Sunday, September 28, 2014

150th Anniversary of the Battle of Westport



CALL TO ARMS!!
WHEN - Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26, 2014.
WHO - Calling all Civil War Reenactors; Men, Women, Children, any branch or civilian
WHERE - At Swope Park on the West side by the stone visitor's center (just off Meyer Blvd.) and at Byram's Ford (north of the Park)
WHAT - Friday is school day.  If you would like to participate call Jim at 913-541-0737.  Saturday and Sunday there will be 2 battles each day.  Camping allowed Friday and Saturday nights.  If interested in participating call Richard at 816-935-9601.


Saturday, September 27, 2014

From the Trenches: Civil War Trust July 2014



Civil War Trust

Opportunity at North Anna

Beat the developers, and stop the desecration of America's hallowed ground. Help save 665 acres at North Anna's Jericho Mill—the entire first day battlefield—in one fell swoop!

From Our President

Jim Lighthizer Photo
July 2014
Dear Civil War Preservationist,
The summer of 1864 was a time of crisis for both North and South, as the outcome of the war hung in the balance. From the great clashes of Grant and Lee in Virginia to Sherman's push through Georgia, the hottest months of 1864 are among the most important in American history.
That is what makes the opportunity now before us—to save an entire battlefield—so unique, and so significant. In all the years I have worked to save our hallowed ground, acre by acre, piece by piece, I have never had the chance to save literally an entire battlefield, especially one as important as North Anna, all at once.

On May 23, 1864, these 665 acres at North Anna saw fierce, brutal fighting see-saw back and forth across the once-peaceful fields of the Fontaine Farm, with 1,100 men on both sides falling as casualties that day. As evening fell, the Confederates were unable to dislodge the Union troops from their now-entrenched beachhead, meaning the continuation of Grant's Campaign. These hallowed acres can now be preserved for all time—a prospect that amazes me every time I reflect anew on our great fortune.

These 665 acres, one of the largest blocks of land the Civil War Trust has ever attempted to purchase, represent an opportunity 150 years in the making. And with an incredible $10 to $1 match per dollar, there is no way we will not save this land from development and honor those who fell there during the pivotal summer of 1864. Save 665 Acres at North Anna! »
- Jim Lighthizer, Civil War Trust President

Gettysburg Preservation Announcement

Gettysburg On July 1, join Commonwealth of Pennsylvania officials, representatives of the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior and national conservation leaders for a major Civil War Trust preservation announcement on the opening day of the 151st Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.


Welcome to the War Department™

War Department Featuring commentary and analysis from top historians, plus innovative animation techniques, this new online video series is the latest breakthrough in digital historical interpretation.


Overland Campaign Resources

Gettysburg Review the action of the Overland Campaign with our newest animated map, produced in partnership with award-winning Wide Awake Films. Then follow the armies along their 75-mile path through period photos and sketches with our new Overland Campaign microsite.


Civil War Trust 'Field Trip Fund' Sponsors Student Trips to Battlefields

Field Trip Fund To help make student battlefield trips possible in an era of ever-shrinking budgets, the Civil War Trust created its Field Trip Fund, which assists teachers in planning and paying for field trips to historic sites.

Save Hallowed Ground While Shopping

Amazon Smile Support the Civil War Trust every time you shop online with AmazonSmile. Visit smile.amazon.com, enter the Civil War Trust and start shopping. Amazon will donate .5% of the price of eligible purchases to the Civil War Trust.


July Civil War Battles

July Battles Expand your knowledge of the Civil War by learning more about some of the Civil War battles that occurred in the month of July. Access our history articles, photos, maps, and links for the battles listed below.

Dispatches from the Front Lines

Civil War preservation news from around the country
Help Save America's History
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Save a Battlefield
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Your Preservation Legacy

Estate planning can help you make a significant preservation impact without any cost to you during your lifetime.

More Details
If you have included the Civil War Trust in your will or as a beneficiary of your estate, please contact our planned giving office at legacy@civilwar.org

2014 Calendar

Don't forget—for just $12.95, you can purchase the 2014 Civil War Trust Calendar featuring a different Civil War fact for each day of the year and beautiful battlefield photos taken by members in our annual photo contest.

Get yours now!
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Join us as we continue to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War! Visit www.civilwar.org/150 for sesquicentennial events, news and features.
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Events
Sept 19-21, 2014
2014 Grand Review
Atlanta, GA
Learn More
Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity

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Friday, September 26, 2014

Washington and Lee University Update



In response to the recent removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the Lee Chapel, The Va Flaggers have followed up with a letter to W&L President Kenneth Ruscio and other key W&L personnel.  In our communication, we make the following key points:

*Experience has proven that compromise with those who make such demands is always fatal.  If these 6 students are "offended" by the presence of 8 historically significant Confederate Battle Flags, displayed for over 83 years in the sepulcher, who is to say they won't be "offended" when they visit the museum in the basement, where the flags are to be displayed, or even by a portrait of Lee hanging in the Chapel?  What will be their next demand, now that they were able to easily manipulate the administration?

*Even so, the removal of the flags and desecration of the Chapel was a direct violation of Virginia State Law, which states that it is "unlawful for the authorities of the locality, or any other person or persons, to disturb or interfere with any monuments or memorials so erected, or to prevent its citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation and care of same…"  We intend to pursue the prosecution of this violation to the fullest extent of the law.  https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+15.2-1812

*Further, from the W&L By-Laws. Section 2 designates the building as the "Lee Memorial Chapel":  2. "The Lee Memorial Chapel. The chapel on the University grounds, erected during the presidency of General Robert E. Lee and under his direction, shall be known as "The Lee Memorial Chapel." This chapel may be used for the commencement and other University exercises and meetings, but it shall not be used for any meetings or purposes not in keeping with its consecrated character and the memorial and sacred purposes to which it is dedicated."  We believe that displaying the honored battle flags of the men who fought and died under General Robert E. Lee is certainly "in keeping with its consecrated character and the memorial and sacred purposes to which it is dedicated".  Removing them to appease a half dozen agitators, on the other hand, is not.  http://www2.wlu.edu/x35926.xml

We let them know, in no uncertain terms, that we expected the reproduction flags, originally donated by the SCV, to be returned to the sepulcher immediately, and that there would most certainly be demonstrations and protests if the flags are not returned.

Hundreds of you have contacted us about your desire to gather and protest at the University.  We are actively planning and coordinating these efforts, and will have all details in place and plans ready in the event that the flags are not returned.

At the same time, we are developing several other points of attack, including organizing alumni and student groups to have the flags returned and having those responsible for removing them removed from office, as well as several additional avenues that are currently in research.

CALL TO ACTION:

1)  We need to make sure the University hears from AS MANY PEOPLE as possible over the next few days and weeks.  PLEASE take the time to contact every person listed below.  Use telephone, email, and mail to convey to them your feelings about the desecration of Robert E. Lee's final resting place.  If you are an alumni or donor, make sure you let them know that your donations will cease until the flags are restored to their rightful place.

Light up the W&L switchboard...call early, and often!

2)  Please forward this email to EVERYONE on your email list, especially to and W&L alumni or students you may know.  It is imperative that we spread the word QUICKLY.

Washington & Lee University Contact Information:

President
Mr. Kenneth Ruscio
Washington and Lee University
204 West Washington Street
Lexington, Virginia 24450
(540) 458-8700
president@wlu.edu

Provost
Daniel Wubah
Washington and Lee University
Washington Hall 214
Lexington, Virginia 24450
(540)458-8418
dwubah@wlu.edu

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Secretary of the University:
James D. Farrar, Jr.
Washington & Lee University
203 Washington Hall
Lexington, VA 24450
(540)458-8465
jdfarrar@wlu.edu

Executive Assistant to the Board of Trustees:
Katherine Brinkley
Washington & Lee University
202 Washington Hall
Lexington, VA 24450
(540)458-8417
kbrinkley@wlu.edu

Thank you, in advance, for your diligence in this matter.

Please watch for more emails, as we have much more information to share in the coming days.

Sincerely,

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston, VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com

Secession Day Dinner

Dear Commanders,
 
Our November 1 Secession Day Dinner date is rapidly approaching! If you could, please email this flyer to your Chapter and Camp email distribution list. Cast as far and wide as you can in your email list! 
 
Thanks!
Larry Yeatman
Missouri Society Commander

Get the Dinner Flyer Here

Georgia SCV Division News




Sons of Confederate Veterans
July 9, 2014     



  
GEORGIA DIVISION NEWS  

SCV logo  


    


GEORGIA DIVISION UNVEILS ONLINE
GRAVE REGISTRY     


  

Men of the Georgia Division and friends,

One of the items which I promised to deliver to our Division if I was elected commander at our Reunion last month was the online grave registry on which former Commander Jack Bridwell and many of you have already done so much work over the last few years in cataloging the graves of our Confederate heroes.  I am happy to announce that the grave registry is now up and online for your use and for you to download if you wish.  You will find the Registry in the menu on our Division website.  Here is the link.

Many thanks to Chief of Staff Pete Giddens and the men of the 9th Brigade for providing approximately 1,500 of the graves included so far.  They have set the bar high and challenged each of our brigades to likewise catalogue the graves in the counties where you serve.  I urge you to make this a priority between now and next Confederate Memorial Day to have your counties properly catalogued; it would make a great project in which to involve our families.  Many of you have already done a great deal of the work over the past several years in anticipation of the day that our registry would be online; it is now here.

The initial data which is online in the grave registry includes 1,574 of our Georgia men who served Dixie in the struggle for freedom.  There are reportedly as many as nearly 100,000 Georgians who served the Cause of the South during the War; so, as you can see, we are still a long way from having them all listed in the registry.  It will be up to each of our camps in the Division to provide the information about the graves of our Confederate ancestors in each county.  On the registry page of our Division website, you will also find a blank spreadsheet which already has the different "fields" to fill in for each grave; you need not feel like you must fill in every field.  It will be up to each camp to determine how much information they wish to include for the graves that they report.  PLEASE USE THE SPREADSHEET TEMPLATE WHICH IS PROVIDED IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.  It can be downloaded from the grave registry page on our website.  This will make the process much faster for getting your grave information included in the database.  If however, you already have grave information in some other format, please email it to your brigade commander; and the Division will take care of having it converted.  The most important thing is to get the data collected and sent in for it to be put online in the registry.

Finally, while I understand that this initial version of the online grave registry may not be as aesthetically appealing as we might wish, just having it brought to fruition after so much planning for the last few years makes it beautiful, nevertheless.  I am also happy to report that this initial version has been created at no cost to our Division, which I'm sure you will agree makes it even more attractive!  Nevertheless, we will still plan to look for an alternative which is more pleasing to the eyes and perhaps even more functional; now that we have the data in an online form, it can be made to work with other database programs which may be purchased.  For now, though, our emphasis should be on collecting the data to make it as exhaustive as it can be of our Georgia heroes.

While you certainly may wish to catalogue the graves of Confederate veterans from our sister states as you work, our grave registry for the Georgia Division will only include our own Georgia veterans, both regular service and militia.  Please do not send information concerning veterans from our sister states to be added to the registry.  Once we have diligently attempted to record every grave of our Georgia men who are buried in Georgia, we can then begin the more tedious work of locating our men buried abroad outside of the state; but that is for a later time, for there is plenty of work to be done here at home first.

Again, I thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Division commander.

For Georgia First,

Ray McBerry, Division Commander
Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans

 
  

Ray McBerry                                                      Enterprises




Sunday, September 21, 2014

Va Flaggers: I-295 Memorial Battle Flag Raised at Cold Harbor


On the third anniversary of the founding of our organization, the Va Flaggers are pleased to announce the completion of our third Interstate Memorial Battle Flag project.  Last month, a 9x12 Army of Tennessee pattern Confederate Battle Flag was quietly hoisted up a 45' pole, high on a hill, on a parcel of land adjacent to north bound Interstate 295, near Cold Harbor.  Raised just days after the 100th Anniversary of the dedication of the Hanover County Confederate Monument, she will fly as a living, breathing reminder of the courage and sacrifice of our Confederate Veterans.  This memorial was made possible through the diligence of several Va Flaggers, the continued and generous support from folks across the U.S., and the dogged determination of one 15 year old boy to honor his Confederate ancestors, several of whom fought in battles in Hanover County.


 

PROCLAMATION OF INTENT AND DEDICATION OF THE I-295 MEMORIAL BATTLE FLAG AT COLD HARBOR:


WHEREAS, in April 1861, the Commonwealth of Virginia, in order to retain her honor, exercised her Constitutional Right to secede from the Union; and


WHEREAS, Virginia, known as the Mother of States and Statesmen, did not make this decision lightly but only after exhaustive efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution to the issues which divided Southern and Northern states failed; and


WHEREAS, the sons of Hanover County, Virginia heeded the call of their Mother State by the tens of thousands to defend their country, their Commonwealth, their home and their family from an invading army; and


WHEREAS, these brave Virginians of Hanover County fought in the Confederate Armed Forces alongside other men from across the South; and


WHEREAS, these men sacrificed their all and spilled their blood defending the sacred soil of both Hanover County and Virginia; and


WHEREAS, their sacrifices Hallowed the Ground of Hanover County such as Hanover Courthouse, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Seven Days, First and Second Cold Harbor, Haw's Shop/Enon Church, Peake's Station, Beaverdam, Watt House, North Anna and many other battlefields; and


WHEREAS, Richmond, Virginia, was the Capital of the Confederate States of America and the wartime home of President Jefferson Davis and many Hanoverians protected and served this Capital; and


WHEREAS, we must never forget the sacrifices made by the women of the South, who with every ounce of their being supported their men in uniform, undertook the duties normally performed by men, and suffered along with their children, and other citizens untold horrors in a war torn land; and


WHEREAS, "after four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude", as General Robert E. Lee so eloquently wrote, the war for Southern Independence ended for the fabled Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865; and


WHEREAS, the honorable blood of such brave Virginians from Hanover County such as John Tyler, Captain William Latane, Edmund Ruffin, and the thousands of known and unknown heroes of Hanover County, Virginia flows through the veins of thousands of its citizens; and WHEREAS, it is the sworn duty and privilege of the citizens of Hanover County to encourage education within Hanover County, defend the good name of Hanover County, and to teach and promote the true history of the Hanover County to future generations;


THEREFORE, the Virginia Flaggers do hereby dedicate the I-295 Cold Harbor Memorial Confederate Battle Flag in honor of the sons of Hanover County, and in memory of all Confederate Soldiers who fought, bled, and died on her soil. 

Grayson Jennings



Gifts to the Interstate Memorial Battle Flag projects may be mailed to:

Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
Payable to Va Flaggers

or through PayPal:
http://www.vaflaggers.com/i95flagdonate.html










Saturday, September 20, 2014

Chaplain-in-Chief Website

Sons of Confederate Veterans
                                 SCV  Telegraph

Compatriots and Friends,

Our Chaplain-in-Chief Dr. Ray L. Parker has developed a web page to help with your spiritual and SCV needs. When you have a moment, please pay a visit to http://chaplain-in-chief.com. You will be impressed.


Deo Vindice!
Charles Kelly Barrow
Commander-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans
www.scv.org 






OFFICIAL SCVNEWS POST
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The SCV Telegraph Mailing List is for Official
SCV Use ONLY.

DO NOT reply to this message.
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Friday, September 19, 2014

Fwd: RELEASE: The Reason for NASCAR's Demise






Sons of Confederate Veterans
September 4, 2014     



  
PRESS RELEASE   

SCV logo  


    





THE REASON FOR NASCAR'S DEMISE       





  







(Atlanta - September 4, 2014) It's no secret that NASCAR attendance is dropping across the country, including here in Atlanta.  Perhaps there's a reason.

Early in 2013, NASCAR announced that it would no longer be publicly divulging attendance estimates of its races.  In Atlanta, we know that the size of crowds has been progressively getting smaller and smaller in recent years; and now it appears likely that NASCAR will cut back to a single major race in Atlanta each year, effectively ending the tradition of a major Labor Day race in Atlanta.  But the trend is not just in Atlanta, as races are being cut from other venues; and some venues are reportedly cutting out huge portions of their grandstand capacity for the remaining races.

NASCAR, and car racing in general, has long been a primarily Southern sport gone national.  The popularity of racing spread nationally over the last 20 years after existing for multiple generations mainly at Southern tracks with rural Southern blue-collar fans in Southern states.  In fact, just a few short years ago, NASCAR racing appeared poised to become one of the largest national sports in America, even boasting the largest average attendance of any sport.  So what has happened within a single decade to effectively end that chase for popularity and, instead, turn into a situation where major racing venues, especially across the South, are having trouble even filling their stands where once it was literally standing room only?

In 2012, NASCAR made the decision to ban the appearance of the "General Lee" Dodge Charger from the former television series "Dukes of Hazzard," citing as their reason, "The image of the Confederate flag is not something that should play an official role in our sport as we continue to reach out to new fans and make NASCAR more inclusive,"  according to NASCAR spokesman David Higdon.  Ben Jones who played "Cooter" on the former television show -- and who now serves as the national Chief of Heritage Operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans -- said this about the decision back in 2012, "At a time when tens of millions of Americans are honoring their Union and Confederate ancestors during this Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, NASCAR has chosen to dishonor those Southerners who fought and died in that terrible conflict by caving to 'political correctness' and the uninformed concerns of corporate sponsors."

But NASCAR made the decision to abandon its Southern roots right after the turn of the new century.  Echoing the sentiments of NASCAR spokesmen and executives, Dale Earnhardt, Jr said as far back as 2003 in an interview with Complex Magazine about the Confederate flag, "Anybody who is trying to show that flag is probably too ignorant to know what the hell he's doing."

More and more over the last decade, NASCAR has become dependent upon television deals to make up for the declining attendance of actual people at their races -- the rank and file rural Southerners who have been the traditional fan base of racing since the first moonshiners raced out of the hills with their cargo and defiance of what they viewed as tyrannical and intrusive federal authorities.

Back in 2010, NASCAR spokesman Steve Phelps reportedly stated in an interview, "We don't condone that type of display and putting the flags out, the Confederate flags. That is not something that we think is good for the sport, candidly. So it's something that we see, candidly, we see fewer and fewer of them as you go to races and you know, ultimately it'll be something that'll die away completely."  Ironically, NASCAR's continued attack upon the Confederate battle flag and Southern heritage symbols appears to be having unintended consequences, not the least of which is that it appears that it is NASCAR racing, itself, that seems to be dying away.  
    
For more information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans or any of this year's planned events to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War, contact the SCV  online at www.GeorgiaSCV.org    


  
END RELEASE


  
* Permission to reprint this release is granted. 
 
  

Ray McBerry                                                      Enterprises