

They slept in a tent and read Dickens and Shakespeare, and over time Pendleton became enamored of Kate Corbin.

For his part, Jackson, who adored children, became entranced by 5-year-old Jane Corbin.

She was “a sweet child . . . with a happy face and fair, flaxen curls,” Jackson subordinate Capt. James Power Smith, the former divinity student, recalled. “She was . . . as happy and sunny a child as I ever saw. . . . She was the general’s delight.”

Her mother, “Bertie,” remembered many years later how Jackson would summon the girl to his office and she would play for hours, cutting out paper dolls.

Jane admired a new hat the general had been given, and he cut off the gilt braid decoration and gave it to her, Roberta recalled.

The child wore it like a crown, and her mother kept it as a memorial “with precious associations” for years.

The season came and went “like a dream,” Kate Corbin wrote a friend. There were dinners, music and good company. And she and Sandie Pendleton eventually became engaged.

He had a “splendid, almost boyish, exuberance of spirits,” she wrote a friend, according to his biographer, W.G. Bean, and “is a sincere, professing Christian.”

A year later the war would claim him, too.

The advent of spring brought the coming of battle season.

In March, Jackson moved his headquarters from Moss Neck to be closer to his commander, Gen. Lee. He came to say goodbye to little Jane Corbin, who had been sick with scarlet fever.

Shortly after he left, the child suddenly died. Pendleton was still there.

“Never have I witnessed such a scene,” he wrote a sister. “It was truly appalling to witness the heartbroken anguish.” The child’s mother “seized me and began afresh her wild lamentations. . . . Death on the battlefield is not half so fearful as this.”

Fifty years later, as an old woman, the mother wrote of her daughter’s death as a portent for Jackson’s: “She seemed but the avant courier of the brilliant star so soon to set.”

On the rainy evening of Monday, May 4, a two-horse ambulance, escorted by cavalry, pulled up to a whitewashed cottage at Guinea Station, the railhead of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.

Jackson and another wounded officer lay on mattresses inside the wagon, according to biographer Robertson’s account. McGuire sat beside the wagon driver. Jedediah Hotchkiss, the mapmaker, led the way. And Smith and Rev. Lacy rode inside with the general.

The cottage was the business office of Fairfield, a 1,200-acre plantation about 30 miles southeast of Chancellorsville, where Jackson hoped to spend a day or two before moving on to his home in Lexington.

He was carried inside on a litter and placed on a double bed in a first-floor room with a fireplace and a clock on the mantelpiece.

Jackson was tired but seemed to be doing better. He had told Lacy before they left that he was perfectly content with his amputation and believed God had ordained it for his own good.

During the trip he had chatted, and he had some bread and tea once he arrived. The next day he continued to do well. He slept but had no appetite.

Early Thursday, Lacy and Jackson’s servant, Jim Lewis, were awakened by Jackson’s groans. The general was nauseated and feverish and had a severe pain in his left side.

Lacy and Lewis wanted to summon the exhausted McGuire, who was sleeping in the next room. But Jackson wouldn’t let them. He called for a wet towel to be placed on his side. It did no good, and finally, around dawn he allowed McGuire to be awakened.

The doctor examined Jackson and realized that he had pneumonia.

There was little McGuire could do. Treatments for pneumonia in those days were primitive and largely futile. McGuire applied mustard plasters. He administered opiates, and by some accounts mercury and antimony. He even tried the ancient technique of cupping.

The disease rapidly ran its course. Jackson slipped in and out of delirium. His wife, Anna, was summoned and arrived with their infant daughter, Julia, later Thursday. He grew worse Friday and Saturday.

Lacy prayed with him. His wife sang him some hymns. His daughter was brought for him to see one last time.

That Sunday, May 10, Lacy held a service for him at army headquarters that was attended by 1,800 soldiers. Pendleton came to visit him and said the entire Confederate army was praying for him.

“Thank God, they are very kind,” Jackson said, adding “it is the Lord’s day. . . . I have always wanted to die on a Sunday.” Pendleton, who would later say he’d have given his life for Jackson, left the cottage and broke down on the porch.

By noon a silent crowd had gathered outside. Inside, Jackson was slipping away. “His mind began to fail and wander,” McGuire remembered. He began to shout orders as if in the heat of battle: “Pass the infantry to front rapidly!”

Then he quieted down, and as he died, said, “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

Copyright © 2013 www.newsleader.com

On The Web:   http://www.newsleader.com/viewart/20130426/NEWS01/304260029/Chancellorsville-South-gains-crucial-victory-loses-general-who-won-it

 

SCV group observes Confederate day at Oconee Hills

By Wayne Ford
Friday, April 26, 2013

Confederate Memorial Day is observed as a state holiday in seven Southern states, but the states observe it on different days in late April.

“It’s a shame. It would get more attention if all the states used the same day,” said long-time Sons of Confederate Veterans member Sydney Johnson of Bishop.

Georgia, Florida and Alabama all observe the fourth Sunday in May.

Johnson is a member of the Gen. T.R.R. Cobb Camp No. 97 SCV, which has planned an observance for this Sunday at Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens.

Already the members have placed small Confederate flags on the graves of almost 1,000 identified Confederate soldiers in Clarke County and some adjacent counties.

The formal service begins in the cemetery at 3 p.m. when Bob Collins, a speaker from Lilburn, will give a talk titled “Sacrifice.”

Then the group will move to the grave of Morgan “Bucky” Redwine, who was a local historian and SCV member. The song “Bonnie Blue Flag” will be played at the grave of the Athens businessman and World War II fighter pilot who died earlier this year. A musket fire salute will be conducted by the 18th Georgia Confederate Honor Guard.

The Cobb Chapter has about 100 members on its roll, although many of those are inactive and don’t attend the camp’s monthly meetings in Watkinsville, Johnson said.

The chapter’s commander is Billy Gault, while Bill Herringdine is Lt. Commander.

The Cobb Chapter will meet for its next meeting at 7 p.m. May 2 at the Watkinsville Community Center on VFW Drive.

Brian Wills, director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War at Kennesaw State University, will present a program on Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.

During the war, Forrest, was steadily promoted to become the unconventional cavalry officer that Union General W.T. Sherman called “the most remarkable man the Civil War produced on either side,” according to a release from the chapter.

Athens Banner-Herald ©2013.
 
On The Web:   http://onlineathens.com/around-here/2013-04-26/scv-group-observes-confederate-day-oconee-hills

Four children of Civil War soldiers still live in Virginia

As the offspring of soldiers who fought in the War Between the States, Virginia’s few ‘real’ sons and daughters of the long-ago conflict are a fascinating living link to history

Sunday, April 28, 2013
BY BILL LOHMANN
Richmond Times-Dispatch

They are rare living links to history, these children of Civil War soldiers.

Yes, children.

As we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the war, it is amazing to consider that offspring of those who fought are still among us. It doesn’t seem possible that the math could add up. But it does.

There are no fewer than four children of Civil War veterans living in Virginia; they are classified as “real” sons and daughters, by the heritage groups that keep track. Two “real” Confederate daughters remain — sisters, in fact, who live in Danville and Rocky Mount — while a “real” Confederate son resides in Roanoke. The only “real” Union child, a daughter, lives in Varina in Henrico County.

All were born of marriages between aging veterans and teen brides. None of the four has any or much memory of his or her father because they all were young children when their fathers died. Nonetheless, they all represent fascinating connections to a long-ago conflict.

“My great-great-granddaddy was in the Civil War, and that’s a big deal to me,” said Martha Hubbard, a past president of the Jubal Early Chapter 553 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which claims one of the “real” daughters, Isabelle Hammock Hodges, as its own. “To meet this lady and to know her dad was a soldier, it’s a cool thing.”

According to the Confederate and Union heritage groups, there are 16 “real” Confederate daughters and eight sons living across the country and 30 Union children who survive. At least, those are the children they know of, said Gail Lowman Crosby, president of the UDC’s Real Daughter Club and a former president of the UDC’s Florida Division.

“I use the word ‘known’ because, from time to time, we find another,” Crosby said. “The oldest turned 106 in January, and the ‘baby’ will be a mere 83 in August.”

Cynthia Crane Jones, whose father, Calvin Robertson Crane, is the “real” son in Roanoke, said it can be difficult convincing others of her close connection to the war.

“I know when I was in, like, third or fourth grade and we’d start studying the Civil War, I’d say, ‘My grandfather was in the Civil War!’” she said, recalling her teachers and classmates would correct her: “? ‘No, no, that was your great-grandfather.’ And I’d say, ‘No, it was my grandfather.’

“Mom even had to go to school one time and tell them it was my grandfather,” Jones said with a laugh.

We recently visited three of the four — one of the sisters, Mildred Hammock Adkins of Danville, fell and was feeling too poorly for a visit — and offer vignettes of each.

Hazel Mason Jeter lives in the same house in Varina that she and her husband moved into almost 70 years ago. She’s raised pigs and chickens and until two years ago always tended a massive garden that yielded prize-winning vegetables and quarts and quarts of canned food for the winter.

She did factory work for years, and also cleaned motel rooms and houses, and well into her 90s mowed her lawn. She’s been widowed for almost a decade and has survived heart surgery, a stroke, cancer and any number of other surgeries and maladies.

“I think they’ve got most everything out of me,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know that there’s anything left.”

She turned 96 in late March.

Her father was Silas D. Mason, a New Englander who enlisted in the Maine cavalry in Belfast, Maine, in February 1864. He was discharged at the end of the war in Washington, D.C. He set saws for a living, traveling on horseback with his tools from sawmill to sawmill, eventually winding up in Pulaski County in Southwest Virginia, where he married Nellie G. Banes on March 26, 1907. He was in his mid-60s; she was barely in her teens. Ten years later to the very day, their fifth child was born, a girl they named Hazel.

Hazel was the youngest of the five. The family moved to Cumberland County before her father died when Hazel was 6. She moved to the Richmond area as an adult.

She doesn’t remember much of her father other than his work — “He might be gone for three months at a time,” she said, “but he always let the store know to let us have anything we wanted until he’d come back” — and she doesn’t recall him saying anything about the war. Her mother mentioned his involvement in the war only sparingly.

Though Jeter remains proud of his service, it was simply part of her history and she never said much about it. As a result, it’s only been in recent months that the Sons of Union Veterans James D. Brady Camp 63 learned of Jeter and honored her with a certificate during a visit to her home.

Even her children weren’t always aware of their heritage. Her daughter, Mildred Watson, the fourth of Jeter’s five children, said she was in her 20s before she learned her grandfather fought in the Civil War.

“We were upstairs one day cleaning out the attic, and she was telling me about it,” recalled Watson. Her reaction: “You’ve got to be kidding me, Mama!”

A small American flag waves from the front porch of Calvin and Christine Crane’s home in Roanoke. Inside, he has an even bigger Confederate battle flag, which makes sense since Calvin Crane’s father fought in the war.

Crane, 96, was but a year old when he lost his father, James Antony Crane, so his memory is informed by what little other family members have told him.

“Mostly they would talk about how he liked to hunt,” Crane said. “I inherited his shotgun.”

Generally, though, his mother and her family said little about his father and almost nothing about his military service in the Civil War.

Calvin Crane is the youngest of the five children of James and Annie Crane, who married around the turn of the 20th century when James was in his 50s and Annie was about 18. James was a widower who served during the war with the Ringgold Battery, Company B, 13th Battalion, Virginia Light Artillery, and had 16 children by his first marriage; Annie was an orphan who was taken in by a farm family outside Danville. They eloped across the North Carolina line to marry.

The Crane family lived on a farm near White Oak Mountain outside Danville, but after James Crane’s death, the family had to move into the city so Calvin Crane’s mother could take a job working at Dan River Mills. She would leave for work before dawn, leaving her youngest son in the care of his oldest sister, and often return home after dark when she would tend her garden to put food on the table. Despite her hard work, times were difficult for the family before and during the Great Depression.

Calvin Crane eventually had to drop out of school around sixth grade, in part because he didn’t have proper clothing to wear, particularly shoes. He still suffers from foot problems that resulted from squeezing his feet into too-small shoes.

“I had a terrible time growing up,” Crane said.

Crane served in World War II, spending part of his time in North Africa. Back home, he scrambled to find work, moving to Roanoke to take a job with an uncle in the dry-cleaning business. He eventually worked in roofing, the sheet-metal business and a foundry before landing the job from which he would retire in the maintenance department of the Roanoke post office.

Nowadays, he spends time at home with his wife, Christine. They have been married 59 years, having met in the Roanoke doctor’s office where she worked and where Crane’s mother went for treatment. In fact, it was a case of poison ivy that sent Crane to the doctor. He saw Christine, asked if she’d ever married, found out she hadn’t, then went to work courting her. They had two daughters and no disagreements.

“We never did do any fighting or fussing,” Christine Crane said. “He was always easy to get along with.”

Her kitchen table was piled high with cards and letters from people all over the country whom Isabelle Hammock Hodges doesn’t know — but who know her. More seem to arrive in the mail every day, and every one makes her smile.

“I keep looking at them,” said Hodges, 88, who has endured a difficult year with her health. “I want to thank all these people … and let them know how glad I was to get this stuff.

“They pepped me up, made me keep fighting what was wrong with me. Somebody cared about me. Why would anybody care about somebody they’d never seen? I’ve gotten cards from Georgia and Texas and California and places I hadn’t even heard of.”

The mail started arriving at Hodges’ home outside Rocky Mount in Franklin County after the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy learned Hodges’ father served during the Civil War and spread her name and address to UDC chapters across the country. Hodges’ sister, Mildred Hammock Adkins, who lives in Danville, is receiving lots of mail, too.

Neither Adkins, who is 18 months older than her sister, nor Hodges remembers their father or their mother. They were the youngest of 10 children born to Nathaniel and Leslie Hammock. Nathaniel, who served in Company E of the 57th Virginia Infantry, was a 67-year-old widower when he married 16-year-old Leslie in 1908. Nathaniel died in 1925, two weeks after Isabelle’s birth; Leslie died three years later. The girls were raised by one of their father’s sons by his first marriage.

Nathaniel Hammock enlisted in 1863 and, according to a history provided by the UDC Anne Eliza Johns Chapter 164, was a blacksmith for Gen. Robert E. Lee. He served for little more than a year before falling ill and spending the rest of the war in hospitals.

Hodges said she was an adult before she realized her father was in the Civil War. What she knows of her father came mostly from people in the community.

“People would say, ‘You’re Nat Hammock’s daughter?’ and then they’d tell me what a good man he was,” Hodges said. “That made me feel good.”

Hodges worked in a Rocky Mount silk mill for more than 30 years, along with her husband, Walter Raymond Hodges. They were married for 63 years before his death a decade ago. They didn’t have any children of their own, but raised three of her youngest brother’s children after he died.

Adkins was married for 44 years and raised three children. She worked for more than two decades at a furniture company in Martinsville.

In early April, the UDC dedicated a new grave marker in memory of Hodges and Adkins’ father at Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church cemetery in Chatham. The sisters attended the event.

“We just show her off every chance we get,” said Vernell Gwynn, president of the UDC’s Anne Eliza Johns Chapter, of Adkins, who is a member of the organization. She could have been speaking on behalf of the UDC’s Jubal Early Chapter that claims Hodges. “We’re just real excited because of how rare it is for a real daughter to be living. It’s a shame we didn’t know about them a long time ago.”

© Copyright 2013, Richmond Times Dispatch,

On The Web:   http://www.timesdispatch.com/entertainment-life/four-children-of-civil-war-soldiers-still-live-in-virginia/article_2af45d6c-0523-5075-8d44-c7b2b0af04f2.html

 

A Tribute To The Confederate States Of America



Confederate Memorial Service Speech delivered April 27, 2013 at the Americus Georgia Annual Confederate Memorial Service hosted by Sons of Confederate Veterans Alexander H. Stevens Camp 78

It is entirely fitting, proper, and appropriate that we should gather here today to pay tribute to the Confederate veterans and to the Civilian population of the South who also contributed and sacrificed so much during the years of 1861-1865 and in the Reconstruction years that followed. Let us especially remember the women of the Old South who kept the home fires burning, the plantations and farms producing, and who cared for the children.

Let us not only remember the great Southern leaders and heroes which include Jefferson Davis, Alexander H. Stephens, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, and Nathan Bedford Forrest, but let us remember the lesser known officers and enlisted men who formed the backbone of the Army in Gray.

Let us remember on this Confederate Memorial day the Unknown Confederate Soldiers who sleep in lonely soldiers’ graves. Forgotten men who fought and died for the Flag that waved across our Southern land. Even though we know not their names and remember not their faces let us remember their deeds and their fight for Southern Rights. Let us remember the places where they fought for Constitutional Government, and Southern Independence. Places with names like Manassas, Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Cold Harbor, The Wilderness, Sharpsburg, Murfreesboro, and Gettysburg.

The South has long suffered the stigma placed upon us by revisionist writers and orators. Today some school books, movies, television programs and newspaper articles falsely portray Southerners as rebels and traitors who fought to preserve slavery, misleading our children and millions of Americans who are ignorant in history. Most Southerners were in favor of gradual emancipation of slaves and slavery was already a dying institution prior to the war. But a small but radical and fanatical group of abolitionists in the North demanded instant abolition. In 1857 a renegade Southerner named Hinton Helper wrote a book titled “The Impending Crisis of the South”. It was a terrorist manifesto that declared that if the South failed to immediately free slaves a slave rebellion would be initiated that would result in the deaths of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Southern men, women and children as had happened to white French residents of Santo Domingo in the 1790 era.

A resolution was passed by the Republican Party in support of terrorism against the South as outlined in the Helper book and 68 of 117 Republican Senators and Congressmen signed it. A massive slave rebellion endangered all Southerners not just slave owners which were less than 10% of the population. Then in 1859 terrorist and psychopath John Brown with financial support by New England radical and fanatical abolitionists tried to carry out the threats outlined in the Helper book. Thus it was the agitation over slavery and not the perpetuation of slavery that was one of the 10 causes of Southern secession. The victor of a war writes the history and dishonest Northern historians have claimed that the South fought to perpetuate slavery.

As Southerners, we should consider it our duty to our Confederate ancestors to defend their honor and remember the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Confederacy in their attempt to preserve the freedoms provided by the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, which were written primarily by Southern gentlemen from Virginia.

Political lessons, however, are only one benefit of historical memory. History recalls deep and intimate sentiments of family, community and generations past. It calls forth the shared experiences of a people and reminds them of their traditions and customs. History instructs a people of their failings and discourages false pride but also reminds them of their finer moments, and encourages a proper self respect. Any people with contempt for their heritage have lost faith in themselves and no nation can long survive without pride in its traditions.

The Confederate Flag and the memory of the Confederate men and women and children who carried it is a fitting symbol and reminder that sacrifice and blood are often the price a people must pay to preserve limited government and self rule. Today, the Confederate flag and the memory of the sacrifices made by our Confederate ancestors speak a certain healthy defiance against the constraining regimens of corporate life and the bureaucratic state. No constitutional guarantee will preserve liberty if the people lack the spirit of independence.

The issue of centralized power versus States Rights was at the heart of the conflict, now referred to as "The War Between the States”, “War for Southern Independence”, The War of Northern Aggression or Civil War as it is most commonly called by Northerners.

Northern radicals, fanatics, zealots, and socialists poured torrents of verbal and written abuse and slander upon Southerners and committed criminal atrocities. This coupled with an unfair and unjust Northern tariff and major cultural and religious differences froze Southern attitudes into rigid defiance against Northern aggression and tyranny. The Northern radicals and fanatics joined into a coalition with New England economic interests and elected Abraham Lincoln president. The incendiary had joined hands with the robber and the South was their target. By 1860 and 1861 Southerners had concluded that only two choices were available to them.

1. Accept northern tyranny, despotism, and dictatorship, and its suppression of States Rights or,

2. Declare independence and dissolve Southern ties to the Union. The South refused to be ruled over by this radical and corrupt class of Northern politicians and President Abraham Lincoln who represented them. Thus the Southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. They were promptly invaded just as the American colonies were in 1776 when they seceded from England.

What followed was an epic struggle in which Southerners outnumbered 3 to 1, and with most manufacturing facilities located in the North, fought with heroism and devotion rarely if ever matched in the chronicles of warfare. The Confederate States of America fell battling under the banner of States Rights, but grand and glorious even in defeat. Duty, Honor and Patriotism called the Confederate Veteran to defend, as best he could, his home and fireside, his family, his native land, the sacred Southern soil, against the invading armies of an aggressor nation.

The Confederate veteran died the death of a hero and we the people of the South, who love those brave and noble heroes, should forever cherish the memory of Southern men who fought and died for Constitutional Government, the Supremacy of our Laws over Centralization, and our rights as guaranteed to us by the blood of our forefathers on the battlefields of the American Revolution.

The graves of our brave Southern boys lie scattered over our beloved Southland, and some in far off Northern graves. They fought for their country and gave their lives for the cause of Southern Independence. They chose death before dishonor.

The Confederate Soldier fought hard battles against overwhelming numbers and endured many hardships while trying to protect their homes, families, their property, and their constitution and laws. They fought for the belief that each State is a separate Sovereign Government.

The brave and gallant men who marched to the drum and fife playing Dixie and Bonnie Blue Flag have all passed away. During this month of April which is Confederate History and Heritage Month Southern Patriots have placed the beloved Confederate Flag on Confederate graves and we may shed a tear in their memory; we live after them, we love their memory. We are forever grateful of the sacrifices they made.

We need never make any apologies for our brave noble Southern Heroes who fought against Northern Aggression, but we mourn the loss of so many gallant men who perished, with honor, on the field of battle.

Let us, their descendants, make them proud of us as they look down upon us from the Valhalla of Confederate Warriors.

The history and heritage of the Confederacy is like a flickering flame which must be guarded and protected. We must encourage our young people to pick up the torch and carry it forward into the future. We cannot allow prejudice and misinformation to engulf this flame. We must preserve our history and heritage for future generations.

As long as Southern Patriots live, the story of the honor, bravery and valor of the Confederate Soldier must be passed from generation to generation.

Let us always pay tribute to the Confederate Veteran. Long live their Memory- Long live the South- May we Never Forget.

James W. King
Commander-Sons of Confederate Veterans
Camp 141 Lt. Col. Thomas M. Nelson
Albany, Georgia
jkingantiquearms@bellsouth.net

 

Man on a mission to honor fallen Confederate soldiers

By Mark St. John Erickson
merickson@dailypress.com
April 29, 2013

Cecil W. Thomas III strides down an old brick walk outside historic St. John's Church, scanning its ancient cemetery left and right for the tell-tale signs of Civil War soldiers.  Hundreds and hundreds of tombstones and monuments rise from the earth as he walks. But what he's searching for much closer to the ground are the low gray forms of Confederate memorial crosses.

Singly and in clusters as large as six and seven, these cast-iron markers crop up like mournful flowers here -- and Thomas nods toward every one with the reverence and familiarity of someone who feels a personal attachment.

For nearly a year, he spent much of his free time alongside them on his hands and knees, wearing out a half-dozen wire brushes in a determined one-man campaign to scrape off the rust and restore every one of 166 crosses.

That's fewer than half, however, of the nearly 400 he's brushed off, primed and repainted over the past four years in a string of cemeteries that stretches from St. John's in Hampton across the James River to his old family burial ground at Mill Swamp Cemetery in Isle of Wight County.

"Most of these guys were simple, ordinary people. They believed they were fighting for their homes and their families," says Thomas, whose blood ties to the war include not only 28 kinsmen who fought for the South but also distant cousin George Henry Thomas, the Southampton County soldier whose battlefield prowess as a Union general sparked such nicknames as "The Sledge of Nashville" and "The Rock of Chickamauga."

"My great-great-grandfather, James Henry Thomas, was shot six times but still survived the war -- and I don't want people like him to be forgotten."

Such devout acts of remembrance are one reason why the Civil War, and the culture of honor and mourning it spawned, continues to draw scholarly attention more than 150 years after the conflict started.

Many of the distinctive military burial rites taken for granted in the United States today reach back to that turbulent time, says historian J. Michael Cobb, who will explore the origin of these traditions in a free lunchtime program scheduled for noon Wednesday at the Hampton History Museum.

Before the Civil War, the country had no systematic way to count and identify its fallen warriors, no way to notify next of kin and no provision for the decent burials of those killed in the line of duty.

But as described by Harvard University historian Drew Gilpin Faust in her ground-breaking 2008 book -- "The Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War" -- all that changed dramatically with the deaths of as many as 750,000 Union and Confederate soldiers.

"At the center of the war was the vast number of the killed and wounded. It was unprecedented," Cobb said, recounting losses that would be the equivalent of 6 million killed today.

"And in the South -- where three in five men of military age fought and one in five died -- practically everyone was touched."

Thomas learned about that impact early on, hearing story after family story about the war as a child.

But not until the Chesapeake man visited the Isle of Wight graveyard of his ancestors for the first time in 1986 did he begin to grasp the full extent of its consequences for his kin.

More than a dozen of those who fought are buried at Mill Swamp, and -- as the only surviving male Thomas in the region -- the young man started tending their headstones and memorial crosses.

Five years later, he says, he decided to remember their sacrifice by marking their graves with small Confederate flags.

Over time, that act of family devotion expanded to include the burial places of other Southern soldiers. Soon Thomas was planting some 200 flags twice each year in a ritual that cost him hundreds of dollars.

Not long after joining the Isle of Wight camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 2008, he took on the added task of restoring the soldiers' cast-iron crosses.

"Whenever I put out the flags, I saw the way they looked -- and it really upset me," Thomas said.

"Some of the crosses at St. John's looked like they hadn't been kept up for 50 years."

Even that diligence may not be enough, however, for a man whose reverence for the fallen now takes him as far as Old Blandford Church in Petersburg, where more than 20,000 Confederate graves inspired one of the first Memorial Day observances in 1866.

"I'm very serious about this," he says, looking out over the crosses at St. John's.

"I'm going to come back and clean off every single tombstone, too."

Copyright © 2013, Newport News, Va., Daily Press

On The Web:   http://www.dailypress.com/features/history/dp-nws-confederate-graves-20130429,0,241613.story

Johnson urges VA to take down Confederate flags in Hot Springs medical center

April 25, 2013
Kevin Woster

U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson joined the debate Wednesday over two Confederate flags in a display at the VA Medical Center in Hot Springs, saying the flags should be removed.

The South Dakota Democrat, who is chairman of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that includes Veterans Affairs, said VA officials erred by returning the flags to an historical display after removing them last week when two African-American veterans complained.

“Last week, the Hot Springs VA did the right thing by taking down the Confederate flags," Johnson said through a staff member. "I am disappointed to hear the flags have been put back up. They should stay down."

Johnson was responding to a Journal question submitted by his staff. Similar requests were made by email to staffers for Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D. Follow-up emails also were sent seeking comment.

By early evening Wednesday, neither staff had responded.

Others were engaging in the debate over the flags and their handling, however.

Anthony Gibson, a 52-year-old Navy veteran from Salt Lake City currently being treated in Hot Springs, called the Journal to say he supported the decision by VA officials to return the flags to their spot in an 8-flag historical display in the rotunda of the VA Medical Center.

Gibson said he agreed with Steve DiStasio, director of the VA Black Hills Health System, when he said the flags were returned because of their historical significance and their role in showing respect for all veterans.

DiStasio said Tuesday that the flags were taken down for a period out of respect for the complaints of some veterans.

The flags are not symbols of racism but rather pieces of history, Gibson said.

"The flags should stay up. We honor veterans everywhere, even if we disagree with them," he said. "I didn't think it was prudent for the VA to take them down in the first place. It was kind of a slap in the face that they were taken down."

The two veterans most responsible for the temporary removal of the flags considered the sight of Confederate flags to be a slap in the face, however. Desert Storm veteran Craig DeMouchette, 49, of Denver said his father was once assaulted in a Southern state by men who wrapped him in a Confederate flag.

"The sight of that flag has a really personal effect on me," he said.

DeMouchette and Iraq War veteran Kameron Mitchell of Lincoln, Neb., said they considered the flags to be symbols of a racism that had no place in a treatment center for all veterans.

Both men believe they were given an early-release option from post-traumatic-stress-disorder treatment in order to get them out of town so the flags could be put back up. DeMouchette found out the flags were up during an interview with the Journal less than two hours after he left the Hot Springs VA on Tuesday.

Mitchell, who had left earlier, didn't learn about the return of the flags until he contacted the Journal on Wednesday morning.

"I can't believe that. This was a direct reprisal," he said. "They sent me home. And now they did this. I cannot believe it."

DeMouchette said he would contact members of his congressional delegation in Colorado, urging permanent removal of the flags. Mitchell said he would do the same with his congressional delegation in Nebraska.

DiStasio and other VA officials in the Black Hills have declined to talk about why the men were released with full credit two weeks early from the treatment program. The VA officials say privacy rules for the veterans prevent them from commenting.

Gibson said those who see the flags in their Hot Springs display as symbols of racism are "not paying attention to history." He said he believes many veterans at the Hot Springs VA understand the historical significance of the flags and support returning them to the display.

"If somebody put those flags up to promote hate or racism, they should not be there," he said. "But that's not what the display was intended for."

© Copyright 2013, Rapid City Journal,

On The web:   http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/johnson-urges-va-to-take-down-confederate-flags-in-hot/article_d83a6f01-747a-51e1-9fc7-797a14b35061.html

 

Petition wants Stone Mt. Confederate carving removed

Apr 30, 2013

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- It's one of Georgia's most famous landmarks and the largest carving of its type in the world.



But now an Atlanta man wants the Confederate Memorial relief on Stone Mountain removed.

"It's almost like a black eye or an embarrassing smudge on our culture," McCartney Forde told 11Alive News on Monday.

That's how Forde feels about the 2 football field-wide carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson that towers 400 feet above the mountain's base.

He considers the continued honor an affront to those their government kept in slavery.

Forde has launched an online petition to gather support for his cause.

"My efforts aren't to just destroy something, 'cause I understand that does mean something to some people," he said.

"But there should be some room for compromise and there should be something up there that we all could be proud of," he added.

First proposed by Helen Plane, a charter member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the carving was begun in 1923, but not completely finished until 1972 thanks to several starts and stops.

In 1916 the mountain itself was also the birthplace of the modern Ku Klux Klan, who held cross burnings there into the 1980's.

Now owned by the people of Georgia, the mountain and surrounding park are overseen by a state agency and run by a private company.

"We should not erase history," Calvin Johnson, Jr. told 11Alive.

A member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Johnson said all of our country's history should be preserved, good and bad.

Like previous campaigns criticizing other Confederate monuments, he sees the petition to remove the carving of Jefferson, Lee and Jackson as an attack on the truth.

"These guys (were) regarded very highly in the North and South after the War Between the States and it's only been the last 30 or 40 years that I think what you call revisionist history began in this country," Johnson added.

With only 35 signatures supporting his petition thus far, Forde admits the response to his drive to wipe Stone Mountain clean has been overwhelmingly negative.

Copyright ©2013 WXIA-TV Atlanta

On The Web:   http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/3/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed

 

Grand Illumination in Vicksburg -- 3 July 2013
 
From: bthayesesq@yahoo.com
 
SESQUICENTENNIAL NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
July 17-20, 2013 - Vicksburg, Mississippi
http://2013scvreunion.homestead.com/Index.html

 
Also, separate and apart from the Convention is the following event here in Vicksburg, which we really need some help with. We are trying to get as many volunteers as possible for the Grand Illumination scheduled here in Vicksburg the afternoon and evening of July 3rd ('til midnight). This is the BIG event for the Sesquicentennial of the Siege of Vicksburg commemoration. The Friends of the Vicksburg National Military Park are sponsoring the event, which will consist of placing 20,000 luminaries (one for each casualty on a state-by-state basis) at all the state monuments in and outside of the Park. They are looking for 500 volunteers overall for the 29 different state monuments. I have prospectively volunteered the SCV and confirmed with the Friends group that we can "adopt" specific monuments. Thank goodness the casualties weren't as large on our side -- so we won't have as many luminaries to place (and won't need as many volunteers). The local LTG John C. Pemberton Camp has adopted the Mississippi monument -- anyone who wants to help us set out the luminaries there will be more than welcome. If we can get 10-20 folks out there, I think that should be sufficient. Some of the Camps in the Northeast Louisiana brigade have agreed to come over and have adopted the two Louisiana monuments. We are looking for more volunteers to commit to taking part. I've heard that some others have already adopted the Arkansas and Missouri monuments, but there are many more Confederate monuments that will need luminaries. Do you think we could get volunteers to come from some of these other states further afield? Of course, some local folks might want to adopt some of these other states if their ancestors fought for them. I'd love to see each and every Confederate state monument have Sons of Confederate Veterans and/or Confederate reenactors in uniform setting out the luminaries for our honored dead. Please help get the word out.
 
Many thanks,
 
Bradley Hayes

 

Patriots of ’61 – “Up to My Elbows in Blood”
 
Of the Wilmington officers mentioned below in a letter home from Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood: Capt. John Van Bokkelen died of his wounds shortly after Chancellorsville; Major William Parsley had already received a severe neck wound at Malvern Hill and led the charge of the Third North Carolina Regiment up Culp’s Hill on the third day of Gettysburg. At that battle, every officer of Major Parsley’s old company, the Cape Fear Riflemen, was killed. 
 
Capt. Tom Ennett was captured at Spottsylvania and later used as a human shield by Northern forces at Charleston Harbor; Capt. Elisha Porter was shot and bayoneted at Chancellorsville but survived to become a postwar physician; Col. Stephen D. Thurston had taken command of the Third North Carolina at Sharpsburg, and wounded at Chancellorsville.  Lt. Joshua Wright survived the war and married “Florie” Maffitt, daughter of famed blockade runner Capt. John Newland Maffitt.  Dr. Wood was a native Wilmingtonian and surgeon at Richmond Hospital.
 
“Battle Field near Chancellorsville, May 14, 1863
 
Dear Pa, I received your letter by mail through Mr. Langdon much to my satisfaction: for I have been “up to my elbows” in blood. We left our camp last Wednesday or Thursday and arrived at Hamilton’s Crossing for the evening. We could not get a fight out of the Yankees.
 
Trimble’s, A.P. Hill’s and other Divisions made a circuit of their lines and came down like an avalanche upon the flank. We fought them in a desperate engagement Saturday evening. They retreated before the charge of our men. I never heard such firing before. Our Brigade was engaged on Saturday and Sunday and was dreadfully cut to pieces.
 
Col. [Stephen D.] Thurston, Captain Tom Ennett, Lt. Sidbury, Capt. Van Bokkelen, Lt. Fred Moore, and Lt. Josh Wright are wounded….I had the opportunity of performing several capital operations, and a great deal more than I could possibly do. I forgot to say that Maj. Parsley was slightly wounded, but has returned to the field. Lt. E. Porter is also seriously wounded.
 
We are now in the Yankee breastworks which we have taken, looking after the wounded. The fighting has again commenced, I am truly your son, Thomas Wood.”
 
Sources:
Letters from the Front, Civil War Letters of Dr. Thomas Fanning Wood, A.J. Wood, 1991
Chronicles of the Cape Fear, James Sprunt, 1916

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial
www.ncwbts150.com
“The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission”

 

Russian View of Northern Manpower Problems
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Edouard de Stoeckl served as Russian Minister at Washington during the War between the States, having first come to this country in 1841 as an embassy attaché.  He placed the blame for John Brown’s murderous rampage in 1859 on the agitation of New England abolitionists.  At the time, Stoeckl informed a Russian colleague that….“John Brown was proclaimed from the very roof tops [in the North] as the equal of our Savior. I quote these facts to point out how far Puritan fanaticism can go. Little by little the extreme doctrines of New England have spread throughout the land.”
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Russian View of Northern Manpower Problems:
 
”Stoeckl persisted in his belief that the North could never subjugate the South. The Union, he felt, could not endure. he was sure it was divided forever. “In my opinion, the permanent separation of the North and the South will be the inevitable consequence of the American crisis. It is difficult to witness events without being convinced that a return to the old system is impossible.”
 
A born aristocrat, Stoeckl blamed the plight and tragedy in which the nation found itself on the “ultra-democratic system.” He pointed out that “only a handful of demagogues were able to accomplish this work of destruction. “ He never ceased deploring the “rule of the mob.” He hoped the north would accept the inevitable and seek cooperation with the South. The sooner the bloodshed could be ended the better for all concerned. He never overlooked an opportunity to offer his services as a conciliator.
 
With Washington again in danger of attack, “General Halleck has been ordered to Washington to take charge of military operations.” Stoeckl wrote that Lincoln was experiencing great difficulty in replenishing the depleted military ranks. “The government has been compelled to offer a premium of twenty-five dollars a man.” Later he reported that premiums up to fifty dollars have been offered, yet there are few volunteers. Two weeks later, Lincoln issued another call for volunteers, with premiums up to three hundred dollars.
 
“Mr. Lincoln told me himself one day that in case of necessity he could count upon two or three million men. Experience has demonstrated that such estimates are inaccurate….At the outset the armed services absorbed the adventurous types, the poor, the unemployed laborers and the foreigners who filled the large cities. Not many of these classes remain. The new recruits must come from the farmers, businessmen and, in general, the prosperous classes who are opposed to the war.
 
Those who volunteered at the outset never dreamed of the dangers and privations which awaited them. It was generally believed that the mere presence of the Northern army would coerce the South into rejoining the Union. The ever-increasing number of mangled, sick, crippled or maimed soldiers who have returned to their homes has opened the eyes of the Northerners to the horrors of war. Men no longer volunteer for military service. Bonuses of $250 to $300 are being offered to volunteers without spurring enlistments. As a result, the
government was forced to resort to conscription. But it is doubtful if the government will succeed in recruiting the number Lincoln has fixed in his call. General Halleck, now in command of federal forces, admitted to me that not more than 300,000 to 350,000 men can be recruited, the majority for a term of nine months….”
 
When the House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing the President to arm 150,000 Negroes, Stoeckl reported that “the Democratic Party regarded this measure as humiliating for the nation, since it was an admission that an army of a million men cannot win without the help of some 100,000 Negroes”: [Stoeckl continues] “Mr. [Thaddeus] Stevens, the author of this measure, said that the federal army scarcely numbered 500,000 men under arms; that half these troops were scheduled to return home soon since their term of service expired next May; that volunteers are no longer enlisting; and that conscription was so unpopular that the government hesitated to invoke it again.”
 
“In spite of all these [Northern] disasters, the federal government refuses to modify its policy with regard to the army. All the generals are politicians. McClellan is the only exception, so he has been removed from command. Burnside, Pope and Hooker owe their positions to their political connections. As for the division and brigade chiefs, they are for the most part lawyers and journalists whose only merit is that they made some contribution to putting the present administration in power.”
 
(Lincoln and the Russians, Albert A. Woldman, World Publishing Company, 1952, pp. 191-192; 196-197; 201, 205-206)
 
 

New England's Commerce in Slaves
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
England prospered from its slave labor-plantations of North America; New England slave ships profited greatly from the infamous “Rum Triangle” which brought African slaves to the New World; Eli Whitney of Massachusetts perpetuated slavery with his gin invention. New England slavers were still being caught off the coast of Cuba  as late as 1859.  The following is an excerpt from a speech by Zebulon B. Vance in the United States Senate, January 30, 1890.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
New England’s Commerce in Slaves:


 
“Several hundred years ago this fair land of ours, which it would seem God had specially intended for the seat of liberty and the noblest development of man, was desecrated by the introduction of human slavery.  The serpent thus entered into our political Eden. The great forests which covered the face of the earth called for labor to remove them, for more labor than the slowly coming immigration of the free races afforded. The morals of the age justified the holding of barbarous races in bondage.
 
The favorite place for obtaining bondsmen was the African coast. So desirable did the supplying of the newly discovered islands and continents of the West with cheap labor appear, that old Joseph Hawkins was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, as much for his successful introduction of a cargo of slaves into the West Indies, as for his exploits against the Spaniards. Even so great an good a man as Las Casa, the Spanish apostle to the Indians, once advocated the introduction of African slavery.
 
First and foremost in this calamitous and iniquitous traffic was New England. In fact, so anxious were the good people of those colonies for slaves that they reduced to bondage the native Indians whom they captured in war, and, not infrequently, those wicked people of their own race and blood who were guilty of differing from them in religious opinions.
 
The tobacco-growing colonies of the South soon followed suit in the importation of African slaves, and early found how profitable this cheap and involuntary labor was in the raising of their great staple.  The introduction of the cultivation and uses of cotton soon gave a further impetus to slaveholding, and made the chief prosperity of all the Southern regions to depend mainly upon this enforced labor.  Whilst the want of profitable returns gradually lessened the hold of the North upon slavery, its great profits constantly increased that hold upon the South.
 
The stony and sterile fields of New England called for manufactures and commerce. That commerce consisted very largely in purchasing slaves on the African coast, and selling them to Southern planters. After a time [slavery] ceased to exist altogether in the North, by reason of emancipation….and by their sales to their Southern neighbors. By this time the wrongfulness of holding slaves fully dawned upon the conscience of the Northern people. Its prickings became so active that they not only deemed it a sin to hold a slave themselves, but to permit anybody else to hold one, even though there was no responsibility whatever upon them for the transgression.
 
They even went so far in obeying the dictates of conscience, that they did not hesitate to stand up boldly in the sight of God, with the purchase money in their pockets, and denounce the vengeance of heaven against their Southern neighbors for holding on to the Negro which they themselves had sold them.”
 
Life of Zebulon B. Vance, Clement Dowd, Observer Printing and Publishing House, 1897, pp. 240-241)  
 
 

Financial Panic and Copperhead Uprising
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Not surprising was the resistance of the Northern war munitions industry to peace initiatives; after defeat in 1856 the new Republican party saw future victory in wooing northeastern industrialists through protective tariffs and corporate welfare schemes, and protecting their interests at the expense of the agricultural South.  In early 1864, Southern agents in Canada like Captain Thomas Hines rounded up Southern prisoners of war who escaped across the border to freedom, holding the most useful for his clandestine command and helping others return South via blockade runners to Wilmington.  From June 1864 on, Hines and the Confederate Commissioners planned bold moves to bring their enemy to the peace table.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Financial Panic and Copperhead Uprising:
 
“While Hines rounded up the escaped prisoners of war to form his tiny “squadron,” as he would call it in later years, [Confederate Commissioner in Canada Jacob] Thompson set out for Niagara Falls to contact “potent men of the North” to learn how they felt about peace. Leading Copperheads like Fernando Wood, ex-mayor of New York City, and ex-governor Washington Hunt of New York, met with him at the Clifton House [hotel in Niagara Falls, Canada West]. New York and the East were not ready for peace or an uprising, they told Thompson. War [munitions] manufacturers there were too powerful and were on the alert to “neutralize” any peace efforts.
 
Thompson next turned to Secretary [Judah] Benjamin’s favorite project: trying to create a financial panic in the North by buying up gold and smuggling it out of the country in order to weaken the gold security for the Union dollar. A Nashville banker named Porterfield, who was living in exile in Montreal, was selected by Thompson as the proper man to set this in motion.
 
Porterfield was furnished with fifty thousand dollars. He went to New York, opened an office under a fictitious name and began to purchase gold, which he exported to England and sold for sterling bills of exchange. Then he converted the sterling bills into dollars which he used to buy more gold. The transaction was a costly one, showing a loss due to the cost of operations, trans-shipment, etc.  Porterfield continued until his losses were twenty thousand dollars….[but by] this time he had exported five million dollars in gold, “and had induced many others to ship much more [gold].” His buying up gold and sending it out of the country began “showing a marked effect,” as Thompson said in his official report to Richmond, when the Federals cracked down.
 
A former partner of Porterfield’s was arrested by General Ben Butler for exporting gold, and thrown into Lafayette Prison in New York Harbor. Porterfield fled back to Canada….[but] still retained the twenty-five thousand dollars remaining to continue the exporting of gold through “fronts” in New York.
 
By the first week of June, 1864, Hines was in touch with his Copperhead friends in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and in communication with [Ohio gubernatorial candidate Clement] Vallandigham, who was now [exiled] in Windsor [Canada West].  A meeting was set for the 14th to plan the Copperhead uprising and the release of the Rebel prisoners in Camps Douglas, Morton, Chase and Rock Island.
 
Hines and Thompson met with Vallandigham on the 14th….[at] St. Catherines, Canada [West]…[and the latter] detailed for Hines the strength of the Copperheads. Membership totaled about 300,000. Illinois had furnished 80,000, Indiana, 50,000, Ohio, 40,000 and Kentucky and New York States, the rest.  A “feeling of fatigue” was sweeping through the North, Vallandigham told them, following Lincoln’s call for 500,000 more men….[and] he added: “If provocation and opportunity arise, gentlemen, there will be a general uprising.”
 
(Confederate Agent, A Discovery in History, James D. Horan, Crown Publishers, 1954, pp. 88-90)
 
 

Stone Mountain
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
To: letters@ajc.com
 
To the Editor:
                    
I recently saw on the T.V. channel 11 website in Atlanta where they were interviewing a person who has started an online petition to have the Confederate Memorial on Stone Mountain removed. Among other, one of the statements that he gave for this was that it did not reflect everyone in Atlanta.
  
Using his analysis then everything pertaining to the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta should be removed because that period of time only covered blacks winning their constitutional rights. So those monuments, memorials, statues, street names, etc. do not reflect everyone in Atlanta as whites already had their civil rights.
  
Another reason for him wanting to see the Confederate Memorial removed from the side of Stone Mountain is because the Ku Klux Klan had held rallies there. The Klan holding their rallies there in the past does not make this a memorial to the Klan any more than it makes it a memorial to gays because gays have visited this park.
  
While this person might not agree with the heroes of others he needs to understand that under America`s constitution they are entitled to pick & choose who their heroes are & when & where they honor them. Just as he is allowed to do with his hero`s & no one has to agree with him.
  
It amazes me that people like this person wants everyone to respect their rights but, its alright for them to deny those same rights to everyone else. Then have the nerve to call us Un - American because we want to remember our Georgia ancestors who served in the Confederate military.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville, Al.
 
 

Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
 
Those who wish to express their concerns & give rebuttal to the online petition to remove the Confederate Memorial on Stone Mountain Georgia can email you letters to letters@ajc.com The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
 
Billy Price
 
 

Channel 11 News Story/Stone Mountain
 
From: siegels1@mindspring.com
 
Friends, here is my letter to Senator Fort, hope you will take a moment to write one, also to him at:  'vincent.fort@senate.ga.gov'
 
Lunelle
 
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/3/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Good day, Senator Fort,
 
I was offended and deeply saddened to hear your comments about the American heroes commemorated on Stone Mountain.


 
It is hard to find words to express how insensitive I felt your remarks are.  I can only imagine the countless number of people, black and white alike, you insulted in one short television segment.
 
I notice you are from Connecticut so perhaps you are simply ignorant of the facts.  You claim to have a history degree.
 
I am curious about the following:
 
Perhaps they didn’t teach you that the South wouldn’t have lasted a day without the slave and free participation by black Southerners.
 
Perhaps you are unaware that Gen. Grant owned slaves (Union), but Gen. Lee owned none (Confederate).
 
Perhaps you are unaware that the North did not invade the South to free Southern slaves.
 
Perhaps you are unaware that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure that actually freed no one and in practicality made black slaves in overrun Southern lands property of the US Government (contraband).
 
Perhaps you hadn’t considered that it was the US Government who was responsible for the deaths of black Union soldiers because, as contraband, they were required to serve.
 
Perhaps you are unaware that black troops were used by the US Government as cannon fodder, and at pay less than their white counter parts, were expendable, put into unwinnable, high casualty positions on the battlefield.
 
Perhaps you are unaware that is was the radial republicans under Lincoln’s administration that wanted to send all Black Americans to “Lincontonia” or Liberia…or, in fact, anywhere else.
 
Perhaps you were unaware that Frederick Douglas called Lincoln and his treatment of Black Americans the biggest fraud ever.
 
Perhaps you were unaware that, in fact, the Pres. Davis and the Southern states were more interested in protecting the original constitution of the nation and its tenants than in keeping their black brothers and sisters enslaved.
 
Instead of just race baiting or trying to create civil unrest by pitting one color of Americans against another, I am hopeful that you were unaware of these facts, and now that you are informed, you will realize that it is right and proper to honor these men, and back away from your offensive position of demeaning, degrading and vilifying some of the greatest American heroes, and heroes of millions of your State’s residents.  If you don’t believe me, allow me to suggest you consider  reading “Complicity – How the North Prolonged, Promoted and Profited from Slavery” written by reporters of your home state newspaper the Hartford Courant.
 
Finally, I hope you will consider that all of the three men on Stone Mountain are US Veterans, both before the war serving in the Mexican War, and that by act of Congress, all Confederate Veterans are also US Veterans.  Do you really want to pick a fight with Veterans?  Please consider this, because how we treat veterans of the past will signal to today’s veterans how they will be treated in years to come when some ‘historians’ choose to paint the facts in a demeaning light.
 
Cordially,
 
Lunelle Siegel
Loganville, Georgia
 
PS.  If I am wrong and you refuse to be educated, you may want to reconsider living in the South, unless, of course, you enjoy offending people in your community.
 
 

ATTACK ON STONE MOUNTAIN PICKS UP STEAM
 
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/3/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed
 
Friends, take this attack on American history seriously.   One man with a history degree can claim Robert E. Lee was a hate symbol and killed thousands of Union Soldiers and it will cause outrage in the uninformed.  The best defense is EDUCATION.  Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee did not own slaves, but Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant did.  Lincoln's emancipation proclamation freed no slaves, in fact it turned Southern slaves into "contraband - property of the US Government".  What about the participation of the slave and free Southern Blacks.  Try reading: "Black Confederates" by Charles Kelly Barrow: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Confederates-Charles-Kelly-Barrow/dp/1565549376. 
 
Let Connecticut born Georgia Senator Fort Hear from you:
 
Capitol Office
 
121-J State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: (404) 656-5091
Fax: (404) 651-7078
 
Lunelle Siegel
siegels1@mindspring.com
 
 

Traditions on display at square

4/26/2013
By SARAH LUNDGREN
The Brunswick News

Saturday will mark a special occasion for Scott Newbern of Brunswick.

As commander of the Thomas Marsh Forman No. 485 Unit of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, it will be an opportunity to connect with his heritage.

In honor of Confederate Memorial Day, officially recognized in Georgia today - April 26 - Newbern and fellow unit members, as well as the Lanier of Glynn Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, will host a special event starting at 10:40 a.m. Saturday.

A parade of Confederate re-enactors, dressed in traditional soldier uniforms, will parade from G Street to Hanover Square, home to a memorial erected decades ago to confederate soldiers who died in the American Civil War.

At 11 a.m., Newbern will honor those who perished in the war from the area.

"Every year, I have the privilege of reading the names of those who died from Camden, Glynn and McIntosh, and it's just a personal way of staying in touch with history and heritage," he said.

During the service at Hanover Square, at the foot of the downtown portion of Newcastle Street just south of Old City Hall, the United Daughters of the Confederacy will sing while holding up wreaths.

A flower will be added to the wreaths each time the name of an ancestor of those attending the event is read.

The wreaths will the be placed at the monument.

Those in uniform will stand at attention and flags of the confederacy will be displayed throughout the ceremony.

"These flags and symbols are the same our ancestors fought under. We feel that it doesn't matter if it was 150 years ago or last week, we remember what our family members did. Even if they weren't related to us, it's what Georgians did years ago," Newbern said.

Newbern, who hopes the community will join the ceremony, will honor his two great-grandfathers, both of Coffee County and both having served in the Confederate army.

"It was Glynn County that went off to the war. A lot didn't come back. When we read the names, most are familiar and descendents are still here. It was a community effort then...should be a community effort now," he said.

©2013 The Brunswick News

On The Web:   http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_access/local_news/MEMORIAL-042613-hr#

 

Most Unparalleled Last Card Played By a Reckless Gambler
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
With enlistments dwindling and in dire need of recruits, Lincoln would play a last card as did Lord Dunmore in 1775, and Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane in 1814.  All three intended to bring the Americans to their knees in the face of slave revolt and race war with an emancipation decree.  Despite Lincoln’s proclamation, only 180,000 of a 3.5 million African population served in the Northern army – perhaps half of them conscripts. These slaves pressed into blue uniforms would be used to build fortifications, cook food, and aid on picket, and in segregated units with white officers.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Most Unparalleled Last Card Ever Issued By a Reckless Gambler:
 
“[On] May 9 [1862], General David Hunter, by an order, proclaimed the slaves free in his department of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.  May 19, the President [Lincoln] nullified this action….proclaiming that the freeing of slaves would be his responsibility as Commander-in-Chief……
 
The warm and impulsive [Massachusetts Governor John] Andrew answered a call for troops, May 19, “I think they (our people) will feel the draft is heavy on their patriotism. But if the President will sustain General Hunter, recognize all men, even black men, as legally capable of that loyalty the blacks are waiting to manifest, the roads will swarm, if need be, with multitudes whom New England would pour out to obey your call.”
 
In July, Hill, the correspondent of the “Tribune,” notes a disheartening conversation with General Wadsworth, who had been in close converse with the President at the War Department many hours, every day, for several months. He regarded Lincoln as wholly “without anti-slavery instincts,” and talking frequently of the “nigger question,” on the wrong side.
 
September 23 the Proclamation of emancipation – an experiment in government by decree, rare for us, but common in continental Europe – was issued, to become the law of the land January 1, 1863. Ignored hitherto as a political factor in this absorbing drama, whether at Montgomery or Washington, the negro had become a military force of the first importance.
 
Experts agreed that these poor waifs, an errant factor in civilization, must be taken now from the ciphers dormant before the decimal, and be put into the working columns of figures which represented men. “The labor of the colored man supports the rebel soldier, enables him to leave his plantation to meet our armies, builds his fortifications, cooks his food, and sometimes aids him on picket by rare skill with the rifle,” said General [Montgomery] Meigs on November 18.  “By striking down this system of compulsory labor, which enables the leaders of the rebellion to control the resources of the people, the rebellion would die of itself.”
 
The immediate results were very disheartening to the President. “The North responds to the proclamation sufficiently in breath; but breath alone kills no rebels.” The radical Republicans welcomed it, but their constituents did not send out in recruits that strong adult element, the lusty thews and sinews from which the working military strength of a nation must be drawn. But in a military sense the radicals embodied the nervous force of the North, rather than the brawny muscle which should subdue the solid enforced strength of the Southern people.
 
The overwhelming unfriendly majority [of the North] spoke through the “Times.” “The death of slavery must follow upon the success of the Confederates in this war.” But Mr. Lincoln’s emancipation “can only be effected by massacre and utter destruction.” Another sapient critic call the proclamation “the most unparalleled last card ever issued by a reckless gambler.”
 
(War Government, Federal and State, in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana, 1861-1865, William B. Weeden, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906,pp. 117-118, 120-122)

 

Confederate Memorial Day ceremony
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
To: news@gadsdentimes.com
 
To the Editor:
                    
Last Sunday the United Daughters of the Confederacy had a Confederate Memorial Day ceremony at Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. Why didn`t your newspaper cover this event or any events like it for that matter?
  
It was a local event in the City of Gadsden covering a part of Etowah Counties history yet, you deemed it unacceptable for print. The job of a local newspaper is to cover local news & events, in this department you continue to fail miserably.
  
One would think that your staff are former employees of the state newspaper Pravda of the old former Soviet Union. Instead of covering local news & events that are of interest to the majority of your local readers you only publish those things you deem politically correct & acceptable to a small minority of readers & follow the politically correct party line.
  
This would be great if a newspapers job was to give only your personal preferences & opinions but, it’s not, its supposed to be in business to give facts on the happenings of the day in Gadsden. Perhaps your subscription rate would be higher if you ran your paper like a business.
  
In my area there are two local deliveries of newspapers, The Gadsden Times & The Birmingham News. I subscribe to neither for the exact same reasons, you don`t report news you try to manipulate & twist facts or outright create news based on your own liberal leanings.
  
In the future if I decide to subscribe to a newspaper I think I`ll see if North Korea will deliver their state ran newspaper to my front door as it will cover more actual facts than your supposed to be local newspaper, The Gadsden Times.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville, Al.
 
 

Confederate Memorial service
 
From: bamareb@comcast.net
 
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the Confederate Memorial service sponsered by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at Forrest Cemetery. It was a very historically enlightening service which commemorated the 150th  anniversary of the crossing of Black Creek by General Forrest and his men and the exploits of Emma Sansom. But apparently due to politically  correct expediency on the part of the Gadsden Times, not one word was mentioned in this daily publication nor any on site coverage whatsoever. This has become the norm for the times and I should not have expected anything different. Also, this is also the 150th anniversary of the death of Pvt. Robert Turner of the 4th Tenn. Cavalry. He was killed at the Battle of Black Creek and buried by Emma Sansom and her sister next to her father in the Sansom cemetery which is now in the median of Meighan Boulevard across from the old high school. I placed a grave marker there for him twenty four years ago. He is the only marked killed in action on what is now Etowah County soil. Again, thanks to the Gadsden Times for their diversity and the coverage of this event.
 
I remain,
 
Hunter Phillips
 
 

Va Flaggers:  VMFA Update 4-25-2013


 
From: info@vaflaggers.com
 
Like many of you, March, and especially April have been busy months for the Va Flaggers.  While we have been involved in many Memorial Services and Confederate History and Heritage Month activities, we have by no means neglected our duty at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
 
Throughout March, Flaggers were on the Boulevard AT LEAST twice a week, sometimes more, forwarding the colors and reminding museum officials that we will not go away until the Battle Flags are returned to the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  At our March monthly meeting, Flaggers Gracie and Maddie Lewis were presented with Flagger bags, just like the one Miss Susan carries, filled with Flagger ammo and supplies. The following Saturday, they were on the Boulevard, taking names and recording activity.
 
11 Year old Gracie filed this report:
 
"Today flagging traffic was in the middle and a few people stopped to talk to talk with us and we had a good talk with a lady who had seen us out there for the last few weeks. The weather was perfect for flagging:  67 degrees and very sunny. Got lots of good honks, and also some bad honks. The people that showed up was Jack, Tripp, Judy, Barry, Jimmy, Fred, Tommy, Sid, Christian, Grace, Maddie, and Laura! We all had a great day and I love taking reports for you they are fun to write to you! So thank you so much for the note pad! " - Grace Lewis, March 30, 2013
 
More photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.235899216535371.1073741837.186485551476738&type=3
 
April began with cool temperatures.  11 Flaggers were out on Tuesday, April 2nd, and a local photographer came out to take photographs and a VCU film student was on hand, recording for a documentary.  Saturday, April 6th found 9 Flaggers on duty, while another group was assisting with the Chesterfield County Confederate History and Heritage Day.  Thanks to the dedication of our Flaggers, we were able to cover both fronts!  :)
 
AND what a day it was on the Boulevard!  April 6th was Civil War and Emancipation Day in Richmond. Tourists were shuttled around Richmond to visit slavery sites, walk in the footsteps of Lincoln, tour local museums, and one such stop was right in front of the VMFA.  Our troops were spread on two fronts...  On the Chapel side, Sid and Susan Lester dressed in period attire and attracted the attention of tourists and a photographer who set up a shoot on the Chapel grounds.  Aside from being the only Confederate presence that day, we also had the chance to speak to every visitor about the VMFA and their disrespect of our Confederate Veterans.
 
On the Boulevard side, Flaggers were there to meet the buses, armed with Lincoln literature (thanks Ms. Lunelle!) and Chapel flyers.  Traffic was steady ALL DAY and many, many good conversations were held.  Pictured below is the site that greeted those who got off the bus, and a man from England who asked to pose with a flag.
 
Many, many requests were made to pose for photos with the Flaggers, and we were glad to oblige, and to have the opportunity to share information with them.
 
One of the stops on the tour was the UDC Headquarters' Building. At one point, the Boulevard Flaggers were positioned on the sidewalk in front of the building, distributing the Lincoln and Chapel literature and sharing information with those who came to tour the facilities.  Shortly after arriving, two security guard came out of the building and told us we would have to move away from in front of the UDC building or they were going to call the police.  Of course, if there is one thing Flaggers know inside and out, it is the law about public display on sidewalks, and we, of course, informed them that the UDC did not own the sidewalk and could not have us removed. We encouraged them to call the Richmond Police, as they know us well and we have a very good relationship with them.
 
No police ever did show, and we were actually able to talk to many, many folks, including the group of folks pictured below, one of whom turned out to be a recruit for the SCV!  :)
 
More photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.237256383066321.1073741845.186485551476738&type=3
 
Wednesday, April 10th saw 10 Flaggers on the Boulevard.  Traffic was light, as it has been most of this month.  It appears that the new "PoPTart" exhibit has not been drawing much of a crowd at the museum.  Still, it was a good evening, with several good conversations.
 
Saturday, April 13th was another quiet day and we had 10 Flaggers, despite the fact that we had troops at the Museum of the Confederacy's Appomattox Birthday party, Stone Mountain, and out in the Blue Ridge Mountains!  Again, traffic was slow, but our flags were flying and there was a  decidedly Confederate presence at Confederate Memorial Park.
 
More Photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.238717749586851.1073741850.186485551476738&type=3
 
Thursday, April 18th was a WARM day!  It was 83 degrees when 5 Flaggers took to the Boulevard. Another quiet evening, and the woman pictured below was visiting from out of state.  When she saw the flags she stopped to ask what was going on, pledged her support for our efforts, and asked to take a photo with her Grandson.
 
Saturday, April 20th was a GREAT day!  BEAUTIFUL weather and the best conversations reported in quite some time!
 
The young man on the left is Tyler...
"This is Tyler, he walked up with a little flag in his hand. I asked him who he was and said he was sent by Kristian, our Norwegian friend, to come Flag with us. He met him over at VCU. I gave him a big Flag to fly and he's very happy. He had never seen the Chapel before so I sent him in so David can give him a tour so he will have more knowledge before Flagging with us today:)) What a great Day in Dixie:))  - Jimmy Creech, Va Flaggers
 
Thank you for bearing with us for this lengthy update, but we didn't want any of you to miss out on the fun and excitement that has been happening on the Boulevard as we usher in spring in the Capital of the Confederacy.
 
Our fight to return the flags to the Confederate Memorial Chapel continues on many other fronts, as well.  We urge you to join us, and take a stand for the Confederate Soldiers who lived and died on the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park.  All that is needed is a Confederate heart and a desire to make a difference.  We can supply training, ammo, and even flags, if needed.
 
Our next flagging is TODAY, Thursday, April 25th, from 3:00 p.m. to dusk.  We will also be out THIS Saturday, April 27th, from Noon till 4:00 p.m.  If you cannot join us, PLEASE help support us by calling the VMFA (804.340.1506) or emailing them:visitorservices@vmfa.museum and tell them to honor American Veterans by returning the Confederate Battle Flags to the Confederate Memorial Chapel.
 
April is Confederate History and Heritage month.  What better way to honor our soldiers than by defending the flags under which they fought and died.
 
RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!
 
See you on the Boulevard...
 
Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers
 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
 
Thursday, April 25th:  Flagging the VMFA, 3-Dusk
 
Saturday, April 27th:  Flagging the VMFA Noon - 4 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 27th:   Susan will be traveling to Tampa, FL to represent the Va Flaggers and speak at the ceremony to raise the "World's Largest 3rd National Flag" by Gen. Jubal A. Early, Camp #556, SCV.   http://www.tampascv.org/3rd%20national.htm
 
Tuesday, April 30th:  7:00 p.m. at the Bedford County/City Museum on Main Street in Bedford, VA (across Court Street from the Bedford Court House)  Tripp, Barry and Susan will travel to Bedford, Virginia to speak to the BEDFORD RIFLE GRAYS #1475, Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
 
Saturday, May 4th:  10:30 a.m. - Commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Lying in State at the Old House Chamber, State Capitol, Richmond, VA.
 
Saturday, May 11th:  11:00 a.m. - Annual J.E.B. Stuart Memorial Service at the Yellow Tavern Monument in Glen Allen, VA, sponsored by the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705, UDC.
 
Saturday, May 11th:  4:00 p.m. - Confederate Medal of Honor Memorial Service, Blanford Church on the grounds of Blanford Cemetery in Petersburg.
 
Saturday, June 8th:  Annual birthday ceremony for Jefferson F. Davis, at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.  Keynote speaker will be Mr. Bert Hayes-Davis, great great grandson of Jeff Davis.
 
Saturday, June 29th:  10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 22nd Annual Point Lookout Pilgrimage, Confederate Memorial Park, Point Lookout, MD.
 
Monday, June 31st:  6:30 p.m. - Susan and Barry will be traveling to Va Beach to speak to the Princess Anne Camp #484 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Gus and George's Spaghetti and Steakhouse, 4312 Virginia Beach, VA
 
 

Website Responses Favor Keeping Park Names
Posted by John Branston
Mon, Apr 22, 2013

Hundreds of supporters of the original names of three downtown parks with Civil War themes overwhelmed all other choices in a web poll conducted by the city of Memphis.

The committee appointed to rename the three parks met Monday for 45 minutes but made no decisions. Members got handouts with the results of the web poll as well as a list of suggestions from the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

The former Nathan Bedford Forrest Park that triggered this exercise got 525 responses, with 481 of them favoring that name. Ida B. Wells was the second choice, with three votes, the same as Civil War Park.

The former Jefferson Davis Park also got 525 responses, including 484 in favor of that name. Confederate Park got 463 votes, with Confederate Memorial Park the runner-up with 7 votes.

Each of the parks also got a sprinkling of votes for such names as Consolidator Park, William C. Boyd's Folly Park, and Lost Cause Park.

The Chamber of Commerce recommended the names Rock N' Soul Park for Jefferson Davis Park, Tiger Park for Confederate Park, and Volunteer Park for Forrest Park.

Members of the committee complained that many of the responses to the web survey came from people who do not live in Memphis. Keith Norman said that factor, along with "the harsh tone may be some of the very reason why we are here." It is not clear how the home towns of the respondents were determined in the web survey. Unlike the public comments in an earlier meeting, respondents did not have to provide an address.

© 1996-2013 Contemporary Media

On The Web:   http://www.memphisflyer.com/CityBeatBlog/archives/2013/04/22/website-responses-favor-keeping-park-names

 

The Parks Debate and The Other Suggestions

Posted by: BillDries
April 23, 2013

Our story on the latest in the name game for the city’s three Confederate-themed parks is coming up in the Wednesday edition of The Daily News which goes up Tuesday afternoon.

The ad hoc committee trying to come up with recommendations to the City Council on what to do with the parks did what happens in most efforts like this. They did an Internet poll on what anyone who could find the survey would pick as the new names for the three parks.

The group got 525 responses and in the case of each park – Confederate, Jefferson Davis and Forrest – 463 to 484 of those responding said they wanted the parks to return to the names they had before the council voted earlier this year to give each of them temporary names.

Some on the panel complained that the survey was gamed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans group and other similar organizations. Others questioned how many of those responding lived in Memphis. Still others said the results may not be scientific but reflect generally a widespread sentiment.

More on the other suggestions further down.

This group of nine citizens, two of them city council members, have a lot of ground between them on this issue. As you will read, this controversy also features a fascinating difference of opinion among historians who for many years have had their own debate about many of these points that has been largely out of the political spotlight.

There is some common ground – not much, but some around the edges. No one at the table this week suggested that the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest should be removed from the park bearing his name as well as the burial site of Forrest and his wife.

Most on the panel expressing an opinion agreed that would be impractical. And some in the group favored never going back to the old names but suggested new names that retain a general Civil War theme.

Now, to the online suggestions that lagged far behind the old names in their totals – most getting no more than one suggestion.

They included Peace Park, John Wilkes Booth Park, Traitor President Park, Historical Parks 1-3, Battle of Memphis Park, Unity Park, Brighter Future Park, Lost Cause Park, Ruby Wilson Park, The Park Down By The River, Dr. Lemuel Diggs Park and Eternal Confederate Park.

There was a whole subcategory of park name suggestions that involved current city council members as well as Mayors Wharton and Luttrell. Committee co chairman Bill Boyd didn’t include two of the suggestions on the list saying they were “off-color.”

On The Web:   http://blog.memphisdailynews.com/?p=7264

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Committee Split on Park Renaming Options
By Bill Dries

The nine-member ad hoc committee that is supposed to come up with recommendations for the Memphis City Council on what to call three Confederate-themed city parks displayed a clear rift Monday, April 22.

But those on the panel will begin putting proposals on the table at their next meeting tentatively set for next week.

Some in the group favor restoring the old names of Confederate, Jefferson Davis and Forrest parks. The council changed those names earlier this year to temporary ones and appointed the committee to make recommendations to it on what the permanent names should be.

Others on the ad hoc committee say the old names should not be restored although some were open to new names that retained some Civil War connotations.

“Why not just take these three parks and make them represent the people of the city of Memphis,” said University of Memphis associate history professor Beverly Bond who suggested the name Civil War Memorial Park for Forrest Park.

“I will not take anything away from the military genius of Nathan Bedford Forrest,” she said of the Confederate general, slave trader and first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. “But I will also not concede that he was not a slave trader. You have to balance those things. … Give some interpretation.”

Fellow University of Memphis and Christian Brothers University history professor Doug Cupples, however, said the old names should be restored and the parks “expanded” with monuments to African-American citizens from the same era, including Robert Church Sr., the South’s first black millionaire.

“This could be an energizing force. The park is already there,” Cupples said.

“I think we can take a big step forward to taking into account that this is a diverse city. … The Confederacy was a significant part of the city’s history. Nathan Bedford Forrest was probably one of the top five or six people in the history of Memphis.”

“They are part of our history,” he said of the three parks. “Let’s maintain them and build upon our history.”

But Bond argued it’s not as simple as saying “History is history.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” she said. “It’s interpretation of what you have. And what we have been doing is interpretation.”

Memphis branch NAACP President Keith Norman also opposed letting private groups put monuments in the parks without city approval.

“I don’t think we are here to discuss private funding,” he said. “We are here to talk about the names. We keep the name thing the main thing we can get that worked out.”

Norman said private funding is how the controversy began recalling the stone marker bearing the name of Forrest Park that the Sons of Confederate Veterans put on the Union Avenue side of the park.

The city removed the marker touching off the latest chapter in a long-running controversy over the name of that park and Forrest’s legacy. The controversy came to include the other two parks when a legislator from another part of the state floated a bill in Nashville that would prevent local governments from changing the names or removing any monuments or markers from parks named for military figures, veterans or wars.

“I like the names of the parks as they are. I can consider changing one or two maybe,” said Jimmy Ogle, chairman of the Shelby County Historical Commission. “I know it’s a difficult process. I would like to see us do more for history in this city in the park lands or other lands we have.”

Any recommendations made by the group will go to the full council for action. The committee is co-chaired by council members Harold Collins and Bill Boyd.

Collins reminded the group the council is in budget season when any cost associated with the name changes would be considered.

“We are not here to rename any park. We are here to offer suggestions to the Memphis City Council,” Collins said. “Those are the only parks in Memphis we need to focus on. To try to move in any other direction would be wasting a whole lot more time that we don’t have to spare as it is.”

Copyright 1995 - 2013 by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc.

On The Web:   http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/apr/24/group-split-on-park-renaming-options/

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

April 26th is Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia
By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.

Do you remember when Confederate Memorial Day was observed in public schools?

It was a special time when businesses and schools closed in observance of Confederate Memorial Day. It was a day when many thousands of people would congregate at the Confederate cemetery for the day's events that included: a parade, memorial speeches, military salute and children laying flowers on the soldiers' graves. The band played "Dixie" and the soldier played taps.

April is Confederate History and Heritage Month throughout the Southern USA and it’s also the month that many States of Old Dixie still celebrate Confederate Memorial Day! The State of Georgia will celebrate it this Friday.

Confederate Memorial Day has been a legal holiday in Georgia since 1874 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly and bill signed by then Governor James Smith, who also served as Confederate Colonel, Lawyer and Congressman.

Efforts to mark Confederate graves, erect monuments, hold memorial services and get Confederate Memorial Day recognized as an official holiday was the idea of Lizzie Rutherford and Mrs. Charles J. Williams of the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia.

April is a great time to take your family lately to Stone Mountain Memorial Park located near Atlanta, Georgia. The larger than life Southern Memorial carving there of American heroes Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee is awesome to behold and a great educational experience for young and old, Black and White, Northerner and Southerner and people from around God’s good earth.

Did you know Black Confederate soldiers are buried on the grounds of Atlanta’s Morehouse College, a 4 year historically Black college, located on the highest ground where the Battle of Atlanta was fought?...And, not far from here is Marietta’s Confederate Cemetery which is the final resting place of Black Confederate Drummer Bill Yopp and 3,000 of his fellow comrades.

Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack said it best in 1903; “The Confederate Soldiers were our kinfolk and our heroes. We testify to the country our enduring fidelity to their memory. We commemorate their valor and devotion. There were some things that were not surrendered at Appomattox. We did not surrender our rights and history; nor was it one of the conditions of surrender that unfriendly lips should be suffered to tell the story of that war or that unfriendly hands should write the epitaphs of the Confederate dead. We have the right to teach our children the true history of the war, the causes that led up to it and the principles involved.”

Black History Month, Jewish History Month, Hispanic History Month and Women’s History Month is a time set aside to remember the best contributions of a people and the word “controversial” is never used to describe these Americans.

Why then do people including some in the news media refer to remembering our family on Confederate Memorial Day as controversial? The fact is that men and women of European, African, Hispanic, American Indian, Jewish and even Chinese took their stand in defense of the South “Dixie” during the War Between the States, 1861-1865.

The Constitution of the Confederates States of America will be exhibited from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm at the University of Georgia on “Confederate Memorial Day” Friday, April, 26, 2013, Special Collections Library, 300 South Hull St – Athens, Georgia.

See complete details at: http://www.libs.uga.edu/blog/?event=confederate-constitution-on-display

Today, those of little knowledge about those men of gray attack the Confederate flag that was bravely carried in many battles...And they want the Confederate flag removed from many places including the Confederate statue at the State Capitol in Columbia, South Carolina. When the soldiers of Blue and Gray walked the earth, few criticized these men.

April is Confederate History and Heritage Month. Read more on face book at: https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth

On The Web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/04/by-calvin-e.html

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A General and a Gentleman
By Bob Hurst

I enjoy reading about Confederate generals. Well, actually, I enjoy reading about anything Confederate, but especially the generals. I enjoy reading about their lives and learning about their character and accomplishments in their non-military endeavors.

There are some Confederate generals, of course, who seem larger-than-life and almost mythical. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart and Nathan Bedford Forrest come quickly to mind. Much is known about these magnificent men because much has been written about them.

There were Confederate generals who were so highly regarded by their states that their statues stand in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. Wade Hampton, Joe Wheeler, Edmund Kirby Smith and the redoubtable R.E. Lee are represented in the Hall.

Many other splendid Confederate generals such as Patrick Cleburne, Jubal Early, Albert Sidney Johnston, Richard Ewell, John Hunt Morgan, William Hardee, George Pickett, and Pierre Beauregard are all widely known for their exploits during the War.

Some Confederate generals have even had United States military installations named for them - John Bell Hood, Leonidas Polk, Henry Benning, John B. Gordon, Braxton Bragg, A.P. Hill and, of course, Robert E. Lee are among this group.

While I revere all these magnificent warriors, and enjoy reading about each and every one, what thrills me the most now is to learn of lesser-known Confederate leaders who might not be as famous as the aforementioned but were truly outstanding leaders and, more importantly, outstanding human beings.

This article will be about such an individual - Albert Gallatin Jenkins.

Albert Jenkins was born in November of 1830 into one of the finest families of western Virginia. He was born in Cabell County which is now a part of West Virginia. His father was a wealthy plantation owner. (Note: I will not discuss here how western Virginia was unconstitutionally taken from Virginia by the Lincoln Administration. That will be the topic of a future article.)

Albert was extremely intelligent and graduated from Jefferson College in Pennsylvania at the age of 18 and Harvard Law School at the age of 20. He established a law practice in 1850 but his true love was agriculture and he was very successful at running his own plantation called " Green Bottoms ".

He became active in Democrat politics and was elected to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the election of 1856. He served two terms in the House from March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1861. Realizing that Virginia would undoubtedly secede, he ended his congressional career and returned home to aid the Confederate Cause. He raised a company of mounted partisan rangers (which were nicknamed "Border Rangers") and served as captain of this unit. His ranger unit soon became a part of the 8th Virginia Cavalry with Jenkins serving as colonel of the company.

In the early part of 1862, Colonel Jenkins became a delegate to the First Confederate Congress. (Note: prior sessions of the body had been held as the Confederate Provisional Congress) . On August 1, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

General Albert Jenkins was given command of a brigade in General A.P. Hill's division which he commanded at Gettysburg where he was wounded. During the Gettysburg Campaign his brigade had formed the cavalry screen for General Richard Ewell's Second Corps. Jenkins' troops also seized Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, during the Gettysburg Campaign.

Upon his return to duty after recovering from the wounds he had sufferred at Gettysburg, he was assigned to General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry corps and served in the Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia (by then that area had become West Virginia).

In May of 1864 he was appointed Commander of the Department of Western Virginia. Upon receiving information that a large federal force had been dispatched into his area, he led his troops into the field to counter the yankee advance. On May 9 he was severely wounded at the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain. He died twelve days later on May 21, 1864. Ironically, and sadly, this was only nine days after General J.E.B. Stuart had died at the Battle of Yellow Tavern.

This pretty much sums up the military and political careers of Albert Gallatin Jenkins. You might be thinking that he sounds like a successful person and leader but why does Hurst think so highly of him, especially since there were so many Confederates who were successful and good leaders. Well, its all summed up for me by indications of the character of this good man as displayed during a campaign where he led his forces into Ohio in August of 1862, shortly after his promotion to brigadier general.

Brigadier General Jenkins had been given orders by his commander, Major General William Wing Loring, to make a long raid throughout much of the northern section of western Virginia which was intended to put the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad out of commission and also to get Confederate troops to the rear of enemy troops in the area. General Jenkins started the mission with only five hundred troops.

One of his first moves was to make a decision that was controversial but proved to be highly advantageous to the Confederate forces in the area. His scouts had brought him word that Union forces between his location and the target B & O Railroad far outnumbered his own troop strength. The scouts also reported that the federals had stockpiled huge quantities of weapons and supplies at Buckhannon to the north.

General Jenkins decided to go after the weapons rather than the railroad as desired by General Loring. At Buckhannon the Confederates found a huge cache of weapons and supplies - a virtual treasure house of needed items. This cache included 5000 stands of rifles, huge amounts of ordnance and much clothing. The seizure of this stockpile allowed Jenkins to refit his forces with brand new Enfield rifles and other weapons superior to their own and to replace old, worn out boots and clothing with new items. Everything that could not be carried away by the Confederates was destroyed to prevent Union forces from having access to the stockpile.

From Buckhannon the Confederates continued with a series of encounters with federal troops around small towns. All outcomes were favorable for Jenkins' troops. One of these encounters perfectly identifies, in my opinion, Albert Jenkins for the man he truly was. As the Union commander, Colonel J.C. Rathbone, in the process of surrendering his forces, offered his sword to General Jenkins, Albert Jenkins refused to humble his adversary and told him to keep his sword. General Jenkins then commented that if the fortunes of war changed for him, he would hope for the same treatment from his captors.

Another example of the honor and dignity of Albert Jenkins occurred as his troops approached the town of Ravenswood. A local woman approached General Jenkins and identified one of the yankee prisoners being held by the Confederate forces as a person who had recently mistreated her. Her husband demanded satisfaction. General Jenkins, after discussing the issue with each side, arranged for a fistfight between the husband and the yankee prisoner. He assured both sides that the fight would be fair. The fight was concluded to the satisfaction of all involved and the lady's honor was upheld.

Shortly after the Ravenswood event, General Jenkins led his troops across the Ohio River and into enemy territory in Ohio. He wrote of this experience: " The excitement of the command as we approached the Ohio shore was intense, and in the anxiety to be the first of their respective companies to reach the soil of those who had invaded us all order was lost and it became almost a universal race as we came into the shoal water. In a short time all [troops] were over, and in a few minutes the command was formed on the crest of a gentle eminence and the banners of the Southern Confederacy floated proudly over the soil of our invaders. As our flag was unfurled in the splendor of an evening sun, cheers upon cheers arose from the men and their enthusiasm was excited to the highest pitch."

Once across the river, General Jenkins addressed the civilian residents of the small Ohio town nearest to where his troops had come ashore to assure them that they would not be harmed by the Confederates. He told them, " Though that mode of warfare had been practiced on ourselves [by the yankees] ... we were not barbarians but a civilized people struggling for their liberties, and that we would afford them that exemption from the horrors of a savage warfare which had not been extended to us."

He later wrote that " it was a curious and unexpected thing to hear upon the soil of Ohio shouts go up for Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy."

Unlike beasts of the north such as William T. Sherman, Phil Sheridan, David Hunter, John Turchin, Benjamin Butler and others, Albert Jenkins, a Southern gentleman, posed no threat to the civilian population of the North.

Perhaps the finest tribute to the character, leadership ability and goodness of Albert Gallatin Jenkins came in the after-action report of General William Wing Loring. After detailing that General Jenkins had claimed 40,000 square miles of territory for the Confederacy, captured and paroled 300 federal soldiers and destroyed "immense stores" of enemy supplies, General Loring wrote:

" Crossing the Ohio River twice and prosecuting at least 20 miles of his march through the state
of Ohio, he exhibited as he did elsewhere in his march, a policy of such clemency as won us
many friends, and tended greatly to mitigate the ferocity which had characterized the war in this section."

General Albert Gallatin Jenkins was an intelligent, educated leader of men. More importantly, he was a good man of honor , strong character and integrity - a true Southern gentleman. I am proud that he was another in that long line of outstanding individuals who wore the sacred gray.

DEO VINDICE

On The Web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-general-and-gentleman.html

From: Craig Maus <csacommand@windstream.net>
Date: Wed, Apr 24, 2013
Subject: FW: SICK SICK!- Southern Poverty Center Morris Dees exposed by Henry Makow
To: "johough@swbell. net" <johough@swbell.net>

Dear Patriots (1,400 bcc herein w/permission to forward),

Thank you my Confederate Sister for this forward.

For those of YOU NOT familiar with Morris Dees & his SPLC, let me tell you who he is & what his organization represents:

Ø  They are a Private Group who receive Government Subsidy to literally SPY on Anyone or ANY organization whose Political Beliefs are NOT IN LINE WITH THEIR LEFTIST POSITION.

Ø  In turn, they REPORT their FINDINGS to Federal Authorities who in turn, presume to take a CLOSER ‘EXAMINATION’ of ANYONE who has a ‘Different Point of View’ then they- like most of America and MOST CERTAINLY ANYONE who espouses Confederate History & Position such as this Confederate Society who I represent as President.

Ø  Dees and Company will make decisions based entirely upon their OWN EVALUATIONS and WITHOUT ANY CONTACT BEING MADE WITH THAT ORGANIZATION TO WHOM THEY FIND TO BE ‘QUESTIONABLE’ , VIA THEIR OWN SELF-EMPLOYED STANDARDS THAT THEY & ONLY THEY EMPLOY!

Ø  Does this sound at ALL familiar to that which this Country once opposed and fought against to resist?

This is how your Country is being run & OPERATED TODAY.

Things are Totally out of control and anyone with an ounce of old fashioned American Common Sense can see where in the Hell this has ALL been going for some time.

By the Eternal- WE MUST SEPARATE!

Craig Maus,
President, The Confederate Society of America

Deo Vindice!
_______________________________________

From: Joan Hough [mailto:johough@swbell.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
To: Joan Hough
Subject: SICK SICK!- Southern Poverty Center Morris Dees exposed by Henry Makow
Importance: High

Sick@ Sick Southern P:overty Center Morris Dees"  exposed by henry Makow.

jh

On 4/24/13 12:37 PM, "Abernethy, Virginia Deane" <virginia.abernethy@Vanderbilt.Edu> wrote:

Hi,

The 1990s Montgomery Advertiser articles on Morris Seligman Dees may no longer be on-line.  But the series earned a finalist award from the Pulitzer Prize committee and many copies are available.  I have hard copies in my own files… saved in several places because, who knows, they really may become rarities someday.

Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center would rather that you not see those old exposes, or the steamy details of his divorce proceedings in the days prior to “no fault” separation.

The corruption of the Department of Homeland Security needs no further proof than their association with Morris Dees and the SPLC.

V.

…………………………………………..

http://henrymakow.com/2013/04/Jewish-Pervert-Advises-DHS-on-Patriots%20.html

Dees[full name..Morris Seligman Dees, Jr] is now advising the DHS that the groups on his hate list are "domestic extremists." - See more at: http://henrymakow.com/2013/04/Jewish-Pervert-Advises-DHS-on-Patriots%20.html#sthash.m5lsXJdN.dpuf

Morris Dees - Pervert Advises DHS on Patriots

April 23, 2013

There is nothing resembling "poverty" about the "Southern Poverty Law Center." It is a law firm (212 employees) that, since 1971, has grown rich by stigmatizing Conservative groups as violent haters, bigots and Nazis. This includes Lewrockwell.com, the John Birch Society and, lately, even men's rights groups. It has raised a $220 million endowment by convincing rich liberals that the US is on the verge of Nazi takeover.  Despite claiming to be a "non-profit," Dees is a multimillionaire.

Dees is now advising the DHS that the groups on his hate list are "domestic extremists." How long until they are rounded up and put into FEMA camps? Who is Morris Dees? The steamy summary below of his 1979 divorce proceedings reveals that he is a typical Sabbatean Jewish (Illuminati, Satanist) pervert.  It reads like an episode of "Madmen."

by Robert Lindsay
("Morris Dees, Pathological Narcissist & Ultracreep," June 23, 2009)
edited by henrymakow.com

Here are two pages from his divorce proceedings. This man is not just a sex addict and a womanizer, that's not a problem. Worse, he is an out-and-out pathological narcissist. He's like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey MacDonald. I suspect that in most cases, these guys are highly controlled like Dees and never commit any serious crimes, though they always push the envelope and often break the law.

For instance, it appears that Dees enjoyed peeping on his 16 year old daughter when she was naked. Also, at age 16, he appears to have either attempted to have sex with her or at the very least acted very inappropriately with her. I understand why men chase 16-year olds, but if you get caught, you are going down hard. The law's the law. But what kind of a guy peeps on and tries to seduce his own 16 daughter, step-daughter or not?

Morris Dees, sexually, is simply a creep. I hate to say it, but it's true. He's more than a womanizer; he's an emotionally destroying monster. He's a sexual psychopath and an emotional terrorist. As a man, he has no class. As a human being, he's no good. The guy's simply a prick. In White society, sooner or later, guys like this get punched out or even get their asses kicked. In more primitive societies, they might just get killed. He's probably avoided all this because he's rich.

In 1978, Dees conducted an affair with a woman, Vicki Booker McGaha. He told the wife over and over he was going to knock it off, but then kept going back to her. Finally he dragged both women over to the house and played sick emotional power games with them, almost making them fight over him, toying with them like a cat toys with a mouse before it kills it.

Finally he told Maureene, the wife, that she could see other guys, since she was threatening divorce, but she had to be discreet about it. Was Morris Dees discreet about his affairs? Of course not!

The wife went to Washington DC and met a lover there. Dees tailed her there and followed her to her hotel room where he hid. When she was in bed with her lover, he burst out and took pictures with a camera, causing a huge scene.

Dees was acting insane, and Maureene was afraid he was going to kill everyone in the room. He screamed that he had five detectives with him. He freaked out and punched Maureene in the face, breaking her jaw. Afterward, he whipped out an abusive divorce contract and practically forced her sign it. She signed it out of fear. He later gave her copies of the photos taken that night and told her to destroy them, as he said they were the only copies. Dees lied once again, as he retained copies for himself.

Starting right after they were married, Dees bragged incessantly, always saying how with his looks and money, he could get any woman he wanted. He constantly told Maureene about how women were propositioning him. Later in the marriage, he frequently regaled her with tales of all the women he had had affairs with while he was married to her.

Among other women he had affairs with was Cathy Bennett, a female psychologist. He brought her over to his home to meet his wife, and she stayed with them for a week. At the time, he was apparently having an affair with her.

The Dees threw a party at their home in 1977. D. Rodgers, a physician, showed up, along with his wife, Judith Rodgers, a criminal psychologist. Incredibly, Dees took the doctor's wife upstairs to his bedroom and had sex with her while the party was still going on!

Dees interviewed Deborah Levy, who worked for the ACLU, to run a magazine Dees was thinking of starting up that opposed the death penalty. The magazine never got going, but Levy and her boyfriend did visit the home for several days. Once Dees and his wife went on a canoe trip with the couple. Maureene woke in the night to find Dees having sex with Levy.

Dees turned to Maureene and ordered her to have sex with Levy's boyfriend, but Maureene was not into that. Shortly before morning, Maureene woke again and Dees and Levy were having sex again, this time right next to her. Dees turned and kissed her while he was screwing Levy. Maureene was very upset by this, and in the morning she said she did not want this stuff to happen again.

Later, Dees and his wife went to New York. While there, Dees insisted that the couple visit Levy and her boyfriend, Michael Gaas. The couple went out for dinner. The next day, all four were talking, and Dees interrupted the conversation to tell Gaas that Dees and Levy were planning to go off and have sex that afternoon. Maureene was enraged and embarrassed by this.

Gaas was shocked and said that if that's what you want to do, go ahead and do it. So Dees and Levy went off the bedroom and had sex, leaving Maureene and Gaas sitting there. To get back at him, Maureene and Gaas had sex in the living room. 45 minutes later, Dees left the apartment, came back after a while, and punched Gaas in the face, apparently for having sex with Maureene.

Later the couple met Charlie Springman, a gay man who worked for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Morris invited the man back up to their room over Maureene's objections, and Dees kept trying to seduce Charlie, while Charlie tried repeatedly to leave. Finally, Dees asked Charlie to get in bed with them, and Maureene said forget it and headed off to bed.

Later, Dees and Charlie ended up in bed, with Maureene in the middle. Dees and Charlie then leaned over Maureene and kissed and sucked each others' cocks to Maureene's displeasure.

In the morning, Dees left. He came back and found Maureene crying on the bed. Dees said it would never happen again.

Dees' son Scooter was dating Karen Sherman. She later married Scooter and became Karen Sherman Dees. At the time, they were 18 or 19 years old and were frequently over at Dees' house. Unbelievably, Dees seduced his own son's girlfriend right in front of his son's eyes!

After dinner one night, Maureene and Scooter were washing the dishes, and Dees and Karen took off for the pool. Maureene and Scooter later headed towards the pool too, but before they got there, Maureene saw Dees with his arms around Karen. Both were naked, and Dees had a hardon. Maureen turned around, decided she did not want to go swimming, and steered Scooter away from the pool.

Later that night, Dees and his wife were lying in bed. Karen came into the room, naked except for a towel. She proceeded to climb into bed on Dees' side. She stayed there for 10 minutes and then left.

This guy is just unbelievable. He wins Creep of the Year Award. I also insist that he's a pathological narcissist with sociopathic tendencies. That's redundant, because all pathological narcissists, and many narcissists for that matter, have sociopathic tendencies. I'm hardly an angel, but the way I see it is that Morris Dees is a bad man and a bad human being. That's leaving aside his outrageous hustle exercise in con artistry called the SPLC.
---
Thanks to Krister

NOTE:

Supporting this observation is an incident in 1986 when the SPLC's entire legal staff quit in protest of Dees' refusal to address any of the issues presenting real problems to the black community. Gloria Browne, a lawyer who quit a few years after the incident in 1986 criticized the SPLC for "cashing in on white guilt and black pain." Former black employees complained that the Center was run like a plantation. [5]

All of this information is publicly available as the SPLC continues ride it's reputation for fighting racism. Although their impact in civil rights is relatively small when compared to other civil rights charities, the SPLC's income dwarfs those of its contemporaries. That fact has been pointed out several times.

Question: How do they do it?

Answer: Silence.

In 1995 the Montgomery Advertiser ran a series of articles examining the SPLC's fund-raising tactics and vast wealth. The articles were nominated and became finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.[6] Those articles are now very well hidden if they are available at all. When confronted with his divorce documents, which he tried to have legally sealed, Dees simply refuses to respond. All criticisms of their financial workings are met with silence.

http://www.avoiceformen.com/misandry/sycophants/former-splc-fundraiser-raises-questions/

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/02/-southern-poverty-law-fraud-center.html

 

It recently came to my attention that my acclaimed work has been described as a “POS” by Tim Trower of the Titanic Historical Society. Do any of you know or have contact info for this individual? If so, please email me at siegels1@mindspring.com
 
Confederately,
 
Lunelle Siegel

 

OFFICIAL UPDATE ON COLONEL RANDY SMITH
 
From: Colonel Don Lay
Alabama Division of Reenactors
2nd-in-Command
 
It is with a saddened heart that I report the passing of our dear friend and brother, Colonel Randles E. "Randy" Smith. Colonel Smith passed quietly while asleep, surrounded by loved ones. Colonel Smith drew his last breath in this world at 5:50 p. m. CST, ascending to that Highest place for his great reunion. God gave us Randy as a friend, brother , Father and husband. HE welcomes another son home.

God bless all of you for your kind thoughts and wishes for Randy and the Smith family. Your prayers have been a Godsend of comfort to Randy, his family and those closest to him.
 
It is now of high importance to direct your prayers to the Smith family as they feel the sting of this great loss. Arrangements will be posted as soon as they are made available to me. Honor Guard and Pall Bearers are being summoned at present. Please direct any questions or concerns you might have to me so as to allow privacy to the family's immediate needs. I will respond as information comes available

Once again, God bless all of you on behalf of the Smith family.
 
Colonel Lay
 
 

Educational Resource
 
Compatriots:
 
Some time ago, the McNeill Camp, on behalf of the Georgia Division put together an outstanding educational CD, A Southern View of History: The War for Southern Independence, The Other side of the Coin.  At a recent GEC meeting, this outstanding work became a topic of discussion.
 
Because the work was so thorough, the CD could be the basis of a school curriculum -- indeed, this was the original purpose.  However, it would probably do us some good to go "back to school" and review it, ourselves.
 
However you can best utilize this resource, please do so.  It can be accessed through the following link --
 
http://www.scv.org/curriculum
 
As always, don't "hoard a blessing" -- share this with others.
 
For the Cause,
 
Gene Hogan
Chief of Heritage Defense
Sons of Confederate Veterans
(866) 681 - 7314
 
SCV Telegraph-
 
 

Woe to Me to Live Among Such People
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Those in New England who brought on war assumed that the American South, like the rest of the country, was their property, and had no right to depart.  Risking few of their own lives, they put at risk the lives of many others – essentially raising a bounty-enriched army of foreign and domestic mercenaries, impressed black slaves and well-paid substitutes to fight their war.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Woe to Me to Live Among Such People:
 
“A Northern woman who was a native of Rhode Island, but who had lived all her married life in the South, returned after her widowhood to Providence to be among her people. The following letter was written by her to my mother [Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall]:
 
May 13, 1861.
 
“….We are always delighted to hear from you – and indeed your letters and Louis’s are the only comfort we have in this Yankee land surrounded by people who have no sympathy with us, and who only open their mouths to revile the South and utter blood-thirsty threats. This morning an amiable lady wished she had Jeff Davis in front of a big cannon. We now have sufficient proof of how much stronger hate is than love of country.
 
Where was the patriotism of Massachusetts when the country was at war with the English in 1812?  I lived then at the South, and was ashamed of my countrymen who refused to assist in the war. Massachusetts, which was the leading State of New England, refused to let her militia leave the State and when the US troops were withdrawn, to fight in other places, applied to the Federal Government to know whether the expenses of their own militia, who were summoned to defend their own State, would be reimbursed by the Government.
 
When our capitol at Washington was burned with the President’s House and Treasury buildings, and other public buildings, why did they not go to meet the British?  On the contrary, they rejoiced at the English victories, and put every obstacle in the way of the government.
 
Now they are subscribing millions, and urging every man to go and fight their own countrymen. It is not patriotism; it is hatred to the South and woe is me, that I must live here among such people.  God grant you success, It is a righteous war and all the bloodshed will be on the souls of those who brought it on.
 
I think, however, that you at the South are wrong to undervalue the courage and resources of the Northern States. They are less disposed to fight, but they are not cowardly where their interests are concerned; and will fight for their money. Where their property is at stake they will not hesitate to risk their lives, and at present there is no lack of money.
 
(A Southern Girl in ’61, The War-Time Memories of a Confederate Senator’s Daughter, Mrs. D. Giraud Wright, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1905, pp. 51-53)
 
 

Va Flaggers Update:  A Flag for Oakwood


 
From: info@vaflaggers.com
 
At Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, 17,000+ Confederate dead rest in the Confederate section of the City owned cemetery.  Thanks to an agreement between the Va Div Sons of Confederate Veterans and the City of Richmond, it is now the best kept and by far most beautiful section in the cemetery.  Past C-I-C McMichael, and Past Virginia Division Commander John Sawyer all signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the City of Richmond.  This agreement does not transfer the deed or title to Oakwood Cemetery - Confederate Section to the SCV, but it gives the Virginia Division the sole authority to place upright markers for each Confederate Veteran buried there and improvements or markers of any kind. The Virginia Division also has the exclusive responsibility of maintaining the 10 acres of grounds in the Confederate section of Oakwood Cemetery. The Oakwood Committee and Va Div SCV are in the midst of an ongoing effort to properly mark the graves there, which includes pending legal action.  Details can be found here...  http://www.scvva.org/Oakwood/
 
I live just a few miles from the cemetery and pass it each day on my way to and from work.  I often stop to freshen stick flags, or photograph grave markers at the request of descendants and often wondered about the empty flag pole in the Confederate section.  In October of last year, I started asking around for help in getting a flag raised.  We felt strongly that the men buried there deserved the honor of a flag flying over their final resting place.  On my first attempt, I found the rope and snap hook broken, so recruited one of the Flaggers to help make repairs.
 
On November 12th, Veterans' Day, we brought the necessary items to repair and rig the broken rope and raised a Third National over the graves.  At this point, we had no idea how long the flag would remain, but were thrilled at the thought that at least for Veterans' Day, the soldiers were honored and left with great satisfaction.
 
Over the next few days, we would drive through the cemetery often at lunch time, and were pleasantly surprised that the flag was untouched, and grateful for every day it flew in honor and memory of the Confederate dead buried there.
 
When we got word from a friend who lives nearby that the flag was missing a week later, we immediately went back out and raised another one its place, this time a Battle Flag, as it was what I had available and since it was the flag the soldiers would most recognize.  At this point, we did not know who had taken down the flag, but we were determined to continue to replace it, as often as necessary.
 
Over the next few weeks, the flag was removed several more times, and each time, we replaced it with another, at one point raising  a flag with this message written so that whoever was removing the flag would understand our intentions...  "100 more will rise to take its place... DEO VINDICE!"
 
When that flag came down, TriPp visited the cemetery office to speak with the personnel there about the flag thefts.  The employees were very cordial and admitted that they had been removing the flags because they had instructions to do so.  When TriPp asked to see the instructions in writing, he was referred to a public relations official in the city.  A half dozen calls to that official were never returned.  The video of that visit is part of the documentary at the end of this report and is a must see.  Please take a minute to view it.
 
After that meeting, TriPp put his son, Jack on his shoulders and they raised the tie off of the rope so that a ladder would be needed to remove the flag. From that time, the flag flew, UNTOUCHED until a February 3rd visit found that the rope had broken away at the top of the pole and needed to be fixed.  On February 13th, a volunteer with a bucket truck came out and we were able to fix the rope and once again tie off the rope to prevent theft.
 
A week later, we were THRILLED to receive the news that the Oakwood Committee had replaced the old flag pole with a brand new one, with an internal lanyard system, LOCKED to prevent anyone else from removing the flag.  The Va Flaggers offered our sincere thanks and appreciation to Lee Hart and the committee for this beautiful upgrade!  Now a Confederate flag will fly 24/7 to honor our Confederate dead, without fear of theft or vandalism!  It is truly a beautiful sight to behold!
 
On Sunday, April 21st, "Va Flaggers at Oakwood Cemetery", a short film/documentary by VCU film student Rob. P Walker was shown at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond.  Not sure what to expect from the mostly college aged audience, we were thrilled, when, at the conclusion of the film, the crowded theatre erupted in applause and shouts of approval.
 
PLEASE take a minute to view the documentary and share it far and wide.
 
FOLLOW UP NOTE:  Last week, TriPp went by the Cemetery Office to offer thanks on behalf of the Va Flaggers and show our appreciation for their cooperation.  The female employee with whom TriPp communicates in the video was once again very cordial, and relayed the following story:  She told TriPp that recently she had locked up and was about to leave when she decided to take a drive around the cemetery before she left.  On her way back out, she noticed a man at the office door.  Even though it was past closing time, she made the decision to stop and check on him.  The man told her he was looking for a Confederate ancestor.  She went inside and they were able to locate the plot and she volunteered to drive him over to the Confederate section.  She said when the man found the grave he was very moved and grateful and thanked her profusely.  He then mentioned the flag flying on the pole and told her how much it meant to him that the cemetery honored his ancestor by flying that flag.  She told TriPp that for the first time, she really understood what he had been trying to convey and appreciated what the flag meant to us.
 
We don't know what the future holds, but as of April 22nd, 2013, and due to Va Flagger persistence and refusal to accept "leaving well enough alone",  a flag has flown over the graves of 17,000+ soldiers for over 5 months and 10 days... and, we believe, hearts and minds have been changed in the journey.
 
The Virginia Flaggers would like to offer our sincere thanks to the employees of Oakwood Cemetery, Lee Hart and the Oakwood Memorial Committee members, and VCU Film Student Rob Walker for his exceptional work in documenting the Va Flaggers over the last several months.
 
The Oakwood Documentary is just the first of many Va Flagger documentaries planned   Stay tuned for much, much more!
 
View the Oakwood Documentary/Short Film Here: 
http://vimeo.com/58484387
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 
 

Beck and Barton...again
 
From: wildbill4dixie@yahoo.com
 
Back when Glenn Beck first appeared on FOX I warned people that this guy was not all he appeared to be.
 
A couple of years ago Beck and a minister named David Barton (Barton has a site called “Wallbuilders”) claimed that the Confederate Constitution had in its title, “The SLAVEHOLDING States of the Confederate States of America") They also claimed that the Confederate Founders mandated that any future state wishing to join the Confederacy would have to be a “slave state.” Both claims were patently untrue and the mistake, or lie if you prefer,  can be easily exposed with some simple research. Other than letters from a few nobodies like me however, these two liars went unchallenged.
 
It appears that the two are at it again….going after the Confederate boogeyman, this time focusing on Nathan Bedford Forrest. I do hope that by bringing this bare faced lie to the attention of the readers of this newsletter, that somehow, someone with some clout, perhaps an historian on our side, will give these guys “the cold steel” of truth and expose their lies.
 
 

Bill Vallante
Commack NY
--------------------------------------------
To: info@wallbuilders.com , me@glennbeck.com
From” wildbill4dixie@yahoo.com
 
Re: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPtKVSLwYkk
 
Just wanted to let you guys know that I caught your act on "Nathan Bedford Forrest" recently. If the story of noses growing longer each time a person told a lie (ala "Pinocchio") were true, the two of you would need flatbed trucks to haul your schnozzes around.
 
Several years ago I saw the two of you partner on a lie that the Confederate Constitution contained the title "The Slaveholding States of the Confederate States of America" - There is of course, no such phrase or title in that Constitution. On that show you also claimed that in order for a state to join the Confederacy that it had to be a slave state. The records of the 1861 Constitutional Convention in Montgomery Alabama clearly show that this is not so. So then, either the two of you never read the Confederate Constitution or looked at what happened at the Confederacy's Constitutional Convention and are lying, or, you simply made a mistake. I'm opting for door number one. You both are liars. Now it appears that the two of you are at it again, this time with Forrest. I guess you can't understand the difference between "allegations" and "truth"....or.... you both are lying again.
 
Beck, I smelled a B.S. artist the first time I saw you. Stop trying to pander to Black Americans by attacking what you perceive to be "bad guys" on the Conservative side. Anyone who knows what bull***t smells like knows what you are." Barton, I'm not a very religious person and you are a minister....so you tell me...doesn't it say somewhere that lying is a sin?????
 
Bill Vallante
Commack NY
 
"Since the war began I have captured many thousand Federal prisoners, and they, including the survivors of the Fort Pillow massacre (black and white), are living witnesses of the fact that with my knowledge or consent, or by my order, not one of them has ever been insulted or in any way maltreated."
 
From the HQ of General Nathan Bedford Forrest July 25, 1864, (Official Records of the War of the Rebellion)
 
 

Alabama to mark Confederate Memorial Day

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is marking Confederate Memorial Day with a day off for state workers.

State offices will be closed Monday for the holiday.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy will hold an event at the Capitol to honor Confederate dead. The ceremony will include a tolling bell as descendants of Confederate soldiers read the names of their ancestors.

More than 30,000 Alabamians died in the Civil War.

©2013 Associated Press.

On The Web:   http://www.wdef.com/news/state/story/Alabama-to-mark-Confederate-Memorial-Day/ADn-2ekHHE-gqklX6_PKYQ.cspx

 

April 21, 2013
Remembering fighters for a cause

Rachel Brown
rachelbrown@daltoncitizen.com

CHATSWORTH — Relating today to life in the South 150 years ago is difficult, retired Northwest Whitfield High School history teacher Elizabeth Hoole McArthur admitted to about 25 people gathered for a Confederate Memorial Service in Chatsworth Saturday morning.

“Our world is vastly different,” she said.

Yet it’s that world, and those who suffered and died for a variety of reasons in the Confederate cause are worthy of being respectfully remembered, she said. McArthur spoke at a Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 938 service in Chatsworth in honor of Confederate Memorial Day, which is April 26 in Georgia.

“The average Confederate soldier was 26 years old, about 5 feet eight inches and weighed 143 pounds,” she said. “Most had been farmers before the war, not professional soldiers. Most had served in state militias — the forerunner of our National Guard — a service that was required of all able-bodied eligible young men. They were citizen-soldiers, and many went to war wearing homemade uniforms, carrying their own rifles, and if, officers or in the cavalry, riding their own horses.”

Reasons why these men enlisted varied widely, she said.

“Some believed in states’ rights, some championed Southern independence,” she said. “Some believed in slavery, or at least saw a prosperous Southern economy dependent upon it. Some were religious, and equated duty to God with duty to the Confederacy. Some disagreed with all of these, or had no opinion on them at all, but joined anyway.”

Others, she said, joined to make their families proud, for patriotism and because of the “bond of brotherhood.”

“They did not want their fallen comrades to have died in vain,” McArthur said, “nor could they fail those with whom they still fought shoulder to shoulder, their ‘brothers in arms.’”

McArthur said it’s unknown exactly how many people fought in the Confederate military, but it’s estimated 125,000 Georgians served, which was 26 percent of the total at the time. More than 30,000 Georgians lost their lives, she said, and countless others suffered from war wounds, disease, psychological trauma, hunger, thirst and poverty.

McArthur said her great-great-grandfather Lt. Col. Axalla J. Hoole of the 8th South Carolina Infantry was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Sons of Confederate Veterans member Jim Luffman said the organization hosts a memorial day service every year.

“We should remember our ancestors,” he said. “They fought for what they believed in.”

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.

On The Web:   http://daltondailycitizen.com/local/x1097430421/Remembering-fighters-for-a-cause

 

Mayor praises groups' Confederate Memorial effort

by Lindsay Field
April 21, 2013

Members of the United Daughters of Confederacy Kennesaw Chapter were joined by a little over 50 others Sunday to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.

The family-friendly event was held at the cemetery off Powder Springs Road in Marietta. It is where more than 3,000 soldiers from every Confederate state are buried.

Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon was the guest speaker and among a handful of others, including his mother Dorothy “Dot” Moseley Bacon, who were honored during the ceremony.

 

“I want to thank you for the rich history,” he told chapter members and guests. “If not for y’all, it would be lost.”

Bacon served in the Georgia National Guard from 1966 to 1970 and was recognized by the organization Sunday because he is an ancestor of Civil War soldier Pvt. William Jackson Stover of South Carolina.

His mother was one of four people who received a cross for their military service.

Dorothy Bacon, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and William D. “Bill” Dean, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, both earned their crosses for service during World War II.

David Carey Brannan received a cross for his service as a damage controlman in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam and he accepted another on behalf of his father David A. Brannan, who served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Retired Capt. Ann Marie Huggins McCurdy with the U.S. Army during the Gulf War was the recipient for the group’s Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal.

Harold Anthony Dye, a brigadier general in the Georgia National Guard during the Korean War, was recognized for the Certificate of Appreciation to Serviceman.

Confederate Memorial Day has been a legal holiday in Georgia since 1874, and the members of the Ladies Memorial Association, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans have kept the tradition alive.

In 2009, Georgia permanently designated April as Confederate History and Heritage Month.

© 2013 Marietta Daily Journal

On The Web:   http://www.mdjonline.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Mayor+praises+groups-+Confederate+Memorial+effort%20&id=22319122

 

SCV commemorates Confederate Memorial Day

by Amanda Thomas
Douglas County Sentinel

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, Lt. Col. Thomas Coke Glover Camp 943, is hosting a Confederate Memorial Day service Saturday at the city cemetery downtown.

The service begins at 10 a.m. and Sparks Ramey, a SCV member from Fayette County, is the keynote speaker. The ceremony will include a 21-gun salute. A total of 63 Confederate graves have been identified in the Douglasville City Cemetery, along with some widows of the soldiers.

Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated on several different dates in the South, depending on the state. Georgia declared the holiday as April 26 in 1874, choosing that date because it was the date in 1865 when Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his army to Union Gen. William T. Sherman in North Carolina. It was the last major southern army to surrender and the one in which many Georgia soldiers served.

This year, Monday was designated the official day to celebrate the holiday and most state offices will be closed. However, schools and businesses no longer close and many people are unaware it was ever a holiday. The local SCV is trying to keep the holiday alive.

"We put flags up every April in all the cemeteries where we've identified union and confederate vets," Ed Daniell, a past commander of the Douglasville chapter, said. "We put a Union 1864 U.S. flag on the Union veterans and a Confederate battle flag on the graves of all of the Confederate veterans and widows that we've been able to find."

But over the years, Confederate Memorial Day lost much of its significance, according to Daniell. One reason was that people became further removed in time from the war.

"The younger people don't seem to have the interest that the older folks did," Daniell said. "My generation and the generation ahead of me was really interested in our Confederate history and southern history and American history. The younger people are more interested in the iPhone and the iPod and 'iMe' than history."

Another factor that has dampened enthusiasm for Confederate Memorial Day is division among races over the Confederacy and the meaning of the battle flag. However, members of the Confederate memorial groups dispute any racism charges.

"The war between the states was not about slavery and, but that's the general perception," Daniell said. "Slavery wasn't even an issue until 1863 and if you ever read the Confederate States Constitution that was adopted in 1861 just about after the states started to seceding, you will find that that Constitution of the Confederacy - not the United States - outlawed any form of slave trade in the southern states. It didn't abolish slavery, but it outlawed import of any additional slaves."

He argues that Southern people were working on a way to emancipate their slaves.

"But it wasn't fast enough for Abe Lincoln and the Republican Party at that time," Daniell said.

He maintains that Confederate soldiers were fighting to protect their homes.

"The main reason that most of your southern people joined the army and went off to war was because the North was invading the South," Daniell said. "They were going to protect their homes. Most of them didn't own slaves. There was only about somewhere between 7 and 11 percent of Southerners that actually owned slaves. The rest of them that were fighting didn't own slaves."

He acknowledges that there is so many things going on in the world that people simply have to pick and choose which activities they would like to participate in.

"It's just that people have set the old Confederate soldier on the back burner," Daniell said.

He believes educating more people about what the war was actually about, will help increase participation on Confederate Memorial Day. To help spread the word in local schools SCV members have been invited to present a living history of what life was like during that period.

"We carry black powder muskets that are typical of the one used in the war between the states and we carry a couple of artillery pieces," Daniell said. "One of them is an authentic 1863 artillery piece that has a new carriage put under it, but the tube was poured in 1863 during the war. It was a Yankee gun that was captured. We call it a captured Yankee gun."

Members also bring medical supplies that were state of the art during the war.

"You can't undo history," Daniell said. "It's done and we can learn from history if we study. But most people don't. Our lessons from history teach us what to look for so that history doesn't repeat itself in a bad way."

He feels the men and women who fought during the Civil War were some of the bravest people in the country.

"You can't ask for anything more of a person than for them to sign a contract that says I'll lay down my life for you if required," Daniell said. "That's what our military does and that's what the Confederate soldiers did and the Union soldiers back then."

© 2013 Douglas County Sentinel
 
On The Web:   http://www.douglascountysentinel.com/view/full_story/22307586/article-SCV-commemorates-Confederate-Memorial-Day?instance=DShome_news_top
 
 

Thursday, April 18, 2013
Gettysburg Anniversary Event - No Confederates Need Show Up
By Valerie Protopapas
vaproto@optonline.net

Below are a series of e-mails between myself and the President of the Society of Civil War Surgeons, Peter D’Onofrio. This is an excellent group whose members have done service to me when I had questions regarding wounds received by Col John Mosby (this information was published in The Southern Cavalry Review, the newsletter of The Stuart-Mosby Historical Society) and Dr. D’Onofrio is a stand up fellow. The Society has a website and an e-mail for those interested in looking into membership. I do not publish this as any kind of criticism of the SoCWS, but rather of the Parks Department and its ongoing campaign of political correctness directed against Southern Heritage.

Peter J. D'Onofrio, Ph.D.
President
Society of Civil War Surgeons, Inc.
Subject: Gettysburg June 30 - July 4

To All Members

There has been a change regarding wall tents and CS uniforms. We can now have 7-8 Wall tents (one tent already being spoken for). As for the CS uniforms, as long as we can somewhat disguise them we can have them in camp.

*The following indicated that they would not attend due to the wall tent regulation:
[2 names withheld for reasons of privacy]
*Apparently, others took this “request” in the same manner as myself - vhp

My response to the above e-mail:

Pete,

Why is it necessary to "disguise" Confederate uniforms? They are, after all, part of history and I assumed that's what the whole thing is about! If we have become so politically correct as to discard history, truth and facts in order to avoid "offending" people who should not be at such an event in the first place if they find history offensive, it would seem that this country truly is dead or at least brain dead.

Val

This is the request by the park service. They are setting the rules, not the Society. Perhaps I used the wrong word in saying "disguise." They would like to see any Confederates to down play their uniforms as this is a Union camp. Yes, I know that there were captured Confederates even on the first day, and I think we can use that scenario if any one asks.

Pete

I understand that it is not the Society making these rules obviously! But the idea that this is a "Union camp" and therefore there should not be any Confederate presence is plain nonsense! Unless the Union fought the Battle of Gettysburg alone (and sadly it did not!), then the appearance of the other side at the event seems to be a "given."

I have seen enough of the ongoing efforts at cultural genocide against Southern history and heritage to know that this is a policy that would be in place by the Parks Department period. Even if the event had been a Confederate victory, the same would apply. They would simply not have such events surrounding First Manassas or Chancellorsville lest they do "honor" to those evil slavers. It's too sad to contemplate and that's why I will have nothing to do with Gettysburg at all for any reason.

Val

 

Southern Cross of Honor
 
From: hunleyhitt@earthlink.net
 
Hello Folks,
 
I have this request from Europe. I know how and where to purchase a Southern Cross of Honor, but do not know where to order a medal that looks like one.

I know they were originally issued to old veterans by the UDC, but are there copies of that pin available for sale?
 
 

All the best,
 
Nancy Hitt

 

Confederate Graves & Monument Registration Contest
 
From: gatorstick@tampabay.rr.com
 
Compatriots & Friends,
 
I have communicated with program coordinator Wes Frank. He’s informed me the West Coast side & Central Florida is wide open as he has not received any entries from these areas.  Additionally, statewide, it appears second place might not be too difficult to grab as to toss a number out, 25-35 valid registrations could put you into a nice Genuine American Alligator wallet with a retail value of $350-450.00. Not a big number…………..
 
How about forwarding this message to your camp or chapter members and suggest spending a nice spring day visiting graveyards & recording a number of graves? If you can motive a couple of members to do it, the award could be a camp award (turn in the numbers as a group/camp then draw the winner from the participants). Might also make a couple of personal phone calls in support of motivating members to get out & enjoy the weather. Submissions for contest ends May 20.
 
Below is the contest and a few links to get you started. The attached files are all information related to the project. (Takes about 20 minutes to fully review) Remember any of the small, older cemeteries with burials prior to 1920 are great targets for a stroll. Take the family & see what you can find.
 
http://www.interment.net/us/fl/
 
http://www.hillsboroughcountycemeteries.com/complete-cemetery-list.html
 
http://www.uscemeteryproj.com/florida/lake/lake.htm
 
http://www.uscemeteryproj.com/florida/flcem.htm
 
http://www.floridagraveyards.org/
 
Have some fun, enjoy the weather & win some nice prizes!
 
Phil Walters
1st Lt. Commander/Acting Adjutant-Judah P. Benjamin camp 2210, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Commander, 9th Brigade, Florida Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sponsor: Capt. JJ Dickison “Grey Ghost” 1971 American Motors Javelin
 
~~~~~~~~~~~                                                                    
 
The members of the Judah P. Benjamin Camp #2210-SCV are proud to offer an incentive!
 
Win a Genuine American Alligator Belt or Wallet valued at $400.00 each!
 
The winners are determined by the most VALIDATED Confederate Graves, memorials, cemeteries and monuments documented and recorded according to the Florida Division-SCV “Grave Site Registration and Marking” project currently underway. Information, visit:  http://www.florida-scv.org/projects/graveregis/graves.htm
 
Contest time frame is January 1, 2013 to May 20, 2013. Winners to be announced and prizes awarded at the Florida Division Reunion in Ocala in June 2013.
 
Background: This needed & worthy project is to compile a database of the location of every Confederate related grave, monument, marker, memorial or related item located within the state of Florida. With the “politically correct” movement of removing or hiding our history, the recording and documentation of these historical treasures is of the utmost importance and time is not on our side. The Project requires GPS-ing the location, recording of the pertinent information as listed on the Cemetery & Graves registration form along with a picture if possible. This information will greatly enhance research, protection, restoration and propagation of our Confederate related history within Florida.
 
Rules:
 
*Contest open to EVERYONE! SCV, UDV, OCR and anyone with a passion for preserving and documenting our history!                                                                              
*Documentation must be submitted to Compatriot Wesley Frank 1151 Tarlenton Street SE, Palm Bay, Fl. 32909 321-951-1356 E-mail:Rebdoctor@aol.com between January 1 and May 20, 2013.                                                                                                                                                            
*Documentation of each subject  includes a COMPLETED and LEGIBLE “Confederate Cemetery and Monument Registration” form.                                     
*Determination of validity of information submitted along with determination of the winners is the sole judgment of project leader Compatriot Wesley Frank. Please communicate with him as to validity of information needed and status of your submissions.                                                                                                                                                                                                         *First place winner has choice of a Genuine American Alligator Bi-fold wallet or belt. Runner up receives the remaining prize.   To view similar items, visit GatorGuides.com & click on “High Classic Gator leather.”
 
“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 cherish.  Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.”
 
~Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commanding General, United Confederate Veterans, 1906
 
 

The Yankee Chaplain's Looted Library
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
The plantation of Josiah Collins, Somerset Place, on Lake Phelps in Washington county was looted by invading Northerners; General James Johnston Pettigrew was born and buried at nearby Bonarva Plantation -- the area is named Pettigrew State Park.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
The Yankee Chaplain’s Looted Library:
 
“Many years after the war, Dr. Joseph G.D. Hamilton happened to run across [General Robert F.] Hoke and his son-in-law at a restaurant in Raleigh. As the men sat together on the porch before dinner, Hoke rested quietly, gazing off in the distance.
 
In a tone designed not to arouse the reticent old soldier, Hamilton began to relate a newspaper story about an event that had occurred after the surrender of Plymouth. A Federal chaplain who had been denied officer’s privileges and “his” library called on Hoke, who responded favorably to his pleas.
 
After the chaplain left, the general noticed two large wooden boxes. When he enquired about the contents, a soldier responded, “They are the books of that Yankee chaplain.”
 
Hoke noticed that the top of one of the boxes was broken, so he removed a book. It bore the bookplate of Josiah Collins of nearby Somerset Place in Washington County. When the boxes were torn open, it was seen that all the books were likewise marked.
 
The chaplain was immediately summoned to Hoke’s headquarters, where the general dressed him down and stripped him of all privileges.”
 
(General Robert F. Hoke, Lee’s Modest General, Daniel W. Barefoot, John F. Blair, 1996, page 153)
 
 

“Acts of Treason Against North Carolina”
 
Many of General Robert F. Hoke’s 2400 prisoners after the battle at Plymouth were sent to Andersonville in Georgia, the North Carolinians among them desperately claimed to be members of Northern units – to avoid being hanged as deserters and traitors to their State and families.
 
Abandoning Every Principle of Patriotism:
 
“During [Hoke’s] unhappy retreat from New Bern, [General George] Pickett had happened to be near a group of the Union soldiers captured during the campaign.
 
An officer of the Sixth North Carolina remarked, “They belong to my company.” Overhearing the comment, Pickett was enraged. He screamed, “You damned rascals, I’ll have you shot, and all the damned rascals who desert.”
 
As the prisoners were led away, Pickett told those around him, “We’ll have a court martial on these fellows pretty soon, and after some are shot, the rest will stop deserting.” Almost as soon as the retreat was over, Pickett ordered a court-martial, composed of Virginia officers, to convene at Kinston. Twenty-two of the prisoners, all members of the First and Second Regiments, North Carolina [Northern] Volunteers, were hurried before the tribunal.
 
Charged with desertion, the men were convicted and sentenced to die by hanging. Pickett summarily approved the death warrants, and Hoke was ordered to execute the sentences.  While awaiting their execution…..On February 5, Hoke requested that Chaplain Paris visit two deserters who were destined to be the first hanged. Paris found the captives to be the “most hardened and unfeeling men I ever encountered.” These two men, known as William Haddock and William Jones, were hanged publicly in the presence of Confederate soldiers and civilians.
 
Over the course of the month, the other twenty condemned men were taken to the gallows. After all the death sentences had been carried out, the chaplain deemed it appropriate to deliver a sermon about the executions to Hoke’s brigade. In his discourse on Sunday, February 28, Paris asked Hoke’s soldiers:  “But who were those twenty-two men whom you hanged upon the gallows? They were your fellow beings. They were citizens of our own Carolina. They once marched under the same beautiful flag that waves over our heads, but in an evil hour, they yielded to mischievous influences, and from motives or feelings base and sordid, unmanly and vile, resolved to abandon every principle of patriotism, and sacrificed ever impulse of honor, this sealed their ruin and enstamped their lasting disgrace.”
 
Hoke’s personal sentiments about the executions were manifested when Bryon McCullom called on the general to seek an order for the body of his brother-in-law, in order to bury it.  When Hoke asked if he wanted to bury the executed man in a Yankee uniform, McCullom responded in the affirmative. Hoke then expressed surprise that “so respectable a man would bury his brother-in-law in a Yankee uniform.”
 
(General Robert F. Hoke, Lee’s Modest General, Daniel W. Barefoot, John F. Blair, 1996, pp. 120-122)
 
Read more at: http://www.ncwbts150.com/ActsofTreasonAgainstNorthCarolina.php

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial
www.ncwbts150.com
The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Commission
 
 

Re: Parks Department Rules
 
From: suzn68@comcast.net
To: vaproto@optonline.net
 
Lady Val and all,
 
The Va Flaggers have been attending events on National Park property since the kickoff of the Sesquicentennial, and as you know, we always carry Confederate flags.


 
I will briefly share my experience at two different locations:
 
At Sharpsburg, we walked around the grounds all day and were well received by both National Park officials, and visitors.  The flags we carry offer us many opportunities to talk with folks about our ancestors and the honor and valor of the Confederate soldier.  The only trouble we encountered there was a middle aged, white female teacher, who, at the conclusion of a memorial service for volunteers, proceeded to attack us for carrying 'those" flags in public and actually shouted that she wished we all would "catch pneumonia and die!".
 
I attended both First and Second Manassas, and, again, were welcomed by NPS, with no restrictions.
 
Recently, at Fredericksburg, we had mentioned online that we would be attending, and protesting the "Custermobile".  When I arrived and started across the parking lot toward the Custermobile (it was parked at Chatham Manor), I was greeted by a Park Ranger, who called me by name and proceeded to explain to me that they had set up a "First Amendment Zone" at the front of the parking lot for us.  (How kind!) I politely inquired why we were being restricted to one area and was told that they knew we would appreciate it and that it is was such a "good spot" because everyone would see us.  Oh...and as is usually the case...it was for "our own safety".  ;)
 
I replied that I had looked over the rules and regulations for National Parks and found no restriction about carrying the flag or talking to folks.  After some conversation, he left and let me stand there in front of the Custermobile, and told me he would come back and check on us later.  Around noon, he did come by and said they decided since there were only 4 of us that we would be allowed to stay.  I smiled and thanked him.  We gave out over a hundred stick flags that day and talked to just about every single person who came out of the Custermobile.  The gentlemen with me from a nearby SCV camp recruited at least a half dozen members.
 
MOST IRONIC is that after the first conversation with the Ranger, and before the others arrived, I took some time to explore the grounds.  If I had been to Chatham House, it was as a child, and I had no recollection.  As I approached the house, two gentlemen came out of the home and one of them spoke and called me by name.  He introduced himself as none other than John J. Hennessy, chief historian and chief of interpretation at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.  He offered his hand and started the conversation by saying that he admired my "grit".  He said he knew that I was not happy with the Custermobile and wanted to know about my specific objections.  We had a good conversation and in the end, he admitted that he had written most of the material that it contained.  I was carrying my flag during the entire conversation and not once did he mention it being forbidden or asked me to leave.  We agreed to disagree on several points, and the conversation ended amicably.
 
Our time at Fredericksburg was one of the best we have had and we never did visit that "First Amendment Box" (how's that for an oxymoron?) that they so graciously set up for us.
 
Not sure how all of this applies to the situation in your emails, but I just wanted to share and maybe offer encouragement to others...
 
Susan
 
Gettysburg Anniversary Event - No Confederates Need Show Up
By Valerie Protopapas
http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/04/gettysburg-anniversary-event-no.html
 
 

SCV should learn from the NRA!!!!
 
From: johnyreb43@yahoo.com
 
SCV members...
 
Interesting, in Texas, after 4 years over a fight about license plates, the SCV lost again.  They spent about 10,000 dollars for the battle in the Courts, and lost.
 
Now, look at the NRA.  When gun control legislation came up, did the NRA say, "Well, the Second Amendment will protect us so we will sit home, not fight the legislation in the halls of Congress, but instead we will go to the Supreme Court after they pass bad law."?
 
No...they did not!  They marshaled their members and fought the war in the halls of Congress.  They worked the halls and pressured Senators.  They were effective enough to swing 4 Democrat votes.  Had those Democrats gone with their party, gun control would pass.  But...nope.  Those Democrats had to worry about votes at home!
 
This is the lesson for the SCV.  This is what I spoke about to the point of being thrown out of the SCV.  In that process I learned that "freedom of speech" does not exist in the SCV.  I learned the grannies use the need to be "friendly" to undo the Charge.
 
Well, here we are.  I told you I would vote against the Court case!  I did.
 
The lessons are there for you to learn.  If you prefer Tea's, and re-enactments, and parades...than stop with the Charge. Change it.  Swear that you will do the tough work of social gatherings, but stop swearing you will VINDICATE THE CAUSE, that you will perpetuate values.
 
Your leadership has betrayed you. I have seen it first hand in Texas, and have heard of it from SCV members across the South.
 
If you want to win, you have to fight...NOT IN THE COURTS, but in the halls of elected officials.
 
The fellas in Palestine Texas are doing an excellent job... but the fight there is bigger.  They need to talk to the elected in their towns and county.  They need to make the elected officials hear from them, and see them.  If you really want to change how the South is treated...learn from those who get government to do what they want.
 
Mark Vogl
 
 

AT THE SELMA FRONT LINES
 
From: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net
 
We have won the first phase of the "Jungle Campaign" here in Zimbabwe on de Alabamy back on Mar 14...the judged ruled Todd Kiscaden, Project Engineer, of our Security & Beautification Enhancement of Confederate Circle project...INNOCENT of the charges of criminal harassment brought against him by local domestic terrorist, Rose Sanders!
 
Now, we begin depositions next week regarding the federal lawsuit KTK Mining of VA has filed against the City of Selma and the Chief of Police...please pray for us!  Our attorneys are very confident that we will prevail in federal court...but we still would appreciate your prayers that RIGHT will win...this lawsuit is based on NO DUE PROCESS and violation of the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments...
 
I know y'all have been wondering about the cell phone that belonged to the "person of interest" Sherrette Spicer, member of Rose Sanders Board of Directors of the National Voting Rights Museum, PRIVATELY owned by Rose Sanders.... the informants said they said Sherrette Spicer holding the NBF bust AFTER she had left the cemetery with the bust..that it was taken in a residence or a business.  Sherrette lives on second floor of Rose Sanders owned Slavery Museum on Water Avenue here in Selma...the detectives got a warrant from Judge Bob Armstrong & drove to Montgomery & seized her phone.  The phone was sent to the Ala State Forensics Lab at Ala State University...they could not crack her passcode - then it was sent to the U.S. Secret Service Agency in Hoover, Ala...THEY couldn't crack her passcode...THEN it was sent to the Ala State office of the FBI...THEY couldn't crack her pass code...THEN they sent it to Quantico, VA to the FBI Hqtrs...THEY cracked the pass code....it was sent BACK to Selma Police Dept where they viewed "4000 pictures" on Sherrette's phone...NO PICS OF NBF BUST!!!!  Put on ya surprise face!!!!  Obviously, "somebody" must've tipped her off when the detectives left for Montgomery to seize her phone...sooooooo, she gave them "A phone" ....not necessarily "the phone"!!!!  Guess ole Sherrette is smarter than the average monkey!  The informants have been questioned again recently and they stand by their statement that they saw Sherrette Spicer holding the NBF bust AFTER it was taken from the cemetery....I smell a rat in Zimbabwe on de Alabamy!
 
I would like to thank EVERYONE who has already contributed toward this effort...mere words cannot adequately express to you how much WE ALL appreciate each and EVERYONE of you who love General Forrest, our precious Southland and hold dear the principles of our Founding Fathers!  I would also like to thank, once again, the Alabama Div SCV for committing $5000 toward the reward to the person who can give information leading to the ARREST and CONVICTION of the perpetrator(s) in the theft of this $9000 bust of NBF...and also, the National Hdqtrs of the SCV for committing $5000 as well to this effort...plus the private donors who contributed the rest of the reward offer.
 
WE have NO intention of "compromising" with the City...their options that were posted in the Selma Times Journal are totally UNACCEPTABLE...it looks like we will proceed to federal court which is set for Nov of this year....any and all contributions  toward this lawsuit will be greatly appreciated. Please make check payable to: NBF Monument Fund and mark the check in the "for" line "FOR LEGAL EXPENSES"...mail check to:
 
Patricia S. Godwin
Friends of Forrest, Inc.
Fort Dixie
10800 Co. Rd. 30
Selma, Alabama 36701
 
Other means of contributions are as follows:
 
Ancestor Pavers to go around the NBF Memorial - $50 ( contact me for form - will send via attachment)
NBF (Friends of Forrest) T-Shirt - $25
DVD- History of NBF Monument Story - $15
8x10 Color Collage of NBF Monument as it stood at the original dedication site (Smitherman Bldg Museum) - $10
Sponsor a period correct wrought iron park bench - $550
Sponsor a bronze plaque to be mounted on the 8-sided pedestal of the NBF memorial - $1200
Sponsor a bronze historic marker - $1500
 
I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the two people who have already sponsored the two flag poles....at $2100 each.  There are just NO words to express to you what is inside my heart!
 
Make checks payable to NBF Monument Fund - mark check" FOR CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL CIRCLE"
 
If you have any questions or need further information, don't hesitate to call me at: 334-875-1690.  If I don't answer, leave a message & I'll call ya back!
 
Thanks y'all for your continued faithful support of our efforts here in Selma to honor General NB Forrest and to preserve our noble Southern heritage!
 
Confederately yours,
 
Pat Godwin
 
 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Cassy Gray's stirring speech: Stone Mountain 13 April 2013

It has been said that a land without remembrance is a land without memories. And a land without memories is a land without history.



Standing before this majestic mountain with its beautiful relief of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson, it reassures my heart to know that Confederate memories and history are alive and well. For these three men were not only heroes to all in the newfound nation, but they remain heroes, not only for me, but for many of us here this afternoon.

But this imposing edifice would not have been diminished through the years if the designers had chosen three different men to immortalize. If we had gathered to celebrate Albert Sidney Johnston, Patrick Cleburne and Jeb Stuart or John B. Gordon, A.P. Hill and Nathan Bedford Forrest. No, this Stone Mountain would not have been diminished at all… for enveloping this monument is a great cloud of witnesses – witnesses dressed in gray and butternut – the brave soldiers who followed Lee and Jackson, fought and died with Cleburne and Gordon and rode with Stuart and Forrest. The soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Trans-Mississippi, who picked up their arms and left their loved ones to defend their homes and their liberty.

I remember the words of General Armistead at Gettysburg as he prepared to obey the order to advance on Cemetery Ridge. He faced his brigade and brought to their remembrance why they were on that battlefield and why they were prepared to lay down their lives for another if the Lord so asked. “For your lands! For your homes! For your sweethearts! For your wives! For Virginia! Forward!”  These words survived that bloody day because they reveal the very heart of the Confederate soldier.

When the Lincoln Administration called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion in the cotton states, the men of the South kissed their wives and children good-bye, enlisted in the army and poured into the instructional camps that had sprung up throughout the South.

They were citizen soldiers, a sundry mix of family, near and distant kin, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. They came from every nook and cranny of Southern society: plantation owners, farmers barely scraping out a living on a few acres, merchants, tradesmen, professionals, students, rich, poor, educated, illiterate, secessionists, unionists, native sons and recent immigrants. A few of them had previous military experience but most of them did not. In the end it was not their differences that shaped them but their similarities.

Their fathers had passed down a legacy of heroism when they had defeated the might of the British Empire and had forged a new nation from the wilderness. How could their sons and grandsons do any less in this the second war for independence?

They may have arrived at the instructional camps as novices to the art of war, but their instructors quickly molded them into soldiers – into companies, regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, and armies. At night, after a hard day of drilling in the hot sun, they would sit around the campfires jesting about the hardships they were willing to endure for the Cause. What did they really know of hardships when their uniforms were whole, their shoes did not let in water and food was abundant?  

But in the four years they had fought, when exactly they could not pinpoint, but some time during those four years, when misery, privation, and death became their daily lot, they had learned the bitter truth. War was the necessity of marching on empty bellies, on bare and bleeding feet through the snow and cold, and fighting even past exhaustion. When the last volley was fired, war was also the sad duty of burying friends you had joked with around the campfires those many years ago when war was a lark, one Southern could lick a dozen Yankees and heroes never died. If that was not enough, war was the cruel reality of having to do it all again tomorrow if so ordered.

In the long marches and hard fights, they had been purified in the refiner’s fire and sifted like wheat by the severe demands of army life. What remained was the only thing that mattered - the assurance that they had been weighed in the balance, on the line and under fire, and had not been found wanting. 

They were the courageous and determined soldiers of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Braxton Bragg, John Pemberton, Joseph Johnston, and John Bell Hood. They followed their generals in the advances and in the long retreats. They fought for each piece of ground like it was their home.

Manassas, Shiloh, Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Cold Harbor, Atlanta, and Franklin. Never again would soldiers think of these places as quiet towns or villages full of welcoming friends, as green places where they had picnicked with sweethearts on the soft banks of slow-moving streams. The tender grasses where they had sat had now been cut to bits by heavy cannon wheels, trampled by desperate feet when bayonet met bayonet and flattened where bodies threshed in agonies… And the lazy streams and rivers were redder now than the red clay could ever make them.  Never names of places of any more.  Now they were the names of graves where friends lay buried, names where McClellan, Grant, Hooker, Meade, and Sherman had tried to force their armies in and Lee’s, Johnston’s, Pemberton’s, and Hood’s men had doggedly beaten them back. 

Each battlefield now sanctified by the blood that was shed in its defense.

At night, exhausted and hungry, the soldiers closed their eyes and dreamed of the red hills of Georgia, the Blue Ridge Mountains covered with mist in the early morning light, the bayous of the Mississippi River, the jungles of cypress swamps and oaks covered with waving curtains of gray moss, fields of golden wheat ripening in the summer sun, and the unending ocean of the coastline.

The first book I read about the war was Gone With the Wind. In the opening chapter, Gerald O’Hara tells his daughter Scarlett that land was the only thing in this world worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for. But Gerald was not talking about red clay fields filled with cotton.

Land meant much more than that to him. It was the birthright that was passed from father to son and then from father to son again. It was the place you courted your sweetheart, won her hand, raised a family, and grew old together. It was the place where you visited graves of mothers and fathers on quiet Sunday afternoons and realized that the ties that bound you to the land were thrust deep into the soil and that soil was well able to sustain generations. The land was filled with familiar voices, scents, and sights. It was the incarnation of all they were. It was as comforting as a mother’s warm embrace, and its value was determined by the blood that was shed in its defense.

For the men who stood on the line beneath waving battle flags and marched to the drums’ long roll, their patriotism was rooted in love of country, love of home, and love of the old ways that were gone forever.

For the Invader had come. The Lincoln administration slipped loose the dogs of war upon the rich farmland of the South and in their rage, they had swept away a civilization.

Nothing remained but memories of old times that would never be forgotten.

Any hope of true freedom in this country ended on a warm spring morning, in a small country hamlet in southern Virginia when Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia and the Cause for which the soldiers had so long and manfully struggled, for which they had braved dangers, endured privations and sufferings, and had made so many sacrifices. Once they returned home, they plowed their fields, loved their wives, and raised their children under the Stainless Banner, that precious flag for which they had fought.

As the century turned and the grave began to beckon these brave and gallant men, they had one final task to accomplish.  They, along with their wives and widows of the fallen, built monuments to their generals, placed memorial markers on battlefields to bear silent witness to their gallantry, and raised up organizations -- the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of the Confederate Rose -- and charged these organizations with a solemn duty: to guard their history, to emulate their virtues, to perpetuate the principles they loved, and to present the true history of the South to future generations. I stand surrounded by men and women who have kept that charge. It is an honor to stand with them, and I thank them for allowing me to do so.

In great deeds, something abides.  On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate the ground for the vision-place of the soul. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know us not and that we know not of should come here, to ponder and to dream…that the power of the vision should pass into their souls…

Let that vision take root in your heart. For when tyranny threatened their freedom, the Confederate soldier did not hesitate to defend the right.

When reminiscing about the surrender, Robert E. Lee observed: “We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.”  What a blessing these men have proven to be.  What men they were! The war, though war itself is the sum of all evil, revealed to us men of stature, men of integrity, and men of Christian character.  How much poorer would we all be if Colonel Lee had remained unknown in Texas, Major Jackson at VMI, Captain Stuart on the plains of Kansas, Patrick Cleburne in his law office or Nathan Bedford Forrest on his plantation in Mississippi.

But war did come and these men, hidden from view, were suddenly revealed…and the fragrance of their lives still lingers and inspires us today. 

These men I mentioned, these men on this great Stone Mountain, Lee, Davis, Jackson, Stuart, Cleburne and Forrest were not the exception but the norm. The Confederate soldiers held them out to history as the best of them…but still a part of them, from them, holding the same values, fighting the same battles, accepting their duty, knowing that they could not do more and never wishing to do less. 

The inheritance of gallantry and honor they left us has not diminished in the last 150 years, even as that legacy has come under attack by politicians, intellectuals, and academics who would dare tell us who these men were and why they fought and gave their lives. We face an insidious enemy who is in the process of turning Southern emblems of courage and devotion into symbols of hatred and racism.

So now, it is our turn to meet these new invaders on the verge of a just defense and say to all those that would turn our heroes into villains that we will not let you. We will fight to keep their honor. We will fight to keep their history intact, and we will fight to keep their legacy out of your hands.

For the soldiers we honor this morning, the price they paid to defend their land is beyond measure, for what price can we put on a man’s life? All we can do is stand in awe of their loyalty and devotion to the South, honor them for their service and their sacrifice, grab the tattered battle flag from their hands and continue the fight to preserve the truth of their legacy.

God bless you! God bless the honored dead who died for our freedom! And God continue to bless these United States of America.

On The Web:   http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2013/04/cassy-grays-stiring-speech-stone.html

 

Disabled Vietnam Vet Denied Weapon Purchase In Background Check Debacle
April 15, 2013
by Tim Brown

Disabled Vietnam Veteran, award winning author and contributor to Freedom Outpost Leon Puissegur was turned down for the purchase of a weapon he was going to use for hog hunting by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The peculiar thing about the denial was that it was based on an incident that never happened, but since the denial more fabricated charges have come up in the NICS system against Mr. Puissegur. If you are considering supporting stricter background checks, I suggest you read the problems these can cause for law abiding citizens, including veterans.

In a phone interview with Puissegur, he told Freedom Outpost, “Our government wants a more robust background check. Yet, they seem to have a very serious problem just doing a normal background check.”

Apparently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) thinks it is always right no matter what and even if the records cannot be found due to dismissal or due to the fact that the charge the FBI states has happened is a false charge.

Puissegur says that he went to Academy Sports and Outdoors to purchase his weapon back in November 2012, a place where he had purchased another weapon just a year prior without incident. At that time, after filling out the paperwork and the salesman calling into NICS, he was denied the purchase and given a number to call and find out why he was denied.

According to Puissegur, “I made the call as soon as I got home and know that nothing had changed since my purchase in 2011.”

He listened as a recording proceeded to explain the reason for denial, which he said didn’t apply to him, so he waited to speak to a real person. The man who answered repeated the same things that the recording had and told Mr. Puissegur that he could not reveal what record kept him from purchasing a weapon because “he could not be certain that Puissegur was Puissegur.” Fair enough.

Puissegur, in order to prove his identity and demand an answer, pays $20 to be fingerprinted to gain access to the FBI records concerning his alleged charges. He sent in the information that he was supposed to and approximately a month later received a phone call from Sherrie Ash with NICS. Ms. Ash informed him that he had a “possession of marijuana” arrest on his record from 1972. That’s over four decades ago! Puissegur informed Ash that he has never been arrested for anything remotely like that in his life. However, Ash told Puissegur that he would have to clear that before he would be allowed to purchase a weapon.

How is Leon supposed to clear a record that does not exist, except in a NICS database? I ask the question because not only did he drive76 miles to New Orleans to get a complete background check which did not show any record and forward that on, but the plot thickens. He sent in the Certified New Orleans background check to NICS and also obtained an additional copy which he sent to his United States Senator David Vitter to investigate.

According to Puissegur, “It was just this past Friday that I got a response from the FBI and even they admitted that they have no ‘sentencing data,’ but they still did not clear the files.”

“The response was not what I had hoped for,” Puissegur continued, “after all I sent them certified documentation from the very office the FBI claimed to have the information from. What is different now is that the FBI now states that the State has the records of an arrest for ‘exposing of person.’ Those charges were dismissed so that should not matter, and even the lady admitted that since those charges were dismissed, they did not matter. But now the FBI claims it has no data of an arrest made by New Orleans Police for the possession of marijuana.”

Puissegur added, “Now the FBI says the State of Louisiana has matched fingerprints of the arrest, when before I sent the documentation it was just the New Orleans Police Department and the Criminal Clerk of Court. Apparently the FBI has now enlarged the field at their own making.”

Indeed it appears that the FBI did enlarge the field to include a false report from the State of Louisiana. The FBI even freely admits that neither case had sentencing, which is correct because one case was dismissed and the other never existed. Since there was no sentencing and the FBI admits this, why are they not removing it from their system, instead of demanding an innocent veteran have to prove his innocence? After all, this man fought for this country that is supposed to uphold equal protection under the law and where you are to be assumed innocent until proven guilty.

Mr. Puissegur responded to a letter from the FBI in which he asked, “Please explain just how I clear a record that just does not exist?”

Puissegur says that he is looking to make another 76 mile trip to New Orleans to file lawsuit in the Fifth Circuit Court in order to move this into the realm of the courts to get justice. Though he believes he is 100% in the right, he is not confident that the FBI will clear his record and allow him to purchase a weapon.

This is a prime example of what gun control legislation does. It impacts law abiding citizens, including those that have served our country with honor. It is unconstitutional and is clearly infringing upon Mr. Puissegur’s Second Amendment rights. It is not Puissegur who is out of line. It’s a tyrannical Federal government that has stuck its nose in a jurisdiction it has no authority to be in and it should be removed from such.

Puissegur is also open to any attorneys that might wish to help him in his lawsuit as he lives on a fixed income as a disabled Vietnam veteran.

The irony in this is the same system gave him a green light to purchase a weapon just one year ago and now they claim he cannot purchase a weapons due to something that happened over forty years ago.

This should make you pause and consider when the Federal government wants to impose stricter background checks. They don’t prevent criminals from obtaining guns, but they most certainly infringe on law abiding citizens’ right to privacy and the right to keep and bear arms, or in this case purchase them.

If this outrages you, let the higher ups hear from you.

Copyright © 2013 Freedom Outpost

On The Web:   http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/04/disabled-vietnam-vet-denied-weapon-purchase-in-background-check-debacle/#ixzz2QYgTLAFe

 

Living History Festival with working Union, Confederate encampments to be held May 11 in Athens

kkazek@al.com
By Kelly Kazek
April 16, 2013
   
ATHENS, Alabama – Visitors can experience the Civil War era when a Living History Festival featuring working Confederate and Union encampments is held May 11 at the historic Donnell House in Athens.

The event will also feature people in period-civilian dress, a strolling minstrel and a re-enactment of a crucial turning point in the Civil War, which occurred with federal troops at the Donnell House with Federal troops which impacted Limestone County.

The Living History Festival, held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., is sponsored by the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Council, the Sons of Confederate Veterans Hobbs Camp No. 768 and the Donnell House Foundation.

Cannon’s will be fired throughout the day and shooters will demonstrate long-rifles. Children will be able to “enlist” in the Donnell House Regiment, and undergo a mock physical examination prior being accepted for “rifle training.”

Signed and numbered prints by artist Lyn Stone featuring local historic events – the Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle, Hobbs’ Farewell, the Battle of Athens and Fort Henderson – will be for sale at the Athens-Limestone County Visitors Center tent.

For more information, visit the Athens Visitors Center located at 100 Beaty Street North, call 256-232-5411 or 256-867-1438 or visit www.visitathensal.com.

© 2013 Alabama Live LLC.

On The Web:   http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/04/living_history_festival_with_w.html

 

OUR CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY
Author Unknown

The marching armies of the past
Along our Southern plains,
Are sleeping now in quiet rest
Beneath the Southern rains.

The bugle call is now in vain
To rouse them from their bed;
To arms they'll never march again--
They are sleeping with the dead.

No more will Shiloh's plains be stained
With blood our heroes shed,
Nor Chancellorsville resound again
To our noble warriors' tread.

For them no more shall reveille
Sound at the break of dawn,
But may their sleep peaceful be
Till God's great judgment morn.

We bow our heads in solemn prayer
For those who wore the gray,
And clasp again their unseen hands
On our Memorial Day.

Thanks to:

Zak
Dixie's Living Historians
 

April 16, 2013
Confederate flags fly across Texas, including Orange

Dawn Burleigh
The Port Arthur News

— Controversy concerning the Confederate flag memorial continues in Orange as the John H. Reagan Camp No. 2156 of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans officially opened its Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza Saturday following a parade and dedication ceremony at its location on private property in downtown Palestine.

The plaza will serve as a permanent place of honor and remembrance for Confederate veterans from Anderson County, the State of Texas and across the South.

With representation from the SCV’s regional, state and national organization, the local camp raised five flags for the first time, including the Texas state flag surrounded by the first, second and third national flags of the Confederacy, along with the Confederate battle flag.

The same flag is raising concerns for citizens of Orange as they speak out against the park during recent Orange City Council meetings. The memorial in Orange is expected to have 26 flags from the Confederacy. Thirty-four flags are considered potentials for the Confederate Memorial of the Wind with only 26 actually expected to be raised at the site. The Naval Jack, is not one of the flags under consideration. There are thirty-six Confederate flags.

The Stars and Bars, first National Confederate flag, has been flying on Interstate 10 at the Texas Travel Information Center since at least the year 2000 when they moved into the new building according to a representative of the center.

There are twelve such centers across Texas and each one flies the six flags that have flown over Texas.

The center is inside the city limits of Orange, however it is state owned property.

Though the event in Palestine was devoid of any protests, local law enforcement including the Palestine Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety stood on vigil in case of an outbreak of any form of violence.

Palestine Police Chief Robert Herbert described the event as “very peaceful.”

Watching the ceremony from a distance, Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe was one of a handful of people who spoke out Saturday against the idea of opening a Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza, especially on a site some locals allege is the location of a former “hanging tree,” according to the black community's oral history.

However, some local historians dispute this, saying the tree on the plaza property is not old enough for this to be true.

“We know there are many good people here in the Sons of the Confederate Veterans but in their national organization some of the people in authority are listed by the Southern Law Center as having positions with hate organizations. It's also regretful that they have chosen this particular site to put their plaza. It's truly provocative that they chose this site where the black community believes is the site of a hanging tree,” Bledsoe said.

Texas Democratic Party Vice Chair Tarsha Hardy also watched the ceremony.

“I believe this will have a domino affect as there is another dedication planned soon in Orange, Texas,” Hardy said. “I think it gives them the opportunity to broadcast and share a message reflecting hate and to flat out disrespect African American heritage and their suffrage by blatantly using a flag that is a symbol that is offensive to many. I feel like they turned back the clock on the progress that had been made here.”

Daniel Davis Clayton, state chair of the Texas Coalition of the Black Texas Democrats agrees, not happy about the location of the plaza in particular.

“What I see here today is a claim of heritage and a demonstration of hate,” Clayton said.

Officers and members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of Confederate Rose from across Texas and other states were in attendance to dedicate the memorial plaza.

Others speaking or giving greetings during the John H. Reagan Camp No. 2156's dedication ceremony were: Johnnie Holley, 1st Lt. Commander, Texas Division, SCV; Rudy Ray, 1st Lt. Commander, Reagan Camp; Charles Lauret, ATM Councilman and Past Commander Louisiana Division, SVC; Cindy Bobbitt, State Director, Texas Order of the Confederate Rose; Sam Allen, Friends of the Sons of Confederate Veterans; Gary Williams, historian with the John H. Reagan Camp; Betty B. Petruska, president of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Granvel Block, commander of the Texas Division of SCV; Todd Owen, commander, Army of Trans-Mississippi, SCV.

A Texas Historical Marker also was dedicated, noting the contributions of Confederate veterans from Anderson County.

The Lone Star Color Guard, Northeast Texas Brigade SCV and Honor Guard presented the military honors.

Included in this memorial plaza will be memorial brick pavers engraved with the names of veterans along with their rank and unit.

Residents of Orange attended the dedication to participate in a rally opposing the park in Palestine.

At this time, the park in Orange does not have a date for a dedication or plans for when the park will be completed.

The City of Orange sent the SCV a letter dated April 9, 2013, concerning the lack of sufficient parking for the location in Orange. The city requested the group add two additional American Disabilities Act handicap parking spaces and eight additional parking spaces. Currently the permit plans only show one parking space for the park.

The letter states it is not denying or suspending the current permit. The city has the right to request changes to existing building permits.

SCV has fourteen business days to submit plan revisions to the city.

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc

On The Web:   http://panews.com/local/x1915233718/Confederate-flags-fly-across-Texas-including-Orange

 

Monday, April 15, 2013
   
No Confederate Flag License Plates in Texas
By BONNIE BARRON
       
AUSTIN, Texas (CN) - The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles did not violate the First Amendment by refusing to issue license plates depicting the Confederate battle flag, a federal judge ruled.

The state turned down the request for customized plates by the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), prompting the nonprofit group to sue the DMV Board for constitutional discrimination in December 2011.

The SCV consists of male descendants of Confederate veterans who seek "to honor and keep alive the memory of the Confederacy and the principles for which Confederates fought, thus giving the world an understanding and appreciation of the Southern people and their brave history," according to the group's website.

The proposed design included the organization's name and its seal bearing the Confederate battle flag. The SCV noted that nine other states, all of them southern, issued similar license plates.

After receiving public comments -- most opposed to the plates -- the board voted unanimously to reject the plates as potentially offensive to members of the public.

The SCV argued that the decision constituted viewpoint bias, because the board had accepted a request for plates honoring the Buffalo Soldiers, even though they were "offensive to Native Americans because the all-black cavalry helped fight Native Americans in the Indian Wars from 1867-1888."

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks sided with the board on Friday.

"The issue before the court is this: does the First Amendment require a state government to place the Confederate battle flag on customized, special license plates at the request of a nonprofit organization which has otherwise complied with state rules governing issuance of such plates?" Sparks wrote.

He determined that the answer is no, not because specialty license plates constitute government speech, as the board claimed, but because the plates constitute a nonpublic forum.

He further found that the content of the SCV license plates drove the board's decision, rather than the group's viewpoint.

"The SCV repeatedly argues the fact the Buffalo Soldiers plate was approved indicates SCV was subjected to viewpoint discrimination," Sparks wrote in the 47-page order. "SCV speculates Native Americans would be offended by the Buffalo Soldiers plate, because of the role played by African-American troops in the frontier wars of the nineteenth century. However, the record does not support this assertion: in contrast to the chorus of negative public comments raised against the SCV's plate, there appears to have been no significant objection to the Buffalo Soldiers plate, rendering SCV's assertion the Buffalo Soldiers plate is equally derogatory at best purely speculative."

Sparks noted that, unlike the SCV plates, the Buffalo Soldiers plates lack an "inflammatory symbol comparable to the Confederate battle flag."

The judge also noted that the group could turn to state lawmakers to get its license plates approved.

"Although suggesting a petitioner for judicial relief should look to the legislative branch for assistance is usually the practical equivalent of there being no relief available, here the Texas Legislature can and frequently has approved a variety of plates -- including controversial plates, such as 'Choose Life' -- by direct legislative action," Sparks states.

The order concludes: "It is a sad fact the Confederate battle flag has been co-opted by odious groups as a symbol of racism and white supremacy. There is no reason to doubt the SCV and its members are entirely heartfelt in their condemnation of this misuse. It is to be hoped the passage of time, and efforts such as the SCV's resolution, will eventually remove a blight from the flag under which feats of great heroism and fortitude were accomplished. All the traditional avenues of public discourse are open to those who would fully redeem the battle flag. Nevertheless, the state of Texas has chosen to abstain from this debate, and the First Amendment does not require it to open up state-issued license plates as an additional forum in which to contest the flag's meaning."
    
On The Web:   http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/04/15/56692.htm
    

Grave robbers steal Confederate and Revolutionary clothing from the deceased

Apr 14, 2013
By Elizabeth Rawlins

BURKE COUNTY, GA (WFXG) -

UPDATE: Burke County investigators are still looking for the grave robbers responsible for digging up soldier grave sites at the Old Church Cemetery.

"Somebody is very sick to do something like this, to desecrate a grave," said Post Commander Leroy Bell Jr. 

Bell oversees the cemetery that is a secluded location where people from every century are buried dating back the 1700's.

"I just didn't think of anything like this ever happening," said Bell. "We've never had it happen before as long as this cemetery has been here."

Bell said the gates to the cemetery remain locked all the time and it wasn't until he came out here to cut the grass that he realized that five of the graves were disturbed.

"It would have to be that they thinking they could get some kind of relics," said Bell. 

The grave robbers knocked over head stones and dug up graves of Revolutionary, Confederate and World War I soldiers and also some children, taking whatever was in those graves and leaving the bones behind.

"Any of the artifacts that would have been buried on some of these soldiers is most likely what the grave robbers were hunting for, whether to keep them for themselves or to sell," said Sgt. Sean Cochran of Burke County Sheriff's Office. 

Investigators cannot pinpoint exactly when these graves were disturbed but believe it happened within the last two weeks. They told FOX54, they are determined to find whoever is responsible.

"They are going to sell it to the wrong person," said Sgt. Cochran. "They are going to say something, they are going to do something and somebody is going to tell me."

Investigators are restlessly working to bring these graves to rest once again. The post commander said they plan to properly re-bury the soldiers and children soon.

Copyright 2013 Raycom News Network.

On The Web:   http://www.fox19.com/story/21973231/grave-robbers-steal-confederate-and-revolutionary-clothing-from-deceased

Research help needed
 
From: gpthelastrebel@att.net
 
Chuck,
 
Below are links to two articles I need help researching. I would like for some who understand troop strength  to inform me the total Confederate strength vs. the Union strength. A plus would be the names of units for each side. and the number of men on each side. I have some information from the ORs but not much. As you can see these native troops are made out to be great heroes and fighters, I just don't think that is true.
 
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/11/4588014/historical-marker-installation.html
 
http://www.sunherald.com/2013/04/14/4593348/history-of-native-guards-raid.html
 
Thanks,
 
George Purvis

 

2nd Regt. Of La. Native Guard
 
Chuck,
 
I am in need of any and all information related to the 2nd Louisiana Native guard. Send info to gpthelastrebel@att.net
 
Thanks
 
George Purvis
Southern Heritage Advancement Preservation and Education
 
 

Confederate History and Heritage Month in Georgia
 
From: waynedobson51@yahoo.com
 
Georgia's General Assembly, in 2009, approved Senate Bill No.27 which was signed by Past Governor Sonny Perdue, officially and permanently designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in Georgia. It is a time to especially commemorate the men and women of the Confederate States of America who came from all races and religions.  Examples include: Irish-born General Patrick R. Cleburne, Black Confederate drummer Bill Yopp, Mexican born Colonel Santos Benavides, Cherokee born General Stand Watie and Jewish born Confederate treasurer Judah Benjamin and Nurse Phoebe Pember who was the first female administrator of Chimboraza Hospital in Richmond, Virginia.
    
We are justly proud of such a heritage and have scheduled a full slate of local Confederate Memorial Day services:
 
Saturday, April 20 - 1:00pm at Mount Pleasant Primitive Baptist Church, Jones County, GA
 
Friday, April 26 -  6:00pm at  Stevens Street Cemetery - south of Elberta Rd. in Warner Robins and 7:00pm at Cliett Cemetery, 247 Connector across from Peachtree Baptist Church, Byron
 
Saturday, April 27 - 8am at Confederate Statue, downtown Macon (Cotton Ave. at 2nd Street)
- 10:00 am at Rose Hill Cemetery, 1091 Riverside Drive, Macon
- 12noon at Woodward Cemetery, Hartley Bridge Road, Bibb County
- 2pm at Byron, GA City Cemetery, 101 Murdock Lane.
- 4:30pm at Ft. Valley's Oaklawn Cemetery, Southside of Ft. Valley on GA Hwy 49
    
Hopefully, you will attend one near you. For more information, contact area Sons of Confederate Veterans or United Daughters of the Confederacy members.
 
John Wayne Dobson
Macon, GA
 
 

The Confederate Flag and Dixie
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Henry Bacon McKoy was the nephew of Henry Bacon, Illinois native and architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.  The former was born in Wilmington, North Carolina and served as an engineer on the memorial; he was also a partner in the Morris-McKoy firm that built Furman University’s Sirrine Shrine Stadium in 1936.  McKoy wrote the following letter to the editor in the late 1960s.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
The Confederate Flag and Dixie:
 
“Editor of the Greenville News, Greenville, S.C.
 
Dear Sir,
 
I see great changes made every day. Nations fall, former things thought miracles are commonplace. Heroes are toppled. The road I travel is suddenly forked into a hundred different directions. Religions become questionable and faith a myth.
 
But little did I think that I should live to see the day when a group of students at the University of South Carolina would advocate a ban on the playing of “Dixie” and the display of the Confederate Flag.
 
 

Or, that I would have ever thought it advisable to add dignity and recognition to such a movement, by opposing it. Millions have admired and loved all that the Confederate Flag has stood for and all that “Dixie” meant to the hearts and aspirations of a defeated people.
 
Only because of ignorance and misunderstanding, and a hate that has recently been engendered by those who are capable of nothing higher, is the Confederate Flag and what it stood for, and Dixie – in thought or words ever considered to degrade or belittle the Negroes.
 
The South lost greatly in its youth and the best of its men and future leaders, and its wealth, and it has taken a hundred years to partially recover their loss. Their defeat they accepted. There remained, however, honor, integrity, honesty, truth and God. These the South took and engraved them on their hearts and minds and allowed the Confederate Flag to become a symbol of all the good they believed in.
 
Christians honor the cross, not as a fetish, not for its value, but for what it represents in their hearts. They object to its desecration because in doing so one attempts to destroy what it stands for.
 
The Negro was not the cause of the Confederate War, but “The Excuse” for a war of aggression and conquest. It has been claimed the reason, and like Hitler’s LIE – told so often, that it finally became to be thought the truth.
 
It seems wrong to me that the Confederate Flag and Dixie should need any defense on my part – it doesn’t. But if I and others stand silent while this attack is being made, then our uninformed young and our ignorant youths will think that we agree and accept this lie, and that we are ashamed to answer it. A thousand facts and records substantiate my words.
 
I condemn this movement and the thoughts behind it. Out of sight are the communists who are attacking everything that is sacred – that is right – that is true.  Henry B. McKoy”
 
(Second Thoughts and Talks, Henry Bacon McKoy, 1975, pp. 63-64)
 
 

Waging War to Destroy, Not Preserve, the Union
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
On January 3, 1861, Senator Stephen A. Douglas spoke in the Senate Chamber regarding the inability of the Committee of Thirteen to find compromise to end the sectional crisis. He saw the Republican party’s ultimate goal of surrounding the South with abolition States and confining the institution in such narrow limits as leading toward race war or colonization of the Negro – and appealed to the people of Illinois to help find a more human and Christian solution to the evil of slavery.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Waging War to Destroy, Not Preserve, the Union:
 
“Are we prepared for war? I do not mean that kind of preparation which consists of armies and navies, and supplies, and munitions of war; but are we prepared IN OUR HEARTS for war with our own brethren and kindred?  I confess I am not.
 
While I affirm that the Constitution is, and was intended to be, a bond of perpetual Union; while I can do no act and utter no word that will countenance the right of secession….I will not mediate war, nor tolerate the idea, until every effort at peaceful adjustment shall have been exhausted, and the last ray of hope shall have deserted the patriot’s heart. In my opinion, war is disunion, certain, inevitable, irrevocable. I am for peace to save the Union.
 
[The] proposition to subvert the de facto government of South Carolina, and reduce the people of that State to subjection to our Federal authority, no longer involves the question of enforcing the laws in a country within our possession; but it does involve the question of whether we will make war upon a State which has withdrawn her allegiance and expelled our authorities….We are bound, by the usages of nations, by the laws of civilization, by the uniform practice of our own Government, to acknowledge the existence of a Government de facto, so long as it maintains its undivided authority.
 
[I] desire to know of my Union-loving friends on the other side of the Chamber how they intend to enforce the laws in the seceding States, except by making war, conquering them first, and administering the law in them afterwards.
 
In my opinion, we have reached a point where disunion is inevitable, unless some compromise, founded on mutual concession, can be made. I prefer compromise to war. I prefer concession to dissolution of the Union…[and] simply say that I will meet every one half way who is willing to preserve the peace of the country, and save the Union from disruption upon principles of compromise and concession.
 
The preservation of this Union, the integrity of this Republic, is of more importance than party platforms or individual records. Why cannot you Republicans accede to the re-establishment and extension of the Missouri compromise line?  Why not allow the people to pass on these questions? The political party which shall refuse to allow the people to determine for themselves at the ballot box the issue between revolution and war on the one side, and obstinate adherence to a party platform on the other, will assume a fearful responsibility.
 
A war upon a political issue, waged by the people of eighteen States against the people and domestic institutions of fifteen sister States, is a fearful and revolting thought. The South will be a unit, and desperate, under the belief that your object in waging war is their destruction, and not the preservation of the Union; that you mediate servile insurrection, and the abolition of slavery in the Southern States, by fire and sword, in the name and under the pretext of enforcing the laws and vindicating the authority of the Government. You know that such is the prevailing, and, I may say, unanimous opinion at the South; and that ten million people are preparing for the terrible conflict under that conviction.
 
The history of the world does not offer furnish an instance, where war has raged for a series of years between two classes of States, divided by a geographical line under the same national Government, which has ended in reconciliation and reunion.  Extermination, subjugation or separation, one of these three must be the result of the war between the northern and southern States.”
 
(The Politics of Dissolution, Marshall L. DeRosa, editor, Transaction Publishers, 1998, pp. 190, 196, 201-202)
 
 

Putting Maine to the Torch
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
The spring of 1864 was an active time for Confederate planners wanting to exploit Northern weariness of the war and its death toll, and influence the November presidential election. A primary figure in the secret operations was Captain Thomas Henry Hines, a former officer under General John Hunt Morgan. A favorite route of Southern agents travelling to Canada was a Wilmington blockade-runner to Bermuda, then a British mail packet to Halifax, rail car to Montreal, Toronto and finally Niagara Falls – then slip quietly across the Suspension Bridge into New York.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Putting Maine to the Torch
 
“[When Hines] was planning the Chicago uprising….Confederate prospects for a [Northern] revolution looked good. The Copperheads were promising a great deal. [Confederate Commissioner in Canada, Jacob] Thompson, believing them, was spending huge sums, and gun-runners were crossing into Indiana with large shipments of rifles and revolvers.
 
Someone in Toronto….decided that a major diversionary move was needed to keep the attention of the Federals away from Hines in Chicago at the time he was to set off the revolt in the Northwest. It was decided to organize another expedition, sent against Maine and the Northeast coast.
 
Couriers slipped south with messages for President Davis. He gave his approval of an eastern facet of the Northwest Conspiracy. An army of 5,000 men, with a large number of field artillery, commanded by officers of [General John Hunt] Morgan’s, Mosby’s and Stuart’s commands, who had been summoned to Richmond from the field by Secretary of the War [J.A.] Seddon, were to be brought to Canada by eight fast blockade-runners. The troops were to be disembarked on the coast of Maine at night. Detachments were to be sent out first to gather up [railroad] rolling stock, pack horses, cattle and food.   
 
The stock and food were to be brought to a rendezvous in northern Maine…[and] from that point the army was to be split into five columns to fan out, “but within supporting distance of each other” to put Maine to the torch. As [partisan veteran Francis] Jones said, “The troops were to sack and destroy public and corporative property of the United States government.” Local Sons of Liberty were to be used as guides or assassins to murder State or municipal officials.
 
The expedition was to be a combined operation. In April, 1864, Secretary of the Navy [Stephen] Mallory, in Richmond, sent 1,500 seamen and privateersmen “on special duty” to report to Thompson at Toronto. They were to man the armed steamers Tallahassee and Florida, which were to sail out of New Brunswick to shell and burn Maine’s coastal cities.
 
In the Northwest, the date of the uprising…[was to be] August 29, 1864, the day the Democratic Convention opened in Chicago. There would be large crowds; half the delegates would be Peace Democrats, members of the Sons of Liberty and Knights of the Golden Circle. Chicago would be a powder keg; one spark was all that was needed to touch it off.”
 
(Confederate Agent, A Discovery in History, James D. Horan, Crown Publishers, pp. 113-115)
 
 

Southern Hospitality Not Questioned by Dead Union Soldiers
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
A past historian of Lee’s Arlington mansion, Murray Nelligan, understood that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton determined that the Lee family should never occupy their home again -- placing a hospital on the grounds and a village for Negro refugees from the South. Not stopping there, he had a tax levied on the property which required payment by the owner in person. A relative of Mrs. Lee offered to pay the tax, but the authorities decided that such a procedure did not fulfill the letter of the law, so the estate was put up for sale at public auction on January 11, 1864, in Alexandria, Virginia.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Southern Hospitality Not Questioned by Dead Union Soldiers:
 
Barden’s opportunity to appear as a champion of the South occurred when a delegation of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic appeared before the [House] Library Committee to oppose a resolution to erect a memorial to Robert E. Lee near the mansion in Arlington.
 
Barden sat quietly and uncomfortably until the ladies attack upon Southern generals and the Confederacy turned into a tirade against the South and all Southerners. Then, as the only Southern present on the committee, Barden came to the defense of not only Robert E. Lee, but of Southern heritage.
 
The congressman declared that he had “never heard such sectional bitterness expressed.” Answering the women’s insistence that Arlington National Cemetery was a “Union and not a Confederate graveyard” and that even though a few Confederate dead were buried there, Arlington was not a place to honor Confederates, Barden pointed out that in his home town of New Bern [North Carolina] a thousand Union soldiers were buried with honor in a beautiful cemetery.
 
He continued: “We of the South do not propose to keep our brains and characters befogged by bitterness and prejudice. The hospitality of the South has never been questioned, not even by a dead Union soldier.” [New Bern Sun-Journal, April 27, 1935]
 
The effectiveness of Barden’s position was apparent when the committee voted to report the Memorial bill favorably.”
 
(Graham A. Barden, Conservative Carolina Congressman, Elmer L. Puryear, Campbell University Press, 1979, excerpts, pp. 22-23)
 
 

Forrest
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
To: tim.reeves@selmatimesjournal.com
 
To the Editor:
                    
I am writing to you about the "options" listed in your newspaper for the construction of the General Forrest Monument in Live Oak Cemetery.
  
Those are not acceptable options considering a criminal offense was committed by certain individuals who took it upon themselves to go to Live Oak Cemetery & disrupt the work being done there & infringed on their rights. A matter which was & is none of their business, like it or not.
  
Whether or not these individuals agree with a monument to Gen. Forrest or not, it is still a piece of Selma`s history just like the civil rights events that take place there, not everyone has to agree with them. However, they must allow everyone their rights to honor & memorialize whomever they please. So, it`s the same with Gen. Forrest or any other figure from Selma`s past whether anyone agrees with that piece of history or not, it’s still history.
  
However, these individual, in spite of their likes & dislikes, fail to understand, or do not care, that the same rights they claim for themselves, they deny to everyone else, which, in 2013 is a violation of the constitutional rights of all involved with the construction of the monument to Gen. Forrest.
  
In committing these criminal acts they went well beyond the limits of disagreeing with just a monument to Gen. Forrest or those who back it. They violated the civil rights of those who do back it & should be punished for doing so under the federal guidelines that govern their civil rights.
  
Anything less is a sham, a farce & worst of all a miscarriage of justice. Until the City of Selma addresses this violation of the civil rights of those who back the Gen. Forrest monument & bring criminal charges against those who violated them then, the City of Selma deserves everything that happens to it in court. All the negative publicity the city is receiving over this nationwide is more than well earned & deserved.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville, Al.
 
 

From: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net <oldsouthrebel@zebra.net>
Date: Wed, Apr 17, 2013
Subject: [FlagFight] AT THE SELMA FRONT LINES
To: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net

TO ALL: Please forward to everyone in your address book whom you deemed interested in this report. If you receive this message more than once, please forgive me & hit "delete"; if you would like to be removed from my address book, please advise & I will honor your request immediately, as there are many addresses in my address book that I do not recognize.
 
We have won the first phase of the "Jungle Campaign" here in Zimbabwe on de Alabamy back on Mar 14...the judged ruled Todd Kiscaden, Project Engineer, of our Security & Beautification Enhancement of Confederate Circle"project...INNOCENT of the charges of criminal harrassment brought against him by local domestic terrorist, Rose Sanders!
 
Now, we begin depositions next week regarding the federal lawsuit KTK Mining of VA has filed against the City of Selma and the Chief of Police...please pray for us!  Our attorneys are very confident that we will prevail in federal court...but we still would appreciate your prayers that RIGHT will win...this lawsuit is based on NO DUE PROCESS and violation of the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments...
 
I know y'all have been wondering about the cell phone that belonged to the "person of interest" Sherrette Spicer, member of Rose Sanders Board of Directors of the National Voting Rights Museum, PRIVATELY owned by Rose Sanders.... the informants said they said Sherrette Spicer holding the NBF bust AFTER she had left the cemetery with the bust..that it was taken in a residence or a business.  Sherrette lives on second floor of Rose Sanders owned Slavery Museum on Water Avenue here in Selma...the detectives got a warrant from Judge Bob Armstrong & drove to Montgomery & seized her phone.  The phone was sent to the Ala State Forensics Lab at Ala State University...they could not crack her passcode - then it was sent to the U.S. Secret Service Agency in Hoover, Ala...THEY couldn't crack her passcode...THEN it was sent to the Ala State office of the FBI...THEY couldn't crack her pass code...THEN they sent it to Quantico, VA to the FBI Hqtrs...THEY cracked the pass code....it was sent BACK to Selma Police Dept where they viewed "4000 pictures" on Sherrette's phone...NO PICS OF NBF BUST!!!!  Put on ya surprise face!!!!  Obviously, "somebody" must've tipped her off when the detectives left for Montgomery to seize her phone...sooooooo, she gave them "A phone" ....not necessarliy "the phone"!!!!  Guess ole Sherrette is smarter than the average monkey!  The informants have been questioned again recently and they stand by their statement that they saw Sherrette Spicer holding the NBF bust AFTER it was taken from the cemetery....I smell a rat in Zimbabwe on de Alabamy!
 
I would like to thank EVERYONE who has already contributed toward this effort...mere words cannot adequately express to you how much WE ALL appreciate each and EVERYONE of you who love General Forrest, our precious Southland and hold dear the principles of our Founding Fathers!  I would also like to thank, once again, the Alabama Div SCV for committing $5000 toward the reward to the person who can give information leading to the ARREST and CONVICTION of the perpetrator(s) in the theft of this $9000 bust of NBF...and also, the National Hdqtrs of the SCV for committing $5000 as well to this effort...plus the private donors who contributed the rest of the reward offer.
 
WE have NO intention of "compromising" with the City...their options that were posted in the Selma Times Journal are totally UNACCEPTABLE...it looks like we will proceed to federal court which is set for Nov of this year....any and all contributions  toward this lawsuit will be greatly appreciated. Please make check payable to: NBF Monument Fund and mark the check in the "for" line "FOR LEGAL EXPENSES"...mail check to:
 
Patricia S. Godwin
Friends of Forrest, Inc.
Fort Dixie
10800 Co. Rd. 30
Selma, Alabama 36701
 
Other means of contributions are as follows:
 
Ancestor Pavers to go around the NBF Memorial - $50 ( contact me for form - will send via attachment)
NBF (Friends of Forrest) T-Shirt - $25
DVD- History of NBF Monument Story - $15
8x10 Color Collage of NBF Monument as it stood at the original dedication site(Smitherman Bldg Museum) - $10
Sponsor a period correct wrought iron park bench - $550
Sponsor a bronze plaque to be mounted on the 8-sided pedestal of the NBF memorial - $1200
Sponsor a bronze historic marker - $1500
 
I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the two people who have already sponsored the two flag poles....at $2100 each.  There are just NO words to express to you what is inside my heart!
 
Make checks payable to NBF Monument Fund - mark check" FOR CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL CIRCLE"
 
If you have any questions or need further information, don't hesitate to call me at: 334-875-1690.  If I don't answer, leave a message & I'll call ya back!
 
Thanks y'all for your continued faithful support of our efforts here in Selma to honor General NB Forrest and to preserve our noble Southern heritage!
 
Confederately yours,
Pat Godwin
oldsouth@zebra.net
 

Vicksburg is Mississippi’s battle-tested Southern belle

By ANDREA SACHS
The Washington Post
Sunday, April 14, 2013

Which of the following destinations does not belong on AAA Southern Traveler magazine’s list of the top 13 travel spots for 2013: Christchurch, New Zealand; the Dominican Republic; Ireland; Mexico; Madagascar; Orlando, Fla.; Panama; San Francisco; South Korea; Spain; Sri Lanka; Turkey; Vicksburg, Miss.; or Las Vegas?

You choose Vicksburg? You sure? Really sure? Because, well, you’re wrong.

Vicksburg is a full-fledged member of this class; Madagascar is not. The designation, though, was a surprise, even to some residents of the warm and welcoming Southern town about 45 miles west of Jackson.

But one sweet-as-Tupelo-honey Vicksburger chirped with delight at the news, asking me to repeat the announcement to her father, who was busy cooking in the Tomato Place’s kitchen. “This is just a real honor for our little town,” she said. “What I love about Vicksburg is that it’s slow – front porch rocking chair” slow.

If AAA’s criteria included wit and charm, Vicksburg would have dominated the list. But the publication didn’t factor in colorful characters, basing its decision on the Civil War Siege of Vicksburg and its sesquicentennial. The town is holding special events throughout the year, with most activities scheduled through July 4, the day Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton waved the white flag of surrender.

The 1863 battle, a big score for Team Union, replays day after day in the hearts and minds of visitors to Vicksburg and its national military park. Here, you can imagine the gunfire exploding across the bluffs as the residents huddled in caves for safety. As a Jackson day-tripper later explained to me, Southerners hold onto the war because so much of the action occurred on their turf, the bullets grazing their homes and endangering their lives and livelihoods. Beneath the pocked cupola of the Old Court House Museum, I vowed to no longer tell my Southern friends to “get over it.”

After the brief overview at the Vicksburg National Military Park Visitor Center, you can dig a little deeper in the museum gallery.

I read about Lyston Druett Howe, a 10-year-old who fought alongside his father and brother, Orion Perseus Howe, a drummer boy and one of the youngest recipients of the Medal of Honor. Beside me, a grandfather stood with his grandkids, who were about the same age as the sibling soldiers. The elder man seemed to be silently chastising his pint-size charges: Look, boys, these kids risked their lives for their country, and you can’t even pick up your dirty socks.

Two-thirds of the battle sites rest in the park, sprinkled along a 16-mile touring road. I mulled the four strategies for exploring the route: the national park brochure and map, with numbered stops; the free cell phone tour; the CD audio tour; and a guided tour in your own vehicle.

The ranger told me that it would take about an hour and a half to complete the ribbony 15-stop route. But he must have been referring to individuals who treat the park like a drive-thru window to history. I, on the other hand, was compelled to stop at nearly every monument, statue, cannon, gunboat (the USS Cairo) and road sign with small print. I also lost time chasing a grasshopper around the inside of my car. I reached the Confederate side just as the park was closing.

The Civil War presses its stamp on myriad attractions and conversations in Vicksburg. In addition to several tours of 19th-century residences, there’s the Old Court House Museum, which contains many war artifacts, including Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s chair, the stuffing bursting out of the seams, and the inauguration tie of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

On The Web:   http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/5677888-95/vicksburg-is-mississippis-battle-tested-southern-belle

 

Protesters march against raising of Confederate flag in Palestine
BY VICTOR TEXCUCANO
vtexcucano@tylerpaper.com

PALESTINE -- The dedication of a Confederate Veterans Plaza in Palestine raised controversy Saturday morning, as members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People marched in protest.

The protesters said they were protesting the flying of Confederate flags above the city.

The protest march began at the farmers' market on West Spring Street, then continued to West Oak Street, Howard Street, Main Street, then back to the farmers' market.

The protesters' chants of "We're not going back!" rang through downtown Palestine, as law enforcement officers kept an eye on the scene.

Back at the farmers' market, members from the NAACP spoke to protesters, including Palestine branch President Kenneth Davidson.

The raising of Confederate flags in downtown Palestine brings feelings of hatred and oppression against the local black community, because of what the flags have signified in the past, Davidson said.

"The flag means hatred to us. It means oppression and slavery," he said. "We're not going back to that."

Davidson said that while he has no problem with honoring soldiers who fought for a cause they believed in, the Confederate rebel flag brings back bad history.

"They're all soldiers (the Confederate soldiers). We recognize them as soldiers; they're fighting for what they believe in, but the flag does not mean that to (the black community)," he said.

Branden Johnson, president of the Longview branch of the NAACP, agreed, also claiming that raising the Confederate flag is unpatriotic.

"It's really simple. The Confederate flag was flown by the Confederacy," he said. "To my knowledge, there was a (Civil War), and they lost -- the Union won. We are the United States, and we're all (Americans)."

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, however, contend they only intend to honor their Confederate ancestors.

Kelly Barrow, Lt. Commander-in-Chief of the national confederacy group, detailed why the memorial plaza was important in his keynote speech, echoing the charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans by Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee, who was the commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans in 1906.

" ... We will commit 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 which he loved ..."

Barrow spoke about the need to preserve Confederate history, as well as educating people about the Southern soldiers.

Doug Smith, adjutant and treasurer of the John H. Reagan Camp, said the camp's intent is to promote history, not be politically divisive.

"We're neither political, nor divisive," he said. "We seek to unite. We have members of all races."

While he understands the flag has a negative connotation in the black community, Smith said the negative light was brought because of groups misusing the flag.

On The Web:   http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130414/NEWS01/304149958

 

April 13, 2013
Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza dedicated in Palestine

By CHERIL VERNON
Palestine Herald-Press

PALESTINE — The John H. Reagan Camp No. 2156 of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans officially opened its Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza Saturday following a parade and dedication ceremony at its location on private property in downtown Palestine.

The plaza will serve as a permanent place of honor and remembrance for Confederate veterans from Anderson County, the State of Texas and across the South.

With representation from the SCV’s regional, state and national organization, the local camp raised five flags for the first time, including the Texas state flag surrounded by the first, second and third national flags of the Confederacy, along with the Confederate battle flag.

Ironically, one of the flags raised during the ceremony Saturday was the same flag that raised a controversy in April 2011 in Palestine and prompted the local group to build a plaza.

The first national flag of the Confederacy flew over the Anderson County Courthouse for four days for Confederate History Month in April 2011 after approval from the Anderson County Commissioners' Court.

“However, four days later we were forced to take it down. They told us it didn't belong on city or county property. Many thanks for giving us a great idea,” John H. Reagan Camp No. 2156 SCV Commander Dan Dyer said during the ceremony. “Apparently they thought that would be the last time they heard from the John H. Reagan Camp… but that's not in our Southern DNA.”

The controversial flag that garnished state and national media attention in 2011, was locked away, according to Dyer, and brought out Saturday for the ceremony.

Though the event was devoid of any protests, local law enforcement including the Palestine Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety stood on vigil in case of an outbreak of any form of violence.

Palestine Police Chief Robert Herbert described the event as “very peaceful.”

Watching the ceremony from a distance, Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe was one of a handful of people who spoke out Saturday against the idea of opening a Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza, especially on a site some locals allege is the location of a former “hanging tree,” according to the black community's oral history.

However, some local historians dispute this, saying the tree on the plaza property is not old enough for this to be true.

“We know there are many good people here in the Sons of the Confederate Veterans but in their national organization some of the people in authority are listed by the Southern Law Center as having positions with hate organizations. It's also regretful that they have chosen this particular site to put their plaza. It's truly provocative that they chose this site where the black community believes is the site of a hanging tree,” Bledsoe said.

Palestine resident Versalean Logan said she has long heard of a “hanging tree.”

“It's a very painful part of my heritage and to be informed this lot where the plaza is located could have been the place where many hateful things happened makes it a sad day in Palestine today,” Logan said.

Texas Democratic Party Vice Chair Tarsha Hardy also watched the ceremony.

“I believe this will have a domino affect as there is another dedication planned soon in Orange, Texas,” Hardy said. “I think it gives them the opportunity to broadcast and share a message reflecting hate and to flat out disrespect African American heritage and their suffrage by blatantly using a flag that is a symbol that is offensive to many. I feel like they turned back the clock on the progress that had been made here.”

Daniel Davis Clayton, state chair of the Texas Coalition of the Black Texas Democrats agrees, not happy about the location of the plaza in particular.

“What I see here today is a claim of heritage and a demonstration of hate,” Clayton said.

Officers and members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of Confederate Rose from across Texas and other states were in attendance to dedicate the memorial plaza.

Others speaking or giving greetings during the John H. Reagan Camp No. 2156's dedication ceremony were: Johnnie Holley, 1st Lt. Commander, Texas Division, SCV; Rudy Ray, 1st Lt. Commander, Reagan Camp; Charles Lauret, ATM Councilman and Past Commander Louisiana Division, SVC; Cindy Bobbitt, State Director, Texas Order of the Confederate Rose; Sam Allen, Friends of the Sons of Confederate Veterans; Gary Williams, historian with the John H. Reagan Camp; Betty B. Petruska, president of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Granvel Block, commander of the Texas Division of SCV; Todd Owen, commander, Army of Trans-Mississippi, SCV.

Keynote speaker was Kelly Barrow, Lt. Commander-in-Chief National SVC.

Following the raising of the flags and the unveiling of the monument, Davis-Reagan UDC Chapter No. 2292 President Dollye Jeffus, gave the UDC tribute and the monument/plaza dedication. Members of the Emma Samson Chapter No. 31 of the Order of The Rose placed roses at the foot of the monument.

A Texas Historical Marker also was dedicated, noting the contributions of Confederate veterans from Anderson County.

The Lone Star Color Guard, Northeast Texas Brigade SCV and Honor Guard presented the military honors.

Reagan Camp former commander Ronnie Hatfield read a poem “Do You Know Me?”

John H. Reagan Camp members Rudy Ray (along with his wife Teri) and Doug Smith sang the Confederate song “The Wearing of the Gray.”

The ceremony ended with the singing of “Dixie.”

Featured in the parade, which started at the Anderson County Courthouse and ended at the Confederate Veterans  Memorial Plaza were horses, cannons and reenactors in Confederate infantry, cavalry and artillery uniforms. The parade also featured ladies in period attire, SCV “mechanized cavalry” on motorcycles and more.

Included in this memorial plaza will be memorial brick pavers engraved with the names of veterans along with their rank and unit.

One may honor a Confederate veteran by having the name, rank, and unit of the soldier inscribed on a memorial brick paver in the plaza. Forms are available at www.reaganscvcamp.org.

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc

On The Web:   http://palestineherald.com/breakingnews/x437162991/Confederate-Veterans-Memorial-Plaza-Dedication-Photos

Options for Forrest Monument unveiled to council

Saturday, April 13, 2013   

Selma City Council President Corey Bowie handed a letter to all council members Tuesday evening that spelled out four options he said would help avoid litigation between the city and KTK Mining of Virginia — the construction company contracted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Friends of Forrest to move and expand a monument to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and make handicap accessible modifications to an existing Confederate Monument in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

The company filed suit after the Selma City Council by majority vote shut down construction work, citing a dispute over whether or not the property where the monument work was being done is owned by the city or owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

A federal court in Mobile is scheduled to hear the case in September.

“Bottom line is whenever a city is sued, it has an adverse effect, not only financially, but also with its image, and that is something we are trying to avert,” Bowie said Tuesday, explaining his main reason for giving the council members the four options was to avoid litigation in September. “It may not materialize, but we have to at least offer the olive branch and at least reach across the lines to see what we can come up with.”

The first option listed in Bowie’s proposal gives KTK Mining of Virginia the right to continue with all planned construction, and place plaques around the site that portray accurate historical accounts approved by a third-party historian. It also stipulates all lawsuits against the city and city personnel be dropped.

The second option allows for KTK Mining of Virginia to complete all construction and enhancement plans on the monuments, but then — if requested — the city would allow anyone else the same right and opportunity to erect monuments or statues in equal size next to the Forrest monument. This option also stipulates all lawsuits against the city and city personnel be dropped.

The third option — in addition to ending all lawsuits — calls for the Forrest monument to be relocated to Riverside Park, where the Battle of Selma is held annually. KTK Mining of Virginia would also be allowed to make the Confederate monument handicap accessible at its current location in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

The last and final option would be for the city to take no action and let the lawsuit be heard in federal court.

Selma attorney Wes Kelly said he, along with three other attorneys, is representing KTK Mining of Virginia in the suit. Kelly forwarded Bowie’s letter to his client but as of Friday, had not heard any response from his clients.

“I think any attempt at settlement, it shows there is some flexibility and spirit of compromise, and so basically we want to take that spirit of compromise and try and do what we can with it,” Kelly said. “I have suggested in our letter to Mr. Bowie is that we try to get together in a sit down so we can discuss the options in a frank manner and move forward with the options and get this resolved.”

Kelly said he does not have a specific option he would recommend at this point, but did say his client may consider the third option, locating the Forrest monument to Riverside Park.

“I don’t think they would have that level of security at the battlefield and there have been some problems with theft in the past,” Kelly said, referring to the theft of the Forrest bust from the monument in April 2012.

Kelly, however, said he would not close the door on this option because council members might find a resolution to those concerns of safety and security at the battlefield.

“The council should obey the law and lift the suspension that illegally passed and let the work continue,” said Cecil Williamson, city council representative for Ward 1 and a supporter of KTK Mining of Virginia’s project in the cemetery. Williamson has previously voted to reverse the council’s decision to shut down the construction project.

Bowie said he does not know when the options will be voted on, but because of concerns about historical tourism he would like the matter resolved prior to the Battle of Selma, which is scheduled to begin April 25.

© 2013, The Selma Times-Journal.

On The Web:   http://www.selmatimesjournal.com/2013/04/13/options-for-forrest-monument-unveiled-to-council/

 

Friday, April 12, 2013

NAACP to protest plaza dedication
BY BETTY WATERS
blw@tylerpaper.com

PALESTINE — Extra law enforcement will be on hand and all sides hope things go peacefully when the NAACP protests and the Sons of Confederate Veterans dedicate their new plaza in memory of Confederate soldiers in downtown Palestine on Saturday.

Palestine NAACP President Kenneth Davidson said he expects NAACP members from across the state to show up to demonstrate against the plaza. Although he would not estimate how many might come, Davidson said believes they will come from Austin, Beaumont, Houston, San Antonio, Longview, San Angelo, Corpus Christi and other cities.

Meanwhile John H. Reagan Camp 2156 Sons of Confederate Veterans expects up to 400 re-enactors, many from out of state, to participate in a parade and dedication of the recently constructed Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza.

The plaza sits on private property bounded by Oak, North Jackson and Main streets. It contains several monuments and a back wall where the sons plan to display narrative Confederate history. In the center of the plaza are flagpoles that spokesmen for the sons say will fly the Texas flag surrounded by various flags flown by the Confederacy and the soldier’s flag.

The NAACP will conduct a march from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. to protest the plaza and flags, Davidson said. It will start at the farmers’ market on West Spring Street, proceed along West Oak to Howard Street, turn east on Oak and then right on Main Street back to the farmers market, Davidson said

The demonstration will continue with speakers at the farmers’ market until 4 p.m., he said.

“It will be a peaceful demonstration,” Davidson said.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans will conduct a parade from Anderson County Courthouse to the plaza starting at 10 a.m. and the dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. Parade entries will include re-enactors, a band, a horse cavalry and a mechanized cavalry.

“We told all people in our group don’t say anything to them (the NAACP protesters). If they say anything to you, just leave them alone and don’t start any conversation,” Gary Williams, camp historian, said. “We want to go through our deal peacefully. Hopefully it will go down that way.”

Palestine Police Chief Robert Herbert said that as Palestine’s chief law officer he is “concerned about any event that could pose a situation.”

A number of Palestine officers will be added to officers normally on duty and there is a possibility additional officers from other agencies may be brought in to assist, Herbert said, although he declined to identify the other agencies.

“I hope everything will be peaceful,” Herbert said.

Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor, noting there is a potential for problems, said the sheriff’s office will have “additional staff” available in case police need help.

Williams said he and three or four other members of the Sons of the Confederacy were informed by the police chief during a meeting early this week that the NAACP was planning a protest.

“I wish we could co-exist and come to a mutual understanding that we are not the enemy. We are not going to try to start the civil rights movement all over again. This (the plaza) is basically history … we want to leave some sort of lasting memorial to other generations. If ever they want to learn about their Confederate ancestors, they have a place to start,” Williams said.

He added, “It’s not racism; it’s about the Confederate veterans who left here.” The only way the plaza affects the NAACP members is if they have an ancestor that served as a black Confederate soldier, Williams said, noting there are eight brick pavers in the plaza in honor of documented black Confederate soldiers.

Williams contended that the plaza is an appropriate memorial for Confederate soldiers marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

But Davidson said the Confederate flags that the Sons of the Confederacy plan to fly in the plaza are a symbol of hatred and stand for slavery.

They will “divide the city in half,” Davidson said.

Vicki Shivers, former secretary for Palestine NAACP, said the NAACP does not want the Confederate flags to fly in the plaza.

“I want to see unity in the community. There’s too much division in this small town,” Ms. Shivers said. She pointed out that the Sons of the Confederacy do not plan to fly the U.S. flag and contended “nothing positive will come out of this.”

On The Web:   http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130412/NEWS01/130419929

New park stirring up controversy in Palestine

Apr 12, 2013
By Mitch Goulding

PALESTINE, TX (KLTV) -

A new park in Palestine doesn't open until Friday, but it's already causing a lot of controversy in the community.

The park will be home to the Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza and will honor Confederate veterans from the Civil War. But opponents say the park is divisive and only serves as a memory to a past they'd rather not have to think about on a daily basis.

Palestine NAACP president Kenneth Davidson has organized a protest against the new plaza.

"A lot of people do not like this," Davidson says. "I have people coming from Beaumont, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso because they're afraid that it's going to be their town or city next. It's time to stop this."

Davidson says he mainly takes issue with the park choosing to fly the Confederate flag.

"You can honor the history of your ancestors any other way besides flying this flag," Davidson said. "You know what this flag stands for, you know what it means to a lot of people. We do not want this here. We don't appreciate it here. Hopefully the city and the state will abolish this park and have it removed."

But leaders of the Sons of Confederate Veterans say that's not what the flag means to them.

"That flag was hijacked years ago by a hate group that we do not associate with," said Dan Dyer. "We denounce them. The flags of the confederacy are the flags that our ancestors fought under. We regret that this hate group hijacked the flags back in the 1950s and 1960s but that's not what we're about."

"It's a place to honor my ancestors who served the Confederate States Army," said Mark Robinson. "It's very important that I'm not only given the opportunity to honor them but to also share their true history."

Davidson disagrees.

"It's not about me and it's not about the sons of the Confederate veterans," Davidson said. "It's about this flag and this park, because it's dividing this city. It's about hatred. It's about slavery and it's a breeding ground for more violence to come into Palestine."

Copyright 2013 KLTV.

On The Web:   http://www.kltv.com/story/21966601/new-park-stirring-up-controversy-in-palestine

 

Friday, April 12, 2013
Confederate History Month in Texas

A regular reader sends this:

Heard on the radio this morning on the way to work: "Celebrate Confederate History Month by coming by Half-Priced Books and pick up a history book and read about our history."

Now, how long until someone pitches a fit about that going over the air? I'm just glad someone had the guts to advertise that way, and for the station to air it.

Jeff

 

Mississippi Declares April 'Confederate Heritage Month'

Reported by: Shelley Orman
4/02

DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - Mississippi just added a new observation to its calendar for the month of April. Governor Phil Bryant declared this month 'Confederate Heritage Month.'

Mississippi makes the seventh state to celebrate the confederacy's history in April. Some people we talk with worry it's too divisive; others say it's part of history.

"I had no idea," says Chuck Ealy.

"No, I've never heard of it," says Shannon Ray.

"I don't think it should be forgotten because it's history," says Darlean Holt.

 

States haven chosen April because that's when most observe Confederate Memorial Day. In Mississippi, April 29th is set aside to honor those who served in the confederacy.

"It doesn't really affect me much," Ealy says.

"I'd have to think about that. I think that war is over and I don't think we need to keep fighting it," Ray says.

Governor Phil Bryant signed Mississippi's order last week.

Bryant's proclamation reads "It is important for all Americans to reflect upon our nation's past, to gain insight from our mistakes and successes, and to come to a full understanding that the lessons learned yesterday and today will carry us through tomorrow if we carefully and earnestly strive to understand and appreciate our heritage."

"I don't think it's a good idea. I really don't," Ray says.

"I think it would be good as a reminder," says Holt. "I don't think they'll use it the wrong way."

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Virginia also have confederate history months.

Four states that were part of the confederacy that don't observe it are South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.

©1998 - 2013 abc24.com

On The Web:   http://www.abc24.com/news/local/story/Mississippi-Declares-April-Confederate-Heritage/bbgLaVpLHUa4V7GOIm2JeA.cspx?rss=59

 

TriPp Lewis Legal Defense Update:
 
Friends,
 
We are thrilled to report that based on an agreement reached this week with the District Attorney’s office, the criminal charge against TriPp Lewis will be dismissed when he returns to court on August 16th.
 
There is no admission of guilt and no new restrictions placed on TriPp going forward, other than an order that prevents him from going within 300 ft. of the residences of certain board members and officers of the VMFA.
 
There is a token amount of community service required. TriPp had hoped to fulfill this requirement by volunteering at the Confederate Memorial Chapel, but his offer was refused by the Lee-Jackson Camp. Instead, he will spend his time helping with Confederate grave locating and marker restoration.
 
This development is especially favorable, as his attorneys were hoping to clear the criminal case as quickly as possible so that they can concentrate on preparation for the upcoming civil suits, which will address the issues of civil rights violations, both in the case of TriPp being denied the right to honor his ancestors/carry a flag on the property, as well as violations against TriPp’s young daughter during the “arrest”.
 
In the meantime, TriPp wishes to express his deep gratitude and sincere appreciation for all of the encouraging notes, letters, messages and good wishes, and especially for the incredible outpouring of financial support from all over the Confederation. The fees for this dismissal have been paid, and any all donations over that amount or received moving forward, will be used to fund the civil lawsuits that will bring justice to those who have dishonored the Confederate Veterans who lived and died on the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park. He wants to assure ANYONE who might think that this agreement was a compromise in any way… that we have only yet begun to fight to RETURN the flags and RESTORE the honor!
 
"The contest is not over, the strife is not ended. It has only entered upon a new and enlarged arena." --- Jefferson Davis
 
God WILL vindicate!
 
Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers
 

Tripp Lewis Legal Defense Fund
P.O.Box 7938
Richmond,Virginia 23223
CSA
 
or PayPal:
 
http://www.vaflaggers.com/donate.html
 
THANK YOU... and GOD BLESS YOU...EACH AND EVERY ONE...
 

HONOR ROLL OF DONORS!
 
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Alabama Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Edmund Ruffin Fire Eaters Camp #3000, Mechanicsville, VA
J. Rudd, Chattahoochee, FL
 
 
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A Lewis, St. Louis, MO
D. Oliver, Richmond, VA
I. Judy, Arthur, WV
V. Busby, Summerville, SC
Anonymous, Metairie, LA
C. Carlson, Allendale, SC
R. Hale, St. Louis, MO
T. Hobbs, Titus, AL
H. Fleming, Springville, UT
Tennessee Flaggers, Elizabethton, TN
J. Ogburne, Athens, TX
A Myers, Damascus, MD
M. Gordon, Benton, KY
Fitzhugh Lee Camp #1805, SCV, Fredericksburg, VA
K. OConnell, Kirkwood, MO
A. Myers, Damascus, MD
C. Demastus, Olive Branch, MS
K. Snead,   Scottsburg, VA
L. Rinkel, Horn Lake, MS
L. Fondaw, Padukah, KY
A. Slocumb, Dothan, AL
B. Herring, Shreveport, LA
B. Clarke, Pershatin, WA
M. Conerly, Kerrville, TX
W. Dennison, Bristol, VA
P. Ramskindt, FRANCE
M. McGinnis, Brooks, GA
 

Grieve not

Grieve not for that Southern soldier who rests in so many cemeteries; some in unmarked graves, some with grand monuments. The time for grief has passed. Carry his story to the ends of the earth. Tell the truth about his suffering and courage to those who have defamed him. Carry the truth to all who will listen. Hold the truth near to your Southern heart and never forget to honor him, for the truth will stand when all crumbles. Truth crushed to the earth, like a seed, will rise again.

~~~ Bill Hicks Tennessee Confederate Flagger~~~

By way of:
Sister, Eileen Parker Zoellner
Tennessee Confederate Flagger

 

April Is Confederate History Month

April is designated Confederate History Month in Alabama by the State School Board and Governor. The large opposition by the Northern people to Lincoln's Tax War was a tremendous asset to the Confederate States.

Nearly half (45%) of all Northerners supported a voluntary union for the United States, as established by the Founding Fathers, and opposed Lincoln's new compulsory union to collect a 40% Federal sales tax from Americans for Lincoln's Wall Street partners.

Even in Franklin County, New York on the border of Canada, District Attorney W. A. Dart wrote to Lincoln's Secretary of State, September 23, 1861, "In several of the towns nearly as many persons could be enlisted for the Southern Confederacy as could be for the United States."

These Northern Confederates almost defeated Lincoln's reelection in 1864 with their political platform to end the war immediately and sign a peace treaty with the Confederate States.

Their Presidential candidate George McClellan received 45% of the Northern vote and, if Southern votes were allowed, Lincoln would have been handily defeated.

Whereupon today, the Confederate States and United States would be voluntary unions of sovereign, independent States, instead of a compulsory union of colonies of the Federal government.

Roger K. Broxton, President Confederate Heritage Fund
Andalusia

Sons of Confederate Veterans convention set Saturday in Shawnee

The Oklahoma Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will hold its annual convention and reunion at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Reunion Hall South in Shawnee.
BY SARAH HUSSAIN
April 11, 2013

SHAWNEE — The Oklahoma Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will hold its annual convention and reunion at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Reunion Hall South in Shawnee.

Oklahoma Division Commander Larry Logan said the group preserves the history and legacy of the citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern cause.

The convention will convene with coffee and visiting, then the brigades meeting at 9:30 a.m. and the reunion starting at 9:45 a.m. There is no registration fee, but there is a $7 buffet available.

This year's keynote speaker is Chuck McMichael of Shreveport, La., former commander in chief of the national organization.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is open to all males who are descendants of Confederate soldiers or sailors and who served honorably. The Oklahoma Division has 21 camps across Oklahoma and 300 members.

The group condemns the use of Confederate flags or symbols to promote racial prejudice, bigotry or discrimination.

“Unfortunately, people have used it to promote racial injustice,” Logan said. “We want good publicity and the misuse of Confederate flags offends us, too.”

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Reunion Hall South is at 1702 S Gordon Cooper Drive.

On The Web:   http://newsok.com/sons-of-confederate-veterans-convention-set-saturday-in-shawnee/article/3781832

 

Civil War veteran honored with Cross of Honor ceremony at Lone Oak Cemetery
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Marshall County Tribune

By Karen Hall
Editor

A Southern Cross of Honor was placed in Lone Oak Cemetery Sunday at the grave of the man who was Marshall County's last living Confederate veteran.

The ceremony was attended by descendants of James Knox Polk Thompson, local dignitaries, and members of several chapters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy.

J.K.P. Thompson enlisted at 17 in the Richmond Gentries, a company formed by Meredith P. Gentry of the Richmond Community of Bedford County, where Thompson was born and raised. The company became part of Company B, 41st Tennessee Infantry. They were captured at Fort Donelson in February 1862 and imprisoned at Camp Douglas. Thirty-eight of the men died of dysentery and exposure during this imprisonment. The survivors were released in a prisoner exchange at Vicksburg in September 1862. Thompson went on to fight in all the 41st Infantry's battles, right up to November 1864, when he was shot in the head during the Battle of Franklin.

For Thompson the war was over. He returned to Marshall County and to the farming life he'd known before the war. In November 1865 he married a 14-year-old girl named Mahala. Their farm was in the Bethbirei Community, between Wallace Thompson and Wade Brown Roads. J.K.P. and Mahala had nine children, five boys and four girls. One son, Tim Thompson, was Sheriff of Marshall County in the '30s.

One of Thompson's great-grandsons, Donald A. Smith, 86, lives in Lewisburg.

"I do remember him," Smith said. "He was bed-fast. My grandparents waited on him." Smith would have been about 10 years old when his great-grandfather died in 1936.

Except for 13 months in the Navy during World War II, Smith lived and worked most of his life in Lewisburg, including many years at the Peoples and Union Bank, where the Tribune office is now. That building replaced a J.C. Penney store in the '60s.

Smith was joined at the Lone Oak ceremony by two other great-grandchildren of Thompson 'Ä" Tim Thompson and Dr. Martha Thompson Elder 'Ä" and two great-great-grandchildren, Shane Smith and Brandon Thompson. All received copies of the proclamation honoring Thompson signed by County Mayor Joe Boyd Liggett earlier last week. Councilman Robin Minor, a retired history teacher, made the presentation.

Wes Pullen of the Marshall County Rangers #297 welcomed everyone to the ceremony, and thanked Thompson's family members for allowing it to be held.

Parson Tim Morrison of the John R. Massey Camp #152 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans gave the invocation and the benediction.

The Tennessee Division Sons of Confederate Veterans marched in with the colors and fired a salute with their Civil War-style rifles.

Cathy Gordon Wood, president of Giles County Chapter #257 United Daughters of the Confederacy, welcomed participants, and later gave the dedication of the cross, while UDC members placed flowers on J.K.P. Thompson's tombstone.

"This stone and iron cross are dedicated to our ancestors and the trials they endured," said Morrison. "We are responsible for telling the children the history of their Southern ancestors. We can't rely on the schools to do this. Our Confederate history is omitted in the Yankee history books that permeate the system."

"This is a wonderful way to honor our Confederate veterans," said Wood. "Nothing is ended until it is forgotten."

© Copyright 2013 Marshall County Tribune.

On The Web:   http://www.marshalltribune.com/story/1957640.html

 

Will the Sons of Confederate Veterans negotiate on the Civil War Memorial?
Monday, April 8, 2013

She says when Granvel Block applied for the permits from the city of Orange he called it a “veterans memorial”. But Orange lawyer Leslie Barris found out later it was something completely different.

When I saw the flyer that’s been widely distributed, uh for fundraising efforts, it’s a Confederate flag memorial. Which is a vastly different issue in my mind then veterans’ memorial. The Confederate flag is very corrosive, a very corrosive symbol to many people.

As a result, she’s asking the Orange City Council to consider a resolution “denouncing” the Confederate Flag Memorial and “it’s current location design at the Interstate 10 and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive location”. It also asks that the Sons of Confederate Veterans consider another site and to focus on the Confederate veterans themselves rather than the symbols of the Confederacy.

And the City of Orange is doing just that.  And other things as well.

On Tuesday, the city council will discuss amending the city ordinances and add Article 7.1500 which would regulate flagpoles, flags and banners in city limits.

They will also consider the permit itself which was issued for a new veterans memorial.  And the property itself.  It’s purchase.  A swap.  Value.

Councilwoman Annette Pernell remarked:

“Something is better than nothing. The city is trying to do what is best for all citizens.”

But are Granvel Block and the Sons of the Confederate Veterans willing to negotiate?  No one knows.  They haven’t showed up at any of the meetings about the issue.

A representative of group did go to the Orange County Commissioners Court to receive the proclamation declaring April Confederate History Month.  Allen Connel said Gravel Block “had to work”.

© 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.

On The Web:   http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2013/04/08/will-the-sons-of-confederate-veterans-negotiate-on-the-civil-war-memorial/

 

Attorney: Nothing constitutionally can stop Confederate memorial in Orange
By Jose D. Enriquez III
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

As applause rang through the Orange City Council chambers Tuesday, members voted unanimously to oppose construction of a Confederate veterans memorial at Interstate 10 and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, even though they previously approved building permits in fear of a free speech lawsuit.

More than 100 people gathered inside and outside the chambers to voice their continued distaste for the memorial, especially its prominent display of the Confederate battle flag within sight of the interstate.

Marshall Davis, public information officer for the Sons of Confederate Veterans-Texas Division, said his group is outraged that Orange citizens are not supporting the memorial.

"The Confederate memorial plaza in Orange will be completed," he said. "And it will be a war memorial to American war veterans who served their country and fought nobly and bravely."

Davis said members of their organization offered to erect an MLK memorial in the plaza, but the NAACP's Orange Branch rejected that overture.

"We find that disappointing, because Dr. King said that he hoped one day 'the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.'

Beaumont attorney and Orange native Marcus Wilkerson said, ""To build a memorial to the very system of oppression Dr. King spent his life in opposition to on a street is an affront and assault on African-Americans and is irresponsible," Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson said the community should be aware that "if the municipality found necessary use for the property, the city could use eminent domain to acquire that piece of land" for an easement for pipelines, railways, roads or other project that benefits the public.

Otherwise, nothing constitutionally can be done to stop construction now, regardless of the feelings it stirs, he said.

© 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.

On The Web:   http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Attorney-Nothing-constitutionally-can-stop-4423352.php

 

Summerdale council avoids vote on request to fly Confederate flag at city's welcome sign

Marc D. Anderson
manderson@al.com
April 09, 2013
   
SUMMERDALE, Alabama -- A resident’s request to fly the third national flag of the Confederacy with the American and Alabama flags at the town’s welcome sign on Ala. 59 fell flat at Monday night’s Town Council meeting without a motion to consider it, according to a Fox 10 report.

While Ray Harris said he would purchase and install the flag in honor of his Southern heritage, Councilwoman Norma Giles said it’s "not the kind of notoriety” the town wants, according to Fox 10.

The little-used third national flag was adopted by the Confederacy on March 4, 1865, just over a month before General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to the Union at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, which signaled the end of the American Civil War.

© 2013 Alabama Live LLC.

On The Web:   http://blog.al.com/live/2013/04/summerdale_council_avoids_vote.html

 

April 11, 2013
Outrage over Confederate memorial park on MLK, Jr. Drive grows

Dawn Burleigh
The Port Arthur News

ORANGE — It was standing room only inside Orange City Council Chamber on Tuesday morning as the council was scheduled to consider a resolution concerning the Confederate Veterans Memorial Park.

People were told at the entrance to Council Chambers by an Orange police officer that the room was at occupancy limits and for fire code regulations prohibited more from entering. The crowd in the atrium were told they could stay and listen but even that area quickly filled leaving more than a dozen people to stand outside.

Citizens stood along the windows outside to at least see what was happening during the 9 a.m. meeting.

Citizens are asked to sign in prior to the meeting if they are interested in addressing the council during citizens comment section of the meeting.

Texas Open Meetings Act does not allow the council to respond to any items not on the agenda.

Mayor Jimmy Sims said the list was three pages long and due to council members having a prior engagement not everyone would have an opportunity to speak.

“If we could limit it to 5-6 people,” Sims asked the crowd. “It appears most are wishing to speak about the memorial.”

The Mayor asked the citizens to please sign a notepad if they were against the memorial. The notepad without a heading was passed through the room for citizens to sign.

“This way the city knows how you feel.” Sims said.

Citizens spoke out against the flag, the memorial and the location.

The Confederate Memorial of the Wind is being constructed by Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. at 4120 IH-10 West, The property runs along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The funds for the project were raised through donations.

The location of the park and the Confederate flag being flown at that location has raised concerns for citizens. Many have said they feel it is a slap in face to have the flag flown on a street dedicated to the honor of King.

The mayor asked if anyone wanted to speak if they were against the resolution but not for the flag. No one spoke.

Sims also asked if there was anyone present to speak for the park or for the flag.

Which is when Tony Hoefner, pastor for Faith United Methodist Church, asked the council to table the resolution.

“I have talked with a representative of Sons of Confederate Veterans,” Hoefner said. “I think we should be working towards dialogue instead of rushing to condemn. I do not have a problem with a veterans memorial. I have a problem with the flag. Dialogue may bear fruit.”

The council passed a resolution opposing the construction and location of the park. The resolution will not stop or rescind or change the memorial. It only expresses the city’s view of the memorial.

The city attorney said the council had the right to pass a resolution.

The council passed an emergency ordinance, Article 7.1500, to regulate flagpoles, flags and banners within the city. The ordinance is the same as 12.606 for the Orange Historic District which has been in effect since 1999.

An emergency ordinance requires all to be in favor to pass. A majority vote is not acceptable in order to pass an emergency ordinance.

The ordinance states “Banners for commercial use, to exclude one (1) U.S. and one (1) state flag, neither to exceed four (4) feet by six (6) feet in size.”

Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. factual information packet concerning the park states the flags will be 3x5 on 30 foot flagpoles.

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc

On The Web:   http://panews.com/local/x1319130991/Outrage-over-Confederate-memorial-park-on-MLK-Jr-Drive-grows


 

Impatient But Determined Northern Economic Forces Cause War
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Lincoln as president-elect had ample opportunity to tour the South to better understand the region, as well as chastise the fanatic abolitionists who fueled the secessionist impulses of the South. He did neither, and after his unconstitutional call for troops to war upon a State, gave North Carolina Unionists no alternative but to join their brethren in a more perfect union.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Impatient But Determined Northern Economic Forces Cause War:
 
“Appealing to his constituents on a platform which included a protective tariff, internal improvements, free homesteads to free-soilers, and limiting slavery to its current borders, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency by pulling in the electoral votes of all the Northern States with the exception of New Jersey.  In ten Southern States he pulled no votes at all and consequently had no electors from that section. The national voting performance indicated that Lincoln drew considerably fewer votes than the total number of ballots cast for his three rivals, Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell.
 
In searching for solutions to the troubling problems following the national elections, alert citizens wanted to know more about the kind of program the new president intended to implement during his administration. To effectively counter secession arguments, Southern Unionists needed answers to vital questions – answers only the president-elect could give.
 
Reflecting the anxiety of many was North Carolina Congressman John A. Gilmer’s letter of December 10, 1860, to Lincoln….[that] before assuming his high office, should “give the people of the United States the views and opinions you now entertain on certain public questions now so seriously distract[ing] the country.”
 
Lincoln, in his return letter….chose to continue his policy of silence relative to his pending administration. Giving assurance he did not intend to interfere with slavery in the District of Columbia, [and] seemed to imply flexibility “on everything except the territorial question, and on this he would not yield.”
 
To those citizens both North and South who were thoroughly convinced that slavery extension existed more in theory than in fact, the president-elect’s position bordered on absurdity. In truth, the plantation system was not destined to expand into any existing territories of the United States. The territory of New Mexico, for ten years open to settlement by slaveholders, recorded not one slave in the census of 1860.  Colorado and Nevada were likewise without slaves. A few bondage blacks were to be found in Utah, and for the same year, census statistics indicated that two slaves resided in all of Kansas.
 
Thoughtful observers knew it would be a tragic mistake for Lincoln to proceed without a thorough understanding of the present South, reflecting the conditions brought on by a decade of intense and often bitter sectional rivalry with the North. Republican leaders, convinced as they were that an inevitable climax to the slavery issue was drawing near, surely would not overlook the strong likelihood that resolution was not attainable without secession and war.
 
Also, might certain essential observations have escaped Lincoln in his firm belief that there still remained throughout the South a strong residue of Union support and loyalty? In truth, Union sentiment in the region was much weaker than it had been in years past. The loyalty that had made North Carolinians proud to send James K. Polk to the presidency had now been supplanted by new and disturbing sensations.
 
For reasons valid or otherwise, there was furthermore a persistent suspicion that selfish and sinister forces were behind or perhaps a part of the Northern anti-slavery movement. If an irrepressible conflict lay ahead, as contended by some, how accurate was it to conclude that black people held in forced labor were the major cause of this impending crisis?
 
Tariffs revised upward, a national government favorable to the industrialization and capital investments so essential to expanding industry and commerce – these and related matters occupied the attention of Northern entrepreneurs and political leaders.  Could it be that when spokesmen for these special interests lashed out critically against slavery, very often their zeal was intended not so much to liberate unfortunate black people as to obliterate the political power of the region in which they resided?
 
Was not the South – represented by its phalanx of representatives in Congress, by its dominance of the Supreme Court and almost continuous control of the executive branch, and by its agriculturally-oriented society….the real target of North attacks?  Until this establishment was dismantled, impatient but determined Northern economic forces would continue to be held in check.  So why not strike at the South’s Achilles’ heel by mounting a convincing humanitarian campaign against its “peculiar” institution?”
 
(Matt W. Ransom, Confederate General From North Carolina, Clayton C. Marlow, McFarland & Company, 1996, pp. 3-5)
 
 

From: HK Edgerton ,<hk.edgerton@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 11, 2013
To: siegels1 <siegels1@mindspring.com>

Dear Ms. Lunelle,

There have been so many queries made to me about the events surrounding the Southern Cross on display during Confederate Heritage and History Month, and its removal from display at the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina - what my thoughts are, what am I going to do?

I have read and listened to the insane rantings of the North Carolina State NAACP President William Barber as he is given favor by the media to launch his Yankee discourse that his masters at the NAACP have given him about slavery. He clearly defines the extent to which he and his kind have stooped to dupe and further disenfranchise the African people in this land as no other organization has done.

See their works against the Honorable Marcus Garvey as he began to repatriate those Africans who chose to return to Africa and rebuild their lives there. See their economic, social and cultural destruction for Southern Blacks because of their gift of desegregation as Blacks lost business, homes, schools, the ability to discipline our children under the guise of the Christian Bible. In return for what?

And now Southern Black folk are told by this self appointed organization that claims to speak for all Black folks to turn a blind eye away from the centuries that Old Glory flew over Yankee owned slave vessels and the Constitution that supported and legalized the economic institution of slavery. To turn their backs on the Southern White man, the one man in the universe who was complicit in the world wide economic institution of slavery, but who did more to see to their human and spiritual comforts than any other, and of to whom our ancestors responded in kind to their act of benevolence by loyally standing by and with him, protecting, defending and making the Confederate Battle Flag while earning a place of honor and dignity beside him in the theater of the War for Southern Independence that the Yankee founded public school system fail to make mention of.

When Baker starts talking about the fundamental principles of freedom in our Constitution, let me remind him that it was a majority of Southern men who wrote those words, and Southern men who carried the Christian Cross of St. Andrew into battle because they believed that these words had been put asunder by a man who illegally invaded their homeland in violation of them.

The NAACP now practices content discrimination in its rhetoric and written policy against the Confederate Battle Flag, and further breaks the laws of its 501 C3 non-profit status with its attacks upon a Congressional venerated symbol that is the official logo of another 501C3 non profit Heritage organization known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans with the intent to destroy said organization.

I wish that I could have had the funds to post my flag at the State House, and remind the NAACP of how much they really need Confederate History and Heritage Month, and perhaps then they might learn of the Morril Tariff, or the Corwin Amendment, or the Union League and the flag they carried, or of Levi Carnine, Holt Collier, Napoleon Nelson, or even of the Edgerton brothers who went on a journey some ten years ago don in the uniform of the Southern soldier, carrying his glorious Flag, to the sounds of praise and cheers down Highway 80 (the Civil Rights highway) across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where King had come along with his many to the sounds of rage and jeers.

And then it came to me that this organization that is full of well intentioned people who now follow blindly the will of those who come to finish their occupation and siege upon the social, cultural and political aspects of all in the body politic in the Southland of America. God bless you.

Your brother,

HK

Va Flaggers Update:  Museum of the Confederacy 4-10-13


 
From: info@vaflaggers.com
 
We have received copies of quite a few letters like the one below, and reports of many, many more that were written.  Still, Mr. Rawls continue to boast that the Museum of the Confederacy is thriving and membership is growing.
 
Have you written your letter?  Send us a copy so we can share with others.  If not, what are you waiting for?  Isn't 365 days without a Confederate Flag flying on the grounds of the Museum of the Confederacy at Appomattox long enough?
 
From: Beal, Dennis W.
To: 'wrawls@moc.org'
Subject: Membership in the MOC
 
Mr Rawls:
 
I am responding to your reply to my letter, and want to thank you for responding. Please excuse the e-mail response.
 
A few weeks ago I wrote you a letter expressing my complete and total disdain for your decision a year ago to not display the battleflag on the museum grounds. I cancelled my membership to the MOC, after many years, as a result of your decision.
 
In your letter to me, you lamented on your long and storied ancestral past with regards to the confederacy and you cited your life membership in the SCV as some sort of legitimization of your convictions and the policy that has resulted in you dishonoring our ancestors by condoning and leading the effort to disregard their battlefield symbol that distinguished them from the enemy. I  quite frankly found your response and justification nothing more than hyperbolas tripe.
 
I will support the new SCV sponsored Confederate Museum with my annual $1000 per year donation, but I will not support in any way an organization that so blatantly and callously dismisses the memory and sacrifices of our southern veterans. Mr. Rawls, your decision was and is wrong and it has cost the MOC dearly.
 
Your completely inappropriate and unwarranted policy to exclude this most storied symbol will also result in me, as the Chief of Staff of the 3000 men in the Texas Division SCV, using all of my lobbying power at my disposal to persuade my fellow compatriots not only in Texas but throughout the confederation to cancel their memberships and not support the MOC.   
 
It is regrettable that I had to make this decision especially in light of it being entirely avoidable but for a poorly thought out and careless decision by you and the MOC board of directors.
 
Regards,
 
Dennis W. Beal, Col. USMC (ret)
 
Are YOU mad enough yet?
 
Boycott the Museum of the Confederacy. Cancel your membership....and tell them WHY!
 
-TriPp Lewis
Va Flaggers
 
"Onward we march! "
 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
 
Saturday, April 13th:  Flagging the VMFA 12-4
 
Wednesday, April 17th:  Wakefield Ruritan Club, 65th Annual Shad Planking, 2:00 – 6:30 p.m., Wakefield Sportsman’s Club, 12205 Brittles Mill Rd, Wakefield, VA 23888, Tickets $25 each.  More info here…http://www.shadplanking.com/
 
Thursday, April 18th:  Flagging the VMFA, 3 - Dusk.
 
Saturday, April 27th:   Susan will be traveling to Tampa, FL to represent the Va Flaggers and speak at the ceremony to raise the "World's Largest 3rd National Flag" by Gen. Jubal A. Early, Camp #556, SCV.  http://www.tampascv.org/3rd%20national.htm
 
Tuesday, April 30th:  7:00 p.m. at the Bedford County/City Museum on Main Street in Bedford, VA (across Court Street from the Bedford Court House)  Barry and Susan will travel to Bedford, Virginia to speak to the BEDFORD RIFLE GRAYS #1475, Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
 
Saturday, May 4th:  10:30 a.m. - Commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Lying in State at the Old House Chamber, State Capitol, Richmond, VA.  (Sponsored by Va Div, SCV)
 
Saturday, May 11th:  11:00 a.m. - Annual J.E.B. Stuart Memorial Service at the Yellow Tavern Monument in Glen Allen, VA, (sponsored by the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705, UDC)
 
Saturday, May 11th:  4:00 p.m. - Confederate Medal of Honor Memorial Service, Blanford Church on the grounds of Blanford Cemetery in Petersburg. (Sponsored by Robert E. Lee Camp #1589, SCV)
 
Saturday, June 8th:  Annual birthday ceremony for Jefferson F. Davis, at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.  (Sponsored by the Jefferson Davis Memorial Committee)
 
Saturday, June 29th:  22nd 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Annual Point Lookout Pilgrimage, Confederate Memorial Park, Point Lookout, MD.
 

   ******************
 

Here is the email I sent to Rawls on 4/3/13 and his response was the same script as what everyone has received. --
 
Dear Mr. Rawls:
 
I am a member of the UDC and we were former members of MOC. My husband and I keep talking about a trip to see the battlefields in Virginia, Gettysburg, the MOC at Appomattox, and to visit Richmond to see the White House of the Confederacy, UDC headquarters, Hollywood Cemetery, MOC and the monuments to our Confederate generals. However, now we will leave the state of Virginia off of our itinerary. I find it utterly disgusting that the flags of the Confederacy were removed from the chapel at VMFA and that the flags of the Confederacy do not fly at Appomattox MOC. I hope this is not correct.
 
My great, great-grandfather and three of his brothers served under those flags in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee. These boys were from Mississippi, not Virginia. My great, great-grandfather and one brother wounded were captured at Gettysburg and sent to Point Lookout Maryland POW prison; the other two brothers managed to survive with the regiment at Gettysburg to fight another day. The youngest was wounded near Petersburg and sent home to recover on furlough where he died four months later and was buried in the family cemetery in Cockrum, MS. The brothers in prison were eventually exchanged at City Point, with the wounded brother spending the remaining days of the War in a hospital in Mississippi. The oldest survived to be one of only ten remaining soldiers of Co. I, 17th MS Infantry to be surrendered by General Lee at Appomattox.
 
My ancestors spent most of their years of the War fighting on Virginia soil. I can only imagine if they were alive today what they would think to hear that U.S. Grant, a.k.a. the Butcher, was selected at the MOC Symposium as "Person of the Year" for 1863. I pray this is incorrect; otherwise, the world is going stark-raving mad! Who will be next year's winner, that kind-hearted, sensitive guy who said, "There is a class of people (in the South), men, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order." ...... W.T. Sherman? This disease of revisionist history, presentism, and cultural genocide is spreading from Virginia throughout the South and it will quickly destroy tourism for cities and states who foolishly choose to jump on the Cultural-Marxist Train.
 
You dishonor the Lee brothers from Cockrum, MS, my Confederate ancestors, and you should be ashamed!!
 
Becky & Ken Muska
Shelby Forest, TN.
 
Great, great-granddaughter of John J. Lee, descendant of William E. Lee, Josiah A. Lee & Giles A. Lee.
 
 

Alabama
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
 
To the Editor:


                    
I love the hypocrisy of the liberals who post on Al.com’s forums. While on the one hand they praise Alabama`s major cities which, are in the South, they as a whole condemn the rest of the South for slavery & segregation.
  
No one alive today has ever been a slave on a plantation or master of a plantation. Most of those who were old enough to hold positions of power & dictate policies under segregation are dead & gone. The majority of the living today was born since then.
  
Very, very few of the living today ever had to live through either of those periods of time yet they continue to beat the dead horse of slavery which, is 150 years in the past & segregation which is 50 years behind us. All while there are an estimated 30 million people in the world today which are still slaves in Africa & other 3rd world countries.
  
They do nothing about this but continue to worry over a done deal in the South stinking up the place with their hypocrisy. It’s O.K. to remember those times & for everyone to honor them as they see fit however, always remembering they are the past & a part of history.
  
Those that hate the South in general & the State of Alabama in particular I would remind you that as a state Alabama alone has made great strides since those times socially & economically. Alabama has influenced such companies as Mercedes, Honda, Hundai & most recently Airbus to located plants here. We are doing great compared to the Rust Belt states so, the South is rising again.
  
So instead of these liberal naysayers & ne`er - do - wells accentuating the positives in this state & the South they remain the ones living in the past with all their negativism & always looking back & never forward. When they free the 30 million slaves in the world today then we will all be impressed by them & their “superior intellect & knowledge."
  
They will then have the time to beat the dead horse of slavery & segregation in the South & then catch up with the rest of us by solving a problem which was answered years ago.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville, Al.
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Stop Censoring History

Gov. Pat McCrory is, from all accounts, a man dedicated to helping North Carolina move ahead. However, on March 29, he made a serious mistake.

At first glance, maybe ordering (through his Secretary of Cultural Resources) the removal of an historical exhibit of period flags from the historic old State Capitol might seem like a minor concern. After all, we’re not talking about the budget, roads or schools. But the removal of that exhibit of the historic Confederate battle flag because of political pressure from an individual, the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, who has never supported McCrory in anything and most likely never will, is both in error historically and politically.

 

Please click here and sign this petition to let Governor McCrory to know how we feel!! Share it with anyone else you know that feels the same way.

On The Web:   http://www.lsrebellion.blogspot.com/2013/04/stop-censoring-history.html

 

Restored Confederate flag returns to museum
By Renee Elder
relder@newsobserver.com
Sunday, Apr. 07, 2013

RALEIGH

A Confederate battle flag lost in the final months of the Civil War was handed over again Saturday – this time back into the collection of the N.C. Museum of History following a $6,500 restoration.

The flag was carried by the 6th Regiment of North Carolina at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek in Virginia when it was captured by a Union soldier on April 6, 1865. Forty years later, the federal government returned the flag to North Carolina, but it remained hidden in storage because the torn and dirty fabric was not suitable for display, said Jackson Marshall, assistant director of programming at the history museum.

“It’s been 100 years since the public has seen this flag,” Marshall said. “Now it’s cleaned and conserved in a way that will protect it for another 40 or 50 years.”

The museum is short on funds for restoring historic artifacts and must depend on private groups such as the Cedar Fork Rifles Preservation Society, which raised money to restore the 6th Regiment flag, he added. The museum has about 125 battle flags but only about 30 have been cleaned and preserved so they can be made available for display.

More than 100 people from across the state came to the dedication Saturday to see the flag and share stories about the N.C. 6th Regiment, which formed in Charlotte in May 1861 and fought its first major battle two months later in Manassas, Va., also known as the First Battle of Bull Run.

“It was the only North Carolina battalion at that first great battle of the war,” said Rick Walton, a Civil War historian and member the Cedar Fork Rifles Preservation Society.

Known as “the bloody 6th,” the regiment fought constantly during the war and at many famous battle sites in throughout Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina: Yorktown, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, New Bern, Plymouth, Petersburg and others. Starting out with 1,000 members, the ranks were diminished by injuries and deaths after years of fighting. Replacements were brought in whenever possible, Marshall said.

Sailor’s Creek, about 60 miles southwest of Richmond, was the last battle fought by the 6th Regiment, which carried a practically new flag that had been issued to replace others lost or captured in battle.

“We don’t know who the 6th’s flag-bearer was that day; in fact we know more about who captured it,” Walton said.

Joseph Kimball, of Littleton, N.H., got credit for taking the 6th Regiment battle flag; he was awarded one of the 57 medals handed out by the Union Army for military service on that day.

The Confederate battle flag has 13 five-pointed stars set on an “X” pattern, known as St. Andrew’s Cross but also sometimes called a Southern Cross. It is distinct from the Stars and Bars design of the Confederate States of America flag.

This 6th Regiment’s battle flag is missing a star, which was cut rather than ripped from the fabric, indicating it was likely taken as a souvenir from the battlefield or after the war, Marshall said. Conservators who prepared the flag for exhibit cleaned and protected the delicate fabric but did not change the flag’s overall appearance.

The Confederate Army lost more than 7,700 men at Sailor’s Creek. Just 72 hours later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

More than just a symbol of a long-ago military conflict, the flag represents family history for many of those who came to see the flag rejoin the museum’s collection, Walton added.

“What this represents to us is heritage,” he said. “It’s a visual reminder of our ancestors.”

Marshall said North Carolina troops suffered massive losses in the Civil War -- as many as 35,000 men were killed and thousands more severely wounded.

“In Gettysburg, almost 25 percent of the total losses were North Carolinians killed or wounded,” Marshall said.

He said North Carolina’s Civil War heritage remains strong largely because of the losses so many families endured.

“I’m astounded at how many people give money to these efforts because they know they have a family connection,” he said. “People still remember the suffering and loss and want to keep family memories alive.”

On The Web:   http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/06/3965270/battle-flag-of-bloody-6th-regiment.html

 

Confederate soldiers remembered
by Matt Prichard
Posted: 04.07.2013

ALBANY, GA --

A memorial service was held Saturday to honor the men of the Confederate Army that died during the Civil War.

The ceremony included a memorial tribute by the Lee County-based band, "A Joyful Noise," and finished with a symbolic wreath in memory of veterans from each of the confederate states.

Officials say although the confederacy may have lost the war, remembering their sacrifice is still an important piece of history.

"Well I think it's very important that we remember the sacrifices they made and to remember the reasons they made those sacrifices," said Lt. Commander, Marvin Mixon.

The service concluded with a speech from Rev. John Weaver of Fitzgerald's Freedom Baptist Church, who had served two terms as nation chaplain of the SCV.

© Copyright 2007-2013 Barrington Broadcasting Group, LLC

On The Web:  http://www.mysouthwestga.com/news/story.aspx?list=196423&id=881921#.UWRfQsomaSo

 

Confederate flag sparks free-speech battle

State law protects U.S. flag from insult
Saturday, 06 Apr 2013

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) - A New Mexico man who flew a Confederate battle flag over his Alamogordo-area property  faces a petty misdemeanor charge based on what he flew it with.

That Confederate flag, a symbol of slavery and racism to millions of Americans, could buy Scott Brown a ticket to jail.

A few months ago Otero County sheriff’s deputies asked Brown to take down his flag, which was flying next to the U.S. stars and stripes.  So he did.

Later that day, however, a deputy came to his house and cited him under a 1963 state law making it illegal to insult the U.S. flag or attach to it anything not connected with the patriotic history of the nation.

Now Brown has retained attorney Roberta Yurcic to defend him against the charge of an improper use of an official symbol.

“If you ask somebody from the South, the Confederate flag does have some significance to our patriotic heritage,” Yurcic said.

Brown said it is all a misunderstanding.

"We love our country, and no matter what flag is up there, I meant respect for my father-in-law that passed away,” Brown told KRQE News 13.

Brown said his father-in-law left him the Confederate flag, so he put it up days after his death in his honor.

“For us, the main issue is Mr. Brown's constitutional rights,” Yurcic added. “He has a First Amendment right to free speech, and for us that is what this case is all about."

The prosecuting attorney would not say if she agrees it is a free speech issue or not.

“We are not really at liberty to discuss the facts and ongoing litigation, alleged facts or otherwise,” Assistant District Attorney Ellen Jessen said.

Meanwhile, Brown is worried about how this will affect his family.

“My client is his wife's full-time caretaker.  His wife has become disabled during the pendency of this case, and she can no longer care for herself,” Yurcic said.

Brown's alleged crime is a petty misdemeanor, but he still faces up to 182 days in jail and a $500 fine if he's found guilty.

Confederate flags did fly briefly over New Mexico during the Civil War.  A Rebel army invaded from Texas in 1861 and occupied Albuquerque and Santa Fe before being driving out of the territory the next year after the Battle of Glorieta Pass.

(c) Copyright 2000 - 2013 LIN Television Corporation.

On The Web:   http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/confederate-flag-sparks-free-speech-battle

 

Allen Guelzo Misinforms the World Socialist Movement About Lincoln

by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

A philosophy professor named Allen Guelzo discovered in 1995 that one way out of academic obscurity (where most philosophy professors reside) is to become a "Lincoln scholar." He began writing books that tell the same old, same old, line about Lincoln: he died on Good Friday; he supposedly died for the sins of America just as Jesus died for the sins of the world; etc., etc. His first book of this time is entitled Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President. Seeking redemption for your sins? Then become a Lincoln worshipper, says Allen Guelzo.

Guelzo now teaches at Gettysburg College. He was recently interviewed by the World Socialist Web Site which describes itself as an arm of the "International Committee of the Fourth International" and "the leadership of the world socialist movement" that is "guided by a Marxist world outlook." The interview is entirely friendly with every question a "softball pitch." One striking feature of the interview is how Guelzo’s comments on Lincoln and economics are exactly the opposite of historical reality.

One of Guelzo’s first comments on Lincoln’s economic policies is based on a fake Lincoln quote about which Guelzo is apparently unaware. The Marxist Web site asked, "did [Lincoln] not privilege labor [over capital]"? Guelzo’s response is "He does indeed talk about labor having priority over capital . . ." Part of the Lincoln mythology is that Abe supposedly said: "All that loves labor serves the nation. All that harms labor is treason to America . . . . If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar." In their book, They Never Said it: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (Oxford University Press, 1989), Paul Boller and John George concluded that "there is no record of [Lincoln’s] ever having uttered these words."

The biggest howler of the interview is where Guelzo claims than an un-named "observer" supposedly said that "on political economy [Lincoln] was great, that there was no one better than Lincoln." Nothing could be further from the truth. Lincoln was a Hamiltonian, which is to say he was a mercantilist. He was slavishly devoted to the Whig policy of economic nationalism as expressed by the "American System" of Hamilton and Clay. This "system" was comprised of protectionist tariffs for the benefit of mostly Northern manufacturers; corporate welfare for road and canal-building and railroad corporations; and a national bank to finance subsidies and bailouts and to ladle out cheap credit to politically-connected businesses.

"Few people in the Whig Party were so committed to its economic agenda as Lincoln," wrote Michael Holt in The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party. "From the moment Lincoln first entered political life as a candidate for the state legislature he demonstrated an unswerving fidelity to Henry Clay and to Clay’s American system," wrote Robert Johannsen in Lincoln, the South, and Slavery. Lincoln himself once said that all of his economic ideas came from Henry Clay.

In his book Lincoln the Man Edgar Lee Masters gave a perfect description of the Hamilton/Clay/Lincoln "American System":

Clay was the champion of that political system which doles favors to the strong in order to win and to keep their adherence to the government. His system offered shelter to devious schemes and corrupt enterprises . . . . He was the beloved son of Alexander Hamilton with his corrupt funding schemes, his superstitions concerning the advantage of a public debt, and a people taxed to make profits for enterprises that cannot stand alone. His example and his doctrines led to the creation of a party that had no platform to announce, because its principles were plunder and nothing else.

This was neo-mercantilism, the very system that genuine "greats" in the field of political economy, such as Adam Smith, have always condemned, contrary to Allen Guelzo’s silly and uninformed opinion. Lincoln’s ruminations on political economy ranged from wrongheaded to ludicrous. He claimed that protectionist tariffs would cause lower prices, the exact opposite of the truth; he advocated autarky, or the complete prohibition of all imports of anything that could be grown or produced in the U.S., thereby depriving consumers of the benefits of international competition and the division of labor; and he compared the sound-money critics of a central bank run by politicians to Judas in one of his zanier speeches.

Guelzo informs the World Socialist Web Site that Lincoln never had a political thought that did not flow from the Declaration of Independence. What Lincoln actually said, however, is that all of his political thoughts flowed from the politics of Henry Clay, not the Declaration of Independence. He once said that his career aspiration was to be "the DeWitt Clinton of Illinois." DeWitt Clinton was the early nineteenth-century governor of New York who perfected the spoils system during the building of the Erie Canal.

Guelzo also repeats the mantra of Lincoln’s supposedly great "love" for the Declaration of Independence. But the Declaration of Independence was a declaration of secession from the British empire. In it the states are described as "free and independent" in the same sense that Great Britain, France, or Spain were "free and independent" states. Lincoln most certainly could not have "loved" the document that proves that America was created by an act of secession, the very principle of the American Revolution.

And of course there is the blather about how Lincoln "did keep the union together." Of course, in reality Lincoln’s war destroyed the voluntary union of the founders and replaced it with a coerced, Soviet-style "union" held together literally at gunpoint. Had he not done this, says Guelzo, "This would take the United States off the table as a major world player, and then what would you do with the history of the 20th century?"

Let me take a crack at answering this question. Without U.S. entry into World War I, financed in part by the new national bank of the sort that Lincoln longed for his entire adult life, the European powers would have eventually settled their disputes, as they always had done in the past. There would have been no Versailles Treaty that pushed Germany into the hands of Hitler, and the Russian communists would have been much weaker. Consequently, there would not likely have been a World War II and a 45-year long Cold War that followed.

As a decentralized, federal system that had long ago abolished slavery peacefully, as all the rest of the world did in the nineteenth century (including New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc.) America would have been a counter-example to all the world compared to the centralized, socialistic bureaucracies that dominated the 20th century (especially Russia and China and all the other socialist countries).

America may well have not been transformed from a constitutional republic to an empire with military bases in more than 150 countries. Presidents and their propagandists would not have repeated the Lincolnian mantra that "all men everywhere are created equal" to "justify" foreign military intervention in hundreds of places in the name of "spreading democracy and freedom" (but in reality for the purpose of confiscating resources or imposing mercantilism on foreign lands by military force for the benefit of American corporations).

This is not "capitalism" but corporatism or neo-mercantilism. Real capitalism is a system of mutually-advantageous, voluntary trade and does not require imposition at the barrel of a gun. Allen Guelzo is of course oblivious to all of this and relies instead with such silly rhetoric as when he tells the World Socialist Web Site that sleazy, corrupt, politically-connected lawyer/lobbyists like Lincoln were "the shock troops of capitalism."

Copyright © 2013 by LewRockwell.com

On The web:   http://lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo251.html

 

No North Carolina Troops to Murder Her Southern Brethren
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
Below, Governor Zebulon Vance presents his reasons for not entertaining peace proposals with the North in a letter to John Haughton -- lawyer, planter, and former State senator with strong unionist sympathies. Prior to Lincoln’s invasion of the South, Vance also held strong unionist sympathies.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
No North Carolina Troops to Murder Her Southern Brethren:
 
“Executive Office, Raleigh, 17 August, 1863
 
To: John H. Haughton, Esq.
 
My dear Sir, Your letter of the 15th is recd, and I take the first moment allowed me by pressing business to reply.
 
You ask my opinion more especially “as to the best means of obtaining a speedy, lasting just and honorable peace.” National disputes can of course only be settled by negotiations or by war, by reason or by brute force. The former requires the assent & concordance of both parties, and either party refusing to negotiate can force the other into hostilities, or an absolute abandonment of all its pretensions. This I conceive was precisely our case in the beginning of our troubles.
 
The claim of the Southern States to withdraw from the union and form a separate government for themselves was deemed so inadmissible by the Federal government that no proposition whatever to negotiate would be listened to.  Commissioners from the seceding States were even refused an audience of the Federal authorities. War therefore, or a total abandonment of all claim to the right of separation was the only alternative – Declining to yield this right….the States then [out] prepared for war and the President of the United States called for volunteers to crush them into submission.
 
North Carolina refused to furnish her quota of troops to murder her Southern brethren….severed the tie that bound her to [the] union by the unanimous voice of the peoples’ delegates & solemnly pledged her blood and treasure to the common course of Southern independence. This was the issue plain and unmistakable, then – the terms of the North were, lay down your arms and submit; [the terms] of the South – let us alone.
 
The whole world understood it.  Is it not the same today?
 
There is therefore no escape from the conclusion, that should the North cry peace, it would indicate an intention to yield [the claims of the South], and should the South cry peace it would imply submission to the North. Are we ready for this?
 
Have the stout hearts of our soldiers and the patient sufferings of [our] people already reached that valley of humiliation which good old Bunyan located but one stage from the valley of the Shadow of Death?
 
God knows my dear Sir, that I would gladly lay down my life to restore peace to my country on terms of honor and safety, and would prefer the distinction to all the honors a grateful people could heap upon me.  But as the matter stands and has stood from the beginning, I can only look upon propositions of peace coming from us, no matter how pure and patriotic the motive which induces them, as involving national dishonor, ruin and disgrace.
 
I can sympathize deeply with [our peoples’] sufferings under the desolating scourge of civil war waged with such bloody and vindictive cruelty, and do not wonder at their seeking for relief. But how any one can think there [is any prospect] for an honorable peace by negotiations, I am at a loss to know. But recently Vice President [Alexander H. Stephens] was sent to seek an interview with the Federal authorities to see if some more humane method of conducting the war could not be devised. Even this mission of mercy & civilization was treated with [scorn/indifference] and he was sent back without a chance to consult the proper authorities.
 
Suppose the State should be unanimous in the determination to make propositions to our enemies, how could it be done? What do we propose? Why sir the whole thing is [perfectly] absurd….except upon the supposition that we desire to submit….
 
I trust in God my countrymen will not be led blindfolded to their destruction. What would be the result of submission? To say nothing of the question of honor, it implies with absolute certainty….In short the fate of the conquered, with the fierce and vindictive passions engendered by civil strife goading on our conquerors, is what we should expect.
 
Reconstruction, if possible, would be little better; but it is a physical and moral impossibility. As soon would I think of resurrecting the bones of our gallant soldiers scattered from Gettysburg to New Orleans and invest them with living flesh, as to undertake [reconstruction the union as it once was] founded on mutual good will and sustained by a constitution limiting the powers and defining the rights of each member [State].
 
That mutual good will has [now] given way to fierce hatred and bloody hostility, and [the old] constitution torn into a thousand shreds and laughed at a waste papers.  You might indeed reconstruct the territory of the old union, but the soul, the living principal of accord and nationality will not be there.
 
And this too, would for a time give our afflicted country peace….[as the] prisoner has peace in his dungeon, and if his soul be sufficiently ignoble may hear complacently the rattle of his chains.  Such I feel assured, is not the peace the brave and high-minded people of [North Carolina] want…..
 
With whom would we again enter into this national wedlock, and take upon these ties of [unity and] common fellowship? With men who have slaughtered our sons and brothers in battle, murdered our citizens in cold blood, burnt our homes into cinders, stolen our property and inflicted upon our mothers, [sisters and] daughters the crowning outrage of humanity, and now send against us our own slaves armed and ready to surfeit their savage natures in brutality and murder! These people we are to receive again as brothers, red handed, reeking with the slaughter of our people and the desolation of our country, and sit as quietly down together in all peace and amity as one great and happy family!
 
To them we are expected to say, welcome thou slayer of my son, thou [gallant] murderer of my father, thou thief of all my goods, incendiary of my home, ravisher of my daughter….to this home you have made desolate and to this shelter I have built upon the ashes of our home you have] burned!!
 
Can any true son of North Carolina be found whose crawling, creeping soul would so grovel in the dirt of degradation and [so] lick the vile dust from the boot of a master? Mat God pity him [if there be]! Why is this idea even talked of?
 
Sir, our only hope for national honor, for happiness, for peace itself lies in a cordial undaunted and & vigorous prosecution of the war until our enemies offer us peace.  The State of North Carolina by a solemn ordinance of her convention formally and forever dissolved her connection with the old government, [entered] into a compact with the new, and pledged her blood and treasure to the support of the common cause – in accordance with this solemn pledge….the best and bravest of her sons rushed to arms and for nearly thirty months have met the [almost] overwhelming numbers of the foe and driven him back upon a hundred fields of slaughter, with a gallantry and devotion which have excited the admiration of the world.
 
And now with the battle half won, must all this energy, this bravery, noble devotion and patriotic self-sacrifice be thrown away?  Shall timid souls…drive our people to despair and crucify afresh the spirits of our heroic dead, and put their noble souls to open shame? God of his infinite mercy forbid!
 
I say the battle is half-won & why?  Because Sir the North gives unmistakable signs that she finds it quite as difficult to keep up the strife as we. The blood which flows through the streets of her cities, the bold and defiant tone of her press and politicians towards Lincoln’s administration, the thousands of Federal bayonets gleaming throughout the land to enforce conscription and “preserve order,” as they significantly term it….all show that they are having their troubles also.
 
If our impatient, suffering people would only have more trusting faith, write cheerfully to their sons in the army, hold meetings all over the country, to devise means for the assistance of the poor and to induce the [poor and] tired and disheartened deserters to return to their colors, and sin no more, and [to] resolve to fight and suffer yet awhile longer, trusting the issue with God, in His own good time our deliverance will come -- Such are my impressions of our public duty, hastily given – You or any one else may see them.
 
Very truly yours, Z.B. Vance”
 
(The Papers of Zebulon Baird Vance, Volume II, 1863, Joe A. Mobley, editor, NCDAH, 1995, excerpt, pp. 242-247)
 

Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace
 
From: hk.edgerton@gmail.com
 
As expected, Confederate Flag hating Yankee Republican Governor Mike McCory of North Carolina would hold true to his form by placing a number of Confederate Historical sites on his chopping block. The most notable being the historical birth place of the Honorable Governor Zebulon B. Vance / Colonel CSA 26th North Carolina, and the monument erected in his honor on the City Square is also reported to be on the chopping blocks.
 
On Saturday morning, April 6, 2013, I would post the Third National Flag of the Confederate States of America on the traffic Island at the corner of Merrimon Avenue and Reems Creek Road in Weaverville, North Carolina that leads to the Governors birth place. I would tell the many who would ask that I had come in support of the home place remaining open to the many who not only visited, but for those who use its facilities to show case their Southern Heritage.
 
I would return again to the traffic island on Sunday morning, April 7, 2013, don in the uniform of the Southern soldier with the Naval Jack in hand. As was the case of the day before, I would be humbled by the words of praise, the shouts of we love you, the calling out of my name, the encouraging words that came from so many Black and White folks. However, before I could get a case of the "Big Head",  A middle aged white woman would pull adjacent to me, miss two green lights and in her Northern vernacular asked of me; how could you'se be standing there dressed like that, and waving that flag that caused your people so much harm?
 
I would first thank my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, for giving me the opportunity on this fine Sunday morning to answer the question posed by this Northern lady. Mam, what harm are you talking about, I would ask? Before she could reply; I told her that this beautiful Flag had only been in existence for four years, and for that four year period, my African ancestors, freed or indentured, served honorably under the symbol of the Southern Cross. They made the implements of war, provided the food stuffs for General Lee's army, stayed at home and help protect their home places the best they could while the men were away, went off to war with him, served loyally by his side, fought by his side, and far too many times brought his remains, or that of his sons back home through enemy lines to the thanks and adoration he would receive from his Southern family and his Mistress whose despair seemed to be lighted because of the task accomplished in bringing her relative home.
 
Mam, just as you martyred Lincoln, a man that was hated by his own Cabinet, and Northern public; with distortions and lies, you come here with your complicity in the economic institution of slavery, and false sense of virtuosity that you somehow saved me and my kind, and that I should over look that the Union Jack had far more to do with the economic institution of Chattel slavery and high disregard of the African people before, during the period of reconstruction and now here in the 21st century as you use the African people as your weapon of choice for the Southern social and cultural genocide expressed by the likes of Thaddeus Stephens. You and your kind come amongst us stirring up trouble between Southern Black and Southern White folk, telling our children that it is wrong to say yes sir, no sir , thank you mam, please, no more for them-- Our Father who art in Heaven, hallow be thy name to start their day, no longer can they take pride in wearing the Southern Cross or to fly it on their tricycles and bicycles as was the case in the Jim Crowe South that the Northern White majority Supreme Court ushered in as the law of the land against the opposition of one former Southern plantation owner who didn't believe that the people of the South needed to be separated in the body politic.
 
I shall be a patriot as Lee asked of us under the high jack symbol of the Union Jack, but don't ask me to be a traitor to my homeland and the legacy of my ancestors who stood by his Southern family because you control the propaganda and can deliver a tale of lies. She would finally pull off looking somewhat in a state of bewilderment to the shouts of the rebel yell from a car behind her. God bless you.
                                                                            
Your brother,
                                                                                 
HK Edgerton
 
 

Va Flaggers Update: Sesquicentennial of the Confederate Munitions Explosion in RVA
 
From: suzn68@comcast.net
 
March, 1863... Confederate Munitions Explosion: Remembering the Young Girls of Richmond.
 
"Though their hands were small and not hardened in battle, their service to the Confederacy looms large."
 
In memory of those who lost their lives in the explosion of C.S. Laboratories on Brown's Island - Richmond, Virginia, March 13, 1863. Some were as young as 11, assembling or disassembling percussion caps, friction primers, signal lights, rockets, all things explosive for the southern cause. Dozens of girls – many of them young Irish immigrants – were injured during the chain-reaction explosion at the Confederate State Laboratory munitions factory on Brown’s Island. As many as 50 died.
 
On March 13, 2013, a new marker was dedicated at the site of the tragedy. Va Flagger Grayson Jennings forwarded the colors and provided a Confederate presence there, and provided Confederate and Irish flags for the marker’s dedication.
 
That evening, we placed a flag at the monument in Oakwood Cemetery.
 
On Sunday, March 17th, the Va Flaggers attended a service in Shockoe Cemetery, where 14 of the girls are buried. A new marker was unveiled. Tripp and Jack Lewis were recognized as an honor guard and I carried the Hardee flag of General Patrick Cleburne in honor of his birthday. The ceremony was sponsored and attended by Richmond’s Irish community, and many were interested to learn of the flag, General Cleburne, and its connection to their Irish Heritage. Of course, we were happy to share information and educate attendees about our flags and our brave Irish Confederates.  :)
 
150 years later, the memory of these girls lives on, in the hearts of those who honor and recognize their sacrifice. God bless the girls of the Confederate States Munitions Laboratories.
 
More photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151563053094274.1073741827.698334273&type=3
 
After attending the ceremony, Tracy Wright and Willie Earl Wells were led to take up the task of getting individual tombstones for each of these girls, who now rest in unmarked graves. The Mechanized Cavalry/VA, 2nd Battlion, Co. A, 4th Platoon and the Sally Tompkins Chapter 2, OCR are raising funds to complete this undertaking and are asking for your support to make it happen.
 
Please send contributions to:
OCR Sally Tompkins Chapter 2 "Tombstone Fund"
c/o Teresa Piner Wells
19844 Templeton Road
Carson VA 23830
 
LEST WE FORGET!
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 
 

Va Flaggers Update:  Chesterfield Co CH&H Day 4-6-2013


 
From: suzn68@comcast.net
 
Saturday, April 6th was a busy day for the Va Flaggers.  While many of our troops were in Richmond, greeting “Civil War and Emancipation Day” visitors, another group was in Chesterfield County, lending our support to the 13th Annual Chesterfield County Confederate History & Heritage Month Program.
 
The Va Flaggers were invited by the organizers to attend and forward the color on Route 10 (Iron Bridge Rd.), in order to attract passers-by and encourage them to stop and attend.  Four Flaggers were in attendance and we took our position near the event banner.  Iron Bridge Rd. is a busy thoroughfare, which widens to 6 lanes near the Old Courthouse, where the event was held.  The Va Flaggers were greeted with many honks, waves and thumbs up.
 
The event itself was very well organized and well attended.  After a memorial service, attendees browsed through displays by local SCV camps , UDC, Chapters, and re-enactment groups.  The Chesterfield Historical Society sponsored the event, and should be specially thanked for their efforts to honor Chesterfield County’s Confederate Heritage.  http://www.chesterfieldhistory.com/
 
The 2011 Chesterfield County Confederate History and Heritage Month Proclamation, which was decreed in perpetuity by county officials, was proudly displayed!
 
All in all a GREAT day in Chesterfield County and a great opportunity to educate the public about our Confederate ancestors and the flags they carried!
 
Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers
 
 

CSS Chattahoochee - Confederate gunboat
 
From: 290admin@onetel.com
 
The story of the C.S.S. Chattahoochee is commemorated by a monument in Linwood Cemetery, to the loss of crew members due to a boiler explosion on May 27th 1863. A 30-foot section of the stern and steam engines of the Chattahoochee were recovered from her namesake river in 1964 where the vessel was scuttled by Confederate forces in 1865. A rare surviving example of Confederate shipbuilding, Chattahoochee represents the innovative and resourceful improvisation of the Confederacy as it built a fleet of river and coastal-defence gunboats and ironclads during the Civil War. Chattahoochee's stern is displayed at the Port Columbus Civil War Naval Centre.
 
Ian Dewar
 
https://sites.google.com/site/290foundation/history/css-chattahoochee
 
 

Jefferson Davis and Others Have Made a Nation
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
The leaders of the Republican political machine in Washington “were annoyed and offended because Europe ventured to pronounce the condition of affairs in North America to be a state of war, which they affirmed to be only an insurrection.” The South, as Republicans and a few War Democrats saw it, was engaged in domestic insurrection inflamed by insurgents rather than forming a more perfect union with the consent of the governed.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Jefferson Davis and Others Have Made a Nation:


 
[Earl Russell said at Newcastle], “But I cannot help asking myself frequently, as I trace the progress of the contest, to what good end can it tend? Supposing the contest to end in the reunion of the different States; supposing that the South should agree to enter again the Federal Union with all the rights guaranteed to her by the Constitution, should we not then have debated over again the fatal question of slavery?....
 
But, on the other hand, supposing that the Federal Government completely conquer and subdue the Southern States – supposing that be the result after a long, military conflict and some years of Civil War – would not the national prosperity of that country be destroyed?....
 
If such are the unhappy results which alone can be looked forward to from the reunion of these different parts of the North American States, is it not then our duty…is it not the duty of men who wish to preserve to perpetuity the sacred inheritance of liberty, to endeavour to see whether this sanguinary conflict cannot be put to an end?
 
In a speech delivered in the house of Lords, February 5th, 1863, Earl Russell said: -- “There is one thing, however, which I think may be the result of the struggle, and which, to my mind, would be a great calamity – that is, the subjugation of the South by the North….”
 
Mr. W.E. Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in a public speech at Newcastle, October 7, 1862: -- “We may have our own opinions about slavery; we may be for or against the South; but there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the South have made an army. They are making, it appears, a navy, and they have made what is more than either – they have made a nation. (Loud cheers.)….We may anticipate with certainty the success of the Southern States so far as regards their separation from the North. (Hear, hear.)…”
 
[Mr. Gladstone stated in the House of Commons on 30 June 1863]…Why, sir, we must desire a cessation of the war….We do not believe that the restoration of the American Union by force is attainable. I believe that the opinion of this country is unanimous upon that subject….[and] believe that the public opinion of this country bears very strongly on another matter….whether the emancipation of the negro race is an object that can be legitimately pursued by means of coercion and bloodshed….I do not believe that a more fatal error was ever committed than when men – of high intelligence I grant….came to the conclusion that the emancipation of the negro was to be sought, although they could only travel to it by a sea of blood. I do not think there is any real or serious ground for doubt as to the issue of this contest.”
 
(The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, James D. Bulloch, Volume II, Sagamore Press, 1959, pp. 359-361)
 
 

How to resist & fight
 
From: cscitizen@windstream.net
 
While Southern Heritage groups wonder how to combat the continual attacks on Southern history, heritage, culture & all symbols of it, only a handful show up at places like Memphis & Selma to demonstrate & protest those attacks.
  
S.C.V. has 30k members, add to this those of the League of the South, Order of the Confederate Rose, U.D.C. & all the other various Southern organizations & the streets & government meetings should be full of our members showing their displeasure over the things that are happening to Southern Heritage.
  
Besides taking our enemies to court there is also boycotting as a means to vote your unhappiness over these decisions by withholding your money. Spend your money elsewhere instead of those places that oppress & persecute you. Don`t spend your entertainment dollars in those places or even buy a hamburger or a loaf of bread until you are extended the same rights as everyone else. If you live in those places shop out of town until changes come to that town.
  
There are many ways to resist & fight back, these are but a few. I`m sure the rest of you can think of many more ways to dry up the dollars you spend in these places. If everyone can get on the same sheet of music & resist in every manner, no matter how small, you can make a difference.
  
However, this will take everyone doing these things, day in & day out until we get afforded the same constitutional rights as those who are trying to deny us the same American rights they enjoy. We can either do them or disappear.
 
Billy E. Price
Ashville Alabama
 
 

From: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net <oldsouthrebel@zebra.net>
Date: Sat, Apr 6, 2013
Subject: SUSAN HATHAWAY'S LETTER TO MAYOR EVANS AND CITY COUNCIL - MARCH 2013

TO ALL:
 
Please find attached an EXCELLENT letter written by Mrs. Susan Hathaway of Sandston, VA. (suburb of Richmond). Recently, Susan was a guest in our home for several days while in Alabama for a speaking engagement in Tallassee, Alabama. I took Susan and another friend from Mt. Zion, GA on a tour of Selma.  On Saturday, we toured Sturdivant Hall, The Smitherman Building Museum, Live Oak Cemetery, The Harmony Club and I conducted a windshield tour of the Historic District plus I took her to the site of the Confederate Naval Ordnance & Ironworks; we treated them to supper at the Tally Ho where they really enjoyed the food, service & atmosphere. On Sunday afternoon. we toured Old Cahawba. On Monday we toured the Alabama State Capitol where she was MOST impressed with our Confederate Monument and the fact that ALL four corners were adorned with the flags of the Confederacy!  We also toured the First While House of the Confederacy and Oakwood Cemetery...then on to Marbury to tour Confederate Memorial Park, where she was just totally overwhelmed by the splendid conservation of this site, the museum and the library.  After the tour of Confederate Memorial Park, we then took her to her speaking engagement where she addressed a large membership of the Tallassee Armory Guards SCV Camp 1921.  We certainly tried to give her the condensed version of the  FULL ALABAMA EXPERIENCE in the short time that she was our guest. Yes, there is a lot to see in Selma ONLY if you KNOW WHERE to find it because as Susan says, Selma obviously does not have the vision or see the need to develop our history to draw tourists here!
 
Susan & I have been friends for about two years when she joined the Virginia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy. Susan is a tremendous asset to the UDC in fulfilling our statement of purpose of educating succeeding generations of the TRUTH of our noble Southern history regarding the War of Northern Aggression.
 
Susan wrote the attached letter after returning to Virginia. She mailed it to Mayor George Evans, each member of the City Council, the Selma Times Journal, the Montgomery Advertiser where it has already been published but was EDITED!!!  I am sending you her letter so that you might read it in its entirety in the event that you have not already seen it on the Internet, because it has "gone viral"!!!  With Susan's permission of course, I have mailed hard copies of her letter to the Directors/Officers of the Chamber of Commerce, the individual members of the Selma Historic Building Commission, Probate Judge Kim Ballard and various other persons whom I think should read her letter in its entirety because the "norm" of the "Opinion" pages of newspapers tend to edit OUR "opinions" and turn the original writing into what THEY think should be written!  The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution working for THE PEOPLE!
 
Susan's letter is outstanding and says a LOT in a few words.  Being from the Richmond, Virginia area, Susan is surrounded by a plethora of history beginning with the  very SETTLING of this country and has a deep appreciation for the Founding Fathers and our Confederate ancestors in establishing the U.S. Constitution and the attempt to maintain that rare document, that Mr. Lincoln "rolled up and put on a shelf". Susan is very well educated and currently has a daughter and a son attending a private Christian college in Virginia. Susan has dedicated her life to the education of the masses in the TRUTH about our Southern history, heritage and culture.
 
I hope you appreciate her letter as much as I do.
 
Confederately yours,
Pat Godwin
 
oldsouth@zebra.net
EarthLink Revolves Around You.

Susan Hathaway's Letter To Mayor Evans and City Council - March 2013  (Link is to a file in PDF format)

Friday, April 05, 2013

Palestine dedication for plaza honoring Confederates set for April 13
BY BETTY WATERS
blw@tylerpaper.com

A newly constructed plaza to honor Confederate soldiers from Anderson County and tell the history of the Confederacy will be dedicated April 13 in downtown Palestine.

As many as 400 re-enactors, a band, a horse cavalry and a mechanized cavalry are expected for the event. A parade will start at 10 a.m. at the Anderson County Courthouse and wind its way tover o the plaza, where the dedication ceremony will begin at 11 a.m.

The Confederate Veterans Memorial Plaza sits on about two-tenths of an acre bordered by Oak, North Jackson and Main streets.

It is a project of John H. Reagan Camp 2156 Sons of Confederate Veterans.

“We are going to have a park to honor Confederate soldiers from Anderson County who went off to war and tell their story so that it will be a remaining legacy years after we are all gone,” Gary Williams, camp historian, said.

“It's basically history to keep the memory from being swept like the wind and wiping it clean and forgotten. It's just a way of presenting some of the Civil War history of Anderson County to folks. We hope the community will enjoy it.”

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans spent many hours at the library and on the Internet gathering the information.

The plaza has flagpoles near the center, a brick back wall, intersecting sidewalks with monuments and an arch over the main entrance.

One marker will list 11 Confederate units from Anderson County — eight cavalry and three infantry.

“We will have a lot of information about the units and some individuals from here who were merchants, lawyers, judges and a newspaperman,” Williams said.

At the ends of sidewalks through the plaza will be granite monuments. Etched in the monuments will be statements of Confederate leaders, such as Jefferson Davis.

Two Texas historical markers from the Texas Historical Commission also will be erected in the plaza. One will give historical information about John H. Reagan, the Palestine resident who served as secretary of the treasury for the Confederacy, and the other marker will give information about Anderson County and the Civil War.

Another marker will display the charge or mission statement of the John H. Reagan camp.

On the back wall as the Sons of Confederate Veterans can afford to add them will eventually be interpretive plaques providing narrative information about each of the Confederate units from Anderson County and some of the men that served in the units, Williams said.

Flying from flagpoles in the plaza will be the Texas flag surrounded by national flags used at different times by the Confederacy and the battle flag, also known as the soldier's flag.

Brick pavers in the sidewalks donated by individuals and groups will honor Confederate soldiers, some of them Hispanic, some blacks and some Asian, said Doug Smith, adjutant/treasurer of the John H. Reagan Camp.

“We are also going to tell about some of the men that returned after the war. Most of these men were pillars of the community, and they brought Palestine through the Reconstruction,” Williams said. “Two Confederate veterans brokered a deal to bring the International Great Northern Railroad here, which gave this town a big economic and population boom.”

Williams and Smith say the town needs to know that the first five out of the first nine mayors of Palestine were Confederate veterans and that it was primarily Confederate veterans who got the town up on its feet again and thriving after Reconstruction.

On The Web:   http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20130405/NEWS01/130409878/-1/FEATURES07

 

United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter celebrates 100th anniversary in Clearwater

Nova Beall
Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
   
The Mary Custis Lee Chapter 1451 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy recently celebrated its 100th anniversary at the UDC Memorial Building in Clearwater.

The chapter was organized March 27, 1913, by women whose ancestors provided service to the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Several charter members were descendants of veterans who were pioneer settlers in the area.

 

The anniversary program included presentations by Jean Stuart, Kay Holley and Mary Kitchen, accompanied by a slide show of vintage photographs, newspaper articles and documents that showcased the historical, educational, benevolent and patriotic activities performed by the chapter over the years.

The UDC welcomes those interested in Southern history and heritage. Membership is open to women age 16 or older who are blood descendants, lineal or collateral, of men and women who served honorably in the army, navy or civil service of the Confederate States of America or gave material aid to the Southern cause.

© 2013 Tampa Bay Times

On The Web:   http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/united-daughters-of-the-confederacy-chapter-celebrates-100th-anniversary/2112935

 

~ Southern Cross of Honor ~

In October of 1862, the Confederate Congress approved an act to honor the service and valor of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates in the Confederate Army. Intended to be the equivalent of the Federal Medal of Honor, the Southern version of the medal was never issued during the war. Metal shortages in the South meant that medals were never struck. Instead, a Confederate Honor Roll was established, and the names of men awarded the honor were recorded by the Adjutant Inspector General. Unlike the Medal of Honor, which was awarded to an individual based on government criteria, Confederate non-commissioned officers and privates voted for a soldier in their company who deserved a spot on the Honor Roll.

While attending a reunion of Confederate veterans in Atlanta in July 1898, Mrs. Alexander S. (Mary Ann Lamar Cobb) Erwin of Athens, Ga., conceived the idea of bestowing the Southern Cross of Honor on Confederate veterans . Mrs. Erwin and Mrs. Sarah E. Gabbett of Atlanta are credited with the design of the medal: a Maltese cross with a wreath of laurel surrounding the words "Deo Vindice (God our Vindicator) 1861-1865" and the inscription, "Southern Cross of Honor" on the face. On the reverse side is a Confederate battle flag surrounded by a laurel wreath and the words "United Daughters of the Confederacy to the UCV."

Mr. Charles W. Crankshaw of Atlanta was chosen to manufacture the Crosses, but the first order was not given until the UDC had secured a copyright (February 20, 1900). During the first 18 months of the Cross's availability, 12,500 were ordered and delivered
.
Only a Confederate veteran could wear the Southern Cross of Honor, and it could only be bestowed through the UDC. Money could not buy the Cross; they were bought by loyal, honorable service to the South and given in recognition of this devotion. The first Cross ever bestowed was upon Mrs. Erwin’s husband, Captain Alexander S. Erwin, by the Athens (Ga.) Chapter on April 26, 1900.

The Crosses of Military Service and Medals currently bestowed by the UDC are an outgrowth of the Southern Cross of Honor. These Crosses and Medals are awarded to veterans who have served or are serving in defense of America. They are the most prized awards conferred by the UDC.

The UDC presents complete sets of the Crosses to libraries and museums if they agree to display the sets. The Southern Cross of Honor is always included if one is available. Should someone owning a Southern Cross of Honor wish to donate it to the UDC, it will be included in a set presented to a museum or library. While the UDC Business Office does not have the original applications for the Southern Cross of Honor, it does have the ledgers compiled by Mrs. Anna Davenport Raines during her seven-year term as Custodian of Crosses of Honor. Mrs. Raines recorded the recipients of every Cross bestowed, beginning with Number 1, until she resigned in 1913, for a total of 78,761 Crosses, The ledgers provide the name and unit of each recipient and may in some cases give the date and place of the award. An cumulative index was developed by the Caroline Meriwether Goodlett Library Committee in the 1980s to cross reference the information contained in the ledgers.

Thanks to:
Tennessee Confederate Flagger

Sister, Eileen Parker Zoellner
 

For Louisiana, Confederate History Month highlights a complex legacy
Apr. 5, 2013

SHREVEPORT -- With April comes an annual dilemma in Louisiana: How do you reconcile the considerable Confederate and Civil War history commemorated in the state this month, and the tourism dollars rolling in as the conflict’s sesquicentennial unfolds, with the anguish of slavery and the consequences of the war that continue to this day?

It could be a topic this weekend in April, Confederate History Month, as back-to-back battle re-enactments mark the 149th anniversary of the 1864 battle of Pleasant Hill. The battle saw the Union army technically winning the battle by killing more of the enemy than it lost, but it was forced to abandon its dead and wounded and commissary train and scamper back to Alexandria and, eventually, New Orleans.

It followed by a day the clear-cut Confederate victory at Mansfield, fought April 8, 1864, one of the final Confederate victories of the conflict and the largest single battle fought west of the Mississippi River.

“This is a topic of never-ending interest,” says Chris Jay, spokesman for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. “There’s a seemingly endless stream of people who are interested in Civil War history. It’s something that people ask about at the front desk all the time.”

Shreveport historian and author Gary Joiner, who chairs the state’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, is co-writing a guide on the state’s part in the war. That started with the capture of New Orleans in 1862 and focused largely on control of the Mississippi War until 1864, when President Abraham Lincoln personally planned a campaign to capture Shreveport, which failed with the Mansfield and Pleasant Hill battles.

The guide, to come out this fall from University of Louisiana Press, “is for anyone in Louisiana or anyone coming to Louisiana who wants to follow the armies,” Joiner said. “It will list the places you can go, like museums or battlefields.

The text is written. ... We’re working on the maps now. It’s something that’s sorely needed.”

Joiner also is planning a conference for next spring to focus on campaigns and people associated with the latter part of the war here.

“We’ll talk about how important 1864 was for Louisiana and Texas and Arkansas,” he said. “Things were going to hell in the East, but in this area, the events that were to shape our future history, even up to today, were set in motion or were set in place in 1864.

“We’re looking at tourism, and we’re looking at studying the history and trying to be as even-handed as possible. We’re not going to be ‘tripping through the daisies in the field’ and not looking at the carnage around it and the suffering. Dates and facts and figures are one thing, but the lessons learned are the key to it.”

Last year, the Shreveport branch of the NAACP was active in efforts to force removal of a Confederate flag from a monument outside of the Caddo Parish Courthouse, property that had been the site of the Louisiana Confederate government when it had been located here during the Civil war. Those efforts were ultimately successful.

But branch President Lloyd Thompson did not disparage the notion of a month marking Confederate heritage.

“Each culture has a right to celebrate their history,” he said. “That’s no more than right. I don’t have a problem if that’s what they’re doing to celebrate their culture. The NAACP celebrated 104 years this year, we’re doing 45 years today since Martin Luther King died. I don’t have a problem with us celebrating history. I have a problem with folks using any culture or any organization for hatred.”

Jay said the tourism body also has to balance the history and the emotion.

“Our job really isn’t to moderate people’s interests,” he said. “Our job is to help them get to the things they’re interested in. We want to make sure that if people are here looking for that history, they’re able to find it.”

But you can’t separate the history from the hurt it caused and the divisions that remain. It’s something that heritage groups, such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, are acutely aware of.

Both groups have websites that include areas where people can report assaults on heritage that, for the SCV, include tracking when and how hate groups and others misuse the Confederate flag.

“America as a whole has become very apathetic and, you perhaps could say, turned off by the tone of politics these days, and they have lost sight of what they can do,” said Chuck McMichael, Shreveport educator and past national commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

He knows how tough a “sell” Confederate history can be. Even though the Trans-Mississippi Department, as this section of the organization is known, has led efforts to broaden membership by appeals to diversity and sharing information on the rich history of the state.

Because of its cultural and racial makeup, Louisiana had Creoles, Cajuns, Indians and even black volunteers in Confederate units. (The Confederate Army also had the war’s only Indian general officer, Stan Watie.) Direct and collateral descendants are eligible for membership, and the state and department units of the SCV have in recent years strengthened efforts to draw members from these avenues.

“It is a sensitive subject,” said state Rep. Roy Burrell, who has done family research that in recent years turned up a white branch that has Confederate connections. In that research and working in veterans issues, Burrell also worked closely with recently deceased local bagpiper Vernon Love, who was a member of the SCV.

“I really miss my friend Vernon,” Burrell said. “We had just started to connect on the research of the McWright side of my father’s family. It has their Scot-Irish roots as Irish exiles to an area called Lowland Scotland, relocated by King James I of England who was Catholic, and thought these Scot-Irish folks were too rowdy and independent. They later migrated to America after the potato famine. I plan to continue my research even without my friend.”

Another SCV member, the late historian and author Eric Brock, worked closely with local Civil Rights icon Dr. C.O. Simpkins. Simpkins had his house firebombed in the early 1960s and was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr.

Simpkins and Brock collaborated to preserve and release a speech King delivered at Galilee Baptist Church in 1958, which has become an important part of Shreveport — and King — history.

Like Burrell, Simpkins also has a heritage and history that illustrates the complexity of local history. he has researched a line of his family from DeSoto Parish that has a Confederate officer in it.

“I have some Indian, I have some Mexican-Spanish, I’m a United Nations,” Simpkins said. “I’ve got everything. I can’t be unkind to nobody. Life has taught me that you’re a mixture of everything. DNA is going to find out that a whole lot of people got mixed blood.

“We lose so much time over trivial things. We’ve got more important things to talk about. Honor the dead, both the Union and the Confederate. They died for our country, they were citizens of the country and the war’s over. Let’s get on to the business of making this country what it should be.”

Copyright © 2013 www.thetowntalk.com

On The Web:   http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20130405/NEWS01/130405010/For-Louisiana-Confederate-History-Month-highlights-complex-legacy?nclick_check=1

A Prayer for Loved Ones on Confederate Memorial Day – Commentary by Joan Hough

Wouldn't it be wonderful, if on the day of APRIL 26th at the stroke of 12:00 noon, all descendants of Confederates would take one moment to say a silent prayer for our beloved Confederate dead? Many of our ancestors lie, even this day, scattered in mass graves in the North---some, lie quietly under Southern skies in family graveyards in the South—--Some sleep on the land of a champion of States’ Rights at Arlington; some, in Confederate cemeteries throughout the forever and always land of Confederates.

The years have gone by. All who lived then are dead now –all our Confederates—our soldier boys—all their parents and grandparents, their sisters, their brothers, their wives, their children, their sweethearts-- all our great grandfathers and all our great, great--all dead. All gone, but not forgotten.

Not EVER forgotten! For our Confederates, like the Jewish people in Germany, knew the horror of a lie-powered war waged against them –for our people, our Confederates (including all civilians---mothers and babies, old folks and the young) experienced their own Holocaust -- saw Genocide practiced against them by invaders, spurred on by Lincoln’s warmongering belligerence.2 (A belligerence which became shockingly evident when he refused to meet with Confederate representatives to discuss peace and even with Napoleon III of France for the same purpose,2 and when, after Fort Sumter, Lincoln thanked Gustavus Fox, his naval commander, for helping to manipulate the South Carolinians into firing at Fort Sumter.2

Let us all pray then for the valiant men and women who gave their lives or suffered immensely in the fight for Southern Liberty, be they black Confederates (and there were thousands of those) whites, reds, or browns. Be they Christians or Jews or Indians, or Americans of Mexican origin, etc.--rich or poor or middle-classed.

Let us pray for our many thousands of brave Confederates who suffered life-altering, horrendous wounds in defense of our South when Lincoln's Republicans attacked Southern homes on Southern soil, as his Yankee armies invaded a sovereign Confederate republic.

Let us pray for the many thousands of Southern boys killed by the overpowering, thrice their number, Northern soldiers, egged on by the overpowering lies of the New England controlled Republican party whose avarice for money and control of the central government was cleverly disguised by their lying claims and their concerted propaganda that the war was being fought to free the slaves and to save the union.1 & 2 (Claims unmade until the war was half over and the South was winning it.)

Let us pray for our bitterly attacked, large number of Southerners who were brilliant, highly educated, seriously dedicated Constitutional scholars and well knew the Constitutional right of secession belonged to each and every state in the Union—--a union which, until Lincoln and his radicals, was always referred to in the PLURAL 2 —“The union are” , not “ the union is”—--meaning the states (the people) ARE superior to the union (the Central Government) and have the right to counter the union’s government and have the right to secede. Northern states (particularly the New England ones) had threatened secession long before the Southern ones even considered it --—meaning the PEOPLE are the BOSS of the central government, and not the central government the boss of the people.2

Let us pray for the Southern people--–folks who, just a couple of generations from an earlier secession (the first American Revolution) from the British Empire, heard at their grandfathers’ and great grandfathers’ knees, how Southerners had rebelled against unjust laws and unjust taxation and sought and obtained liberty.

"...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..." --Declaration of Independence

Let us pray for the descendants of those first Revolutionary warriors who, seeing the identical type of enormous taxation loaded on them by the New England dominated Republican party, chose to depart from an association with it, and to refuse to participate in a government which had changed itself from a Constitutional one, in which States’ had rights, to one wherein the central government was ALL POWERFUL--- the States lost their rights, and the Constitution was gutted.

“I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it." --Jefferson Davis

Let us pray for the young Southern boys killed before reaching the age of 13, because they found it necessary to defend the dirt their father had farmed before marching off to war.

Let us pray for all Southerners--women, babies, old folks who died from exposure and hunger after General Sherman's forces burned entire towns occupied only by civilians—destroying, intentionally, their homes, their stores and churches—and looting all, plundering all, even executing civilians.

Let us pray for all of the Southerners on their little farms who saw their few mules and horses stolen, saw the crops in their fields and gardens totally devastated to satisfy the Yankee desire to starve the women, the children, the old folks, the sick and the wounded and thus injure the morale of the South’s fighting men and, deliberately, depopulate the land of people considered to be "undesirable" by the all powerful empire, the Lincoln-created government of the North.

Let us pray for the Confederate women and children who saw Yankees kill the cows that gave the children their milk, and the hens that laid the eggs, and the pullets and the pigs that filled farm dinner plates.

Let us pray for the Southern women and children and old folks who saw stolen or destroyed the meat hanging in their smoke houses, and the jars of preserved vegetables and fruits needed to keep a family alive in farm lands far from towns—---at a time when there were no grocery stores, no super markets, no restaurants, no Pizza parlors and no hamburger joints.

Let us pray for all the Southerners who experienced Yankee atrocities and war crimes perpetrated by General Philip Sheridan --–an ever so moral Yankee, personally thanked for his deeds by Lincoln.2

Let us pray for the entire South’s people who lost everything --–and whose sad, terror-filled fate, when revealed to Abe Lincoln, caused him to laugh (as reported by General Sherman in Sherman’s memoirs).2

Let us pray for the citizens of Marion County, Missouri who voiced Southern sympathy and were persecuted by Yankee backed officials.2

Let us pray for the folks in Palmyra, Missouri who, having said the least thing a bit pro-south, were thrown in jail by the general of the Yankee troops....so that he could have ten Southerners to execute if a Union Informer was not returned from his capture by Confederate military forces. General McNeil chose ten civilian men by lottery from the town’s people, choosing only the best educated, most influential and important men. The execution of these men and the manner of it made it one of the cruelest, most barbaric, massacres imaginable, arousing the horror and disgust of many Northerners as well as of all Southerners who learned of it. This was the second major act of murder in the area—--previously, sixteen surrendered Confederates had been brutally murdered by the Yankees. Torture and threat of torture was employed by the Yankees too many times to be counted. Lincoln, upon learning of McNeil’s atrocities, promoted him. 2

Let us pray for all the citizens in Alexandria, Louisiana, in the very center of Louisiana---- the women, children--the sick and the old, the entire civilian population of the city—-- forced to crawl, run, or hop—--some dragging loved ones behind them as they were forced to seek refuge in the waters of the Mississippi River; small children screaming because they were lost from their mothers----All knowing absolute terror, fleeing from the heat and burning of the fires set at the orders of General Nathaniel Banks because of his overwhelming desire for vengeance after losing the Battle of Mansfield. General Nathaniel Banks, withdrawing from the civilian occupied city, chose to burn it to the ground. He gave no warning. He left the women, kids and old folks with only the clothes on their backs.2 Nobody knows the civilian deaths he caused. (People in Alexandria had not forgotten and told me so when I lived there in 1950.)

Let us pray for the Southerners of Atlanta, Georgia where Abe Lincoln arranged a carpet bombing seige that destroyed 90 percent of their city, evicting thousands upon thousands of civilians from their homes, looting their private property---—waging total war against a defenseless civilian population in a pattern that was continued throughout the Republican Army’s invasion of the South.2

Let us pray and pray again for the civilians in the heartland of Georgia who knew the fury of General William Tecumseh Sherman who declared that there could be no peace in the country UNTIL LARGE PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN POPULATION HAD BEEN EXTERMINATED, and so made a deliberate effort to starve to death Georgia’s civilian population. It was a goal of the Republicans to see all Southerners dead or off the continent. Lincoln expressed the opinion that they should be allowed to leave.2

Let's pray, especially, for the civilians--—the women, the babies, the old folks in Marietta, Roswell and New Manchester Georgia where Sherman, with Lincoln’s approval, had his soldiers pull down and burn the homes, burn all their personal property—--steal all jewelry—--and leave the helpless civilians, starving, with only the clothes on their backs.2

Let us pray then for those long lost, OVER TWO THOUSAND weeping women in the Roswell, Marietta and New Manchester area who, at the orders of General Sherman, were kidnapped and thrown with and without their children on trains and shipped North, their services to be sold for literally pennies making them, in truth, WHITE SLAVES FOR THE YANKEES! Poor, lost little Southern ladies and the defenseless terrorized children-- most of them were never to see their loved ones ever again. The Republican government during Reconstruction made no effort to return these kidnapped Southerners back to their homeland.2

Let us give a special prayer of thanks for the courage of Louisiana’s governor Henry Watkins Allen who collected testimonies from eyewitnesses of the Yankee invasion in Louisiana in an effort to preserve the truth of the North’s fiendish activities for future historians.2 (Truth telling, of course, was suppressed during the Republican-controlled Reconstruction’s ten years and by the central government thereafter and has been begun again only by recent scholars.)

Let us pray for the innocent young man named William Mumford who was hanged on the orders of Yankee General Benjamin Butler because the boy had taken down a Union flag from a flag pole in unoccupied New Orleans.2

Let us pray for all the virtuous Southern ladies in New Orleans who were treated like prostitutes by Yankee soldiers on the direct orders of Yankee General “Beast” Butler who, also, sent to prison without a trial New Orleans women and preachers and priests who refused to welcome the invaders. He closed churches and prohibited church attendance.2

Let us pray for the Confederate children who experienced the horrors deliberately forced on them by Yankee soldiers-- watching enemy soldiers kill and leave lying on the ground every single chicken the family possessed---–watching the deliberate killing of a beloved pony performed in front of a child’s young eyes by the Yankee Killer, so the child would always remember the day the Yankees won the war. 2

Let us pray for the sick, old gentleman confined to his bed in Lafayette, Louisiana, who had all of his worldly possessions stolen from him by Yankee soldiers, even his bed covers and for the ninety year old in Louisiana, who had soldiers take his everything--—including his clothes, and for the Goulas family in St. Mary Parish, who had Yankee soldiers steal all their clothes, their baby’s clothes and their beds-- and for Mrs. Vilmeau in Louisiana who had her wedding ring bitten from her finger and her pierced earrings torn from her ears—--and we should pray for her husband who was shot twice while trying to protect his crying, bleeding wife and for the families in New Iberia who watched Yankees open the burial vaults of the New Iberia dead and scatter the bodies upon the ground and use parts of the tombs for cooking and heating purposes.2

And let us pray for Dr. Brashear of Louisiana and his family. Even dead and buried in his tomb in Morgan City, Louisiana, Dr. Brashear was attacked. His body was tossed out and his metal coffin stolen by the Yankee soldiers.2

Let us pray for the citizens of Opelousas, Louisiana, who saw a Massachusetts Army unit turn the Opelousas Methodist Church into a brothel---and for the Catholics in New Iberia who saw the Yankees dance in the robes of their priest and steal their chalice from the Catholic Church-- and for the citizens of Franklin, LA, who saw the members of Mr. Lincoln’s Republican army tear up the Methodist Church there, and use the pews and other bits of the church as furnishings for a pool parlor.2

Let us pray for the grand children of Mr. Theodore Fay in Franklin, Louisiana who had Yankees steal all their little toys.2

Let us pray for the Southern women and old people who experience agonies, as they watched Yankee soldiers gleefully burn family bibles containing the records of Southern lives since the Revolution—--and for the civilians in Chesterfield, South Carolina who were forced to stand by as General Sherman’s men torched their Courthouse containing all of the records for the county, including marriage bonds and property records--—and burning my own Hough records. (Source: Telephone conversation with clerk in that County Courthouse)

Let us pray for the Southern women who were forced to scavage the woods for plants to eat and acorns to boil for coffee after the food in their homes and in their fields was taken from them.

Let us pray for all of the Southern Blacks who experienced many numbers of hideous Yankee atrocities including the rapes of their women by Yankee soldiers, the killing of young girls who resisted being raped, the abusing and robbing of black adults and even the shooting of some of them for no apparent reason, Yankee imposed starvation, being thrown out of their own homes, having loved ones die because of lack of medical treatment and nourishment, and Yankees, brutally chasing down and forcing black males into their army where they were seen to die by the hundreds.2

Let us pray for the helpless civilian citizens of Meridian, Mississippi where General Sherman had 10,000 of his men use axes and fire to make sure that Meridian no longer existed 2—--leaving the women, children, sick and the old to suffer from starvation and the elements.

Let us pray for the women, children and the old and sick in the Shenandoah Valley where Lt. General U.S. Grant, soon to become a U.S. President, ordered General Hunter to have his men totally wipe out everything there, 2 leaving many thousands of innocents to death by starvation.

Let us pray again and again for our stolen Republic wherein each state possessed rights that made it supreme to a central government---Rights recognized during the Revolution and after the secession from the British Empire—--Rights acknowledged by the writers of the U.S. Constitution.

Let us pray for a long dead President by the name of Abraham Lincoln, whose greed for money and power destroyed a Republic and replaced it with an all powerful Central Government lacking checks and balances--–a government our later Presidents called a 'Democracy.'

Let us pray for Abe Lincoln who decided to go against the rules of all civilized nations and wage a war of horrendous nature against women and children.

Let us pray for all the boys, young and old men who fought in that War of Northern Invasion, Northern Aggression against a sovereign nation by name of the Confederate States of America.

Let us pray for all fighters on both sides of that war--- and especially, for those who died---three times the number killed during all the years of war in Viet Nam.

And let us pray a very special prayer that three modern historians by the names of James Ronald Kennedy,2 Walter Donald Kennedy,2 and Thomas J. DiLorenzo,2 who have dedicated much of their lives to digging up the long hidden truths about the horrors perpetrated by Lincoln and his mighty Republicans against the South. The Kennedy and DiLorenzo books have furnished most of the information covered in this request for prayers. Let us pray that their books will be read by millions of Americans who will be awakened to the monstrous lies long told by our all powerful Central government and to the need for its mighty reformation.

And for Walter Donald Kennedy, let us all add a separate prayer that he will gain the opportunity to expose to the entire nation, the grave injustices done to Confederates and to their descendants and to all Americans who have been deluded by the lies of the U.S. government told since the 1860’s. Let us pray that Walter Donald Kennedy will be given a national platform which will allow him to tell the world exactly what this nation must do in order to regain the Constitutional government created for it by the founding fathers, taken from us during the so-called Civil War and, precisely, what we must do to be able to restore truth to our U.S. government.

And, I, myself, will say a private prayer for my three great grandfathers who said their own prayers as they fought in that war for Southern Independence—--the bloodiest of all wars involving Americans---fought against overwhelming Yankee odds--and for my great uncles who fought and for my many great aunts and my three great grandmothers who dodged the Yankees throughout each Yankee invasion that reached them and for my many cousins involved because they were all true Southerners.

I, especially, will pray for all men and women who were brave enough to share their experiences with their own children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. despite the laws muzzling free speech for ten or more years---prohibiting any negative speech about the Yankees—--laws passed by the Republican controlled government forces in the Confederacy during that horrendous period of Southern punishment known as Reconstruction.

SOURCES

1 Thomas J. DiLorenzo. Lincoln Unmasked. Crown Forum of Random House, Inc., New York: 2006.
2 James Ronald Kennedy and Walter Donald Kennedy. The South Was Right. Pelican Publishing Company, Inc., Gretna , Louisiana , 1998

On The Web:   http://georgiaheritagecouncil.org/site2/commentary/hough-CMD-prayer042607.phtml

 

Thursday, April 04, 2013

Let’s Save Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park in Memphis

By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr., cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net, Speaker, Writer of short stories, Author of book “When America stood for God, Family and Country” and Chairman of the National and Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Confederate History and Heritage Month committee. http://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth

Why do some still continue to try to change the South?

         

Did you know that three Memphis, Tennessee parks named for our great Southern leaders Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest-Forrest Park, Confederate President Jefferson Davis-Jefferson Davis Park and Confederate Park were changed? At Monday night’s meeting the people spoke out loud and clear to return the parks to their Confederate names.
http://wreg.com/2013/04/02/majority-at-metting-say-returns-parks-to-confederate-names/

Are they listening?

Some, today, even seek to ban the Confederate Battle flag, the blood-stained soldier’s banner of many hard fought battles, from Veterans Day events and the soldier’s memorial monument at South Carolina’s State Capitol. There is also a push to ban the Confederate flag at all NASCAR races.

Some groups claim the Southern flag is offensive to Black people.

But, what do they say to Black folks who call the Confederate flag a symbol of Southern Pride like Nelson Winbush of Florida who is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans—www.scv.org? Mr. Winbush speaks honestly and from the heart about the War for Southern Independence, 1861-65, and of his grandfather who fought for the South. He may even ‘proudly’ show you a picture of himself, as a child, with his Grandfather, Louis Napoleon Nelson, who rode with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in Company M of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry and was buried with his Confederate uniform and Confederate flag draped casket.

Gen. Forrest said of the Black men who rode with him, “These boys stayed with me ... and better Confederates did not live.”

You might also ask Black Southern-Historian H.K. Edgerton who marched across Dixie from North Carolina to Texas attired in Confederate uniform, carrying the Confederate flag and educating many Black and White people along the way about their Southern Heritage. Edgerton is also past president of the local NAACP Chapter in Asheville, North Carolina.

Was Gen. Forrest an early advocate for Civil Rights?

Forrest’s speech during a meeting of the “Jubilee of Pole Bearers” is a story that needs to be told. Gen. Forrest was the first white man to be invited by this group which was a forerunner of today’s Civil Rights group. A reporter of the Memphis Avalanche newspaper was sent to cover the event.

Miss Lou Lewis, daughter of a Pole Bearer member, was introduced to Forrest and she presented the former general a bouquet of flowers as a token of reconciliation, peace and good will. On July 5, 1875, Nathan Bedford Forrest delivered this speech.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the Southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is any one on God’s earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. (Immense applause and laughter.) I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to elevate every man, to depress none. (Applause.)

I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going. I have not said anything about politics today. I don’t propose to say anything about politics. You have a right to elect whom you please; vote for the man you think best, and I think, when that is done, you and I are freemen. Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you. I am not much of a speaker, and my business prevented me from preparing myself. I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us.

When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment. Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I’ll come to your relief. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity you have afforded me to be with you, and to assure you that I am with you in heart and in hand.” (Prolonged applause.) End of speech.

Nathan Bedford Forrest again thanked Miss Lewis for the bouquet and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. Such a kiss was unheard of in the society of those days, in 1875, but it showed a token of respect and friendship between the general and the black community and did much to promote harmony among the citizens of Memphis, Tennessee.

Some people have claimed that Forrest was associated with the Ku Klux Klan but he officially denied participation. He encouraged the friendly reunion of North and South and the remembrance of both the Confederate and Union Dead.

April is Confederate History and Heritage Month. Read more on face book at: https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth

Lest We Forget!

On The Web:   http://shnv.blogspot.com/2013/04/lets-save-forrest-park-confederate-park.html

 

TO ALL INTERESTED CIVIL WAR BUFFS AND ENTHUSIASTS
 
The Stuart-Mosby Civil War Cavalry Museum is in dire need of volunteers willing to work on Sundays at our site located at 13938 Braddock Road, Centreville, Virginia 20120.  The museum is only open from 1pm to 4pm, on Sundays, but it is a day where we need volunteer help the most.  If you are a Civil War buff  and want something worthwhile to do on Sundays….you are the perfect person we are looking for at our facility.  Furthermore, we always try to have at least two volunteers for each day of coverage at the museum.
 
In addition, the museum is also open on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm, and on Mondays from 10am to 4pm. If you cannot volunteer for Sunday and you still want to volunteer for one of the other available days please contact me at703-971-4984.  I would love to talk to you and get you started with us. You may also want to check out our website at www.stuart-mosby.com
 
Thanking you in advance,
 
Don Hakenson
 

Universal Mourning in the South
 
From: bernhard1848@att.net
 
While the men were off to war, Southern women took on the responsibility of seeing that family and servants were fed, clothed and cared for when sick, as well as educating the children and continuing to Christianize the slaves – and pray daily for the safe return of husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. As Northern marauders thrust deeper into the Southern States burning houses and killing farm animals as they went, food was carried away and anything left behind was contaminated – leaving the women and children to subsist on field peas or less. For more on this topic, see the excellent volumes below by Brenda Chambers McKean, available through www.Xlibris.com.
 
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 
Universal Mourning in the South:
 
“Cornelia Phillips Spencer was married six years before becoming a widow at age thirty-six.  Her journal read: “May, 1862, My hearing is going, and with it youth, hope, and love. There remains for me nothing but to sit at home and remember.”  Commentating on Spencer’s diary, author Wright described the “universal mourning” in the South had made her own loss seem less burdensome because at least her husband had not died “horribly in battle, or lain lingering and mutilated in hospitals.”
 
Another diarist, Sarah E. Mercer, recorded that her brother Oliver (called Buddy), had to return to camp even though he was not well. She said, “Tears are such a solace…” In less than three weeks, he would be among the dead at Gettysburg.
 
“I cannot look to the future, it is too dark. All is dark, dark, dark. The fate of our country is in a thick mist, too dark and thick to see through.” Still grieving, Mercer three days later declared, “Pity that the politicians were not obliged to do all the fighting themselves. Me thinks there would be considerably less blood shed….”  Major Brooks visited the family and gave them the contents of Buddy’s pockets. Mercer said, “We can have no hopes of ever getting is dear remains, as they were left on Yankee soil. We do not even know if he was buried.”
 
Elizabeth Robeson had several sons in service. A religious woman, she questioned her faith as did other women. Entries in her diary are as follows:
 
“May 18th – but all God does is right, though he moves in a mysterious way. He takes the young and leaves the aged for some wise purpose, but we shortsighted mortals cannot see it.”
 
“Jun 1, 1862 – Mr. W. Cain came in and said that he heard our boys (Bladen Guards) were in the battle and were cut to pieces. Many a better woman than I am has been bereaved of their only child, but I feel as if I could not bear up under it.”
 
Henry Fuller was wounded in June of 1862 at Seven Pines, Virginia. His wife Ann “went to Richmond in search of him but was unable to find even an ambulance driver, since it was almost impossible to keep up with the troops. She did find the man who placed him in the ambulance and was told that he was seriously wounded with a Minnie ball through his head. After several days of fruitless inquiry, she was forced to return home empty handed and the fate of her husband was never known.”
 
Fuller remained on the farm and raised her three children. Foraging Union troops took everything on the place at the close of the war. “
 
(Blood and War at My Doorstep, North Carolinians in the War Between the States, Volume II, Brenda Chambers McKean, Xlibris, pp. 640-641) 
 
 

CIC Givens on HuffPost
 
Compatriots,
 
Today CiC Michael Givens appeared on a webcast debate on the Confederate Flag sponsored by the Huffington Post. You can see this program and leave your comments at the link below.
 
Good job CiC!
 
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/north-carolina/515ab3ce78c90a5be9000033
 
SCV Telegraph-
 
 

Confederate flag at old NC Capitol coming down
 
From: waynedobson51@yahoo.com
 
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/confederate-flag-old-nc-capitol-raises-ire
 
A recent Associated Press story by Michael Biesecker, detailed that a temporary display at the old North Carolina State Capitol, a Confederate battle flag, which marked the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War was taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns. Among those "civil rights" leaders was North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber, who said the flag represented a "history of racism … lynchings … death. The history of slavery. "  That is his side of it. What about mine, as a unbowed descendant of Confederate soldiers?  Do my rights, thoughts and opinions just not count in this great land of equality?   The flag was not representative of the perpetuation of slavery, or even the Confederate government. It was the banner carried by men of the South who took a stand against the tyranny of an oppressive Federal government, not unlike the one we have today. Southerners were not rebelling but rather holding the government of their time to the letter of the law - the Constitution! 
    
The article mentioned "civil rights leaders."  Does that not, at least, imply that they are seekers of equality and rights for all Americans - even me?  For more than three decades the NAACP has advanced its "vow to remove every vestige of the Confederacy from the face of the earth." Is that not, in effect, an "advancement" of their heritage or at least their agenda by the destruction of mine?  Where is the pride, decency, the nobility in that?
 
John Wayne Dobson
Macon, GA
 
 

Letter to Gov Pat McCrory
 
From: rebeleye@aol.com
 
Dear Governor McCrory:
 
As a retired veteran from Lincolnton, NC, I am appalled by your administration's decision to remove the historic flag display from North Carolina's Old Capitol Museum. 
 
Your roots may be in Ohio, but mine is firmly planted in Tarheel soil since the 1700's and your acquiescence to individuals whose limited knowledge of history is egregious.  I do not know what you expect to gain from kowtowing to such individuals, but I think you have greatly diminished your standing among your loyal supporters and voters. 
 
Our history is a shared history and we must be tolerant of the history of all North Carolinians.  Your actions have affirmed those who would obliterate all vestiges of that history so that they may not, heaven forbid, be "offended."  It always amazes me that those who shout "celebrate diversity" and whose mantra is “tolerance”, can be so intolerant and bigoted.
 
It is a sad day in North Carolina, a loss to our students, and very disrespectful to our veterans--both past and present.
 
I am very disappointed with your support of historical censorship and "political correctness".
 
Sincerely, with much disgust,
 
Dr. Arnold M. Huskins
Major, USAF, Retired
 
 

From: HK Edgerton <hk.edgerton@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 3, 2013
To: siegels1 <siegels1@mindspring.com>

Dear Ms. Lunelle,

Several young Black folks would surround me yesterday in what is called the Black Historic District that is no more in the City of Asheville. And as is usual these days, the subject of the Confederate Flag, and my relationship with the Honorable Attorney Kirk D. Lyons, would ensue. I was told about a story that had been written a couple of weeks ago by Kirk D. in the local news paper (Asheville Citizen Times), and that he had championed our relationship in that article.
 
I would tell these babies about my plans to sue the United States Congress, with the help of Kirk D., over their complicity in the denigration of the Southern Cross. A symbol that had been so deemed a venerated symbol by their very own body. James would repeat what I have heard many times in these past days. "The Stars and Stripes should come under the very same scrutiny that the other American Flag now finds itself under, and it was insulting to the intelligence of Black folks to brand the Confederate Battle Flag as the flag of slavery since it was the Stars and Stripes that ushered the institution in."  And furthermore, he said, as most of those gathered seemed to agree, that the NAACP with its communist associates had their own agenda, just like their agenda against the Honorable Marcus Garvey; very little had to do with the helping of the common man on the street.
 
They went on to say that the Stars and Stripes had been hijacked by the North from the very men of the South who embraced it as their own during the War Between the States, and that it was as complicit in the economic institution of slavery as the Flag of England, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Spain, and so many more countries who openly participated in the slave trade to include the flags of Africa. Brenda, the lone lady present, went on to say that she was tired of people and organizations like the Democrat Party assuming that they like the NAACP speak for all the Black people in this land while they enrich themselves and leave the people to suffer for their actions that is no different than what they did during Reconstruction. She went on to say that most of the civil rights legislation in this country was sponsored by the Republican Party, and that women and ethnic minorities owe past President Richard Nixon, a great debt to those ends. And that because of Lincoln's thugs in the Radical Republican Party leaving the South after they had undone most of the good will that had been forged between the Africans and the Whites in the South is the sole reason that Blacks turned to the Democrat Party for more subjugation of a different kind. Hell yes, give us a new flag, or leave the Confederate Battle Flag alone.
 
I hope that when folks began to read this that they don't kill the messenger because I shall follow this theme of theirs as they asked that I would in the coming days not only in the proposed lawsuit, but also in my transcript. God bless you.

Your brother,
HK     

 

4/01/2013

The sacrifices made by the Confederate soldier are incomprehensible today.

When Lincoln called up 75 thousand men to invade the Independent Southern States on April 15, 1861, his unconstitutional act prompted the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas to secede, joining the newly formed country, the Confederate States of America. Thus, with the invasion of the South, this began the bloodiest war in our American history.

When the South was invaded, Southern States called upon their sons to do their duty to defend their state, homes and family from invasion. These men went to do their duty, not as aggressors or in the spirit of conquest, but to protect their homeland from an unjust invasion.

More than half of all the casualties on both sides were from the hardships and disease found in camp life. This was especially true for the Southern troops who nearly always lacked the basic necessities of food, clothing and medical supplies, unlike the Northern troops, who had plenty.

The sacrifices made by the Confederate soldier are incomprehensible today. They would march for days with little or no rest, very little food, some with no shoes and in the heat of summer and the frigid cold of winter. Fatigue, hunger and sickness was common place for these soldiers.

Despite the hardships endured by the Confederate soldiers they pressed on to perform their duty. In nearly every conflict these soldiers were typically out numbered and out gunned 3 to 1.

The “Rebel Yell” made these brave soldiers famous. It demonstrated a fighting spirit, courage, tenacity and gallantry allowing them to prevail in most of the major conflicts of the war. Sadly they fought an invader with unlimited reserves and resources, making victory impossible.

Even during the last year of the war when they knew that victory was impossible, the Confederate soldier continued to fight courageously to protect their homes and families, to the very end.

They received no great bounty or pay for their service nor did they ask for any monuments or special attention. They wished only to be remembered with the truth behind their heroic and noble struggle, in America’s second War for Independence.

April is Confederate History Month and commemorates the men and women of the Confederate States of America who came from all races and religions that include: Irish-born General Patrick R. Cleburne, Black Confederate drummer Bill Yopp, Mexican born Colonel Santos Benavides, Cherokee Born General Stand Watie and Jewish born Confederate Nurse Phoebe Pember who was the first female administrator of Chimboraza Hospital in Richmond, Virginia where she served until the end of War Between the States.

Nearly 258 thousand Confederate soldiers died protecting their homes, families and our Constitution. They fought bravely and nobly against overwhelming forces and odds. They suffered incomprehensible hardships to the very end. They were called to their duty as Americans....as fathers and as sons. They served without hesitation and we owe each of them to make sure the truth be told about them and the War. These soldiers are our ancestors and without hesitation or question, deserve respect, honor and dignity from each of us.

Tennessee Confederate Flagger:
Eileen Parker Zoellner
Deo Vindice!

 

Yesterday: An early postcard of Salisbury’s Confederate Monument

Posted: Monday, April 1, 2013

Local Photographer Wayne Wrights provided this early postcard of Salisbury’s Confederate Monument, which stands in the median at West Innes and Church streets.

Wrights found the postcard among those collected by his mother and father. Judging from the cars parked on West Innes Street near the statue, the postcard probably was printed in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

The Confederate Monument was dedicated May 10, 1909, and the dedication service included 162 Confederate veterans and Mrs. Stonewall Jackson.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the bronze grouping to honor the Confederate soldiers from Rowan County.

The Frederick W. Ruckstuhl sculpture, made in Brussels and shown in Paris before arriving in the States, originally cost $10,000. Its restoration in 1990 cost $14,000.

The soldier depicted in the grouping with Fame is based on a real person, Henry Howard Cooke of Tennessee, who later became a judge.

Salisbury Post - © 2013 - Evening Post Publishing Co

On The Web:   http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20130401/SP01/130409992/1016/yesterday-an-early-postcard-of-salisbury-x2019-s-confederate-monument

 

Helena gets new Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp

Updated Apr. 1, 2013

Helena now has a Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp. The new camp is The Seven-General Camp and it meets every second Monday at the American Legion Hut. Shown is the signing of the camp charter in the Governor's Reception Room in the Arkansas State Capitol Saturday March 30. Pictured left to right: Johnny McKenzie, Danny Honnoll, Ron Kelley and Brad Hartsfield. Honnoll is the Arkansas Division SCV chief of staff. The local SCV camp will act as a historical auxillary for the museums and historical sites in and around Helena. It is a heritage and historical-based group that is non-political and non-sectarian. It is fitting that Helena hosts a new SCV camp because of the vast Confederate heritage and history in the area. Helena is home to seven Confederate generals.

On The Web:   http://www.helena-arkansas.com/article/20130401/NEWS/130409951/1001/NEWS

Confederate soldier's grave in Hellam Township to be marked again
Silbaugh Memorials donated the new stone.
By TERESA ANN BOECKEL
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated:   04/02/2013

York, PA -

An unknown Confederate soldier's grave along the Susquehanna River in Hellam Township will be marked once again.

Silbaugh Memorials in Shrewsbury has donated a light gray granite marker for the grave. It's similar to the one that washed away during the flooding from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011, said Ron Silbaugh, president of the company.

His company had donated the original stone, too, in the 1980s. Before that, the grave was marked by a 55-gallon drum.

This is a part of history that needs to be preserved, Silbaugh said. York County was a part of Civil War history leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, which marks the 150th anniversary this year.

A private rededication ceremony, at which the marker will be unveiled, will be held Saturday. Local author Scott Mingus will talk about who might be buried there.

Mingus said he strongly believes the soldier was part of the 17th Virginia Cavalry. His research suggests that he was a casualty of a fight near York Haven, or he was a spy or deserter and died while trying to cross the river.

"Who he is, we don't know," Mingus said.

An effort has been under way since the flooding in 2011 to have the grave properly marked again.

Civil War buffs say the man deserves to be recognized because he fought and died for his beliefs.

People don't have to agree with the soldier's politics, said Ivan Frantz Jr., secretary/treasurer of the Capt. E. M. Ruhl, Camp No. 33 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

"The man is a veteran," he said. "His service should be recognized."

Frantz tried to seek an official government marker, but that did not work out.

Carol Posinski of Codorus Township is a member of the Civil War Heritage Foundation. She visited Silbaugh Memorials recently to see about a new stone. That's when Silbaugh volunteered to donate one.

Posinski said it was more than she expected.

And she was pleased with the marker when she saw it recently.

"They just did a beautiful job," she said.

Involved in the effort

Several groups have been involved in having an unknown Confederate soldier's grave marked again in Hellam Township.

The groups include the Capt. E. M. Ruhl, Camp No. 33 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1961; the Voices of the Confederacy; and the Civil War Heritage Foundation.

On The Web:   http://www.ydr.com/history/ci_22916740/confederate-soldiers-grave-hellam-township-be-marked-again

 

Group to host annual Confederate ceremony

By Carlton Fletcher (1243)
carlton.fletcher@albanyherald.com
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
© Copyright 2013 Albany Herald

ALBANY, Ga. -- Charles Lunsford has a unique perspective on the way historians and, indeed, most Americans, look at the Civil War.

"Anybody who would criticize the Confederate states for seceding from the Union and then celebrate the Fourth of July is a hypocrite," Lunsford, a national spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization for more than a decade, said Monday. "The spirit of the 1770s that led to the freedom of this country is the same spirit of the 1860s that led the Southern states to seek independence from what they considered a tyrannical government."

Lunsford and other members of the international SCV organization will celebrate Confederate History and Heritage Month in April, a celebration that will be highlighted locally with the annual Southwest Georgia Confederate Memorial Service Saturday at Confederate Memorial Park on Philema Road.

"The disagreement over causes of the war are not over disputed facts, but rather, over disputed interpretations," said Lunsford, who is retired now and lives in Madison. "Historians have researched the war extensively, but unfortunately they tend to pick and choose the facts they uncover that best fit their interpretation. That's why when I discuss or debate the war, I'm confident in the things I say.

"People can argue all they want, but they can't dispute facts."

Saturday's memorial service, which starts at 9 a.m. with a musical tribute by the Lee County-based band A Joyful Noise, will include the symbolic laying of a wreath in memory of veterans from each of the Confederate states and will conclude with musket and cannon salutes by historic re-enactors.

The Rev. John Weaver of Fitzgerald's Freedom Baptist Church, who served two terms as national chaplain of the SCV, will offer the event's keynote address.

"I enjoy the opportunity to speak at events like this," Weaver, who has been a pastor for 48 years, said Monday. "It gives me an opportunity to combine Biblical principles with historic truths. Many people don't understand the theological interpretation of the events that led to the war, but there is a study that focuses on the apostatized North trying to force its theology and culture on the South.

"It was written by a noted historian of that time: '(The Civil War) is a theological war between infidels and men of freedom.' So many truths of the war can be applied to biblical inspiration."

The state of Georgia, through Senate Bill 27 in 2009, officially designated April as Confederate History Month. Lt. Col. Thomas Nelson SCV Camp 141 Commander James King, of Albany, said the commemoration allows SCV members to carry out their organization's three primary functions: the preservation of the memory of officers and enlisted men who served in the Confederacy; preservation of Confederate graves, monuments, artifacts and mementos; and presentation of Confederate history in a fair and impartial manner.

"Since the victor of a war writes its history, that which is presented as American history has been and continues to be extremely biased in favor of the North, and many facts that reflect negatively on the North and positively on the South have been omitted," King said. "Northern politicians have used slavery since about 1830 to drive a wedge between white and black Southerners, and their efforts continue to this day.

"Dishonest Northern historians have used slavery as a weapon of choice against the defeated Confederacy to justify the North's vast number of atrocities against defeated Confederate veterans and civilians and to claim the moral high ground. ... Many Americans have been so effectively indoctrinated that any mention of the Confederacy brings an instant knee-jerk reaction and the comment 'It was all about slavery.' But due to unrelenting efforts by the SCV and other pro-Southern heritage groups, the truth is emerging."

Calvin Johnson, the chairman of the Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee of the national and Georgia SCV divisions, said Confederate History Month is set aside to recognize all Southerners who took part in the Civil War.

"Confederate History Month commemorates the men and women of the Confederate States of America who came from all races and religions that include Irish-born Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, black Confederate drummer Bill Yopp, Mexican-born Col. Santos Benavides, Cherokee-born Gen. Stand Watie and Jewish-born Confederate nurse Phoebe Pember, who was the first female administrator of Chimboraza Hospital in Richmond, where she served until the end of the War Between the States," Johnson wrote.

On The Web:   http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/apr/02/group-to-host-annual-confederate-ceremony/

 

Not an April Fools’ joke: Georgia celebrates Confederate History Month

Traci G. Lee, @traciglee
04/02/2013

April 1 marked the start of Confederate Heritage and History Month in Georgia.

The month is meant to celebrate the South’s effort during the Civil War, according to a press release from the Sons of Confederate Veterans:

So much is portrayed by Hollywood today that Georgia and the South were evil; when, in reality, the South was the most peaceful, rural, and Christian part of America before war and Reconstruction destroyed the pastoral way of life here.

The celebratory month is also in accordance with Georgia’s law:

The month of April of each year is hereby designated as Confederate History and Heritage Month and shall be set aside to honor, observe, and celebrate the Confederate States of America, its history, those who served in its armed forces and government, and all those millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and religions who contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause which they held so dear from its founding on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, until the Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah sailed into Liverpool Harbor and surrendered to British authorities on November 6, 1865.

According to Ray McBerry, the two-time GOP candidate for governor who serves as the PR agent behind the issue, said the celebration is also meant to clear up misconceptions about the old South. “The way that slavery was in the Old South is not in keeping with the way it has been portrayed,” McBerry told The Daily Beast.

McBerry added that the Civil War was not solely about slavery: “It was about a federal government that was out of control and imposing its will on the states—a federal government that was acting beyond the scope of the Constitution. Ironically, some of the very issues we are debating today.”

Confederate History Month is not a new event. Several states traditionally observe Confederate History Month, including Alabama, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

In 2010, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell re-instated Confederate History Month, saying it was important for Virginians to “understand the Sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War, and to recognize how our history has led to our present.” Then-Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour defended McDonnell on CNN, saying that the “recognition of Confederate history also recognizes that slavery was one of the causes of the war, an issue in the war, was ended by the war and slavery is hereby condemned.”

On The Web:   http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/04/02/not-an-april-fools-joke-georgia-celebrates-confederate-history-month/

 

Martinez: Removing Confederate flag denies NC history

Published: April 2, 2013
By Rick Martinez

Three months into the job, Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration is batting .500 when it comes to race.

It scored a hit when it axed the Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs. The office did perform admirable work helping Spanish-language residents recover from storm-related disasters, and it also provided assistance with state health and census initiatives.

Still, this contribution was primarily work that can be more effectively accomplished by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs. With the help of grants, the council can utilize the state’s talented Latino grassroots organizations to the point that the Hispanic/Latino Affairs Office won’t be missed.

The McCrory Administration struck out, however, when it took down the Confederate battle flag from the House chamber in the old State Capitol building.

The flag was removed after state NAACP president, Rev. William Barber objected. It hung as part of an historical display illustrating how the Capitol appeared during the Civil War.

The flag was scheduled for removal in April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the Union reclaiming North Carolina from the Confederacy.

Rev. Barber conceded the confederacy and its battle flag are a significant part of the state’s history. “But what is that history?” he said to The Associated Press. “The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery.

“If you say that shouldn’t be offensive, then either you don’t know the history, or you are denying the history.”

Fact is, Rev. Barber and the McCrory administration are the ones denying history. Censoring North Carolina’s past doesn’t erase it.

People of all colors should not only be fully informed of the state’s Confederate story, but inspired by it, particularly at the State Capitol.

On the Capitol’s first floor is the office of Thomas Stith, the governor’s chief of staff. Naturally, he’s one of the most influential people in the state. McCrory convinced Stith to take the job after the former Durham city councilman impressed the governor with his management of the transition team.

Stith is also black. His family has a long history in North Carolina. They were first brought to the state as slaves to work the Coolmore Plantation in Tarboro. The family also has a place in the state’s civil rights movement.

Thomas is the son of David Stith, a onetime prominent, no-nonsense Durham businessman.

In the late 1950s, David was among a group of Durham citizens who had tired of the NAACP’s plodding, incremental approach to attaining equality.

So they planned something bold.

David Stith helped organize a sit-in at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor in Durham. Even though the store was in a black neighborhood, blacks could enter only through the backdoor facing Roxboro Street.

Whites entered through the front door facing Dowd Street.

Coloreds, as blacks were called, couldn’t eat in the parlor. They were relegated to the parking lot.

In June 1957 – three years before the more famous Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in in Greensboro – seven black Durham citizens entered the Royal Ice Cream Parlor and sat in the dining area reserved for whites.

They were arrested, convicted of trespassing, and ordered to pay a $10 fine. They refused and appealed their convictions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear their case.

The “Royal Seven,” it seems, were simply ahead of their time.

This is the inspiring history Rev. Barber should embrace with the hanging of the Confederate battle flag.

Despite the flag’s history of racism, lynching and enslavement, North Carolina’s African-Americans have worked hard and risked all to rise to the highest echelons of power and influence.

As a forward-looking people, we always believe more can be accomplished. But the flag’s presence in the same Capitol building where the highest ranking official is the descendent of a slave is a stirring representation of how much division North Carolina has overcome.

Sadly, it’s also the powerful legacy the McCrory Administration chose to hide when it removed the Confederate battle flag from the old House chamber.

On The Web:   http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/02/2797066/removing-confederate-flag-denies.html

 

Majority At Meeting Say Return Parks To Confederate Names

April 2, 2013
by George Brown

(Memphis) Monday night, a committee charged with deciding the permanent names of three city parks sat and listened to anyone who wanted to give their opinion.

The conversation was whether the three parks, once named after Confederates in the Civil War, should or shouldn’t be allowed to keep their names.

More than 40 people gave their input, some with simple points while ohers looked at history, and a few traded jabs.

“Our history is just as valuable and important as your history,” one man said.

“Your history?” a woman asked.  “It’s our collective history.”

Whatever it is, the city is riled up.

With school budgets in turmoil, crime and blight around so many corners, and mega employers taking off for better places, several asked if this is what we choose to get angry about?

“My God, we can’t even take care of the puppies and kittens in animal center. We don’t have money,” a resident pointed out.

City Council member Harold Collins said the issue will come down to money, perhaps a hint to where the committee stands, “Whatever we recommend there’s going to be a fiscal part to it. There’s going to be changes that are going to have to be made, it’s going to cost money.”

There would be no cost if the committee chose to return the parks to their former names Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park.

The current park names, Health Sciences Park, Memphis Park and Mississippi River Park are said to be temporary.

Previously, the leader of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP said he believed the park names should not have been changed.

A recent proposal would have more history about the Civil War added to the parks rather than have them stripped.

Copyright © 2013, WREG

On The Web:   http://wreg.com/2013/04/02/majority-at-metting-say-returns-parks-to-confederate-names/

 

Parks Debate Continues as Convention Departs
By Bill Dries

With a Ku Klux Klan rally in the rearview mirror, the local debate over the renaming of three Confederate-themed city parks moved ahead this week.

A group of 60 attended a public hearing Monday, April 1, by the ad hoc City Council committee on the parks renaming at City Hall.

And the local leader of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans Chapter said the parks controversy means the national Sons of Confederate Veterans group will not hold its annual convention in Memphis.

Meanwhile, organizers of two events at the Mid-South Fairgrounds at the same time as Saturday’s Klan rally at the Shelby County Courthouse said they will explore holding the events again.

Lee Millar, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, said the national group has voted not to come to Memphis. In an email with the subject line “City Council Thanks – NOT,” Millar said the leaders of the group specifically cited the council plans to permanently rename Forrest, Confederate and Jefferson Davis parks in its decision.

And he claimed the decision means the loss of more than $1 million in economic impact.

The group held its 2002 national convention in Memphis. During the event, the group re-enacted the 1862 raid on Memphis by Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest including a horseback ride into a ballroom of The Peabody hotel. Forrest’s brother, William, rode into the old Gayoso hotel on horseback during the raid.

Millar was among those who spoke at the public hearing.

Memphis branch NAACP president Keith Norman, who is on the committee, said he didn’t think the Klan rally had any impact on the committee’s work.

“I think that the weekend events were a bump in the road. They were a blip,” Norman added. “They were insignificant. Memphians did the right thing. They overwhelmingly stayed away from it.”

Most but not all speakers at the hearing urged the committee to recommend the council restore the old names.

“I don’t think it’s as heated as we make it,” Norman said. “But it is good for people to share their thoughts.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Kern, among the organizers of the “Heart of Memphis” gathering that got moved inside at the Mid-South Fairgrounds by the rain, said the coalition of groups behind the event are evaluating its return.

“The event was tremendously successful on a shoestring budget with very little time to plan, promote and put together. Just imagine what we could do with a budget and lots of time and better weather,” he said. “We had a lot of folks request that we do it again – from food truck vendors and arts vendors to participants who came to hear the music and attend the workshops.”

The Memphis United group that put together the neighboring People’s Conference examining racism and diversity meets Friday to explore what might be next.

“Let’s not just talk about fighting racism when the Klan comes to town,” said Brad Watkins of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, which was one of the groups involved in organizing the conference. “Let’s build a sustainable movement to work on that issue into the future.”

Like Kern, Watkins said the conference came together quickly also over about a three-week period and as the Easter weekend neared, both events began to build in momentum with various groups calling to offer support without being solicited.

“There’s a lot of people who want to have this next year and make this an annual event,” Watkins added. “We’re going to be talking about moving forward what other things we can do … grassroots organizing campaigns to get the city to address and directly confront issues of racism and oppression in our city and oppressive systems.”

Watkins also said he has some questions about the overwhelming police precautions for the Klan rally.

“I’m glad that no one was harmed and we didn’t have a repeat of 1998,” he said. “But a lot of people have concerns about just how far things went with security and some questions about the First Amendment. But human lives are the most important thing since some people had their children with them.”

Copyright 1995 - 2013 by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc

On The Web:   http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/apr/3/parks-debate-continues-as-convention-departs/
 

Loss Of Confederate Convention Costs Memphis $900,000

Posted on: April 2, 2013
by George Brown
   
(Memphis) The loss of the Sons of Confederate Veterans International convention will cost the City of Memphis $900,000.

The group was considering Memphis for its 800 delegates and their family members but instead will go to Richardson, TX.

Part of the reason for not coming to Memphis is the recent renaming of three Confederate themed parks, They cited the specific reason for this vote as “the misguided actions of the Memphis City Council to attempt to erase Civil War history in the renaming of the three historic parks.” A group member went on to say, “they would not support or visit a city that did not appreciate its history.”

More on the changing of park names: http://wreg.com/tag/nathan-bedford-forrest/

Copyright © 2013, WREG

On The Web:   http://wreg.com/2013/04/02/loss-of-confederate-convention-costs-memphis-900000/

 

Reenactment & grave ceremony
 
From: Brad Weaver
 
I'll be off work Sunday the 7th. Ohatchee is having their "Battle of Ten Islands" reenactment on the 6th & 7th. I believe there will be a dance. This is the best time to visit Janney furnace, the triple wall Confederate monument, and the museum they have there where the reenactment will be. There should also be sutlery tents there.
 
Anyone is free to go Saturday, but come Sunday I hope to get there early. From there, we will head back to Saint Clair County to do what we are really scheduled to do that day. Our Chaplain will give lip service over the graves of Confederates in Odenville. If Colby Stanford comes out he will provide a drum roll while Tim Hobbs gives a gun salute and while I salute with the flag. Tim, Colby, and myself should be in uniform. Trey Barnett will be gathering video footage and assisting where needed. We will put small flags on the graves of Confederates.
 
From that cemetery, we will march to the next cemetery and do the same thing. We have not yet decided on which cemeteries. The goal is to honor our Confederates, get some publicity, handout information regarding our upcoming meeting, and sell some merchandise for camp funds to buy more flags for graves, etc. If anyone is at church, then hey, we'll have spectators! If all goes well, we hope to put a photo in the newspaper and mention our upcoming meeting place & date.
 
Cmdr Brad Weaver
St. Clair Home Guards, Camp 2217
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Odenville, AL
 
P.S. We've been updating our website, notably with an events schedule.
 
www.HomeGuards.org
 

 

Gen Hardee
 
From: oldsouthrebel@zebra.net
To: cscitizen@windstream.net
 
Hello Billy,
 
You may forward this message to anyone whom you deem interested.
 
Regarding Gen Hardee's grave, which is very beautiful...a wonderful monument ...a head stone and a wrought-iron fence around his grave...
 
During hunting season 2011 while I was in Live Oak...which I go there at least 4 times a week...sometimes more...checking on Confederate Circle...it was in about Nov. 2011 while I was there a young man (in his 30's) drove up...and started talking to me...as always, I am an ambassador for Live Oak and give many tours throughout the cemetery...this young man was very knowledgeable about Gen Hardee and inquired about his grave...naturally, I took him right to it....he said he was on his way to a hunting camp just south of Selma and wanted to stop in Live Oak as he had never been there & had heard Gen Hardee was buried there...I left him at Gen Hardee's grave & went on about my business....
 
Then right after Christmas I went back over to Gen Hardee's grave...just checking on the flags that I had put out...lo & behold his Southern Cross of Honor was GONE!  I have NO way of proving who took it...but I suspect it might have been that young man back in Nov 2011..however, it would be like a Picasso...he cannot tell where he got it or whose grave it came from... a few months ago I was in Prattville with my brother...he took me to a relic shop...I spotted an ORIGINAL Southern Cross of Honor...!!!!  the stake had been sawed off with a hacksaw...but I bought it anyway...$200...I have had it repaired ....I plan to hold a memorial service for Gen Hardee on his birthday this year and we will reinstall this Southern Cross of Honor for Gen Hardee.  I know it was Providential that I went to that relic shop that day & discovered the cross up on a shelf. The owner told me he bought it several years ago from a fella who had been a gardener for someone in Montgomery and "found" it lying flat in a flower bed!!!  Yeah right!  It is not the one from Gen Hardee's grave, of course, but it IS AN ORIGINAL...and NOT a reproduction, so I am thrilled that a REAL one will be put back on his grave!
 
We will also have a HUGE REDEDICATION SERVICE at Confederate Circle when we are finished with our work.  I will keep everyone posted!
 
Thanks for your interest and for sending me the posts of other discussions.
 
Confederately yours,
 
Pat
 

 

Va Flaggers in the News
 
From: suzn68@comcast.net
 
GA/VA Flagger Billy Bearden has recently had several guest appearances on the radio talk show "What's Up in West Georgia?" on WGMI 1440 in Carrollton, Georgia.  The host is a black man, born and raised in New York, who was intrigued after talking with Billy at a local event about the 56 Georgia flag he was carrying.  After more discussions, and some investigating, Dr. Jerry has become an enthusiastic supporter of Southern Heritage and the Confederate Cause.  Billy's appearances up to this point have been to discuss the SCV, heritage defense, the 56' flag issue, and most recently, the restoration of the Confederate Monument in Carrollton...
 
"Carroll County, Georgia, Confederate Monument Restored! Missing in Action for over 50 years, this past week saw the replacement of the 4 decorative 'cannonballs' on the Confederate Statue in Carrollton.
 
It all started back in 2007, when I read a book on Georgia Confederate Memorials loaned to me by Camp #1239 member Tony Gonzales. I discovered the Carroll County Monument would turn 100 in May of 2010. Initial suggestions were proposed, and plans were implemented with the enthusiastic assistance of Ga Div Historian Ernie Blevins of SCV camp #1239. A parade down historic Dixie Street, Guest Speaker Bill Chappell, Chairman of Carroll County Board of Commissioners, Newspaper and Radio coverage, and the creation and release of this great documentary by Mr. Blevins were the result:
 
Always Looking North
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAx9pPdRkF8
 
During the research, it was discovered that the original 4 balls were missing for quite some time. Additionally, it was learned that 2 of the 4 balls had been stolen by Carrollton City workers to use as a decorative topping to 2 brick and mortar pillars at the entrance to the Carrollton Cemetery.
 
Since that time, Ernie and I sought funding to restore the 4 balls. After the funding was available, we managed to enlist the local monument company to make and install the replacements.
 
More photos here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200274014031290.1073741825.1181542610&type=1
 
The 4 decorative balls that had been missing for over 70 years finally were replaced, just in time for Confederate Heritage and History Month!"
 
- Billy Bearden
 
THIS Monday, April 1st at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, Billy will once again be a guest, but this will be a very special show.  Dr. Jerry plans on having a friend from New York (who does NOT agree with his favorable view of the Confederate Battle Flag) call in and discuss the issue with Billy.
 
This should be a great show and we encourage everyone to please tune in, or listen online...  www.1440thetrain.com
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Va Flagger Cecil "Tommy" Thomas was featured in this great article recently:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/breaking/dp-honoring-the-confederate-dead-at-historic-st-johns-church-20130319,0,284220.story
 
"Cecil W. Thomas III has spent much of his free time scraping off the rust and restoring every one of the 166 crosses that honor the Confederate dead at St. John's Church in Hampton. Thomas has brushed off, primed and repainted 400 crosses over the past four years in cemeteries from St. John's to his old family burial ground at Mill Swamp Cemetery in Isle of Wight County."
 
We are proud to have Tommy has a Flagger and a friend.  His dedication and commitment to honoring our Confederate Ancestors is exceptional and we congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition!
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
And last, but certainly not least, our friend and Flagger, Sgt. Cliff Troutman was featured in Richmond's "Style Weekly" Magazine's "Pictures of the Year" for 2012, when he was photographed participating with the Va Flaggers in the 2012 Heritage Rally in Richmond. 
http://www.styleweekly.com/imager/2012-photos-of-the-year/b/original/1794899/6282/cover_feature1-6.jpg 
 
"Conflicted Confederacy: Published Feb. 28. Retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Cliff Troutman, who served in Vietnam, attends a Sons of Confederate Veterans rally at the Robert E. Lee monument on Monument Avenue.
 
Photographer's note: This guy just looked tough. He was the real deal in a crowd of people dressed as re-enactors. When he turned and stared down at me with piercing blue eyes and the cigarette clenched between his teeth, all the elements of a good image came together. The monument and flag help set the scene, but his face tells the story."
http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/2012-photos-of-the-year/Content?oid=1794893
 
Sarge is one of our most dedicated Flaggers, rarely missing a scheduled flagging and a staunch supporter on and off the sidewalk.  He is also a member of the Lee-Jackson Camp #1, SCV, a national officer for Wreaths across America and an advocate for Veterans through membership and leadership in many other Veterans' organizations.
 
In Vietnam, he was part of the 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment Marine Corp.  They had 800 marines and Navy hospital corpsmen.  747 were KILLED! 2 MIAs ....the unit was in 37 engagements (battles) from June '65 to July '69, when the unit was DE-commissioned due to combat casualties.  Ho Chi Minh told them that he was going to kill them all...so just consider themselves dead walking!  So they called themselves "The Walking Dead" and Troutman stills carries that name with pride.  Sergeant Troutman's job was radio communications; he was attached to the unit from 3rd Division HQ.  He was assigned a jeep loaded with weapons & radio repair parts, which he drove in the field.  He was the soldier who responded to the combat call: "Radio Out", so he would go to that broken radio and repair it during combat!  He and the Navy Corpsmen were the soldiers who responded to other soldiers' needs during combat.  He says, "A few times, THEY almost got me too!"  He is truly one of a kind.  He & his unit did carry into battle & Fly the  Confederate Battle Flag, he says so that the Viet Cong would know it was the 1st Battalion, 9th Marine (The Walking Dead) they were fighting. Semper Fi!
 
 

Va Flaggers Update 4-2-2013:  Museum of the Confederacy
 
From: info@vaflaggers.com


 
Over the weekend, The MUSEUM OF THE CONFEDERACY celebrated the one year anniversary of REFUSING to fly a CONFEDERATE FLAG on the grounds of its Appomattox museum...
 
“Appomattox is a metaphor for the reunification of the country,” Museum of the Confederacy director Waite Rawls told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “To put the Confederate flag into that display would be a historical untruth.”
 
http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2012/04/02/new-museum-of-the-confederacy-protested-for-not-flying-the-confederate-flag/
 
...AND recently announced that ULYSSES S. GRANT was voted "Person of the Year" for 1863 at its symposium...
 
www.c-spanvideo.org/program/311051-1
 
"Who would Time have selected as the Person of the Year 1863? The Museum of the Confederacy and the Library of Virginia considered that question by inviting five historians to nominate someone for the title. Before the audience cast their votes for Person of the Year 1863, each historian presented an argument for their nominee and responded to questions from the audience.
 
*** The audience voted Ulysses S. Grant as Person of the Year 1863. ***
 
Professor Edward Ayers nominated U.S. Colored Troops; Professor Joseph Glatthaar nominated Ulysses S. Grant; Historian Robert Krick nominated “Stonewall” Jackson; Professor Thomas Sebrell nominated John Russell; and Professor Jennifer Weber nominated Clement Vallandigham.
...
The Museum of the Confederacy’s 2013 Symposium was held on February 23, 2013 at the Library of Virginia."
 
Many individuals and SCV Camps have cancelled their memberships and let Museum of the Confederacy officials know WHY, but hundreds more STILL support those who apparently would join the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the NAACP, and other groups in calling for the removal of the flag of our ancestors from public display.
 
Are YOU mad enough yet?
 
Boycott the museum.  Cancel your membership. Tell museum officials you will not support a Museum of the Confederacy that is too ashamed to fly the Battle Flag of the Confederate soldier.
 
Contact:
Waite Rawls, President and CEO
1201 E. Clay Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: (855) 649-1861 ext. 130
wrawls@moc.org
 
Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers
 
Upcoming Events:
 
Saturday, April 6th:  Noon – 4 – Flagging the VMFA
 
Saturday, April 6th:  Noon – 3, Annual Confederate History and Heritage Day, Historic Chesterfield Courthouse Green, 10011 Iron Bridge Rd., Chesterfield.
 
Sunday April 7th:  2:00 p.m. - Confederate Memorial Service, Riverview Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, (Sponsored by the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705, UDC)
 
Wednesday, April 10th:  3:00 p.m. – Dusk, Flagging the VMFA
 
Wednesday, April 17th:  Wakefield Ruritan Club, 65th Annual Shad Planking, 2:00 – 6:30 p.m., Wakefield Sportsman’s Club, 12205 Brittles Mill Rd, Wakefield, VA 23888, Tickets $25 each.  More info here… http://www.shadplanking.com/

Saturday, April 27th:   Susan will be traveling to Tampa, FL to represent the Va Flaggers and speak at the ceremony to raise the "World's Largest 3rd National Flag" by Gen. Jubal A. Early, Camp #556, SCV.   http://www.tampascv.org/3rd%20national.htm
 
Tuesday, April 30th:  7:00 p.m. at the Bedford County/City Museum on Main Street in Bedford, VA (across Court Street from the Bedford Court House)  Barry and Susan will travel to Bedford, Virginia to speak to the BEDFORD RIFLE GRAYS #1475, Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.
 
Saturday, May 4th:  10:30 a.m. - Commemoration of the Sesquicentennial of Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Lying in State at the Old House Chamber, State Capitol, Richmond, VA.  (Sponsored by Va Div, SCV)
 
Saturday, May 11th:  11:00 a.m. - Annual J.E.B. Stuart Memorial Service at the Yellow Tavern Monument in Glen Allen, VA, (sponsored by the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705, UDC)
 
Saturday, May 11th:  4:00 p.m. - Confederate Medal of Honor Memorial Service, Blanford Church on the grounds of Blanford Cemetery in Petersburg. (Sponsored by Robert E. Lee Camp #1589, SCV)
 
Saturday, June 8th:  Annual birthday ceremony for Jefferson F. Davis, at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.  (Sponsored by the Jefferson Davis Memorial Committee)
 
Saturday, June 29th:  22nd 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Annual Point Lookout Pilgrimage, Confederate Memorial Park, Point Lookout, MD.
 
 

April 1-30th 2013 is Confederate History and Heritage Month throughout the USA!
 
The Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee of the National and Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans proudly recognizes and appreciates the signing of proclamations by Southern governors, mayors and county commissioners since 1995 designating the month of April as “Confederate History and Heritage Month.”
 
In 2009, the Georgia General Assembly approved Senate Bill No.27 and was signed by Past Governor Sonny Perdue, officially and permanently designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in Georgia.
 
In 1999, Texas Senate Resolution No. 526 passed designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in the “Yellow Rose” State of Texas.
 
The 150th Anniversary “Sesquicentennial” of the War Between the States ”1861-1865” is now underway through 2015 and the Confederate History Month Committee encourages everyone to make it a family affair and learn more about this important time in our nation’s past. See Georgia Division SCV Sesquicentennial Committee website at:  http://www.150wbts.org/
 
May 2013 marks the 150th Anniversary of the death of Confederate General Thomas J. {Stonewall} Jackson.
 
Confederate History Month commemorates the men and women of the Confederate States of America who came from all races and religions that include: Irish-born General Patrick R. Cleburne, Black Confederate drummer Bill Yopp, Mexican born Colonel Santos Benavides, Cherokee Born General Stand Watie and Jewish born Confederate Nurse Phoebe Pember who was the first female administrator of Chimboraza Hospital in Richmond, Virginia where she served until the end of War Between the States.
 
The Confederate History Month Committee salutes the women of Old Dixieland like Sally Tompkins of Richmond, Virginia who was commissioned a Captain by President Jefferson Davis and who financed and ran the Robertson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia during the war and….
 
Mrs. Charles J. Williams of Columbus, Georgia who was among those responsible for getting Confederate Memorial Day recognized as a legal holiday in Georgia by act of the Georgia legislature in 1874. For over 100 year’s members of the Ladies Memorial Association, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans have held annual Confederate Memorial days on or near April 26th. Other states celebrate Confederate Memorial Day on May 10th and June 3rd--the birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
 
Read more about Confederate History and Heritage Month on face book at:  https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth
 
 

April 2013 is Confederate History and Heritage Month in Dixie!
 
By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr., Chairman of the National and Georgia Division SCV Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee, 1064 West Mill Drive, Kennesaw, Georgia 30152 Phone: 770 428 0978 or Cell phone: 770 330 9792, Email address:cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net.
 
Mr. Mike Crane, Co-Chairman of the SCV Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee for 2013 and Webmaster of our Confederate History Month websites.
Contact Mike at: Email: mikecrane@tds.net, Phone: 706-374-2640
 
And CHHM members: Billy Bearden, John Black and Fred Wilhite and in fond remembrance of member and friend Jeff Davis who passed from this earthly life in 2012 to be with Jesus and Robert E. Lee.
 
Hello Dixie,
 
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is asking the Orange County, Texas Board of Commissions to proclaim April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. See Story here and good luck men:
http://orangeleader.com/breakingnews/x237731934/Group-to-ask-for-April-to-honor-Confederate-history
 
To all of God’s good men, women and children of different races and backgrounds who love true Southern History please read this letter and pass the good news along to Historical Groups, Civil Groups, Church Groups and Everyone who loves the grand Heritage of Dixie. “We pray for God’s Holy guidance and blessings as we honor and remember the great deeds of our Confederate ancestors who served in the Civil, Political and Military branches of the CSA.”
 
Pass the friend chicken, sweet potato pie, sweet iced tea, water melon and get ready to celebrate the Heritage of the South during April 2013 when Dixie and the American nation will celebrate Confederate History and Heritage Month with stories and events that commemorate the lives of those great heroes like: Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stand Watie, Sally Tompkins, Bill Yopp and General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Why did they change the name of Forrest Park in Memphis, Tennessee where Forrest and his wife are buried?
 
Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia has signed 2013 proclamation for Confederate History Month, and
 
In 2009, the Georgia General Assembly approved Senate Bill No.27 and was signed by past Governor Sonny Perdue, officially and permanently designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in Georgia.
 
Please help us during April 2013 and throughout the year to promote Confederate History and Heritage Month with the News Media, the Folks and get proclamations signed in recognition of this memorable time in Southern History from State Governors, City Mayors, County Commissioners and all who will honor the Confederate History and Heritage legacy of Gen. Stonewall Jackson, Pvt. Bill Yopp, Bell Boyd, Sir Moses Jacob Ezekiel, Colonel Ambrosio Jose Gonzalez and our beloved President Jefferson Davis whose Presidential Library will reopen this year at Beauvoir on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast.http://www.beauvoir.org
 
The Confederate History Month committee has been active since 2011 on Face book and a special thank you goes to Co-Chairman and Confederate Heritage Month Webmaster Mike Crane who signed us up and the weekly total reach has soared recently as high as 9,800 guests and currently 1,426 good folks “like” us. Everyone can be a part of Confederate History and Heritage Month on face book at:  http://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth
 
The Sesquicentennial Celebration of the War for Southern Independence continues this year with the 150th Anniversary of the death on Gen. Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson who died in May 1863.
 
The committee also recognizes the great works of CHHM member Billy Bearden who has been active in support of the Confederate flag in Virginia and has been responsible for securing many proclamations for Confederate History and Heritage Month. Here is one of his many communications from 2012. Thank you Billy and keep up the outstanding work!
 
{April 26th, is, since 1874, and according not only to Georgia Statute, but also by official proclamation, known as Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia.
 
The proclamations come from Centralhatchee, Ephesus, Franklin and Heard County, and are perpetual.
 
To mark the occasion, Billy Bearden traveled to Yellow Dirt Cemetery inside Georgia Power's Plant Wansley to visit the soldiers, and check on the Confederate Battle Flags placed on the veteran's graves for the 2nd time back in October 2011.
 
After taking about 15 pictures and being satisfied all is ok with the graves and decorations thereon, he made his way down to Franklin town square.
 
In the middle of the square is a large Gazebo. In 'front' of this are multiple panels of engraved bricks with veteran’s names and a plaque designating the walls as the Heard County Veterans Park.}
 
And in 2012 Compatriot Ben Hestley of Saint Clair Camp No. 308 of Ashville, Alabama reported:
 
{Every year the Saint Clair County Commission issues a Resolution declaring April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. Numerous mayors in St. Clair County also sign our proclamation/Resolution.}
 
The CHHM Committee sends a special thank you to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners of Marietta, Georgia who presented the Sons of Confederate Veterans a proclamation designating April 2012 as Confederate History and Heritage Month that marked the 11th consecutive year they have honored us with a proclamation that was aired on Cobb cable channel 23.We may submit another request in April this year near Confederate Memorial Day on the 26th.
 
And this from Compatriot Steve Scroggins of Warner Robbins, Georgia:
 
At tonight's (April 2nd, 2012) meeting of Mayor and City Council, Mayor Shaheen read a proclamation deeming April as Confederate History and Heritage month.  He first allowed me to say a few words and I briefly told the story of William Todd Robins on the notion that many in the room had heard the story of Augustine Warner Robins by virtue of the Air Museum... but many probably didn't know the story of his father.
 
Here's the proclamation with photo of our group in the lobby of City Hall.
http://scvcamp1399.org/confederate_history_month_proclamation_WR2012.php
 
Camp #1642 Sons of Confederate Veterans has received the City of Cumming, Georgia Proclamation declaring April 2013 as Confederate History and Heritage Month. Good job guys!
 
Jeff Wright of Camp McDonald 1552 has sent word that the City of Kennesaw, Ga. will do a proclamation this year 2013 for Confederate History and Heritage Month.
 
The Committee recommends all SCV members, heritage groups and friends to sign up for 2013 updates at: http://www.confederatehistorymonth.com or the Georgia Division SCV site at: http://confederateheritagemonth.com
 
The Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee again in 2013 asks everyone to serve as an Ambassador of good will and spread the good word about the April’s Month of Southern Remembrance.
 
Events scheduled for April include: Saturday April 13, 2013 for the 12th Annual National Confederate Memorial Day at Stone Mountain Park. See information at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/535417356478954/permalink/535417359812287/
 
The Confederate History and Heritage has information about an attractive Confederate History Month button with Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Battle flag and also one with Gen. Stonewall Jackson from Custom Buttons USA that can be worn every day of the year leading up to next April. See button at the web site here and type Confederate History Month in their search engine for a special price for 200:
http://www.custombuttonsusa.com/confederate-history-month-button--april-2010.html
 
The Committee sent a press release last year for Confederate History and Heritage Month and Confederate Memorial Day and we were interviewed by some in the News Media. Here is the link to 11 Alive TV in Atlanta that was picked up by other TV Stations and newspapers. That’s me! Mr. Paul Crawley interviewed me at my home with the Confederate flag and 1956 Georgia Soldier’s Memorial flag flapping in the wind:
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/239524/40/Did-you-know-Confederate-Memorial-Day-is-still-a-state-holiday
 
The following was included in the Confederate Memorial Day News Release for 2012 about the yearly display of the Confederate States of America Constitution at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.
 
{The annual exhibition of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America is annually displayed on Confederate Memorial Day at the University of Georgia New Richard B. Russell Building on the second floor gallery Special Collections Libraries from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. located at: S. Hull Street. Confederate Memorial Day is Friday April 26, 2013 in Georgia.
 
Civil War letters, documents, artifacts and images from 1862 will also be displayed in observance of Confederate Memorial Day on the Campus of University of Georgia.
 
For more information, contact the Special Collections Libraries at 706-542-7123.}
 
From Virginia the committee reposted on face book and emails this great Confederate History Month billboard that could no doubt generate much publicity for the SCV, UDC and other groups that might sponsor one for 2012. What do you think?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=401296269880605&set=a.204552562888311.54668.198288136848087&type=1&theater
 
The Chairman also has written a month’s worth of Confederate History and Heritage Month minutes that can be used for Radio, TV and Newspaper publication in 2013. See minutes at: http://confederateheritagemonth.com/heritage/2006/calvin_johnson.php
 
May God bless our efforts to remember those great Southern men and women of the Old South that are our inspiration today and God bless Dixie!
 
Lest We Forget!
 
 

From: HK Edgerton <hk.edgerton@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 2, 2013
To: kdl <kdl@slrc-csa.org>



Dear Kirk D.,

For those who suffer from political, social and economic exclusion, haters of the Southland and its symbols have propped up once again the Bill of Rights, the Statue of Liberty and Old Glory to mask the exclusivity of their real ideology by convincing the NAACP to attack the Confederate Battle Flag as if it was the central cause of the broken promises and betrayal of those ideals expressed in the aforementioned.
 
And furthermore filled the coffers of the NAACP to promote the goals of Southern social and cultural genocide, and to act upon the national stage the role of iconoclast with the aid of the media, bought and paid for Southern scalawags, Southern politicians, Federal Public School System, and a judiciary that has eagerly interpreted their will to do so, regardless of the venerated status afforded by the United States Congress to the Southern Cross; the Colors of an American Veteran, the Confederate soldier " (US Federal Law 85-425 passed on May 23, 1958 states the term veteran includes a person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War), or a willingness to hear the voices of the many Africans who, like their ancestors did, remain loyal to the Southland of America and who, in their ranks, have many who believe that if we are starting all over, then we need a new Flag, and use as their point of reference the many problems that the Stars and Stripes had that makes the Confederate Flag pale in comparison prior to World War I.
 
Because the United States Congress has turned a blind eye as organizations that carry 501-C3 non-profit tax exempt status like the NAACP, (see 1991 NAACP resolution on Confederate Flag), its own members like John McCain and those politicians like Mitt Romney to desecrate in their actions and rhetoric the Congressional mandate of veneration afforded the Confederate Battle Flag and further, by its action in funding the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, to include the Department of Education, who are complicit in a support role in this desecration that strips me of my 9th Amendment Rights as a citizen as I am forced to watch a system of content discrimination.
 
A system by its design supresses the ideas and symbolic meaning of the Confederate Flag and the reasoning of the War Between the States and the support given by the many Africans, freed or indentured to the South as it controls the content of texts and the dissemination of knowledge of those Africans who earned a place of honor for their service to the Confederate States of America either as soldiers or in a support role thereof.
 
I am thereby compelled to introduce this letter as a prerequisite of legal and fund raising support from the Southern Legal Resource Center and you in your individual capacity as Chief Trial Counsel as I am now preparing a mock brief for an intended law suit against the United States Congress to be placed before the Board of Directors and its Chair in the matters expressed above. God bless you.
 
HK Edgerton
Chairman of the Board Advisors Emeritous
Southern Legal Resource Center
 

From: Georgia Flagger <cobbslegionscv@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 1, 2013
To: Georgia Division <GASCV-Discussion@yahoogroups.com>, flagfight@yahoogroups.com

1 year ago, the MoC opened a satillite MoC in Appomattox.  A large Flagging took place of the event because Director Rawls, after having just been exposed as a liar, and after the Virginia Flaggers showed the world the cardboard standup of RuPaul in a Battleflag dress that Rawls was going to use, but was forced to remove due to the public outcry, complete with Banner plane flyover.

Today nothing has changed. He is still a member of the Longstreet camp in Virginia,  The SCV and UDC still send monetary donations and still invite him to speak at thier functions, and NO Confederate flag has been placed on the grounds to fly.

Today, the Rawls led MoC has announced that General US Grant is their choice for "Person of the Year"
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/311051-1See
 

Vaughn family descendant endears herself to family, community
Saturday, March 30, 2013   

While researching the Battle and Vaughn families, a descendant common to both stood out as an exceptional person. Bessie Sessions (Vaughn) Battle is remembered for her longevity, but more importantly for her exemplary life, love for her family and adoration of her father who rendered service in the Confederate Army.

Bessie Sessions Vaughn was born in 1875 in Union Springs, Ala., as the first child of Gillam Nicholson and Amanda Madora (Goode) Vaughn. Her paternal grandparents were John Henry and Narcissis Nicholson (Gorman) Vaughn, natives of North Carolina and South Carolina respectively. Her middle name of Sessions was to honor the family physician, Dr. Lowe Sessions, who attended her mother at her birth as well as that of the next four children.

Dr. Sessions was the owner of a large tract of land in Union Springs, Bullock County, of which Bessie’s grandparents had earlier owned several hundred acres. He was a very successful banker who is credited with establishing the Union Springs Bank of which he was president, the Ozark Bank and one in Enterprise. In his role as President of the Board of Trustees of Union Springs Institute of which Bessie was a graduate, he stated what an honor it was for him to offer his name to her diploma. He also had the privilege of writing a letter of recommendation for employment as a teacher in which he described her as “an amiable and modest young lady who had given entire satisfaction during her two years of teaching at the institute.”

In 1903, Bessie was married to John William Battle in Union Springs, at her parents’ home. (Their granddaughter, Annette Wynn Reeves, has a printed copy of the wedding invitation.) Bessie was working as a teacher in Pine Level at the time, and John William was working as a clerk or salesman. Various descriptions of him from employers indicated he was a “sober and honorable gentleman,” and that he was “steady, reliable, attentive and careful in details.” An employer in 1894 described him as being “honest, upright, attentive to business and strict in business.”

John William was a younger brother of the Dr. Henry Elton Battle, who practiced medicine in Andalusia in the early 1900s. They were the sons of William Augustus Battle, a Confederate Veteran who served as a Captain in Company B, 51st Alabama Cavalry, and Martha “Mattie” Rebecca (Edwards). His paternal grandparents were John William Battle and his third wife, Sidney Ann (Tuggle). John William was born in 1870 and obviously named for his grandfather. He lived a rather short life and he died from poor health at the age of 54.

During his later years, John William Battle’s health began to decline. Even as a young man near the time of his marriage, he was diagnosed as suffering from “rheumatism.” At that time, his older brother, Dr. Henry Elton Battle, certified in an official statement that John William was disabled as far as regular employment. It was mentioned that he most likely had what is known today as tuberculosis, and that a serious bout with flu claimed his life on March 2, 1924.

When John William and Bessie were first married, they moved to the City of Dothan in Houston County, which was just being born. As was common for the time, they arrived by horse and buggy, and their first home was near the old Howell School. He opened with his brother a mercantile business in which he could be productive. Using her teaching skills, Bessie found employment as a governess and housekeeper for the prosperous Sherman family. Mr. Sherman was a successful businessman in the railroad industry. He and his wife traveled abroad on regular occasions, and this left Bessie to care for the children and the management of the home.

Bessie has been described as one who loved her family and was always interested in the well being of each member. In fact, she was seen as one who “was interested in the people around her and the things in her world.” She dearly loved her relatives and maintained close communication until her death. She wrote frequent letters in which she included comments, advice and special prayers that could be passed on eventually to the children. She kept up with their activities and progress and always offered encouragement. She saved family information and was able to contribute much to the efforts made to compile a comprehensive history of her family.

Bessie and John William Battle reared one daughter, Mamie Louise, who was born in 1905 and married to Thomas Jefferson Wynn, Jr. Louise was an accomplished musician and served as organist for the First Baptist Church of Dothan for 41 years. Louise and Thomas had one daughter, Annette Louise, who was born in Dothan and later married to William Henry Reeves. The Reeves made their home is several locations, which include a number of years in Andalusia. They reared four children: Dana Gaye, m. (1) Tony Cross (2) Ronnie Landon; William Mark, single; John Benjamin, m. Elizabeth Carson; and Steven Parrish, single. Currently, Annette is a widow and resides in Andalusia.

A news reporter for the Dothan Eagle, Mary Nell McLennan, wrote a story in 1975 upon the occasion of Bessie’s 100th birthday. She described her as “one of Dothan’s most beloved women.” The occasion was “a party with all the trimmings,” which included three cakes, a letter from President Gerald Ford and a telegram from Governor George Wallace. Someone said, “She is as modern as today’s newspaper and as old-fashioned and solid as the Bible.” She was born on a plantation in Union Springs as the eldest of eight children and was reared in “the traditional, gentle, Southern manner.”

The above reporter as well as anyone speaking with Bessie Vaughn Battle soon heard of her great pride in her father’s service in the Confederate Army. At her age of 100 years, she surely was one of the last surviving “Real Daughters” of a Confederate Veteran. It was said “her eyes shown when she spoke of her father, Gillian Nicholson Vaughn, who served as a private in Company D, 3rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. She stated, “He was a fine man, very honest in all his dealings.”

Bessie became actively involved in preserving her Confederate heritage. She was a charter member when the Dothan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was formed in 1911. When her only granddaughter, Annette Louise Wynn, was born, she set about having her enrolled as a Child of the Confederacy at the age of two months, which distinguished her as the youngest member in the State of Alabama. The chapter chose to make Annette their official “mascot.” Within a year after Bessie’s 100th birthday, the chapter paid her the highest honor by officially adopting the name of Bessie Vaughn Battle Chapter #1342, United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Her career included working as a teacher, 20 years as a substitute teacher, an insurance sales person, census taker, tutor of Latin (a subject she dearly loved) and homemaker. She lived a fulfilled life, which included significant efforts to preserve her family’s history.

The source for this narrative was the family records of Annette (Wynn) Reeves who graciously shared them. These included two stories from the Dothan Eagle on October 26, 1975, and March 9, 1977, and various other records.

Anyone who might have any information to add to this story is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-222-6467; or Email: .

© 2013, The Andalusia Star-News

On The Web:   http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2013/03/30/vaughn-family-descendant-endears-herself-to-family-community/

 

Free brings history up close and personal
By Ginger Grantham
TNValleyNow.com

Making history come alive for students is the key to getting them interested in learning. That was Leland and Rosemary Free's mission recently when they visited Moulton Elementary School.

Leland Free is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and participates in Civil War battle re-enactments across the state. He is usually at events at the Gen. Joe Wheeler home with a Civil War cannon.

Free and his wife came to the school in period dress and talked to students in the library.

Free discussed the types of clothing worn by both the Union and Confederate troops. He also had clothing with him to show the students along with examples of canteens, rifles and cannon balls.

He also had a number of flags used by the Confederacy during the war. He explained the purpose for each flag and why the flags were changed.

One fact that got the students' interest was Free's discussion about shoes.

"Back then shoes were not made in left or right. All the shoes were the same. Soldiers would get the shoes wet so the leather would mold to the feet and take shape," he said. "The shoes were called brogans."

The students who went to Moulton Elementary School may not remember all the dates of the Civil War, but they will remember what the soldiers wore thanks to Leland and Rosemary Free.

© Copyright 2013 Tennessee Valley Printing Company

On The Web:   http://www.decaturdaily.com/stories/Free-brings-history-up-close-and-personal,116438

 

March 29, 2013
Group to ask for April to honor Confederate history

Dawn Burleigh
The Orange Leader

ORANGE — The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) will ask Orange County Commissioners Court to proclaim the month of April as Confederate History and Heritage Month on Monday.

The request for the proclamation is an annual request by the organization.

A copy of the proclamation from April 2011 states “Whereas we honor our past and from it draw the courage, strength and wisdom to reconcile ourselves, and go forward into the future together as citizens of Orange County, Texas and America.”

The proclamation also reads “urge all citizens of the county to engage in a historical study of the events of the years from 1861-1865, inclusive and to solemnly contemplate that time in our history.”

Granvel Block, a member of the SCV, made the request for the proclamation and is the one who obtained a permit from the city of Orange for the Confederate Flag Memorial.

The permit for the memorial states it is to install a new veterans memorial.

Commissioners will also discuss the revisions to the Orange county Personnel Policy Manual concerning travel reimbursement for employees.

The court will also discuss appointing a new Director to the Transportation Department and if a vacant custodial position in the Operations and Maintenance Department will be filled.

Commissioners Court will hold a special meeting 2 p.m. Monday, at 123 South Sixth Street in Orange.

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.

On The Web:   http://orangeleader.com/breakingnews/x237731934/Group-to-ask-for-April-to-honor-Confederate-history

 

Appeals Court Backs District's Ban on Confederate T-Shirts
By Mark Walsh
March 27, 2013

A federal appeals court has upheld a South Carolina school district's restrictions barring a student from wearing various Confederate flag T-shirts to school.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va., held unanimously that past racial incidents in the district's schools and the potential for differing student interpretations of such shirts justified school officials' view that the shirts were likely to cause a substantial disruption.

The case involves Candace Hardwick, who clashed repeatedly from 2002 to 2006 with administrators at her middle school and high school in the 1,600-student Latta, S.C., district over her desire to wear T-shirts with Confederate themes. The shirts included slogans such as "Southern Chicks," "Dixie Angels," "Southern Girls," and "Daddy's Little Redneck."

Hardwick also sought to wear a shirt labeled "Black Confederates," honoring a Louisiana Civil War regiment made up of free African-Americans. She also tried to wear shirts she characterized as protests of censorship of the others, with slogans such as "Jesus and the Confederate Battle Flag: Banned from Our Schools but Forever in Our Hearts," and "Offended by School Censorship of Southern Heritage."

Hardwick and her parents sued the district and school officials under the First Amendment. A federal district court granted summary judgment to the defendants.

In its March 25 decision in Hardwick v. Heyward, the 4th Circuit court said most of the shirts at issue were properly viewed as "Confederate" shirts and could be regulated by the district. The Latta schools had experienced various racial incidents in recent years, some sparked by Confederate-themed shirts, the court said.

"Taken together, [the incidents] tell a story of a community and its schools that, although making progress in race relations, are not immune from incidents of racial conflict," the court said. "Multiple incidents of racial tension in Latta schools and the potential for such vastly different views among students about the meaning of the Confederate flag provide a sufficient basis to justify the school officials' conclusion that the Confederate flag shirts would cause a substantial disruption."

The decision is largely in keeping with other federal district and appeals courts around the country that have upheld restrictions on Confederate shirts as long as school officials could show a likelihood of disruption based on a history of racial tensions in the schools.

© 2013 Editorial Projects in Education

On The Web:   http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2013/03/appeals_court_backs_districts_.html

 

Memphis Drops Confederate Names From Parks, Sowing New Battles

By ROBBIE BROWN
Published: March 28, 2013

MEMPHIS — Two bright metal signs long welcomed visitors here to the grassy bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, near a cluster of Civil War cannons and historical plaques.

“Confederate Park,” one read. “Jefferson Davis Park,” read the other, beside a statue of the Confederacy’s president.

Last month, the Memphis City Council ordered the nameplates removed, leaving only empty frames. And ever since, a debate over that decision has flared — the latest clash over Confederate memorials in the South.

The Council voted to rename this city’s downtown parks — and a third honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate lieutenant general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan — because it said the names evoked a racist past and were unwelcoming in a city where most of the population is black. Southern historical groups responded that the change dishonored troops who fought in the 1862 Battle of Memphis, a naval conflict in which the rebels suffered a major defeat.

“We have gotten hundreds and hundreds of e-mails complaining about the renamings,” said Lee Harris, the council member who led the effort. “I’m not afraid of our history. But I’m afraid of excluding some people from our parks and celebrating the conduct of the Confederacy.”

The dispute has grown, with the Ku Klux Klan planning to march through Memphis on Saturday, even as historians and religious leaders selected by the Council search for replacement names.

The Council chose temporary names that members said would not offend anyone: Memphis Park, Mississippi River Park and Health Sciences Park.

Mayor A. C. Wharton said reaching a compromise would be difficult. He angered Confederate groups last week by proposing that a statue of Ulysses S. Grant be erected to create balance and honor the Union troops.

“These are the growing pains of a democratic society,” Mr. Wharton said. “This is the South, remember. Traditions don’t die that easy.”

Memphis, where 63 percent of the residents are black, is the latest city to grapple with the delicate issue of Confederate names and monuments. In Selma, Ala., a bust of General Forrest was attacked with cinder blocks and vandalized with graffiti before disappearing last year, and the city decided to block a Confederate historical group from replacing it. In Florida and Tennessee, public schools named for General Forrest have faced protests and petitions to rename them.

The renaming of the Memphis parks on Feb. 5 came in anticipation of a bill, since passed by the State Legislature and now awaiting action from Gov. Bill Haslam, that would make it harder for local governments to change the names of any parks or monuments honoring wars or war heroes. State Representative Steve McDaniel, the bill’s sponsor and a Republican, said the bill would not retroactively affect Memphis’s park names.

At a tense meeting last week, the nine members of the Parks Renaming Committee debated permanent replacement names for an hour but could not reach a consensus. The committee planned to propose new names later this spring.

One committee member, Doug Cupples, a history professor at Christian Brothers University here, called for keeping the original names but building more monuments to honor African-American leaders. “I would like to see us adding to our history, not taking away from it,” he said. “We have a very expansive history, which includes some saints and some scoundrels.”

But the Rev. Keith Norman, a Baptist pastor who is on the committee, said restoring the park names would be like honoring Nazis in modern Germany. As Memphis tries to attract businesses, he said, “this sends the wrong signal to a very diverse city as to what our values are.”

The city is now bracing for the Klan rally. Chris Barker, the leader of the Klan’s Loyal White Knights chapter, said he had called members from across the country to march in Memphis on Saturday and attend a cross burning outside town. He did not give an estimate about how many members would attend.

“The Memphis City Council is basically trying to eradicate white people out of the history books across America,” Mr. Barker said.

The last time the Klan held a rally in Memphis, in 1998, fighting broke out between the group and counterprotesters, and the police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, arresting 20 people.

This time, the city has asked the public to avoid the march, and the Council has prohibited Klan members from wearing masks or carrying weapons. Mayor Wharton said the police would be monitoring the group closely.

Jim Strickland, a City Council member, said the entire parks debate had become a distraction from Memphis’s real problems. The city has a shrinking population and a high unemployment rate, and it is trying to negotiate a complicated merger of the county and city school systems.

“We have many, many challenges in this city that are much more important than the names of these parks,” Mr. Strickland said. “We ought to compromise and get it behind us.”

2013 The New York Times Company

On The Web:   http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/us/memphis-drops-confederate-names-from-parks-sowing-new-battles.html?_r=0