CALCASIEU GREYS - JULY, 2013

NEXT MEETING

      Then next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at Pitt Grill Restaurant, 2600 Ruth St., Sulphur. Come enjoy a good program and great Confederate fellowship.

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) June 11, August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers).
Pitt Grill (Sulphur) -  July 9, September 10, November 12 (elect officers).
The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.        

CAMP NEWS
NEXT GUN Show
          The next gun show to be held in Lake Charles will be August 31 and September 1 at Lake Charles Civic Center. These gun shows are prime opportunities for our camp to get our pro-Confederate message out to the public and to recruit new members. Please think about helping man the table for whatever time you may be able to spare that weekend. Thanks.

New Arrivals
        Several of our compatriots enjoyed a blessed event on July 1. A new Southern Belle to grace our beloved Southland, June Margaret Bordelon, was born in Lake Charles. She is the granddaughter of Compatriot Mike Jones, the daughter of Compatriot Jeff Bordelon and the sister of Compatriot Ethan Bordelon. Mother and baby are doing just fine.
         Also, Compatriot Luke Dartez recently welcomed a new great-grandson, Wyatt Lee Stracener, born May 21. Congratulations from all those who have recently enjoyed such blessed events.

150^th Anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass
       The observance of the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass, partially fought in what was then Calcasieu Parish, will be held the weekend of September 6-8 at the Sabine Pass State Battleground State Park, south of Port Arthur, Texas. Events will include a reenactment of the battle and it is expected to be a major event. More details will be forthcoming.

Membership Renewal Notices
      Please be on the lookout for SCV membership renewal invoices. The Louisiana Division should be mailing them directly to you this month.

Sesquicentennial
Battle of Gettysburg, Pa.
July 1-3, 1863
[National Park Services summary]
Gen. Robert E. Lee concentrated his full strength against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac at the crossroads county seat of Gettysburg. On July 1, Confederate forces converged on the town from west and north, driving Union defenders back through the streets to Cemetery Hill. During the night, reinforcements arrived for both sides. On July 2, Lee attempted to envelop the Federals, first striking the Union left flank at the Peach Orchard, Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and the Round Tops with Longstreet’s and Hill’s divisions, and then attacking the Union right at Culp’s and East Cemetery Hills with Ewell’s divisions. By evening, the Federals retained Little Round Top and had repulsed most of Ewell’s men. During the morning of July 3, the Confederate infantry were driven from their last toe-hold on Culp’s Hill. In the afternoon, after a preliminary artillery bombardment, Lee attacked the Union center on Cemetery Ridge. The Pickett-Pettigrew assault (more popularly, Pickett’s Charge) momentarily pierced the Union line but was driven back with severe casualties. Stuart’s cavalry attempted to gain the Union rear but was repulsed. On July 4, Lee began withdrawing his army toward Williamsport on the Potomac River. His train of wounded stretched more than fourteen miles.
FORCES ENGAGED:
North – 83,389
South – 75,054
CASUALTIES
North – 23,000 (killed, wounded, captured)
South – 28,000 (killed, wounded, captured)
Sesquicentennial
Siege of Vicksburg, Miss.
May 18-July 4, 1863
[National Park Service summary]

In May and June of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s armies converged on Vicksburg, investing the city and entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton’s army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies.

Forces engaged:
North – 75,000
South – 30,000
Casualties
North – 10,142
South – 9,091

SESQUICENTENNIAL
SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON, La.
[National Park Service summary]
In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive against Vicksburg, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege which lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to New Orleans.
FORCES ENGAGED:
North – 30,000
South – 7,250
CASUALTIES
NORTH – 5,000 killed, wounded: 5,000 died of disease.
SOUTH – 750 killed, wounded: 6,500 captured.

A CONFEDERATE CATECHISM
[The following was excerpted from A Confederate Catechism by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Third Edition, Nov. 21, 1929.]
Was slavery the cause of secession or the war?
No. Slavery existed previous to the Constitution, and the Union was formed in spite of it. Both from the standpoint of the Constitution and sound statesmanship, it was not slavery, but the vindictive, intemperate anti-slavery movement that was at the bottom of all the troubles.
Was the extension of slavery the purpose of secession?
No. When South Carolina seceded, she had no certainty that any other Southern state would follow her example. By her act she absolutely shut herself out from the territories and thereby limited rather than extended slavery. The same may be said of the other seceding states who joined her.
Was Secession the cause of the war?
No. Secession is a mere civil process having non necessary connection with war. Norway seceded from Sweden, and there was no war. The attempted linking of slavery and secession with war is merely an effort to obscure the issue – “a red herring drawn across the trail.” Secession was based (1) upon the natural right of self government, (2) upon the reservation to the States in the Constitution of all powers not expressly granted to the Federal government. Secession was such a power, being expressly excepted in the ratifications of the Constitution by Virginia, Rhode Island and New York. (3) Upon the right of the
principle to recall the powers vested in the agent; and upon (4) the inherent nature of all partnerships, which carries with them the right of withdrawal. The States were partners in the Union, and no partnership is irrevocable. The perpetuity spoken of in the Preamble to the Constitution was the expression merely of a hope and wish. No rights of whatever could exist without the right of secession.
What then was the cause of the war?
The cause of the war was (1) the rejection of the right of secession by Lincoln, and (2) the denial of self government to 8,000,000 people occupying a territory half the size of Europe. Lincoln himself said of these people that they possessed as much moral sense and as much devotion to law and order as “any other civilized and patriotic people.” Without consulting Congress, Lincoln sent great armies to the South, and it was the war of a President elected by a minority of the people of the North. In the World War, Woodrow Wilson declared that “No people must be forced under sovereignty under which it does not choose to live.” When in 1903, Panama seceded from Colombia, the United States sided with Panama against Colombia in support of Panama’s right to self government.
Did the South fight for slavery or the extension of slavery?
No. For had Lincoln not sent armies to the South, that country would have done no fighting at all.

Progress of SCV ORANGE FLAG MEMORIAL

This is a recent picture of the recently poured base of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Confederate Flag Memorial being built just off I-10 in Orange, Texas. Granvel Block, project director, reports that good progress is being made in spite of some local governmental opposition. The display will educate the public on the wide variety of historical Confederate flags there are. (Photo by Compatriot Al Cochran of Camp 1390)

 

BE A MUSEUM FOUNDER

          The truth about the South's struggle to form a new nation is under attack as never before. The National Battlefield Parks have be taken over by the “it's all about slavery” provocateurs. Museums have changed their collections and interpretations to present what they call the cultural history of the War for Southern Independence. In reality this new perspective is nothing more than South bashing. The forces of political correctness have gone into high gear. They attempt to ban any and all things Confederate through their ideological fascism. Even what was once a highly respected museum now claims proudly they are not a museum for the Confederacy, merely about it.

     There needs to be at least one place where the people of the South and others can go to learn an accurate account of why so many struggled so long in their attempt to reassert government by the consent of the governed in America!

       The General Executive Council of the Sons of Confederate Veterans  made the commitment in October of 2008 to start the process to erect a new building that will have two purposes. One of the uses of this new building will be to give us office space and return Elm Springs to its original grandeur. However the main function is to house The Confederate Museum. We are planning a museum that will tell the truth about what motivated the Southern

people to struggle for many years to form a new nation.  At the SCV Reunion in July of 2009 the GEC set up a building fund for this purpose. One of the goals is to provide an accurate portrayal of the common Confederate soldier, something that is currently absent in most museums and in the media.

You are invited to make your stand for the future by contributing to this fund.

Send checks to:

Sons of Confederate Veterans

c/o TCM Building Fund

P.O. Box 59

Columbia, TN 38402

Or you can call 1-800-MY-DIXIE to pay by credit card.

Future generations will thank you for your efforts in erecting The Confederate Museum.