COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

If you are like me, you are probably getting your fill these
days  of  all  the political rhetoric that is going on - not
only state-wide, but  nationally  as  well.   Granted,  this
process  is what helps to separate our country from everyone
else in the world, but it does get to be a  bit  much  these
days.   One  thing  is certain - it will only intensify over
the next few weeks leading up to Election Day, November 4th.
I  encourage  everyone in the Longstreet camp to get out and
do your civic duty that day and vote.  It has been said that
this  election  could  possibly be one of the most important
elections in recent history - and perhaps in some  ways  the
political commentators are correct.  I would remind everyone
who has the philosophy that their vote doesn't really matter
- if just one more person had voted in several key districts
throughout the country four years ago we could  have  had  a
totally different outcome in the presidential election.  So,
by all means - get out and vote on November 4th.            

I had the opportunity to work at the SCV  exhibit  booth  at
this  year's  State  Fair, and I'd like to thank all members
who were able to come out and spend some time working in the
booth-particularly  Walter  Tucker  and  Lewis  Mills.  Like
Walter, I found many people there to be  very  receptive  to
the SCV being a part of the exhibit floor.  I received a lot
of questions and positive  comments  from  people  who  were
walking  through  the  exhibits--although  I  would question
whether there were actually 250,000 at the State  Fair  this
year.   Our  recent economic turmoil had, I think, a serious
effect on people coming out and enjoying the Fair this year.
I  did  have one lady from Caroline County stop by the booth
and extend an invitation to all SCV members to make sure  to
come  to Caroline next year when the State Fair opens there.
One interesting couple that stopped by the  booth  was  from
Holland,  and  the  wife  was very curious about who we are.
After explaining to her what the organization was all  about
and  why we were there - the husband commented to me that it
was the Europeans (or as he said to  me--our  fault  meaning
the  British)  who started the slave trade and profited from
it for centuries-and as he stated to me the Northern traders
were  also at fault.  Why is it, I wonder, that someone from
outside the U.S.  remembers and  knows  about  that  bit  of
history?   I  guess  they  were taught differently in school
than we were.  Finally as we were closing the booth for  the
night  a  young couple stopped by the booth for a minute and
started asking me questions about the organization, and then
stated that they were in Virginia to see the different Civil
War  sites.   I  mentioned  those  here  in  Richmond,   the
Fredericksburg  area, Manassas, and of course Appomattox, to
which the wife mentioned that  they  had  planned  to  visit
Appomattox  the very next day.  Naturally I did not miss the
opportunity to mention to them about  the  story  of  Wilmer
McLean  who  had  moved  his family out of the Manassas area
after  the  first  battle  of  the  war  to  the  Appomattox
Courthouse area to escape the perils of the conflict only to
have the war end in his front parlor.  All in all, a  rather
enjoyable time was had at the SCV booth this year.          

A  reminder  -  Don't  forget  to  turn  in your annual dues
statement to Walter - you should have received  a  statement
in the mail already.  If you did not receive a statement and
are in good  standing  with  the  Longstreet  Camp  and  the
Virginia  Division-SCV, then please contact Walter Tucker or
me so we can get a payment form to you.  These forms are not
on  the  Virginia  Division web-site.  If you know of anyone
who was a Longstreet Camp member in the past, but  may  have
let  their  membership expire - please let Walter or me know
so that we  may  contact  them  to  see  if  they  would  be
interested  in  re-joining (I would also encourage you to do
the same).                                                  

The Longstreet Camp Christmas Banquet is being planned as we
speak,  and  hopefully  we will have details for everyone at
our October meeting.  Please be sure to attend.             

I look forward to seeing everyone at our next  camp  meeting
October  21st  - it promises to be an extremely entertaining
meeting.                                                    

Remember -                                                   
"Longstreet is the Camp boys - Longstreet is  the Camp!"

Deo Vindice!                                                
					Mike

ADJUTANT'S REPORT

We were pleased to induct at our September meeting  John  S.
Almond,  whose  ancestor  Robert D.  Ward served in the 22nd
Virginia Infantry Battalion.  We were delighted that  John's
wife Linda was present for the induction.  John is treasurer
of Richmond Council, Navy League of the United  States.   We
look  forward  to inducting new member, Joshua Stanton, at a
meeting soon.                                               

Jack  Kane  had  a  pacemaker  installed  last  year,   and,
unfortunately,  got  a  staph  infection.   The  latter  has
continued to cause him intermittent  minor  problems.   With
the  worst  behind him, he hopes to attend our camp meetings
from time to time.                                          

We send our best wishes to Karen Campbell, wife of  Richard,
who continues to recover from recent surgery.               

Many  thanks  to all who have paid renewal dues.  Membership
cards will be distributed at our October 21 to paid  members
who  haven't  already  received  them.  We earnestly request
that unpaid members pay promptly, with a goal of October  21
to  avoid  $  10.00 in reinstatement fees .  I mail dues and
accompanying bills at least weekly to the Virginia  Division
Treasurer  in  Beaverdam  .   He then sends a record of paid
members and a  check  payable  to  SCV  for  International's
portion  of dues to the Division Adjutant in Virginia Beach.
Division Adjutant sends check and list of members covered to
International Headquarters in Columbia, Tennessee.  Division
Treasurer  and  Adjutant  will  probably   be   swamped   as
International's deadline of October 31 approaches.  From our
Camp's standpoint, this year's dues process,  with  payments
coming  from  members  to  the  Camp Adjutant rather than to
Division, has worked much better  than  last  year.   Please
call  or  email  me  (wdtusnr@verizon.net)  if  you have any
questions.                                                  

We had a good number of members sign  up  at  the  September
meeting  to  clean  up  our  one  mile  section of Route 606
(Studley Road) near Enon  Church,  Hanover  County  Saturday
October  18,  beginning  at 10:00 AM.  If you'd like to help
and haven't signed up, please call me.   We  usually  finish
around noon.                                                

The  recent  move of two of our members prompted me to think
of the remarkable geographic  dispersal  of  our  membership
outside the broader Richmond area:                          

State or Country	     City

England		Portsmouth
Jason Fazackarley

California		San Mateo
Michael Hendrick

Florida		Key West
Bill Setzer

Texas			Sugar Land
David George, Jr.

Michigan		Marquette
John Moschetti

Illinois		Glen Carbon
Chris Holland

Ohio			London
Joseph Price

New York		New York
Chris Warren (scheduled to move to
Alexandria, VA October 10)
	
Virginia		Blackstone
Irby Moncure

Virginia		Yorktown
Jack Kane
	
Virginia		Yorktown
Dave Ware
	
Virginia		Urbanna	
Joe Moschetti
	
Virginia		Williamsburg
Ken Parsons
	
Virginia		Williamsburg
Kendell R. Warren
	
Virginia		Petersburg
Kendell Jay Warren

The  loyalty  of  these  compatriots  in  maintaining  their
membership  in  our  Camp  and  in  making donations to Camp
programs is much appreciated.                               

Camp members who worked at the Virginia Division's booth  at
the  Virginia  State  Fair  report much interest in the SCV,
many favorable comments about our  work  in  preserving  our
history,  no  hostility,  and sales of Confederate flags and
other items.  One of the more interesting booths in the same
building  sold lapel pins and other items of military units.
Lewis Mills bought a lapel pin of his father-in-law's  Dixie
Division.   I  bought  a lapel pin of the 20th Air Force, in
which my brother Andy served.  Andy told me that  one  night
in India or Burma, an Englishman asked, "20th Air Force, eh,
where in the world are the other 19?" An American responded,
"Over in England, helping God to save the King."            

Noted  War  Between  the  States  scholar  and  author  Kent
Masterson Brown was scheduled for  two  events  in  Virginia
recently.    He   was  a  panelist  at  the  Museum  of  the
Confederacy's September 25  program  at  the  University  of
Richmond  "The  Treason  Trial  of  Jefferson Davis" and was
scheduled to speak at the Lee Chapel  in  Lexington  October
13.   Brown,  a lawyer by profession, is a great examplar of
amateur historians.  The late Daniel  Boorstin  (1914-2004),
former  head  librarian  of the Library of Congress, pointed
out that the word amateur too often is used  in  a  negative
sense.   The  word  comes  from  a  root meaning love and is
therefore  an  honorable  word.   Boorstin  himself  is   an
exemplar.   He, like Brown, was a lawyer.  His nomination by
President Gerald  Ford  to  be  Librarian  of  Congress  was
opposed  by  the  American Library Association.  Fortunately
for America, the Senate approved the appointment.   Boorstin
authored 20 books, one of which earned him a Pulitzer prize.
Not bad for an amateur.                                     

					Walter

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247

NEXT MEETING - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 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

OCTOBER SPEAKER

Our October  speaker  will  be  that  well-known  Civil  War
historian,  raconteur and debonair man about town, Commander
Harry Boyd.                                                 

He has a new and revised Gallery of Ghostly Occurrences with
which  to  entertain  us and hopefully send a few shivers up
our spines during this Halloween month!                     

Come and bring a friend or,  even better, a new recruit  for
Longstreet Camp!                                            

SEPTEMBER PROGRAM

Fred Taylor, recent law graduate of Mercer University and  a
member  of  Suffolk's  Tom Smith Camp # 1702, enlightened us
with his talk, "The Last at Appomattox."  The  surrender  at
Appomattox  overshadows the fact that there were two battles
there April 8-9.  These are the subject of  The  Battles  of
Appomattox  Station  and  Appomattox  Court House April 8-9,
1865 by Petersburg National Battlefield Park historian Chris
Calkins.  This book is one of the Virginia Civil War Battles
and Leaders Series published by H.  E.  Howard, Inc.        

A week after the initially  successful  but  later  repulsed
March 25, 1865 Confederate attack on Fort Steadman, the Army
of Northern Virginia abandoned Petersburg and  headed  west.
On   April  8,  supply  trains  from  Lynchburg  arrived  at
Appomattox Station.  Yankee General George Armstrong Custer,
having  intercepted  a Confederate message, led a successful
attack.                                                     

Confederate Major General Bryan Grimes  commanded  the  lead
division  of Major General John Brown Gordon's Second Corps.
Grimes reconnoitered and was  joined  by  Gordon  and  Major
General  Fitzhugh Lee, who commanded the Confederate cavalry
Corps, for a council of war.  Gordon felt  that  only  Union
cavalry  was in their front, but Lee disagreed and saw Union
infantry through his  field  glasses.   While  they  argued,
Grimes  volunteered  to  attack.   Grimes said he would need
more than his division; Gordon offered him the entire corps.

Fitz Lee's cavalry attacked the enemy flank, and Grimes  led
the infantry.  Grimes overran enemy breastworks.  Two Yankee
guns  were  captured,  along  with  some  prisoners.    They
reported  that  on the flank was Yankee Major General Edward
Otho Cresap Ord's Army of the  James  consisting  of  10,000
veteran soldiers.                                           

Grimes reported his success in opening the road to Lynchburg
to Gordon.  Gordon was aware of new threats and responded to
Robert E.  Lee's staff member Colonel Charles Venable, "I've
fought my corps to a frazzle, and I can  do  nothing  unless
Longstreet can support me."                                 

Feeling  that  the cause was hopeless, Gordon ordered Grimes
to withdraw.  Grimes disregarded these orders,  but  finally
withdrew  his  troops  upon  receipt  of a direct order from
Robert E.  Lee.   Firing  took  place  as  the  Confederates
retreated.   Soldiers  of  the brigade of William Ruffin Cox
delivered that Confederate fire, which was the last  of  the
Army of Northern Virginia.  Thus completeth the claim of the
North  Carolinians,  "First  at  Big  Bethel,  furthest   at
Gettysburg, and last at Appomattox."                        

Writer's  note: In addition to Chris Calkins's book, further
readings on this subject can be found in  Lee's  Last  Major
General: Bryan Grimes of North Carolina by T.  Harrell Allen
and To Appomattox: Nine April  Days  1865  by  Burke  Davis.
Richmond  National Battlefield Park historian Robert E.  Lee
Krick wrote the foreword to the Grimes biography.  All three
books  can be checked out of the Library of Virginia.  Burke
Davis's book is also available for checkout from the Henrico
County Library.                                             

					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                  474-1978

PUBLICATIONS
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, 2008.  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
Clint Cowardin 
Taylor Cowardin
Raymond Crews
Jack Kane
Peter Knowles, II
Joe Moschetti
Waite Rawls
Bill Setzer
Tom Spivey
Walter Tucker
David Ware
Harold Whitmore

Legend:                                    
* - Multiple contributions                 

HURTT SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Peter Knowles, II
Joe Moschetti

VIRGINIA DIVISION, SCV FUND

Walter Beam
Crawley Joyner
Bob Moore
Cary Shelton

WE WELCOME A NEW MEMBER!!!
 

Lt. Commander Taylor Cowardin administers the
Oath to John S. Almond as Clint Cowardin 
looks on




Compatriot Arnold with Lt. Cmdr. Cowardin,
Cmdr. Kidd and Adj. Tucker

CALENDAR OF VIRGINIA EVENTS

Don' forget Pamplin Park and the Museum  of  the  Civil  War
Soldier!!

NOVEMBER 22, 23
28TH  Annual  "Capital  of the Confederacy Civil War Show at
the  Richmond  Raceway  Complex,  Richmond.   Saturday  9-5,
Sunday  0-2.   Displays  by  collectors  and several museums
including The Museum of the  Confederacy  and  The  Richmond
National  Battlefield  Park.   Oveer 400 exhibitors.  Profit
from admissions goes  to  selected  institutions  where  the
primary  focus  is  the  preservation  of Civil War history.
Admission, $6 over age 12.  Presented  by  Central  Virginia
Civil  War  Collectors  Association  and  The  Museum of the
Confederacy.     For    information,     (804)     928-1006;
www.cvcwca.com

Southerners, Their Language and Politics

In closing this edition, I would like to quote a  few  words
on  our  language taken from my friend Tom Howard's book The
Dixie Dictionary.                                           

"Southern language is primary  verbal,  because  Southerners
are  born  talking.  The art of conversation is an inherited
gene.  In the old days when people had front  porches,  they
grew  up  swinging and rocking in the evenings, talking with
their families and neighbors The invitation to "come up  and
set a spell" was the diploma of acceptance.                 

This  devotion to the oral tradition has left the Southerner
with at least one built-in advantage over the rest of  folks
in  this  country:  He  or  she  knows  when and when not to
believe Southern political rhetoric.  It comes  as  a  great
surprise  to  Southerners  when,  after  hearing a political
speech given by a well-known  Southern  orator,  they  learn
that   political   analysts   and  northern-based  political
strategists actually are taking the orator  seriously.   The
Southern  listener  knows most of it sounds great, but it is
just so much hot air.  He holds dearly that the truth is  to
be found in what the speaker does, not in what he says. This
probably sums up the difference between North and South. The
North  thinks  that  saying  is doing.  The South knows that
isn't so."                                                  

Interesting commentary, is it not?                          

					Dave