Calcasieu Greys - June 2014

Next Meeting

          The next meeting of Captain J.W. Bryan Camp will be from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, June 10, at Logan’s Roadhouse in Lake Charles. Charles Richardson will present a program on Francis T. Nicholls was attorney, politician, judge, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served two terms as the 28th Governor of Louisiana, first from 1876 to 1880 and then from 1888 to 1892. This should be an interesting program. Our annual wreath laying ceremony for Confederate Memorial Day will at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at The South’s Defender Monument at the Calcasieu Parish Court House.

Dr. Michael Begeron, M.D., surgeon of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390,

 is seen here at the podium reading the proclamations sent by Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne

 and State Sen. Ronnine John for the 150^th anniversary commemoration

 of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass held at the Cameron Parish Court House

 on Saturday, May 10. (Photo by Mrs. Susan Jones)

Finding Your Way Home

Commander's Column, June 2014

Dr. Andy Buckley

Years ago I adopted a phrase and applied it to my work as a pastor/campus minister and to my time invested in education as a public school teacher/college instructor: “Better than many…Equal to any…

Second to none.” Throughout my adult life I have sought to strive for excellence in every task I have undertaken. I would like to challenge the members of our camp to apply this phrase “Better than many…Equal to any…Second to none” to the work of our Captain James W. Bryan Camp #1390. We have a good camp built over the years upon the shoulders of those members and leaders who have served and participated in our work. As we look to the future, let us strive for excellence in being the best we can be. Our beloved Confederate ancestors deserve nothing less.

We should celebrate Confederate history all year long, but June 3 is still Confederate Memorial Day, an official state holiday in Louisiana. Our Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be placing First National CSA flags on all known Confederate soldiers’ graves in here in Calcasieu Parish Saturday, May 31. As in the past we will mark the graves in West Calcasieu Parish Saturday morning at 8:00 am and the graves in the Lake Charles cemeteries in the afternoon at 6:00 pm. We will have our annual memorial service on Tuesday, June 3th, 6:00pm at the Calcasieu Parish courthouse in Lake Charles. Please help us honor the men from Calcasieu Parish who served in the CSA Army on these days.

This past month we received Jerry Ross into our SCV membership. Jerry’s ancestor is Private Robert Wiley Stewart of Company I, 2nd Arkansas Infantry Regiment. Welcome Jerry! During our June meeting we will receive Dr. Jack Thelin, retired Lake Charles urologist into our membership. We also have several individuals who have requested member applications. According to the Louisiana Division, the Captain James W. Bryan Camp is the third largest Sons of Confederate Veterans group in the state. Bryan Camp is now at 51 members and we are asking your help in enlisting new members this year. There is absolutely no reason why we could not enlist 10 new members this year.

Congratulations to Past Commander Archie Toombs who was elected Southwest Brigade Commander for the Louisiana SCV. Dr. Elwyn Cavin, Travis Lanier, and Dr. Carl Nabours were recognized as the newest Louisiana Division Life Members at the recent reunion. Members of our camp, Jim Ross, Luke Dartez, Mike Jones, Archie Toombs, Kevin Guillottee , Travis Lanier assisted the Jessie Cooper Camp with reunion registration and attended the banquet,

Our June meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10 at Logan’s Roadhouse in Lake Charles. Charles Richardson will present a program on Francis T. Nicholls was attorney, politician, judge, and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He served two terms as the 28th Governor of Louisiana, first from 1876 to 1880 and then from 1888 to 1892. This should be an interesting program.

Dr. Andy Buckley, Commander                             

Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390

Confederate Graves Flag Schedule Saturday, May 31

West Calcasieu

Meet at 8:00 am at Farquhar Cemetery

Dutch Cove Carlyss

Big Woods, Edgerly

Nibbett’s Bluff, Vinton

Rigmaden, North of Houston River

Lake Charles

Meet at Orange Grove Graceland Cemetery 6:00 pm

Lake Charles

Meet at Orange Grove Graceland Cemetery 6:00 pm

Corporate Cemetery

Bilbo Cemetery

Catholic Cemetery on Common Street

Sallier Cemetery

Battle of Calcasieu Pass Commemorated

CAMERON, La. - The 150th anniversary of the small but sharp Battle of of Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana was commemorated in ceremonies held Saturday, May 10, at the Cameron Parish Courthouse. The commemoration was sponsored by Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of Confederate Veterans, with the assistance of Calcasieu Chapter 1519, United Daughters of the Confederacy.

      Living history re-enactors from across Louisiana and Texas gathered for the event, fired a three-volley salute to honor the men who fought and died in the battle on May 6, 1864 on the southwest coast of Louisiana. John Bridges of KPLC-TV was the master of ceremonies, camp commander Dr. Andy Buckley gave the welcome address, Tommy Curtis, camp chaplain, the invocation.

      Pledges were given to the U.S. flag and the Louisiana flag as well as the salute to the Confederate flag. Nelson Fontenot read the "Charge of Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee" to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Former SCV Chief of Heritage Defense brought greetings for the national organization. Others bringing greetings included Trans-Mississippi Department Councilman Charles Lauret; Louisiana Division 1st Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Adkins; Major Frank Dietz, SCV Mechanized Cavalry; Linda Gramling, state president of the UDC; Mike Broussard, Gen. Louis Hebert Camp, SCV; Corey Bonin, Maj. Franklin Gardner Camp 1421; George Gremillion; and Richard Grant, Maj. Jesse Cooper Camp 1665.
      Dr. Michael Bergeron, M.D., read proclamations  from Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and State Senator Ronnie Johns. Michael D. Jones, author of The Battle of Calcasieu Pass and the Great Naval Raid on Lake Charles, Louisiana, gave the history of the battle. Camp 1390 Adjutant Luke Dartez sounded the bell as 2nd Lt. Cmdr. Charles Richardson read the name each man, Union and Confederate, who was killed or mortally wounded in the battle. Former Camp Cmdr. Archie Toombs read the history of "Taps," and then Jacob Bridges did a beautiful job of playing the haunting tune. All gathered joined in the singing of "Dixie." Refreshments were provided by Calcasieu Chapter 1519 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

My Confederate Ancestor

Qur Captain James W. Bryan Camp features the stories of camp member’s Confederate ancestors in our monthly newsletter Calcasieu Greys. We would like to invite members to submit a brief biography of your ancestor for our upcoming issues.  The biography should be 750 words or less and include all service information, rank, place of enlistment, branch and unit, the battles in which your ancestor fought, final resting place, family information, and any anecdote concerning your ancestor. Please include a photograph of yourself and your ancestor. Send your biography to Mike Jones, Editor at m4082@msn.com or Dr. Andy Buckley Commander at andybuckley1224@gmail.com.

INVITATION TO SCV WIVES

      United Daughters of the Confederacy Meet Friday, June 13th. All of the wives of our Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 members are invited to attend the next chapter meeting of the United Daughters of the Confederacy scheduled for Friday morning, June 13th at the home of Jan Craven 2008 Cheryl Lane in Moss Bluff at 9:30. Jan’s telephone number is 855-4465 and e-mail address is weedwarrior06@gmail.com. After Calcasieu Pass our camp has expressed interest working more closely with the UDC.

Steve Travis Lanier, left, receives his Life

Membership Certificate of the La. SCV Div.

from state Commander Ted Brodie at the

recent La. Div. Reunion. (Photo by Mike Jones)

The history of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass was given at the commemoration

ceremony by author and Camp 1390 member, Michael D. Jones, seen here at

 the podium. The obelisk seen behind him honors the soldiers of both sides in

 the battle. About  100 people turned out for the  event. (Photo by Mrs. Susan Jones)

New Louisiana  Division officers were sworn in at the State Reunion held in DeRidder Saturday,

 May 24. From left are Chip Landry, Southeast Brigade Commander; Archie Toombs, Southwest

Division Commander; Paul Gramling, Northwest Division Commander; J.C. Hanna, 2^nd La. Div.

 Commander; Donald Kimball, 1^st. La. Div. Commander; Thomas Taylor, Louisiana Division 

Commander and former National Commander in Chief Chuck McMichael, installing officer. 

(Photo by Michael D. Jones)

Mrs. Susan Jones, wife of Capt. Bryan camp

Compatriot Michael D. Jones, played traditional

Southern music on her viola at the La. Div.

Reunion in DeRidder.

Capt. J.W. Bryan Camp’s newest

Member, Jerry Ross, left, received his membership

certificate at the May meeting from Camp

Cmdr. Dr. Andy Buckley. (Photo by Jim Ross)

LNG PLANT TO BE BUILT ON BATTLEFIELD

          A Southern California energy company has announced plans to build a $2.4 billion Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) facility on the site of the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, where the blood of heroes and patriots hallowed that ground on May 6, 1864.

        Greg Michaels, Chairman and CEO of Southern California Telephone & Energy, announced recently the acquisition of land located on the Calcasieu Ship Channel for the development of  the LNG facility by its subsidiary SCT&E LNG, LLC(www.sctelng.com). The approximate +/-232 acre site is strategically located on Monkey Island in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

        In the area acquired by the company is believed to contain the site of the LeBoeuf  family farm house, that was used as a  hospital during the battle. Men killed in the battle, both Union and Confederate, were buried near the house and wooden markers were placed over their graves. The marked graves were seen and well known in the community well into the 20^th Century. At some point, however, the markers were lost, possibly during hurricanes or from natural deterioration and the site currently has no markers or memorialization. The site of the now unmarked cemetery is believed to be in the section that was acquired by the California company.

         According to Louisiana State Law, even unmarked and abandoned historic cemeteries are protected from disturbance. The grave site is hallowed ground and the state must protect it.

        The Battle of Calcasieu Pass was fought between two Union blockading gunboats, the U.S.S. Wave and the U.S.S. Granite City, and a small army of Confederates from the Sabine Pass garrison. After a sharp battle of approximately 1 ½  hours, the two gunboats had surrendered and approximately 50 men on both sides were killed or wounded.

       Natural gas will be treated at the Monkey Island site, liquefied, stored, and loaded onto LNG carriers for export to overseas customers in countries that have a free trade agreement (FTA) and/or non-FTA status with the United States. The site will house multiple LNG storage tanks which may be used for LNG bunkering and fueling of transportation ships for distribution of LNG. Now that the land acquisition is complete, SCT&E LNG will submit applications to the Department of Energy (DOE) for permission to export LNG to FTA and non-FTA nations, according to the company.

Pvt. William Kniep

Killed in action at the Battle of 

Calcasieu Pass, La. 

(Photo courtesy of Kniep family)