COME VISIT THE MOSBY MUSEUM

After the War Between the States, John Singleton Mosby, the Gray Ghost of the Confederacy, lived in Warrenton, Virginia. A hero of the Confederacy, he was granted amnesty from General Grant in 1866. In 1872, Mosby was guiding President Grant's re-election campaign in Virginia. By 1877, Mosby's wife, Pauline, had died in Warrenton and an unknown assailant had taken a pot-shot at Mosby at the local train station. Because of this, Mosby had moved to Washington City and by 1879, Mosby was U.S. Consul in Hong Kong. The town of Warrenton has lovingly restored the home where Mosby lived in the 1870s. I am the docent there, giving guided tours from 11 am until 4 pm every Saturday. Come by yourself or with your historic or church group, to enjoy Victorian ambiance and learn about Mosby's life before, during, and after the Civil War. Check out the museum at www.mosbymusueum.com and Mosby Museum on Facebook. You can contact me at william.connery@verizon.net or call me at 202-374-3080.

CSS Shenandoah will be celebrated 4-8 November 2015

in Liverpool for the Sesquicentennial"
One  SCV'er. from South Carolina, Ricky Herndon has
designed and has only 50 souvenir "commemorative medals"
for this Event.

Your support would be appreciated with a $35.00 donation
and your "Medal" as a huge thanks for assisting in making this
Event a success.

CSS Shenandoah was still waging  effective attacks/sinkings on
Union shipping in the summer of 1865.

Receiving word from the British Trawler, Barracouta, that the
War was long over, Lt. Commanding Waddell, cancelled his planned
attack in the harbor of San Francisco and headed for the one place, to
avoid captured by a Union Navy hell bent on capturing the
CSS  Shenandoah, Liverpool, England, thus he would avoid a death
sentence for himself and his Crew

A successful voyage to the River Mersey was accomplished, and a "HUGE
EMBARASSMENT TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT" as the British authorities concluded
the CSS Shenandoah and her Officers and Crew were free to go their own way.
MUCH TO THE CHAGRIN OF THE U.S CONSUL IN ENGLAND.
Thanks for assisting in honoring the Confederate States Navy, as they most certainly
sustained the "War Effort" and enable the South to turn the tide in
favor of the Confederacy.

John Collier
Commander
( Captain John Low. CSN)
Camp 2161
Scarborough, England

Patriots Defeat the Invincible Iron Armada

From: bernhard1848@att.net

In early April 1863, a large number or Northern war correspondents were assigned to their fleet to cover the story of the glorious victory of the navy and capture of the seat of rebellion, Charleston.  It was not to be; the day following his defeat Admiral Samuel F. DuPont wrote "that a merciful Providence permitted me to have a failure, instead of a disaster."

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Patriots Defeat the Invincible Iron Armada

"On both sides of the harbor mouth the Confederate shore batteries were firing at long range: Fort Moultrie and Batteries Bee and Beauregard on the northern shore and Battery Gregg at Cummings Point on Morris Island.  [The] crisis of the battle had come; the entire force of the ironclad fleet except the flagship was concentrated on Fort Sumter.

More than a hundred of the heaviest cannon ever used in the war were thundering together. The thick walls of and arches of Sumter trembled under the impact of the great fifteen-inch and eleven-inch shells; when at the moment of impact the shells burst, deep craters were blasted into the brick walls of the fort.

Most of the [enemy] ships were hidden or half-hidden in smoke. [The Passaic had] retired . . . Her pilot-house had been wrecked and a cloud of steam was issuing from her deck. The Weehauken, too, seemed to be in trouble, her funnel . . . was riddled; her side armor was cracked and split.  The Nahant and the double-turreted Keokuk were sustaining the hottest fire of Sumter.  All round them the water seethed with the rain of projectiles.

[The Nahant's turret was] impenetrable, but the heavy blows jammed it so that it could not revolve and her guns were rendered useless. Her steering gear apparently had also been disabled, for she was drifting helplessly . . . The Keokuk turned bow-on and headed straight for Sumter.  Immediately she received the concentric fire of all the fort's guns that could be brought to bear.  Firing from her forward turret . . . she was hit repeatedly. Her eleven-inch bow-gun had been silenced; a solid shot crashed into her forward turret; a bolt from a Brooke rifle ripped open her hull ten feet from her stem and barely above the waterline.  Her headway slackened, then ceased; she drifted toward the fort under a hail of fire.

The guns of Sumter, served with almost perfect precision, were hammering her to death. Her sloping turrets were cracked and dented; her armored hull was torn and ripped, her funnel riddled.  With ninety wounds in her – all the  high courage of her officers and crew made fruitless by the cool skill of Sumter's gunner's – the Keokuk, mortally-stricken, moved slowly out of the fight.

The smoke cloud over Fort Sumter [was now] less dense [and clearly visible was] the Confederate flag at the top of its tall staff. Through a thin white veil of drifting smoke it shone like a flame.  There was a great hole through its red union with the stars of the Confederate States, but the blue flag of South Carolina at the western angle of the gorge was unscarred.

The half-circle of [enemy] ironclads in front of the fort was shifting, breaking up. The battered Nahant, her steering gear repaired, was steaming slowly out of range.  The other monitors, still firing sullenly, were retiring [with orders] to withdraw.

[A shirtless, powder-blackened up-countryman sang] in a high cracked voice: "King Abraham is very sick, Dupont has got the measles, Old Sumter we have got it still, Pop goes the weasel." Another man joined him, two more – half the battery.  They were singing madly, waving their caps. But now it was Dixie.

[The] order was to continue to firing as rapidly as accuracy permitted. Until they passed beyond extreme range, the retreating ironclads were pursued by the persistent Confederate shells.

[Dupont] got his flag-ship under way and followed his broken and beaten fleet. He was wondering perhaps . . . how Washington would receive the news that he had to give. Defeat instead of victory that had seemed so sure.  The invincible iron armada flung back from the gate of the hated city.  The vaunted Keokuk sinking, four other ships disabled.  The "Rebel" flag still flying over Sumter . . . "

(Look Back to Glory, Herbert Ravenel Sass, Bobbs-Merrill, 1961; A Tricentennial Anthology of South Carolina Literature, 1670-1970, Calhoun & Guilds, editors, USC Press, 1971, excerpts, pp. 465-470)

Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!

List Price:	$17.95
Price:	$12.08

http://astore.amazon.com/brgejothuca61-20/detail/0982770073

"Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!" is the book that every Civil War house, museum, gift shop, and Website has been waiting for, and that every Civil War buff and student of history has been asking for! Popular Southern historian and author Lochlainn Seabrook sets the record straight in this easy-to-read, well documented handbook that confronts the North's many falsehoods about the American Civil War. This exposé of Yankee anti-South propaganda has the power to heal, for in reeducating the world about Lincoln's War it will give Northerners a better understanding of the conflict itself, while making Southerners, of all races and political persuasions, proud to be Southern. Read the sensational racially-inclusive book that everyone's talking about - the book that blows the lid off Yankee mythology - and learn the Truth for yourself! Foreword is by African-American educator and Sons of Confederate Veterans member Nelson W. Winbush, the grandson of Louis Napoleon Nelson, just one of the hundreds of thousands of black Confederate soldiers who fought for the South. Blurbs by Thomas Moore (Chairman of the Southern National Congress), Ronny Mangrum (President of The Green Cannon Tennessee Flag Conservation Foundation; Adjutant for Roderick, Forrest's War Horse Camp 2072, Sons of Confederate Veterans; Former Heritage Violations Chairman for Tennessee Division, SCV), Timothy D. Manning (Executive Director of "The Southern Partisan Reader"), J.T. Thompson (Executive Director, Lotz House Museum, Franklin, Tennessee), Scott Bowden (five-time award-winning historian and author of "Last Chance for Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign and Robert E. Lee at War"), and Barbara Marthal (African-American educator, lecturer, Civil War re-enactor, and member of the Tennessee Society Order of the Confederate Rose). Lochlainn Seabrook, often referred to as the "American Robert Graves," is the author of some thirty books, seven of them on the War for Southern Independence, including "A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest" and "Abraham Lincoln: The Southern View." He is a seventh-generation Kentuckian, the sixth great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, and a cousin of Robert E. Lee.

War Against Virginia's Civilians

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Lee's grand army departed Gettysburg "dog-tired and hungry." Poorly fed, they have existed on bread, berries and green apples and the horses eating grass, -- only after arriving at Culpepper did the men enjoy a cooked meal and the horses find loose corn.  The residents of Culpepper learned fear the enemy as they found that its target was not only Lee's army, but them as well.

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

War Against Virginia's Civilians

"August 4 [1863]:  Culpepper civilians are apprehensive again.  [General JEB] Stuart has not even enough men to protect them from the Federal raiders who seem to cross the Rappahannock at will.  Sally Armstrong's family is still plagued by the blue devils.

"Nothing but Yankees from morning to night," she protested on July 29, "no signs of them leaving yet."  She hears of how horribly the Federals have been treating people in Fauquier County, and lives "in dread of having the infantry come over and pillage."  "Great anxiety we live in . . . our neighbors . . . have had almost every mouthful taken from them."

[Nearby enemy regiments have] emboldened Culpepper slaves to dash toward Union lines all along the river, from Kelly's Ford to Waterloo.  On one evening alone, about forty "children of Ham," as [the enemy commander] calls them, moved within his picket lines . . . . Many of the boys and men will be hired by Federal officers as body servants, although some officers refuse under any circumstances to hire "wretched niggers."

Most have been mere field hands as slaves, complains one [Northern officer], and therefore are ignorant of the duties of a personal servant.  "To this ignorance," he elaborates, "must be added the natural laziness, lying, and dirt of the Negro, which surpasses anything an ordinary white man is capable of."  Not [all Northern troops] agree with this assessment . . . A member of the 20th New York Militia admires "the thousands" of contraband blacks laboring in [General] Meade's camps as cooks, teamsters and servants . . . he informs his mother. He believes the blacks "as a class" exhibit more "native sense" than the majority of white Southerners.

[Meade] makes no move [and many sense] that Meade is not yet comfortable as the army's commander. Word has it that he nearly gave up the fight at Gettysburg after the second day, and he now seems overly deliberate and cautious.

Meanwhile, Culpepper's civilians hunker down. Captain Charles Francis Adams, Jr., commanding the Union picket force on the Hazel River . . .  knows that these people hate him and his men, but he understands the reason. He has witnessed daily "acts of pillage and outrage on the poor and defenceless" that make his "hair stand on end," and cause him to "loathe all war."  [His] Soldiers, usually under cover of darkness, break into homes, rifle closets and drawers, take what they like, and abuse and threaten their victims.  Some citizens are too terrified to sleep. 

"Poor Virginia!" laments Captain Adams.  "Her fighting men have been slaughtered; her old men have been ruined; her women and children are starving and outraged; her servants have run away or been stolen; her fields have been desolated; her towns have been depopulated."

"The horrors of war are not all to be found in the battle-field," he laments, "and every army pillages and outrages to a terrible extent."

"What shall I write for these times?" [Sally] asks her diary. "Yankees doing all conceivable wickedness." "If God did not rule we would die in despair.  He only can help us."

(Seasons of War, The Ordeal of a Confederate Community, 1861-1865, Daniel E. Sutherland, LSU Press, 1995, excerpts, pp. 269-276)

GREETINGS FROM WILLIAM CONNERY

WILLIAM CONNERY IS AVAILABLE FOR SPEAKING ON HIS TWO HISTORY PRESS BOOKS: CIVIL WAR NORTHERN VIRGINIA 1861 AND MOSBY'S RAIDS IN CIVIL WAR NORTHERN VIRGINIA. MR.CONNERY IS A LONG-TIME RESIDENT OF THE BUSH HILL COMMUNITY OF FAIRFAX COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA. HE WAS AWARDED THE JEFFERSON DAVIS HISTORICAL GOLD MEDAL FOR HIS FIRST BOOK, WHICH DEALS WITH THE START OF THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES IN ALEXANDRIA CITY, ARLINGTON, FAIRFAX, PRINCE WILLIAM AND LOUDOUN COUNTIES. HIS SECOND BOOK DEALS WITH THE GRAY GHOST, COLONEL JOHN SINGLETON MOSBY, FROM HIS BIRTH IN 1833, THROUGH HIS AMAZING WAR EXPLOITS, UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1916. MR. CONNERY TALKS THROUGHOUT THE BALTIMORE/DC/ RICHMOND AREA. PLEASE CONTACT HIM AT WILLIAM.CONNERY@VERIZON.NET OR CALL HIM AT 202-374-3080. HE ALSO SPEAKS ON HONORING PRESIDENT ROBERT E. LEE, PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER AND THE CONFEDERACY, THE CSS SHENANDOAH & THE LAST SHOT OF THE WAR AND FORT MCHENRY DURING THE WAR.

William Connery
The History Guy
Author of
CIVIL WAR NORTHERN VIRGINIA 1861
and
MOSBY'S RAIDS IN CIVIL WAR NORTHERN VIRGINIA
5777 Westchester Street
Alexandria, VA 22310
(p) 202-374-3080
william.connery@verizon.net

CARTER GOSPEL SINGERS HEADLINE ROSE HILL RAID SCHEDULE

The famed Carter Gospel Singers are a feature of the program of the Rose Hill Raid reenactment scheduled for Saturday, September 28, 2013. The program commemorates the capture of Union Colonel Daniel Dulany at the Rose Hill manor house exactly 150 years ago to the day! It will take place at the Rose Hill Elementary School, 6301 Rose Hill Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22310. It is being sponsored by the Rose Hill Civic Association and the Franconia Museum and begins at 11 a.m.

In the original raid, Confederate raider Major John Singleton Mosby went to the Rose Hill manor house located on what is now May Boulevard and captured Colonel Daniel Dulany, an aide to the Union appointed governor of the Restored State of Virginia.  One of Mosby's men on the raid was Dulany's son, French.

The actual raid and the taking of Dulany will occur at noon. The party will ride on horseback from the original location of the house, up May Boulevard to the school where a program explaining the raid will take place. Local historian Don Hakenson will tell the story of the raid and introduce re-enactors in period costume who will explain their characters involved in the raid. A reenactor portraying Anne Frobel, who lived at nearby Wilton Hill, will recite passages from Frobel's diary that mentioned her neighbor, Dulany, and the report of the raid.

The Carter singers will cap off the program with selections of period gospel songs. If you have never heard this group, you are in for a treat. In its 44th year, the group is made up of singers from the nearby Woodlawn United Methodist Church. Originally composed entirely of members of the Carter family, today's group includes eight children of the family that began singing in 1969 in a program celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the church's Choir.

Other highlights include an appearance by re-enactors portraying a Confederate Signal Corps using flags to communicate with distant units and commanders. The flag-bearers will give advance notice of the Mosby raiding party's arrival at the school.  Featured performers will be Jimmy Fleming, a living historian whose portrayals of Mosby have highlighted many events about the Civil War, and Susan and David Hillier from the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society. David will play Colonel Dulany while Susan will be cast as Anne Frobel. Susan is the current president of the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society.  After the program, re-enactors will be available to answer questions and pose for pictures with Civil War buffs and other interested parties who attend the event.  Mosby's horses will be quartered in an area across the street for those who wish to see them up close.

The program is FREE - A free will offering will be requested for the singers. The Rose Hill PTA will have concessions available for those seeking food and refreshment.              

Contact Debbi Wilson at debbiwilson@ yahoo.com or 703-309-2182.

Save the Memphis Confederate Parks

The Sons of Confederate Veterans in Memphis have been fighting the city over the attempt to change the names of Confederate Park , Forrest Park , and Jefferson Davis Park .  On September 25th we have our first court date.  This court event is to dismiss the city's contention that we do not have standing to sue the city over the parks.  Our attorneys and our members have really done our homework.  We have reams of information and past legal precedent to ensure that we can continue this fight. After we win this first skirmish, we will take the field and set our banner high for all to see!  I honestly believe they didn't think anyone would have the nerve to take them on.

Who would have thought there were so many Confederate descendants here?  They had no idea!

We of the Memphis Brigade and Citizens To Save Our Parks cannot express just how grateful we are for all your prayers and support.  Don't give up, keep the prayers coming especially now.  We need the support in your thoughts, prayers and monetary.  We have more than  exhausted our fight fund but continue to have fund raisers and drives to raise funds to help preserve these symbols of our Confederate past and heritage.  We will not stop, we will not give in, we will never let this travesty go on.  This fight will set a precedent across this nation. Our foes across the south are looking to this battle as a means to srtike down other Confederate monuments and symbols.

If this is not one of the key reasons for being a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, then there isn't one!

Please follow us on facebook  and visit our website at Citizenstosaveourparks.org.

Donate often, even a few dollars will help.  

Remember us and keep the skeer on 'em!

If you would care to forward this to your camps to help with the fight.

Thank you again for all you have done already!

Your Obedient Servant,

Mark Buchanan

President-Citizens to Save Our Parks

Memphis Brigade Commander

Lt. Commander Robert E. Lee Camp SCV, Germantown, TN

Utz Camp: Retained 100% of their members in 2013

The Major James Morgan Utz Camp #1815 informs me that they have retained 100% of their members this year, three cheers and a Rebel Yell for the Utz Camp!

Heritage 911 - 2nd Battle of Olustee - URGENT Your help needed NOW

From: siegels1@mindspring.com

Southerners (and friends),

An new heritage attack has been launched at Olustee (near Lake City, Florida).

In anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the battle that protected Florida's capital from falling, the Sons of Union Veterans has obtained approval from the State of Florida Parks Department to place an obscene obsidian obelisk  to the Federal invaders on the site where Southerners spilled their blood protecting Tallahassee from Capture.   

We fear the State may have a legal right to do so.  Therefore, in order to stop this we must win the war through citizen objection. 

Confederate Forces won the Battle in 1864 – but will we win the 2nd Battle of Olustee and prevent this menacing monument from disrupting this hallowed Southern soil?

We can and will – but only if you take action today!

WE WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS THE BATTLE ON FLORIDA ELECTED OFFICIALS.

ATTN FLORIDIANS:   PLEASE contact your legislators by PHONE and EMAIL .  Tell them you want the Park Service's plan STOPPED..enough is enough!  (see talking points below).

Here is a link to find your legislators (do both) - Senate:  http://www.flsenate.gov/  House of Representatives:  http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/

EVERONE:  Please send this request to everyone on your list and if you have face book, post it and then share it to your like-minded friends – especially ones IN FLORIDA.

Two monuments to Federal forces already exist on or adjacent to the site, but the SUV doesn't feel that is enough, and regrettably, park officials have ALREADY approved the plan for a large black Darth Vadar-esque shaft to disrupt the hallowed grown where Southern blood was spilled in defense of Florida and her allies in the Southern Confederacy.  Read more about their plans here:  www.dofsuvcw.org/images/Olustee_Monument6.ppt  (If you want to get mad).

Please note the MAIN MONUMENT was established by the State of Florida as a remembrance not only of the battle but to honor the fallen from both sides. THE SUV sought approval stating that the fact that there were Confederate monuments and no Federal monuments needs to be corrected.

Some Talking Points to consider:

• There's already a monument to Federal forces;

• The State of Florida placed a re-unification on the site over 100 years ago – why is this not enough?

• It is desecration of this land to keep building new monuments – should we have a field of monuments?  (Where will it stop?  Will we have one to each regiment?  Company?  The Irish?  The Scottish?  The Women?  The Bald?  The Gay?  The short?  The Tall?)

I'm sure you will have some good things to say, so please consider sharing your letter with me, so we can refine these points!

________________

Here is a letter from an opponent of the plan for you to consider and re-word and use in your correspondence:

"To Whom It May Concern,

Regarding the proposed monument at Olustee:

I would ask you to please consider, the park is a place of mourning for those of us who are family members of soldiers who sacrificed all in that field.  It is hallowed ground.   It should be respected as such.  It is not an ordinary park.  It needs to be left alone now, out of respect for the dead.   I am a seventh generation Floridian, a direct descendant of Florida Pioneers.  I am also the proud descendant of a brave soldier who was a casualty of the Battle at Olustee.  He is my ancestor, his blood runs through my veins, and his blood is literally in that ground, on that battlefield.   To disturb that ground unnecessarily desecrates that ground, and disrespects my veteran ancestor's honorable service and sacrifice.  

There already exists a monument recognizing the Union dead.  And the Confederates.  It is enough.  Please.

As a minister, perhaps I have a unique perspective.  Men died on that field, brave men, honorable men.  Those veterans deserve a quiet rest now.     

As strongly as I can, I object to this proposed monument.  It disturbs the ground where men sacrificed their lives doing their duty, and they deserve the field where they fell to be quiet now.  

Nancy Markham Miller
A citizen of the State of Florida
A direct descendant of a soldier of the battle
A Florida Pioneer descendant
A Chaplain
_______________

Pictures and info about the existing monuments:

Text on the current Federal/Confederate/Battle Monument erected in 1912 by the Commission established by Florida Law:

"The Battle of Olustee was Fought on this Ground February 20th 1864

Between 50,000 Confederate Troops Commanded by General Joseph E. Finegan and 6,000 Federal Troops under General Truman Seymour.  

The Federals were defeated with a loss of 2,000 men.  The Confederate loss was less than 1,000."

There is also a Federal monument, not on the actual 3 acre State site; but in adjacent cemetery, that is accessible to the visitor while on the site.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatorsr1/7595046080/

Two very small monuments have been placed since this monument was built: 

One to General Finegan (CSA)  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cwpt/3313871017/ , and
One to General Colquit (CSA) – placed by UDC (about 3' x 3') https://www.google.com/search?q=olustee+monument&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=4bE1Urz3DIT68gSsvIHQAQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=882&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=nc2ZWCqRzeXi4M%3A%3BbyXKch7VX0PlwM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffarm4.staticflickr.com%252F3530%252F3313870201_1261519c15_z.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.flickr.com%252Fphotos%252Fcwpt%252F3313870201%252F%3B640%3B480

Thank you for your support!

Lunelle Siegel
A Citizen for Respect for the Park

MEMPHIS-JEFFERSON DAVIS PARK TO BE FLAGGED

We will flag Jefferson Davis Park located at 51 North Riverside Dr. in Memphis; on Sunday afternoon October 13, 2013 from 1:30-4:30. We are working on a hand-out specific for this park. It is fitting that we flag this park as it is one of the three that the city of Memphis has attacked. By so doing, they perpetuate the "slavery myth" as the reason for the war. The slavery myth in turn slanders the good names of our Fathers, steals their honor, and seeks to shame their descendants.

THE LIES STOP NOW!

The vast majority of citizens support us, and the city council knows they're wrong.

Join us as we urge them to RESTORE THE NAMES of our historic parks, and return the honor of our Fathers.

MID SOUTH FLAGGERS

Va Flagger Update: 9-16-2013

From: info@vaflaggers.com

It was a VERY busy weekend for the Virginia Flaggers...

Saturday, morning, in Petersburg, Va Flaggers attended the "Dick Poplar Day" memorial service at Memorial Hill in Blandford Church Cemetery.  15 Flaggers attended, serving on the Edmund Ruffin FireEaters Camp #3000 SCV Color Guard, participating in the wreath laying ceremony, and attending as guests.

"Dick Poplar , a Black Confederate, had been a caterer at the Bollingbrook Hotel in Petersburg, Virginia where his cornmeal creations were said to be unequaled.  He took his culinary genius to war with some Confederate fighting units and was captured at Gettysburg.  Sent to Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp, he was put under special pressure to desert the Southern Cause and take the oath of allegiance to the United States, but he treated oppressors with cold contempt.  He declared himself "a Jeff Davis man" and said he didn't care who heard him say so.  He endured almost twenty months of life in one of the three very worst prisoner of war camps of the war, selling his famous pones to the other prisoners.  He returned to Petersburg after the war, and became a celebrated local figure and prospered. Upon his death he was buried with full Confederate honors as befitting a loyal Son of the South."

More information here:  http://www.craterroad.com/richardpoplar.html

More photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.273485582776734.1073741931.186485551476738&type=1

LATER THAT AFTERNOON...

14 Flaggers gathered on the Boulevard in the Capital of The Confederacy, forwarding the colors and protesting the forced removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the Confederate Memorial Chapel on the ground of the Old Soldiers Home. 

Huge crowds and beautiful early weather meant MANY, MANY chances for conversations with citizens, and MANY, MANY opportunities to educate about our flags, our ancestors, and the continued desecration of the Confederate War Memorial Chapel by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  The Flaggers reported that almost everyone they talked with, as usual, agreed that the Confederate Battle Flags SHOULD be returned to the Confederate War Memorial Chapel.

More photos here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.273491612776131.1073741932.186485551476738&type=1

MEANWHILE, IN TAMPA...

Susan was spending Saturday speaking to members and guests of the Augusta Jane Evans Wilson Chapter #2640, United Daughters of the Confederacy, in Temple Terrace, FL.  It was a great time of sharing and fellowship, making new friends, visiting old ones, and raising awareness for Confederate Heritage Defense issues.  Susan was inspired by the support and appreciation she received, and very grateful for  the warm hospitality and welcome from those in attendance, including many members of the Judah P. Benjamin Camp # 2210, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

ALL THE WHILE...

Site work continued at the I-95 RVA Battle Flag site, in preparation for the September 28th Flag Raising/Dedication/Memorial Service.  The service is on schedule for 10:00 a.m., and details will be forthcoming this week. 

PLEASE make plans to join us for the weekend of 9/28 - 9/29, as we paint RVA Confederate Red!
Saturday, September 28, 10:00 a.m.  I-95 RVA Battle Flag Dedication/Raising
Saturday, September 28, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Flagging the VMFA
Sunday, September 29, 3:00 p.m. - Va Flaggers' 2nd Anniversary Celebration/Family Picnic - Mechanicsville Moose Lodge

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

Contributions to the I-95 Battle Flag project may be mailed to
Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150

OR Donate here:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/i95flagdonate.html

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Thursday, September 19th:  Flagging the VMFA, 200 N. Boulevard, 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 21st:  Flagging the VMFA, 200 N. Boulevard, NOON - 4:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 28th:  SAVE THE DATE, I-95 Battle Flag Flag Raising/Dedication, 10:00 a.m.  Chesterfield, VA. 

Sunday, September 29th:  SAVE THE DATE,  Va Flaggers 2nd Anniversary Celebration/Picnic, 3:00 p.m., Mechanicsville Moose Lodge Pavilion, 716 Flag Lane, Mechanicsville, VA 23111.  Va Flaggers will provide the main dish and drinks.  Please bring a side dish and RSVP to info@vaflaggers.com.  ALL ARE INVITED TO JOIN US! 

April 19, 2014:  Susan will be traveling to Quincy, FL to speak at the Confederate Memorial Day Service at the Soldier's Cemetery, sponsored by the Finley's Brigade, SCV.

Save Chickamauga on its 150th Anniversary!

On this morning 150 years ago, a Confederate force under General Bushrod Johnson and General Nathan Bedford Forrest engaged Union cavalrymen at Reed's Bridge. In the ensuing fight, Forrest's men eventually got the better of their Federal counterparts, but the Yankees had delayed the Confederate advance long enough for the Union Army of the Cumberland to concentrate along Chickamauga Creek. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War in the West had begun. Last month, the Civil War Trust announced its effort to save 109 acres at Reed's Bridge – the site of the opening action of the Battle of Chickamauga. Today, on the 150th anniversary of this iconic battle, we are pleased to report that we have raised more than 75% of the funds needed to preserve this important piece of the Chickamauga battlefield. With just one more push, we can raise the last 25% we need to save what Ed Bearss called "one of the most significant tracts of ground that the Civil War Trust has saved in a long time." Help save Chickamauga! – Donate Today »

Chickamauga Animated Map »

Map: Reed's Bridge »

Photos: Chickamauga »

"The Fight for Reed's Bridge" »

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Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Florida

Alumni and friends of: Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Florida - Sign the petition to keep the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School.

From: jcooperhawk@yahoo.com

FYI:  we are in a fight to keep the name of N.B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, FL.

Sign the petition at http://nbfhs.com/

joan cooper

Petition to change NB Forest name

From: kcomri@tds.net

Dear Chuck;

Here we go again! 

Here in Florida we have plenty of Yankees that migrate down here from the north because of better weather, nicer people, lower taxes, regulations and on and on.

The problem is when they come on down and try to change things to suit what their Yankee belief system has indoctrinated them in.

In Jacksonville, there is a school named NB Forest high school, it has always been that (one of my best friends went there) but the usual suspects have now shown up and are trying to change the name to Rosa Parks H.S.

Below is a clip to the story at the Florida Times union with an easy on line poll to click.

The cancer called change.org likes to throw these petitions up against anything Confederate (in accordance with the war declared against all things Confederate by the NAACP in 1991) and the village idiots in the city council at times takes their polls to heart. 

The poll at the Florida Times union is running 2x1 against changing the name and I would ask all Confederates to take a minute and click the link to the paper and vote against the name change to show our solidarity in this political correctness run amok.

We defeated the NAACP here in Lee County Florida just recently and now it's time to speak up regarding the honor of General Forest. 

Deo Vindice

Kevin Carroll, Florida

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-09-05/story/jacksonville-man-starts-petition-change-forrest-high-school-name

PS: God bless the Flaggers!

Va Flaggers: Fight like Forrest...NOT Sherman!

From: suzn68@comcast.net

Over the weekend, one of the Anti-Confederate Bloggers took his campaign of hate against the Va Flaggers to a new low, when he made my private employment information public by posting it on the world wide web, then tweeting the information, along with false accusations, to my employer, anti-Confederate agitators in the Richmond area, and our local press.

Almost immediately, I was overwhelmed by the incredible show of support from friends, Flaggers, and folks I have never met, from both North and South of the Mason-Dixon Line. I cannot adequately express my appreciation for the encouragement, offers of assistance, and willingness to help.

Some of the offers came by way of wanting to repay him and other Anti-Confederate Bloggers in like kind, by posting their information and encouraging others to do the same. I want to take this opportunity to express that I am adamant in not wanting ANYONE in our movement to ever do such a thing. Disagreeing with someone is one thing, and we have every right (a duty, even) to defend our honor, but publishing information that could very possibly affect one's livelihood, and therefore their ability to care for their families and fulfill their obligations, is not something I want to EVER be a part of.

Unlike our enemies, WE have truth, honor, and right on our side, and do not need to sink to unethical and immoral tactics in order to gain victory.

In my humble opinion, the best thing we can do to neutralize those who attack us with no provocation is to stay focused on our Cause and continue the good work that has been started. With every flag that is raised, returned to its rightful place of honor, or added to the landscape, we win a victory for the Confederate Veterans who fought and died under them…and when THEY are not the focus of our efforts, such efforts truly are in vain.

Our heritage is under attack in ways that even our parents and Grandparents could have never imagined. The time has come for Southerners to stand in defense of our Confederate ancestors and against those who would desecrate their honor and memory.

I have no doubt that victory will be ours, even in the midst of this latest assault. I may not know what lies ahead, and I am certain there will be many more such attempts to stop us, but I know one thing is for sure…I'm determined to stand, fight, and never back down...but I'm gonna fight like Forrest…NOT Sherman.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done..." Genesis 50:20

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers

Is America a Republic?

From: bernhard1848@att.net

A foremost constitutional scholar and expositor of the compact nature of the American Union, Dr. Donald W. Livingston's writings and lectures highlight the spirit of American republicanism – true federalism, nullification, secession.  He is president of the acclaimed Abbeville Institute, well-known for training and nurturing future Southern scholars -- his lectures can be found via the www.abbevilleinstitute.org website.  The following article was published in the May 2009 issue of Chronicles. (www.chroniclesmagazine.org)

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission

"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"

www.ncwbts150.com

"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Is America a Republic?

"The United States is not now and has never been a republic. It is a federation of states, each one of which, in Article IV of the Constitution, is guaranteed a republican form of government. But a federation of republics is not itself a republic any more than a federation of nations in the United Nations, or in the European Union, is a nation.

Whatever else a republic might be, it is not a service agency of something else.  So instead of talking about "restoring the old Republic," we should talk of restoring republicanism in a federation of states.  And this can only mean recalling the vast domain of enumerated powers that the Constitution reserves to the states and which have been usurped by that artificial corporation, known as the United States, created by the states for their welfare.

This is not a quibble with words. To talk of the Republic inclines one to think of America as a single political society in the manner of Joseph Story, Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln. In this view, the states are service agencies created by the sovereign will of the American people in the aggregate. That will is expressed through the central government, which, for all practical purposes, has the final say on the limits of its power.


This means that the states are merely administrative units of a unitary American state. If so, they are not republics at all, but counties. This is how Lincoln viewed them. He asked, "What is this particular sacredness of a State? . . . If a State, in one instance, and a county, in another, should be equal in extent of territory, and equal in number of people, where is that State any better than a county?"

Lincoln was tone deaf to the deep social bonds that made it rational for Socrates to take the hemlock and Jefferson Davis to say that if his state seceded he would "hug [Mississippi] to his heart," and Robert E. Lee to risk all to protect his beloved Virginia.

A Lincoln scholar, and an admirer, recently acknowledged that "[Lincoln] was intimately attached to almost no one, and this was how he believed community relationships -- local, state, and national – should best function . . . Lincoln imagined America was a nation of strangers."  This is a perfect picture of a modern unitary state, modeled on that of Thomas Hobbs, with an all-powerful central authority guaranteeing rootless and egoistic individuals their "civil rights."

It is this unitary state, "one and indivisible," that Lincoln and the Republican party meant when they spoke of "the Republic." But such a regime is no more a republic than is the "republic" of the French Revolution or the Peoples' Republic of China.  When Lincoln looked at Virginia he could not see a genuine political society two-and-a-half centuries old; one that was the leader in forming the American federation; fable in song and story; and known as the mother of presidents and the mother of states [including Lincoln's own).

All he could see was an aggregate of individuals in rebellion against "the Republic" – the central government of a would-be Hobbesian unitary state.

Before Lincoln's "republican" rhetoric, Americans most often described their polity as a "union," a "federation," or a "confederation." And when it was described as a "republic" or a "nation," it was usually understood to mean a federation or a union.

For example, in a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Constitution, John Quincy Adams describes America as a "confederated nation," held together by "kindly sympathies" and "common interests." And he went on to say that, should these social bonds fail, "far better will it be for the people of the disunited states to part in friendship from each other, than to be held together by constraint."

Thirteen years later Adams would sign a document stating that the annexation of Texas would justify the secession of New England.  That is the spirit of American republicanism – rooted, as it must be, in a bold acknowledgment of state and local sovereignty.

The first step toward restoring genuine republicanism is to invert the Lincolnian inversion of republican language by describing America as a federation, not a republic.  Today, such speech might appear odd and even radical.  But there is no alternative.  Talk of "restoring the Republic" cannot escape connotations of the inverted Lincolnian  "Republic."  But that regime does not need restoration. Not only is it flourishing, it is now on steroids."

(Is America a Republic?, Dr. Donald Livingston; Chronicles Magazine, May 2009, pp. 17-18)

Re: Joey Kennedy`s editorial

From: cscitizen@windstream.net
To: epage@bhamnews.com

To the Editor:
                   
In response to Joey Kennedy`s editorial about his first visit to Gettysburg battlefield & how difficult it was to hold the Union together. 150 years later you yankees still cannot get your lie straight as to why you invaded the south. Was it to preserve the Union or the 1863 excuse, to free the slaves?
 
The only thing wrong with the south is, 150 years later carpetbaggers like him dominate our media & pump out their daily anti - southern propaganda telling us what to think & believe and if we refuse to become galvanized yankees then we must be racists or a number of other terrible things according to the yankee mindset.
 
The only thing liberals like him see wrong with the South is that it's full of southerners, everything else about it they find acceptable. A few facts that always escape the comprehension of liberals is, less than 5% of southerners owned slaves, the rest were fighting for independence from an overbearing, monolithic government like we have today. Just as southerners had done in the Revolutionary War.
 
The U.S. Constitution was written by white Europeans for their white European descendants, were this not so every slave in America would have been immediately free. So what's the liberal answer to this Mr. Kennedy? Furthermore, had it not been for your greedy kinsmen in the New England states importing slaves with their vast shipping companies there would have been no slaves to sell to the south. Guess which flag flew from all slave ships, the American flag!
 
Slavery was dying as it was not cost effective until the greedy yankee Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. He shares in the cause of that war as well. So stop trying to sell the snake oil of a story that the south & the south only is responsible for slavery when the facts are the rest of America is as much to blame if not more so than the south. Yankees enabled slavery while getting rich from it. Why do you never point out any of these contributing factors of prolonged slavery in America? I might add the Jim Crow laws after the war were borrowed directly from the Black Codes of the northern states.
 
The reason the south cannot get over the Civil War is the same reason it cannot get over 1963 and the Civil Rights Movement. There is always a white liberal journalist pointing out to us daily what evil, terrible people we are over both events. The reason you cannot afford for southerners to look to the future, instead of the past, is you cannot exploit that & blow it all out of its historical context & proportions.
 
If there is no racial turmoil & money to be made from your stories by a greedy yankee media full of carpetbaggers & scalawags then you are out of business & a job. God forbid you ever write about any historical facts that show the south as anything less than 100% pure evil.

Billy E. Price

Ashville, Al.

New Abbeville Lectures

From: donlivingston45@gmail.com

Dear Friend of the Abbeville Institute,

The 15 lectures from the Eleventh (2013) Abbeville Summer School, "UNDERSTANDING THE SOUTH AND THE SOUTHERN TRADITION," are now available at www.abbevilleinstitute.org and are FREE.
                                                                   
Lectures cover the origin and character of Southern literature, failure of mainline historians to understand the real moral challenge slavery posed to antebellum Americans (North and South), Chapman's paintings of the defenses of Ft. Sumter; Southern religion, the image of Robert E. Lee in his time and in ours, Southern view of the nature of political order, and much more. For a complete list of titles check "Listen to Lectures" under "Conferences."

You can download the lectures, or if you have a smart phone, listen to them on our Abbeville app. If you prefer CDs, they can be purchased from www.dixieedu.org. They make a wonderful gift, especially for students and for the person who has everything.

The lectures are free, but it is costly to produce them. If you believe in our mission, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to help fund student scholarships.

Check "Make a Donation" on the website, to see the options (automatic transfer, etc.) and premiums available for a contribution. Culture wars are won with ideas, and we must educate our youth and the public.

If you are not a member, consider becoming one. It is only $50 a year--a few cents over $4 a month.

Sincerely,

Donald W. Livingston, President
Abbeville Institute

Gates Camp Gazette: Complimentary Newsletter

Compatriot or SCV Friend, 

For the first time, the quarterly Gates Camp Gazette Newsletter from the Elijah Gates SCV Camp is being made available in electronic form.  

Our most recent issue, published late last month, is being forwarded to you as a PDF file. Not all computers and Internet systems process PDFs expeditiously, and if you encounter any problems we do apologize.

This is an experiment to assess interest. We hope to continue distributing in this fashion, at no cost to you. If you wish your name to be removed from our e-list, please let us know and we will do so. Meanwhile, we appreciate any comments or constructive criticism.

If you prefer hard copies, subscriptions by mail are $10 per year. Checks or money orders to the Elijah Gates Camp should be sent c/o Wayne Sampson, 916 S. Olive St., Mexico, MO 65265. Gift subscriptions are welcome.

Please feel free to forward this to friends, or to provide us with email addresses of those you think may be interested.

Thank you in advance for your kind attention.

Regards, Martin Northway, Newsletter Editor & Past Commander

Elijah P. Gates Camp No. 570 Sons of Confederate Veterans

Fulton, Missouri

Noel A. Crowson, Commander

Seceding from the Corrupt Aristocratic Democrats of the South

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Colonel Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts advocated New England's secession from the United States in 1804, and creating a "Northern Confederacy." He and others viewed this more perfect union as having "all the advantages which have been for a few years depending on the general Union [which] would be continued [and] without the jealousies and enmities that now afflict both, and which particularly embitter the condition of that of the North."  Notably, the slave-trading States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island would have been the cornerstone of this new republic.

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission

"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"

www.ncwbts150.com

"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Seceding from the Corrupt Aristocratic Democrats of the South

"In the prior history of the country, repeated instances are found of the assertion of this right [of secession], and of a purpose entertained at various times to put it in execution.  Notably is this true of Massachusetts and other New England States.  The acquisition of Louisiana had created much dissatisfaction in those States, for the reason, expressed by an eminent citizen of Massachusetts [George Cabot], that "the influence of our [the Northeastern] part of the Union must be diminished by the acquisition of more weight at the other extremity."

The project of separation was freely discussed, with no intimation, in the records of the period, of any idea among its advocates that it could be regarded as treasonable or revolutionary.

Colonel Timothy Pickering, who had been an officer of the war of the Revolution, afterward successively Postmaster-General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State in the Cabinet of General Washington, and, still later, long a representative of the State of Massachusetts in the Senate of the United States, was one of the leading secessionists of his day.

Writing from Washington to a friend, on the 24th of December, 1803, he says:

"I will not yet despair. I will rather anticipate a new confederacy, exempt from the corrupt and corrupting influence and oppression of the aristocratic democrats of the South. There will be (and our children, at farthest, will see it) a separation.  The white and black population will mark the boundary."

In another letter, written a few weeks afterward (January 29, 1804), speaking of what he regarded as wrongs and abuses perpetrated by the then existing Administration, he thus expresses his views of the remedy to be applied:

"The principles of our Revolution point to the remedy – a separation.  That this can be accomplished, and without spilling one drop of blood, I have little doubt . . . I do not believe in the practicality of a long-continued Union.  A Northern Union would unite congenial characters and present a fairer prospect of public happiness; while the Southern States, having a similarity of habits, might be left to "manage their own affairs in their own way."  If a separation were to take place, our mutual wants would render a friendly and commercial intercourse inevitable.

It [the separation] must begin in Massachusetts.  The proposition would be welcome in Connecticut; and could we doubt of New Hampshire? But New York must be associated . . . she must be made the center of the Confederacy.  Vermont and New Jersey would follow of course, and Rhode Island of necessity" [Pickering to Cabot, "Life of Pickering," pp. 338-340].

Substituting [Southern States for those Northern States above], we find the suggestions of 1860-61 only a reproduction of those thus outlined nearly sixty years earlier.

Such were the views of an undoubted patriot who had participated in the formation of the Union, and who had long been confidentially associated with Washington in the administration of its Government, looking at the subject from a Northern standpoint, within fifteen years after the organization of that Government under the Constitution.

His authority is cited only as showing the opinion prevailing in the North at that day with regard to the right of secession from the Union, if deemed advisable by the ultimate and irreversible judgment of the people of a sovereign State."

(The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume I, Jefferson Davis, D. Appleton and Company, 1881, pp. 71-73)

Real Causes

From: bernhard1848@att.net

Widely acclaimed as the world's foremost scholar of John C. Calhoun, Dr. Clyde N. Wilson is an eminent authority on America's War Between the States and its fundamental causes.  His introduction to the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial website is required reading for any honest student of history, and for anyone with a serious interest in understanding that conflict.  The following article was published in July 2009 issue of Chronicles, the Magazine of American Culture.  This fine periodical can be subscribed to via www.chroniclesmagazine.org.

Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

Real Causes

"Ask any trendy student of history today and he will tell you that, without question, the cause of the great American bloodletting of 1861-65 was slavery.  Slavery, and nothing but slavery.  The unstated and usually unconscious assumption is that only people warped by a vicious institution could possibly fight against being part of "the greatest nation on earth."

This is an older corollary of the present national dictum that everybody in the world really wants to be an American if they could only be cured of delusions and bad motives – by aerial bombardment if necessary.

There is an even deeper and less conscious assumption here: malicious, unprovoked hatred of Southern people that is endemic in many American circles.  Thus, according to the wisdom of current "scholars," no credit is to be given to anything that Southerners might say about their own reasons and motives. They are all merely repeating "Lost Cause myths" to cover up their evil deeds. (Of course, no one points out that "Father Abraham," the Glorious Union," and "dying to make men free" might partake of some myth-making too.)

Set aside the question of causation in history is a complex one, to say the least. Still, it is true that historians of other generations, of vastly greater breadth of learning than most of today's ascribed other "causes" to the most critical event in American history: a clash of economic interests and cultures, blundering politicians, irresponsible agitators.

There is a bit of sleight of hand along with today's fashionable assumptions. Even if slavery may have in some simplistic and abstract sense "caused" the secession of the first seven Southern States, that does not establish that it "caused" the war.  The war was caused by the determination of Lincoln and his party to conquer the Southern States and destroy their legal governments.

Caused, one might say, by Northern nationalism – nationalism being a combination of romantic identification with a centralized state and interest in a unitary economic market.  The war, after all, consisted of the invasion and conquest of the South by the US government – a very simple fact that most Americans are unable to process, along with the plain fact that Northern soldiers did not make war for the purpose of freeing black people.

One of Lincoln's main deceptions was the claim that the Founding Fathers had intended to abolish slavery but had not quite got around to it.  Thus the Southerners of this time were rebelling against the true founding by insisting on noninterference, while he and his party were upholding the settled understanding of the Founders. James McPherson, perhaps the "leading" historian of today in regard to the Great Unpleasantness and no Southern apologist, along with many others points out that it was the North that had changed by 1860, while the South had remained attached to the original concept of the Union.

Now one may be glad, as McPherson is, that the North changed and triumphed with a new version of America, but to deny which side was revolutionary is simply dishonest.

Historians have devoted vast attention to the South, feeling it was necessary to explain where the South went wrong and find the source of the perversion that led it to a doomed attempt to escape the greatest country on earth.  For, after all, "American" is the norm of the universe, and any divergence from it is a pathology. But if it was the North that changed, ought not our primary focus in understanding American history to be on how and why the North changed during the pre-war period?

I pointed out on these pages 20 years ago or more that Northern history was the future cutting-edge of American historical study. A large number of solid works have since proved that my prediction has some merit: Susan-Mary Grant, North Over South; Harlow W. Scheidley, Sectional Nationalism; Richard F. Bensel, Yankee Leviathan; Anne Farrow et al, Complicity; Richard H. Abbott, Cotton and Capital; Leonard P. Curry, Blueprint for Modern America; two excellent books on Lincoln by William Marvel; and others.  Clash of Extremes may be counted among the works on the War that pay serious attention to the North.  Writes [author Mark] Egnal:

"In sum, the current emphasis on slavery as the cause of the Civil War is fraught with problems. It does not clarify the sequence of events, the divisions within the sections, or the politics and actions of the Republican party.  It is these problems that a new interpretation must address."

The author does not neglect the sins of the South, real and alleged, but his most important contribution is his description of a truly critical new development of the late antebellum period, which he calls "the Lake Economy."

The Midwest was first settled by Southerners farming the north side of the Ohio Valley. In the late antebellum period, the Upper Midwest was settled by New Englanders and Europeans who developed a new economic regime along with a militant agenda of their own self-interest and vision of the national future.

It was this culture that Lincoln and his party represented and out of which, by military conquest, they created a new America that superseded the old Union of the fathers and put us on the course that the follow today.  It was certainly American, but it was a new version that essentially repudiated the founding."

(Real Causes, Clyde N. Wilson, Chronicles, July 2009, pp. 33-34)