Wednesday, April 30, 2008

South Carolina Confederates remembered

A special salute was given to the fallen soldiers of Co. H, 10th South Carolina Infantry during a Confederate History Month memorial at Evergreen Cemetery.

The program, sponsored by Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 33, was held at historic Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery with Commander Wayne Wilson presiding.

Camp Adjutant James G. Patterson read a letter listing the men of the Company H who died at Stones River. The 18th Tennessee Infantry Color Guard delivered a musket salute.

Camp 33 meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford County Courthouse. For more information call 890-6194 or email mbooscv33@aol.com.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Honoring history and heritage


April is Confederate History and Heritage Month



More than 2,000 men from Cherokee County proudly served in the Southern armies during the War of Northern Aggression from 1861 to 1865. They fought to defend their homes and families from an invading army who desperately needed and sought the South’s abundant resources of cotton, tobacco and abundant agricultural supplies.
Today, more than 143 years after the war ended in mid-1865, there is a very dedicated group in Cherokee County who continue to pay tribute to their Southern ancestors’ struggle for Southern independence during the War between the States.
They are proudly known as the Cross of Saint Andrew camp No. 2009 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in the Texas division of the East Texas brigade.
“Every member of the camp is a direct blood descendant of a Confederate veteran which is the main requirement to join,” Camp Commander and eight-year SCV veteran Kenneth McClure said. “As direct descendants of these brave men of honor it is our duty to never let them be forgotten. Our main mission is to place new military grave markers for these Southern heroes, as many of their original old headstones have become damaged or destroyed over many decades of neglect and exposure to the elements.

See Full Story;

Motorcade to honor fallen Confederates

By Janet BegleyFriday,
April 25, 2008

On the corner of Old Dixie Highway and Southwest Third Street in Vero Beach, there is a quiet, peaceful lot that holds a place in southern history.

Called Oslo Cemetery, it's the final resting place of three of about 30 Confederate veterans who are buried in Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties.

Saturday is Confederate Memorial Day, a date honoring the service and sacrifice of men from Florida who served in the Civil War.

As a tribute, a motorcade organized by the heritage group called Sons of Confederate Veterans, Florida Division, 12th Brigade, will travel 100 miles from Sebastian to West Palm Beach, stopping at burial sites along the way to honor 171 veterans in seven districts across Florida.

See Full Story;

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/25/confederate-memorial-day/

Friday, April 25, 2008

Re-enactment of historic battle set at Chalk Bluff

By RYAN ROGERS Democrat News Staff

An important part of the country’s history soon will return to life in Clay County. The annual reenactment of the Battle of Chalk Bluff will be held at the state park located at the historic site. The event will encompass the entire weekend of Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4.

This year’s event will coincide with historic dates, as the actual battle took place from May 1 through May 2, 1863. This year’s event celebrates the 145th anniversary of the most famous Civil War battle in Northeast Arkansas.

This year also is important for Civil War enthusiasts, as 2008 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

One of the event’s coordinators, W. Danny Honnoll of Jonesboro, has been hard at work making preparations for this year’s event.

Honnoll, a Civil War historian, has been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization for the last 28 years. He also is president of the Arkansas Civil War Heritage Trails Foundation.

See Full Story:

http://www.piggotttimes.com/articles/2008/04/23/news/news2.txt

Monday, April 21, 2008

Bicentennial plans in Vicksburg

The Warren County Vicksburg Historical Society is planning two days of events to honor the bicentennial of Jefferson Davis' birth. Your assistance in making your members aware of these events will be appreciated.

The events include a free concert on Saturday afternoon, May 24, on the lawn of the Old Court House Museum, where Davis, while a resident of Warren County, made the first political speech of his career. The concert will be by the Eighth Georgia Regimental Band, which performs on original Civil War-era instruments.

In the evening, there will be a banquet at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center that will feature a speech by Dr. Lynda Crist of Rice University in Houston. Dr. Crist is the editor of the papers of Jefferson Davis.

There will also be musical entertainment by Lester Senter Wilson of Jackson, Miss., who has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world.

On Sunday morning, the band will play during the regular worship service at Christ Episcopal Church in Vicksburg, where Joe Davis, brother of Jefferson, worshipped in Vicksburg with his family. Also planned is the placing of a wreath at Davis' statue in the Vicksburg National Military Park.

For banquet ticket or other information, please contact George Bolm, curator and director of the Old Court House Museum, through the museum Web site, http://www.oldcourthouse.org or at 601-636-0741.

Thank you immensely,

Charlie Mitchell
The Vicksburg Post
for the Historical Society

Sunday, April 20, 2008

2008 IRS Annual Electronic Notice Filing Requirement

SCV camps with gross receipts less than $25,000 a year are not required to file an IRS Form 990 tax return; however, beginning in 2008 at the end of the current fiscal year, all camps will be required to submit an annual electronic notice. This will be a simple task, providing camp officer contact information that must be accomplished online between August 1st and December 15, 2008. You may not make this report before August 1, 2008. The SCV will provide further guidance and assistance on completing this task as we near the end of the current fiscal year.

Prorated Dues

Please take advantage of prorated dues for new members and reinstating former members during the last six months of the fiscal year. During April 2008 the cost is only $40.00 for national dues payment through July 31, 2009 and in May, June and, July 2008 the prorate amount is reduced to only $32.50 to pay the member through July 31, 2009. Please take advantage of this fine opportunity to keep members in another year and so the camp will not have to go back to the members in a few months asking for dues a second time.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Memorial to confederate soldiers


Several members of the Thomas Hubbard Hobbs Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans work on the new confederate memorial dedicated to confederate soldiers whose grave location in this cemetery is unknown. From left are, Bill Norton, Donny Stanford, Bobby Hollman, Don Frost and Jimmy Hill. This is the final segment of a multiple-year project to ensure that every known confederate soldier in Limestone County is honored for his service. Limestone County will be the first county in the United States to accomplish this. The camp will have placed 495 foot stones or headstones in numerous public, private and church cemeteries. Some private graveyards have only one confederate veteran, whereas Athens Cemetery has more than 40. There will be a formal dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 20, to commemorate the completion of this project. Christopher Sullivan, commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, will be the keynote speaker. Also in attendance will be Lorraine Ennis, Alabama division president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The public is invited.

Monday, April 14, 2008

April Confederate Heritage Month

The Clarion-Ledger • April 12, 2008

April is Confederate Heritage Month in the great state of Mississippi. Each year, the governor of our state signs a proclamation in honor of Confederate Heritage Month. Mayors of several cities do the same.

See Full Story:

http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/OPINION02/804120303/1009

Civil War general honored with marker in Red River Parish

A Civil War general killed in a bizarre battle 144 years ago was honored Saturday with a state marker erected in his memory.

On April 12, 1864, Texan Thomas Green was killed when a cannon blast tore most of his head off as he led 2,500 Confederate horse soldiers in a fierce firefight with three Union Navy gunboats. The boats, a as federal forces fled after the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill.

The body of Green, a national hero from his service in the Mexican War, was taken to Austin, Texas, where he was given a state funeral.

A marker near the spot of the one erected Saturday by the Order of Confederate Rose and the state Sons of Confederate Veterans was in place until the 1960s, but disappeared over the years. The new marker is on the Lock and Dam No. 4 access road just east of state Highway 1 in Red River Parish, just yards from Red River.

See Full Story:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/NEWS01/804130344/1060/NEWS01

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Attorney: Teen to admit to defacing monument

By Desiree Hunter
The Associated Press

A lawyer for one of three white teens accused of defacing a Confederate monument at the state Capitol said his client will admit to the vandalism, which he said was done as a statement against slavery.

The three males, who were all 17 at the time of the crime, are scheduled to go to trial in juvenile court April 10. They were charged with first-degree criminal mischief and their names have not been released because of their age.

Montgomery attorney Richard Keith said his client is avoiding a trial by admitting to his role in the incident and is remorseful about what happened.

"He's remorseful because he did something stupid and wished it hadn't happened and he's sorry about it," Keith said Thursday. "He understands there's a more productive way to express your opinion on certain issues."

See Full Story:
http://www.accessmontgomery.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/NEWS01/804040329/1007

The SCV Discipline System

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the upcoming Commander-in-Chief's column in the next issue of the Confederate Veteran. Because of the importance of understanding the structure of the SCV's discipline process, we have obtained permission to release this excerpt ahead of time. Please keep in mind that this is only a portion of the column, and there will be more information in the Confederate Veteran:

One of the difficulties in managing an organization as large as ours is that there are always a few malcontents. These fellows come in all shapes and sizes, and their trouble-making skills derive from various motivations.

Sometimes they are just a quarrelsome personality who carelessly picks fights and thoughtlessly hurl insults at those with whom they disagree.

In other cases, we have a more sinister situation of someone who simply has evil intent. Perhaps this means that his character makes him unfit for good company. Or, we have had some cases of men who have joined our ranks specifically for the purpose of disrupting our organization and derailing our efforts.

In cases such as these, we must regrettably impose discipline upon our own members. Sometimes an official rebuke is sufficient to reform the offending behavior but, in more serious cases, the conduct is of such a nature and the offender so resolute in his misbehavior that the extreme act of expulsion is unfortunately called for.

This occurs with grateful infrequence. Since the new Constitution went into effect in 2006, we have had just three occasions to impose the severest form of discipline on a member.

In an effort to clarify how the disciplinary system works, let me explain the process.

First, Camps and Divisions are said to be the “judge of their own members.” At the most basic level, this means that a Camp has primary responsibility for deciding who is worthy of membership in the SCV. By admitting a man to membership, a Camp is approving of his character.

Under the new system, a Camp or a Division may discipline one of its own members. “Discipline” can mean anything from an official reprimand to expulsion from membership from the group. If the man’s offense is so great as to warrant suspension or expulsion from the SCV, however, the matter must be taken up by the national SCV Disciplinary Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee is elected by the General Executive Council and sits in judgment of all cases referred to it. If the accused is dissatisfied with the decision of the committee, he may appeal to the General Executive Council.

There are four reasons for designing it this way.

First, it removes the onus from the local Camp or Division of going through the difficulties associated with such an action. Especially in the case of a Camp, any disciplinary action can be a very trying and contentious affair.

By removing the case to a panel outside the local unit, the sensitive nature of the proceeding is less likely to adversely affect the comity of the Camp.

Second, it systematizes the proceedings and sets the question before an independent panel, removed from whatever political maneuvering may exist in the local unit.

When a case is brought forward, it is investigated by the Inspector-in-Chief (or one of his deputies), reviewed by the Commander-in-Chief, and then tried before the Disciplinary Committee. The final decision is subject to an appeal to the General Executive Council.

Third, one’s membership in the national SCV should only be put in jeopardy by the national SCV, and not the local Camp or Division. Charges may be lodged by the Camp or Division, but the hearing and final decision are the responsibility of the national SCV.

Fourth and finally, in the old days disciplinary actions were frequently brought for consideration by the GEC. It was not uncommon for the GEC to have to spend hours reviewing evidence, hearing testimony, and listening to arguments from the parties rather than doing the administrative work that is their primary responsibility.

Under the new system, that job is done by the Disciplinary Committee, and the GEC reviews their proceedings to make sure proper protocol was followed and intervenes only if an error occurs.

The description of Democracy attributed to Winston Churchill as being “…the worst system there is except for all the rest” applies to this problem as well.

There is a good solution. We have to act like true Compatriots and the ambassadors of Southern heritage our Confederation expects us to be.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Tennessee Camp places Battleflags on Soldiers Graves

The Myers-Zollicoffer Camp # 1990 has obtained 300 12 x 18 Confederate stick flags to put on Confederate graves in Overton, Pickett and Clay counties in Tennessee. We have some 400 such graves but are only able to identify approximately 300. We hope to do this around the Memorial Holidays.

We will also have a memorial for Pvt. Jason Ramsey, 25th Tennessee Infantry, Co. H, buried in the Corinth Cemetery near Sparta, TN on May 31 at 3:00. There will cannon and musket fired. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Capt. Sally Tomkins Camp, is expected to also participate in the memorial.

William M Speck
wmspeck@twlakes.net

Confederate soldiers remembered in Norfolk service

By Linda McNatt
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 16, 2008

NORFOLK

It was a proud day for Robert Hitchings, a historian and archivist at the
Kirn Memorial Library, when, as a boy, he met an elderly woman who told him
that his great-great-grandmother had delivered her.

Martha Ann Hitchings, left a widow with eight children during the Civil War,
was a midwife in Norfolk.

Hitchings believes she probably delivered about 75 percent of the children
born right after the war.

It was another proud day for Hitchings on Saturday, when David D. Hitchings,
his great-great-grandfather and a member of Company B, 54th Virginia
Militia, Norfolk, was finally remembered with a memorial stone befitting his
military service and his allegiance to Virginia.

“The service held Saturday was organized by the Norfolk County Grays, Sons
of Confederate Veterans, and the Pickett-Buchanan Chapter of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy. Eleven stones were dedicated to the memory of
soldiers, their graves spread across the old cemetery.

See Full Story:

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/03/confederate-soldiers-remembered-norfolk-service

In defense of his Confederate pride

Nelson Winbush is intent on defending the flag of his grandfather. It's just surprising which flag that is.

By STEPHANIE GARRY, Times Staff Writer

Published October 7, 2007


KISSIMMEE -- Nelson Winbush rotates a miniature flag holder he keeps on his mantel, imagining how the banners would appear in a Civil War battle.

The Stars and Bars, he explains, looked too much like the Union flag to prevent friendly fire. The Confederacy responded by fashioning the distinctive Southern Cross -- better known as the rebel flag.

Winbush, 78, is a retired assistant principal with a master's degree, a thoughtful man whose world view developed from listening to his grandfather's stories about serving the South in the "War Between the States."

His grandfather's casket was draped with a Confederate flag. His mother pounded out her Confederate heritage on a typewriter. He wears a rebel flag pinned to the collar of his polo shirt.

Winbush is also black.

"You've never seen nothing like me, have you?"

See Full Story:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/07/State/In_defense_of_his_Con.shtml

Jefferson Davis, like Abe Lincoln a native of Kentucky, to be honoured

Mar 20, 2008
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Abraham Lincoln isn't the only Civil War-era historical figure receiving a tribute in Kentucky.

Lincoln's rival and fellow Kentuckian Jefferson Davis will be recognized in Hardin County on his 200th birthday in June, according to the News-Enterprise.

Davis, who as president of the Confederacy opposed Lincoln in the Civil War, was born June 3 near Hopkinsville in western Kentucky. Lincoln was born 199 years ago in what was then Hardin County in a small cabin near what later became Hodgenville.

The Hardin County History Museum, which last year opened a Lincoln exhibit, plans one for Davis in June, said spokeswoman Susan McCrobie.

The local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter plans an event at Davis's birthplace. It will coincide with a June 7-8 state parks commemoration at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site. It will include living history camps, guest speakers, music and appearances by members of Davis' family.

The state has spent millions of dollars for Lincoln activities as part of America's two-year bicentennial celebration. Residents of Hodgenville even took hospitality lessons to prepare for visitors. The town has a Lincoln Museum, where visitors can gaze upon a life-size portrait of the famous native Kentuckian, dioramas tracing his life and a three-drawer chest crafted by a man who as a childhood friend of Lincoln saved the future president from drowning. A Lincoln statue is the centrepiece of town square.

Several other programs are planned across Kentucky, including an exhibit at the Lexington History Museum beginning in May.

Historical merit of Princeton house recognized

By GREG JORDAN

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — An historic Princeton structure that saw the flames of war and
hosted two future presidents will soon be the first marked location on the
West Virginia Civil War Trails program.

Officials will unveil a Civil War Trail historical marker Thursday, April 3,
at 2 p.m. at the Dr. Robert B. McNutt House, the current home of the
Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce. Located at 1522 N. Walker
Street, the structure was built in 1840 and purchased seven years later by
Dr. Robert E. McNutt for $200.

But in 1862 the home’s rather ordinary history took dramatic turns when the
American Civil War arrived in Princeton. A Union campaign to cut an
important Confederate supply line brought opposing forces together in Mercer
County. One man who had two great-grandfathers serving the South at that
time described how the clash took shape.

“The mission was to get to Dublin, Va. and destroy the railroad bridge
there. The Tennessee-Virginian Railroad was the lifeblood to the Confederate
forces that were in Tennessee and Georgia,” said Ken Hylton of Princeton, a
member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Flat Top Copperheads.

See Full Story;

http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_089210016.html

Friday, April 4, 2008

AL Confederate memorial service planned

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, Fort Blakeley Camp 1864, will coordinate a memorial service at 2 p.m. April 13 for the 300-plus veterans of the Confederate States Army who are interred at Confederate Rest in Point Clear Memorial Cemetery.

Camp Commander T.B. Rhodes will serve as master of ceremonies.

Numerous services are held annually at Confederate Rest. The April 13 service has been planned specifically to coincide with Alabama Confederate History and Heritage Month.


Full Story:

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/baldwin.ssf?/base/news/1207041318290180.xml&coll=3

AL UDC to host Confederate Memorial grave marker ceremony for public

With approximately 40 Confederate States of American veterans buried in the Enterprise City Cemetery, a renewal and grave dedication ceremony is planned for one veteran who has not been noted.

Members of the Gen. Edmond Winchester Rucker Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the public will be able to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day and Confederate Heritage and History Month Saturday, April 12, at 2 p.m. at the city cemetery. Chapter President Shirley Edberg said a special salute for the grave dedication and new marker for CSA veteran, 2nd Lt. Charles R. Walden, will be honored in a special salute by members of Company E. 15th Alabama CSA re-enactors.

Full Story:

http://www.eprisenow.com/ent/news/local/article/csa_to_host_confederate_memorial_grave_marker_ceremony_for_public/9932/

April brings mystery tribute to NC Confederate grave

RALEIGH - Each April, a stranger creeps into Oakwood Cemetery and drapes a single gravestone with a black sash.

He lights a candle in tribute to a doomed Confederate hanged for firing a last-ditch shot at Raleigh's Yankee occupiers.

Chuck Gooch has spent 21 years as the cemetery's superintendent and hasn't any idea who leaves the sash on the tomb of the soldier known only as Lt. Walsh.

"We usually leave it up until it starts looking bad or the wind takes it down," he said.
After 20 years, the soldier's secret admirer remains a small-time legend among history buffs who like to guess at his identity. The guessing begins anew each April 13, the death date of the hotheaded Texan with no known first name.

One theory:

"They come down on the day he was hanged," said Charles Purser, a Garner retiree who makes a hobby of Civil War graves. "Then they go back to their houses and drink mint juleps."


Full Story:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/story/1020543.html

GA Camp to Hold Roswell Memorial

July 1864 is a month that Roswell remembers well. And a local group of historically minded citizens is going to do its part to make sure that that memory is never lost.

It was July 1864, at the height of the Civil War, when Sherman’s troops entered the small mill village of Roswell and burned the mills, removing the major source of income for the villagers and a major source of cloth for the Confederacy.

While most of the men of the town had taken up arms with the Confederate army, women and children had been left behind to operate the machines and produce the famous “Roswell Gray.” It was these workers that the Union found operating a major Confederate mill. These workers were all arrested and forced to move north, into Indiana and Kentucky. Most never returned to their homes, never to be heard from again.

Full Story:

http://www.beaconcast.com/articles/20080401_4