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THE OLD WAR HORSE
THE VOICE OF GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247, SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2, FEBRUARY, 2008 |
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A quick jump to the articles in this issue:
Commander's Comments, Adjutant's Report, February Program (next), Humor, January Program (last),
Camp Officers, Longstreet's First Corps, Beauvoir, Calendar, MacLeod Leaves, Poetry,
COMMANDER'S COMMENTS
Like a lot of us, I spent this past Sunday evening watching an excellent Super Bowl game. I wasn't really a supporter for either team since my team had already lost earlier in the play-offs, so I was just looking for a good all-around game - and it certainly didn't disappoint. Being a fan of the game, I have always tried to catch some of the pre-game activities, and this year shortly before the game, the Fox Network paid their own tribute to the men and women who are serving in our armed forces all across the globe by having the Declaration of Independence recited by members of the NFL - past and present. It was definitely a time to pause and reflect on the many sacrifices that our soldiers and their families are facing today - and also the sacrifices that were made many years ago. Webster's defines sacrifices as "giving up of something valued; a loss in giving up something valued; or an offering to God." Sort of makes you stop and think for a second, and at the same time reflect on what has been sacrificed for us. Members of our families sacrificed themselves for a cause for which they believed in, and in a lot of cases for a leader that they believed in. Definitely the leadership qualities of a General Stonewall Jackson, General James Longstreet, and General Robert E. Lee could instill in their men time and again the desire to sacrifice their very existence just so our nation could exist - and with that our homes, our families, and our way of life. Rarely do we see that type of leader exist today, but they have existed - General George Washington; General Patrick Cleburne; General Nathan Bedford Forrest; General John Black Jack" Pershing; old "Blood and Guts" General George Patton; and The Marine's Marine-General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. I would dare say that there are many, many more leaders than just these few mentioned who could instill in their men a desire to "pay the ultimate sacrifice" for the good of their cause. Now I am not suggesting that we all go out tomorrow and fall on our swords, but we need to keep in mind the sacrifices that were made for us by those that came before us - and at the same time keep their memory alive by continuing to support the cause which we hold so near and dear to our hearts today. Make it a point each day to educate just one person about the SCV and the Confederacy. Make it a point to educate a young person about our history - not what they may have been taught in school, but the reality of what really happened. Let's all sacrifice a bit of ourselves to better educate our neighbors, our communities, and if called upon, our schools. If you have children or grandchildren that have a class field trip to The Museum of the Confederacy or Pamplin Park - then sacrifice your time to go and be with these young people to help them better understand why people did what they did so many years ago, and take pride in the fact that you are educating them about your history and your heritage. When they see that interest, and hear that enthusiasm in your voice, then they will start to ask questions - and before you know it - they will be actually learning something. It's a great feeling! Don't forget - we need to continue to work for the Commonwealth of Virginia to recognize the month of April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. Also, please remember that the Annual History and Heritage Parade is still scheduled for Sunday, April 6th, beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the DMV - and ending in Hollywood Cemetery. I appreciate so many of you last month volunteering your time to come to Hollywood and serve as a welcoming committee for the parade marchers, but we are always looking for more support. I have been asked by a member of the UDC to see if the Longstreet camp would be interested in assisting with the planning and coordination of the upcoming Children of the Confederacy Convention that will be held in July. I hope to have more details to pass along to you in the coming months. It has been suggested to me that we start to do tours of our area for members of the Longstreet Camp and their families and friends. I have asked the Museum of the Confederacy if they would be interested in being our first tour and they have agreed. We will be discussing this at this month's Camp meeting - plan to attend as we want everyone's input and support to this venture. Remember - "Longstreet is the Camp boys - Longstreet is the Camp!" I look forward to seeing everyone at our next camp meeting! Deo Vindice! Mike
ADJUTANT'S REPORT
We extend our sympathy to former Camp member Frank Marks in the passing of of his wife Rosemary. Frank and Rosemary attended several of our Christmas banquets. Frank was a loyal member until his medical problems prevented him from attending meetings. We have received from headquarters the membership certificate of Joseph Sterling Price. Because he lives in Ohio and his attendance at a Camp meeting, is uncertain, we have mailed to him his membership certificate and membership card. We have sent to headquarters the membership application of Philip Cary Shelton, whose great grandfather Charles Swanglin Davis served in Company L, 1st Regiment, Orr's South Carolina Rifles. Cary lives in Glen Allen, and we plan to hold an induction ceremony for him soon. That ceremony is a formality; he's already a member. Another new Camp member is Peter R. Evans of Littlehampton, England. Peter was a member of another camp and was recruited for Longstreet by Jerry Wells. Peter can join with another English member, Jason Fazackarley of Portsmouth, in defending against marauders from across the English Channel! We welcome these new members to our Camp. We now have 83 members, the highest number ever. We were required to submit Camp Articles of Association to headquarters by January 31. This was caused by a change in the state of incorporation of our parent organization, the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). SCV was organized in 1896 and was incorporated in Mississippi in 1978. On June 21, 2005 the old Mississippi corporation was merged into a new Texas corporation. Our Camp was founded in 1961 as an unincorporated association, which status is unchanged. By far the largest part of the Articles consists of language required by the Internal Revenue Service. We modified very slightly other parts of the Articles for clarification before sending them to headquarters. Our Camp members who have given us email addresses will receive a copy via email. If any of the rest of you would like to have a copy, please let me know, and I'll give you one at the next meeting or mail you one. The articles are on one side of a sheet of paper. They are not exciting reading and may cure insomnia. Last month's report gave information about endangered historic site Fort Monroe and an organization dedicated to saving that national treasure. Some other historic preservation organizations worthy of support are: Organizations Civil War Preservation Trust Washington, DC http://www.civilwar.org Central Virginia Battlefields Trust Fredericksburg, VA http://www.cvbt.org Museum of the Confederacy Richmond,VA http://www.moc.org Richmond Battlefields Association Richmond,VA http://saverichmondbattlefields.org Our Camp member Waite Rawls is CEO of the Museum. Our Camp member, Sam Craghead, works at the Museum and is a board member of Richmond Battlefields Association. There will always be plenty to do to preserve and defend our heritage. We SCV members should be in the lead doing this. In that magnificent movie Zulu, a young private, looking at more than 4,000 Zulus attacking 139 British soldiers at Rorke's Drift January 1879, asked Colour Sergeant Bourne, "Why us?." Bourne replied "Because we're 'ere, lad, and there's nobody else." That question and answer are appropriate for SCV members in 2008. Walter
GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
NEXT MEETING - TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
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
FEBRUARY PROGRAM
Great News!! Our old friend, Mike Gorman, will be our speaker for February. Mike has worked up a new presentation using the Library of Congress' digitally enhanced photographs of the Civil War era. These amazingly sharp and detailed photographs depict Richmond during the Civil War. You will remember his program of battlefield pictures that enthralled us so much not too long ago. Well, we feel that this one will equal or exceed that presentation. Those of you that have not experienced a Gorman presentation are in for a real treat! Make every effort to attend this meeting so that we may give Mike a great Longstreet welcome! Be sure to bring a friend who may be curious to know what goes on at a Longstreet Camp Meeting.
JANUARY PROGRAM
Jeff Toalson, author of No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentary, & Desertion, began his talk by quoting a letter written by his great grandfather Private James A. Wood, Company D, 11th Virginia Infantry, to his mother, "I suppose you all have forgotten me or you would have written oftener." This suggests the importance of letters to soldiers. Jeff's book focuses on what the soldiers and the folks back home wrote about during the last 16 months of The War. It contrasted greatly with what generals wrote, such as General John Bell Hood's description of the Army of Tennessee's retreat after its defeat at Nashville December 1864, "From Pulaski I moved by the most direct road to Bainbridge crossing on the Tennessee River, which was reached on the 25th, where the army crossed without interruption, completing the crossing on the 27th, including our rear guard... After crossing the river, the army moved by easy marches to Tupelo, Miss." The same march was described thusly by 2nd Lieutenant Samuel Robinson, 63rd Virginia Infantry, "We have retreated some 200 miles through the mud half leg deep and a great many men was entirely barfooted and almost naked. The men marched over frozen ground till their feet was worn out till they could be tracked by the blood and some of them their feet was frosted and swollen till they bursted till they could not stand." Jeff's book is a composite diary reflecting letters of 220 men and 50 women. Many of these were found in the Swem Library at William and Mary and the Roanoke Public Library. He described his book as a kaleidoscope of voices from the declining days of the Confederacy. A stark picture is painted. A soldier from the 16th Texas Infantry said that the area after a battle looked like a butcher shop with amputated arms and legs all around. Jeff found recipes for rats. One soldier wrote that rats were more valuable than Confederate money. Joseph Hoover, 45th Tennessee, wrote that his ration in the prison at Rock Island, was reduced to bread, beef, and mule. Daniel Schrekhise was a farm laborer who had paid a substitute to enter the Confederate Army in his place. The Army was badly in need of men, and Daniel was drafted in February, 1864, being assigned to Company I, 62nd Virginia Infantry. He wrote to his father about the horrors of his first battle, Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. Jeff recounted several other interesting letters. In response to a question about a question about possible defeatism in the minds of Confederate soldiers, Jeff said that the soldiers still felt they could win The War. Writer's note: Our new Camp member, long time SCV member Chris Trinite had an ancestor in the same unit as Jeff Toalson's ancestor. Walter
2005-2008 CAMP OFFICERS LONGSTREET CAMP #1247
Commander: Michael Kidd 270-9651 1st. Lt. Cmdr.: Taylor Cowardin 359-9277 2nd Lt. Cmdr.: Thomas G. Vance 282-6278 Adjutant/Treasurer: Walter Tucker 360-7247 Judge Advocate: Harry Boyd 741-2060 Quartermaster: R. Preston Nuttall 276-8977 Chaplain: Henry V. Langford 474-1978PUBLICATIONS
Webmaster: Gary F. Cowardin 262-0534 Website: longstreetscv.org War Horse: David P. George 200-1311
LONGSTREET'S FIRST CORPS
The following is a listing of contributors to the upkeep of "The Old War Horse" from July, 2007. through the current month. As you know, our cumulative listing starts in July of each year and we do not meet in August. Lloyd Brooks* Brian Cowardin Clint Cowardin Gary Cowardin Taylor Cowardin Ray Crews Jerold Evans Kitty Faglie Richard Faglie Michael Hendrick Michael Kidd Peter Knowles,II Lewis Mills Conway Moncure Robert Moore Joe Moschetti John Moschetti Peyton Roden Bill Setzer Rufus Sarvay Will Shumadine Austin Thomas John Vial Jerry Wells David Ware Bobby Williams Hugh Williams In memory of Robert Mahone-Raymond Crews In memory of Hef Ferguson and Chuck Walton-Walter Tucker Legend: * - Multiple contributions § - Visitor Donation + - in memory of Past Cmdr. Tom Lauterbach Your support of the War Horse is really amazing! There are very few organizations, if any, in this area that can equal it. It really shows how great our Camp spirit is and proves what a wonderful group of men and their wives we have here in Longstreet Camp. Your editor is honored to be a part of the life of such a community of friends. My thanks to all of you! Dave
"The South is anyway below the line where restaurants will bring you grits in the morning (and the Deep South is where they bring the grits without asking.") Fred Powledge
BEAUVOIR
VERY GOOD NEWS !!! The Mississippi Division of The Sons of Confederate Veterans has announced that the home of President Jefferson Finis Davis in Biloxi had been 75% restored as of January, 2008. Thanks go to the many conservators involved in the hard work that they have done so far. They came from such organizations as the Winterthur Estate in Delaware, The University of Delaware's Art Conservation Department, New York University, Buffalo State College, University of Texas at Austin and Winterthur/University of Delaware. Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, caused severe destruction to the home and museum. All of the outbuildings were washed away and many relics in the Museum and Davis' library were either destroyed or carried away by the flood. (The picture above was taken in 2003.) "Southerners can claim kin with anybody. It's one of our most dexterous talents!" Guy Davenport
CALENDAR OF VIRGINIA EVENTS
THROUGH MARCH "Lee and Grant" exhibit at Virginia Historical Society, Richmond. Includes paintings, documents and artifacts providing reassessment of the generals' lives, careers, impact and development of historical thought and popular attitudes about them. Catalog, online exhibition. Monday-Saturday 10-5, Sundays free, 1-5. For info: (804) 358-4901; www.vahistorical.org THROUGH APRIL 7 Special exhibit on the Confederate Navy at the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond. Objects, photos, documents, including the last Confederate Flag to be lowered by the commerce raider, C.S.S Shenandoah. For info: (804) 649-1861; www.moc.org FEBRUARY 9 "Hearts at War" at the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond., 1 p.m. Commemorating the relationship of Jefferson and Varina Howell Davis, looking at Valentine traditions and courtship during the Civil War through artiufacts, love letters and stories. For info: Linda Lipscomb, (804) 649-1861, Ext. 32; llipscomb@moc.org; www.moc.org FEBRUARY 13 Mock Trial at Dinwiddie Courthouse, Petersburg, 10 am. Presentations by Chris Calkins and SCV Camp 1734 on who is buried in grave #4824 at Popular Grove National Cemetery- 14th New York Sgt. J. Ritchie or 14th North Carolina Sgt. Ivy Ritchie. Moderated by Supt. Bob Kirby, A. Wilson Greene. John Latschar and Patrick Schroeder, Judges. For info: (804) 732-3531; www.nps.gov/pete FEBRUARY 23 "Jefferson Davis; A man in Full" symposium at the Library of Virginia Lecture Hall, hosted by the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, 9:30 - 4. Speakers include Joan Cashin, Donald Collins, William J. Cooper, William C. òJack" Davis. $35 members, $45 non-members. For info: Linda Lipscomb (804) 649-1861 Ext 32; llipscomb@moc.org;www.moc.org
Cynthia MacLeod Leaves Richmond !!
The superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park was made superintendent of the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia last month. She had taken command of the nine site, 1,700 acre park here in 1990 and had overseen more than 200 employees. She cited the acquisition of additional land and "expanding and invigorating the interpretation" as her greatest accomplishments during her Richmond stay. Assistant Superintendent David Ruth has taken over as Acting Superintendent in Richmond pending the appointment of a new chief for the park.
Poetry of the War
Your editor ran across this short poem by one of the nation's great poets and thought that you might enjoy it also. It is short and succinct, and I think, describes Lee very well. ROBERT E. LEE A gallant foeman in the fight, a brother when the fight was o'er, The hand that led the host with might The blessed torch of learning bore. Thought may the minds of men divide, Love makes the hearts of nations one, And so, the soldier's grave beside, We honor thee, Virginia's son. Julia Ward Howe
THE CONFEDERATE NOTE
By Major S. A. Jones Representing nothing on God's earth now, And naught in the waters below it- As a pledge of the nation that's dead and gone, Keep it, dear friend, and show it. Show it to those who would lend an ear To the tale that this paper can tell, Of liberty born, of patriot's dream- Of the storm-cradled nation that fell. Too poor to possess the precious ores, And too much of a stranger to borrow, We issued today our promise to pay, And hope to redeem on the morrow. The days rolled on and weeks became years, But our coffers were empty still, Gold was so rare that the Treasury quaked, If a dollar should drop in the till. But the faith that was in us was strong indeed, And our poverty well discerned, And these little checks represented the pay, That our volunteers earned. We know it had hardly value in gold, Yet as gold her soldier received it, It gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay And each patriot soldier believed it. But our boys thought little of price of pay, Or of bills that were ever due; We knew if it brought us bread today, 'Twas the best our poor country could do. Keep it, for it tells our history o'er, From the birth of its dreams to the last, Modest and born of the angel Hope, Like the hope of success it passed. (Editor's Note: This poem was written on the back of a piece of Confederate currency by Major Jones.)
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©2008 James Longstreet Camp, #1247, SCV - Richmond, Virginia