COMMANDER'S COMMENTS

Well-which will it be this year - roll in like a lion and leave  like  a
lamb?  or vice versa.  One thing is for sure, this year March may be one
of the most interesting months we have all seen in recent times.        

March finds us dealing with many tremendous  changes.   Changes  in  our
lives-either   through   finances/retirement   options  or  work-related
changes.  Also changes within our own camp leadership, and  the  way  in
which  we  have been going about getting information out to our members.
Change is inevitable - and in our lives we will all face it many  times,
but  change  can  be  for  the good.  Often times General Robert E.  Lee
would be faced with change: reorganizing his army after a vicious  fight
with  the  Yankee's;  changing  the leadership roles of his most-trusted
commanders and generals; or  having  to  change  his  thinking  entirely
towards  a  campaign  because  of  unforeseen circumstances.  Throughout
their entire military career men like General Lee, Stonewall Jackson and
James Longstreet faced change - and they managed to persevere from these
changes.  The Confederacy itself as  a  nation  when  through  almost  a
constant  struggle  with  change, and ultimately with the outcome of the
war the Confederacy itself was changed.                                 

At our camp's February meeting, I announced to  all  present  that  Dave
George,  our  esteemed  editor of the camp newsletter, The Old Warhorse,
had resigned his position.  I also  announced  that  I  had  asked  Gary
Cowardin,  our  camp  web-master,  to assume the duties of editor of the
camp newsletter-and I'm happy to  report  that  Gary  has  accepted  his
change  of duties.  With that change comes yet another change - starting
with this newsletter and all subsequent monthly newsletters, we will  be
sending   out   to  everyone  in  the  Longstreet  Camp  who  has  email
capabilities a  link  to  our  camp  newsletter  every  month  once  the
newsletter  is  posted.   Those  who do not have email capabilities will
still continue to receive their copy  of  The  Old  Warhorse  newsletter
through the mail.  This is something that has been talked about before -
both in the Longstreet camp's Executive Committee meetings, and also  at
the  Longstreet  camp  meetings  and every time we have brought the idea
before the members there has been an over-whelming support from everyone
that  we should move forward and provide this to our members.  This will
help the Longstreet  Camp  to  considerably  cut  down  on  our  monthly
expenses of producing and distributing the camp newsletter to everyone. 

Recently,  the  Longstreet Executive Committee and I met and discussed a
list of  possible  candidates  to  fill  the  leadership  roles  of  the
Longstreet Camp in the up-coming term.  I also mentioned at the February
camp meeting (and do so again here) that if anyone is  interested  in  a
possible  leadership role with the Longstreet Camp, that they either let
I or one of the members of the Longstreet Camp Executive Committee  know
of your interest.                                                       

By  now,  almost  everyone has been made aware of a Kidd family cemetery
located  in  Nelson  County  that  is  being  over-run  by  some  rather
unscrupulous  individuals.   My  story  about  the  cemetery  is  in the
February, 2009 edition of The Old Warhorse  newsletter.   A  few  things
have occurred recently that I would like to share with everyone: A local
UDC Chapter has gotten involved with  the  project  and  has  agreed  to
sponsor  a  grave  site  dedication  in  June-I intend on attending this
service and invite any/all interested members of the Longstreet Camp  to
join  me.  There has also been a recent development concerning the local
law enforcement - a new detective has been assigned to the case and  has
interviewed  some of the surviving family members that live in the area,
and is also looking into the  damage  that  possibly  was  done  to  the
cemetery  graves.  I am planning a trip to the cemetery soon and hope to
see for myself exactly what has been going on, and I will have  pictures
with  me  at  the  next  camp  meeting that I will be more than happy to
share.                                                                  

I found a recent story in  the  Richmond  Times-Dispatch  interesting  -
seems  that The slavery museum that was being planned for Fredericksburg
hasn't moved any further forward than it had when  it  was  first  being
developed   by  then-Mayor  Douglas  Wilder,  and  supposedly  has  been
illegally soliciting for funding off of its website since June of  2008.
Now they want to move the museum to Richmond - hasn't this city suffered
from Doug Wilder enough long enough ???                                 

I look forward to seeing everyone at our next camp meeting March 17th!  

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

Deo Vindice!                                                            
					Mike                     

ADJUTANT'S REPORT

The certified membership application of Dale A.  Harlow has been sent to
International  Headquarters.   We  shall  schedule an induction ceremony
when his membership certificate is  received.   Dale's  ancestor  Andrew
Mortimer  Harlow  served  in  the  1st  Virginia  Artillery.   Dale  was
introduced to our camp by Don Jewett.  Welcome,  Dale,  and  thank  you,
Don.                                                                    

After  nearly  ten  years David George is stepping down as editor of our
newsletter The Old War Horse.  Our newsletter is the finest and  several
years  ago  received  the  award as the best in the Confederation in our
camp size category.  Dave has been tireless and  reliable  in  producing
this fine newsletter.  He has been ably assisted by his wife Marion.  We
express our deepest appreciation for, in the words of  Robert  E.   Lee,
"duty faithfully performed."                                            

Taking  over as editor will be our very capable audio-visual expert Gary
Cowardin.  In order to get the newsletter out quicker  and  to  decrease
printing  and  postage  expense,  Gary  will  send  me  a  link when the
newsletter is ready, which in turn will be sent to all who  have  email.
Paper  copies will be mailed to our other members.  We have from time to
time talked about this, and now is the logical time.  In addition to the
significant cost saving, the work of the editor will also be reduced.   

The  Museum  of the Confederacy and the Library of Virginia sponsored an
outstanding  symposium  at  the  Library  Saturday  February  21  titled
"Generals  Behaving  Badly": Character and Command in the Civil War.  W.
Hunter Lesser, author of Rebels at the Gate: Lee and  McClellan  on  the
Front  Line  of  a  Nation  Divided,  led  off  with a discussion of how
political generals and former Virginia  governors  John  B.   Floyd  and
Henry  A.   Wise  refused to cooperate with each other in that ill-fated
campaign.  Even Robert E.  Lee could not get them to work together.  The
Union  victory  in  July  1861 and the Yankee defeat at Bull Run vaulted
George B.  McClellan from that obscure campaign to command of  the  Army
of the Potomac.                                                         

Robert  K.   Krick  held  forth  on Mississippi's William Barksdale, who
comes across as a paragon of virtue in Ezra  J.   Warner's  Generals  in
Gray.   Bob  enlightened  us  about  Barksdale's sometimes stormy prewar
career as a politician, including being stabbed 11  times  by  political
opponent  Reuben Davis and getting his wig knocked off in a melee in the
U.  S.  House of  Representatives  during  a  heated  debate  about  the
Kansas-Nebraska act.  Barksdale put his wig on backwards.  Barksdale got
drunk and abused some of his  soldiers  on  a  march  from  Manassas  to
Leesburg.   He  saved  his command by an abstinence promise to Jefferson
Davis and distinguished himself at Ball's Bluff.  He performed  well  at
Malvern  Hill,  Maryland  Heights, and Fredericksburg.  He was killed at
Gettysburg.                                                             

John Quarstein entertained us with stories of Benjamin Butler  and  John
Bankhead  Magruder.   Butler was a successful lawyer prewar who became a
political general.  His Yankee army captured  Baltimore  and  Annapolis,
where  he proclaimed, "I am here to save the Constitution." Naturally he
didn't specify whether he meant the ship docked there  or  the  nation's
Constitution.   He  declined  Lincoln's  offer  to  take command at Fort
Monroe, but accepted the President's offer to command the  Army  of  the
Peninsula.  What was the Army of the Peninsula?  Fort Monroe!           

Magruder  was  the  subject  of John's talk at our Camp's 2007 Christmas
banquet, so anything printed here would  be  a  repeat  of  the  program
writeup  in  the  January  2008  Old  War Horse.  Earl Van Dorn, a grand
nephew of Andrew Jackson, served with Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert  E.
Lee,  and  George  H.   Thomas  in the famed 2nd U.  S.  Cavalry prewar.
Obviously the good influence of those capable soldiers had little or  no
influence  on Van Dorn.  His Confederate armies suffered defeats and Pea
Ridge and Corinth.  He partially redeemed himself by  destroying  Yankee
supply   depots   at  Holly  Springs,  Mississippi,  in  December  1862,
disrupting Grant's projected operations against Vicksburg.  Van Dorn was
shot  and  killed at his Spring Hill, Tennessee headquarters May 7, 1863
by Dr.  Peters for "violating the sanctity of his home."  The  Nashville
newspaper published that Van Dorn had made one reconnaissance too many. 

Sitting  next to me at the symposium was a 4th grade teacher from a town
a bit over 100 miles from  Richmond.   He  told  me  that  the  Virginia
history  text  used  in his school made no mention of Chief Justice John
Marshall.  The  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  and  the
Superintendent  of  Henrico  County Schools have been made aware of that
absurd situation with a request to correct this blatant omission.       

The current issue of AAA World, the magazine  of  AAA  Mid-Atlantic  had
five  pages of ads from Virginia localities touting tourist attractions.
There was no ad for Richmond.   Mayor  Dwight  Clinton  Jones  has  been
requested  to rattle a few cages at City Hall to rectify this ridiculous
situation.                                                              

We are stewards and guardians of history.  We need to be alert and  take
action to assure that history is taught accurately and preserved.       

I look forward to seeing you at Longstreet Camp's next meeting.


					Walter                   

GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET CAMP #1247

NEXT MEETING - TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009

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

MARCH SPEAKER

Dave Ruth cannot speak to the camp on March 17th.  He has  sent  in  his
stead  Bobbie  Krick a historian at the National Park Service and son of
Robert K.  Krick to speak on Stonewall Jackson and Richmond.  Krick last
spoke to us in 2004 about Longstreet's Staff.                           

Dave has rescheduled and will now speak to us on October 20th.          

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

Our  Camp  member  Barton  Campbell  gave  an  interesting  power  point
presentation  about  the  March  1862  battle  of  Pea  Ridge, Arkansas.
Barton's great grandfather was there as a member  of  the  1st  Arkansas
Mounted Rifles.                                                         

Barton selected four significant facts about the battle:                
	Intriguing personalities    
	Tactical oddities           
	Exceptional use of artillery
	Strategic implications      

Several months after the August 1861 Confederate victory at  the  battle
of   Wilson's   Creek,  Missouri  and  Kentucky  were  admitted  to  the
Confederate States of America.  Pea Ridge would determine the reality of
Missouri's being a Confederate state.                                   

Yankee  forces  at  Pea  Ridge  consisted  of  10,  250  soldiers and 49
artillery pieces ably commanded by Brigadier General Samuel R.   Curtis,
an  1831  graduate  of West Point who had served with distinction in the
Mexican War.                                                            

There were three elements of Confederates:                              

	8,000 soldiers and 47 guns commanded by Hampden-Sydney  graduate
	Sterling Price of Missouri,

	8,  700 soldiers and 18 guns led by Tennessean Brigadier General
	Ben McCullough, and

	800 Indian soldiers led by Brigadier general Albert Pike.       

The disparity in numbers is  less  than  it  appears,  with  Confederate
strength estimated at 13,000 effectives.                                

Price  and  McCullough had combined forces to win at Wilson's Creek, but
Jefferson Davis insisted on having a West  Pointer  in  command  at  Pea
Ridge.  He was turned down by two whose credentials suited him.  Braxton
Bragg didn't feel there was  enough  glory.   Henry  Heth's  reason  was
legitimate.   He  did not know the territory or the men.  Davis selected
Earl Van Dorn, who arrived in Arkansas the first week in March.         

Van Dorn wanted to  take  on  Yankees  commanded  by  Franz  Siegel  and
insisted,  over  the  objections  of  McCullough  and Price, on marching
through sleet and snow.                                                 

McCullough was killed during a  personal  reconnaissance.   Hebert,  who
succeeded  him  was  captured.   Price  was  wounded.   Van  Dorn had no
communication with them and was  unaware  of  what  had  happened.   His
numerical advantage was wasted.                                         

Curtis's  Yankees  attacked March 8.  The Confederate troops had no food
or ammunition.  Siegel concentrated his artillery fire until Confederate
batteries were decimated.                                               

The Confederate loss of the battle was attributed to:                   
	Lack of command and control     
	Poor logistics                  
	Inadequate staff                
	Asking too much of the soldiers.

Results of Pea Ridge badly damaged the Confederacy:                     
	Missouri was lost to the Union.                         
	No sizeable army was left west of the Mississippi River.
	Arkansas was neutralized.                               
	There was a critical loss of officer talent.            


					Walter

2007-2009 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
War Horse editor and                                 
Webmaster: Gary F. Cowardin                  262-0534

Website: longstreetscv.org                           

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      Brian Cowardin*   Clint Cowardin*   Taylor Cowardin*
Raymond Crews     Jerold Evans      Dave George       Mike Hendrick
Jack Kane         Peter Knowles,II  Lewis Mills       Conway Moncure
Bob Moore         Joe Moschetti	    John Moschetti    Preston Nuttall
Waite Rawls       Peyton Roden      Bill Setzer       Tom Spivey   
Walter Tucker*    John Vial         David Ware        Harold Whitmore
Bobbie Williams   Hugh Williams     Keith Zimmerman*                  

Legend:                                    
* - Multiple contributions                 

HURTT SCHOLARSHIP FUND
August 1, 2008 through February 28, 2009

Clint Cowardin     Lee Crenshaw       Jack Kane          Peter Knowles, II
Joe Moschetti      Preston Nuttall    Peyton Roden       Walter Tucker   
Tom Vance          Hugh Williams      Anonymous                          

VIRGINIA DIVISION, SCV FUND

Walter Beam     Crawley Joyner  Bob Moore       Cary Shelton