The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan
Camp 1390 will be held from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, June
9, at Logan’s Roadhouse in Lake Charles. Our speaker
will be Dr. Andy Buckley: “Confederate Cavilers and Crackers;
the South’s Population at the Outbreak of the War Between the
States” will be his topic. Y’all come and enjoy great
Southern food and fellowship. Please see Page 2, Col. 2,
for information on our big Centennial ceremony for the
South’s Defenders Memorial Monument at 10 a.m.
Saturday, June 13, at the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse.
CONFEDEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY
Here is the schedule with this year's dates:
Monday, June 1 - West of the River:
Big Woods Cemetery, Antioch Cemetery, Nibletts Bluff
Cemetery, Dutch Cove Cemetery, Farquah Cemetery
Roher Cemetary (Houston River), Five graves in Westlake.
Tuesday, June 2 (tentative)-East of the River
Orange Grove, Sallier, Catholic Cemetery, Corporate
Cemetery, Biblo Cemetery (apparently closed by city due
to vandalism). Anyone who knows of other graves
throughout Southwest Louisiana and can decorate them
on their own, please do so.
Those wanting to help: West of the River, meet at
Farquah Cemetery at 5 p.m. Monday, June 1; East of the
River, 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2 (tentative, verify time on our
web site, http://calcasieugreys.blogspot.com Monday,
June 1).
Finding Your Way Home
Commander Column June, 2015
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| Dr. Andy Buckley Camp Cmdr. |
On March 17, 2012 Bill Maher, the host of Real Time
on HBO, spent much of his program bashing the South
and its proud people. Maher took direct aim at
Southerners by saying that we should only celebrate
Confederate heritage once a year. During the program
Maher: established a new rule for Americans from the
South in celebrating their historical and cultural heritage.
The Maher Rule goes like this: if Irish Americans can
manage to celebrate their heritage on just one day (St.
Patrick’s Day), then Southerners should be able to do
also.” With great sarcasm, Maher stated that instead of
spending the whole year flying the Confederate Flag and
saying “The South Will Rise Again,” Southerners should
get just one day. He called call it “St. Cracker's Day.”
Maher suggested Southerners, that’s me and you, have
commemorative t-shirts printed up for “St. Cracker Day”
with the message “Kiss Me I’m Yer Sister”. Maher’s
monologue produced great laughter and applause from
the audience and is typical of the ignorance of the
rampant anti-confederate thinking in our society.
For most of us who were born in the Deep South
between the years of 1950 to 1960, the term cracker was
a badge of pride because it meant we were native to the
region, as opposed to snowbirds or Yankees who moved
here from the North. (Did you noticed I did not add the
D word to Yankee?) The most prevalent historical
explanation of the word cracker, is that it is a shortened
form of “corn cracker,” which was a term for Southern
poor white folks, mostly Scotch-Irish, who subsisted on a
corn based diet. The term cracker probably originated
with occupying Federal officers during the War Between
the States in their description of local Southerners.
Eventually the term “cracker” came to be seen as a term
of derision.
There is also another explanation. Many liberals in the
news media incorrectly believe that the term refers to the
cracking of the slave driver’s whip and thus a negative racial
context. Those who embrace this slant on the term fail to
acknowledge that less than 7% of all Southerners owned
slaves. This is an example of why we need to reinforce an
accurate history and cultural interpretation of the South and
its peoples. If we do not defend the truth about our CSA
ancestors, who will?
This month I will be privileged to speak at our June 9
SCV Captain James W. Bryan meeting at Logan’s Road
House Restaurant on the subject of Confederate Cavaliers
and Crackers. I hope you’ll be in attendance and invite
friends and potential members. I will deal primarily with the
social structure and demographic composition of the
antebellum South. It is very important to understand the
social and economic makeup of the South’s population at the
outbreak of the War Between the States.
I am a great admirer of the late Southern historian
Grady McWhiney, who is known for his writings on the
Celtic roots of Southern identity. McWhiney was born in
Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Centenary College,
earned an M.A. in history from Louisiana State University,
and the Ph.D. in history from Columbia University in New
York. He taught U.S. history at Troy State University,
Millsaps College, University of California, Berkeley,
University of Alabama, Texas Christian University, and the
University of Southern Mississippi.
In Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South, and Attack
and Die McWhiney argued that 60% of antebellum
Southerners descended from Scots-Irish, Irish, Scottish,
Welsh ancestors as opposed to Anglo-Saxon. McWhiney
contended much of the Southern planter class resembled the
English gentry in lineage, religion, and social structure. I look
forward to sharing my slant on this interesting historical
theory.
Dr. Andy Buckley
Commander
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| Tex. Rep. James White R-Woodville, Tex. |
CENTENNIAL CEREMONY
Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of
Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the
Confederacy Chapter 1519 will mark the 100th
anniversary of the South’s Defenders Memorial
Monument with ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m.
Saturday, June 13, on the Caslcasieu Parish
Courthouse grounds in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The keynote speaker will be Texas State Rep.
James White, R-Woodville.
White was a teacher and now serves as principal.
In 2000, he obtained a Master of Education degree
from Prairie View. In 2010 and 2012, respectively, he
received a Master of Science and a Ph.D. from the
University of Houston.
White is a member of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans, American Legion, the Masonic lodge, the
National Rifle Association, and Veterans of Foreign
Wars.
The South’s Defenders Monument was originally
dedicated June 3, 1915, Confederate Memorial Day in
Louisiana, on the courthouse grounds at its current
location. More than 12,000 Louisiana Confederate
soldiers died in the War Between the States, 1861-65,
more than all other American wars combined. About
1,000 Confederate veterans are believed to be buried in
Southwest Louisiana cemeteries. The monument
was dedicated June 3, 1915, during the 50th
anniversary year of the War Between the States.
Presiding at the ceremony was Lake Charles Mayor
George Riling and many other dignitaries were
present.
Please make every effort to attend this
important ceremony. We need to make an
impressive showing.
CENTENNIAL CEREMONY
The South’s Defenders Memorial Monument
(Preliminary Agenda)
Time: 10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, 2015
Place: Calcasieu Parish Courthouse Lake Charles,
Louisiana.
Master of Ceremonies: John Bridges Executive Producer
KPLC Television Morning Show Anchor
SCV Color Guard Posting of Colors: Greg Newton
Judge Advocate, Michael Wayne Clanton, 1st Lt.
Commander, Archie Toombs, State Captain Louisiana
SCV Mechanized Calvary,Bob Couch, all members
Captain James W. Bryan Camp #1390
Welcome: Dr. Andy Buckley Commander Captain James
W. Bryan Camp #1390
Prayer: J.W. Helums Member Captain James W. Bryan
Camp #1390
Pledges: Greg Newton, United States Flag, Louisiana Flag
and Salute to the Confederate Flag
Sons of Confederate Veterans, Stephen D. Lee Charge:
Nelson Fontenot Member Captain James W. Bryan Camp
#1390
Greetings from the United Daughters of the
Confederacy: Calcasieu Chapter 1519, Jan Cravens,
President
Brief Greetings from SCV Camps and National/State
Organizations: Archie Toombs, Southwest Brigade
Commander James W. Bryan Camp #1390.
SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
REPLACE FLAGS AT UNION SPRINGS
Gary Carlyle, Commander of the Alabama Division
of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, announced that
May 23rd, the SCV replaced the memorial flags which
were recently removed from a Confederate cemetery in
Union Springs, Alabama by an individual in that town.
In a statement, Carlyle said that he wished to thank
Mayor Saint T. Thomas, Jr. and the City Council of
Union Springs for working together with the Sons of
Confederate Veterans on the restoration project.
"The Mayor and the Council have been very
understanding and co-operative with us," said Carlyle.
"He has been very helpful in making this happen."
Ben Jones, Chief of Heritage Operations for the
30,000 member Sons of Confederate Veterans, an
international organization of men who are directly
descended from those who fought for the
Confederacy, praised the Mayor for "taking a clear
stance for healing and reconciliation."
"The removal of these flags from the graves of our
ancestors was a terribly wrong-headed, provocative and
divisive action," said Jones. "No amount of political
sanctimony can excuse it. Our membership asks that
this ceremony on Saturday will be given the respect and
reverence it deserves by all.
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| Representing Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 at the Confederate Heritage Rally in Shreveport were former camp commanders Archie Toombs, left, Steve Lanier, Mike Jones and Dr. Michael Bergeron, M.D., camp surgeon. |
CAPT. BRYAN CAMP
REPRESENTED
AT HERITAGE RALLY
SHREVEPORT – A rousing Confederate Heritage Rally
was held the Saturday, May 30, at the Caddo Parish
Courthouse in Shreveport, Louisiana, with hundreds
attending.
Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 was represented by
four members, former camp commanders Archie Toombs,
Steve Travis Lanier, Mike Jones, and Camp surgeon Dr.
Michael Bergeron, M.D.
The rally marked the final national Sons of
Confederate Veterans Rally for the 150th anniversary
commemorations of the War For Southern
Independence. Shreveport was chosen for the final rally
because it was there on May 26, 1865 that the last
Confederate flag representing the Confederate States of
America was lowered. Shreveport was the wartime capital
of Confederate Louisiana and the headquarters for the
Confederate Army’s Trans-Mississippi Department.
The event was attended by numerous national, state
and local SCV dignitaries, including Commander-in-Chief
James Kelly Barrow, Louisiana Division Commander
Thomas Taylor and United Daughters of Confederacy
Louisiana Division President A.J. Taylor. The keynote
speaker was former National Commander-in-Chief
Charles “Chuck” McMichael, who also headed the SCV
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| Caddo Parish Courthouse Confederate Monument. (Photo by Mike Jones) |
Sesquicentennial Committee. Charles “Chuck” Rand,
former national chief-of-staff and Louisiana Division
Commander, acted as master of ceremonies.
A parade of members carrying Confederate flags
marched from Shreveport’s historic Oakland Cemetery,
where numerous Confederate Veterans are buried, to the
Caddo Parish Courthouse where the ceremony was held
at the impressive Confederate Monument there.
Commander McMichael recounted the history of
Confederate heritage from the post-war
“Reconstruction” – which he noted was nothing but
brutal and corrupt military occupation – to the present
persecution of all things Confederate. He urged all
present to never give up or surrender their precious
Confederate Heritiage!
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| Confederate Honor Guard fires salute. (Photo by Mike Jones) |
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| Camp Cmdr. Dr. Andy Buckley presented the Capt. Bryan Camp U.S. History Medal to Denasia Fontenot of Washington-Marion High School. |
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| Capt. Bryan Camp Cmdr, Dr, Andy Buckley presented the Bryan Camp's U.S. History Medal to Bailey Payne of East Beauregard High School. |
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