COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

The equestrian statue of Robert E.  Lee on  Monument  Avenue
is  no  doubt  the grandest statue dedicated the hero of the
South.  Located at the intersection of  Allen  and  Monument
Avenues, Lee's statue commands respect, awe and inspiration.
This huge work of art is one of the greatest memorials to  a
military  hero  in the world.  As with any great undertaking
involving a large number of  people,  tremendous  dedication
and  hard  work  are  necessities.  With this also comes the
potential for disagreement and controversy.  The erection of
the  Lee  statue was no exception.  Before its completion in
1890, the transformation of the  monument's  existence  from
mere ideas to reality had to cross several hurdles along the
way and took twenty years to complete.                      

As news of the General's death  hit  Richmond  great  sorrow
immediately  filled  the  former capital of the Confederacy.
Resolutions were passed by the legislature asking  that  his
body  have  its  final  resting  place in Hollywood.  As you
know, his funeral was held in Lexington and his body did not
end up in Hollywood but at his beloved Washington College in
a chapel known today as Lee Chapel.  After  the  failure  to
"acquire"  the  body of Lee for Hollywood, the ladies of the
Hollywood  Memorial  Association  determined  to   erect   a
monument in Richmond to the General and asked for assistance
from not only the citizens of Richmond but also the citizens
throughout the South, especially Ex-Confederates.           

The ladies of Hollywood soon faced some competition. Another
organization, headed by General Jubal Early also  wanted  to
erect a statue to Lee.  These two organizations went head to
head over the next several years and  it  took  some  cooler
heads  and  a legislative act to get the two parties to work
together under a single agency.                             

After all the interested parties were finally  persuaded  to
cooperate,  a  new  issue  arose.   Who  is  going to be the
sculptor?  In 1886 a competition was  held  and  a  "Yankee"
artist  from  Ohio  was  chosen as the winner.  Jubal Early,
very unhappy with the result, wrote to Governor Fitzhugh Lee
that  "if  the  statue  of General Lee be erected after that
model," he would "get together all the surviving members  of
the  Second  Corps  and  blow  it up with dynamite." Another
competition was held and the French  sculptor  Jean  Antonin
Merci‚ was selected for his design of Lee on Traveler.      

The  next  hurdle  was where to place the statue.  Hollywood
Cemetery,  Libby  Hill,  Capitol  Square,  Monroe  Park  and
Gambles Hill were all potential sites and they all had their
supporters.  After much debate today's site of Monument  and
Allen   Avenues  was  selected  after  Otway  S.   Allen,  a
prominent Richmonder and  former  Confederate,  donated  the
land.   At  the time the site was an open field with grazing
cows.  There  were  many  critics  unhappy  with  this  site
questioning its remoteness from the city.                   

Another  problem  arose  when  Governor Fitzhugh Lee learned
that the height of the statue was to  be  ten  feet  shorter
than  the statue of George Washington at Capitol Square.  He
insisted that the statue of Lee not be any lower  than  that
of  Washington.  Merci‚ wasn't happy with this but complied.
He also added $6,000 to the overall cost of the  statue  for
this.   The  total  cost of the monument was $77,000.00 with
$10,000 coming from Virginia and the rest  coming  from  the
devoted citizens of the South.                              

Finally,   on  May  4th,  1890  four  boxes  containing  the
venerated statue arrived in Richmond and on the 7th,  10,000
people  gathered  at  Laurel  and Broad Streets to assist in
moving the large boxes to the monument  site.   Three  weeks
later  the  monument was completed and on the 29th of May it
was unveiled.                                               

This day is one of the  greatest  occasions  in  the  city's
history.  Every hotel and boarding house was full along with
a great number of private residences.  The city was at total
capacity,  filled  with visitors from all over the south who
had traveled to see the historic unveiling.  A great  parade
four  miles  long started at noon with Governor Fitzhugh Lee
commanding.  It was estimated that over 100,000 people  were
in  attendance  that  day with such celebrities as Joseph E.
Johnston, James Longstreet, Jubal Early, and governors  from
many  other  states.  It is said that the parade line was so
long that it took two and one half hours to pass  any  given
point!                                                      

Joseph  E.   Johnston  was  given the honor of unveiling the
statue.  On the first  pull  the  veil  separated  at  Lee's
shoulders  and stopped.  On the second tug the veil fell and
the huge crowd saw the statue for the first  time.   Cannon,
musketry and yells erupted along with many a tear from those
who remembered the greatness of the hero of the Confederacy.

The monument wasn't remote for very long.  In 1892 the  site
was  part  of  a  292-acre  tract  annexed  by the city from
Henrico County.                                             

By 1910 the many of the mansions that currently surround the
monument had been built.                                    

The  next time you drive by General Lee take a moment to not
only think about his legacy but the amount of hard work  and
dedication it took to erect such a tremendous piece of art. 

Hope to see you at the next meeting!
Deo Vindice,
					Taylor

ADJUTANT'S REPORT

Two of our members, Jerold Evans and Frank Marks,  have  had
to  deal  with  medical situations which have prevented them
from attending recent meetings.  Jerold hurt his knee  badly
in  September and hopes to be back with us soon.  Frank, who
now lives at the  Hermitage  retirement  home  on  Hermitage
Road,  has  had  a heart attack and two strokes.  Let's pray
for their improvement.                                      

We appreciate so much the good work and dedication of  Lewis
Mills,   Gene   Golden,  and  Andy  Keller  in  cleaning  up
Longstreet Camp's one mile stretch of Studley Road,  Hanover
County, near Enon Church on October 14.  A family obligation
prevented me from helping this time.  Lewis has chaired this
project  for  several years.  Next cleanup will be in April,
and we need more help, which will make the  job  easier  and
quicker.   You will be notified as soon as we know the exact
date.                                                       

At our November 21 meeting we hope to induct Austin  Thomas.
His  father  Dave  had to be out of town on business October
17, so we couldn't do it then.                              

Stuart Staples has initiated his application to transfer  to
our  Camp  from another local camp.  We welcome him and hope
that his paper work will catch up soon and make his transfer
official.                                                   

Our  other  recent transfer, Tom Spivey, has an ancestor who
served in the Confederate Navy.  I believe that is  a  first
since  I've  been  adjutant.   His ancestor's name is Daniel
Moncure Davis.                                              

I hope that you saw the recent Richmond Times-Dispatch story
about  the  generosity  of our Camp chaplain Henry Langford.
Henry and his wife Florence have made significant  donations
to the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond.            

Retired  Marine  Colonel John W.  Ripley, a Virginian, spoke
on November 1  at  a  Richmond  Council  Navy  League  lunch
meeting  honoring  the Marine Corps.  Our member Pat Hoggard
was the chairman of this event.  I was unable to attend, but
I  had  the privilege of hearing John speak at the Stonewall
Jackson  Symposium  in  Lexington  a  few  years  ago.    He
emphasized Jackson's dedication to his mission.  Late in his
active duty career, John was commanding officer of the Naval
ROTC unit at VMI.                                           

Richmond  Times-Dispatch  writer Bill Lohmann mentioned John
Ripley in his recent story about heroes.  John received  the
Navy  Cross for his April 1972 heroic action which prevented
the North Vietnamese army from crossing a river.  There is a
diorama  at  John's alma mater, the Naval Academy, depicting
his feat.  His fellow Marine John Grider Miller wrote a book
about this event called The Bridge at Dong Ha.  Foreword was
written by  the  late  Vice  Admiral  James  B.   Stockdale,
recipient  of  the  Medal  of  Honor  for  his leadership of
Americans held  in  North  Vietnamese  prison  camps.   Bill
Lohmann's hero article had Ripley's Naval Academy classmate,
retired  Navy  Commander  Paul   Galanti,   naming   Admiral
Stockdale as his hero.                                      

There  crops  up  from time to time a reference in which the
Confederate Battle flag is erroneously called the Stars  and
Bars.   The  Confederate Battle Flag is the distinctive part
of the logo of the SCV, which is shown in  the  upper  right
corner of page 1 of this newsletter.  The Stars and Bars was
the unofficial name  of  the  first  national  flag  of  the
Confederate  States of America.  It consisted of three broad
horizontal stripes, red top and bottom  with  white  in  the
middle.   In  the  upper  left  of  the flag was a union (or
canton) of blue with a circle of  white  stars  representing
the number of states in the CSA.                            

Initially,  the  Stars and Bars was greeted with enthusiasm.
It proved to be  impractical  on  the  battlefield,  and  it
became unpopular with some opinion makers in the new nation.
Both objections stemmed from its similarity to the Stars and
Stripes.  Today, it is ironic that you rarely, if ever, hear
of any  objection  to  the  Stars  and  Bars,  which  was  a
government  flag.   There  is  much  objection to the Battle
Flag, some of which is politically motivated.  The misuse of
the  Battle Flag in the middle of the 20th century is also a
cause.  Both the SCV and the  UDC  have  passed  resolutions
decrying the misuse of the Battle Flag.                     

A  few years ago at a program sponsored by the Museum of the
Confederacy, retired  William  and  Mary  history  professor
Ludwell  Johnson read from a letter in the Museum's files in
which the writer wrote that when he saw the Battle Flag,  he
considered  who was displaying it and in what context it was
displayed.  He stated that it was a symbol of hate only when
used  by  a hate group.  When displayed by a heritage group,
by  re-enactors,  or  in  an  historical  setting,  then  it
represented pride in ancestors or history.  It's a pity that
more people don't  view  the  Battle  Flag  in  that  light.
Unfortunately,  all  too  often  unthinking emotion prevails
over reason.  For a fuller discussion of the Battle Flag,  I
commend  to  you  John  Coski's  book The Confederate battle
Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem.                      

We in the SCV should proudly display the Confederate  Battle
Flag to honor the bravery and dedication of our ancestors in
taking up arms to defend their nation,  their  states,  and,
most important of all, their families and homes.            

				Walter

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247

NEXT MEETING-TUESDAY, November 21, 2006

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
MEETING STARTS AT 7:00 PM

THE CHRISTMAS BANQUET WILL BE AT THE WESTWOOD RACQUET CLUB
DECEMBER 12TH, 2006 AT 6:00 P. M. BE SURE TO SET ASIDE THIS DATE!!

NOVEMBER PROGRAM

Brantley Knowles, wife of our member  Pete  (and  mother  of
their  sons  Peter  III and Bolling) will enlighten us about
Confederate Jamestown.                                      

She  is  very  knowledgeable  and  enthusiastic  about  this
subject, which is timely in view of the 400th anniversary of
Jamestown being celebrated next year, which is only 46  days
away!  Her talk should be very interesting.                 

                                            Walter

OCTOBER PROGRAM

Hyman Schwartzberg, our October 17 speaker, began by talking
about  how  he  came  to be with us.  One day when he was in
Cowardin's Jewelers, he and our  esteemed  Commander  Taylor
Cowardin discussed a picture displayed in the store.  Taylor
observed that Hyman, recently retired after  35  years  with
the  National  Park  Service,  knew more than a thing or two
about The War Between the States and invited him to speak to
us.                                                         

Hyman's  topic was aerial warfare in The War.  As background
he  reminded  us  that  the  French  invented  and  launched
balloons  in  the  1780's.   Benjamin Franklin's imaginative
mind made him realize how valuable this new invention  could
be  in  observing  troop  movements  in wartime.  The French
Committee on Public Safety became enamored of  the  idea  in
1794.   Four balloon sections were established in the French
Army in 1796, but they were disbanded in 1799.              

The Danes dropped bombs on the British fleet  at  Copenhagen
in 1807.  The Austrians launched torpedoes.                 

Thaddeus  Sobieski  Constantine Lowe, a self-taught aeronaut
who had failed  in  two  attempts  to  cross  the  Atlantic,
impressed  President Abraham Lincoln in a demonstration June
1861.  He  served  well  General  Irvin  McDowell  at  First
Manassas.   Lowe  landed  behind  Confederate lines, but was
found by a Yankee regiment and escaped.   Hearing  of  this,
President  Lincoln  ordered General Winfield Scott to form a
Balloon Corps with Lowe as Chief  Aeronaut.   It  took  four
months   for  Lowe  to  receive  orders  and  provisions  to
construct four (later  seven)  balloons  with  hydrogen  gas
generators.  Lowe assembled a band of men whom he instructed
in the methodology of military ballooning.  The newly formed
Union  Army  Balloon  Corps  remained  a  civilian  contract
organization, never receiving  military  commissions.   This
was  dangerous,  lest  any  of  the men might be captured as
spies and executed.                                         

Lowe joined the Army of the  Potomac  under  George  Brinton
McClellan  with  his  new  military  balloon the "Eagle." He
performed  ascensions  over  Yorktown,   after   which   the
Confederates  retreated toward Richmond.  Lowe was given use
of a converted coal  barge,  the  "George  Washington  Parke
Custis,"  onto  which he loaded two new balloons and two new
hydrogen generators.  This was the first aircraft carrier.  

Lowe went on to make observations over Mechanicsville, Seven
Pines,  and  Fair  Oaks.   The  timely  manner  in  which he
reported troop movements saved the isolated army of  General
Samuel Heintzelman.  Lowe contracted malaria and was put out
of service for more than a month.  Lowe's wagons  and  mules
were  commandeered  for  the withdrawal of McClellan's Army.
Lowe's   services   were   utilized   at   Sharpsburg    and
Fredericksburg.                                             

The Balloon Corps was reassigned to the Engineer Corps. Lowe
had been paid $10  gold  per  day  as  a  Colonel.   Captain
Comstock  was  put  in  charge  of  the newly reassigned air
division and cut Lowe's pay to $ 6 per day ($3 in gold).   A
disparaging  third  party  report  to  Congress,  which Lowe
refuted at length, made Union  commanders  hesitant  to  use
balloons.   After  mistreatment by Joe Hooker, Lowe resigned
in May 1863.  The Allen brothers took charge of the  Balloon
Corps.  By August, it ceased to exist.                      

Writer's  comment: The mistreatment of Lowe was not unusual.
Small minded, hidebound leaders discourage innovation.   How
Ulysses  S.  Grant could have used aerial observation at the
Wilderness where separated Union Army Corps had no idea what
the other was doing!                                        

                                            Walter

2005-2007 CAMP OFFICERS
LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
Commander: Taylor Cowardin                   356-9625
1st. Lt. Cmdr.: William F. Shumadine, III    285-4044
2nd Lt. Cmdr.: Michael Kidd	             270-9651
Adjutant/Treasurer: Walter Tucker            360-7247
Judge Advocate: Richard B. Campbell          278-6488
Quartermaster: R. Preston Nuttall            276-8977
Chaplain: Henry V. Langford                  474-1978

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 September, 2006
through the current month.   As  you  know,  our  cumulative
listing starts in July of each year.

Ben Baird
Lloyd Brooks
Clint Cowardin*
Lee Crenshaw
Raymond Crews*
Jerold Evans*
Kitty Faglie
Richard Faglie
Pat Hoggard
Louis Heindl
John Kane
Roger Kirby
Mike Miller
Joe Moschetti
Preston Nuttall
Rufus Sarvay
Waite Rawls
Bill Setzer
John Shumadine
Will Schumadine
Harrison Taylor
Walter Tucker
Will Wallace
Harold Whitmore
Hugh Williams
Joe Wright

In Memory of Chuck Walton-Ben Baird
In Memory of Bill Jones-Anonymous

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

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

THROUGH NOVEMBER 30 "Art of the Confederacy" at  the  Museum
of the Confederacy, Richmond.  Wonderful wartime and postwar
sketches, paintings, water colors, photos and  p.o.w.   art.
$7  adults,  $6  seniors, $3 students over age 6.  for info:
649-1861, www.moc.org

THROUGH 2006 Confederate navy  exhibit.   various  types  of
ships, commanders, naval technology, paintings, artifacts at
the  Museum  of  the  Confederacy,  Richmond.    for   info:
649-1861, www.moc.org

DECEMBER  2 Christmas Remembered at Stonewall Jackson House,
Lexington.   Free  tours   by   costumed   docents,   music,
children's    crafts.    For   info:   (540)   463-2552   or
www.stonewall jackson.org

DECEMBER 9 Christmas in Camp Open House at Fort Ward  Museum
&Historical  Site,  Alexandria,  12-4  p.m.   Period  music,
readings of "The Night Before Christmas," soldier-led  tours
of  fort,  refreshments.   Suggested donation: $2 adults, $1
children.  For info: (703) 838-4848; www.fortward.org

DECEMBER  9-10  "Christmas  in   the   Field"   at   Endview
Plantation,  Newport  News,  10-4.  Living history programs,
scenarios with troops  in  camp,  battles  each  day.   19th
century  vendors.   $6  at the gate, house tours additional.
For info: (757) 887-1862; www.endview.org

DECEMBER   10   144th   Anniversary   of   the   Battle   of
Fredericksburg  at  Fredericksburg  &  Spotsylvania National
Military Park, 11-4 p.m.  Special  tours  and  commemorative
ceremony.    Living   history   throughout   the   town   of
Fredericksburg     &     Ferry     Farm.      For      info:
www.nps.gov/frsp/vc.htm

DECEMBER  10  "Civil War Petersburg: Confederate City in the
Crucible  of  War"  book  signing  and  lecture  at  Pamplin
Historical  Park,  Petersburg, by Park Executive Director A.
Wilson   Greene.    For    info:    877-PAMPLIN,    Ext.605,
groups@pamplinpark.org

THE LAST ROLL CALL

 
Margie Riddle Bearss, 80, passed away on October 7, 2006  in
Brandon, Mississippi, after a long illness.  She is survived
by her husband, Edwin Cole Bearss and their children:  Sarah
Bearss  of  Richmond,  Virginia; Edwin Cole Bearss, Jr., his
wife Annika and their son Michael of Columbus, Georgia;  and
Jenny Bearss and her sons Todd and Andy Olmstead of Brandon,
Mississippi.                                                

She was an historian and author in  her  own  right,  having
written   Sherman's   Forgotten   Campaign:   The   Meridian
Expedition (1987) and was the  co-editor  with  her  friend,
Rebecca   Drake,   of   two  collections  of  Champion  Hill
documents, My Dear Wife (2005) and Darwina's Dairy (2006).  

She was elected to membership in  The  Company  of  Military
Historians  and  was  named Fellow for her work with the USS
Cairo and Grand Gulf Park.  ( Her husband, Ed,  had  located
and  raised the Cairo from the Yazoo River in 1964 and it is
now on display in the Vicksburg Battlefield Park.)          

Longstreet Camp sends its heartfelt condolences  to  Ed  and
his  family  at their loss.  Camp compatriots who would like
to do so may  make  memorial  donations  to  the  Civil  War
Preservation  Trust, 1331 H St., NW, Suite 1001, Washington,
DC 2005.                                                    

"Death is only an old door
set in a garden wall."

                                 Nancy Byrd Turner