CALCASIEU GREYS -- MARCH 2012

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be from 6-8 p.m., Monday, March 12 at Pitt Grill in Sulphur. Camp Commander Archie Toombs will highlight all the great activities we have coming up, including our information table at  the Gun Show in Lake Charles on March 17, 18; the Niblett's Bluff Spring Festival the second weekend in April, Confederate History Month, the Pleasant Hill Reenactment the third weekend, and  the dedication of a grave marker for Compatriot Al Cochran's ancestor April 28 at the Bivens Cemetery.

Daily Iberian reporter Patrick Flanagan, left, interviews
Compatriot Mike Jones about his presentation on the
Tiger Rifles at the Young-Sanders Center on Feb. 25.
(Photo by Susan Jones)

THE TIGER RIFLES STORY TOLD

                FRANKLIN, La. -- The Tiger Rifles were the "toughest" fighting men in the War for Southern Independence, according to Michael Dan Jones, the author of The Tiger Rifles: The Making of a Louisiana Legend.

                Jones was the guest speaker at the Young-Sanders Center for the Study of the War Between the States in Louisiana, Saturday, Feb. 25.

Jones said he highlights the South's "Cause" in the book. He noted that they were fighting for Southern Independence because they  really  believed in the  Doctrine of States Rights, as espoused by Thomas Jefferson and further developed by John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis.

              The author also highlighted the leaders and men of the unit. He said Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat was the commander of their battalion, the 1st Special Battalion (Wheat's) Louisiana Volunteers. The commander of the company, Company B (Tiger Rifles), was a man with a rather shady past, Captain Alexander White, but who was also a charismatic leader of men.

                With regards to the enlisted men, he said their unique "Zouave" uniforms  set them apart from other Confederates, as well as their fierce fighting abilities. He said most of the men were Irish immigrants working on the docks of New Orleans, and the steamboats of the Mississippi River. Others were from Germany, many northern states, southern states and at least two possible "free men of color." He said there were also four women soldiers in the Tiger Rifles, called "vivandieres," who wore a feminine versions of the Zouave uniform, and provided first aid for the soldiers in battle.

              Jones also highlighted the Tiger Rifles heroics in the battles they were in, the First Battle of Manassas, Front Royal, Middletown, Winchester, Port Republic, Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill. He said in most of those battles they played key  roles in bringing about Confederate victories. The book is available on http://www.amazon.com or from the author.

Pvt. Robert Patterson of the 12th Tennessee Infantry
which took part in the battle. (Library of Congress)

CO-HOSTS  SHILOH 150

     The National Sons of Confederate Veterans is co-hosting the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Shiloh March 29-April 1 near the actual battlefield. The event is being sponsored  by the Blue-Gray Alliance.

            The event is being held adjacent to  the Shiloh National Military Park off Hwy. 22 and Pratt Road, Shiloh Tenn.

            At 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, those attending will see a 30-minute artillery barrage like the one fired by Gen. Daniel Ruggles in the battle to break then Union position called the "Hornet's Nest". The reenactment will focus on the Confederate assault on the Hornet's Nest and the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston.

          Battles will be planned according to the historical records to keep them as accurate as possible.

            Admission to the event is $15 for those 13 years old and older. More information is available on the web site, http://shiloh150.org.

            The Battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6 and 7, 1862.  Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard led the Confederates. Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Don Carlos Buell led the Federals. The Confederates won the first day but reinforcements from Buell gained victory for the North on the  second day. Both sides suffered 23,746 casualties over the two days, the most of any battle up to that time.

GRAVE MARKER DEDICATION

     Compatriot Al Cochran is inviting all compatriots to the  Confederate Grave Marker dedication ceremony honoring his ancestor, William Alfred Cochran on Saturday, April 28 at 11:00 am at the Bivens Cemetery in Bivens, La. (outside of Merryville).

     Our new Camp Color Guard will be taking part in the ceremony. April is Confederate History Month and this is an excellent event to celebrate the month.

LOUISIANA DIVISION REUNION 2012

                The Louisiana Division SCV Reunion 2012 will be held May 11 and 12 at the Holiday Inn West,  5555 Financial Plaza, Shreveport. Registration is $15.

               

PLEASANT HILL REENACTMENT 2012 SCHEDULE

      The annual Battle of Pleasant  Hill reenactment will  be held Saturday and Sunday,  April 14-15, on the actual battlefield, about 3 miles north of the present town of Pleasant Hill.

      Here is the schedule for the event:

Festival / Parade / Re-enactment

April 14th, 2012 (Saturday)

Event: Breakfast

Time: 6:00 - 10:00 AM

Place: American Legion Hall

Event: Parade

Time: 10:00 AM

Place: Downtown Pleasant Hill

For more information contact Erin Stockton if you would like to be in the parade 601-297-2178 or email ewhstockton@yahoo.com

Parade Application

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.

April 15th, 2012 (Sunday)

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

Pleasant Hill re-enactments and activities in the re-enactors camp will take place 3 miles north of Pleasant Hill at 23271 Hwy. 175, Pelican, LA.

Pvt. William Askew of the 1st Georgia Infantry.
A determined Confederate. (Library of  Congress)

The Richmond Daily Dispatch

12 February 1862

THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH

                We predict that the recent disasters which our arms have suffered will have more effect in stimulating the volunteer spirit than could be accomplished by any other cause. It was in the darken bear of our fortunes that we saw the greatest rush of our population to arms, and if their zeal has since diminished, it was in consequence of that succession of brilliant victories which led them to despise the enemy and believe that all danger had past. We are now paying the penalty of this blunder, but we feel sure-paradoxical as it may appear, that our cause is safer in the moment of evident danger than in that of apparent security. If we do not altogether mistake the character of the Southern people, the most intense eagerness will now be manifested by every human being in the Southern Confederacy to retrieve our fortunes, and to have vengeance upon this insolent and bloody ice.

                The people of the South have only one thing to ask, and that is that their patriotism and courage shall be as intelligently and prudently directed as they are cheerfully and disinterestedly offered. They are determined never to be subjugated by the Yankees.-- "never, never, never." If they take our cities, that is no more than the British did in 1776, and even in 1812, when they captured the capital of the Republic. In the Revolution, Richmond itself was taken by the Yankee traitor in British pay, Benedict Arnold; New York was not only taken, but held six years, and never given up till peace; whole States were overrun and occupied by the enemy. But the spirit of the people could not be conquered, and, unless the South has degenerated, it cannot be conquered now. If she held out then for seven years, against the British Lion, ought she not to hold out seventy against a nation which has so far fallen from its first estate that the faintest roar of the Lion has thrown it into convulsions? But there must be no more apathy — no more false security; every man must act as if upon him alone depended the destinies of the Republic. The North is about to make its last and greatest effort. Let us summon all our energies, and by all that is glorious in our past, and that is worth living for in the future — by the graves of our dead, and the homes of our living, let us have victory and vengeance.

CWT & PAMPLIN PARK OPEN NEW WALKING TRAIL

                Petersburg, VA – The Civil War Trust  and Pamplin Historical Park (PHP) have partnered to create a new walking trail to the Jones Farm battlefield of March 25, 1865.  This new .8 mile-path connects Pamplin Historical Park’s existing Headwaters Trail with a pristine section of surviving earthworks captured on March 25, 1865 in the Battle of Jones Farm. This important but little-known engagement influenced the Sixth Corps assaults a week later at the Breakthrough battle of April 2, 1865. The Trust and PHP will dedicate the new Jones Farm Loop Trail on March 31, 2012 at the Park’s annual anniversary event commemorating the Petersburg Breakthrough battle.

                The day’s activities begin with a pre-dawn tour from 5:00 – 7:00 a.m. beginning at the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier.  This hike across the hallowed ground will include the new Jones Farm Loop Trail and participants may wish to bring a flashlight as they walk the same ground under the same conditions as the soldiers of 147 years ago.  A complimentary hot breakfast will be served to all registered participants in the Banquet Room at the conclusion of the walk. The cost for the tour, breakfast, daily park admission, and all special programs is $12, with Park Members admitted at no cost. Contact Member Services by Wednesday, March 28 to reserve a space on this tour. Reservations are required and are non-refundable. Call (804) 861-2408 or email MemberServices@pamplinpark.org. 

                The Park will open for other visitors at 8:00 a.m. to accommodate a full schedule of events. Park admission is $12 for adults and $7 for children ages 6-12. Children under six are admitted free. Activities during the day-long event include tours of the Battle of Jones Farm and Breakthrough battlefields, Civil War Trust staff remarks, a trail opening ceremony, and military and civilian living history programs. Dr. Timothy Sedore will talk about his book Virginia's Confederate Monuments and hold a book signing. For a detailed flyer including a schedule of events, visit http://pamplinpark.org/pdfs/BreakthroughFlyer.pdf.                        One of “Virginia’s Best Places to Visit” according to the Travel Channel, and designated as a National Historic Landmark, Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a 422-acre Civil War campus located in Dinwiddie County, Virginia offering a combination of high-tech museums and hands-on experiences.  The Park has four world-class museums and four antebellum homes. The Park is also the site of the Breakthrough battlefield of April 2, 1865 and America’s premiere participatory experience, Civil War Adventure Camp. For more information, please call 804-861-2408 or visit www.pamplinpark.org.

                The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States.  Its goal is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War sites and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds through education and heritage tourism.  To date, the Trust has preserved more than 30,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states.  Please visit the Trust’s website at www.civilwar.org, the home of the Civil War sesquicentennial.

CWT & PAMPLIN PARK OPEN NEW WALKING TRAIL

                Petersburg, VA – The Civil War Trust  and Pamplin Historical Park (PHP) have partnered to create a new walking trail to the Jones Farm battlefield of March 25, 1865.  This new .8 mile-path connects Pamplin Historical Park’s existing Headwaters Trail with a pristine section of surviving earthworks captured on March 25, 1865 in the Battle of Jones Farm. This important but little-known engagement influenced the Sixth Corps assaults a week later at the Breakthrough battle of April 2, 1865. The Trust and PHP will dedicate the new Jones Farm Loop Trail on March 31, 2012 at the Park’s annual anniversary event commemorating the Petersburg Breakthrough battle.

                The day’s activities begin with a pre-dawn tour from 5:00 – 7:00 a.m. beginning at the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier.  This hike across the hallowed ground will include the new Jones Farm Loop Trail and participants may wish to bring a flashlight as they walk the same ground under the same conditions as the soldiers of 147 years ago.  A complimentary hot breakfast will be served to all registered participants in the Banquet Room at the conclusion of the walk. The cost for the tour, breakfast, daily park admission, and all special programs is $12, with Park Members admitted at no cost. Contact Member Services by Wednesday, March 28 to reserve a space on this tour. Reservations are required and are non-refundable. Call (804) 861-2408 or email MemberServices@pamplinpark.org. 

                The Park will open for other visitors at 8:00 a.m. to accommodate a full schedule of events. Park admission is $12 for adults and $7 for children ages 6-12. Children under six are admitted free. Activities during the day-long event include tours of the Battle of Jones Farm and Breakthrough battlefields, Civil War Trust staff remarks, a trail opening ceremony, and military and civilian living history programs. Dr. Timothy Sedore will talk about his book Virginia's Confederate Monuments and hold a book signing. For a detailed flyer including a schedule of events, visit http://pamplinpark.org/pdfs/BreakthroughFlyer.pdf.                        One of “Virginia’s Best Places to Visit” according to the Travel Channel, and designated as a National Historic Landmark, Pamplin Historical Park & The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier is a 422-acre Civil War campus located in Dinwiddie County, Virginia offering a combination of high-tech museums and hands-on experiences.  The Park has four world-class museums and four antebellum homes. The Park is also the site of the Breakthrough battlefield of April 2, 1865 and America’s premiere participatory experience, Civil War Adventure Camp. For more information, please call 804-861-2408 or visit www.pamplinpark.org.

                The Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States.  Its goal is to preserve our nation’s endangered Civil War sites and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds through education and heritage tourism.  To date, the Trust has preserved more than 30,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states.  Please visit the Trust’s website at www.civilwar.org, the home of the Civil War sesquicentennial.

Pvt. John White, Virginia drummer boy.
(Library of Congress)

WAR FOR SOUTHERN INDEPENDENCE FIRSTS

First time troops were transported by railroad to a battle: First Battle of Manassas, Virginia, 21 July 1861.

First major battle in which black troops fought: Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27, 1863.

First Union victory of the war: Fort Donelson, 13 February 1862.

First person to received the U.S. Medal of Honor twice: Lt. Thomas Custer, (The brother of Gen. George Armstrong Custer)

First gun fired to defend the Union: 8 January 1861, Pensacola, Florida.

First Confederate general to ask for surrender terms: Simon Boliver Buckner 15 February 1862.

First Confederate money: Printed in New York City before the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

First shot fired at Fort Sumter: Lt. Henry S. Farley at 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861 from James Island.

First submarine to sink an enemy  warship: C.S.S. Hunley, 17 February 1864, sank the U.S.S. Housatonic.

First Union soldier to die (by accident): Private Daniel Hough, Fort Sumter, when the garrison fired a salute in the surrender ceremony.

First Confederate killed in action in the war: Captain John Q. Marr,  17th Virginia Infantry, June 1, 1861, Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia.

First Louisiana Confederate officer killed in action: Lt. Col. Charles Dreaux, 1st Louisiana Infantry Battalion, 5 July 1861, near Newport News, Va.

 

CALCASIEU GREYS

JANUARY 2012, LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA




Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson


LEE-JACKSON BANQUET 2012

Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will hold its annual Lee-Jackson Banquet from at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 21, at Pat’s of Henderson Restaurant, 1500 Siebarth Drive in Lake Charles. Our guest speaker will be Granvel Block, S.C.V. Texas Div. Cmdr. (see biography page 2).

The banquet cost is $30 per person, including appetizer, main course, dessert, drink and tip. The menu choices are Crawfish Fettuccine, Fried Shrimp, Stuffed Snapper, 10 oz. ribeye (cooked medium), and Italian Chicken Breast; dessert, cheesecake with topping or pecan pie. The appetizer will be friend bite-size catfish and popcorn shrimp.

Please send checks made out to Sons of Confederate Veterans to Luke Dartez,, 908 Henning Road, Sulphur, La. 70665 by January 15. Thank you.

COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

By Mike Jones 

      I am finishing my tenure as commander of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and it has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me during the past three years to accomplish the various goals I had, all of which have been accomplished. I now look forward to strongly supporting our new camp commander, Archie Toombs, and our new officers to bring the camp to even greater heights of success.

       I would also like to encourage everyone to attend our Lee-Jackson Banquet Jan. 21 if at all possible. This is our chance to honor not only our great Southern heroes, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, but also our individual Confederate ancestors who left us an honorable heritage that it is our privilege and honor to immolate and pass along to the next generation. We have a great guest speaker in Cmdr. Granvel Block, who is currently leading the Texas Division and the creation of a major Confederate flag memorial flag park right on Interstate 10 in Orange. This will be a big boost to our Confederate heritage in Southwest Louisiana as well as Southeast Texas.

       I hope everyone had a most wonderful Christmas and will prosper and have good health in this new year of 2012. God Bless you all and God Bless our Southland.

      Your obedient servant,

      Mike Jones, camp commander

Cmdr. Gravel Block

LEE-JACKSON BANQUET SPEAKER

       Texas Division Commander Granvel Block, speaker for Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390’s Lee-Jackson Banquet 2012, has been an outstanding spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Texas, as well as the leader of the Confederate Memorial Flag project planned for Interstate 10 in Lake Charles. He is a life member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and of the Texas Division, SCV.

            His past offices include Texas Division Lt. Commander, 2^nd Lt. Commander, Elm Springs Planning Committee, Flags Across Dixie Committee, 10^th Brigade 1^st Lt. Commander, Gulf Coast Brigade 2^nd Lt. Commander, Gulf Coast Brigade Aid de Camp, Chair Gulf Coast Brigade Historical Committee and Texas Division Awards Committee.

Among his awards are the Distinguished Service Award, Heritage Defense Award, Gen. Jo Shelby Award, Dixie Club Award, SCV Commendation, Bonny Blue Society, Texas Division Gold Cross and Order of St. George.

                He has researched and wrote about “The Little Dixie Bell,” which was the only paper machine to be in the service of the Confederacy. The remaining pieces of the machine were salvaged in 2004 before it was destroyed. The restored pieces are now for display in local museums. He has also presented a salvaged piece of “The Little  Dixie Bell” for display at the SCV International Headquarters at Elm Springs.

                Commander Block is also a member of the “Orange County Historical Commission,” where he was able to have the marker “Orange County and the Civil War” placed on the Orange County Courthouse lawn.

                He also designed and commissioned the Davis Guard Medal through the Texas Division. Over $6,000 in sales were received and placed in

the Texas Heritage Defense fund.

                “I will defend the fact that our ancestors were honorable men who fought an invading army, and it was their constitutional right to self-government, which compelled their actions to form a new country,” Commander Block said. “I am proud of our Confederate ancestors, and I consider it an honor to be a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.”

BATTLEFLAG RESOLUTION

Resolution adopted at the Anderson Convention offered by Charles Kelly Barrow, Cmdr, Army of Tennessee, SCV

WHEREAS, the approach of the Sesquicentennial will be a time to educate not only  the people of these United States but of the world; and

WHEREAS, the most recognized symbol of the Confederate States is the Battle Flag, a flag each of us hold dear; and

WHEREAS, the use of the Confederate Battle Flag by extremist political groups and individuals who seek to clothe themselves in respectability by misappropriating the banner under which our southern ancestors fought for a Just Cause which is as noble as much latter day is ignoble; and

WHEREAS, the Sons of Confederate Veterans are the true inheritors of legacy and symbols for which the Confederate Veterans fought and died; and

WHEREAS, the Sons of Confederate Veterans does denounce the use of the Confederate Battle Flag and any other Confederate symbol by any hate group and/or  the Ku Klux Klan as the desecration of a symbol to which any hate group and/or the Ku Klux Klan has no claim; and

WHEREAS, the misuse of the Confederate Battle Flag by any extremist group or individual espousing political extremism and/or racial superiority degrades the Confederate Battle Flag and maligns the noble purpose of our ancestors who fought against extreme odds for what they knew was just, right, and constitutional; and

WHEREAS, the misuse of other flags and symbols of the Confederate States of America and the Confederate States Army, Navy, and Marines is similarly degrading,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans in General Convention assembled in Anderson, South Carolina, does hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible the use of the Confederate Battle Flag or any other flag, symbol, seal, title or name bearing any relationship whatsoever to the Confederate States of America or the armed forces of that Government by any such extremist group or individual, of whatever name or designation by which know, and

LET IT BE FUTHER RESOVLED, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans in General Convention assembled, does hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible the inappropriate use of the Confederate Battle Flag or any other flag, seal, title or name bearing any relationship whatsoever to the Confederate States of America or the armed forces of that Government of the Confederate States of America by individuals or groups of individuals, organized or unorganized, who espouse political extremism or racial superiority and that this resolution shall be made known to all media outlets now and throughout the years of the Sesquicentennial and it shall be made patent and entered into the permanent records and archives of the General Headquarters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans at Elm Springs in Columbia, Tennessee.

Col. Benjamin F. Terry

COLONEL BENJAMIN F. TERRY –A FALLEN HERO

By Mike Jones

     WOODSONVILLE, Ky. - Colonel  Benjamin Franklin Terry, commander of the 8th Texas Cavalry, better known as Terry's Texas Rangers, was killed in action this day, December 17, 1861, in a skirmish with the 32nd Indiana Infantry at Woodsonville, Kentucky.
     Ironically, Terry was killed in his native state, having been born in Russellville, Kentucky  on February 18, 1821. He moved with his family to Brazoria County, Texas in 1833 or 34. He married Mary Bingham in 1841 and the couple had three sons and three daughters. In 1851, Terry formed a partnership with William J. Kyle to build the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway from Harrisburg and Houston to the Brazos River. Terry was a member of the Texas Secession Convention in  1861 and was one of the senior officers that disarmed federal troops at Brazos Santiago in June of that year. His first service to the Confederate Army was as a volunteer aid to Brig. Gen. James Longstreet, with the rank of colonel, and took part in the First Battle of Manassas on 21 July 1861. Terry  and Thomas S. Lubbock were authorized by the War Department to raise a cavalry regiment in Texas and they formed the Rangers with 1,170 men in August of 1861.
     His men  were sworn into Confederate service in September and designated as the 8th Texas Cavalry in November. There was no uniformity of dress of the men at first. Theywore clothing of red, blue, green and yellow, with sombreros, felt hats and caps. On their way to Virginia, they were diverted to Bowling Green, Kentucky where they joined Brigadier General Thomas Hindman's division of General Albert S. Johnston's army. The 8th Texas and Mississippi artillery were directed to destroy a bridge  over the Green River south of  Woodsonville. The Texans collided with the 32nd Indiana, a unit made up of German immigrants, and a sharp skirmish ensued. The Rangers charged three times before they were repulsed. Both sides withdrew from the battlefield. Colonel Terry was among the Confederate dead.
     The regiment changed it's name to Terry's Texas Rangers to honor their fallen commander. Terry's body was sent to Nashville, Tennessee where the legislature adjouned to excort the remains to the state capitol where it lay in state. Terry's remains also were given honors in New Orleans and Houston. The governor of Texas said of Terry, "no braver man ever lived-no truer patriot ever died." He was buried in Glenwood Cemetery  in Houston. Terry County was named in his honor.

     Terry's Texas Rangers went on to become one of the hardest fighting regiments in the war. It was assigned to Wheeler's, Wharton's and T. Harrison brigades. Its battle honors also include Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga,  the Knoxville campaign, the Atlanta campaign. It also fought in defense of Savannah and the Carolinas toward the end of the war, and it surrendered with about 30 men on April 26, 1865.

         Other field officers of ther regiment included Colonels Gustave Cook, Thomas Harrison, Thomas S. Lubbock, and John A. Wharton; lieutenant colonels Samuel P. Christian, Marcus L. Evans, Stephen C. Ferrill and John G. Walker; majors William R. Jarmon and Leander M. Rayburn.

Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General,
United Confederate Veterans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1906.

The noble profile of Robert E. Lee.

Texas Division Files Suit over Plates

     December 8th, 2011, a complaint is being filed in pursuant of 42 U.S.C. §1983 to vindicate the rights secured to the “Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans” by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

     The Texas SCV is a non-profit organization that works diligently to preserve the memory and reputation of the Confederate soldiers, emphasizing the virtues of their fight for the preservation of liberty and freedom. Like many other non-profit organizations in Texas, the Texas SCV sought from the State of Texas, through the Department Motor Vehicles Board, approval of a specialty license plate, both to raise awareness of their endeavors and to raise additional money to fund their activities.

     This action is in regards to the recent denial by the of the specialty license application presented to the Department of Motor Vehicles Board by the Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.

      Currently, the SCV has specialty automobile license plates available to vehicle drivers in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

     The Texas SCV initially applied for a specialty license plate in Texas with the Department of Transportation, the proper agency at the time, in August 2009. That application was denied by the Department of Transportation. In 2009, the Texas Legislature amended the Transportation Code to provide that the Department of Motor Vehicles, rather than the Department of Transportation, was charged with issuing specialty license plates. The license plate function moved to the new Department of Motor Vehicles on November 1, 2009. At the time the Texas SCV reapplied with the new governing department, to hopefully have a specialty plate in advance of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, April 12, 2011.

The official public comments were heavily in favor of the Texas SCV’s application for a specialty plate. Following commentary by both proponents and opponents, the Board rejected the SCV plate at the hearing by an 8-0 vote without any discussion. At the same hearing, the Buffalo Soldiers plate, without any discussion, was approved by a 5-3 vote.
     Since the Department of Motor Vehicle Board has been charged with issuing specialty license plates, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans plate is the first, and only, to be rejected.Through the members of the Department of Motor Vehicles Board, the State of Texas has discriminated against the Texas SCV based on the ideas and message that the Texas SCV supports, in clear violation of the First Amendment.
     The Board seeks to bar the Texas SCV from expressing their viewpoint while allowing all other groups to express their viewpoint: this type of restriction is exactly the type which the First Amendment is designed to erase. The only guideline that the Transportation Code has to offer, which the Board referenced as its reason for rejecting the plate, is that the Board can reject a plate “if the design might be offensive to any member of the public…” This, however, cannot be the standard. It is vague and indeterminable. Essentially, it is no standard at all to say that the Board can discriminate based upon a viewpoint if such speech is offensive to anyone.
     The First Amendment clearly protects controversial speech. Additionally, even if simply being “offensive to any member of the public” was sufficient to allow for rejection, the State has approved numerous plates that are “offensive to any member of the public.” In fact, the plate approved the very same day as the Texas SCV plate was rejected – the Buffalo Soldier plate – is offensive to Native Americans because the all-black cavalry helped fight Native Americans in the Indian Wars from 1867-1888. Accordingly, the Texas SCV seeks appropriate injunctive relief, requiring the State of Texas to approve the Texas SCV’s application and implement the specialty plate.

Granvel J. Block
Commander Texas Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans

Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard was the highest ranking Louisiana Confederate general.

The Civil War in Louisiana - Part A

Military Activity

edited by Arthur William Bergeron, Jr.

(UL Press, ulpress.org)

     The Bayou State inevitably became a target for Union land and naval military operations because of its strategic position at the mouth of the Mississippi River as well as the importance of New Orleans as a manufacturing, banking, and trade center. Though not generally thought of as a major battleground during the Civil War, Louisiana was the scene of four military campaigns and 566 military actions of varying size and significance. Thus Louisiana's military role played an integral part in the outcome of the war and had repercussions that extended well beyond the state line.

     This volume demonstrates the Union's focus on dividing the Confederacy and securing land access by water. Many battles discussed within detail encounters with Confederates determined to preserve their land and livelihood. This volume offers not only an excellent sample of the state's military experience during the Civil War, but it also highlights the participation of both black Union and Confederate troops (including neighboring Texans), analyzes the career of General Richard Taylor, explores the consolidation of Union troops and the activities of Jayhawkers, and discusses the construction and use of Confederate earthwork fortifications. Moreover, this edition provides a glimpse of both sides of the battlefield and of life on the homefront for Louisiana's inhabitants who faced both violence and economic ruin.

     This edition takes the reader beyond the Union occupation of New Orleans and the Battle of Baton Rouge and into the trenches, small towns, and backwater areas of Louisiana's bloody skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces.

Hardcover, 774 pages, ©2002

ISBN: 9781887366502

Price: Was $45.00 Sale! $10.00

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CALCASIEU GREYS

December 2011
Lake Charles, Louisiana

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY  NEW YEAR!

NEXT MEETING

          Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will have its annual Confederate Christmas Party  at 6 p.m. Tuesday, December 13, at the home of Compatriot and Camp Chaplain Tommy Curtis, 1928 21^st Street in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Please bring a side dish, soft drinks or dessert and call Tommy at 478-5038 to let him know what you are bringing. We’ll have plenty of food,  Christmas music (provided by  Susan Jones) and good  cheer. We always have a great time so please come.

COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

      Congratulations to our new  officers elected at the November meeting. Here is the line up of our 2012 officers, who will be installed at the Lee-Jackson Banquet at Pat’s of Henderson Restaurant in Lake Charles, 6 p.m.  Saturday, January 21: Commander—Archie Toombs; 1st Lt. Cmdr—Michael Clanton; 2nd Lt. Cmdr—Ronnie Fox; Adjutant---Luke Dartez; Chaplain---Tommy Curtis; Quartermaster-----Wes Beason; Sergeant-at-Arms---Kevin Guillote; Surgeon---Dr. Charles T. White; Judge Advocate---Andy Buckley and Historian----Al Cochran. We are also planning to add a 3^rd lieutenant commander position, which we briefly discussed at the November meeting but didn’t get around to enacting. We’ll take care of that piece of unfinished business at the Christmas party.

     We have an outstanding speaker and SCV leader for our guest speaker at the Lee-Jackson Banquet, Granvel Block, commander of the Texas Division, SCV, and who is leading the effort to establish a Confederate flag display along Interstate 10 at Orange. This is a great project and just what we need to do to promote our heritage and fly our flags in a prominent public place without depending on the permission of elected officials to use government flag poles. Cmdr. Block will give us an update and also talk about “Little Dixie Bell.” Please make every effort to attend so we can honor our Confederate heroes, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, in grand style. Have a most Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Your obedient servant,

Mike Jones, camp commander

MENCKEN ON LINCOLN

Henry  Louis Mencken

Editor’s Note: Below is H. L. Mencken's very insightful essay bursting some of the Lincoln myths that have been told to generations of school children in the United States. Mencken was born in 1880 in Baltimore, Maryland and died there in 1956.  He  was one of the most influential American journalists, authors, columnists and essayists of the first half of the 20th Century and was famous for his iconoclastic viewpoints, one of which was challenging the Lincoln legend. I don't agree with many of his views on other subjects, particularly his anti-religious views, but I think he was right on target with his views about Lincoln. I especially like his take on The Gettysburg Address, contained in the last two paragraphs. This essay was first printed, in part, in the Smart Set, May, 1920, and then "Five Men at Random," Prejudices: Third Series, 1922.

H.L. Mencken on Abraham Lincoln

          Some time ago a publisher told me that there are four kinds of  books that seldom, if ever, lose money in the United States—first, murder stories; secondly, novels in which the heroine is forcibly overcome by the hero; thirdly, volumes on spiritualism, occultism and other such claptrap, and fourthly, books on Lincoln. But despite all the vast mass of Lincolniana and the constant discussion of old Abe in other ways, even so elemental a problem as that of his religious ideas—surely an important matter in any competent biography—is yet but half solved. Was he a Christian? Did he believe in the Divinity of Jesus? I am left in doubt. He was very polite about it, and very cautious, as befitted a politician in need of Christian votes, but how much genuine conviction was in that politeness? And if his occasional references to Jesus were thus open to question, what of his rather vague avowals of belief in a personal God and in the immortality of the soul? Herndon and some of his other early friends always maintained that he was an atheist, but the Rev. William E. Barton, one of the best of later Lincolnologists, argues that this atheism was simply disbelief in the idiotic . . .dogmas of his time—that nine Christian churches out of ten, if he were alive today, would admit him to their high privileges and prerogatives without anything worse than a few warning coughs. As for me, I still wonder. 

          Lincoln becomes the American solar myth, the chief butt of American credulity and sentimentality. Washington, of late years, has been perceptibly humanized; every schoolboy now knows that he used to swear a good deal, and was a sharp trader, and had a quick eye for a pretty ankle. But meanwhile the varnishers and veneerersindistinguishable from that of a Tammany Nietzsche.

          Even his handling of the slavery question was that of a politician, not that of a messiah. Nothing alarmed him more than the suspicion that he was an Abolitionist, and Barton tells of an occasion when he actually fled town to avoid meeting the issue squarely. An Abolitionist would have published the Emancipation Proclamation the day after the first battle of Bull Run. But Lincoln waited until the time was more favorable—until Lee had been hurled out of Pennsylvania, and more important still, until the political currents were safely flowing his way. Even so, he freed the slaves in only a part of the country: all the rest continued to clank their chains until he himself was an angel in Heaven.

Like William Jennings Bryan, he was a dark horse made suddenly formidable by fortunate rhetoric. The Douglas debate launched him, and the Cooper Union Speech got him the Presidency. His talent for emotional utterance was an accomplishment of late growth. His early speeches were mere empty fire-works—the hollow rodomontades of the era. But in the middle life he purged his style of ornament and it became almost badly simple—and it is for that simplicity that he is remembered today.

          The Gettysburg speech is at once the shortest and the most famous oration in American history. Put beside it, all the whoopings of the Websters, Sumners and Everetts seem gaudy and silly, it is eloquence brought to a pellucid and almost gem-like perfection—the highest emotion reduced to a few poetical phrases. Nothing else precisely like it is to be found in the whole range of oratory. Lincoln himself never even remotely approached it. It is genuinely stupendous.
          But let us not forget that it is poetry, not logic; beauty, not sense. Think of the argument in it. Put it into the cold words of everyday. The doctrine is simply this: that the Union soldiers who died at Gettysburg sacrificed their lives to the cause of self-determination—"that government of the people, by the people, for the people," should not perish from the Earth. It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The earth. Union soldiers in that battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of their people to govern themselves. What was the practical effect of the battle of Gettysburg? What else than the destruction of the old sovereignty of the States, i.e., of the people of the States? The Confederates went into battle free; they came out with their freedom subject to the supervision and veto of the rest of the country—and for nearly twenty years that veto was so effective that they enjoyed scarcely more liberty, in the political sense, than so many convicts in the penitentiary. 

DUES NOTICE

                The deadline for dues renewal is past, but it is never too late to rejoin. If you didn’t get your dues in on time, please do so without further delay. However you will need to submit a $5 reinstatement fee along with your $42 as soon as possible. Make your check for $47 out to Sons of Confederate Veterans and send it to Camp Adjutant Luke Dartez, 908 Henning Road, Sulphur, La. 70665.

                Here is our mission statement, given to us in 1906 by Gen. Stephen Dill Lee:

            To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought.  To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish.  Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.

                We are not just fighting to defend our heritage, but also to keep alive for our children and grandchildren the honorable principles of limited, constitutional government that the Confederacy was trying to preserve for us all. Please rejoin as soon as possible.

LEE-JACKSON BANQUET 2012

Lee and Jacksn's last meeting

All members and friends are cordially invited to  attend the Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390’s annual tribute to Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, which will begin with a social hour at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 21, at Pat’s of Henderson Restaurant at 1500 Siebarth Drive in Lake Charles. We are most honored to have as our guest speaker Texas Division SCV Commander Granvel Block of Orange. He will update us on the Confederate Flag Memorial project along Interstate 10 in Orange, and speak about “The Little Dixie Bell.”

                The banquet cost will  be the same as last year, $30 per person, which includes appetizer, main course, dessert, drink and tip. The menu choices as last year are Crawfish Fettuccine, Fried Shrimp, Stuffed Snapper, 10 oz. ribeye (cooked medium), and Italian Chicken Breast; dessert, cheesecake with blueberry or strawberry topping or pecan pie. The appetizer will be fried bite-size catfish and fried popcorn shrimp.

                Please send your reservation to Camp Adjutant Luke Dartez, 908 Henning Road, Sulphur, La. 70665. Make your checks out to Sons of Confederate Veterans. We need to have reservations in by January 15, 2012 to let the restaurant know how many to expect.

LEE-JACKSON BANQUET SPEAKER

Cmdr. Granvel Block

          Texas Division Commander Granvel Block, speaker for Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390’s Lee-Jackson Banquet 2012, has been an outstanding spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Texas, as well as the leader of the Confederate Memorial Flag project planned for Interstate 10 in Lake Charles. He is a life member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and of the Texas Division, SCV.

                His past offices include Texas Division Lt. Commander, 2^nd Lt. Commander, Elm Springs Planning Committee, Flags Across Dixie Committee, 10^th Brigade 1^st Lt. Commander, Gulf Coast Brigade 2^nd Lt. Commander, Gulf Coast Brigade Aid de Camp, Chair Gulf Coast Brigade Historical Committee and Texas Division Awards Committee.

                Among his awards are the Distinguished Service Award, Heritage Defense Award, Gen. Jo Shelby Award, Dixie Club Award, SCV Commendation, Bonny Blue Society, Texas Division Gold Cross and Order of St. George.

                He has researched and wrote about “The Little Dixie Bell,” which was the only paper machine to be in the service of the Confederacy. The remaining pieces of the machine were salvaged in 2004 before it was destroyed. The restored pieces are now for display in local museums. He has also presented a salvaged piece of “The Little  Dixie Bell” for display at the SCV International Headquarters at Elm Springs.

                Commander Block is also a member of the “Orange County Historical Commission,” where he was able to have the marker “Orange County and the Civil War” placed on the Orange County Courthouse lawn.

                He also designed and commissioned the Davis Guard Medal through the Texas Division. Over $6,000 in sales were received and placed in

the Texas Heritage Defense fund.

                “I will defend the fact that our ancestors were honorable men who fought an invading army, and it was their constitutional right to self-government, which compelled their actions to form a new country,” Commander Block said. “I am proud of our Confederate ancestors, and I consider it an honor to be a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.”

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE  LOUISIANA FLAG

          I pledge allegiance to the flag of the state of Louisiana and to the motto for which it stands: A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals, confident that justice shall prevail for all of those abiding here.

SALUTE TO THE CONFEDERATE FLAG

         I salute the Confederate flag with affection, reverence and undying devotion to the cause for which it stands.