CALCASIEU GREYS - August 2013

NEXT MEETING

      Then next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13, at Logan’s Road House on Highway 14 in Lake Charles. Andy and Jonathan Buckley will present the program on the Alf Johnson Spy Company. See the story below for more details. Come enjoy a good program and great Confederate fellowship.

Historical Marker Alf Johnson Spy Company near St Charles, Arkansas on the White River: the location of a spy company 

August 13 Program

Logan’s Road House

Dr. Andy Buckley and Jonathan Buckley will present the program entitled

“The Exploits of the Alf Johnson Spy Company, Parson’s Texas Calvary in Arkansas.”

Spy companies in CSA cavalry regiments were the long range reconnaissance patrollers and were quite effective in gathering information and destroying enemy patrols and garrisons. The Alf Johnson Spy Company was organized at McKinney, Texas, and deployed from September 1862-January of 1863 in Arkansas to keep the enemy out of Texas. Many of the members of the Alf Johnson Company were captured at Arkansas Post in January 1863. The enlisted prisoners were sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago where many died and bodies sold to the adjacent Medical School. The prisoners were exchanged at Richmond, Virginia the following May and sent to Cleburne’s Division, Granbury's Texas Brigade, General Bragg's Army of Tennessee then near Tullahoma. Those of the Texas Spy Company served the remainder of the war with the Army of Tennessee and surrendered in North Carolina. They participated in all the momentous battles from May 1863 till the end of the war.

CAMP MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2013

          Please see the list below for meeting dates and places for 2013. The restaurants have been contacted and their calendars marked accordingly. Meetings last from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

         Logan’s Road House (Lake Charles) August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers).

         Pitt Grill (Sulphur) -  September 10, November 12 (elect officers).

         The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.

CAMP NEWS

      NEXT GUN Show

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

150^th Anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass       Free parking and shuttle service at Sabine Pass High School Stadium.
Saturday 9-7-13 
9:00 Gates open to the public 
10:00 Court Martial & Execution
11:00 150th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony
2:00 Battle: Union Attack & Occupation of Sabine City 
3:00 Jed Marum in Concert
Sunday 9-8-13 
9:00 Gates open to the public 
9:00 Church Service
10:00 Court Martial & Execution
11:00 Jed Marum in Concert
2:00 Battle: Union attack on the Garrison at Sabine City

Membership Renewal Notices       

The MRS notices were delayed this year but have now been sent out. As directed, please send the dues directly to our camp adjutant, Luke Dartez. His address and the return envelope are included. Keep the top section for your records and the Dues Notice and  Optional Giving go with the return envelope to Luke. Please get your dues paid as soon as possible.

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

118^th Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion

Vicksburg, Mississippi

            VICKSBURG, Miss—Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 was represented at the 118^th annual Reunion of the Sons of Confederate Veterans by compatriots Mike Bergeron and Mike Jones. After the opening ceremony, SCV Executive Director Ben C. Sewell, III, reported that national membership in the organization stands at over 29,000, as of the Reunion. The Convention also adopted a budget for Fiscal Year 2013, totaling $1,118,000. The budget is balanced.

            R. Michael Givens, commander-in-chief, gave an opening address outlining Vision 2016, a new program now being unwrapped and put into place that has of goal of 50,000 members of the organization by the year 2016. He said the program involves each level of the organization, the local camps, to state division to the National Headquarters. He said it is a scientifically planned program that has worked for many organizations, businesses and even governments. Mark Simpson of South Carolina gave additional details. He said the program has worked for his family business and is proven to work when followed. Simpson said it will put the SCV on the road to sustained growth, trained leadership and will proclaim to the world the truth of our Confederate Heritage.

            Former Commander-In-Chief Chuck McMichael of Shreveport gave an update on the Confederate Museum planned for the SCV National Headquarters at Elm Springs, Columbia, Tennessee. He encouraged all compatriots to give to this project since no other museum can be relied on to tell the truth of the Confederate soldier and the War for Southern Independence. He pointed out the SCV will be in total control over how our story is told. He said a new fund raising drive is ready to raise the funds needed to begin construction on the museum.

            Commander Givens also unveiled a new advertisement that will tell the truth about General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who has been slandered by various modern political groups and politicians, especially in Memphis, Tennessee where the city council illegally tried to change the name of Forrest Park.

            At the Army of the Trans-Mississippi meeting, former Texas Division Commander Granvel Block gave an update on the Confederate Flag Memorial in Orange, Texas. He said that progress is being made in spite of harassment from the Orange city government. Block noted the concrete base has been poured, the grass mowed and flag poles are being installed. He said they are now looking for a contractor for an 18 space parking lot.

            The 118^th Reunion was harmonious, encouraging and a great success.

A CONFEDERATE CATECHISM

[The following was excerpted from A Confederate Catechism by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Third Edition, Nov. 21, 1929.]

Did the South fight for the overthrow of the United States Government?No. The South fought to establish its own government. Secession did not destroy the Union, but merely reduced its territorial extent. The United States existed when there were only thirteen states, and it would have existed when there were twenty states left. The charge brought by Lincoln that the aim of the Southerners was to overthrow the government was no more true than if King George III had said that the secession of the American colonies from Great Britain had in view the destruction of the British Government. The government of Great Britain was not destroyed by the success of the American States in 1783. Nor would the government of the United States have been destroyed if the Southern states had succeeded in repelling the attacks of the North in 1861-1865What did the South fight for?IT FOUGHT TO REPEL INVASION AND FOR SELF GOVERNMENT, JUST AS THE FATHERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAD DONE. Lincoln himself confessed at first that he had no constitutional right to make war against a state, so he resorted to the subterfuge of calling for troops to suppress “combinations” of persons in the Southern States “too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary” processes. It is impossible to understand how the Southern States could have proceeded in a more regular and formal manner than they did to show they acted a states and not as mere “combinations.” It shows the lack of principle that characterized Lincoln when later he referred to the Southern States as “insurrectionary States.”
Did the South in firing on Fort Sumter begin the war? No. Lincoln began the war by secretly attempting to land troops at Fort Pickens in Florida in violation of a truce existing between the Federals and the Confederates at that place. This was long before Fort Sumter was fired on, and Fort Sumter was fired on only after Lincoln had sent an armed squadron to supply and strengthen that Fort. Even supposing that the action of the Confederates in firing on the Fort was unjustifiable, Lincoln was not bound to treat it as a gauge of battle. He knew that all the Confederates wanted was a fort that commanded the Metropolitan city of Charleston – a fort which had been erected for the defense of that city. He knew that they had no desire to engage in a war with the United States. Not every hostile act justifies war, and in the World War this country submitted to having its flag filled full of holes and scores of its citizens destroyed before it went to war. Lincoln, without any violation of its views of government, had an obvious alternative in putting the question of war up to Congress, where it belonged under the Constitution. But he did not do it and assumed the powers of Congress in making laws and enforcing them as an executive. By his mere authority, he enormously increased the Federal army, blockaded Southern ports, and declared Southern privateersmen to be pirates.

Museum of the Confederacy's future threatened
by de-consolidation plans

The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond holds the world's finest collection of Confederate art and artifacts; its future is in serious doubt. If rumored changes come to pass the MOC's collection as well as the historic White House of the Confederacy which it owns and manages, may simply cease to exist.  Right now, some in the MOC leadership have cooked up a plan to distribute the MOC's incredible collection among several different Richmond-area groups. Included in that list are the Virginia Historical Society and the historic site at Tredegar Iron Works. Neither of these can be considered Confederate-friendly. The Museum of the Confederacy holds an important trust as the repository of the world's finest collection of Confederate memorabilia. Recent reports from well-informed sources indicate that the museum's leadership is rapidly moving forward with a plan which, in addition to dispersing the collection, will also sell its building in downtown Richmond.  Once the collection is relocated and the building sold, the now-nearby White House of the Confederacy will be isolated in an urban canyon surrounded by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and virtually lost to tourist traffic. To think that it will be able to sustain itself financially in that condition is difficult to imagine.  I'm writing to you because we need to act quickly.  The SCV strongly opposes this plan and is actively urging the Museum of the Confederacy board to reconsider. While no doubt well-intentioned, this course of action will seriously jeopardize the integrity of this collection which is so important to our Southern heritage.  Generations of Southerners, including many of the veterans themselves, contributed a king's ransom to the Museum of the Confederacy in the form of priceless antiques, family heirlooms, and relics of the Confederate cause of incalculable value. They made these contributions with the express intent that these antiquities would be carefully preserved and honorably displayed. That's how the Museum of the Confederacy's collection grew to be the trustee of the single largest collection of the treasures of the late Confederacy. To scatter these precious treasures across several venues and organizations will permanently diminish its importance.  The Museum of the Confederacy is technically owned by the Confederate Memorial & Literary Society and is a private organization. They are under no obligation to listen to the SCV or to take advice from anyone. But, we believe they are reasonable people who by and large want to do the best they can under the circumstances.

BE A MUSEUM FOUNDER

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

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

       The General Executive Council of the Sons of Confederate Veterans  made the commitment in October of 2008 to start the process to erect a new building that will have two purposes. One of the uses of this new building will be to give us office space and return Elm Springs to its original grandeur. However the main function is to house The Confederate Museum. We are planning a museum that will tell the truth about what motivated the Southern people to struggle for many years to form a new nation.  At the SCV Reunion in July of 2009 the GEC set up a building fund for this purpose. One of the goals is to provide an accurate portrayal of the common Confederate soldier, something that is currently absent in most museums and in the media.

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

Send checks to:

Sons of Confederate Veterans

c/o TCM Building Fund

P.O. Box 59

Columbia, TN 38402

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

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

CONFEDERATE OF THE MONTH

Pvt. Wesley Culp, 2nd Virginia Infantry
Kiled in Action at the Battle of
Gettysburg, Pa. July 3, 1863.

        

CALCASIEU GREYS - JULY, 2013

NEXT MEETING

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

CAMP MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2013

         Please see the list below for meeting dates and places for 2013. The restaurants have been contacted and their calendars marked accordingly. Meetings last from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Amazen Seafood Restaurant (Lake Charles) June 11, August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers).
Pitt Grill (Sulphur) -  July 9, September 10, November 12 (elect officers).
The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.        

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Progress of SCV ORANGE FLAG MEMORIAL

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

 

BE A MUSEUM FOUNDER

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

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

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

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

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

Send checks to:

Sons of Confederate Veterans

c/o TCM Building Fund

P.O. Box 59

Columbia, TN 38402

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

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

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

CALCASIEU GREYS -- June, 2013

NEXT MEETING

      Then next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Amazen Seafood Restaurant, 339 Prien Lake Road, Lake Charles.

Our guest speaker will be former Texas Division SCV Commander Granvel Block, who will give us an update on the I-10 Confederate Memorial Plaza in Orange. Please make plans to attend this important and entertaining meeting.

CAMP MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2013

          Please see the list below for meeting dates and places for 2013. The restaurants have been contacted and their calendars marked accordingly. Meetings last from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

          Amazen Seafood Restaurant (Lake Charles) June 11, August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers).

           Pitt Grill (Sulphur) -  July 9, September 10, November 12 (elect officers).

           The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.        

Commander’s Comments

     Well we had another beautiful month in which to honor our ancestors. The good lord has surely blessed us all not with just the weather, but a wonderful organization to be a part of, all of our compatriots with like minds, and of course by giving us the brave men and women who fought for the ideal of equality, and to right the wrongs of a government run amok.
       We have several things happening this month, our celebration and re-dedication at our Confederate monument, and the most important part the placing of the flags on our heroes resting places. To me that is the least we can do these people who fought and died trying to preserve a way of life and freedom that they were entitled to. We have sent out a schedule of the activities and times for our Memorial Day festivities. We will need all the help we can get with the flags if you can be of any assistance please let me or Luke know so we can get the job done as quickly as possible.
    We also have the State convention this month I hope many of you can make it, It will be in Ruston this year, If you need more information it will be brought up at our next meeting. I was ask by Ted Brode if we could have the next one in the Lake Charles area, It would be a lot of work and will require everyone's help, but I think we could do it up nicely. This will be a topic for discussion at the next meeting.
   We had a cleanup day at Burr's Ferry this weekend many camps were there and when we left, the park looked really good. A big thanks to Al Cochran and Jim Ross, for their help
    Our next meeting will be at Amazen Seafood in Lake Charles on the 11th of June. The meeting will start at 6:30. I am hoping to have Granvel Block as our quest speaker, He is a Texas Commander and the one responsible for the flags to be put up in Orange along I-10.  Hope to see you at the placing of the flags
Best regards.

Archie Toombs, Cmdr. Camp 1390

CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY

June 3

The schedule for decorating Confederate Veteran’s graves and the wreath dedication at our Confederate Monument, “The South’s Defenders,” at the courthouse, is as follows:

Friday, May 31 -    “west of the river” –   (beginning @ 7:30 a.m.)

(1) Big Woods Cemetery

(2) Antioch Cemetery (adjacent to Big Wood) (3) Nibletts Bluff Cemeter

(4) Farquar Cemetery

(5) Dutch Cove Cemetery

Saturday, June 1-     “east of the river”-(beginning @ 5:30 p.m.) - Dedication at the Monument, followed by placing flags at the following cemeteries:

(1) Orange Grove Cemetery

(2) Sallier Cemetery

(3) Catholic Cemetery

(4) Corporate Cemetery

(5) Bilbo Cemetery

Shelby Wolfe, center, received the first annual

Benjamin Warren Burns Scholarship at the 

May meeting of Capt. J. W. Bryan Camp 1390

At left is Charles Richardson and left, Andy

Buckley, members of the scholarship committee.

           FIRST BURNS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED

          Shelby Wolfe of Grand Chenier was presented the first Benjamin Warren Burns Scholarship by Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of Confederate Veterans  at its May meeting.

           The annual scholarship is for $500 per semester. Shelby is a history major at McNeese State University.

           The scholarship is named in honor of the late Benjamin Warren Burns of Lake Charles. He was a longtime member of Camp 1390

John Burleson, living historian, gave an excellent program on the Confederate Navy at the May Meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390.

A CONFEDERATE CATECHISM

[The following was excerpted from A Confederate Catechism by Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Third Edition, Nov. 21, 1929.]

What was the cause of secession in 1861?

It was the fact that the Union consisted from the first two jarring nations having different interests, which were brought to the breaking point in 1861 by the intemperate agitation in the North against everything Southern. The breaking point was nearly reached in 1785 when the North sought to stop the development of the South by giving the Mississippi River to Spain, in 1801 when it attempted the immoral act of turning the presidential ticket upside down and making Aaron Burr President, and in 1833 went it imposed upon the South a high protective tariff for the benefit of Northern manufacturers. The breaking point was finally reached in 1861, when after unmitigated abuse of the South, a strictly Northern President was elected by strictly Northern votes upon a platform which repudiated the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States authorizing Southerners to carry their slaves into the territories. This decision gave no material advantage to slavery, as none of the remaining territorial domain was in any way fit for agriculture, but the Southerners resented the attitude of Lincoln and his party as a challenge to their constitutional rights and as a determination on the part of the North to govern the Union thereafter by virtue of a mere numerical majority. The literature of those times shows that such mutual and mortal hatred existed as, in the language if Jefferson, “to render separation preferable to eternal discord.” The choice was between remaining in such a Union of hate, and seceding. There was no real peace, and the South seceded because it wanted peace and not strife or war.

WHO WAS LYON GARDINER TYLER?

Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853-1935), author of A Confederate Catechism,  was the son of President John Tyler and First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler, born at Sherwood Forest Plantation. He graduated in 1875 at the University of Virginia. From 1888 to 1919, he served as the 17th president of the College of William and Mary (W&M), and is widely credited for restoring the college's financial condition following the deterioration which took place in the wake of the War for Southern Independence. During his presidency, he opened the college to women, established it as a state-funded institution, and founded the William and Mary Quarterly, now a highly respected history journal. During his lifetime, he published a number of works documenting his family's history, supporting his father's administration, and promoting new interpretations of Virginia history during the Federal period. Tyler was a meticulous researcher and prolific author, using primary source materials to generate detailed portraits of history.

New Book

The Vicksburg 28^th/29^th Louisiana Infantry

The Vicksburg 28th/29th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was involved in the 1862-63 defense of the "Gibraltar of the Mississippi," Vicksburg, from the first attack by the Union fleet of Admiral Farragut, to the final siege by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The regiment had its finest hour in the war during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. on Dec. 28, 1862, when it was compared to the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae in Ancient Greece, for holding off an enemy force many times its size. The regiment was made up of men from throughout Louisiana who endured incredible hardships and danger for their sacred cause of Southern Independence. Included in the book is a roster of the regiment, photographs, maps, footnotes, bibliography and index. The author, Michael Dan Jones, is the former Commander of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390, Sons of Confederate Veterans of Lake Charles, Louisiana. His camp is named in honor of the senior captain of the regiment, who was also the first Mayor of Lake Charles, Louisiana. The book, $16.95, is available on CreateSpace.com, Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

VICKSBURG HOSTS

LINCOLN EXHIBIT

Beginning Saturday and Sunday, May 25 & 26, 2013, and as part of Vicksburg National Military Park's Sesquicentennial commemoration, the park will host the traveling exhibit "Lincoln and the Constitution." The exhibit will be housed at Pemberton Headquarters, located at 1018 Crawford Street in downtown Vicksburg, and be on display to the public from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm each day. Beginning June 1, 2013, the exhibit can be seen daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm running through July 2013.

The exhibit was developed by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA, and has been circulating around the country under the sponsorship of the American Library Association. It depicts several themes including the Civil War as a constitutional crisis, secession, slavery, civil liberties, and Lincoln's legacy. Discussing the critical issues of the day, the exhibit highlights the ideals born from this conflict and how Lincoln sought to transmit these to future generations.

Admission to Pemberton Headquarters and the exhibit is free.  Admission to the Vicksburg National Military Park is $8.00 per personal vehicle, and all applicable Vicksburg and National Park Service annual passes are accepted. The park is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm daily and information regarding entrance fees or programs can be found on the park's website at www.nps.gov/vick or calling 601-636-0583.

CALCASIEU GREYS, May 2013

NEXT MEETING

      Then next meeting of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March. 14, at Pitt Grill, .2600 Ruth St. in  Sulphur. The program is tentatively slated to be on the Confederate States Navy.

CAMP MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2013

         Please see the list below for meeting dates and places for 2013. The restaurants have been contacted and their calendars marked accordingly. Meetings last from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Amazen Seafood Restaurant (Lake Charles) June 11, August 13, and October 8 (Nomination of officers).

Pitt Grill (Sulphur) -  May 14, July 9, September 10, November 12 (elect officers).

The camp Christmas party date would be December 10 with the location to be determined.

Cmdr. Archie Toombs
presenting donation from
Capt. J.W. Bryan Camp to
head of Niblett's Bluff Park
Commission for historic
preservation at the
April Spring Festival.
 

 

Commander’s Comments

      What a good month to be a Confederate. My month started at Pleasant Hill which was great, but next year will be the 150th and you don't want to miss it. It will be the biggest yet with more canons and more soldiers and, more chances to recruit new people. Some of you helped at the gun show that weekend a big thanks for the help. The next weekend I was in Palestine Texas  dedicating a new Confederate Memorial Plaza, They had a parade and a moving ceremony attended by a large crowd of our compatriots from Texas, Ariz, Ark and of course La. I'm sure there were other states present. I just didn't get a chance to meet them. Next we had Niblett’s Bluff. The weather was great and we had an excellent turnout. A big thanks to all the volunteers who helped make it a success. Next year at Niblett’s Bluff there will be a reenactment for the 150th.Last but by no means the least was being part of another Hunley Award presentation where Dr. Andy Buckley did a great job of presenting it. The little Lady that received it last year gave me a big hug and thanks again for the award, This is why we do this. It is for the young people so they might learn the real truth about the War of Northern Aggression.
      This month our guest speaker will be John R. Burleigh from Port  Neches, Texas.  He will speak on the Confederate Navy, He is one of the best in our area on the subject and really enjoys telling the facts.
      We need to keep Luke Dartez in our prayers. His wife Lizzy had to have emergency surgery on the 25^th. She is doing good but still needs all our thoughts and prayers.
       The next meeting will be May 14th at the Pitt Grill in Sulphur, The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Come enjoy a good meal and visit with people that think the way you do, Bring a friend who might be interested in learning something about the Confederate Cause.

Best regards.

Archie Toombs, Cmdr. Camp 1390

 

LOUISIANA CONFEDERATE HISTORY

MONTH PROCLAIMED

          Compatriot Alfred Cochran of Captain James W. Bryan Camp 1390 obtained a resolution proclaiming April as Confederate History and Heritage Month in Louisiana from Louisiana Senator Blade Morris of District 25.

       The resolution reads:

        Whereas, the people of our state are united by a common history of individual heritage and diverse cultures and out state and its parishes, municipalities, and communities are rich in history of the War Between the states; and

          Whereas, Louisiana has long recognized her Confederate history, the numerous civil war battlefields that mark every region of the state, the  leaders and individuals who fought for their homes and communities and the state in a time very different than ours today; and

          Whereas, Louisianans can appreciate the fact that when ultimately overwhelmed by the insurmountable numbers and resources of the Union Army, the surviving, imprisoned, and injured Confederate soldiers gave their word and allegiance to the United States of America, and returned to their homes and families to rebuild their communities in peace; and

            Whereas, it is important for all residents to reflect upon our state’s shared history, to understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers, and citizens during the period of the War Between the States, and to recognize how our history has led to our present; and

          Whereas, it is appropriate we honor those who served in the Confederate States of America and educate the general public on Confederate history; and

          Whereas, the  month of April bears special significance since it marks both the beginning of the War Between the States in 1861 and the end of the war in 1865.

         Therefore, Be It Resolved that April is hereby designated and recognized as “Confederate History and Heritage Month” and all residents are urged to increase their knowledge of the role played by the Confederate States of American in our country’s history.

[Signed]

Senator Blade Morrish, District 25

 

MEMORIES OF TOM BROOKS

By Mike Jones

       I recently received the sad news of the death, on March 28, 2013, of my old friend and co-author of Lee's Foreign Legion: A History of the 10th Louisiana Infantry, Thomas Walter Brooks of Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. While I live deep in rural South Louisiana and Tom lived in Canada, we became friends and correspondents through a mutual interest in the 10th Louisiana Infantry regiment. He belonged to the 10th Louisiana reenactment group and I was a descendant of one of the regiment's soldiers, Pvt. Armelin Linscombe of Co. K., and also a reenactor with the 28th Louisiana Infantry reenactment group.

       Tom loved doing historical research and so did I, so we collaborated through the mail on gathering information about the regiment with the hope of someday publishing a regimental history. I live in an area of Louisiana where Company K was raised, South Louisiana, and was made up mostly  of  Louisiana French natives. However most of the regiment was made up of foreigners, predominantly Irish and German but with many Canadians, Italians, Greeks, Spaniards and numerous other nationalities. We decided to name the book Lee's Foreign Legion in recognition of the diverse makeup of the regiment.

       While I found many photographs of soldiers of the regiment from descendants that I had met in the course of my research, Tom wrote the final draft, had the excellent maps made, did all the statistical analysis that makes the book unique, and most importantly, published the work on his own in 1995. The book never would have happened without Tom. He was a man that could get things done.

      I finally got to meet Tom in person at the 125th anniversary  reenactment of Gettysburg in 1988. I found him to be a fine man, honorable, serious and an all around good friend. We also reenacted together again at a reenactment of the Battle of Pleasant Hill in Louisiana, and the Battle of Murfreesboro reenactment in Tennessee. While we hadn't corresponded for years before his death, I have nothing but fond memories of this really good man and friend. God Bless You and Rest in Peace Tom!

 

Gen. Robert E. Lee, master-
mind of the brilliant Confederate
victory at Chancellorsville.

150-years –ago

THE CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN

(U.S. Army Center of Military History)

Chancellorsville, 27 April - 6 May 1863.

          In the East, during this period, Federal operations were directed by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, who replaced Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac on 25 January. Hooker effected some reorganization and by late April was ready to assume the offensive with about 134,000 men. Hooker's objective was to destroy Lee's army, about 60,000 strong, which was still holding Fredericksburg. To accomplish this he planned a double envelopment which could place strong Union forces on each of Lee's flanks. The Chancellorsville Campaign began, as planned, with the movement of five corps under Hooker up the Rappahannock and across the river to Chancellorsville, while two corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick crossed below Fredericksburg. Meanwhile Union cavalry made a diversionary raid in Lee's rear. Lee quickly became aware of Hooker 's intentions, and on 1 May boldly launched an attack toward Chancellorsville, leaving on a small force to defend Fredericksburg. In a brilliant display of generalship, Lee outflanked Hooker's force and kept it on the defensive. He also repulsed Sedgwick, who had taken Fredericksburg on 3 May and had advanced west, only to be driven northward across the Rappahannock on 5 May. Lee then turned his full attention to Chancellorsville, but Hooker withdrew his forces across the Rappahannock on 6 May before the Confederates could launch an assault. Federal casualties were 1,575 killed, 9,594 wounded, and 5,676 missing; Confederate casualties were 1,665 killed, 9,081 wounded, and 2,018 missing. Among the Confederate losses was Stonewall Jackson, who was mortally wounded on 2 May.

          Encouraged by the victory at Chancellorsville, Confederate authorities decided to attempt another invasion of the North. In early June Lee began moving his units up the Shenandoah and Cumberland Valleys into Pennsylvania, where he was forced by the exigencies of scanty supply to disperse his army over a broad area. Hooker had become aware of Lee's intentions by mid-June, and had promptly started north with his army, crossing the Potomac near Leesburg on 25-26 June. When Lee learned of this he ordered his army to concentrate at once between Cashtown and Gettysburg.

 

 

Cpl.  Isaac Reeves, left, killed at Gettysburg
and Sgt. James Reeves, killed at Chancellors-
ville, both of Lake Charles, Louisiana. They
served in Co. K, 10th La. Inf. (Courtesy of
Mrs. Anna Belle Reeves Morris)

        The Sad Story of the Reeves Brothers

[Excerpted from Lee's Foreign Legion: A History of the 10th Louisiana Infantry by Thomas Walter Brooks and Michael Dan Jones, 1995]

          The 10th Louisiana had participated in the days' brilliant victory [of May 2nd], but such success does not come without cost. The 2nd Louisiana Brigade of commander, Francis T. Nicholls, lost his left foot to a well aimed piece of Federal solid shot. The projectile  went clean through his horse, killing the animal instantly. Colonel Jesse Williams of the 2nd Louisiana took charge of the brigade. Lieutenant Colonel John Leggett, commanding the 10th, was cut almost in half by an artillery shell . He lingered long enough to beg forgiveness from his men for the rancor that existed between he and they. Major Henry Monier replaced Leggett to lead the 10th, only to be himself wounded the next day. Eighteen year old Private James Anderson, the color-bearer of record for the day, and ironically a Northerner as he was Ohio born, fell on the second.  Indeed, he was the first of a dozen men in the 10th who fell that day, and one the next, carrying the colors. War has an insatiable 
appetite for death.
           In addition to those already mentioned, twenty-four others in the 10th Louisiana were killed  or died of wounds at Chancellorsville. Six of them were Irish. Two, Michael Flannagan and William Buckley, were married.  Flannagan's widow was given his final account by the paymaster, and Buckley's widow Catherine received, in addition to that, a post-war land grant from the state of Louisiana. William Buckley was one of five men from the regiment who died at Chancellorsville, who were buried in Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery.
         Three Germans fell as well. The death of one of them, Frederick Sark [of Company K], was described by [First Lieutenant] Edward Seton in his letter home.
          "Poor Jim Reeves was killed [on May 3] to my left when I went to get his rifle to give to F. Sark whose gun would not fire and at that moment I was wounded and when I looked around to give Sark the gun I seen poor fellow he was killed also." Sark was 25-years-old.

          A Corsican, Jean Bremont, and an Italian, Josua Fumagalli were among the slain. The Frenchman Alphonse Jonte was killed as were two Virginians, Charles Cooper and Henry Fleshman. Six Louisianians died, and one Mississippian, he, the eldest of three Reeves brothers in Company 'K,' James. John Reeves, the younger brother of James, was shot and blinded in both eyes while fighting at his brothers side. To add more grief to the Reeves family already sorrowful circumstances, James Reeves' wife Tabitha died in childbirth. And that wasn't the  end of the misery either. Two months later, on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg, the third Reeves brother, Isaac [twin of John], was slain. In the early 1870s, Isaac Reeves' remains were disinterred from the pit in which he lay at Gettysburg, and re-buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, in a box (box 3-261) with the bones of dozens of other men.             

          The Reeves family of Lake Charles, Louisiana had nothing left to give to the cause. Three sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandchild had been taken in two short months.
          The 10th Louisiana went into battle with about 180 men. The total casualties suffered by the regiment at Chancellorsville, dead, wounded, and missing, totaled ninety-three.


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