Announcements and statements from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. The SCV was founded in 1896 to honor and preserve the history and heritage of Confederate soldiers, sailors and marines.
Archaeologists Dig Into Chicago’s Grisliest History In Douglas Neighborhood
Archaeologists looking for Camp Douglas relics in the Pershing Magnet School yard near 33rd and Calumet. (jmogs)
The near South Side neighborhood of Douglas doesn’t get a lot of attention, and when it does, it’s usually for its gorgeous architecture—such as the early Frank Lloyd Wright rowhouse currently on the market. But urban archeologists have spent the weekend digging deeper into the neighborhood’s history…which is much less pretty.
In September 1861, the Army built a training facility on land largely owned by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the “Little Giant” of Lincoln-debating fame. But from 1862 through the end of the Civil War, it operated as an prisoner of war camp in the prairie just outside Chicago’s city limits. It was a frightful place.
Sitting roughly between 31st to 33rd Place and Cottage Grove to Giles Avenue, Camp Douglas at one point squeezed 12,000 men into its infrastructure-limited 80 acres. Disease and exposure to the elements took its toll.
In February 1863, 10 percent of the Camp’s inhabitants were lost, marking the deadliest month in any Civil War prison camp. More than 4,000 prisoners were known to have died on the site and the mortality rate for those passing through the camp may have been as high as 23 percent over the course of the war. Conditions were so horrid that the place seems to have given birth to the phrase “hell in a hand basket.”
And within six months of the end of the Civil War, it had been wiped away. A couple decades later it was hardly even a memory, replaced by a neighborhood that bore the same name, but looked far different, serving as a proving ground for some of Chicago’s greatest architects.
Today, an effort is afoot to revive and mark the memory of this unfortunate chapter in Chicago history. The Camp Douglas Restoration Fund has organized a series of archeological digs in search of remnants of the prison camp.
This weekend, orange fencing surrounded volunteers as they slowly dug into the grounds of the Pershing Magnet School in the 3200 block of South Calumet. With the help of archeologists from the Field Museum, as well as Loyola and DePaul Universities, the dig has unearthed bottles, buttons, glass shards, and perhaps footers to buildings in the midst of what would have been the prison barracks, though it remains to be seen if any of it is contemporaneous to the camp.
Eventually, the Camp Douglas Restoration Fund intends to reconstruct one of those forsaken buildings which would serve as a museum to tell the prison camp story, as well as highlight the African American Civil War experience. The project would serve as interesting connective tissue to an Obama Presidential Library if it was located on the former Michael Reese Hospital site just a few blocks away on 31st—connecting the Obama story with nearby Civil War and jazz era sites like the Stephen A, Douglas tomb and former Sunset Cafe, as well as the more distant Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield.
A cable documentary entitled “80 Acres of Hell” dramatized the grisly camp:
ULM's Jones Receives Bergeron Award for Civil War Studies
Dr. Terry Jones, professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, recently had another of his articles concerning the Civil War published in the New York Times. The article, titled 'Brothers in Arms,' tells the story of how a group of Louisiana Civil War soldiers known as the Louisiana Tigers fought hand-to-hand with a Union unit known as the 'Irish Brigade' at the Battle of Malvern Hill, Virginia, on July 1, 1862. / Courtesy ULM
Dr. Terry L. Jones, professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, has been awarded the Dr. Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr. Award by the Civil War Round Table of Central Louisiana for his contribution to the study of the Civil War in Louisiana.
According to the Civil War Roundtable, the award recognizes the work of people who preserve Louisiana’s Civil War history, and was named after the famed Civil War scholar.
“The late Art Bergeron was a nationally known Civil War scholar and a good personal friend,” Jones said. “For the Central Louisiana Civil War Round Table to consider me worthy of the award is quite an honor.”
Jones has contributed greatly to the study of Civil War History in Louisiana. Since 2011, Jones has had 22 articles published as part of the New York Times online “Disunion” series. The 22nd article — published earlier in May — titled “My Civil War,” examines Jones’ personal connection to the Civil War by recalling experiences he had growing up in Winn Parish and in his early professional career.
More than 100 readers posted comments on the story, making it one of the most discussed articles in the series.
Jones, a native of Winn Parish, has served ULM for nearly 22 years as a professor. Jones earned his Ph.D. in history from Texas A&M University.
Compatriots Beginning July 16th and running through July 19th, the 119th SCV National Reunion will be held at the North Charleston Convention Center, located in North Charleston, SC. The location is central to many of Charleston’s historical locations. The harbor sights, the gardens, maritime center and historic homes are but a few of the options available for visitors to Charleston. First and foremost, we the members of the this grand heritage of honor organization will meet in reunion to conduct business, elect new officers and continue paving the way for the future of the organization.
We are requesting that camps bring their colors to the opening ceremonies for a grand procession into the convention hall. Please bring a single base to post you camp colors.
The reunion committee would like to pass on to you that there are spots available for all meals and tours. The window is closing for registering for events at the convention. The reunion committee will soon be sending numbers the caterers. The Meet and Greet Harbor Tour will have heavy hors d'oeuvres to eat on the trip through the historic Charleston harbor past the sights where the War for Southern Independence began. The preservation luncheon is honored to have Allen Roberson, Director of the SC Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum as the speaker. Mr Roberson will be bringing flags from the SC Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum. These original Confederate flags have been preserved with the help of the SC Division SCV. Mr. Roberson will be giving presentation on preserving these artifacts of our heritage.
The Heritage Dinner presents the opportunity to hear Ben Jones. You may remember Mr. Jones as Cooter Davenport in the original and real show the Dukes of Hazard. Mr. Jones is a life member of the SCV and staunch defender of our Confederate Heritage. The Hunley Tour and Fort Tour will provide and insight to the defenses of Charleston. Eighteen debutantes will be presented at the grand ball. There is still time to register for the convention, tours and other events. Every registered member will get a reunion medal, convention program and an opportunity to see your Confederate brethren from around the country. Registration information can be found on the reunion website given below.
Many have no doubt heard of the valor of the Cherokee warriors under the command of Brigadier General Stand Watie in the West and of Thomas' famous North Carolina Legion in the East during the War for Southern Independence from 1861 to 1865. But why did the Cherokees and their brethren, the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, and Chickasaws determine to make common cause with the Confederate South against the Northern Union?
To know their reasons is very instructive as to the issues underlying that tragic war. Most Americans have been propagandized rather than educated in the causes of the war, all this to justify the perpetrators and victors. Considering the Cherokee view uncovers much truth buried by decades of politically correct propaganda and allows a broader and truer perspective.
On August 21, 1861, the Cherokee Nation by a General Convention at Tahlequah (in Oklahoma) declared its common cause with the Confederate States against the Northern Union. A treaty was concluded on October 7th between the Confederate States and the Cherokee Nation, and on October 9th, John Ross, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation called into session the Cherokee National Committee and National Council to approve and implement that treaty and a future course of action.
The Cherokees had at first considerable consternation over the growing conflict and desired to remain neutral. They had much common economy and contact with their Confederate neighbors, but their treaties were with the government of the United States.
The Northern conduct of the war against their neighbors, strong repression of Northern political dissent, and the roughshod trampling of the U. S Constitution under the new regime and political powers in Washington soon changed their thinking.
The Cherokee were perhaps the best educated and literate of the American Indian Tribes. They were also among the most Christian. Learning and wisdom were highly esteemed. They revered the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution as particularly important guarantors of their rights and freedoms. It is not surprising then that on October 28, 1861, the National Council issued a Declaration by the People of the Cherokee Nation of the Causes Which Have Impelled them to Unite Their Fortunes With Those of the Confederate States of America.
The introductory words of this declaration strongly resembled the 1776 Declaration of Independence:
"When circumstances beyond their control compel one people to sever the ties which have long existed between them and another state or confederacy, and to contract new alliances and establish new relations for the security of their rights and liberties, it is fit that they should publicly declare the reasons by which their action is justified."
In the next paragraphs of their declaration the Cherokee Council noted their faithful adherence to their treaties with the United States in the past and how they had faithfully attempted neutrality until the present. But the seventh paragraph begins to delineate their alarm with Northern aggression and sympathy with the South:
"But Providence rules the destinies of nations, and events, by inexorable necessity, overrule human resolutions."
Comparing the relatively limited objectives and defensive nature of the Southern cause in contrast to the aggressive actions of the North they remarked of the Confederate States:
"Disclaiming any intention to invade the Northern States, they sought only to repel the invaders from their own soil and to secure the right of governing themselves. They claimed only the privilege asserted in the Declaration of American Independence, and on which the right of Northern States themselves to self-government is formed, and altering their form of government when it became no longer tolerable and establishing new forms for the security of their liberties."
The next paragraph noted the orderly and democratic process by which each of the Confederate States seceded. This was without violence or coercion and nowhere were liberties abridged or civilian courts and authorities made subordinate to the military. Also noted was the growing unity and success of the South against Northern aggression. The following or ninth paragraph contrasts this with ruthless and totalitarian trends in the North:
"But in the Northern States the Cherokee people saw with alarm a violated constitution, all civil liberty put in peril, and all rules of civilized warfare and the dictates of common humanity and decency unhesitatingly disregarded. In the states which still adhered to the Union a military despotism had displaced civilian power and the laws became silent with arms. Free speech and almost free thought became a crime. The right of habeas corpus, guaranteed by the constitution, disappeared at the nod of a Secretary of State or a general of the lowest grade. The mandate of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was at naught by the military power and this outrage on common right approved by a President sworn to support the constitution. War on the largest scale was waged, and the immense bodies of troops called into the field in the absence of any warranting it under the pretense of suppressing unlawful combination of men."
The tenth paragraph continues the indictment of the Northern political party in power and the conduct of the Union Armies:
"The humanities of war, which even barbarians respect, were no longer thought worthy to be observed. Foreign mercenaries and the scum of the cities and the inmates of prisons were enlisted and organized into brigades and sent into Southern States to aid in subjugating a people struggling for freedom, to burn, to plunder, and to commit the basest of outrages on the women; while the heels of armed tyranny trod upon the necks of Maryland and Missouri, and men of the highest character and position were incarcerated upon suspicion without process of law, in jails, forts, and prison ships, and even women were imprisoned by the arbitrary order of a President and Cabinet Ministers; while the press ceased to be free, and the publication of newspapers was suspended and their issues seized and destroyed; the officers and men taken prisoners in the battles were allowed to remain in captivity by the refusal of the Government to consent to an exchange of prisoners; as they had left their dead on more than one field of battle that had witnessed their defeat, to be buried and their wounded to be cared for by southern hands."
The eleventh paragraph of the Cherokee declaration is a fairly concise summary of their grievances against the political powers now presiding over a new U. S. Government:
"Whatever causes the Cherokee people may have had in the past to complain of some of the southern states, they cannot but feel that their interests and destiny are inseparably connected to those of the south. The war now waging is a war of Northern cupidity and fanaticism against the institution of African servitude; against the commercial freedom of the south, and against the political freedom of the states, and its objects are to annihilate the sovereignty of those states and utterly change the nature of the general government."
The Cherokees felt they had been faithful and loyal to their treaties with the United States, but now perceived that the relationship was not reciprocal and that their very existence as a people was threatened. They had also witnessed the recent exploitation of the properties and rights of Indian tribes in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oregon, and feared that they, too, might soon become victims of Northern rapacity. Therefore, they were compelled to abrogate those treaties in defense of their people, lands, and rights. They felt the Union had already made war on them by their actions.
Finally, appealing to their inalienable right to self-defense and self-determination as a free people, they concluded their declaration with the following words:
"Obeying the dictates of prudence and providing for the general safety and welfare, confident of the rectitude of their intentions and true to their obligations to duty and honor, they accept the issue thus forced upon them, unite their fortunes now and forever with the Confederate States, and take up arms for the common cause, and with entire confidence of the justice of that cause and with a firm reliance upon Divine Providence, will resolutely abide the consequences.
The Cherokees were true to their words. The last shot fired in the war east of the Mississippi was May 6, 1865. This was in an engagement at White Sulphur Springs, near Waynesville, North Carolina, of part of Thomas' Legion against Kirk's infamous Union raiders that had wreaked a murderous terrorism and destruction on the civilian population of Western North Carolina. Col. William H. Thomas' Legion was originally predominantly Cherokee, but had also accrued a large number of North Carolina mountain men. On June 23, 1865, in what was the last land battle of the war, Confederate Brigadier General and Cherokee Chief, Stand Watie, finally surrendered his predominantly Cherokee, Oklahoma Indian force to the Union.
The issues as the Cherokees saw them were 1) self-defense against Northern aggression, both for themselves and their fellow Confederates, 2) the right of self-determination by a free people, 3) protection of their heritage, 4) preservation of their political rights under a constitutional government of law 5) a strong desire to retain the principles of limited government and decentralized power guaranteed by the Constitution, 6) protection of their economic rights and welfare, 7) dismay at the despotism of the party and leaders now in command of the U. S. Government, 8) dismay at the ruthless disregard of commonly accepted rules of warfare by the Union, especially their treatment of civilians and non-combatants, 9) a fear of economic exploitation by corrupt politicians and their supporters based on observed past experience, and 10) alarm at the self-righteous and extreme, punitive, and vengeful pronouncements on the slavery issue voiced by the radical abolitionists and supported by many Northern politicians, journalists, social, and religious (mostly Unitarian) leaders. It should be noted here that some of the Cherokees owned slaves, but the practice was not extensive.
The Cherokee Declaration of October 1861 uncovers a far more complex set of "Civil War" issues than most Americans have been taught. Rediscovered truth is not always welcome. Indeed some of the issues here are so distressing that the general academic, media, and public reaction is to rebury them or shout them down as politically incorrect.
The notion that slavery was the only real or even principal cause of the war is very politically correct and widely held, but historically ignorant. It has served, however, as a convenient ex post facto justification for the war and its conduct. Slavery was an issue, and it was related to many other issues, but it was by no means the only issue, or even the most important underlying issue. It was not even an issue in the way most people think of it. Only about 25% of Southern households owned slaves. For most people, North and South, the slavery issue was not so much whether to keep it or not, but how to phase it out without causing economic and social disruption and disaster. Unfortunately the Southern and Cherokee fear of the radical abolitionists turned out to be well founded.
After the Reconstruction Act was passed in 1867 the radical abolitionists and radical Republicans were able to issue in a shameful era of politically punitive and economically exploitive oppression in the South, the results of which lasted many years, and even today are not yet completely erased.
The Cherokee were and are a remarkable people who have impacted the American heritage far beyond their numbers. We can be especially grateful that they made a well thought out and articulate declaration for supporting and joining the Confederate cause in 1861.
PRINCIPAL REFERENCES:
Emmett Starr, History of the Cherokee Indians, published by the Warden Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1921. Reprinted by Kraus Reprint Company, Millwood, New York, 1977.
A monumental honor: Giving Confederate soldiers their due
Brice Stump, SBY ,May 12, 2014
GEORGETOWN – With the passing of almost 150 years since the end of the Civil War, there has been only one Confederate memorial in Delaware. A granite memorial, almost 14 feet tall, was placed on the grounds of the Nutter B. Marvel Museum in Georgetown in 2007.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans "Delaware Grays" Camp No. 2068 in Seaford, the United Daughters of the Confederacy "Caleb Ross" Chapter No. 2635 and the Georgetown Historical Society sponsored the construction of the monument. The cost of the memorial was underwritten by private organizations and donations, with no public or governmental sponsorship. "Up until the Delaware Confederate Monument was placed here, there was not a single Confederate memorial in Delaware," said camp adjutant John Zoch. "The only mention of a Confederate serving from Delaware is on a monument in Gettysburg." "We did this to honor the brave Delaware Confederates that left their homes and state to serve and fight for the South," said Jeff Plummer, camp commander. "We have researched names of individuals from Delaware who served, and their names are inscribed on the monument.
"Though Delaware was a border state historically, New Castle County was pro-North and Kent and Sussex counties were pro-South. Obviously there were split loyalties within the state. Delaware was a slave state, and the majority of slaves were in Sussex County, a county tied to the economy of the rural South."
North and South share cemeteries
The Seaford-based camp had initially requested the monument be placed on the grounds of the Gov. William H. Ross Mansion and Plantation in Seaford. The historical group there said the monument was not in keeping with the rural character of the site. Ross, whose name is among the 140 names presently cut into the stone, aided the Confederacy, and his son, Caleb, died while in Confederate service.
As for the granite, it was mandated that it come from a quarry in the South. Samuel "S.J." Disharoon of Salisbury Monument said he personally made the 1,320-mile round trip to the quarry in Georgia to get the gray stone. According to Disharoon, the custom-cut stone memorial weighs about 28,000 pounds.
Plummer and Zoch wanted something more to honor Delaware Confederates than a tombstone ornament. Tombstones of Confederate soldiers often do not even note their war service. "When the soldiers came back to Delaware, their families did not want an indication that their loved ones were in the Confederacy. The war was over and people didn't want to talk about it," Zoch said. "That may have kept some of their tombstones from being destroyed. All veterans should be honored, regardless of which side they were on."
"You would think that a graveyard is a scared place, that you could go in and honor those buried there. But for families of Confederate veterans, that's getting harder and harder to do," Plummer said. "In Jacksonville, Texas, there is a cemetery where both soldiers from the North and South are buried. Marine contingent, each year, would go to the cemetery and put out Federal and Confederate flags on the graves on Memorial Day. The town of Jacksonville told the Marines they did not want them to honor the Confederate soldiers buried there, that they could only place Federal flags. So the Marines said if they couldn't honor both, they wouldn't honor just one. So if you put up a Confederate monument or tombstone, they can become the focus of (political) attacks and destruction.
"Cemeteries, monuments and grave sites are being desecrated with vandalism and removal of Confederate flags and plaques — even whole monuments to the memory of the Confederate soldiers' good names. We have to do what we can to save our history — 'If not I, then who?' " he continued.
"In your heart"
"Our camp formed in 2004 out of the necessity to save as much of our local Confederate and Civil War history as possible," Zoch said. He said the camp is one of 3,000 SCV groups throughout the nation, with about 33,000 members. To be a SCV member, a candidate must prove an ancestral link to a soldier in the Confederacy. The Delaware Grays have about 40 members.
"As a descendent of a Confederate soldier, I am proud to carry the torch. The Sons of Confederate Veterans are the stewards of the Confederate soldiers' good name. The Delaware Grays Camp No. 2068 participates in living history programs at schools in Seaford, Georgetown and Lewes, as well as festivals, such as Bridgeville's Apple Scrapple, the annual Punkin Chunkin' and the fair to benefit Milford Memorial Hospital. We participate in processions and memorial programs in Richmond, Va., Franklin, Tenn., Charleston, S.C., Gettysburg, Pa., Baltimore, as well as towns all over Delaware," Plummer said.
"When you don the uniform of the Confederate soldier, there is a feeling of pride that cannot be equaled. It is 'in your heart,' as we say. You are preserving for future generations history of the sacrifices and valor for the cause, the memory and the pride of the gallant Southern dead. We remember the Confederate soldiers because we are descended from them, they are members of our families, we are their flesh and blood," Plummer said. "I stand up at the playing of Dixie. I well-up at the scene of Pickett's Charge in the movie 'Gettysburg.' I am committed to honoring my ancestors, and will defend ferociously their good name and deeds."
Plummer, his son, Jeff, and Zoch participated in the 2004 memorial and funeral services for Joseph F. Ridgaway in Charleston, S.C. Ridgaway, of Easton, was second in command on the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank after sinking the Housatonic, a Federal blockade warship in Charleston Harbor. All eight crewmen of the Hunley died in February 1864.
"We were part of the Honor Guard for Joseph Ridgaway. It was truly a special moment. Being a part of the Hunley memorial service was one of the most powerful and moving events in my life. Tears ran down my face at the Hunley burial," Plummer said.
Preserving and sharing heritage
Plummer said the camp has a mission: to present history as it was and not as it has been rewritten.
"At each meeting and event, we read this quote from a speech Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General, United Confederate Veterans, gave in New Orleans, La., in 1906: 'To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.' "
To preserve and share their heritage, the Delaware Grays and the United Daughters of the Confederacy No. 2635 will host an open house event from noon to 2 p.m. April 26 at the Marvel Museum at 501 South Bedford St. in Georgetown. Authentic artifacts will be on display, and re-enactors will greet guests in authentic period dress.
Of particular interest will be the salute fired from a full-size Richmond Howitzer cannon like those used in the Civil War. Owned by Debbie Jones of Georgetown, the cannon was also featured in the memorial service for the crewman of the H.L. Hunley in Charleston in 2004.
The event is one of the largest camp presentations of the year on the Eastern Shore. Information about the camp and the event is online at
http://descv.org/
.
Also in April, which is Confederate History Month, members of the Salisbury-based Maj. Gen. Arnold Elzey Camp No. 1940 Sons of Confederate Veterans will host a Civil War Living History Camp and Open House. Held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 5 at American Legion Post No. 64 in Salisbury, visitors will see rifle firing demonstration, elements of camp life and "soldier schooling," as well as demonstrations by members of the 2nd Maryland Infantry companies A, G and H, and the Chesapeake Signals.
"Of special interest will be a display of Civil War medical items and swords and sabers," said Elaine Patterson, spokeswoman for the event. "This really is a family-oriented event, and we are having members available to teach visitors how they can begin doing their own family history research for Union and Confederate ancestors.
"Representatives of the Lower Eastern Shore Genealogical Society will be joining us, as well as members of the Maryland Eastern Shore Stamp Club, the North/South Skirmish Association and local authors. Patricia Kaufmann will share information about the history of the Confederate Post Office. "We encourage folks to bring their Civil War artifacts and documents to the event for discussion and review."
Eric Dummer, commander of the local Sons of Union Veterans, will share information about the 1st Eastern Shore Federal Unit. A bluegrass music program will be presented, and food and beverages will also be available.
Patterson is also a member of the 2nd Maryland Infantry Co. A. She and other members of the group often interact with other Confederate groups to present living history programs.
Admission and parking are free. For additional information, contact Dale Foxwell at 410-621-6220.
Members of the Elzey camp also participate in re-enactment programs and are now placing bronze crosses at Confederate graves. Members are working to create a registry of cemeteries where Confederate soldiers are buried and are available for special gravesite memorial ceremonies.
On Virginia's Eastern Shore, brothers Bob and Bill Savage of near Painter are active in the 46th Va. Infantry Co. F, "Eastern Shore Refugees," which they organized in 1996. "My brother, Bill, and I have ancestral ties to the original 46th," Savage said. "We have about 15 members and we are a re-enacting group, as opposed to being a camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. We are the only Civil War re-enacting group on Virginia's Eastern Shore, but we do interact with Maryland and Delaware groups in presenting living history and heritage programs."
The group has had as many as 30 members, but the weak economy during the past few years has taken a toll on membership. "It really did hurt us, because it can cost as much as $1,000 for a musket for a new member. By the time you figure in a uniform and equipment to outfit a private, it can cost as much as $2,000," said Savage, who is the company commander.
"We do Civil War re-enactment battles, and units like ours are participating in the 150th anniversary programs of the Civil War," Savage said. "We do volunteer educational program work for the National Park Service's living history projects and show folks how life was for a soldier in a camp and how they handled their arms. We also do programs for the Park Service in Gettysburg. We've even participated in the making of documentaries, especially one about the Manassas Battlefield, and locally do educational lectures."
For more information on the group and details on how to join, visit their website at www.46thvirginia.org.
The Civil War split many families and Gov. Jay Nixon’s family was one of them.
His great-great grandfather was Lt. Col. James Oscar Nixon, second in command of the Confederate 1st Louisiana Cavalry. Lt. Col. Nixon’s brother was U.S. Rep. John T. Nixon, a Republican who represented New Jersey from 1859 to 1863.
Lt. Col. James O. Nixon, 1st Louisiana Cavalry
U.S. Rep. James T. Nixon of New Jersey
Lt. Col. James O. Nixon, 1st Louisiana Cavalry
U.S. Rep. James T. Nixon of New Jersey
During a news conference yesterday, I reminded Nixon about those ancestors as I asked him about Ashley Jost’s story from Sunday about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and their hopes to see the Confederate battle flag flying above the state historic site at Higginsville. While Nixon clearly enjoyed the family history lesson – he chuckled and said he hadn’t seen either at the family Easter celebration – he also expressed no desire to raise the rebel battle flag. "I think we should continue the policy we have at Higginsville,” Nixon said.
Lt. Col. James O. Nixon moved from his hometown of Cedarville, N.J., as a teenager to open a branch of the family clothing business in New Orleans. In 1854, at age 32, he purchased the New Orleans Crescent, a pro-slavery newspaper once edited by poet Walt Whitman.
When the war began, James Nixon became a Confederate officer, fighting with his regiment at the 1862 Battle of Richmond, Ky., one of the most complete Confederate victories of the war, and the Battle of Chickamauga, also a major Southern victory. Accounts are incomplete, but at some point Lt. Col. Nixon was captured and paroled to live with his brother in Cedarville, N.J., their hometown.
The battle flag first became an issue in 2003, when Gov. Bob Holden ordered it taken down at the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site and the Fort Davidson State Historic Site. The Confederate veterans home and cemetery are at Higginsville.
At Fort Davidson, an outnumbered Union force held off 12,000 men under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price for a day during his 1864 invasion of Missouri, costing Price 1,500 casualties and making him think twice about attempting to seize St. Louis.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans recently purchased a billboard near the Higginsville exit on Interstate 70 calling for the flag to be raised for the first time since 2003. Leaders of the Southern heritage group met Saturday with state lawmakers, who were also cool to the idea of flying the flag.
Confederate Memorial Day will be celebrated June 7 at the historic site in Higginsville.
The Reidsville City Council plans to vote in Wednesday’s meeting on approving a budget of $60,000 to replace the Reidsville Confederate Monument. If the council agrees, the city Manager Michael Pearce intends to move $30,000 from the General Fund Balance and accept a $30,000 grant from the Reidsville Area Foundation to pay for the new artwork. The Reidsville Confederate Monument caused controversy on May 23, 2011, after a car accident destroyed it. The accident sent waves of racial tension and historic nostalgia as Confederate activist, decedents and history buffs worked to convince the city council to restore it.
Pearce hopes the new project brings unity back to the community.“While any public art project will have its detractors, I believe that the circle can be a unifying source of pride within our community, will act as a positive tool for marketing Reidsville and Rockingham County and will speak to future generations as to where our hearts and minds were in 2014,” Pearce said in a memo to the council.
In January, the council agreed it wanted to replace the monument with a “whimsical” piece of art highlighting something unique about the city.
Pearce’s memo said the council agreed it wanted something with height, movement and dramatic lighting during the night.
For most of the city council it wasn’t an option not to replace the monument. That’s because the Reidsville Confederate Monument stood in the intersection of W. Morehead and S. Scales streets.
The busy intersection includes a roundabout and city officials feared, and sometimes witnessed, vehicles driving straight over the traffic circle instead of going around it.
Until a replacement comes, the council keeps the city’s Christmas tree, lit annually in Dec., in the intersection, much to the distain of many residents.Since the January meeting, Pearce began working with local artist Brad and Tammy Spencer to prepare for a replacement. The couple helped guide him through a process called, “Call for Artists.”
The Spencers also suggested Pearce form an artist selection panel to help review the project, applications from artists and pick a finalist. Pearce said in his memo he plans to create the panel using people from Rockingham County Arts Council, the Reidsville Downtown Corporation, the Reidsville Public Library, local artists, downtown merchants and instructors from Rockingham Community College.
After forming the panel he plans to invite five artists to interview with it and visit the intersection.
Each artist receives a $500 stipend for any costs incurred for interviewing with the panel, including travel.
The Reidsville Confederate Monument made national headlines over the past three years because of the controversy the accident caused, including lawsuits filed against the city, the North Carolina Daughters of the Confederacy, the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
Since the completion of the lawsuits, the NCUDC did recreate the monument and placed it in the city-owned Greenview Cemetery near the burial sites of several Confederate Soldiers.
The Reidsville City Council meeting takes place at 3 p.m., Wednesday in the council’s chambers located at 230 W. Morehead St.
