Wirz Annual Memorial Service Andersonville Georgia

Wirz Annual Memorial Service Andersonville Georgia

From: jkingantiquearms@bellsouth.net

Compatriots,
 
The Americus Georgia SCV camp has scheduled the annual memorial service for Andersonville POW camp commander Henry Wirz for Sunday Nov.4, 2012 at the monument in Andersonville. The Lee county band "A Joyful Noise" will play Southern Gospel and period Confederate music as a tribute to Capt. Wirz from 2-3PM and the formal memorial service will be held at 3PM. The speaker will be Mrs. Cassy Gray who is the publisher of the monthly e-newsletter "The Stainless Banner". The Albany SCV camp is assisting the Americus camp with promotion of the event. You are invited and encouraged to attend. This event has been held annually since 1978.
 
The Albany Herald newspaper is publishing a pre-event article. You may read the quote below that I furnished for the article.

James W. King
Commander SCV Camp 141
Albany Georgia

To: James Gaston--Chairman Wirz Memorial Service Committee-Americus Georgia SCV Camp

James,
  
I met with journalist Jim West at the Albany Herald newspaper office this morning. I summarized the facts concerning Andersonville and Capt. Wirz and loaned him the book you sent to me to use for info. writing the article. The pre-event article is scheduled to be published in the Albany Herald prior to the memorial service in Andersonville on Sunday Nov.4, 2012.
  
He has your phone # and also the # for Capt. Wirz's great nephew Col. Wirz in Switzerland as contacts for a phone interview for information or quotes to use in the article. He may contact one or both of you.
 
I am sending the quote posted below to Jim and you may also e-mail him a quote.

Quote by James W. King-Commander of Camp 141 Sons of Confederate Albany Georgia.

"The trial of Andersonville POW Camp Commander Capt. Henry Wirz was a travesty of American justice and a complete farce in which the outcome of being found guilty was predetermined. This trial remains a dark chapter in the American justice system and especially highlights immoral and unethical proceedings and conduct by military courts of this time period. It places the names of the members of the military court in the "Infamous" category and their names are forever stained in the perspective of all Americans who truly understand and care about this gross miscarriage of justice and the willful execution of an innocent man. The key witnesses for the prosecution committed perjury and the star witness was a deserter from a New York regiment who had never been at Andersonville. He presented himself as a grandnephew of Napoleon under the assumed name of Felix de la Baume and blatantly lied vividly describing  atrocities committed by Wirz but the victims were always "name unknown". The vast majority of witnesses for the defense were barred from testifying. These witnesses included former Union prisoners who had been at Andersonville and included James Madison Page, a Michigan cavalryman, who later wrote a book completely exonerating Wirz and placing the blame for Andersonville hardships and death squarely upon the Lincoln Administration and especially Sec. of War Stanton and Gen. Grant. Capt. Wirz was a scapegoat for misinformed  Northerners who demanded revenge for what they wrongly believed were intentional acts of starvation and murder of Union POW's. The death rate of POW's at Andersonville was approximately 25% whereas the death rate of Confederate POW's at Elmira New York was about 44% and intentional. The Elmira commander bragged that he had killed more Confederates than any soldier on the front lines. Camp Douglas at Chicago was another "Death Camp" in which Confederate POW's were deliberately starved, frozen, tortured, and murdered as accurately portrayed by the recent History Channel presentation "80 Acres Of Hell".  The Union commander's of these camps were never tried for war crimes. It is my opinion that they should be tried posthumously and their dastardly deeds made known to Americans. Furthermore the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed Joint Resolution SR97 stating the intent to deliberately cause the death of Confederate POW's by starvation, exposure to inclement weather, and disease. After the execution of Capt. Wirz the barbarian Yankees cut up his body parts and exhibited them at various places in the North and charged a viewing fee. It took Wirz's attorney four years to get enough body parts returned so that a Christian burial could be conducted for  this unfortunate Southern martyr who was offered his life if he would implicate Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the plot to assassinate Union President Abraham Lincoln. In a final act of honor Wirz refused to lie and implicate an innocent man. Had Wirz been a dishonorable man he could have saved his life and avoided the gallows".

James W. King
Commander SCV Camp 141
Lt. Col. Thomas M. Nelson
Albany Georgia

Seth Luther Addresses the Working-Men of New England in 1833

Seth Luther Addresses the Working-Men of New England in 1833

From: bernhard1848@att.net

The highly-profitable cotton mills of early-1800s New England were fueled by the slave labor of Southern plantations raising raw cotton. Previously a labor intensive and unprofitable venture, cotton production was turbocharged by New England tinkerer Eli Whitney's invention.  Add to this the credit extended to Southern planters by Manhattan banks to expand their cotton lands and production to feed the New England mills and their wage-slaves, one understands who exactly perpetuated African slavery in the American South.  

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Seth Luther Addresses the Working-Men of New England in 1833:

"A [Western] member of the United States Senate seems to be extremely pleased with cotton mills. He says in the Senate, "Who has not been delighted with the clockwork movements of a large cotton manufactory? He had visited them often, and always with increased delight."  And the grand climax [says the western senator] is that at the end of the week, after working like slaves for thirteen or fourteen hours every day, "they enter the temples of God on the Sabbath, and thank him for all his benefits. . . ."  We remark that whatever girls or others may do west of the Allegheny Mountains, we do not believe there can be a single person found east of those mountains who ever thanked God for permission to work in a [New England] cotton mill. . . .

We would respectfully advise the honorable Senator to travel incognito when he visits cotton mills. If he wishes to come at the truth, he must not be known. Let him put on a short jacket and trousers, and join the "lower orders" for a short time. . . . In that case we could show him, in some of the prisons in New England called cotton mills, instead of rosy cheeks, the pale, sickly, haggard countenance of the ragged child--haggard from the worse than slavish confinement in the cotton mill.

He might see that child driven up to the "clockwork" by the cowskin [whip], in some cases. He might see, in some instances, the child taken from his bed at four in the morning, and plunged into cold water to drive away his slumbers and prepare him for the labors of the mill. After all this he might see that child robbed, yes, robbed of a part of his time allowed for meals by moving the hands of the clock backwards, or forwards, as would best accomplish that purpose. . . . He might see in some, and not infrequent, instances, the child, and the female child too, driven up to the "clockwork" with the cowhide, or well-seasoned strap of American manufacture.

We could show him many females who have had corporeal punishment inflicted upon them; one girl eleven years of age who had her leg broken with a billet of wood; another who had a board split over her head by a heartless monster in the shape of an overseer of a cotton mill "paradise."  We shall for want of time….omit entering more largely into detail for the present respecting the cruelties practiced in some of the American mills. Our wish is to show that education is neglected,….because if thirteen hours' actual labor is required each day, it is impossible to attend to education among children, or to improvement among adults."

[Luther also noted the one-sided nature of labor contracts in the 1830s, the following from Cocheco Manufacturing Company (a textile firm operating in Dover, New Hampshire]

We, the subscribers [the undersigned], do hereby agree to enter the service of the Cocheco Manufacturing Company, and conform, in all respects, to the regulations which are now, or may hereafter be adopted, for the good government of the institution.

We further agree to work for such wages per week, and prices by the job, as the Company may see fit to pay, and be subject to the fines as well as entitled to the premiums paid by the Company.

We further agree to allow two cents each week to be deducted from our wages for the benefit of the sick fund.

We also agree not to leave the service of the Company without giving two weeks' notice of our intention, without permission of an agent. And if we do, we agree to forfeit to the use of the Company two weeks' pay.

We also agree not to be engaged in any combination [union] whereby the work may be impeded or the Company's interest in any work injured. If we do, we agree to forfeit to the use of the Company the amount of wages that may be due to us at the time.

We also agree that in case we are discharged from the service of the Company for any fault, we will not consider ourselves entitled to be settled with in less than two weeks from the time of such discharge."

(Seth Luther, An Address to the Working-Men of New-England, Seth Luther, 1833, Boston, pp. 17-21, 36)

The Second Reconstruction of the South

The Second Reconstruction of the South

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Responding to Lyndon Johnson's Second Reconstruction initiatives assisted by liberal Republicans, Southern GOP leaders won control of their party machinery to advance the staunchly conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for president in 1964.  Thoroughly dismayed by the Democratic party's drift into socialism as exemplified by the leftist Hubert Humphrey, Senator Strom Thurmond joined the party of Lincoln. 

Bernhard Thuersam

The Second Reconstruction of the South: 

"In his first address to Congress as president, late in November 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson called for "the earliest possible passage" of the Kennedy civil rights bill.  The new chief executive soon made it clear that he was totally committed to the enactment of this broad civil rights measure.

In steering the bill through the lower house, Emanuel Celler, the floor manager, was assisted not only by liberal party members identified with the Democratic Study Committee but also by Republican leaders as William H. McCulloch, the ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee. 

Prospects were less encouraging in the Senate, given the strategic positions of Southern leaders in that body and the difficulty of overcoming filibusters. The senators from Southern States, led by Richard B. Russell, condemned the bill, particularly the provisions banning discrimination in public places.  They regarded the measure as unconstitutional because it restricted personal freedom and the right to control one's private property.

The central issue, according to Russell, was the unrestrained power the bill gave to the executive branch of the federal government, which would permit political persecution of citizens by an ambitious and ruthless attorney general and other bureaucrats.  The Georgia senator argued that the proposal originated in politics, was punitive in nature, and would be sectional in its application.  It was aimed primarily at the South, like the Reconstruction laws of the 1860s.

Indeed, Russell declared, "the white people of the Southern States" were "the most despised and mistreated minority in the country." In this case the Southern congressmen reflected the feeling of the preponderance of their white constituents. 

Hubert H. Humphrey, who managed the bill in the Senate, and other supporters created a sturdy coalition…The Southerners' last hope was to attract enough conservative Republican backing to prevent the adoption of cloture, which would make it possible to end a filibuster.

As Eric F. Goldman wrote a few years later:  "Senator Russell had a band of eighteen Southern senators [who] talked on and on – [and] sometimes about the bill itself, calling it, to use the phrase of Senator Russell Long, "a mixed breed of unconstitutionality and the NAACP."

The pivotal figure in negotiations [with Republicans] was minority leader Everett M. Dirksen of Illinois, with who the White House held painstaking conferences. Dirksen moved slowly toward a compromise…On June 10 the Senate adopted a cloture resolution by a vote of 71 to 29…The power of the Southern bloc had been broken.  Twenty-one of the twenty-six senators from the South voted against cloture and final passage of the bill.

In its origins the Second Reconstruction was clearly the result of outside forces impinging on the South. Television news, in fact, developed into a national medium partly through its experience in the South, and many reporters and photographers first achieved recognition when they came South to cover the civil rights story. According to Robert MacNeil [of NBC], "the tone of network programming has been emphatically liberal…."   Senator Russell spoke for many [Southerners] when he accused outside journalists of fostering "bitterness and hatred against Southern whites" to such an extent that it had become "a national disease."

In his analysis of congressional reaction to the violence [in the South], David J. Garrow stresses the importance of newspaper coverage, especially stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post. In short, the news media became the primary instrument in shaping the image of the South in the nation and the world."

(The South in Modern America, A Region at Odds, Dewey W. Grantham, Harper Collins, 1994, pp. 236-241)

   *******************

EDUCATING AND CONFRONTING SOCIAL AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT BULLIES

EDUCATING AND CONFRONTING SOCIAL AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT BULLIES ~

 

Dear SHNV Friends,

 

EDUCATING AND CONFRONTING SOCIAL AND LAW-ENFORCEMENT BULLIES ~ Civil confrontations by private citizens with various levels of government agencies and "law-enforcement" agencies and officers have multiplied exponentially in the USA during the last 150 years as egalitarian socialism has destroyed (notice the use of the past tense here) the moral and legal constitutional rights of USA citizens.

 

The SCV, the UDC, Southern heritage societies, the League of the South, Pro-Life and other Southern political activist groups remain, all too often, joyfully reconstructed and unknowingly ignorant in keeping their members uninformed and ignorant concerning American laws that could benefit them in their freedom of speech, public assemblies and other activist events that seek to educate the general public about their particular social, moral and political issues. This problem is exacerbated by their dependence upon willing and well-meaning volunteer/unpaid staff who are not trained professionals with leadership and administrative skills, even when those volunteers may be local church leaders or attorneys.

 

This is especially important for "national" organizations that operate in more than one city, state, region or country. This unfortunate situation often prevails in our movements because of the limited number of people from which to select willing volunteers.

 

The failure here is almost always NOT DUE to any lack of positive intent and good will by those who head our various organizations, SCV Camps, etc. Too often skilled people are either not motivated to "serve" the good causes they have joined, because of overwhelming business and/or family responsibilities. In the case of Southern organizations there is professional, skilled and well-trained opposition at multiple levels of society.

 

Freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of public assembly are specialty areas of American jurisprudence. It is more important than ever that ALL focused special interest groups and their staff receive systematic professional education and regular updates in many areas of influence; in this case, especially training and updating on their rights and how to relate to the various levels of law enforcement. Leadership in most of our Southern organizations that are largely staffed by volunteers who means well, but are not professionally trained for leadership and administrative skills, do not understand the importance of this kind of training, because they are relying on their personal judgement and experience which is not sufficient in the American centralized statist society.

 

My son recently gave testimony in the NC State courts being questioned by the NC State Attorney Generals representing attorney (DA). One of the questions the D.A. for the State of NC asked my son if he didn't know that he has to do whatever a law-enforcement officer instructs him to do. My said "No, I do not. It is usually prudent to do so, but increasingly more often it is a violation of my constitutional rights to do so." My son was correct and the NC Superior Court Judge soon instructed the DA about the error of her thinking on this.

 

Attorneys specialize in some single area of law. We make a mistake to think they know more than they really know. My son is 23 years old and knew more about his constitutional rights than did this attorney and more than most judges know. He had specialized training in this area.

 

What I am saying is that it is exceedingly unlikely that things are going to improve for those of us in the American society who are "distinctively" and "self-consciously" Southern in our culture and constitutional points of view about the governance of a people who deserve freedom and liberty unless we get more serious about support and leadership in our Southern organizations that assert such reasonable positions.

 

Confident incompetence and arrogant ignorance are not enough to faithfully fulfill the wonderfully magnificent Gospel commission given to God's people, not is it enough to help our Southern people survive in this totalitarian state and bequeath to our children a country and a form of governance that values and practices the great principles of freedom and liberty. My generation has failed the generation of my children and grandchildren, but we can and we have a spiritual and more obligation to do better than we have done.
--
Timothy D. Manning, M.Div
Executive Director
www.TheSouthernPartisan.com
160 Longbridge Drive
Kernersville, North Carolina 27284
Phone: (336) 420-5355 
Email: tim@thesouthernpartisan.com

 

Let's go to the Tallassee reenactment!!!

Let's go to the Tallassee reenactment!!!

 

Guys,

Bring your wives, your kids, your tents, and your uniforms if you have one! November 10th & 11th (on a Saturday and Sunday), one month from now, there's a huge reenactment going on down in Tallassee. Tim Hobbs, Commander of Alabama's largest SCV camp, the Tallassee Armory Guards, has been a great help in getting our camp on its feet. His camp in Tallassee is hosting the event.

Here's their camp's event page.
http://tallasseearmoryguards.org/reenactment/index.html

What's it like? Well, last year was my first year. There's fields, patches of woods, a large camp ground for the soldiers, scattered camp grounds for other individuals and units, and even a contemporary camp ground for the non-reenactors. There's plenty of sutlery tents to buy all kinds of merchandise, including garments for your first uniform!

Saturday night there's an awesome dance, and there's lots of people there. You can walk all over the place, from one camp ground to another. There's food, music, wagon rides, and battles! Below is a video of some footage I got last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er2emmXDRe8

I'll be there! Our State SCV Commander (Lt. Cmdr at that time) was there last year, so I'm hoping he may be there this year. He has our camp charter. Any members who come will be sworn in, and we'll have plenty of time to cover camp business while sitting around the camp fire having an awesome time.

I loved it last year! Come on out. There's a first time for everything. Everyone is invited. Don't forget to bring your video cameras!!! I have room for four or five more people in my SUV.

Bradford Weaver: (205) 337-6576
St. Clair Home Guards, Camp 2217
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Odenville, Alabama
www.HomeGuards.org 

 

   ******************

Estimated Cost of Lincoln's War

Estimated Cost of Lincoln's War

 

From: bernhard1848@att.net

 

The abolitionist agitation over slavery caused Southern secession, and secession caused Lincoln’s war upon the South.  Had the approximately 3.5 million slaves worth approximately $1500 each been purchased by the Northern government to become free labor, the total amount expended would have been far, far less than the figures related below. 

 

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 

 

Estimated Cost of Lincoln’s War:

 

“The Secretary of the Treasury in 1866 reported that the Civil War, to that time, had cost the Federal Government $6.19 billion dollars. The national debt in 1865 stood at $2.85 billion dollars.  It cost the Federal Government nearly $2 million per day from 1861 through 1865 to wage the war. By 1910 the cost of the war, including pensions and burial of veterans, had reached $11.5 billion dollars. 

 

Estimated cost of the war to the Union:  $6,190,000,000.

 

Estimated cost of the war to the Confederacy:  $3,000,000,000.”

 

(Statistics on the Civil War, Facts About the Civil War, The Civil War Centennial Commission, 1960, page 16)

 

2013 Battlefield Planning Grants

2013 Battlefield Planning Grants

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The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service invites non-profit groups, academic institutions, and local, regional, state, and tribal governments to submit applications for the 2013 Battlefield Planning Grants. The purpose of this grant program is to provide seed money for projects that lead directly to the identification, preservation and interpretation of battlefield land and/or historic sites associated with battlefields. Projects that involve multiple stakeholders are given preference.
Who May Apply? Non-profit groups, academic institutions, and local, regional, state, and tribal governments
Target Resources The ABPP supports projects that lead to the protection of battlefield land and sites associated with battlefields. Project areas must be on American (U.S.) soil and/or within U.S. territorial waters.

• Battlefield Land - Sites where armed conflict, fighting, or warfare occurred between two opposing military organizations or forces recognized as such by their respective cultures (not civil unrest).
• Associated Sites - Sites occupied before, during, or after a battle at which events occurred that had a direct influence on the tactical development of the battle or the outcome of the battle. A site must be associated with a battle in order to be considered an Associated Site.

Eligible Project Types
Eligible project types include, but are not limited to, the following:

Site Identification and Documentation Projects
- Battlefield boundary delineation and GIS/GPS mapping - Historical research and surveys (archeological, cultural resource, landscape, etc.)
- Nominations to the National Register of Historic Places

Planning and Consensus Building Projects
- Acquisition, strategic, and preservation plans
- Studies of land related to, or adjacent to, publicly owned and protected battlefield lands
- Management, landscape, interpretive, and stabilization plans
- Interpretation plans
- Preservation advocacy and consensus building within a community

Interpretation or Education Projects
- Brochures emphasizing battlefield preservation activities
- School programs emphasizing preservation activities
- Sign development and design

All project applications must clearly demonstrate that the proposed activity will contribute directly to the preservation of battlefield land or an associated site. Grant funds may be used to procure professional services, equipment, and supplies necessary to conduct the proposed project.
To see past projects that have been awarded ABPP Battlefield Planning Grants, visit the Battlefield Planning Grants website.
Ineligible Activities
See the 2013 Battlefield Planning Grant Guidelines for a list of ineligible activities

Matching Funds Matching funds are not required, however, the ABPP encourages matching funds or in-kind services for battlefield Planning Grant projects.
Award Amounts There is no minimum or maximum award amount. The average award amount is $32,300, although the ABPP has awarded grants of up to $117,000.
Application Deadline

• Applications sent by regular mail must be USPS postmarked by January 2, 2013.
• Applications hand delivered by applicant or sent by commercial express delivery service must be received in the ABPP office no later than 4:00 pm, January 17, 2013 . The grant application must be hand stamped in by the ABPP Grants staff.
• Applicants are encouraged to use an express delivery service, as Grant Application Packages sent via regular USPS mail will be irradiated - a process that destroys photographs.
• Postmarks and delivery receipts are not accepted after the stated deadline date and time.
• Please note that the application cannot be filed electronically.

Late Battlefield Grant Application Packages will be discarded without action or notification. Application Form and Guidelines
2013 Battlefield Planning Grant Application Form
2013 Battlefield Planning Grant Guidelines

In addition to completing the application form, applicants must also complete and sign Department of the Interior form SF 424 - Application for Federal Assistance. The SF 424 should be included as the cover sheet to the application form.
For more information about ABPP grants, or to receive paper copies of the guidelines and application, please contact Kristen McMasters, ABPP Grants Manager, at 202-354-2037 or Kristen_McMasters@nps.gov

2013 Battlefield Planning Grants Competition is Open

 

2013 Battlefield Planning Grants competition is open

http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/index.htm

The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service in Washington, DC, has opened its 2013 Battlefield Planning Grants competition. The ABPP awards grants for preservation projects that lead directly to the identification, preservation, and interpretation of battlefield land and/or historic sites associated with battlefields. 

 

The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) promotes the preservation of significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil. The goals of the program are 1) to protect battlefields and sites associated with armed conflicts that influenced the course of our history, 2) to encourage and assist all Americans in planning for the preservation, management, and interpretation of these sites, and 3) to raise awareness of the importance of preserving battlefields and related sites for future generations. The ABPP focuses primarily on land use, cultural resource and site management planning, and public education.
American Battlefield Protection Program [as of 2009] (16 USC 469k-1) - pdf format

On the Road to Glory, A Western Quest Series Novel By Stephen L. Turner

On the Road to Glory, A Western Quest Series Novel
By Stephen L. Turner
List Price:  $19.95
SHNV/SWR Price:  $15.56 

http://astore.amazon.com/souhernewvie-20/detail/0865347948

On the Road to Glory, the fifth volume in the Western Quest Series, follows Aaron Lloyd Turner, his brothers David and Noah, and their brother-in-law, Pinckney Hawkins, through the greatest tragedy in American history, the Civil War. Aaron's father had died when he was only a toddler. He was raised by his mother, Nancy, and his brothers and sister. As the drum beat of war sounded, Aaron's brothers decided to enlist. Not to be left behind, Aaron lied about his age and enlisted as a big for his age twelve year old. Aaron thought he was departing for the adventure of a lifetime as they rode proudly out of Texas with the Fifteenth Regiment. He was captured at the fall of Fort Hindman, Arkansas and spent time in the notorious Camp Stephen Douglas. He fought at Chickamauga, where he killed his first man. He knew victories and defeats at Chattanooga, the Atlanta and Tennessee Campaigns. He fought under the great leaders of the war in the west, Braxton Bragg, Joseph Johnston, and John Bell Hood. He found that what had appeared to be the road to glory was the highway to hell. He struggles to survive and return home to Texas a world weary fifteen year old, a changed young man.

March Across Dixie by H. K. Edgerton

March Across Dixie

From: hk.edgerton@gmail.com

On Monday morning, October 15, 2013, I would make my way to the Honorable Zebulon B.Vance monument in downtown Asheville, give a hand salute to the Governor, pose for a dozen or more pictures and make my way down highway 25 on the Historic 10 year anniversary of the March Across Dixie. On this day, I would experience little fan fare, however I think it important to mention the young black man who would shout out for me as I made my way pass a predominately Black community called Petersburg.  He would accompany me for about a mile as we talked about the article he had read in the Asheville Tribune newspaper about the March and my journey of love and support for the South and its people, give me a hug, and tell me that he was so proud that I would represent those  Blacks either erased or forgotten who wore the Confederate grey, or labored in support of the South. The Honorable Kirk D. Lyons the Chief Trial Counselor of the Southern Legal Resource Center would greet me at the historic old courthouse in downtown Hendersonville. It had been a great day as I had received the blessings and  encouragement from so many on this day in Dixie as the peoples spirits seemed to soar at the sight of a handsome old black man donned in the uniform of the Southern soldier, carrying the Christian Cross of St. Andrew in hand.

On Tuesday morning, October 16, 2012, I would be accompanied by folks that I can only call some of my Guardian Angels," the Honorable Homer and Mrs. Judi Price" of whose help I would have never been able to make it without. We made our way down Highway# 25 ten miles to Dixie Out Post in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. I would soon find out that Homer was a woman magnet as we were stopped by so many ladies , pose for pictures, all would express their gratitude for the very positive message that we were sending to those who would pass us on this day. I must also mention the young Sheriff Deputy who would stop us and with tears in his eyes, express his gratitude for the journey that we were on that clearly marked an expression of honor for the very memory of his ancestors who fought the South, and gave us his card and told us, if we were in need of help as we made our way through South Carolina, not to hesitate in calling him. Ms. Judi and Homer would take me to a restaurant called the Junction where I almost licked the plate. It was a great day in Dixie.

On Wednesday morning October 17, 2012, with Homer and Ms. Judi still faithfully in tow, Ms. Judi would take one look at my feet ( as I had remarked to Homer the day before that my feet must feel like the mens feet at Gettysburg who made the mistake that cost the war) and told me that I was not going to walk another day with shoes leaking, and feet hurting. True to her words, I ended up with a new pair of boots, two pair of pants, several pair of wool socks, a poncho, several pair of gloves, a big hug and some preserves for my sister. And beside Homer I floated on air all the way to Dixie Lumber Company in Easley, South Carolina where we would be greeted by the wonderful staff that had greeted me twice before on this same journey both 5 & 10 years ago. Should anyone ever be in Easley; stop and ask to view the pictures in the Book of Honor. You will find Homer and I there.

On Thursday morning, October 18, 2012, with the Honorable Homer and Mrs. Judi Price still faithfully by my side, we would make our way with a great deal of fanfare from those who we passed by. Homer and I began to feel as though we were two celebrities as folks stopped us for pictures and conversation, and expressed their love. We even returned several salutes to the Clemson Police who unlike 10 years ago would stop us and almost bring the March to a halt on the outskirts of Clemson. Homer and I would spend several moments on that corner waving at those who were putting up a small ruckus as they waved and shouted out the Rebel Yell.

On Friday morning October 19, 2012, as Ms. Judi, Homer and made our way to our final destination of the week; the Confederate soldiers monument, Homer and I would be stopped by a man and his son, the Honorable Mike Baker who expressed their gratitude as many before them had done to Homer and I. We would soon after be stopped by three young ladies who told us they had seen us in Clemson the day before while they were in the hair salon getting their hair done, and had learned of our whereabouts so that they could have pictures to tell their children about. Shortly afterwards, Home and I would be stopped by a Wallahalla Policeman, who recanted to us a tale that someone had called the Police Department of Homer and I being accosted by two men and we were in trouble.  Homer and I would dispute the lie, and thank the Officer for responding and looking out for us. We made our way into Wallaha, stopped at Wrights Confederate store, hug David and his pretty sister, I stuck them up for a Mississippi State flag, we made our way to the Confederate soldiers monument, posed for more pictures from several citizens, and made our way some two hours back to the Junction restaurant where we would have lunch with Stephen and Ms. Bonnie his wife, who had driven several hours like so many had expressed they had done from their home in the mountains of North Carolina just to greet me. This just like 10 years ago was nothing less than a celebration of love between family as we experience the uplifting of the spirit of the Southern and arguably some from the North who would make an honorable Stand in Dixieland against those who would illegally invade their homeland and circumvent the Constitution and declaration of Independence in doing so, and worst of all derail the African people, freed and indentured from a course of Social vertical mobility that would have continued to be the envy of the civilized world . God bless you.

                                                              
Your brother,
                                                                  
HK

                                                      
My Schedule Continued

October 22, 2012----------Start from the River Bridge on Hwy 123 10 miles from Toccoa City Hall  at 9 :00 AM

October 23, 2012 ---------Stop 10 minutes in Gainesville, Ga. 7:00 AM, began 10 mile march into Cumming, Ga at 9:00 to the Cumming Library.

October 24, 2012 ---------Began a 10 mile march at 9:00 am into Roswell, Ga. ending at the Historic Roswell House

October 25,2012 ----------Began a 10 mile march at 9:00 AM into the Capitol Ground in Atlanta, GA

October 26, 2012----------Began a 10 mile march at 9:00 am into Fairburn, Ga. 

This Curse Upon Our Nation

This Curse Upon Our Nation

 

From: bernhard1848@att.net

 

Joshua R. Giddings was outspoken against the Mexican War, but later silent on a president outraging the Constitution and exercising usurped powers to do so.  The Confederate States, an American republic formed with the consent of the governed, was at peace with the United States when Giddings government provoked a war of aggression and conquest. His government was undergoing a revolution, his words below were not unlike Southern Unionists in early 1861.

 

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
 

 

This Curse Upon Our Nation:

 

“Joshua Giddings, a strongly abolitionist antiwar Whig from Ohio who had earned a reputation as a leading reformer in the House [of Representatives], made the most telling speech against the [Mexican] war.

 

“I regard it as having been put forth to divert public attention from the outrage committed by the President upon our own Constitution, and the exercise of usurped powers, of which he had been guilty in ordering our army to invade a country with which we are at peace, and of provoking and bringing on this war….It is a war of aggression and conquest. Its prosecution will be but an increase of our national guilt.  The death of every victim who falls during its progress, will add to the already fearful responsibility of those, who, from ambitious motives, have brought this curse upon our nation….But, Sir, I regard this war as but one scene in the drama now being enacted by this administration.  Our government is undergoing a revolution no less marked than was that of France in 1792.

 

As yet, it has not been characterized by that amount of bloodshed and cruelty which distinguished the change of government in France. When the Executive and Congress openly and avowedly took upon themselves….the total overthrow of and subversion of the Constitution, and that too, by the aid of northern votes, my confidence in the stability of our institutions was shaken, destroyed. I had hoped….to save the Union form final overthrow, but that hope has been torn from me.”

 

(Conquest and Conscience in the 1840s, Robert Sobel, Thomas Crowell Company, 1971, pp. 253-254)

Feudal Overlords of Today by Bernhard Thuersam

Feudal Overlords of Today

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Author Walter Prescott Webb saw in 1937 a world of people in chains, stating that: "Wherever I turn in the South and the West I find people busily engaged in paying tribute to someone in the North." Henry Ford then ran a feudal chain that gave him a great private fortune, making him lord and master over millions of people across the country.

Bernhard Thuersam

 

Feudal Overlords of Today:

"History tells us that the position of the serf on the feudal manor was a humble one and that he had little to show for his labor. History adds with emphasis, however, that he enjoyed an unalienable security. He was attached to the land that nourished him and he could not be separated from it. His children inherited his security.

When we compare his lot with that of the clerks in a chain store (leaving aside what they have to show for their labor) we find that in point of security the serf had the better of it. Though the land was not his, he was the land's, and from it he could make a livelihood.  The chain or corporate employee does not own the store and is not owned by it. He can be kicked out at any time. He has no contract, either by law or by custom, and he enjoys no security.

With our theory of equality between a real and corporate person, the tie between them can be broken by either at will. What the law loses sight of is that the tie is as strong as the chains of necessity for one and as weak as a distant, impersonal will for the other.

The feudal world set great store by symbols, insignia and uniforms. Every man's station was announced by what he wore. The jester had his cap and the fool had his bell. The knight was distinguished by his armor, the king by his crown. A member of the high orders of chivalry was known by the fraternity pin he wore.

As I look out upon the South and the West I not only see men everywhere in chains, but I see thousands wearing the insignia of their allegiance to their overlords. Boys clad in blue or brown and wearing caps with the symbols of the telegraph companies are hurrying along on bicycles. In oil stations young men in puttees and jackets exhibit the insignia of Standard Oil, Texaco, Humble, and Andy Mellon's Gulf.

Tire punctures are recommended by men in long dusters which have Goodyear or Firestone woven in bright red letters across the back. Most of these are doubtless conscious that they are under unseen control; to a man, they must long for independence, for something they can call their own. Some of them do not conceal their resentment. "These damn corporations dont give a man a chance," says one. "I'm through with these oil companies," said another. "I am doing my best to get a job with the International Business Machine Corporation." Thus they exchange masters, but rarely systems.

(Divided We Stand, The Crisis of a Frontierless Democracy, Walter Prescott Webb, Farrar & Rinehart, 1937, pp. 114-116)

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New England's Mission of Enlightenment

New England's Mission of Enlightenment

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Lincoln had it in his power to end his war upon the American people in the South and return the two country's to a peaceful condition. Facing an unpopular war and dwindling enlistments, he resorted to the same incitement of slave insurrection as Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia in 1775, did in order to defeat the American colonists bid for political independence. As George III used Hessians against the colonists, Lincoln's emissaries scoured Ireland and Europe for soldiers kill Americans for bounties and eleven dollars a month.

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 Mission of Enlightenment:

"The war grows. It becomes gigantic and absorbs all the insane energy of a notion of [Yankee] peddlers and shopkeepers. Reeling and tottering under the enormous blows of the South, the Northern Emperor has steadied himself by the very weight of the burdens heaped on him…..Curious is that people, curious the whole conformation of the Yankee mind. Crazy with the lust for blood---soulless as the hyena, tearing up the very bodies of the dead---mad with rage at the rich empire torn from their grasp---they fight with blind thirst for blood and spoil, closing their eyes obdurately on the inevitable Fate.

Whipped, disgraced, laughed at; degraded before all the world and stamped as bully and boaster---the Falstaff and Pistol combined, of history---that race essays a last and desperate expedient; decreeing war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt---a war in which a whole people shall fight.

Future ages will stand aghast at the madness which made a Baboon, Dictator---and yielded to the clutch of the grimacing animal the purse and the sword of a whole nation. To a commonplace person the act looks dangerous---but our Northern friends have a wondrous stock of generous and confiding simplicity. It is true that he "bastilles" his subjects occasionally, and the public good requires measures apparently harsh; but then all is for the cause, and the cause is holy---the emancipation of their fellow creatures, and the reestablishment of the glorious Union. The glorious Union is so glorious a thing that all is pardoned in its glorious defender. So the Emperor reigns, and holds the purse and the sword; and his dynasty is established in the "Great City."

Will his billions of money and millions of recruits do any good however? They could conquer us so easily with 75,000 men we were once told---leaving 25,000 at Washington, not to protect it, but because they we not needed. Two years have brought them opposite Fredericksburg---the path is marked out be half a million graves. How many of the new millions be buried in Virginia? It is safe to say the number will not be small.

Why do these people put themselves to the trouble of coming down to get themselves killed? Did they always hate us, as Randolph of Roanoke used to think and say, and be regarded as a snarling cynic for his pains? Do they really love the Negro, and actually think that the old government was an empire, and not a Federation of Sovereigns? Do they honestly believe that Virginia became a province when she declared herself a "free and independent State"---or abdicated her God-given sovereignty in '88 when she signed the Federal Constitution? If she did, her act is null and void. For no generation can barter sovereignty, and divest their posterity of that priceless treasure, any more than men can decree their grandchildren to be bondslaves. The very thought would be sacrilege. For the sovereignty of States like human freedom is the gift of God, not of man, and sacred.

They are going to turn the slaves loose on us. They are making black regiments. The last device of hell is openly employed---the arming of slaves and incitement to servile insurrection. The civilized world has protested in the name of God and man against this enormity---has branded it as the most colossal crime of which a government can be guilty. But Europe is very far off, and the Washington government has not much character to lose. So it enrolls its Negroes---it invites its colored friends to resume their freedom; without unnecessary violence, if possible; but to resume it.

The Chasseurs D'Afrique are already enrolled; and a regiment is on the soil of Virginia---at Winchester. This advanced guard of liberated warriors is supported by reserves of Dutch, Irish, German, and other foreign patriots who fight upon the broad principle of eleven dollars a month and rations. They, like their master at Washington, have little doubt that the worn out and cowardly race of the Old Dominion will yield to them without much fighting; and that "booty and beauty" will crown their virtuous exertions, and reward them for all their hardships and privations. Worthy gentlemen!  Picturesque mixture of slaves and jailbirds---of Dutch and Irish and Negroes and Yankees! 

The "great New England race" descended from the "Pilgrim fathers" famed in song and story is in its mission of enlightenment and civilization to the barbarous nations of the South. They come as of old, in the early days, with the peaceful arguments of the sword and musket---and if these mild instruments of persuasion fail, they have ironclads and rifled hundred-pounders to speak further in their behalf."   

(Outlines From the Outpost, John Esten Cooke, Richard Harwell, editor, R.R. Donnelly & Sons, 1961, pp. 238-241)

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"Candlelight Apparitions from The Cannonball House

"Candlelight Apparitions from The Cannonball House" - The second annual Candlelight Apparitions tour will be November 10, 2012. See one of Macon's premier antebellum homes illuminated as it would have been in the mid-19th Century and take a night time tour of the home while witnessing events of Macon's past and how they may have affected the home. Tours will begin at 5pm and run each hour on the hour through 8pm. Groups will be limited in size and after an overwhelming turnout last year, it would be recommended to please make reservations prior to arriving. Admission will be $10. per adult and $5. for children six and under. Call 478-745-5982 for reservations

HK in Owensboro Ky

HK in Owensboro Ky

From: hk.edgerton@gmail.com

To: siegels1@mindspring.com

Dear Ms. Lunelle,

The more that I make these journeys to places that attack our symbols and ancestors who fought to safeguard not only their homes from an illegal invasion, but against the very intrusion of the safeguards of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence that championed their very act; the more I have come to believe that the Almighty God understood that the supposed loss of the War for Southern and American Independence and the signing of the treaty at Appomattox Courthouse was only the beginning for his chosen people in this land to guide it to thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

And though at times we of the South may look like God's Job, I believe we have been given by the sacrifice of our ancestors, a glorious opportunity to sit on the national and world stage able to embrace and define the cause of an honorable people. One that must be played out as we have come full circle in the body politic to where it all began in the greatest nation on earth whose founding was in the waters of the almighty God.

We of the South have been given a glorious opportunity to bring America to her greatness as those who attack us have open the debate. I can only thank past Commander of the Kentucky Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, The Honorable Dr Hiter, and Commander Wilhite who would prepare the Table of Brotherhood in the great State of Kentucky on this weekend in Owensboro and in Benton, Kentucky where those gathered to include a local Council member who just happened to be of the Black race came and had that debate. God bless you.

                                          

Your brother,

                                                

H

Antietam Animated Map - Preservation News September 2012

Unable to read this email? | Forward to a Friend Antietam Animated Map Have you seen the Trust's latest animated map? Check out our Antietam Animated Map and learn more about the 1862 Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam. Watch the Union and Confederate forces contest the Cornfield, West Woods, Sunken Road, and the slopes below Sharpsburg. View the Animated Map »
From Our President September 2012 Dear Civil War Preservationist, 150 years ago this month the 1862 Maryland Campaign played out to its fateful conclusion during the Battle of Antietam — the single bloodiest day in American history. As we look back towards this moment in our nation's history, I do hope you will take some time to check out our new Antietam Animated Map and Antietam 360 site, along with the other amazing Antietam-related resources available on our website. The Civil War Trust remains committed to preserving the memory of the Civil War by preserving the very ground where this great struggle was played out. I also hope you saw your recent announcement regarding the 285 acre tract at Gaines' Mill that we've been working to save. In just about one year's time we have raised the $1.7 million private sector dollars needed to pay for this remarkable tract that will greatly expand the amount of preserved land at this battle where Robert E. Lee earned his first Civil War victory. We should all be proud of this remarkable accomplishment. - Jim Lighthizer, Civil War Trust President Antietam 360 Visit the Antietam battlefield from your desktop. Our new Antietam 360 offering enables you to explore the battlefield via 8 beautiful panoramic images. Click on various points of interest to learn more about specific landmarks. See Antietam 360 » 2012 Photo Contest Winners View the winning photos from the Civil War Trust's annual photo contest. This year's winners were selected from a trove of excellent photos submitted from every corner of the Civil War world. See the Photos » Emancipation Proclamation Page 150 years ago this month, Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation — an executive order that would change the very nature of the American Civil War. Learn more about this pivotal moment in our history. Learn More » Hallowed Ground: Maryland Campaign Learn more about the pivotal moments of the 1862 Maryland Campaign in a special Antietam Sesquicentennial edition of Hallowed Ground magazine. Read the Article » Antietam Battle App Have you downloaded our latest free Battle App? Our new GPS-enabled Antietam Battle App can be your guide to the entire battlefield. Follow our four detailed tours or just wander and explore with confidence. « iOS | Android » Flags of Antietam Our Flags of Antietam feature includes images of Confederate and Union battle flags carried with the men who fought at the Battle of Antietam. See the banners that regiments carried proudly to the front. See the Flags » Antietam in 3-D See remarkable Civil War photos from the Antietam battlefield in 3-D—just as the Civil War photographers intended. See the Photos » Author Interview: Civil War Shepherdstown The Civil War Trust recently had the chance to sit down with Nicholas Redding, author of a new book, Civil War Shepherdstown: Victory and Defeat in West Virginia's Oldest Town. Read the Interview » Student Videos: Antietam As part of its Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student® program, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground worked with eighth-grade students at the E. Russell Hicks Middle School in Hagerstown, Maryland to produce a series of videos related to the Battle of Antietam and the Civil War era. See the Videos » Video: The Battle of Hampton Roads Naval historian Dr. Craig Symonds describes the action between the ironclad CSS Virginia and the wooden warships of the Federal fleet in Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862. Watch the Video » The Road to Emancipation Learn more about the challenging road to emancipation in this article and video set from Hari Jones of the African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Learn More » September Civil War Battles Expand your knowledge of the Civil War by learning more about some of the great Civil War battles that occurred in the month of September. Access our history articles, photos, maps, and links for the battles listed below: Chantilly » Harpers Ferry » Munfordville » South Mountain » Antietam » Iuka » Chickamauga » Third Winchester » Fisher's Hill » Dispatches from the Front Lines Civil War preservation news from around the country Governor McDonnell Announces Civil War Preservation Grants for Virginia The Civil War Trust Honors Regional Preservation Advocates Franklin Could Have $1m Annually to Buy Battlefield Land (Tennessean.com) The Trust Announces a Trio of Dates for the 2012-2013 Teacher Institute Series US House of Representatives Passes Battlefield Protection Bill Civil War Trust Opens Newest Interpretive Trail at Tennessee's Spring Hill Battlefield 150 Years Later, Preservationists See Victory at Antietam (Baltimoresun.com) Antietam: A Savage Day in American History (NPR) Antietam: Reenacting a Bloody 1862 US Civil War Battle (BBC) Another Side to Emancipation (Washington Post)		Join the Civil War Trust Donate Online Second Manassas Cedar Mountain Petersburg Chancellorsville Perryville Bentonville Fredericksburg Save Battlefields with Every Purchase It's easy to save battlefields with your new Civil War Trust credit card from Capital One. More Details Follow us on Twitter Civil War Trust Photos on Flickr Civil War Trust's YouTube Channel Jan. 12-13, 2012 Regional Teacher Institure Antietam, MD Learn More April 20-21, 2013 Regional Teacher Institure Petersburg, VA Learn More May 29-June 2, 2013 2013 Annual Conference Jackson, MS Learn More
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SCV Telegraph- Press Release- Carter House/Franklin, TN

   

SCV  Telegraph

For Immediate Release

Contact: Allen Sullivant

Email: allensullivant@bellsouth.net 

Phone: 615-971-7484

Website: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001yMlz7vo-wZ0u7cLA6mkiplSzGbdj-PVTefAVkKPi39QCH93E2BLghBs4Q_knZL7H-mpd-cgaOqV0TaPM8E4b68sG6ChYHTK7

Sons of Confederate Veterans Request Investigation of Battle of Franklin Trust by State Officials

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) announced today that an attorney retained to investigate allegations of mismanagement and improper conduct by members of the Boards of Directors of both The Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, and its management group, of The Battle of Franklin Trust (BOFT), has uncovered numerous instances of apparent disregard for the legal requirements for operating non-profit corporations, conflicts of interest on the parts of several members of both boards, and a possible misuse of state funds. As a result of this investigation, the SCV has requested the Tennessee Historical Commission to undertake its own investigation, and to involve other state offices such as those of the Attorney General and State Comptroller as they see fit. The Carter House is a state-owned historic site, under the stewardship of the Tennessee Historical Commission, and is one of Tennessee's premier tourist destinations.

Managed under the auspices of the Carter House Association since the 1950s, practically all control of the Carter House was signed away to the Battle of Franklin Trust three years ago in what some are calling a political maneuver, one which may be costing the taxpayers of Tennessee. Now, the Battle of Franklin Trust is requesting the Tennessee Historical Commission to deed related state property to them. Surprisingly, two of the people making the request have strong ties to the state, one being a state commissioner, and the other being the wife of a state commissioner.

"We were troubled to discover that state funds were possibly being used to make payments on an existing mortgage against Carnton Plantation, a privately owned historic site which is also managed by the Battle of Franklin Trust" said William Speck, Heritage Chairman for the Tennessee Division of the SCV. The mortgage in question was initiated by Marianne Schroer, wife of TDOT Commissioner John Schroer, when she was chairman of the board of directors of the Carnton property. She now holds the same position on the board of the Battle of Franklin Trust. Marianne Schroer and another state commissioner, Tourism Department head Susan Whitaker, who is also a board member for the BOFT, have spear-headed the BOFT's effort to obtain title to taxpayer-owned property.

Mr. Speck added, "The Carter House property belongs to the people of Tennessee and no portion of it should be given away to any group whose financial situation is questionable and whose grasp of proper management practices is apparently deficient. Therefore, the SCV retained the services of attorney Randy Lucas, and his investigation has confirmed that the problems with the Battle of Franklin Trust rise above mere carelessness. Mr. Lucas has outlined a number of deficiencies and conflicts of interest among board officers, and has now forwarded his findings to the Tennessee Historical Commission."

The SCV is requesting the Tennessee Historical Commission to vote against any concept of transferring property to the Battle of Franklin Trust. Further, the SCV is requesting that the Tennessee Historical Commission immediately open an investigation into the BOFT and the legal issues and financial questions brought forward by their attorney, involving any state agencies they feel necessary. Finally, the SCV requests a decision as to whether the contract between Carter House and the BOFT is legally binding, because of the "perpetual" control given over a state-owned property, and because the Carter House board president who solely approved the contract is an officer on both boards, which appears to be a classic conflict of interest.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an international organization of descendants of Confederate soldiers and the nation's largest military history and genealogy society. Formed in 1896, the SCV owns, operates, and manages many historic properties, including Winstead Hill Memorial Park in Franklin, the General N.B. Forrest Home in Chapel Hill, and Beauvoir - the last home of Jefferson Davis, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Its headquarters are in Columbia, Tennessee, at historic Elm Springs.

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OFFICIAL SCVNEWS POST SCVNews and SCV Telegraph are Copyrighted 1999-2009, Sons of Confederate Veterans. The SCV Telegraph Mailing List is for Official SCV Use ONLY.

Gone: A Photographic Plea For Preservation By Nell Dickerson, Shelby Foote, Robert Hicks

Gone: A Photographic Plea For Preservation
By Nell Dickerson, Shelby Foote, Robert Hicks
List Price:  $29.95
SHNV/SWR Price:  $19.57 
http://astore.amazon.com/souhernewvie-20/detail/1611940036

GONE is a powerfully moving volume that will change how you see the forgotten buildings that hide in obscurity across the Southern landscape.

The Civil War (SIC) had been over for exactly ninety years in 1954, when my cousin, Shelby Foote, published--PILLAR OF FIRE--as part of his novel, Jordan County: A Landscape in Narrative. The book's stories painted a vivid picture of a fictitious Mississippi county steeped in Southern culture.

PILLAR OF FIRE took readers into a heartbreaking and commonplace scene late in the Civil War, when Union troops moved through the civilian South destroying not only plantations but also ordinary homes and cabins. Those troops, battle-hardened and bitter from the loss of their own brethren, shared the tragic effects of war.

In PILLAR OF FIRE, they take no joy in burning a home in front of its dying, elderly owner and his frail servants. The cruelty of the circumstances is as much a given for them as the dying man's grief over all the memories that burn with his house.

Now, on the eve of the Civil War's 150th commemoration, my mission is to draw attention not only to the architectural heritage devastated by the war but also the heritage we've lost since then: to neglect, to poverty, and to shame, as the war's infamy colored the attitudes of later generations and tainted the homes those generations inherited. What the war didn't take, time and apathy did. And yet those grand old homes whether mansion or cabin deserve our reverence and protection.

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