CALCASIEU GREYS December 2012

Confederate Christmas dinner on the outer picket line by Edwin Forbes.
(Library of Congress
 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Yeear

CONFEDERATE CHRISTMAS PARTY

         Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will have its annual Confederate Christmas Party beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 2019 21^st Street in Lake Charles. Tommy Curtis and his sister Phyllis will be our host and hostess. This will be our December meeting. There will be plenty of good holiday food and snacks and plenty of Christmas cheer. Please bring a covered dish. Susan Jones will present Christmas

        Carols, all written before 1865, and sung by our Confederate ancestors.  Come enjoy great fellowship and good food.

LEE-JACKSON BANQUET 2013

Please make plans to come to Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390’s annual banquet honoring our great Southern heroes, generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. It will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 19, at Pat’s of Henderson, 1500 Siebarth Drive, Lake Charles, La. The evening is a celebration of the two great generals, who were both born in January, as well as our own Confederate ancestors.

            It is a very special event celebrated across the Southland to show the world  that the Confederate States of America is alive and well in spirit in this 21^st  Century, and is the bastion of true Southern American history & heritage. The evening is packed with special events that we do only once a year. We have a very special guest speaker, Louisiana Division Commander Ted Brode of West Monroe.

We will also  install our 2013 camp officers, have a candlelight  roll call of our Confederate ancestors, and door prizes. We have also had  good food and great service at Pat’s of Henderson. Our menu will be:

Appetizer

Bite size Catfish and Popcorn Shrimp.

 

Main Entrée  - (Select One)

Fried Shrimp

Crawfish Fettuccine

Stuffed Red Snapper

Broiled Italian Chicken Breast

10 oz. Rib eye (cooked medium)

 

Dessert – (select one)

Pecan Pie

Cheese Cake topped with blueberries or strawberries.

            The cost of the meal will be the same as last year, $30.00. Please have your reservation and check to Camp Adjutant Luke Dartez by January 15. Make checks out to Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 and mail them to Luke Dartez, 908 Henning Road, Sulphur, La. 70665.

 



    CAMP OFFICER”S FOR 2013

            Officer’s for Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 were elected for 2013. The following were elected:

 

Commander Archie Toombs
1st Lt. Micheal Wayne Clanton
2ond Lt. Charles Richardson
Adj. Luke Dartez
Q M Wes Deason
Chaplin Tommy Curtis
Sgt at arms Kevin Guillotte
Judge Av Andy Buckley
Surgeon Dr. Cavin
Historian Al Cochran
Color Guard Greg Newton

 

 



 

    CAMP OFFICER”S FOR 2013

 

            Officer’s for Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 were elected for 2013. The following were elected:

 

Commander Archie Toombs
1st Lt. Micheal Wayne Clanton
2ond Lt. Charles Richardson
Adj. Luke Dartez
Q M Wes Deason
Chaplin Tommy Curtis
Sgt at arms Kevin Guillotte
Judge Av Andy Buckley
Surgeon Dr. Cavin
Historian Al Cochran
Color Guard Greg Newton

BATTLE OF GALVESTON SESQUICENTENNIAL

[From Galvestonhistory.org]

          Galveston Historical Foundation will mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Galveston on January 11-13, 2013. The Battle of Galveston, which took place during the early morning hours of January 1, 1863, is widely acknowledged as the most important military event in Galveston’s history. Commemorative events taking place include battle re-enactments, lectures, living history encampments, a wet-plate collodion photography demonstration and a variety of special tours and programming focusing on Galveston’s part in the 1863 battle.

          Living history encampments will be established by the 19th-Century Living History Association, Inc. and the 1st Texas Brigade. The public is invited free of charge to visit the encampments, located in Galveston’s historic downtown, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

     Noted author and Civil War historian Edward T. Cotham, Jr., will be conducting various paid tours visiting the sites of the battle. Cemetery historian Linda McBee will also offer a Civil War cemetery tours of Galveston’s historic Episcopal cemetery on Broadway. Tours, lectures and other programs are currently being developed and will be announced soon.

     “The Battle of Galveston brings life to an important historic event for Galveston. This year we add new events that bookend the reenactments and help to educate visitors on the strategy employed by each side on January 1, 1863.” says Dwayne Jones, Executive Director of Galveston Historical Foundation. “The participants and spectators really get a first-hand view of this historic event.”

     Played out on both land and sea over the course of several months, the Battle of Galveston ended with Confederate forces driving out the Union ships that had held Galveston Harbor since October, 1862. As part of the Union blockade of the Texas coast, Commander William B. Renshaw and his squadron of eight Union ships demanded surrender by Confederate Forces of Galveston Harbor, the most important Texas port, on October 4, 1862.

         For more information about Battle of Galveston Commemoration tours, tour reservations or for information on re-enactor guidelines, go to www.galvestonhistory.org or call Galveston Historical Foundation at 409-765-3409.

 

 

U.S.S. Clifton (US NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTERY)

YANKEE’S BOMBARD WOMEN, CHILDREN AND THE SICK

[Editor's note: U. S. warships Westfield and Clifton, led by Commodore W.B. Renshaw of the West Blockade Squadron, bombarded Port Lavaca, Texas on October 31, 1862. Later the Westfield was destroyed at the Battle of Galveston and the Clifton captured at the Battle of Sabine Pass.]

Bombardment of Port Lavaca.
Withdrawal of the Federals.

From the Houston Telegraph.

The following account of the bombardment of Lavaca is quite incomplete, but it shows the gist of the matter, which is that the Federals attacked and bombarded the town and didn't take it. Nobody hurt.

S_______ I_______, Near Texana,
November 2d, 1862

Dear Sir--Left Lavaca at half-past twelve yesterday. At twenty-five minutes past one p.m., the tow steamer ceased to fire, and hauled off, taking the small schooner in tow. By 12 m., they had passed Gallinipper Point, and have evidently left us for the season. . . . From 1/4 past 3 p.m. on Friday, the expiration of the one and a half days grace, to 6 p.m., they fired into the town 168 shells and shot; and from 8 o'clock to 10 a.m. yesterday, 74.Some of their guns were of the largest size, the shells weighing 104 lbs., and throwing them two miles beyond the town. Nobody

Hurt. Most of the stores on Front street were struck, completely demolishing some of them inside. Gutted, as it were by the explosion of shell, and showing almost cellars dug by the force. Many of the dwelling houses also were more or less injured. . . . Instead of being everywhere, looking after the defense of important and exposed points, San Antonio, 140 miles from the scene of danger, seems to be the only place having any attraction for our generals. Truly, they have deserved well of Texas, and should be waited upon by a committee of our gallant ladies, and presented with leather medals and swords of like material. A single rifle gun of fair range, and we could have sunk the miserable old New York ferry-boats that attacked our town, fired upon our women, children, and sick--some of them dying with yellow fever--and which vessels will doubtless return and finish their work of destruction. Our officers and men behaved gallantly, and will sustain the honor of our flag.

N'IMPORTE

Since the above was in type, we learn that the enemy came up on the 31st within five miles of the town of Lavaca, and sent a message ashore demanding the surrender. Maj. Shea refused.

They then gave notice that an hour and a half would be allowed for the removal of the women and children and sick. Promptly at the expiration of the time they opened fire, throwing about 50 shot that day. Next day the firing was continued heavily as is detailed above.