CALCASIEU GREYS - OCTOBER 2012

Next Meeting

          The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, at A-MAZEN Seafood and Steak, 339 W. Prien Lake Road, Lake Charles, La. We’ll have nominations for officers and go over the by-laws with the members. Please come to this very important meeting. Also, if you haven’t already paid your 2013 dues, please do so right away. The amount for renewals is $42. Send checks to Adjutant Luke Dartez, 908 Henning Road, Sulphur, La. 70665-7673. Thank you.

USS Harriet Lane (Naval History and Heritage Command)



THE CAPTURE OF GALVESTON

          The U.S. Navy began a blockade of Galveston Harbor in July 1861, but the town remained in Confederate hands for the next 14 months. At 6:00 am on October 4, 1862, Cdr. W.B. Renshaw, commanding the blockading ships in the Galveston Bay area, sent Harriet Lane into the harbor, flying a flag of truce. The intention was to inform the military authorities in Galveston that if the town did not surrender, the U.S. Navy ships would attack; a one-hour reply would be demanded.

          Col. Joseph J. Cook, Confederate military commander in the area, would not come out to the Union ship or send an officer to receive the communication, so Harriet Lane weighed anchor and returned to the fleet. Four Union steamers, with a mortar boat in tow, entered the harbor and moved to the same area where Harriet Lane had anchored. Observing this activity, Confederates at Fort Point fired one or more shots and the U.S. Navy ships answered.

            Eventually, the Union ships disabled the one Confederate gun at Fort Point and fired at other targets. Two Rebel guns from another location opened on the Union ships. The boat that Col. Cook had dispatched now approached the Union vessels and two Confederate officers boarded U.S.S. Westfield. Renshaw demanded an unconditional surrender of Galveston or he would begin shelling. Cook refused Renshaw’s terms, and conveyed to Renshaw that upon him rested the responsibility of destroying the town and killing women, children, and aliens.

Renshaw threatened to resume the shelling and made preparations for towing the mortar boat into position. One of the Confederate officers then asked if he could be granted time to talk with Col. Cook again. This officer, a major, negotiated with Renshaw for a four-day truce to evacuate the women, children, and aliens from the city. Cook approved the truce but added a stipulation that if Renshaw would not move troops closer to Galveston, Cook would not permit his men to come below the city. The agreement was finalized but never written down, which later caused problems. The Confederates did evacuate, taking all of their weapons, ammunition, supplies, and whatever they could carry with them.

          Renshaw did not think that the agreement allowed for all this but, in the end, did nothing, due to the lack of a written document. The fall of Galveston meant that one more important Confederate port was closed to commerce. But the port of Galveston was not shut down for long.

[National Park Service article]

Members of Camp 1390 at Sabine Pass on September 8.

Members Attend
Sabine Pass Event

          SABINE PASS, Tex. – Members of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 and friends from the Mechanized Cavalry went in the first annual Ronnie Fox Memorial Ride in procession September 8 to the 149^th annual Reenactment of the Battle of Sabine Pass.

        The ride is in tribute to the memory of our recently departed compatriot Ronnie Fox, who enjoyed attending the event and promoting the Sons of Confederate Veterans there.

          The reenactment was small this year but well received by the public. There are big plans for next year to have a 150th anniversary event that will draw hundreds of reenactors. In the actual battle, the Union was planning to invade Texas through Sabine Pass with an initial invasion force of 5,000 troops, four gunboats and 18 troop transports. The expedition was led by Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin for the Army, and Lt. Frederick Crocker for the Navy. Sabine Pass was defended by 1st Lt. Richard W. “Dick” Dowling and his 47-man, Irish-Texan, contingent of Company F (Jefferson Davis Guards) of the 1st Texas Heavy Artillery in Fort Griffin, an earthen structure. Dowling had four 32-pounders and two 24-pounders at his disposal to defend against the attack. The battle opened at 6:30 o'clock in the morning of September 8, 1863 when the gunboat U.S.S. Clifton entered the pass to bombard the fort and reconnoiter the Confederate position. However Dowling kept his men under cover to mask their numerical weakness. After an hour of shelling, the Clifton withdrew. At 3:40 o'clock that afternoon, the assault began. The pass was divided up the middle by a long oyster reef, which divided it into the Louisiana channel on the east and the Texas channel on the west. The Clifton entered the Texas channel while U.S.S. Sachem and U.S.S. Arizona steamed up the Louisiana channel. The U.S.S. Granite City was to escort the transports up the Texas channel to protect the transports off-loading the Union troops. The gunboats entered the pass and opened fire on the fort. The Irish-Texans had placed range markers in the pass during practice and were ready to zero in on the invading ships. Confederate gunners opened fire when the enemy ships reached the 1,200 yard range marker. After a few rounds, the steam drum of the Sachem exploded, scalding many men to death, and disabling the ship. The Arizona ran aground. The Clifton charged up the Texas channel but the Irish-Texan artillerymen blasted its tiller rope, causing it to run aground and also exploded its steam drum. The Arizona had to be pulled off the Louisiana shore, and the Granite City retreated and no troops were landed. The fleet soon turned around and headed back to New Orleans. Texas was saved from invasion, and Houston and Beaumont were saved from the fate of other southern cities, like Atlanta and Vicksburg. The battle lasted only about 45 minutes but 56 U.S. sailors and soldiers were killed, about 350 captured, along with the gunboats Clifton and Sachem. Dowling and his men suffered no casualties at all. The Davis Guards received the thanks of their country. Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, Confederate commander of Texas, honored the men with a special badge and the Davis Guards were presented special medals from the citizens of Houston, the only such medal for valor issued to Confederate soldiers during the war. The Confederate Congress and President Jefferson Davis honored the Davis Guards with a special proclamation. Dowling said the fort fired 137 shells during the short battle.

The new Jefferson Davis Presidential Library at Beauvoir, Biloxi, MS
 

BIG CONFEDERATE RALLY FOR PRESIDENT DAVIS’ NEW LIBRARY

The 2013 Sesquicentennial Event/Confederate Heritage Rally will be held Saturday March 16th in Biloxi, MS at Beauvoir. The dedication ceremony for the new Jefferson Davis Presidential Library will be  the showcase of the program. Make your plans now to attend.

Order for Parade

SCV Color Guard

Members of the GEC

Reenactor Units

Divisions in order of Secession

Divisions whose States were not Confederate States in order of Statehood

Others wishing to march.

 

General Information

 

Dress- reenactors in uniforms in compliance with their unit's rules.

 

Those marching with divisions or other groups may wear Confederate uniforms as well. Those not in uniforms are asked to be appropriately dressed. Any clothing (or message on clothing) that is deemed inappropriate by the organizer will be required to be removed or the individual will not be allowed to march.

 

Flags acceptable: Any Confederate Flag, State Flags, Division Flags, Camp Flags, Re-enactor unit

Flags and any historic or current US flag.

Flags not acceptable: novelty type flags, flags of organizations other than the SCV or flags and/or banners with messages deemed inappropriate by the organizers.

 

Materials: No signs or banners may be included without the consent of the organizers. No printed or recorded materials may be distributed without the consent of the organizers. Anyone who cannot or will not follow the guidelines will not participate.

 

Media: every unit, division or other group would do well to designate a spokesman for their group who is experienced in dealing with the media and is well spoken. Designated spokesmen should be sure to dress appropriately. It would be best that any one approached by a member of the

media defer to their designated spokesman for comments. This applies if you are randomly approached anywhere during the day. At the actual event it is best to direct the press to SCV General officers or to Beauvoir officials.

Contact: scv150rally@gmail.com for more information or visit http://confederate150.com.

 

FALL ASSEMBLY 

THIS MONTH

Louisiana Division Commander Ted Brode has announced that the annual Fall Assembly will be at Mansfield State "park" on the 27th of October ... 9 a.m.

There will be workshops and plenty of information for camps to build upon. The Mansfield State Historic Park is the site of the Battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864, and was a great Confederate victory. There is a fine museum, monuments and historical markers. Please come if you can.

WHY THE WAR WAS NOT ABOUT SLAVERY NOW AVAILABLE AS BOOKLET

      Dr. Donald Livingston’s excellent scholarly essay “Why the War Was Not About Slavery” is available in booklet form from our Camp Quartermaster Wes Beason. If you’d like a copy of this fine booklet contact Compatriot Beason at a meeting or call him at 625-8388.

          The essay was originally published in the September/October 2010 Confederate Veteran magazine by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc.

          The substance of this essay was first presented at the 2008 Abbeville Institute Summer School. Donald Livingston is professor of philosophy at Emory University, a member of the SCV, and president of the Abbeville Institute, dedicated to educating college and graduate students about what is true and valuable in the Southern tradition. See www.abbevilleinstitute.org.

          The essay is attractively presented in the booklet, 23 pages long and with endnotes. It could also be used for a class on this subject.



CALCASIEU GREYS September 2012

              NEXT MEETING

Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of Confederate Veterans, will meet from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the Pitt Grill Restaurant in Sulphur. The  business and program part of the meeting will get underway promptly at 6:30 p.m. The program will be on "Defending Confederate Heritage." We will discuss the best ways to defend our precious heritage, which always seems to be under attack on many fronts. We'll concentrate on giving you the information you need to effectively defend your heritage.

 _______________________________



Ronnie Fox

             Ronald Edward "Ronnie" Fox
         (September 29, 1939 - August 16, 2012)

                Compatriot Ronald Edward "Ronnie" Fox, age 72, died Thursday, August 16, 2012, at his residence in DeQuincy, Louisiana. Funeral services were held Aug. 20, 2012 at Christensen Funeral home in DeQuincy and burial in Mimosa Pines in Carlyss. Graveside services included SCV memorial rites.

             He was a Christian by Faith and a member of The Refuge Church. He loved motorcycles and was a member of "MAC" -- Motorcycle Awareness Campaign. He was a State Captain of The Sons of Confederate Veterans Mechanized Cavalry. He will always be remembered as a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. He was a man who was loyal to his friends, very giving and never met a stranger. He was the son of the late Joseph Fox and the late Myrtie (Hallie) Fox.
             He is survived by his Son, Troy S. Fox and his wife, Patsy of Quitman, La.; Two Sisters, Shelby Kile and Pat Dees of Westlake, La.; Two Brothers, Glynn Fox and his wife Pat of Gaithersburg, Md. and Ken Fox and his wife, Pat of Chattanooga, Tenn. One grandson- Steven Fox of Lake Charles, La. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Myrtie (Hallie) Fox, his wife of 30 years, Jerri (Collins) Fox and daughter, Donna Swaggart.

RONNIE FOX MEMORIAL RIDE

                Cmdr. Archie Toombs announced the first annual Ronnie Fox Memorial Ride will be Saturday, Sept. 8, and leave from the Pitt Grill in Sulphur at 7 a.m. and the destination will be the  Sabine Pass Reenactment in Sabine Pass, Texas.

                Cmdr. Toombs said the ride is open to anyone who wants to go by bike (motorcycle), car or truck.
               "If you can make it please do,and bring a friend or two and let's remember our old and dear friend with a ride he loved to make.If you can make it give me a shout are e-mail,are give me a call," Cmdr. Tooms said.

Major Richard W. "Dick" Dowling

The Battle of Sabine Pass

September 8, 1863

The Battle of Sabine Pass, on September 8, 1863, turned back one of several Union attempts to invade and occupy part of Texas during the Civil War. The United States Navy blockaded the Texas coast beginning in the summer of 1861, while Confederates fortified the major ports. Union interest in Texas and other parts of the Confederacy west of the Mississippi River resulted primarily from the need for cotton by northern textile mills and concern about French intervention in the Mexican civil war. In September 1863 Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks sent by transport from New Orleans 4,000 soldiers under the command of Gen. William B. Franklin to gain a foothold at Sabine Pass, where the Sabine River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. A railroad ran from that area to Houston and opened the way into the interior of the state. The Western Gulf Blockading Squadron of the United States Navy sent four gunboats mounting eighteen guns to protect the landing. At Sabine Pass the Confederates recently had constructed Fort Griffin, an earthwork that mounted six cannon, two twenty-four pounders and four thirty-two pounders. The Davis Guards, Company F of the First Texas Heavy Artillery Regiment, led by Capt. Frederick Odlum, had placed stakes along both channels through the pass to mark distances as they sharpened their accuracy in early September. The Union forces lost any chance of surprising the garrison when a blockader missed its arranged meeting with the ships from New Orleans on the evening of September 6. The navy commander, Lt. Frederick Crocker, then formed a plan for the gunboats to enter the pass and silence the fort so the troops could land. The Clifton shelled the fort from long range between 6:30 and 7:30 A.M. on the 8th, while the Confederates remained under cover because the ship remained out of reach for their cannon. Behind the fort Odlum and other Confederate officers gathered reinforcements, although their limited numbers would make resistance difficult if the federal troops landed.

Dick Dowling Monument
Sabine Pass Battleground

Finally at 3:40 P.M. the Union gunboats began their advance through the pass, firing on the fort as they steamed forward. Under the direction of Lt. Richard W. Dowling the Confederate cannoneers emerged to man their guns as the ships came within 1,200 yards. One cannon in the fort ran off its platform after an early shot. But the artillerymen fired the remaining five cannon with great accuracy. A shot from the third or fourth round hit the boiler of the Sachem, which exploded, killing and wounding many of the crew and leaving the gunboat without power in the channel near the Louisiana shore. The following ship, the Arizona, backed up because it could not pass the Sachem and withdrew from the action. The Clifton, which also carried several sharpshooters, pressed on up the channel near the Texas shore until a shot from the fort cut away its tiller rope as the range closed to a quarter of a mile. That left the gunboat without the ability to steer and caused it to run aground, where its crew continued to exchange fire with the Confederate gunners.

Another well-aimed projectile into the boiler of the Clifton sent steam and smoke through the vessel and forced the sailors to abandon ship. The Granite City also turned back rather than face the accurate artillery of the fort, thus ending the federal assault. The Davis Guards had fired their cannon 107 times in thirty-five minutes of action, a rate of less than two minutes per shot, which ranked as far more rapid than the standard for heavy artillery. The Confederates captured 300 Union prisoners and two gunboats. Franklin and the army force turned back to New Orleans, although Union troops occupied the Texas coast from Brownsville to Matagorda Bay later that fall. The Davis Guards, who suffered no casualties during the battle, received the thanks of the Confederate Congress for their victory. Careful fortification, range marking, and artillery practice had produced a successful defense of Sabine Pass.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alwyn Barr, "Sabine Pass, September 1863," Texas Military History 2 (February 1962). Andrew Forest Muir, "Dick Dowling and the Battle of Sabine Pass," Civil War History 4 (December 1958). Frank X. Tolbert, Dick Dowling at Sabine Pass (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962). Jo Young, "The Battle of Sabine Pass," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 52 (April 1949). Alwyn Barr

Alwyn Barr, "SABINE PASS, BATTLE OF," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qes02), accessed September 03, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association

150th Anniversary

                BATTLE OF SHARPSBURG, MD

                            September 17, 1862

On September 16, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan confronted Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia at Sharpsburg, Maryland. At dawn September 17, Hooker’s corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank that began the single bloodiest day in American military history. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Miller’s cornfield and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church. Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. Late in the day, Burnside’s corps finally got into action, crossing the stone bridge over Antietam Creek and rolling up the Confederate right. At a crucial moment, A.P. Hill’s division arrived from Harpers Ferry and counterattacked, driving back Burnside and saving the day. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. During the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout the 18th, while removing his wounded south of the river. McClellan did not renew the assaults. After dark, Lee ordered the battered Army of Northern Virginia to withdraw across the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley.     

(National Park Service)

THE BLOODIEST DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Casualties at the Battle of Sharpsburg:

Confederates, out of 38,000 engaged;

10,316  total

1,546 killed
7,752 wounded
1,018 captured/missing

Union, out of 75,000 present for duty:

12,401 total

2,108 killed
9,540 wounded
753 captured/missing

Brig. Gen.  William E. Starke
Killed in Action commanding the 2nd La. Brigade
(Library of Congress)

 

LOUISIANIANS AT SHARPSBURG

          Two Louisiana infantry brigades fought at the Battle of  Sharpsburg 150-years-ago.

            Brigadier General Harry T. Hayes 1st Louisiana Brigade consisted of: the 5th Louisiana: Col Henry Forno; 6th Louisiana: Col Henry B. Strong (k); 7th Louisiana; 8th Louisiana: Ltc Trevanion D. Lewis (w); 14th Louisiana.

            Brigadier General William E. Starke, who was killed in action in the battle, led the 2nd Louisiana Brigade, which consisted of: 1st Louisiana: Ltc Michael Nolan (w), Cpt William E. Moore; 2d Louisiana, Col Jesse M. Williams; 9th Louisiana, Col Leroy A. Stafford, Ltc William R. Peck; 10th Louisiana, Cpt Henry D. Monier; 15th Louisiana, Col Edmund Pendleton;  Coppens' (First Louisiana Zouaves) Battalion, Cpt M. Alfred Coppens.

            The 10th Louisiana Infantry included Company K, Confederate States Rangers, which  was partially from Calcasieu Parish.

            Louisiana artillery at Sharpsburg included Madison (Louisiana) Light Artillery: Cpt George V. Moody, Louisiana Guard Artillery: Cpt Louis E. D'Aquin, and the Washington Artillery of New Orleans, Col. James B. Walton.

 

LAKE CHARLES SOLDIERS AT SHARPSBURG

By Mike  Jones

Confederate dead of Starke's Louisiana Brigade along the Hagerstown Pike.
(Library of Congress)

        At least two Lake Charles soldiers fought in the Battle of Sharpsburg and were both among the 10,000 Confederate casualties there. Private Asa Ryan, 27,  was severely wounded and captured by the Yankees and Private Joseph Auge  Jr., 24,  was killed in action. They both served in Company K, Confederate States Rangers, 10th Louisiana Infantry. Ryan was born March 5, 1836, the oldest son of John Jacob Ryan Jr., the "Father of Lake Charles," born about 1838 and was the son of Joseph Auge Sr. and was listed in the household of Joseph Sallier Sr. on the 1860 census. Both men listed their occupations as farmer. Ryan and Auge received their wounds in the fighting, either along the Hagerstown Pike or in Miller's cornfield, with Stonewall Jackson's Corps. Ryan was wounded in the left leg and after his capture his left leg was amputated, disabling him permanently. He was eventually exchanged and released by the Yankees, but his war was over. Auge was apparently killed instantly during the battle. Ryan finally got home, on crutches, after the war and resumed his life. He was married twice and had six children in all. Ryan died March 16, 1878 and is buried in the Bilbo Cemetery. Auge was single and his final resting place is unknown.
      Two other men of Company K were killed in action at Sharpsburg. They were Private Justice H. Jackson, 34, St. Landry Parish, and Corporal James McKinney, 25, of New Orleans. Private Armelin Lincicome of Vermilion Parish was 20-years-old at the time he was shot in the neck by a Yankee, permanently disabled and captured. He was held at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md. until his release and exchange. He returned home, married and had seven children. He died in 1914. Also wounded from the company was Private Easton Hoffpauir. of Vermilion Parish. He received a sick furlough and returned home.
       First Lieutenant Edward A. Seton of Lake Charles wrote home about the battle in a letter dated Sept. 21, 1862. He wrote, "On the 17th Sept, we had a battle in Maryland & our company had 15 men in the fight & and but four came out safe. .. . We held the field until the 19th and fell back across the Potomac, but we are expecting to cross again tomorrow. We have beat the enemy at every point."

AUGUST 2012 -- CALCASIEU GREYS

NEXT MEETING

          The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan

Camp 1390 will be from 6-8 p.m. with business beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 14, at A-MAZEN SEAFOOD AND STEAK, 339 W. Prein Lake Road, Lake Charles La.  The guest speaker will be Ted Brode, the La. Division Commander, who will speak on the Confederate Constitution. Come early and enjoy a great meal, visit with your brothers of the confederacy and pass a good time. The place is located right across the street from Long John Silvers at the Mall. The food is excellent the service is great. The meeting room can hold 40 people easy and has its own A C thermostat, and will be quiet so we can hear what the speaker is saying.

R. Michael Givens

GIVENS REELECTED C in C

MURFREESBORO, Tn. – R Michael Givens of South Carolina was reelected for another two year term as commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the 117^th annual reunion of the organization in July. Also reelected as lieutenant commander was Kelly Barrow of Georgia. Here are complete results of the reunion:

*Proposed constitutional amendments one and two pertaining to allowing camps to secede from their divisions were defeated. Proposed constitutional amendment three dealing with a minor wording change to section 13.4 dealing with discipline was approved.

*Proposed standing order amendment number one was withdrawn by the author, and proposed standing order amendment number two, clarifying language dealing with the prohibition of SCV members, camps and divisions from filing lawsuits without prior express consent of the GEC, was approved.

*A paper ballot was used to select Richmond, Virginia as the 2015 site of the 120th SCV Annual General Reunion.

Officers elected for 2012-2014

Commander in Chief- R. Michael Givens

Lt. Commander in Chief- C. Kelly Barrow

Army of Trans-Mississippi

Commander- M. Todd Owens

Councilman- Charles E. Lauret

Army  of Tennessee

Commander- Thomas V. Strain, Jr

Councilman- Larry Allen McCluney

Army of Northern Virginia

Commander- Britton Frank Earnest ,Sr

Councilman-Randall B Burbage

Also selected to serve on the General Executive Council:

Chief of Staff- Charles L. Rand III

Adjutant in Chief- Stephen Lee Ritchie

Chief of Heritage Defense- Eugene G Hogan II

Chaplain in Chief- Mark W. Evans

Judge Advocate in Chief- Roy Burl McCoy

2012 National Awards
*Dr. George R. Tabor Award is presented to the most distinguished camp in the SCV. The winner of this prestigious award, which is an extremely close competition every year, is the Finley's Brigade Camp 1614 of Havana FL, Graham F. Smith, Commander.
*Scrapbooks - Dr. B. H. Webster Award for the best Scrapbook for camps with fewer than 50 members was not awarded in 2012 as no entries were received.
*Judah P. Benjamin Award for the best Scrapbook for camps with 50 or more members is the Robert E. Lee Camp 239 of Fort Worth TX, James B. Turnage, Commander.

*Dr. James B. Butler Award for the best historical project was won by Litchfield Camp 132, Conway, SC, James E. Graham, Commander.
*General Stand Watie Award winner for the camp making the largest contribution to the Stand Watie Scholarship Fund was not awarded in 2012. 

*Best Web Site- General Samuel Cooper Award for the best website is the William Kenyon Australian Confederates Camp 2160, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. http://www.scvau.com/ James M. Gray, Commander.
Newsletters-
*Dr. Paul Jon Miller Award winner for the best newsletter among camps with fewer than 50 members is The Round Mountain Report which is produced by the COL Daniel N. McIntosh Camp 1378, Tulsa OK, Kenneth H. Cook, Editor.
*S.A. Cunningham Award for the best newsletter among camps with 50 or more members is The Louisiana Tiger which is produced by the LTG Richard Taylor Camp 1308, Shreveport LA, Bobby G. Herring, Editor.
*Dewitt Smith Jobe Award for the best Division newsletter is a tie and two awards were given to The Carolina Confederate, North /Carolina Division, Ron Perdue, Editor and the Palmetto Partisan, South Carolina Division, Bill Norris, Editor. 

Recruiting- 

*Edward R. Darling Award for the top recruiter in the Confederation is awarded to Kyle Sims, a member of the COL Middleton Tate Johnson Camp 1648, Arlington TX. Compatriot Sims recruited 37 new members.

Membership-
*General Nathan Bedford Forrest Award for the camp with the greatest gain in membership (plus 39 net) goes to COL W. M. Bradford/COL J. G. Rose Camp 1638, Morristown TN, Michael L. Beck, Commander.
*General A. P. Hill Award is a tie with five new camps each, and is awarded to the North Carolina Division, Thomas M. Smith Jr, Commander and the Georgia Division, Jack Bridwell, Commander.
*General Albert Sydney Johnston Award for the Army with the greatest gain in new camps, a total of 12, goes to the Army of Trans-Mississippi, W. Danny Honnoll, Commander.
Individual Awards

Hoover Law and Order Medal was presented to Sheriff Larry Dever, Cochise County, AZ.

Rev. J. William Jones Christian Service Award is presented to Reverend Eric Gray Rudd (NC), Reverend David Andrew Taylor (AR), and a posthumous award to Reverend Jack Ray Griffin (AZ) all three of whom have emulated and perpetuated the orthodox Christian faith demonstrated by the soldiers and citizens of the Confederate States of America.
*Robert E. Lee Gold Medal, the second highest award which can be given to a SCV member, has been presented to Eugene G. Hogan II (SC), B. Frank Earnest Sr. (VA), and Thomas Y. Hiter (KY) for their exceptional contributions and service to the SCV.   

*Jefferson Davis Chalice has been presented to Bragdon R. Bowling Jr. (VA).  This is the highest award which may be bestowed on a member for service to the SCV and consists of an engraved silver chalice, a medal and a certificate.

 Non Member Awards

*The S. D. Lee Award, the SCV's highest award for nonmembers of the SCV was presented to Pam Trammell of Arkansas. 

The Horace L. Hunley Award, the SCV's second highest award for nonmembers was presented to Allen Roberson of South Carolina. The Dixie Defender Award, the SCV's third highest award for nonmembers was presented to Sarah Mosley of South Carolina.

Jones, Cochran Receive National Awards

            Camp 1390 compatriots Michael Dan Jones and Alfred Perry Cochran received national awards at the 117^th annual reunion of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Jones received the “Meritorious Service Medal” and certificate. Cochran received the “Commendation Medal” and certificate. Both awards are signed by Commander-In-Chief R. Michael Givens.

            The Meritorious Service Medal is in recognition of exceptionally meritorious service to the sons of Confederate Veterans. The Commendation Medal is in recognition of meritorious service on the Camp, Brigade, or Division Level. This award is in grateful acknowledgement for service to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

            Compatriot Jones, past camp commander, is currently the camp editor. Compatriot Cochran is currently the camp historian.

Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

SCV RESPONDS TO  BECK ATTACK ON FORREST

Compatriots: 

           Radio and TV talk show personality  Glenn Beck recently made allegations about General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Below is the response by SCV Chief of Heritage Defense Gene Hogan:

Dear Mr. Beck:

Recently, on GBTV, with WallBuilders' Founder and President David Barton present, you displayed what you claim was the sword belonging to Nathan Bedford Forrest - an example of "tremendous American evil," in your words. You spoke of the War Between The States' engagement at Ft. Pillow and perpetuated Rev. Barton's conjecture (which I'd never before heard) that the sword "skinned people alive."  Perhaps you and Rev. Barton should actually read the Congressional inquiry into the matter -- it is inconclusive, neither exonerating nor condemning Forrest. Ft. Pillow was the typical "fog of war" circumstance that makes it impossible to sort out events as they actually occurred. However, don't feel compelled to accept my opinion. Lt. Col. Edwin L. Kennedy, Jr. is an Assistant Professor, Department of Command and Leadership, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. His review of the events at Ft. Pillow follows:

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/nathan-bedford-forrest-and-the-battle-of-fort-pillow-1864.htm  

              Only two weeks after the battle, a U.S. Congressional inquiry could not conclusively determine exactly what happened. Both sides failed to control the action, and only Forrest's direct, personal intervention to stop the shooting saved many of the Union defenders left standing on the beach. Not satisfied with the Congressional inquiry, Union General William T. Sherman convened a not-so-impartial inquiry. He openly stated that he would try and convict General Forrest. However, Sherman's inquiry also ended without substantive evidence to find Forrest culpable. Northern newspapers criticizing Forrest's effort "to explain away the Fort Pillow affair," however, seem especially disingenuous since the sensationalist accounts by the partisan Northern press bears a large share of the burden for creating and perpetuating the "massacre" claim in the first place. Forrest always disputed claims that his Fort Pillow victory was a "massacre." Any fair-minded judgment as to whether it was truly the racism-inspired, premeditated massacre claimed by the Northern press and Union leaders at the time must also take into consideration the inevitable confusion of desperate, hand-to-hand combat and the many contributing factors that created and exacerbated the disastrous Union rout. Of course, wartime events concerning Forrest cannot be considered in a vacuum - he has become unfairly associated with the actions of the KKK. Again, a bit of digging instead of accepting "flat earth history" will give the intellectually honest person a different perspective. Consider the findings of the Anti-Defamation League:

 http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/history.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk   

           By 1869, internal strife led Klansmen to fight against Klansmen as competing factions struggled for control. The Klan's increasing reputation for violence led the more prominent citizens to drop out and criminals and the dispossessed began to fill the ranks. Local chapters proved difficult, if not impossible, to monitor and direct. In disgust, Forrest officially disbanded the organization and the vast majority of local groups followed his lead. If the treatment of Forrest was not bad enough, to follow it up with a reference to Herman Goering amplified the insult, effectively equating Forrest to a Nazi. From a practical standpoint, why would you alienate Southerners by doing this? The South has obviously been very accepting of your message - we value the Constitution and eschew progressivism. In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we are told that Jesus came "full of grace and truth" (v.14). While you and Rev. Barton are "Restoring Love," why not restore some grace to the Southern people and some truth for their history?

Gene Hogan
Chief of Heritage Defense
Sons of Confederate Veterans
(866) 681 - 7314
http://scv.org

CALCASIEU GREYS -- July 2012

NEXT MEETING

          The next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, at the Pitt Grill Restaurant, 102 Benoit Lane, Sulphur, (near the intersection of I-10 and Ruth Street).

            Cmdr. Archie Toombs will give part two of his program on Confederate general and Secretary of State, Robert Toombs.. Please come and enjoy the meeting if you can make it. 

Pvt. John M. Sellers, Company  G, 16th Louisiana
Infantry. (Courtesy of Robert Albanese and Dan
McCollum.)

Confederate image identified       

          A descendant, Dan McCollum, saw a copy of this photo of Private John M. Sellers of Company G, 16th Louisiana Infantry in the June issue of Calcasieu Greys, which was then unidentified,  and contacted Archie M. Toombs, commander of Capt. J. W. Bryan Camp, and identified it as being his relative. Another descendant, Robert Albanese, a great-great-grandson, provided the excellent quality copy seen at left.

            According to Mr. McCollum, Sellers is listed in the Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy of the National Park Service system, as a member of the 16th. Mr. McCollum said Sellers was living in north Alabama, where his family comes from, when the war started. He left Alabama and went back to Louisiana where he had been living and enlisted. After the war he returned to Alabama and died there June 8, 1895 in Blount, Alabama.

          According to Sellers military  service record, he was present for  the Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, and was wounded in action at the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee on December 31, 1862.

           Sellers was absent in the  hospital recovering from his wound and he returned to duty in July, 1863. He was then present for the Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863 where nearly one-third of the regiment was captured. Sellers then fought at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. He was then absent in the hospital from January 6, 1864 until May 1, 1864 when he  returned to duty.

          Sellers was then present  for the Atlanta Campaign and fought at Mill Creek Gap, May 7; Resaca, May 14-15; and New Hope Church, May 25-28.  He was also present when his regiment participated in the  battles of Atlanta, July 22, Ezra Church, July 28; and  Jonesboro, August 31. The 16th helped capture Florence, Alabama on October 30, 1864 and  Sellers was in the Battle of Nashville, December 15-16, 1864.

          The regiment was then stationed as part of the garrison of Mobile, Alabama in February, 1865. Sellers was present for duty on the last roll of the war from April 20-30, 1865. John M. Sellers  was truly a faithful soldier and a Southern hero.

Confederate Memorial Day

            Members of  Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 observed Confederate Memorial Day, June 3, in Calcasieu Parish by decorating graves of Confederate Veterans and holding a memorial ceremony at the South's Defenders Monument at the Calcasieu Parish Court House in Lake Charles. Cemeteries all over the parish were covered in the grave decoration effort, including Niblett's Bluff Cemetery to the west to the historic cemeteries in Lake Charles. Many others around the parish were covered as well. Thanks go out to all who took part in this effort and did our duty as a camp for our  Southern heroes.

Sick from Freedom

African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction

University of Oxford Press, USA

Jim Downs

          Bonds people who fled from slavery during and after the  Civil War did not expect that their flight toward freedom would lead to sickness, disease, suffering, and death. But the war produced the largest biological crisis of the nineteenth century, and as historian Jim Downs reveals in this groundbreaking volume, it had deadly consequences for hundreds of thousands of freed people.
          In Sick from Freedom (University of Oxford Press, USA, 2012), Downs recovers the untold story of one of the bitterest ironies in American history--that the emancipation of the slaves, seen as one of the great turning points in U.S. history, had devastating consequences for innumerable freed people. Drawing on massive new research into the records of the Medical Division of the Freedmen's Bureau-a nascent national health system that cared for more than one million freed slaves-he shows how the collapse of the plantation economy released a plague of lethal diseases. With emancipation, African Americans seized the chance to move, migrating as never before. But in their journey to freedom, they also encountered yellow fever, smallpox, cholera, dysentery, malnutrition, and exposure. To address this crisis, the Medical Division hired more than 120 physicians, establishing some forty underfinanced and understaffed hospitals scattered throughout the South, largely in response to medical emergencies. Downs shows that the goal of the Medical Division was to promote a healthy workforce, an aim which often excluded a wide range of freedpeople, including women, the elderly, the physically disabled, and children. Downs concludes by tracing how the Reconstruction policy was then implemented in the American West, where it was disastrously applied to Native Americans.
           The widespread medical calamity sparked by emancipation is an overlooked episode of the Civil War and its aftermath, poignantly revealed in Sick from Freedom.

Features

          Reveals that the moment of emancipation triggered widespread illness and death among African Americans. 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the unofficial liberation of the slaves during the Civil War and 2013 the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The first in-depth study of the Medical Division of the Freedmen's Bureau, the first system of national medical care created by the federal government.

Connects the federal government's response to emancipation to the displacement of Native Americans on reservations.

Product Details

           280 pages; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-975872-2ISBN10: 0-19-975872-7

About the Author(s)

Jim Downs is Assistant Professor of History and American Studies at Connecticut College. He is the editor of Taking Back the Academy: History of Activism, History as Activism and Why We Write: The Politics and Practice of Writing for Social Change. 

‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’

What It Really Means

By

Michael Dan Jones

One of the most enduring traditional American hymns and patriotic songs is Julia Ward Howe’s “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” It is a staple with many Christian church choirs and hardly a patriotic holiday passes without this song being sung and played at ceremonies nationwide. But is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” truly appropriate for religious hymnals and patriotic ceremonies? Who was the author? What motivated and inspired her? What message was she trying to convey? What do the words mean? What meaning do they have for us today?

The author, Julia Ward Howe, was born in 1819 in New York City. She married a prominent physician, Dr. Samuel Howe Gridley (1801-1876) in 1843 and they lived in Boston, Mass., where they raised five children. She was a much celebrated author, a tireless supporter of the anti-slavery movement, preached in Unitarian Churches, and was a zealous worker for the advancement of women, prison reform, world peace and other humanitarian movements. She died October 17, 1910 at her summer home in Oak Glen, Rhode Island.

News reporters of her day delighted in describing this unusual woman. She was diminutive in stature, barely over five feet; invariably wearing a white trimmed, black dress and lace cap and had the habit of peering over her silver-rimmed glasses as she read her lecture in a crisp Boston-Yankee accent.

But her literary works had dark themes, such as murder, suicide and betrayal, perhaps reflecting her own unhappy marriage with her domineering and unfaithful husband. Her church, the Unitarian Church, although it claimed to be Christian, denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

And although she was devoted to the anti-slavery movement, like many other Northern radicals of her time, such as Abraham Lincoln, her own words reveal her to be a hypocrite on the subject of race. Julia Ward Howe believed and wrote the “ideal negro” would be one “refined by white culture, elevated by white blood.” She also wrote “the negro among  negroes, is coarse, grinning, flat- footed, thick-skulled creature, ugly as Caliban, lazy as the laziest brutes, chiefly ambitious to be of no use to any in the world….He must go to school to the white race and his discipline must be long and laborious.” Her own disgusting words expose the kind of hypocrisy that was rampant in the abolitionist movement.

Mrs. Howe and her husband, Samuel Gridley Howe, were supporters of the most radical and violent wing of the anti-slavery movement. These “disunion abolitionists” wanted to tear apart the American republic of sovereign, independent states, and reconstruct it along their own radical political, cultural and religious ideals. History records only how too well they succeeded with their treason.

Her husband and her pastor, Unitarian Rev. Theodore Parker, were conspirators in the treasonous group known as “The Secret Six.” These wealthy Northeasterners financially supported terrorist and murderer John Brown in his insane Harpers Ferry raid, and advocated slave rebellion that would destroy the original American republic.

Brown’s Anti-Southern terror campaign started in Kansas in the mid-1850’s. There, on May 23, 1856 Brown and his murderous band descended on a settlement of Southerners at Pottawatomie Creek. They carried with them newly sharpened swords, an image that played a prominent part in Mrs. Howe’s song (her hero and his fellow terrorists literally hacked to death five innocent men). Northern historians try to excuse this crime by saying Brown was exacting revenge for atrocities committed by pro-slavery “Border Ruffians.” This is a lie!

The first three victims, James P. Doyle and his sons, Drury and William, were Catholics from Tennessee who moved to Kansas to get away from slavery. They never had a thing to do with the institution. But because they spoke with a Southern drawl, and possibly because they were Catholic, Brown marched them to a clearing where their heads were split open with the sharpened swords. Drury’s arms were chopped off. Mrs. Doyle was later asked why her husband and sons had been so brutally murdered. She replied, “Just because we were Southern people, I reckon.”

The other victims of Brown’s murderous rampage were Southern settlers Allen Wilkinson, executed while his wife and children stood by in horror, and William Sherman, whose mutilated body was found floating in the creek with his left hand hanging by a strand of skin and his skull split open with “some of his brains” washed away.

When she got word of the massacre, Julia Ward Howe’s own words reveal her to have been perversely thrilled and inspired by this grisly crime. The “terrible swift sword” in her song was terrible indeed, but hardly reflecting Christian values. Mrs. Howe and Brown mutually admired one another, as their own words demonstrate. Mrs. Howe wrote Brown was “a Puritan of Puritans, forceful, concentrated, and self-contained.” Brown wrote of Mrs. Howe, in a letter to a friend, that she was “a defiant little woman” and that her personality was “all flash and fire.” After the failure of Brown’s bloody raid on Harper Ferry, her husband, who was deeply involved in the treasonous conspiracy,  like a coward in the night, fled to Canada until he was assured he was safe from prosecution in Massachusetts.

Mrs. Howe, in a letter to her sister at the time, made it clear she was in complete sympathy with the attempt to start a slave rebellion in the South, and tear the nation apart. She wrote, “I have just been to church and hear [James Freeman] Clarke (another Unitarian minister) preach about John Brown, whom God bless, and will bless! I am much too dull to write anything good about him, but shall say something at the end of my book on Cuba; whereof I am at present correcting the proof-sheets. I went to see his poor wife, who passed through here some days since. We shed tears together and embraced at parting, poor soul… [Brown’s] attempt I must judge insane but the spirit heroic. I should be glad to be as sure of heaven as that old man may be, following right in the spirit and footsteps of the old martyrs, girding on his sword for the weak and oppressed. His death will be holy and glorious--the new saint awaiting his martyrdom, and who, if he shall suffer [execution], will make the gallows glorious like the cross.

What “martyrs” could Mrs. Howe have been speaking of in her letter? Surely she could not mean the early Christian martyrs who were slain in many perverse, cruel and cold-blooded ways by the ancient Romans, just as her hero, John Brown, slew the Southern martyrs in Kansas. Her fascination with his sword is also revealed in the letter. This grotesque and warped view of Christian values is reflected in her violent and bloody war song.

Here we have the author of the much revered “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” condoning murder and treason by a ruthless and brutal killer. Her dark fascination with Brown’s bloody sword and the killer’s unbridled violence seemed to thrill the diminutive author. Clearly, the seeds of inspiration for her “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” had been planted in the poisonous soil of murder, rebellion and treason.

But what was the final inspiration for the famous lyrics? In November 1861, after the start of the tragic war that the Howe’s had for so long worked to instigate, a party which included the Unitarian Rev. James F. Clarke and Mrs. Howe, visited an outpost of the invading Union troops in Northern Virginia. However an unexpected Confederate attacked cancelled the review. Mrs. Howe and her party were waiting in a buggy while Northern troops came marching by, returning from the skirmish. The camp visitors heard the Yankees merrily singing an obscene version of “John Brown’s Body.”

When the party returned to Washington, D.C., the Rev. Clarke asked Mrs. Howe if she could supply more dignified words for the popular tune. So, inspired by the memory of her late, “martyred hero” John Brown, and the skirmish that so rudely interrupted her review of her beloved invading Northern vandals, she wrote the words for the famous Anti-Southern abolitionist anthem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” by candlelight in the middle of the night at the Willard Hotel.

James T. Fields, the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, accepted the song and published it as a poem in the February 1862 issue. This bloody, hate-filled song has been marching on ever since. The “hymn” sung by so many church and school choirs, was inspired not by the Bible or a stirring religious sermon, but by a dastardly killer, John Brown, and by the march of Northern invaders trampling over Southern soil, Southern lives and Southern rights, in quest of subjugating or killing the Southern people. And what horrible crime was the South guilty of to warrant its extermination?

The people of the South were guilty only of wanting independence for a government of their own choosing, a pro-Christian, God-based government that safeguarded states’ rights, individual liberty and put strict limits on the national government. This was the type of government the founders established in 1776, and the South was trying to preserve it as handed to them.

It was Abraham Lincoln, who is said to have cried the first time he heard the abolitionist war song, and radicals like Mrs. Howe who were the real revolutionaries. It was their forces who, by brute force of arms, destroyed the original voluntary union of sovereign, independent states at the cost of 620,000 dead Americans, and changed the nations into an involuntary union of defeated, militarily occupied, captive states.

In 1863, Mrs. Howe recited, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at a gathering of fanatical abolitionists. One of those who saw and heard her commented that she had a “weird penetrating voice.” Considering the bloody, ungodly history of her war song, what a chilling experience that must have been.

In summary, here is a “hymn” celebrating the killing of Southerners on Southern soil, written by someone involved in the most radical causes or her day, who supported the most extreme and violent response to the South, who wrote the song after being inspired by the murderous career of John Brown and her northern vandal invaders of the South. Whenever “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is played, five innocent men hacked to death by the “terrible swift sword” of John Brown should be remembered. It is also a dirge for the 620,000 Americans who died in the War for Southern Independence and which war transformed America into a despotic centralized state with practically unlimited powers.

What meaning does the song have for the South today?

It is, in effect, a "stealth" heritage attack. It is conditioning Southerners to accept the Yankee myth of history: that their Confederate ancestors were wrong, and their Northern “betters” were right and they should be glad 260,000 Southrons were slaughtered in the War for Southern Independence. The message of the song is, “Believe in Mrs. Howe’s almighty centralized government to tell you what is right and what is wrong.” Don’t listen to the founders of 1776 or 1861, is the message of this hymn. Yes, Mrs. Howe’s abolitionist hymn is still doing her work, quietly and covertly, of destroying Southern heritage by conditioning Southerners to accept her fanatically leftist cultural and religious philosophy.

How ironic that such a joyous traditional Southern song as “Dixie” is now all but banned throughout the South, while a vicious Anti-Southern war song such as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is sung by churches and patriotic ceremonies all over the Confederate states.

What meaning does it have for the Church?

Did Jesus Christ teach that God is a vengeance seeking, sword-wielding maniac that slaughters innocents and tramples people under His wrathful feet, as Mrs. Howe’s violent and bloody lyrics would have you believe? No, such lyrics don’t fit in with any Christian liturgy I’m familiar with. They do fit in the theology of radical egalitarianism which says everyone must be equal in all aspects of life, or the full force and power of the federal government will destroy you. It also fits in the philosophy of giving to the government god-like powers to declare a whole segment of humanity as non-persons, such as the unborn, who can then be legally slaughtered by the millions at the whim of the mother and abortionist.

If Americans truly care about individual liberty, limited, constitutional government, and the sacred right of self-government of the people in their assembled states, then all such false icons as “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” must be exposed and rejected.