Calcasieu Greys -- March 2013

NEXT MEETING

          Then next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March. 12, at Pitt Grill, 2600 Ruth St. in Sulphur. We'll discuss revisions to our camp by-laws andGreg Newton will present our program on Confederate heritage issues, if there is time..

CAMP MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2013

          Please see the list below for meeting dates and places for 2013. The restaurants have been contacted and their calendars marked accordingly. Meetings last from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Amazen Seafood Restaurant (Lake Charles) - April 9, June 11, August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers). Pitt Grill (Sulphur) - March 12, May 14, July 9, September 10, November 12 (elect officers). The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.

Commander's Column

            Hope this finds all my fellow compatriots in good health and happy. This is a busy month for us in the SCV. We had the officers meeting for the Mechanized Cavalry in Elm Springs this past weekend normally it is rainy and in the 30s. This year it snowed the whole time and was in the 20s. Our headquarters are beautiful and covered in snow. We have the dedication Biloxi for the new Jefferson Davis Library on the 16th, hope some of you can make it. It will be the only chance to be part of its history. There will be a GEC meeting on the 15th at 11:00. I will be there to represent the Mechanized Cavalry and will be at the Parade and the Dedication on Saturday to help celebrate our heritage. 
            This month's meeting will be to get all our bylaws straight and make our Camp all it can be and avoid any legal hassles that could arise. It will be boring but it has to be done. Andy Buckley will explain the bylaws as we go through them and help us make any changes that need to be made. If you still have the copy we passed out several meeting ago read them and mark any thing you don't understand or needs to be reworded or done away with. This would speed things up considerably. We all need to be a part of this. It is our duty to make our Camp the best it can be, and this is the foundation of our camp without a strong foundation we are weak.
          The meeting will be at the Pitt Grill in Sulphur and will start at 6:30. Come early and enjoy a good meal and visit with all your brother members. The meeting will start on time so be there,so we can get it all done in one meeting.
 Confederately Yours
Commander Archie Toombs

MAJOR HERITAGE VIOLATION IN MEMPHIS

Forrest Park in Memphis is being
renamed, Health Science Park by
the City Council.

           Compatriots: There are great problems in Memphis -- specifically, renaming of parks as a means of
demeaning our Confederate heroes. Our men there have a legal defense fund, also. Their information
follows my message.
Gene Hogan
Chief of Heritage Defense
(866) 681 - 7314
******************************************
Gentlemen & Ladies,
          Please forward this to all of your members, friends, and associates, everywhere. The SCV &
UDC members of the Memphis area call on you for help. Last week, in an act of lunacy, the Memphis
City Council voted to rename our 3 Southern parks in Memphis. Forrest Park will become Health Sciences Park. Confederate Park will become Memphis Park. And Jefferson Davis Park will become Mississippi
River Park.
OUR CONFEDERATE HERITAGE IS BEING ERASED.
          We plan legal action against the City of Memphis to stop this brazen attempt to eradicate our heritage. We desperately need the help of all of our SCV and UDC members and friends from all across the country and the world -- Lee Millar, SCV Spokesman, Memphis.

SCV & UDC
           Join us to Save our Parks. The Memphis City Council has passed a resolution to change the names of our 3 Southern 100-year old parks. We MUST Preserve our history. We will FIGHT this injustice. Help us save Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park Contribute to the Park Defense Fund:
Mail your check to: PO Box 11141, Memphis, TN 38111.
           If you can send $100, or even $20, or more, it will help in our upcoming legal actions
against the city.
citizenstosaveourparks@gmail.com
http://citizenstosaveourparks.org/
N. B. Forrest Camp 215, R. E. Lee Camp 1640,
Wigfall Greys Camp 1560, J. R. Chalmers Camp
1312, General Forrest UDC 1194, Gayoso UDC

2423, Memphis.

TEXT OF REVERSE SIDE OF CARD

Nathan Beford Forrest
1888 Tobacco Card

          General Nathan Bedford Forrest At the outbreak of war, Forrest was asked by Governor Harris of Tennessee to equip and raise a regiment of cavalry. His force quickly became expert and undertook several raiding excursions. At Murfreesboro on 13th July 1862 he demonstrated an

art for tactical awareness that was second to none. He fought bravely at Chickamauga and was responsible for capturing Fort Pillow. His cavalry continued to harass the Union forces whenever the opportunity arose, but at Gainesville on May 9th 1865 he was compelled to surrender. Considering his achievements of rank and status, he was particularly bad at spelling and grammar as his surviving war documents will testify.

New Book

Dick Dowling and the Jefferson Davis Guard

          The story of Dick Dowling and his fellow Irish-Texans is told in a new book, “Dick Dowling and the Jefferson Davis Guard.” The author, Compatriot Mike Jones, tells the story of this unusual Confederate unit through the men in the unit, who were mostly survivors of the Great Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, who had immigrated to Louisiana and Texas for a new life. Included are the Battle of Galveston and the Battle of

Sabine Pass on the Louisiana-Texas border. At the time the of the Battle of Sabine Pass, the Louisiana side was in Calcasieu Parish, but now part of Cameron Parish. Also highlighted is a skirmish at the Sabine Pass Lighthouse five months earlier, which had important ramifications for the eventual Confederate victory five months later. The commander of the unit, Dick Dowling, was born in County Galway, Ireland and immigrated to New Orleans at age 9, with his older sister, Honora, in 1846. Their parents and younger brothers and sisters had to go to a Workhouse in Tuam, County Galway in order to survive during the Great
Famine. The parents and his other brothers and sisters later came to New Orleans, where the parents and some of his siblings died in a yellow fever epidemic in 1853.
           Dowling moved to Houston in 1857 with his surviving siblings, and became a successful saloon keep;er and businessman. An enthusiastic Southern as well as Irish patriot, Dowling and is fellow Irishmen formed the Jefferson Davis Guard before the war, and were among the first to volunteer for action when Texas was in the process of seceding in 1861.
           Besides the two battles, the Jefferson Davis Guard, which officially was Company F, 1st Texas Heavy Artillery, also took part in the successful capture of two Union blockading ships Jan. 21, 1863, off Sabine Pass – which is also covered in detail in the book. The volume is lavishly illustrated with numerous
photographs, maps and illustrations. The book has footnotes, bibliography and index. It is available
online at CreateSpace.com, Amazon.com and other book sellers at $16.95.
       
150-years-ago
The Richmond Daily Dispatch
March 4, 1863

Gen. John Hunt Morgan
(Library of Congress)

Gen. John Morgan.

          The Whig publishes an extract from a forthcoming work entitled "West Point and Political
Generals," in which a brief summary is given of the exploits of this great partisan leader. They border on the
marvelous; yet they are strictly authentic. He began with a small body of horse, which he raises himself, and during his career has brought from within the lines of the enemy, and turned over to the Confederate service, nearly 5,000 men. He has generally been at the head of less than 1,000 men — in his famous raid on Kentucky he started with 875 and returned with 1,200. He has within two years, fought more than fifty
battles — has killed or wounded more than 6,000 of the enemy — and has made upwards of 14,000 prisoners. His expeditions have always been of the most daring description; yet, he has never, but on two
occasions, been forced to fight when he did not wish it. Many of his battles have been of the most desperate
character, and he has been uniformly victorious. He has frequently operated hundreds of miles from support, in the midst of overwhelming bodies of the enemy, whose strength was greatly enhanced by the possession of railroads and telegraphs, stretching around him like a web, and almost indefinitely facilitating their power of
concentration, while, in the same degree, it complicated the dangers of his situation. The sagacity with which he of these multiplied dangers, indicates the great leader, not
only of partisan corps, but of regular armies.
          There never has been on the continent of America — probably there never was in the world — any partisan leader whose exploits could sustain a comparison with those of Morgan. Even Marion and Sumpter sink into absolute insignificance when placed beside him. And yet they were undoubtedly great officers, and, as such, entitled to all the admiration with which they are regarded, not only by the people of their own States, but by those of all the Southern States. The following is a summary of Morgan's exploits for the six months beginning 4th July, 1862, and ending 5th January, 1863; Between 12,000 and 13,000 prisoners, and
19,000 stand of arms captured; and $9,500,000 worth of stores destroyed; 4,695 men raised within the enemy's lines, and armed and equipped by himself, be having received but 200 saddles from the Government.

BATTLE OF PLEASANT HILL 2013

          PLEASANT HILL, La. – Here is the schedule for the annual Battle of Pleasant Hill Reenactment April 6-7. Camp 1390 is planning to have a booth at the event.
Saturday, April 6:
Time: 10:00 AM
Place: Downtown Pleasant Hill
For more information contact Erin Stockton 601-297-2178 or
email ewhstockton@yahoo.com
Event: Open Camp Activities
Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Event: Battle Re-enactment at Pleasant Hill
Opening Ceremonies: 1:30 PM
Time: 2:00 PM
Event: Confederate Ball and Court Presentation
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: American Legion Hall
Must be in period dress to participate. Those not in period
dress may observe.
Sunday, April 7:
Event: Breakfast
Time: 6:00 - 10:00 AM
Place: American Legion Hall
Event: Open Camp Activities
Time: 10:00 AM to Noon
Event: Church Services (open to all)
Time: 10:00 AM
Event: Mail Call
Time: After Church
Event: Battle Re-enactment at Pleasant Hill
Time: 2:00 PM

CONFEDERATE HERITAGE RALLY AND DEDICATION OF THE NEW JEFFERSON DAVIS PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

          BILOXI, Miss. – The 2013 Sesquicentennial event and Confederate Heritage Rally will be held
Saturday, March 16, at Beauvoir, in conjunction with the dedication of the new Jefferson Davis President Library. Beauvoir, the last home of President Jefferson Davis, has been completely restored from the damage it received in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina. The first Jefferson Davis Presidential Library was destroyed by the same hurricane, but has been completely rebuilt and on higher ground on the Beauvoir property. There will be a heritage parade with the order of the parade as follows: SCV Color Guard; Members of the GEC; reenactor units; state divisions in order of secession; divisions whose states were not in the Confederacy; and others wishing to march.
          Acceptable flags for the parade are any Confederate flag; state flags, division flags, camp flags, re-enactor unit flags and any historic or current U.S. flag. Unacceptable flags include novelty type flags, flags of
organizations other than the SCV or flags and/or banners with messages deemed inappropriate by the organizers. Every unit, division or other group would do well to designate a spokesman for comments. This applies if you are randomly approached anywhere during the day. At the actual event it is best to direct the press to SCV General Officers or to Beauvoir officials. Watch our camp web site, Calcasieu Greys, for updates and an exact schedule of events.