General William B. Bate Camp #34 Confederate Decoration Day 2014

The General William B. Bate Camp #34, Sons of Confederate Veterans invites you to Confederate Decoration Day 2014. Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 11:00 am at Confederate Circle, Gallatin City Cemetery, Gallatin, Tennessee.

Please join us in memorializing those brave men who served and sacrificed between 1861-1865 for their states and their nascent nation. This memorial service will include patriotic speeches, music, an honor guard and an artillery salute.

Please place this event on your calendar.

Randy P. Lucas

Commander,

General William B. Bate Camp 34
Sons of Confederate Veterans

Patriotic organizations of Greensboro Honor North Carolina Veterans

"Greensboro has members in at least 34 patriotic groups. Of these the Guilford County Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (1899) was among the first to be active locally.  It grew out of two earlier organizations which had been dedicated to the same basic objectives – to honor the Confederate dead and to further the ideals for which they died.

The first group – the Ladies Memorial Association -- was formed in 1866 by local women.  They had been moved by the tragedy of wounded Confederate soldiers who had been brought to Greensboro after the Battle of Bentonville, 234 of whom, all save 4 unknown by name, had died in the homes, churches and schools of Greensboro, and had been buried in a mass grave at the edge of town.

The [A]ssociation, under the leadership of Mrs. John A. Gretter, purchased a plot adjoining the Methodist Church cemetery on Ashe Street and honored these dead with proper burial. Many years later when the Eclectic Club, working with a Confederate committee, had laid the soldiers to final rest in Green Hill Cemetery, the Ladies Memorial Association then raised to their memory a granite monument which supports a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier.

The second group was a temporary Ladies Memorial Association of the 1880's which joined others in a movement to erect at Richmond, Virginia, the Battle Abbey Building, now the Confederate Memorial Institute, and a Confederate Museum.  In the latter is displayed the flag which was presented to the Guilford Grays by Edgeworth Seminary students in the solemn service of 1860 (Captain John Sloan of the Guilford Grays, left).

Both of these Ladies Memorial Associations had carried out specific purposes and then disbanded.  But the Guilford Chapter of the U.D.C. became a permanent and consistently active organization.  From its beginning in 1899 with Mrs. Frank Dalton as president it has concentrated on benevolent, educational and historical works. In 1919 it sponsored the formation of the Lizzy Lindsay Chapter of the Children of the Confederacy, named in honor of    . . ."one of the most beloved presidents (1913-1929) Guilford Chapter has had during its long history."

In 1941 another adult chapter, the Annie B. Daniel, was organized; and in 1954 it sponsored the Bertie Thompson Chapter of the C. of C.  These chapters, in keeping with the State program, have marked local Confederate graves with iron crosses, promoted a History Essay Contest in the high schools, provided funds for needy Confederate women, and established scholarships for descendants of Confederate soldiers."

American Veterans:

"The Guilford Camp of the [United] Confederate Veterans was active in Greensboro after the Civil War until the last local member, G.H. Grantham, died in 1937. In 1902 this camp was host to the annual State reunion of Confederate veterans and General James M. Ray of Asheville commented that the Greensboro reunion was the best ever conducted and the attendance the largest of any ever held in the State.  "That city did itself proud by its lavish and generous attention to the "Old Vets," and all in attendance will never cease to speak well . . . of their pleasant stay." Tents were pitched for about 1,200 in the yard of the Eckel home, and Greensboro citizens did everything in their power to make this a memorable occasion."

(Greensboro, North Carolina, The County Seat of Guilford, Ethel Stephens Arnett, UNC Press, 1955, pp. 317-318; 320)



North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial

"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage, and devotion to liberty"   www.ncwbts150.com

"The Official Website of the North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission

First Numbers Released on Sale of Ga SCV License Plate

Sons of Confederate Veterans April 15, 2014         PRESS RELEASE            NEW SCV LICENSE PLATE NUMBERS FINALLY RELEASED      (ATLANTA - April 16, 2014)  Just a little more than a week before Confederate Memorial Day is officially observed across the state, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have released the first update on the sale of their new specialty license plate in Georgia which prominently features the Confederate battle flag since it made national news in February. Media outlets across America carried the story in February concerning the new specialty plate for the Sons in Georgia after the Georgia Division of the SCV was invited by the state of Georgia to submit a new design for their decade-old specialty plate.  The new design which was approved bears the Confederate battle flag across the entire length of the plate.  The new design drew hate-filled rhetoric from groups who oppose any display of Confederate symbols or observance of Southern heritage. The Sons of Confederate Veterans took the position in February that despite the fact that political correctness has made it acceptable for all groups to celebrate their history and heritage except Southerners, the SCV believes that all people have a right to preserve their own valuable way of life and to celebrate their heritage.  Georgia SCV Division Commander Jack Bridwell stated that it is his and the Georgia Division's intention to make sure that all of Georgia's young people understand why they should be proud of their Confederate ancestors and their Southern heritage, and he stated that the Georgia Division is just beginning a major campaign to that end. Groups opposing the new Georgia Division specialty plate were quick to speculate in February that sales of the plate would be dismal following the negative attention that it had received. This week, the Sons of Confederate Veterans received the first report from the Georgia Department of Revenue on the sale of the plates since the new design became available in February.  Even though the new design was not released to the media until the middle of February, reports show that total sales of the SCV plate were up to 175% of sales of the SCV plate during the preceding month of January this year -- a considerable increase and a much different response than predicted by opponents of the SCV. Tim Pilgrim, adjutant for the Georgia SCV, noted that the numbers for February which were just received from the Department of Revenue were remarkable, especially given the fact that the public only knew about the new design for less than half of the month of February.  He said that preliminary reports from local tag offices around the state indicate that the number of sales of the plate in March may actually surpass the spike in sales that occurred in February.  The surge in sales of the SCV license plate, especially in light of the opposition to it, demonstrate a growing support for Southern heritage in Georgia and a stiffening of resistance among the population at large to the never-ending demands of political correctness.       For more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the sale of SCV license plates in Georgia, please call 404.271.8473 or contact the Georgia Division SCV online at www.GeorgiaSCV.org       END RELEASE    * Permission to reprint this release is granted.       Ray McBerry Enterprises is the public relations firm for the Georgia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Northern Deserters at Fort Steadman

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

By 1865, the Northern government had paid some $300 million in bounties to obtain recruits, with State and local governments paying a near equal amount – totaling $600 million.  Bounty-jumping was common as men would enlist and obtain a handsome payment, then desert and enlist elsewhere for more cash. They obviously made poor soldiers.

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"

Northern Deserters at Fort Steadman

"Another incident I remember [in late March, 1865]: The enemy's picket line was only about seventy-five yards from ours.  In each pit they had six men day and night.  Sometimes these fellows would call and beg me to come  over and sit awhile and talk with them, promising to let me return when the friendly interview was over.  Though I would never take the risk, they broke the monotony themselves one night and came over to us.

The night was quite dark, and I thought I heard a man's voice out in front saying in a low tone: "Don't shoot; I'm coming in." This he repeated several times as he advanced toward me and, repeating these words, tumbled into my pit.  He seemed to be very much excited and begged me to pass the word up the line not to shoot, as others were coming over.

Those who followed veered to the left and piled into Perkin's pit.  He was very much excited and called out to me, saying: "I have a lot of deserters here; what shall I do with them?  There are seven of them." I told him to send them to the rear, as I had done my man.

These fellows were "bounty-jumpers"; their government was giving a thousand dollars to all who would enlist.  Some nights during the winter a hundred or more would come over to our pickets.  General Lee let them slip through the lines somewhere again to perform the same maneuver.  They were not very dangerous foes and cared very little for which side won."

(On Picket Duty in Front of Fort Steadman, I.G. Bradwell, Brantley, Alabama, Confederate Veteran, August 1930, pg. 305)

Farce of Lee's Offer of Sword to Grant

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

The story of Gen. Robert E. Lee offering his sword to Grant at Appomattox on 9 April 1865 has been discounted even by Northern sources.  A postwar letter from Grant to Mr. T.D. Jeffries, in reply to the question, was: "There was no demand made for Gen. Lee's sword, and no tender of it offered."

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"



Farce of Lee's Offer of Sword to Grant

J.F.J. Caldwell writes from Greenwood, S.C.:

"I wish to call attention to the story of Gen. Grant's refusal to accept the surrender of Gen. Lee's sword at Appomattox, a story without a particle of foundation  in fact, and utterly unreasonable, yet widely circulated by Northern writers and speakers, and credited by a good many people in the South.

Col. Charles Marshall, who was, I believe, the only officer accompanying Gen. Lee on that occasion, has declared that nothing of that kind occurred.  Dr. J. William Jones, in "Personal Reminiscences of Gen. Robert E. Lee," at page 303, reports Gen. Lee as making a similar statement during a conversation with a company of friends as follows: "Gen. Grant returned you your sword, did ne not General? . . . The old hero . . . replied, "No sir; he did not. He had no opportunity of doing so.  I was determined that the side arms of officers should be exempt from the terms of surrender, and of course I did not offer mine.  All that was said about swords was that Gen. Grant apologized to me for not wearing his own sword, saying it had been taken off in his baggage, and he had been unable to get it in time."

But we need not depend solely on the testimony of those men. The well-ascertained circumstances of the situation flatly and irreconcilably contradict the story. The two generals met to consider the question of surrender. It would have been contemptibly nonsensical and pusillanimous of Gen. Lee to tender his sword before the terms were agreed upon.  By the terms they did agree upon all Confederate officers were to retain their side arms and other private property. There was less reason than ever for the surrender of the sword.  No one except a scared coward or the most truckling toadeater would have dreamed of committing voluntarily such an act of self-humiliation."

(Farce of Lee's Offer of Sword to Grant, J.F.J. Caldwell, Confederate Veteran, May, 1900, pg. 204)

Aftermath of the War to Preserve the Union

By laying down its arms, the Southern States were led to believe they would return to a restored and peaceful Union under the Constitution.   A vindictive Radical Republican Congress passed its Reconstruction Act on 2 March 1867; this and the North's Union League and Loyal League ushered in a predictable reaction called the Ku Klux Klan.

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"

Aftermath of the War to Preserve the Union

"{When Robert E.] Lee was called to testify before Congress in February 1866 by Radical Republicans to show that the South was unready for self-government . . . he seemed to fell, as the Klan soon began to proclaim, that the Constitution of the United States was being subverted by Radical Republicans for their political ends. 

On January 27, 1866, [Lee] wrote a friendly [US] senator that pursuit of "a policy which will continue the prostration of one-half the country, alienate the affections of its inhabitants from the Government, and . . . eventually result in injury to the country and to the American people, appears to me so manifestly injudicious that I do not see how those responsible can tolerate it."

To men of Lee's political views, to say nothing of [Nathan Bedford] Forrest's, opposing the Radical revolutionary subversion of the old Constitution would have been patriotism.  

Dividing the remaining ex-Confederate States into five military districts and declaring their governments provisional and subject to orders from Union soldiers stationed within them, the Reconstruction Act was enacted by a Radical-leaning Congress over the veto of [President] Andrew Johnson. 

The Act's overtones and reverberations led Klan leaders to arm for battle; the entire South, they understandably felt, now could look forward to the woes ex-Confederate Tennesseans were suffering under [Governor] Brownlow. In the spring of 1867, the governor vowed that he would enforce his Disenfranchisement Law - and that "[If] to do so it becomes necessary that there shall be violence and bloodshed, so be it."

To the recent Confederates, Brownlow's domain had become a frightening place where the Union League and the Loyal Leagues were armed, militant and seemingly winning their long-published and much-feared demands that plantations of once wealthy ex-Confederates be carved into farms of "forty acres and a mule" for freed blacks. 

Even ex-Confederates who owned no land apparently thought they faced a future in which the possibility of obtaining any was declining rapidly; the financial outlook was ruinous. [Those supporting the Klan explained that] . . . ignorant ex-slaves, elected to City Councils and State Legislatures, and dominated by carpetbaggers who had come from the North to plunder the South, voted millions of dollars of bonds for which little or no value was received" – and then the "federal courts ordered mayors of cities to levy taxes big enough to pay 100 cents on the dollar."

(Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Biography, Jack Hurst, Vintage Books, 1993, pp. 286; 289-290)

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

Sam Davis Youth Camp

Texas Camp: Sunday Jul 27th to Saturday Aug 1st at Three Mountain Retreat, 1648 FM 182, Clifton, TX 76634. The deadline for applications is Monday Jul 21, 2014.

In a survey conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis in 2000, 65% of college seniors failed to pass a high school equivalent American history test:

* Only 23% correctly identified James Madison as the "Father of the Constitution." Yet, 98% knew that "Snoop Doggy Dog" is a rapper.

* Just over half, 52% knew that George Washington's Farewell Address warned against establishing permanent alliances with foreign governments. Yet, 99% correctly identified Beavis & Butthead.

Today, General Cleburne's words, ring all too true. There is no question that the youth of today must run a terrible gauntlet, and that many are struck down along the way by one or more of the politically correct influences which flourish in our schools.

If the South should lose, it means that the history of the heroic struggle will be written by the enemy, that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision. -- Major General Patrick Cleburne

Educated men are as much superior to uneducated men as the living to the dead. -- Aristotle

Watch the Sam Davis Youth Camp video - Texas Documentary linked below (copy and paste it in your address line) and learn more - it gives you an excellent idea of what's available at the camp for boys and girls ages 12 - 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snuT8MgGbtk


Then download an application from this site below and send it in.

http://samdavis.scv.org

1-(866)-686-1105
Bruce Cunningham
Director SDYC
P. O. Box 131
Decatur, TX 76234
bvcunningham@gmail.com

Chaplains' Corps Chronicles

Fellow Compatriots in the Chaplains' Corps and Friends:

This is a time for celebration! This is the one hundredth (100th) issue of the Chaplains' Corps Chronicles. In August, Anno Domini 2005 the first issue of this e-journal was dispatched for God's glory and to help spread the good news of salvation in Christ the Son of God; and for the purpose of networking with SCV chaplains. Also, there is the intention of providing informative information on the Confederate chaplains for anyone interested. There is a need of identifying as many of the chaplains laboring in the Confederate armies as possible. The neglect of these men has gone on too long.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to repeat the first editorial.

I send greetings to all fellow chaplains from the "Briar Patch" in Spout Spring, Virginia. Our Confederate forefathers had a much greater difficulty communicating with one another than we do with all our electronic gadgets. However, the need for good communications is indispensable. Perhaps at times we can use this chronicle as a method of providing vital information.

Will you participate? Perhaps you have found a way of having a greater impact on your camp or division. Would you share it? Some of you could provide pertinent articles.

Some of the men in the Confederacy have relayed information to me at meetings or reunions. With all of the fanfare that goes on at such times it is difficult to remember the details of conversations. Would you use the Chaplain's Corps Chronicles to inform us?

We also need the e-mail addresses of chaplains in the Confederacy to add to this list. Will you help? I know we all have hectic schedules. Most of us have many hats that we wear, but if you want something done, they say, find someone who is busy.

Interestingly the first issue had news of a Chaplains Conference which was scheduled for November of 2005 at the same location as the one for 2014—Providence Baptist Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

In that issue was the article The Soldier's Grave: A Chaplain's Story which was written by a Confederate chaplain. We need to honor those men and seek to be better Christians and faithful chaplains in the SCV.

Oh, that this publication would have the blessings of the Lord to continue upon it as long as it remains faithful to the gospel truth which was the same preached by the Confederate Chaplains of the past; also we need to remain true to the history of the South and the Confederacy. The danger is the departure from Biblical and doctrinal truth along with an embracing of the distorted ideas of faulty teachings. Perhaps the Book Reviews in this issue will help in distinguishing truth.

There is a danger of imbibing revisionist history with its multitudes of distortions. How can those who renounce and reject Christ as God and Saviour write history that understands the Christian culture of the Old South?

~~~~~~

Readers please be in prayer regarding the upcoming Chaplain's Conference at Providence Baptist Church facility in Harrisonburg, VA. The date to put on your calendar is June 19-20.

Please find in this issue our Chaplain-in-Chief's message to the reader. Then our Chaplain-in-Chief gives us an article revealing what the Lord does and that is He brings Light Out of Darkness. Your editor has provided an article dealing with one of the activities of those of the Chaplains Corps, The Confederate Chaplain as a Scribe. This issue as usual includes A Confederate Sermon, submitted by Chaplain Kenneth Studdard. This sermon is by Rev. John Lafayette Girardeau on The Discretionary Power of the Church and this is part two of three. Our Book Review is actually an overview of Confederate Theological Writings and is supplied by your editor.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Editor H. Rondel Rumburg

[Compatriots, if you know of any members of the Chaplains' Corps or others who would like to receive this e-journal, please let us have their names and e-mail addresses. Also, feel free to send copies of this journal to anyone you think would like to receive it.]

http://southronthunder.blog.com/2014/04/06/chaplains%e2%80%99-corps-chroniclesanno-domini-2014aprilissue-no-100/

"I went into the war because my vote had been unable to preserve the peace."--Nathan Bedford Forrest, 1868

From: confederate_commando@hotmail.com

Captain Roberts and the Game of Blockade-Running

The "Captain Roberts" mentioned below resided in Wilmington during the war, renting the lavish home of Mayor John Dawson directly across from the Bellamy Mansion which still stands.   The famed blockade-runner wrote his  reminiscences of "twelve successful trips in blockade-running," "Never Caught," in 1867.  The Dawson home is part of the popular "Confederate Wilmington" walking tour.

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"

Captain Roberts and the Game of Blockade Running

Many of the captains during the [first years of the war] were drawn from the very cream of the English navy, officers of prolonged naval experience who, tired of the inertia of life on half pay, were drawn to volunteer in the Confederate service by the lure of rich profits . . . and of adventure, which was a battle cry to those old sea dogs.

The sympathies of so many of the English were with the Confederacy that probably other naval officers would have gone in for blockade-running if the United States had not threatened to send all British officers taken on a blockade-runner to England in irons.

The English officers in this service usually operate under an assumed name. For instance, Captain Roberts, who commanded one of the first little twin-screw steamers, called the Don, was in reality a titled officer in the English Navy, the honorable Augustus Charles Hobart Hampden, son of the Earl of Buckinghamshire. He was post captain in the Royal Navy, and for a time commander of Queen Victoria's yacht, [the] Victoria and Albert.

He had seen service in the war against Emperor Nicholas in 1854 under the British admiral, Sir Charles Napier, and after the order, "Lads, sharpen your cutlasses," had boarded the Russian warships before Kronstadt, helped storm the seven forts which guarded the entrance to the harbor, and sailed up the Neva to St. Petersburg.

With the coming of the American war he obtained leave of absence to try his skill at this new game of blockade-running. He was very proud of his craft, in which he made six trips between Nassau and Wilmington [and] returned to England with a snug fortune.

The Don was captured on her very first trip after the command had been renounced by "Captain Roberts," and the chief officer was assumed by his captors to be Roberts.  He did not reveal his identity and the northern newspapers upon the arrival of the prize at Philadelphia were full of the capture of the "notorious Captain Roberts." Their chagrin, when they learned the mistake, equaled their former elation.

Dramatic to the end, unable to endure the dull routine of service ashore, Hobart accepted the command of the entire Turkish navy at the outbreak of the Turkish-Russian War.  He died, in accordance with his character, Hobart Pasha, admiral of the Turkish Navy."

(Foreigners in the Confederacy, Ella Lonn, UNC Press, 1940, pp. 299-301)

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

Ignorant liberal's take on Passover in the Confederacy & Comments

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/passover-in-the-confederacy/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

The Jews of the South, including my extended family, fought honorably and loyally for their homeland, not for slavery. They, like their compatriots, showed amazing courage, dedication, and valor—enduring incredible hardships against overwhelming and often hopeless odds in fighting for  their families, homes, and country.

Most Confederate soldiers felt they were fighting because an often cruel invading army from the North invading army from the North was trying to kill them, burn their homes, and destroy their cities. And anyone with family who fought to defend the South, as mine did, cannot help but appreciate the courage, valor, and honor shown by our ancestors.

If you would please send me your email, I'd love to send you an article I did on Jewish Confederates, & why they fought.

Sincerely,

Lewis Regenstein
regenstein@mindspring.com
Atlanta

Confederate History Month on Facebook

From: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net

Dear Friends,

Please re-post as you wish.

Face book is where it is happening and that's where you need to be to follow Confederate History and Heritage Month events, news and historical facts about our wonderful Confederate Heritage. Read more at: https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth

We reached 13,457 people this past week on our face book site. If you are not on face book you missed the latest post: W&L students demand removal of confederate flag—Read full story at:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/w-l-students-demand-removal-of-confederate-flags-decry-view/article_45941b3e-c5db-11e3-8e04-001a4bcf6878.html#.U1Amg-k79hw.email

Please email me with events, news and CHHM proclamation signings for posting.

Thank you and have a Dixie day!

Calvin E. Johnson, Jr., Chairman, National and Georgia Division SCV Confederate History and Heritage Month committee
Mike Crane Co-Chairman
Members: John Black, Billy Bearden, Fred Wilhite and in memory of member Jeff Davis

Confederate History Month Update

Please re-post!

Make you plans for:

The Thomas Marsh Forman SCV Camp # 485 extends you and yours and invitation to attend the Confederate Memorial Day Parade and service in Brunswick, GA Saturday, April 26th at 9:30AM until noon. Refreshments will be served by the local United Daughters of the Confederacy. Our guest speaker will be Edmund Ruffin, one of the famous fire eaters from Virginia.

 Please feel free to march with us. We must show unity and strength.

Your Obedient Servant,

"Doc" Watson, former Color Sgt. of the Georgia Volunteer Battalion

And, do you want to visit the place where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office as Confederate President? The following has been posted on the Confederate History and Heritage site on face book.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy
Alabama Division
Cordially Invite You
To Attend Our
Annual Confederate Memorial Day Service
Monday, April 28, 2014
10:00 AM at the Cradle of the Confederacy
Alabama State Capital
Montgomery, Alabama
Special Music by Bobby Horton
Keynote Speaker - Mr Mark Thomey
Roll Call of Honor
Cannon Firing
Bagpiper

Please send me information about events in your area are: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net

Face book is where it is happening and where you need to be to follow Confederate History and Heritage Month events, news and historical facts about our Confederate Heritage. See more at: https://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth

We reached 13,457 people this past week on our face book site.

On of the latest post is--W&L students demand removal of confederate flag—Read full story at:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/w-l-students-demand-removal-of-confederate-flags-decry-view/article_45941b3e-c5db-11e3-8e04-001a4bcf6878.html#.U1Amg-k79hw.email

Please email me with events, news and CHHM proclamation signings.

Thank you and have a Dixie day!

Calvin E. Johnson, Jr., Chairman, National and Georgia Division SCV Confederate History and Heritage Month committee
Mike Crane Co-Chairman
Members: John Black, Billy Bearden, Fred Wilhite and in memory of member Jeff Davis

Remorseless Brutality and Northern Prosperity

By early 1864 the slaughter and carnage of war had stunned the Northern public into weariness, yet Lincoln stubbornly pushed Grant and Sherman on to subjugate the South. Jefferson Davis said of Lincoln's war: "You would deny to us the one thing you exact for yourselves – the right of self government."

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"

Remorseless Brutality and Northern Prosperity

"By early June 1864, war-weary Northerners began to suspect that they had been betrayed by rosy promises of victory, just as they had been disappointed in every spring since 1861.  They had been led to believe that the armies of Generals Grant and Sherman . . . would finally achieve the triumph that had eluded the Federal armies through three years of slaughter.

As usual, the War Department sent forth cheerful bulletins about great "victories" and Northern newspapers emblazoned headlines: "Glorious Successes – Lee Terribly Beaten" [and]     "Our Army in Full Pursuit of the Enemy Towards Richmond."

In fact, Secretary Stanton deliberately withheld the truth that Grant's forces had suffered horrendous losses in the wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor battles and that they had finally moved across the James River to about the same place where General McClellan had been two years before.

In the few weeks of direct frontal attacks on Richmond's defenses Grant lost more than 50,000 men – killed, wounded, and missing – almost as many men as Lee had in his entire army.  Other estimates of Union losses ran much higher.  John Tyler, an officer with Lee's staff, claimed the total was 70,000.  "Grant has shown great skill and prudence combined with remorseless persistency and brutality."

Eventually the enormous losses could no longer be concealed as the [Northern] people read the lengthening lists of killed and wounded in their newspapers, and boatloads of maimed soldiers arrived at the Washington waterfront from the killing fields of Virginia.  Hidden among the seriously injured were hundreds of men only slightly hurt, along with "shirks, stragglers and bounty-jumpers" who forced their way into the boats, as Noah Brooks recorded  this ugly truth in his dispatches to the Sacramento Union: "The number of "dead beats," as the men call the shirks and stragglers in the army, has been, I am sorry to say, very large."

Thurlow Weed observed a depressing scene in New York State: "Regiments are returning home, worn, weary, maimed and depleted. Our cities and villages swarm with skulking, demoralized soldiers." Her also lamented that "there is a reckless, money-making spirit abroad which, profiting by our disasters, favors a long war."

"The commercial metropolis of the Union is flushed with prosperity and riots in extravagance," one newspaper found.  "A war may be a fearful calamity, but the gay denizens of Manhattan don't see it . . . there is a wasteful race for display between the gold gamblers, the blockade runners, and the shoddy aristocracy . . . Broadway presents the gaiety of a continued holiday."

War profiteers made a vulgar display of their ill-gotten wealth . . .  the war was only a dim and distant sound coming out of the South making no difference in their carefree lives, as long as they didn't have to share personally in the mud and blood of the battlefield."

They could hire substitutes for a few hundred dollars each and let the Irish, the Germans, and the freed slaves fill the ranks and endure the hardships of battle and risk their lives for the Union."

(The Dark Intrigue, The True Story of a Civil War Conspiracy, Frank van der Linden, Fulcrum Publishing, 2007, pp. 112-114)

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

Hillsborough County Confederate Memorial Day event

http://jpbenjaminscv.org/

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Schedule

9:30 a.m. - COMMENCEMENT Memoria in Aeterna  -  491 Pierce Street, Tampa, FL     

9:55 a.m. - COMMENCEMENT Oaklawn Cemetery - 606 E. Harrison Street, Tampa, FL

10:50 a.m. - COMMENCEMENT Woodlawn Cemetery - 3412 Ola Ave., Tampa, FL

11:45 a.m. - COMMENCEMENT Branch Family Cemetery - 8729 Overlook Dr., Temple Terrace, FL

12:25 a.m. - COMMENCEMENT Confederate Memorial Park— 10412 U.S. 92, Tampa, FL 33610

1:25 p.m. - LUNCH O'Tooles Irish Pub- 1215 W. Brandon Blvd., Brandon, FL

We will travel in private vehicles from location to location (decorations welcome).

Maps will be provided.

We will honor over 100 Confederate Veterans in the three cemeterie

Tampa, Florida Confederate Memorial Park

To all,

It is my pleasure and duty to announce the final phase of the park has been completed. 17 plaques plus soldiers' and sponsors' names were applied to the various granite monuments surrounding the 139 foot flag pole which stands as a bold statement for the bravery and sacrifice that depicts the 12,000 Floridians who answered the call to duty in 1861-1865.

With the determined guidance of Division Commander Jim Davis and assistance from the General Jubal A. Early Camp 556 we can all be proud of a magnificent production which began 7 years past. There were numerous smaller factions who contributed time and effort with the original construction but the final ingredients came together Thursday.

It is my hope everyone will visit the site sometime in the future and bask in the pride which was created for the purpose of stating historical facts as opposed to revisionism and slanderous untruths.

The Early Camp takes responsibility for maintaining the flags and grounds with extreme pride and the colorful sign out front proclaims that fact.

Forward the Colours

Mike Herring

Commanding Officer

Gen. Jubal A. Early

Camp 556  SCV Tampa

What T-shirt caused a high school controversy?

A recent story aired of eighteen-year-old Mason Deering of San Antonio, Texas  who created a white tee shirt with black lettering that read, "Confederate Born, Confederate Bred."  Confronted about it and while waiting for the principal, Mason claims the assistant principal told him to change the shirt because it was racist. He refused and left the school. The principal never met with Mason but told district administrators he wouldn't have made Mason change his shirt and that he can wear the shirt in the future as long as it's not a distraction. As of this writing Mason plans to wear the shirt again on March 31. His father says he wants an apology from the school.
 
Discrimination against students who wear emblems of their rightful heritage is not new. This, however, could set a treacherous precedent.  Unlike most similar instances, there was no Confederate flag nor other such icons on Mason's shirt; just four simple words.  Obviously the controversy is about the word "Confederate".   Has it, like the "N" word been outlawed. Where is that ordnance written? How does an assistant principal get to define what is racist? 
 
The "N" word is typically an insult hurled at another, while the word "Confederate" is a word often proudly attributed to self. Being dissimilar, should equal restriction apply? The political correctness crusade seems to have adopted the NAACP vow to remove every vestige of the Confederacy from the face of the earth . Does that include the very word, "Confederate"?

John Wayne Dobson

waynedobson51@yahoo.com

Macon, GA

New Abbeville Institute Website

From: donlivingston45@gmail.com
Dear Friend of the Abbeville Institute:

At long last Our new website is up. Please check it out: http://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/

Operational now is (1) a blog of short pieces on the Southern tradition and current affairs, and (2) The Abbeville Review which publishes more substantial essays. We plan for the blog to be active daily if possible. And, initially, new material will be added three times a week to The Abbeville Review.

Eventually the Abbeville website will be the place to go to learn about the Southern tradition and what it intimates for us today. I hope you will visit it frequently and help make it an instructive and entertaining center of learning. Your comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated. Please pass the word to friends who might be interested.

What is up now is only the first of what is to follow. Lectures from past summer schools and conferences will be added, as well as other items. Eventually there will be The Abbeville Academy which will offer courses on line.

All of this takes money. If you would like to support our work in education, please consider making a contribution. You can contribute online or by check to Abbeville Institute, P.O. Box 10, McClellanville, SC 29458.

Sincerely,

Donald Livingston, President
Abbeville Institute

Campaign of 1872 in North Carolina

The political campaign of 1872 saw Grant win the presidency again, though the corruption and scandals of his administration like Credit Mobilier would not surface until after his reelection. His opponent, Horace Greeley, was outspoken against the black vote being manipulated by Grant's party, stating that "they are an easy, worthless race, taking no thought of the morrow." He thought the freedmen no longer deserved government support, his harsh injunction being that they must "root, hog, or die."

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"

Campaign of 1872 in North Carolina

"In the summer of 1872 . . . my immediate recreation was the heated political campaign which was then in full swing . . . the Republicans had put forward their contention along the most radical lines.  A black Negro man had practically dictated the platform, claiming complete civil and social rights; endorsing [scalawag Governor W.W.] Holden, who had been removed by impeachment from his governorship; and injecting various "isms" which had been imported by the carpet-bag elements.

The Democrats . . . had named for governor Judge [Augustus S.] Merrimon, from the mountain country and a life-long rival of Governor [Zebulon] Vance, a representative of the Union and war sentiment. In those days there was no place for a Democrat on the Democratic ticket.  Judge Merrimon was a ponderous person, addicted to the Websterian style of garment and the Websterian habit of four-hour speeches.  Vance had declined the nomination.

The national features of this election were historically and dramatically set.  As North Carolina voted in August, it led the procession . . . The Negroes voted for the first time for a president and were drilled [by Republicans] to vote early and often. The presidential contest was between the regular Republican party, supporting Grant, and the Liberal Republicans, whose candidate, Horace Greeley, had been endorsed by the Democrats.

Fred Douglas, the Negro orator, was sent into the denser populations of colored people in the eastern counties. He spoke before a multitude in Warrenton.  His racial instinct to magnify himself and display his superiority made him speak along lines that were so much metaphysics to the audience.  They had come to hear paeans of praise for [Republican] officeholders and denunciation of the old masters, with jests broad enough to get over the platform.

John Hyman, a colored barkeeper and later successful candidate for Congress, had placed on the speaker's table a glass of sherry for Fred Douglas's refreshment.  Douglas sipped it between perorations, explaining it to his audience that it was not liquor, but sherry wine; and that while it might have been worse, it puzzled him to see how.

This gave great offense.  His hearers did not believe him; and John Hyman, who had donated the wine, remarked that "Mr. Douglas's manners – what he has – may be good enough for his northern friends but they don't set well with folks who know what manners is."

The regular Republicans followed the military tactics of Grant, their leader, and they sat down to the task of carrying the State in a thoroughly businesslike manner.  The Federal courts were prostituted to their purpose and issues thousands of orders for arrest for Democrats who were accused of belonging to the Ku Klux.

A quarter of a million dollars was spent on tipstaffs and underlings connected with the courts. Every branch of the Government was called upon to furnish its quota of force.  The Congress had passed bills promising social equality to the black; every State had a garrison of [Northern] troops placed conveniently to suppress any outbreak which should be kindled by political provocation.

The idea of allowing the possession of the Government to pass out of the [Grant Republican] party's hands was not tolerated [and] . . . The result of the election was foregone."

(Southern Exposure, Peter Mitchel Wilson, UNC Press, 1927, pp. 83-87)

From: bernhard1848@gmail.com

"Lay Down Your Arms and All Will Be As Before

"

"Imagine America invaded by a foreign power, one that has quadruple the population and industrial base. Imagine that this enemy has free access to the world's goods as well as an inexhaustible supply of cannon fodder from the proletariat of other countries, while America itself is tightly blockaded from the outside world.

New York and Cincinnati have been taken. For months, Boston and Chicago have been under constant siege, the civilian population driven from their homes.  Enemy forces roam over large parts of the country burning the homes, tools and food of the non-combatants in a campaign of deliberate terrorism.

Nearly 85 percent of the nation's able-bodied males (up to 50 years of age) have been called to arms.  Battlefield casualties have run to 39 percent and deaths amount to nearly half of that, far exceeding those of any other war.

On the other hand, the enemy, through its acts and domestic propaganda indicate otherwise, is telling the American population that it wants only peace and the restoration of the status quo antebellum.  Lay down your arms and all will be as before.

What would be the state of our morale in such conditions? Americans have never suffered such misfortune, have they?  Alas, they have. This was the experience of the Southern people from 1861-1865 in their lost War for Independence."

(Clyde Wilson, An Honorable Defeat, Chronicles, October 1998, excerpt, pg. 28)

The Battle of Ft Pillow Victory Stigma

By Edwin L. Kennedy, Jr. Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (Ret.)

General Nathan Forrest was declared by leaders on both sides to be one of the best commanders the war produced. Success tends to beget emotional and irrational jealousies, especially by those who suffer from inferiority complexes. Forrest's overwhelming victory at Fort Pillow provided a propaganda coup for the northern press as survivors' accounts were coached and embellished to denigrate a commander who could not be beaten on the battlefield. While there may have been some truth in a few of the accusations, they were wildly distorted, exaggerated and uncritically accepted ---- even when logical explanations are considered and the results of official northern inquiries could not "prove" malice by Forrest.

Forrest had a reputation of using deception throughout his military career. When he threatened the garrison at Pillow, it was no different than the other ruses he had previously employed and would continue to employ. This seems to be the crux of the criticisms of Forrest's actions leading to the use of the word "massacre" by those who conveniently over-look the fact Forrest (and his subordinates) commonly used threats to scare enemies into submission. The fact that it worked infuriated the northerners for being duped. When Pillow's garrison refused to succumb to the threats and then fell to assault, northerners illogically assumed that the threats were executed. No subsequent Federal investigations ever found evidence of such.

 An enemy who appeared to be reinforcing the garrison by river during a truce meant that Forrest's forces' reaction was questioned as the truce violation when it was a natural response. Experienced soldiers know of the difficulty of controlling attacking units, even with modern technology such as radios. 150 years ago, attacking at Ft Pillow was fourfold more difficult due to distances, background battle noise, rough terrain, and the inability of sound commands to carry. Forces converging on an objective from multiple directions are extremely difficult to control as Forrest knew but he had no choices. Once the assault began, it traditionally ended with the enemy surrendering, or running away. When the Federals refused to surrender as a unit by striking the colors and then continued to resist, they garnered a natural response that wasn't a planned massacre but the result of passions in the heat of battle. The result was an embarrassment to the Federals not only for their loss of the battle, but the high casualties resulting from their soldiers feigning surrender but recovering arms to continue fighting. They suffered the results of their poor decisions and actions. Forrest unfairly suffers the stigma for victory. 

CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL SERVICE APRIL 19

A memorial service will be held at the Hickman Family Cemetery in Gordon, Georgia on Saturday, April 19 at 2:00PM. Uniforms can be worn by those who wish but for the sake of property concerns, rifles are not to be carried.  Specific Location: From the intersection of Hwy 243 and the Gray Hwy (Hwy 18) in Gordon, go north on Hwy 18 for 1.0 mile to CR 42 (Brooks-McNeal Rd) on left. Follow CR 42 (Brooks-McNeal Rd) (bearing right at T-intersection) for 0.8 mile.  The cemetery is on a slight rise on the left, about 100' from the road. GPS coordinates: 32dg 53' 45.5" N 83dg 22' 24.5" W or in degrees only form: 32.89597dg N X 83.37347dg W. For more information or to check on any possible changes, call Private Ethan Bloodworth, 16th Georgia, Co. G, Camp 2218 SCV at 478-297-1535 or email at blindblood92@gmail.com

The Mosby House Museum has re-opened!

After the War Between the States, John Singleton Mosby, the Gray Ghost, lived in Warrenton, Virginia. A hero of the Confederacy, he was granted amnesty by General U.S. Grant in 1866. By 1872, Mosby was guiding President Grant's re-election campaign in Virginia. In 1876, 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, his last permanent residence in Virginia. I, William Connery, am the docent there, giving guided tours from 11 am until 4 pm every Friday& 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.org.The museum is located at 173 Main Street, Warrenton, VA 20186.Go to the Visitors Center, at 33 N. Calhoun Street, first to buy your ticket(s) - $5.00 for adults. Please call the museum first at540-351-1600, as it may close due to inclement weather. You can contact me at william.connery@verizon.net or call me at 202-374-3080.

PLEASE HELP SAVE SOME OF OUR SOUTHERN HERITAGE!!

From: jcooperhawk@yahoo.com

I am so thankful for this newsletter.  It has really taught me more about history than any school class ever would.

Here's an update on the Forrest High School fiasco.  The Duval County School Board voted to change the name to Westside High, against the wishes of the alumni and the majority of Duval County residents.  The group behind the effort, The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, had told everyone publicly that they had donors to cover the costs.  Well, when it came out that the costs would be about $350,000, those "donors" disappeared.  So now the TAXPAYERS will be footing the bill, while some of our schools still don't have textbooks.

Some alumni feel that the Duval County School Board has violated Florida State Statutes and the Florida Sunshine laws.  However, it will take a lawsuit to bring this out into the open and stop this travesty.

A website has been created, saveforrest.com (you have to go through Google, I'm feeling lucky) to get to it.  We need money to cover the filing fees and attorneys and WE NEED IT NOW.  We are hoping to get a grassroots campaign going for everyone to send in $25.  We also need some big rollers to help out.  Time is running out for us to do anything.

PLEASE HELP SAVE SOME OF OUR SOUTHERN HERITAGE!!

Send to:  Kevin Sanders, Esquire, 817 Willow Branch Avenue, Jacksonville, FL  32205 and mark the memo as Save Forrest.

Thank you!!!

Joan Miller Cooper
Alumni

The Character of Nathan Bedford Forrest

By Michael Bradley, Ph.D.

Prejudiced, White Supremacist, slave trader, rough, profane, known for violence---all these terms are often applied to Nathan Bedford Forrest. What about Christian, prayerful, respectful of religion, church member? Have you ever heard these terms applied to Forrest? I suspect that you have heard them used seldom, if at all. Yet, both sets of terms are true and both can be used to describe Nathan Bedford Forrest. Like all of us, he was a man of many parts, a man whose parts often contradicted each other.

Let us examine the first set of terms. By the definitions current in the 21^st Century society there are very few white people of the 19^th Century who cannot be described as “prejudiced” or who would not be called a “white supremacist.” In the 19^th Century the idea that Anglo Saxon people were superior to all peoples of the world was a belief held universally in Western Europe and in North America. So, to say that Nathan Bedford Forrest was a “white supremacist” is to say that he was a typical white man who lived in the 19^th Century. He was no worse, and no better, that 99 per-cent of the rest of the people who lived during his era.

Jack Hurst, in his biography of Forrest, says that the racial views of Forrest changed more than those of any other major character who fought in the War Between the States. During the Reconstruction period Forrest advocated that African Americans be given every opportunity to advance themselves economically and politically, Forrest appeared at public meetings and espoused these goals in political speeches. There is no documented evidence that Forrest led the KKK and it is a well-established fact that he was not one of the founders of that group. Despite the historical facts that Forrest advocated economic and political rights for African Americans the baseless lies about his racism continue to be cited.

Bedford Forrest was a man of many parts---quick tempered, coarse of language, prone to violence when provoked; but he was also a man who possessed a sense of the spiritual and who respected the Christian religion, a respect which ripened into belief and commitment. We cannot omit recognition of this latter fact if we wish to have an accurate view of this important, controversial historical figure.

Time to raise the white flag...

Did that get your attention?  No... I'm not calling for surrender, far from it.  The white flag is raised in auto racing to signal the last lap of the race.  We have entered into the last year of the four-year Sesquicentennial observance of the War; now is the time to "make our move."

You've heard it said that "all politics is local"; in similar manner, "all Confederate Heritage is local."  We win (or lose) our battles community-by-community, state-by-state, all across the Southland.  For that reason, the relationships that our Camps develop in their communities are of great importance, among these are our relationships with local and state law enforcement.

You will recall that last year we began a program to allow local Camps to honor their sheriff and police departments and Divisions to honor their highway patrol (or whatever the statewide agency might be).  Based on the reports that came back to us, there was much goodwill and positive PR for the SCV as a result.  However, we need to do more this year.

Here's how it works -- the week of May 11-17 is Law Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week.  We need all Camps to participate in this -- if you meet in a municipal setting, honor your police department; if you meet in an unincorporated area, honor your sheriffs office.  You have a great deal of latitude with this; you can:
--Honor the agency in general
--Honor the Sheriff / Chief
--Ask for the name of an officer to honor

Use your own initiative and pick out an officer based on his / her performance
Similarly, the place and time can vary:
--Utilize a camp meeting and invite the honoree
--Utilize a CMD service if you're in a state that recognizes May 10
--Call and ask permission to come to their offices
--Try to hit our target week, May 11 - May 18
IMPORTANT:  Please don't get sidetracked with details; as Nike says. "Just Do It."

ALSO -- DIVISIONS: make sure that you participate by honoring your statewide law enforcement agencies; the above observations work for you, as well.

The certificate is available online.  Here is a link --

http://www.scv.org/pdf/lawcert.pdf

OK, got it?  We need to really hit a home run with this; let's make sure that every state, every county, every town and city across Dixie hears from us in this initiative.

Gene Hogan
Chief of Heritage Operations
Sons of Confederate Veterans
(866) 681 - 7314