COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

Author Bruce Catton once observed that, "There is nothing so
peaceful as a centuries old battlefield." This may indeed be
true,  but  actual  "fields  of  battle"  are  anything  but
peaceful.   There  exist  innumerable  historical references
detailing the cacophony of armed conflict which  took  place
during the War Between the States, with phrases such as "the
din of battle," "the deafening roar of  the  muskets,"  "the
thunder  of  the cannonade," and "the screams of the wounded
and  dying,"  none  of  which  do  justice  to  the   sounds
encountered during actual combat.                           

Of all the sounds of battle that filled the air from 1861 to
1865, none was more distinctive than what came to  be  known
as  "The  Rebel  Yell."  Officially  listed in The Civil War
Dictionary as "first heard at 1st Bull Run, it  was  one  of
the  most  effective  Confederate  weapons.   Described as a
high-pitched shout and supposed by some to be a variation of
the  Southern  fox  hunter's  cry, it invariably produced an
eerie feeling within the enemy lines."  I  submit  that  the
term  "eerie" is a gross understatement of the effect of the
Rebel Yell on Federal troops.                               

The Rebel Yell has been defined by no less an authority than
Douglas  Southall  Freeman  as,  "the  pibroch  of  Southern
fealty." A "pibroch"  is  a  musical  selection  most  often
reserved  for the bagpipe and usually martial in nature, and
"fealty" refers to absolute  loyalty.   It  was  most  often
heard  during  an  assault  by  Confederate  troops or as an
expression of victory in battle, but its  origins  have  for
years  been a point of some contention.  Most agree that the
Rebel Yell had its genesis in the pre-war  South,  but  just
where  is  a  mystery.   Hollering,  screaming or yelling to
persons or at livestock  on  plantations  and  farms  was  a
common  form  of  everyday communication, and along with the
accompanying reverberations from hilltops and across valleys
and  plains,  these  were  familiar  sounds  throughout  the
agricultural districts of the rural South which  could  have
easily  been adopted by soldiers communicating in the field.
Others theorize that the Yell originated on the hunt  fields
of  the  Old  Dominion,  as  Virginia gentlemen on horseback
communicated with the hounds or with each other while in hot
pursuit  of  the  fox.  A third theory is that the sound was
patterned after the war cries of frontier Indians, and still
another  argues  that  the Yell may actually have achieved a
paranormal quality when used in combat.  Credible scientific
sources  suggest  that  when  the combined psychic energy of
thousands of Confederate troops was directed at  a  specific
target or focused in a particular direction and given voice,
the resulting sound  exceeded  the  sum  if  its  parts  and
literally  took on a force or "life" of its own, becoming as
one observer put it, "the terrifying shriek of banshees."   

It is also reported that different  Confederate  armies  and
even  separate  units  had their own distinctive versions of
the Yell,  but  whatever  its  source,  rural  chatter,  fox
hunter's cry, Indian war-whoop, or banshee's scream, its use
and effect on the battlefield was undeniable to both  sides.
To   the   Federals   the  Rebel  Yell  became  a  dreadful,
demoralizing  and  awe-inspiring   phenomenon   that   could
literally  paralyze  troops  in their tracks.  More than one
Yankee correspondent  wrote  home  detailing  "that  shrill,
exultant,  savage,  nauseating scream, abundantly punctuated
by gunfire; more overpowering than the  cannon's  roar."  To
the  Confederates  however,  it  was  a  source of strength,
inspiration and pride.  On one occasion  during  the  Valley
Campaign while the Stonewall Brigade was in camp, one of its
five regiments began the Yell.  Soon another  regiment  took
it  up,  then another, and another until every member of the
entire Brigade was delivering the Yell at  the  top  of  his
lungs.  As the sound grew in intensity, General Jackson came
out of his tent,  leaned  on  a  fence  and  listened.   The
display  continued  for several minutes and then began dying
away.  When the last echo had reverberated across  the  Blue
Ridge, Stonewall turned back toward his tent and said, "That
was the sweetest music I ever heard."                       

During the horrors of the fighting in  the  Wilderness,  the
Rebel  Yell  echoed time and again across the field, filling
the vastly outnumbered Southern troops with  renewed  energy
and  determination.   "Confident  and rejoicing, they raised
the Rebel Yell in Anderson's Corps and it took up along  the
whole  line.   At  a  given  point, one could hear it on the
right, then in front and then dying away in the distance  on
the  left.   Again  the  shout arose on the right - again it
rushed down upon us from a distance of perhaps two  miles  -
again  we caught it and flung it joyously to the left, where
it ceased only when the last post had huzzahed.  The  effect
was  beyond  expression.  It seemed to fill every heart with
new life, to inspire every  nerve  with  might  never  known
before.  Men seemed fairly convulsed with fierce enthusiasm;
and I believe that if at that instant  the  advance  of  the
whole  army  upon  Grant  could have been ordered, we should
have swept him into the very Rappahannock."                 

But as awe inspiring and unnerving as the  Yell  was  during
the  day,  imagine  if  you will the absolute terror it must
have engendered in the dark.  To  the  Federals,  the  sound
made  by  thousands  of Confederate voices raising the Rebel
Yell  in  unison  must  have  been  a  thing   terrible   to
contemplate in total darkness when the imagination is primed
to conjure all manner of  demonic  fantasies.   "Then  arose
that do-or-die expression, that maniacal maelstrom of sound;
that penetrating, rasping, shrieking,  blood-curdling  noise
that  could  be heard for miles and whose volume reached the
heavens - such an expression as  never  yet  came  from  the
throats of sane men, but from men whom the seething blast of
an imaginary hell would not check while the  sound  lasted."
The  sweetest music Stonewall Jackson ever heard was the cry
of Satanic legions to the Yankees.                          

It has been many years since the  last  of  the  Confederate
soldiers who once struck fear in the hearts of their enemies
passed away, but do their voices linger  still?   There  are
those  who  will  swear  that they do.  Since the end of the
War, visitors to numerous battlefields have reported hearing
the sounds of combat long past.including the Rebel Yell.  The
science of quantum mechanics postulates  that  all  time  is
"now,"   and   that   past,   present   and   future   exist
simultaneously.   Indeed,  there  is  a  palpable,  timeless
quality  to  a  battlefield,  as if once inside its confines
visitors have entered a world somewhere between  "then"  and
"now."  Perhaps  Joshua  Lawrence  Chamberlain, "the hero of
Little Round Top"  expressed  it  best.   "In  great  deeds,
something  abides.  On great fields, something stays.  Forms
change and pass, bodies disappear,  but  spirits  linger  to
consecrate  ground  for  the  vision  place  of souls." Much
ground  has  been  consecrated  with  the  blood  of   loyal
Confederates.   I have no doubt that their spirits do indeed
linger, as faithful in death as they were in life.          

So  the  next  time  you  have  the  occasion  to  visit   a
battlefield,  Chamberlain's "vision place of souls," pause a
moment to honor the memory of those who  fought  so  bravely
upon  that  hallowed ground, and to listen.just listen.  You
may find that you can actually hear the Rebel  Yell  echoing
through time.echoing on its way to infinity.                

Deo Vindice                             
					Harry

ADJUTANT'S REPORT

We  have   received   from   Headquarters   the   membership
certificate  of  Peyton  H.  Roden and plan to induct him at
our March 15  meeting.   Peyton's  great  grandfather  James
Benedict  Roden  served as a private in Company E of the 7th
Louisiana Volunteer Infantry.  Welcome,  Peyton,  and  thank
you,  Bobby  Williams  for  recommending our Camp to Peyton.
With Tim Edgell having rejoined  the  Camp  in  January  and
Clint  Cowardin  being  inducted  in  February,  we have now
reached the highest number of members  in  my  recollection,
which goes back to the 1980's.                              

Ken  Parsons  and  David Ware underwent surgery recently and
are recuperating at home.  We wish them a  speedy  recovery,
and we hope they'll soon be back with us.                   

Please consider giving your Ukrop's Golden Gift certificates
to  the  Longstreet  Camp.   Ukrop's  plans  to   mail   the
certificates  to  customers in May.  Our Camp meeting in May
will be on the 17th.  We will need  to  collect  them  then,
since  our  June  meeting will be after the deadline to turn
them in to Ukrop's.  Last year  we  made  donations  to  the
Museum  of  the Confederacy and to the Richmond Battlefields
Association with the money we received from Ukrop's for  the
certificates donated by our Camp members.                   

When   Robert   E.   Lee  Krick  spoke  to  our  Camp  about
Longstreet's staff, he told us that  two  of  the  General's
staff  members  are  buried  in Hollywood Cemetery in graves
which  have  no  markers.   Taylor   Cowardin   has   worked
diligently  with  Hollywood  Cemetery  to order the markers.
This will take several months.   Once  the  markers  are  in
place, we plan to have an appropriate ceremony.             

The  Museum  of  the  Confederacy exhibit on the Confederate
Navy  opens  March  8.   This  exhibit  has  some  wonderful
artifacts and is worthy of our support.                     

April  is  Confederate History Month.  The Virginia Division
's Capital of the Confederacy Memorial March  down  Monument
Avenue  begins  at 2:00 PM Saturday April 2.  The remains of
four  Confederate  soldiers  will  be  buried  at  Hollywood
Cemetery  at  the  conclusion  of  the march.  If you're not
marching, come on out to applaud those who are.             

On Saturday April 9 John Coski  will  be  signing  his  book
about  the  battle  flag  at  the  Museum of the Confederacy
between noon and 5:00 PM.  He will give a short gallery talk
around 3:00 PM.                                             

It  looks  like  there's  something  to do every Saturday in
April.  On the 16th  Longstreet  members  are  requested  to
assemble  at  Enon Church, Studley Road (Route 606), Hanover
County, at 10:00 AM to clean up our one mile segment of that
road.   Lewis Mills heads up this worthwhile effort and will
provide trash bags  and  blaze  orange  vests.   We  usually
finish in about two hours.  That time could be reduced if we
had a few more volunteers.  Come on out and lend a hand.    

Just as President Harry Truman, President Dwight Eisenhower,
and  General  (and later Secretary of State and Secretary of
Defense) George C.  Marshall held General Robert E.  Lee  in
the highest regard, we need to be proud of our ancestors who
served in the Confederate  Army,  Navy,  and  Marine  Corps.
General  Lee would be the first to acknowledge that his Army
could have achieved nothing without the valiant  efforts  of
his  loyal soldiers.  Let's hold our heads higher than usual
in their memory during this historic month.                 

				Walter Tucker

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
NEXT MEETING-TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005

(The New) ROMA'S RESTAURANT 
8330 STAPLES MILL RD.
LOCATED IN "THE SHOPS AT STAPLES MILL"
TURN LEFT AT FIRST STOPLIGHT NORTH OF
THE WISTAR SHOPPING CENTER

DINNER- SOCIAL 6:00 PM

MARCH PROGRAM

Our speaker for March will be Tom D.  Perry.  Mr.  Perry  is
the  founder  of  the J.E.B.  Stuart Birthplace Preservation
Trust at Laurel Hill and he will talk to  us  about  General
Stuart and his last ride at Yellow Tavern.                  

Be  sure to attend and bring a guest if possible.  You don't
want to miss this presentation about the  man  who  was  not
only  Lee's  "eyes,"  but  also  the dashing cavalier of the
South, as so aptly portrayed in Heros von  Borcke's  Memoirs
of the Confederate War for Independence.                    

We,  at  Longstreet,  have  a special interest in this great
warrior's life since his direct descendants, JEB Stuart  IV,
V  and  VI,  are  members  of  our Camp, so let's have a big
turnout on the 15th!                                        

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

The Reverend  Deron  Jackson,  Pastor  of  Heritage  Baptist
Church, gave an enthusiastic talk about Stonewall Jackson at
our February meeting, focusing on the man, rather  than  the
soldier.                                                    

Thomas  J.   Jackson  was  born  January 24, 1824, the third
child of Jonathan and Julia Neale Jackson.  Jonathan  was  a
poor  money  manager  and had to sell land to pay his debts.
Jonathan and Elizabeth died, leaving the widow Julia at  the
age of 28 with a new-born baby and two other children aged 5
and 2.                                                      

Julia married Blake Woodson, 48 years  old,  who  had  eight
children  of  his  own.  Woodson blamed Julia's children for
that family's predicament.  Her children, Thomas and  Laura,
were  sent  to live with their uncle Cummins Jackson.  Three
months later, they visited their dying mother.              

Thomas worked with horses and in the mill.  He  became  very
quiet  and  self-reliant.   He  loved reading.  He was by no
means brilliant, but would never give up until his task  was
accomplished.                                               

Uncle  Cummins  Jackson  was convicted of counterfeiting and
moved to California.                                        

As a boy, Thomas became friends with Joseph Lightburn, whose
family  had  a  sizeable  library,  from  which Thomas could
borrow books.  He acquired a Bible.  He believed in the hope
and  love  in  the  New Testament, and as a soldier in later
life fought his battles as an Old Testament warrior.        

Thomas became a county constable, serving legal  papers  and
pursuing debtors.                                           

In 1842, Thomas was crushed when Gibson Butcher received the
appointment to the U.  S.  Military Academy at  West  Point.
Joseph  Lightburn  was  also  a  candidate.  Butcher decided
quickly that West Point wasn't for him.  He  returned  home,
telling  his  friend Thomas Jackson that the appointment was
open.   Jackson   visited   Congressman   Samuel   Hays   in
Washington,  taking  with him letters of recommendation from
13 local businessmen.  He got the appointment.              

Jackson had to appear before  an  examining  board  at  West
Point.   His  grimace  at  the  oral examination looked like
someone passing a kidney stone.                             

He was regarded as the worst driller in his class.  By  hard
work he raised himself to 13th in his graduating class.     

Jackson  was  fearless on the battlefield in Mexico.  He got
into  a  heated  dispute  in  the  post-war  Army  with  his
commanding  officer,  William  French.   Through  his friend
Daniel Harvey Hill, he learned of  a  teaching  position  at
VMI,  which  he  took  in  1851,  leaving  the Army.  He was
considered a boring instructor, memorizing his lectures.  If
a student asked a question, he would go back and repeat from
the beginning.                                              

His Christianity was the  core  of  his  being.   His  faith
sustained him through a series of tragedies.  Jackson formed
an all black Sunday school class in Lexington.  Wanting  his
students  to  be  able  to read the Bible, he taught them to
read, which was illegal.  He said that he felt  as  safe  in
battle as in bed, because God had fixed his time.  He had no
fear at the time of his death.                              

Jackson was the executor of what Lee wanted  done.   Jackson
could  see  things  that others couldn't.  Henry Kyd Douglas
said that it took Gettysburg to convince  Lee  that  Jackson
was  really  dead.  Sandie Pendleton lamented at Gettysburg,
"Oh for the presence of Jackson for one hour." A Baltimorean
said,  "Oh what a battle must have been raging in heaven for
an archangel to have need Stonewall Jackson."               

Our  speaker  recommended  Bud  Robertson's   biography   of
Stonewall Jackson as the best.                              


                         Walter Dunn Tucker

2003-2004 CAMP OFFICERS
LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
Commander: Harry Boyd                 741-2060
1st. Lt. Cmdr.: Taylor Cowardin       356-9625
2nd Lt. Cmdr.: Michael Kidd	      270-9651
Adjutant/Treasurer: Walter Tucker     360-7247
Quartermaster: R. Preston Nuttall     276-8977
Chaplain: Henry V. Langford           340-8948

PUBLICATIONS
Webmaster: Gary F. Cowardin           262-0534
Website: longstreetscv.org                    
War Horse:  David P. George           353-8392

LONGSTREET'S FIRST CORPS

The following is a cumulative listing of contributors to the
upkeep  of  “The  Old  War  Horse” for the period July, 2004
through  the  current  month. As you  know,  our  cumulative
listing starts in July of each year.                        

Ben Baird
Lloyd Brooks
Phil Cheatham
John Coski §
Brian Cowardin*
Gary Cowardin*
Ron Cowardin*
Taylor Cowardin
Raymond Crews*
Lee Crenshaw
John Deacon*
Jerold Evans
Pat Hoggard*
Charles Howard 
Chris Jewett
Jack Kane*
Michael Kidd
Ann Lauterbach +
Frank Marks
Lewis Mills
Conway Moncure
Jerry Morris
Joe Moschetti
Richard Mountcastle
Ken Parsons
Norman Plunkett §*
Bill Setzer
Will Shumadine
Austin Thomas
Walter Tucker*
John Vial
David Ware
Hugh Williams

Legend:                                  
* - Multiple contributions                 
§ - Visitor Donation                       
+ - in memory of Past Cmdr. Tom Lauterbach 

THE STATE OF THE CONFEDERACY

2005 SCV-VIRGINIA DIVISION CONVENTION
REGISTRATION FORM

ANOTHER NEW COMPATRIOT!!

1ST Lt. COMMANDER TAYLOR SWEARS IN
HIS UNCLE, CLINT COWARDIN

OUR HARD-WORKING ADJUTANT, WALTER
TUCKER, PRESENTS CLINT WITH HIS CERTIFICATE

Another milestone for Longstreet as the fifth member of  the
Cowardin family joins our Camp!!                            

We  wonder  if  Taylor  has  anyone left to recruit?  He has
really done a great job and we are  proud  of  him  and  his
family of Longstreeters.                                    

Think about your own family and the possible recruits in it.
Bring a relative to a Camp meeting and  let  him  experience
the fellowship that we enjoy, the excellent speakers that we
have and  the  great  facilities  and  food  that  the  Roma
provides.                                                   

Do  your  part  to help us preserve and protect our Southern
heritage and history.  Remember, the battle is not over!    

Modern history courses teach little about  the  War  Between
the  States or, for that matter, the American Revolution and
the founding of our country.  Even the two great World  Wars
and  other  conflicts  in  which  we  have been involved are
sparingly covered, as are the great heroes and  heroines  of
our Country's past.                                         

If  we don't increase the awareness of this glorious past in
the minds of those with whom we come in  contact,  then  it,
which  is  already  but  dimly  remembered  by so many, will
finally be laid to rest and forever forgotten.              

				Dave George

ODDS OF THE DRAW!


Pat Hoggard presents the monthly prize to David  Ware,  Jr.,
seated next to his wife, Sherron.                           

The  monthly collection at each of our meetings provides for
the yearly presentation from our Buck Hurt Memorial Fund  of
an  educational  college  supplement  for  the Honor History
student at Douglas Southall Freeman High school.            

The Great Seal of the Confederate
States of America


In April  1863,  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States
commissioned the design of a Great Seal for the new nation's
official documents.  Since there were no  die  engravers  in
the  Confederacy (and thus no Confederate coins) the project
was  assigned  to  James  M.    Mason,   the   Confederacy's
diplomatic  representative in London.  Mason contracted with
J.  H.  Foley, a British  sculptor,  and  Joseph  H.   Wyon,
Chief Engraver to Her Majesty's Seals, to design and produce
the seal.                                                   

The seal's design features an equestrian  statue  of  George
Washington  which  stands  in  Washington  (Capitol) Square,
Richmond, Virginia.  The surrounding wreath  represents  the
major  agricultural  products  of  the  South: cotton, corn,
sugarcane, wheat, rice and tobacco.  The  date  of  February
22,  1862,  signifies  the  first session of the Confederate
Congress as well as the anniversary of  Washington's  birth.
The  Latin  motto, "Deo Vindice" means "God will Judge." The
original seal was sterling silver, measured 3 1/2 inches  in
diameter, and cost $700.                                    

The seal and press were shipped from England through Halifax
to Bermuda in the care of  Lieutenant  Robert  T.   Chapman,
CSN.   Lt.   Chapman  made  four attempts to run the Federal
Naval blockade before  finally  reaching  Wilmington,  North
Carolina,  with  the seal.  Due to its weight, the press was
left behind in Bermuda.                                     

In August 1864, sixteen months  after  the  seal  was  first
commissioned,  it  finally  reached  Judah P.  Benjamin, the
Confederate Secretary of State, in Richmond.  When  Richmond
fell the in Spring of 1865, Secretary Benjamin gave the seal
to a State Department clerk, William J.  Bromwell.  Bromwell
managed  to  convey  the  seal  and the Department's records
safely through the Union lines to Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 1872 Bromwell sold the records in his keeping to  the  U.
S.   Government for $75,000 and gave the seal to his lawyer,
Colonel J.  T.  Pickett, as a  reward  for  negotiating  the
transaction.    Pickett  sold  electroplate  copies  of  the
original seal to benefit Confederate widows and orphans.  He
later gave the seal to Lieutenant Thomas O.  Selfridge, USN,
who had aided  in  the  Government  purchase  of  Bromwell's
records.                                                    

The seal remained in Selfridge's possession until 1912, when
it  was  sold  for  $3,000  to  three   prominent   Richmond
businessmen:  Eppa Hunton, Jr., William H.  White and Thomas
P.  Bryan.  The seal  was  donated  to  the  Museum  of  the
Confederacy in Richmond, where it remains today.            

Meanwhile,  the  Victorian  press  which  Lt.   Chapman  had
brought from England in 1864 never left  Bermuda.   In  1888
John  S.   Darrell,  who had purchased the press at auction,
had a brass copy of the seal made by the original  engravers
in  London.   Darrell's  press and copy of the seal are in a
private collection on the Island.  A copy of the seal and  a
Victorian seal press were obtained by the Bermuda Press Ltd.
in 1959.  On permanent loan to the Bermuda  National  Trust,
this  press  and seal are now on display at the Globe Hotel,
once the headquarters of the Confederate agent  in  Bermuda,
Major Norman S.  Walker, CSA.                               

		        Pamphlet of The  Bermuda National Trust,
		           Hamilton, Bermuda

ONLY A PRIVATE
Only a private! His jacket of gray
	Is stained by the smoke and the dust;
As Bayard he's brave, as Rupert he's gay,
Reckless as Murat in heat of the fray,
	But in God is his only trust!

Only a private! To march and to fight,
	Suffers and starve and be strong;
With knowledge enough to know that the might
Of justice and truth, and freedom and right
	In the end must crush out the wrong!

Only a private! No ribbon or star
	Shall gild with false glory his name!
No honors for him in braid or in bar,
His Legion of Honor is only a scar,
	And his wounds are his roll of fame!

Only a private!  one more hero slain
	On the field lies silent and chill!
And in the far South a wife prays in vain-
One clasp of the hands she may ne'er clasp again,
	One kiss from the lips that are still!

Only a private! there let him sleep,
	He will need no tablet nor stone;
For the mosses and vines o'er his grave will creep
And at night the stars through the clouds will peep
	And watch him who lies there alone!

Only a martyr! who fought and who fell,
	Unknown and unmarked in the strife;
But still as he lies in his lonely cell,
Angel and seraph the legend shall tell-
	Such a death is eternal life.
					F.W.D.

Another example of the wartime poetry of the South.  Somewhat
flowery,  as  was  the norm then, but still filled with pain 
and pathos.                                                  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!


Brigadier  General  Thomas  Taylor  Munford  was   born   in
Richmond, Virginia on March 28, 1831.

He  was the Colonel of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry at White Oak
Swamp.  His regiment picketed  the  roads  during  Jackson's
raid  around  Pope  at  Manassas  Junction.  At Anteitam, he
commanded a brigade of dismounted cavalry  made  up  of  the
12th and 2nd Virginia Regiments and eight guns.  He was with
Longstreet and Hill at South Mountain  and  a  Brigadier  of
Fitzhugh Lee when Lee took over all of the cavalry in March,
1865.                                                       

Munford fought from the Peninsula to Saylor's Creek.  A true
warrior from our home town and one that not many people know
much about.                                                 

Happy Birthday, General, from Longstreet's troopers!!!