More pictures from Walhalla leg of march

By Judi Price
judi.homerprice@gmail.com

FYI Homer is 76 years young, and I am 71 years young.

1-7 are at the Junction

8-11 are pictures going into Walhalla and the flag hanging over Main Street for the Octoberfest Celebration

H.K.'s march Clemson and Walhalla

By Judi Price
judi.homerprice@gmail.com

Thursday October 18th, 2012

Homer and H.K. decided to start at the old Winn Dixie parking lot like on the 5 year reunion March since it looked like it could start raining any minute just like it did on the 5 year reunion march. I went back to Mom’s to wash a load of clothes, and then drove to Save A lot/ Rite Aid parking lot on College Avenue, to wait for them. On the way I stopped at the National Guard armory to find out why there were horses there. Turned out it was “extreme Mustang challenge” and they and wounded warriors, and veterans were riding to T Ed Garrison Arena. When I told Homer and H.K. they were going to march along with them, but we couldn’t find them. We went back by Moms to pick up the clothes, and then to Golden Coral. Juan Carlos was our waiter and we introduced H.K. to everyone in there. From there we came back here and H.K. went on back to Asheville.

Friday October 19th, 2012

H.K. came to our house again, left his car here and we went to Seneca and onto highway 28 to the median just before Head Lee Nursery, to march to and thru Walhalla to the monument. After they got out I drove a couple of miles up the road to read and wait till they got in sight, took a few pictures, then drove on to McDonalds at West Union, where I stopped in their parking lot to read until they came into sight. It was at this point that I saw a Sherriff’s car talking to them and made a picture of it. Turns out someone had seen people talking to them earlier and for some reason had called the Sherrifs office to say someone was beating up on them. When the deputy ascertained that H.K. and Homer were fine he went on and I went on thru Walhalla where Octoberfest was going full blast. I parked near the monument and got out to join the young man who had talked to them earlier and a woman to make pictures. I used their cameras to make pictures of them with H.K. and Homer, took a few pictures myself and we went to the junction to meet Bonnie and Steve Hollingsworth from Rosman, old friends of both H.K. and ours who had gotten there as quickly as they could, after a visit with Bonnie’s infant great grandson. Bonnie had hoped to march with them in Walhalla but they could
not get out of Rosman and down the mountain before we were finished with the march, so met us at the Junction. The Junction is 17 miles from our house at the Junction of hgy 11 and hgy 14. It is great home cooking and the folks there welcomed H.K. back.

1-3 are Clemson. I walked down College Avenue to meet them and actually got to march with them about two blocks.

4-14 are the march into Walhalla. Since I made pictures along the route on this one, there are more. I will send one more batch of pictures of this leg of the march.

Write up and pictures of H.K.'s trip thru SC

In case you don't know me I am Judi Price. My husband Homer is marching with H.K. and I am doing pickup at the end of each march. I will send you a picture of Homer and me later.

Here is what I wrote after each of the two above days. Dixie Outfitters is only about 10 miles from our house so after I dropped them off. I came back here to do a few things before picking them up.

Tuesday October 16, 2012 9:45 a.m.

Just dropped off Homer and H.K. on 25 for their march to Dixie Outfitters. Will meet them there about noon and we and H.K. will go to the Junction for lunch, then maybe back by here for H.K. to see the progress on the house and meet all the critters. Tomorrow we will meet H.K. in Easley and take him and Homer and who ever to where they start the march. Thursday the same at Clemson, and Friday in Walhalla, then Monday into Toccoa from the river bridge. Anyone is welcome to join us at any of them. Homer was the only one this a.m. when I dropped them off. If you want to know more or would like to join us, shoot me an email.

4:15 p.m.

After I wrote you the first one this a.m., I left here at 11:30 to go back up 11 to 25 to Dixie Outfitters. I passed Homer and H.K. just past 414 which is about two miles out. I talked with the fellas at Dixie Outfitters a while, bought two shirts then went back out to look down the road and here came the fellas. I took a couple of pictures of them coming up the road, we went in Dixie Outfitters to get drinks for the guys, and rest a bit then loaded up in the truck and went to the Junction for lunch. H.K. loved the Junction as we knew he would. Then we came back here to show H.K. the new house and walked around a bit, then took him back to his car. Tomorrow we will meet him at Dixie Lumber Company and take him to where ever he is going to start in Easley to walk back to Dixie Lumber Company. I took him some jelly and a cutting of the confederate rose. Then when we came back here gave him a sawtooth acorn to plant, a start of mint, a sassafras leaf, and some cedar boards Homer sawed on the sawmill.

Wednesday October 17th 2012

We met H.K. at Dixie Lumber Company in Easley and then Homer drove to

K Mart Plaza out of Easley. They decided to walk from there because 123 is just too dangerous for a longer walk. I drove back to Dixie Lumber to read and wait for them. When they got in, we made a few pictures, then decided to call it a day. H.K. went back to Asheville to catch up on correspondence etc.

Pictures 1-4 are of H.K. and Homer at Dixie Outfitters in Travelers Rest

Pictures 5-10 are from Dixie Lumber Company in Easley

GETTING EVEN

By Bob Hurst

The Confederacy was blessed with many great generals and among those who dwelt on the Southern Olympus were such familiar names as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Patrick Cleburne, Joe Wheeler and Edmund Kirby Smith. There were also many Confederate generals who performed outstandingly during the War but were not as well-known as these immortals. One such Confederate shining star was Brigadier General Hylan Benton Lyon.

Hylan Lyon was born in Caldwell County, Kentucky, into a family that was prominent in politics with members having served both in the state legislature and the national Congress. In fact, a new county was formed from a portion of Caldwell County and named Lyon County for a member of this family.

Hylan Lyon received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1852 and graduated in 1856 with the rank of 2nd lieutenant. After almost five years of service in the U.S. military, where he was posted from Florida to Montana, he resigned on April 30, 1861 to enter Confederate service.

Lyon made a name for himself as a capable, intelligent and dependable officer and was well thought of by the higher command. In November of 1861, Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman sent a request to General Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of Confederate forces in Kentucky, asking for Lyon to be transferred to Tilghman's command as he would be invaluable there because of his abilities and his knowledge of the area. Proving the accuracy of this assessment, by the following February young Hylan Lyons was serving as lieutenant colonel of the 8th Kentucky Infantry.

Before the month had ended, Lyon's regiment was engaged in a fierce encounter with a much larger contingent of Federal troops at Fort Donelson. While withdrawing from the area, Lyon was captured by Union forces. Despite his capture, Colonel John Simonton, Lyon's brigade commander, wrote glowingly in his battle report of the gallantry of young Hylan Lyon.

Lyon was imprisoned for almost seven months, the majority of which was at Johnson's Island, before he was exchanged for two Confederate-held prisoners in August. One can only imagine the anguish felt by this young officer as he endured this captivity.

When he returned to his regiment he returned with a vengeance. For the next year and a half he built an outstanding fighting record with involvement in the battles of Coffeeville, Port Hudson, Holly Springs, Vicksburg, Chattanooga and many smaller skirmishes. He especially received high praise for his actions at Brice's Crossroads where he ordered his 800 troops, when confronted by a Union force of more than 1500, to dismount and charge the Federals. This surprising move confused the Union troops and forced their retreat. His Kentucky unit continued to charge and harass the enemy troops and played a major role in the Confederate victory.

In his report of this battle, the magnificent Nathan Bedford Forrest wrote with high praise of the actions of Colonel Lyon and stated that he had "displayed great gallantry during the day." Four days later, on June 14, 1864, Hylan Lyon was promoted to brigadier general.

Two months later Brigadier General Lyon received orders that would have removed him from the command of General Forrest and taken him out of Mississippi. Forrest immediately complained to the government in Richmond about this move and within two weeks the orders were rescinded and Lyon was returned to Forrest's Corps. You just didn't mess with Nathan Bedford Forrest.

General Lyon was immediately given command of a brigade consisting of the 3rd, 7th, 8th and 12th Kentucky regiments. This brigade was officially designated "Lyon's Brigade" and for the next several months rode with Forrest in northern Alabama and central Tennessee.

Having recognized the abilities of General Lyon, Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon assigned Lyon to command of the department that had just been created in Kentucky. Western Kentucky was home territory for Hylan Lyon and the Confederate war department believed it would require someone with his background and knowledge of the area to regain control of the region from the Federals. General Lyon was not allowed to take his entire brigade to Kentucky . He was limited to the 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment and a battery of artillery. He was also given the mission of recruiting more Kentuckians to the Confederate Cause.

General Lyon's first objective in Kentucky was to take control of his hometown, Eddyville, away from the Federals. This was quickly accomplished but Federal troops in the area did something in retaliation that no Southerner would imagine doing - they took General Lyon's wife captive. I'm sure that Hylan Lyon had not forgotten his incarceration at Johnson's Island and now the Feds had taken his wife captive. General Lyon made arrangements to release eight captured Union officers in exchange for the release of his wife. I cannot help but think that this action on the part of the yankees made the fire in Hylan Lyon's belly burn even hotter.

For the first three weeks of October, General Lyon and his troops rode all through western Kentucky. Federal troops frantically pursued him but could neither stop him or even find him. In late October Lyon again teamed up with Nathan Bedford Forrest who was in the area. Again this combination proved devastating to the yankees. Within the space of a week, the Confederates had destroyed 6 Union gunboats on the Tennessee River, 13 Union steamboats and several barges. Federal troops even began to burn their own vessels so that the supplies on the boats would not fall into the hands of the Confederates. For good measure, Lyon's men also burned all the military buildings in Johnsonville which resulted in more than 2 million dollars of damage. This was just a harbinger of what was to come.

From the second week of December 1864 through the first week of January 1865, General Lyon was truly a man on a mission. On December 12, 1864, Lyon's forces (including the conscripts he was picking up along the way) entered Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Knowing that Courthouses were often used by Federal troops as a center of operations, Lyon and his men went straight to the courthouse and burned it. They then conscripted some men and moved on. The nexy day, December 13, Lyon led his men due west into Cadiz, Kentucky, where they immediately went to the courthouse and torched it. The Union garrison had fled the building upon the advance of the Confederates. The Kentuckians then headed north.

On December 15, Lyon moved toward Princeton, Kentucky, and the Federal troops there fled into the countryside. As per the usual pattern, the courthouse was burned down. After conscripting more troops, Lyon and his men moved on, this time heading northeast.

Madisonville was next and on December 17 the courthouse went up in flames. It seemed that the Federals in the area could do nothing to stop Hylan Lyon and his men. Their mission of burning courthouses and plundering stores was having a devastating effect on the people of the area. Since many of these people were Union sympathizers the mission was having exactly the effect that Lyon desired.

Three days later, on December 20, Lyon's legion reached the town of Hartford, northeast of Madisonville, and immediately took over the Federal garrison and freed the prisoners. They then proceeded to burn the courthouse. Later that same day, Lyon and his men burned a number of ferryboats along a 10-mile stretch of the Green River.

Three days later, on December 23, Lyon and his troops attacked a train near Elizabethton, east of Hartford, and captured 200 Union soldiers. That night they moved into Elizabethton and burned the stockade, the railroad depot and two bridges. Lyon then headed southeast.

On Christmas Day his troops reached Campbellsville and immediately burned the courthouse. After completing this raid, Lyon directed his troops due south toward the Tennessee line. He just couldn't leave Kentucky without one more raid, though, and on January 3, 1865, led his men into Burkesville where, once again, the courthouse went up in flames. As the building burned, General Lyon and his men left Kentucky for good. But what a farewell it had been. During the period from December 12, 1864, through January 3, 1865, Lyon and his troops had burned 7 courthouses in Union-held towns, destroyed numerous river-going vessels, and created pure havoc in that area of southwestern Kentucky.

I would say that General Lyon did a fine job of getting even with the yankees for the months he was held in a federal prison and for the shameful arrest of his wife by Union soldiers.

As Hylan Lyon headed southward with his troops, he was captured while sleeping in a house near Red Hill, Alabama. Ever resourceful, Lyon was able to escape through some skulduggery whereby he was able, through shouting out orders to non-existent troops, to confuse his yankee captors to the degree that they fled from the non-existent soldiers and allowed him to escape.

General Lyon then headed south, far south, and spent the next year in Mexico where quite a group of Confederate officers and government officials had ended up. After a period of exile, he returned to Kentucky to his hometown of Eddyville to farm. The government eventually bought a portion of his land as the site for a penitentiary and he served a while on the State Penitentiary Commission. He was eventually elected to a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Hylan Lyon lived until 1907 and I'm sure during all that time after the end of the War he made many trips into those areas east of Eddyville where he had created so much havoc during the War. I'm quite certain that he often had a feeling of great satisfaction during those trips remembering the chaos he had created for those yankees who had taken over his part of Kentucky. I would also think that he often, during these trips, got a warm glow thinking about how successful he had been at getting even with the bluecoats and their sympathizers for what had been done to his wife and him back in the 60's.

Brigadier General Hylan Benton Lyon was another in that legion of Confederate leaders who performed their duties magnificently with little fanfare or lasting recognition. As we say in the South, "He was a keeper."

DEO VINDICE

Note: Previous articles of CONFEDERATE JOURNAL are available in book form. Volume 1 (2005-2007) can be ordered online at http://createspace.com/3540609 and Volume 2 (2008-2009) can be ordered at http://createspace.com/3543269.

Bob Hurst is a Son of the South who has particular interests in the Confederacy and the antebellum homes of the South. He is Commander of Col. David Lang Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, in Tallahassee and is 2nd Lieutenant Commander of the Florida Division, SCV. Contact information is confederatedad1@yahoo.com and 850-878-7010 (after 9PM).

HOW THE UNITED STATES PRESERVES THE HISTORY OF ITS PRISONS FOR CONFEDERATES

BY JOAN HOUGH
johough@swbell.net

Join me and disseminate Southern truth. Please feel free to reproduce and share any and all commentaries--accrediting me, please.

Reports are surfacing that repairs are to be made on the only Memorial for Confederates who were murdered at Camp Douglas in Chicago. Repairs are long overdue--should have been made years back. Why have they not been made? Taxpayers (including Southerners) keep the Yankee monuments and gravestones at Vicksburg US Military Park in tip top condition. Who takes care of the Confederate’s only monument in Chicago?

Although every original blade of grass is protected atAndersonville by the U.S. government, it has made sure every splinter of the horrific Camp Douglas US prison Confederates has been eliminated—that every bit of evidence of the prison’s existence has been removed. Totally erased, even in the pages of American history, is the truth that a prison existed in Chicago, which made incarceration a confinement in Hell for every one of its Confederate prisoners.

Andersonville Prison, which housed Union soldiers, was a bit of Disney World compared to Camp Douglas. Confederates were deliberately, routinely murdered and starved at Douglas—on the direct orders of the United States Congress and with malice for all and absolute approval of Abraham Lincoln and his Marxist-filled, Marxist-created Republican Party. The Confederate government, on the other hand, moved Heaven and Earth in an attempt to get the U.S. to send doctors, medicine, food to the U.S. prisoners at Andersonville.

Why are there no road signs to point the way to the Chicago monument and that Chicago Hell Hole Prison where defenseless Southerners were tortured and murdered? Signs marking the way to the prison’s site have not existed in a century or more. Even native Chicago citizens are unaware thatthere was once in their city a revoltingly evil US prison wherein many thousands of helpless Confederates were tortured and murdered. The historians and the US government have lied to us about US perfidy for years. The presence of street signs alone might make Chicago folks learn the truth of the US cruelty toward helpless fellow Americans– a truth all Americans should learn.

Will somebody with human kindness please move or blow up the UGLY ROCK that is now located in front of the one Confederate monument in the Chicago Prison’s swamp? The Ugly Rock is filled with words viciously insulting our Confederate dead. That rock of enormous ugliness was placed in front of the Confederate Memorial. My cousin's body disappeared from Camp Douglas. In fact, his name was omitted from all the prison rosters and is not on the memorial. He was in that prison. He died there. He was tortured before dying. This we know. His parents’ suffering was increased by the 2nd Manassas kill of his brother.

The oh so moral folks of Chicago, seeking thrills, paid money to climb high into watch towers andobserve much of the torturing done at Douglas.. They watched as Southern boys were stripped and forced to sit, with naked bottoms unmoving on ice—beaten mercilessly if they wriggled! They watched as Southern boys (some as young as 14) were forced to "ride the mule" high in the air and experience while “riding” tortures inflicted on their sexual organs. Death for some resulted from their ride.

Well-fed Illinois citizens watched as guards shot sickConfederates. They watched as, before their eyes, husky Southern males turned into starved, emaciated collections of bones. They watched as their own mayor, while in a fit of human decency, was arrested because he tried to slip some food to a few of the emaciated boys who were being deliberately starved to death on government order.

One year into the war, the folks in Mr. Lincoln's “Camp Douglas” state passed a state law prohibiting arrival there of any mulatto or black person. Black Confederates imprisoned at Douglas feared to be released. So much for the Yankee-Marxist lie that the war was begun to free slaves! So much for the inferior scholars called professors who continue to propagandize that lie.

The monument in the swamp in Chicago is Chicago’s single Confederate monument. It lists only a few of the Confederates who were murdered at Camp Douglas. The history of the birthday of the monument is clouded with Yankee speeches falsely claiming northerners responsible for it and attributing everything wonderful to martyred Abe Lincoln.

The Yankees have long pretended that Camp Douglas never existed. However, one honest northerner, Dr. George Levy, a professor of legal studies at Roosevelt University, became interested in Camp Douglas while he was a student at theUniversity of Chicago —across the street from the site, which had been cleared of all evidence of the Camp’s existence. Read honest Levy's truly honest report on his discoveries about the United States Hell Hole. His book To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 should make even the most brainwashed in the U.S. cease yapping about Andersonville being so terrible. It should cause them to halt prattling their programmed inanities about the nobility of the Republican invaders. The tortures at Camp Douglas not only had the approval of Mr. Lincoln and his U.S. Congress, but were congressionally mandated by the United States Senate. (Check the record.)

Andersonville's problems occurreddespite President Davis’ many efforts to get Lincoln to either exchange prisoners or send in his doctors, medicine and even food for the prisoners. Camp Douglas’s horrors were UNION created, performed under the watchful eyes of Lincoln and his Republican Congress.

After heinous tortures the Confederate dead in Chicago were frequently dumped into a hole in the swamp; their bones often arising in later built, adjacent parking lots. The Union torturers at Douglas ceased keeping rosters and all recordswhen the deaths/murders of Southerners became enormous and US officially published numbers conflicted with those of the Chicago newspaper. Oddly, the first of the deaths was that of a tiny, 14 year old black Confederate youngster who was shot by his “great emancipators.”

Some of the Camp Douglas dead Confederates may still lie in Chicago’s now filled in swamp, but the whereabouts of many thousands is unknown. (Pigs ran free in the streets in New York in that time, did they do the same in Chicago?)
http://scvcamp1399.org/uglyrock.php

Read Steve Scroggins bitter denunciation of the Ugly Rock in the cemetery in Chicago and his recommendation for what should be done about it.

http://home.xnet.com/~jkelley/VirtualTours.fldr/VirtualChicago.fldr/Cemeteries.fldr/CemOakWoods.fldr/CemOakWoods01.html

View the Ugly Rock in front of the Confederate Memorial Stone.

More on this forthcoming on Deo Vindice http://Joan-hough.blogspot.com

Sons of Confederate Veterans Request Investigation of Battle of Franklin Trust by State Official

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) announced today that an attorney retained to investigate allegations of mismanagement and improper conduct by members of the Boards of Directors of both The Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, and its management group, of The Battle of Franklin Trust (BOFT), has uncovered numerous instances of apparent disregard for the legal requirements for operating non-profit corporations, conflicts of interest on the parts of several members of both boards, and a possible misuse of state funds. As a result of this investigation, the SCV has requested the Tennessee Historical Commission to undertake its own investigation, and to involve other state offices such as those of the Attorney General and State Comptroller as they see fit. The Carter House is a state-owned historic site, under the stewardship of the Tennessee Historical Commission, and is one of Tennessee's premier tourist destinations.

Managed under the auspices of the Carter House Association since the 1950s, practically all control of the Carter House was signed away to the Battle of Franklin Trust three years ago in what some are calling a political maneuver, one which may be costing the taxpayers of Tennessee. Now, the Battle of Franklin Trust is requesting the Tennessee Historical Commission to deed related state property to them. Surprisingly, two of the people making the request have strong ties to the state, one being a state commissioner, and the other being the wife of a state commissioner.

"We were troubled to discover that state funds were possibly being used to make payments on an existing mortgage against Carnton Plantation, a privately owned historic site which is also managed by the Battle of Franklin Trust" said William Speck, Heritage Chairman for the Tennessee Division of the SCV. The mortgage in question was initiated by Marianne Schroer, wife of TDOT Commissioner John Schroer, when she was chairman of the board of directors of the Carnton property. She now holds the same position on the board of the Battle of Franklin Trust. Marianne Schroer and another state commissioner, Tourism Department head Susan Whitaker, who is also a board member for the BOFT, have spear-headed the BOFT's effort to obtain title to taxpayer-owned property.

Mr. Speck added, "The Carter House property belongs to the people of Tennessee and no portion of it should be given away to any group whose financial situation is questionable and whose grasp of proper management practices is apparently deficient. Therefore, the SCV retained the services of attorney Randy Lucas, and his investigation has confirmed that the problems with the Battle of Franklin Trust rise above mere carelessness. Mr. Lucas has outlined a number of deficiencies and conflicts of interest among board officers, and has now forwarded his findings to the Tennessee Historical Commission."

The SCV is requesting the Tennessee Historical Commission to vote against any concept of transferring property to the Battle of Franklin Trust. Further, the SCV is requesting that the Tennessee Historical Commission immediately open an investigation into the BOFT and the legal issues and financial questions brought forward by their attorney, involving any state agencies they feel necessary. Finally, the SCV requests a decision as to whether the contract between Carter House and the BOFT is legally binding, because of the "perpetual" control given over a state-owned property, and because the Carter House board president who solely approved the contract is an officer on both boards, which appears to be a classic conflict of interest.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an international organization of descendants of Confederate soldiers and the nation's largest military history and genealogy society. Formed in 1896, the SCV owns, operates, and manages many historic properties, including Winstead Hill Memorial Park in Franklin, the General N.B. Forrest Home in Chapel Hill, and Beauvoir - the last home of Jefferson Davis, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Its headquarters are in Columbia, Tennessee, at historic Elm Springs.

Guardians of the Southern Tradition, rally to the Colors

Are you a guardian of the Southern Tradition?

Do you know what the Southern tradition is? Have you taken the time to study the South, or do you believe that being born in the South is all that matters?

Some men who can trace their family ancestry back to the ante bellum era may point to the Charge as the best definition of the Southern tradition. This mission statement was given to the Sons of Confederate Veterans by Lt. General Stephan D. Lee, on behalf of the Confederate veterans;

To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.

The Charge is certainly a comprehensive statement of purpose. It lays a heavy burden of responsibility on those who take the oath. Unfortunately, many in the S.C.V., including much of the leadership don’t seem to have contemplated the meaning of the words in the Charge.

For example the word “vindication” is one that deserves serious study. What does vindicate mean? Are attending graveside ceremonies, monthly meetings and the occasional parade fulfilling the meaning of this word? Many think so, I do not.

And what was “the Cause”? If there were thirty Southerners in a room, you would probably get thirty different definitions of the Cause! Some of those definitions probably wouldn’t be more than a few words. Other definitions might be much more lengthy, citing the original Constitution; and words like Republic inalienable rights, and states’ rights.

You see, if you accept the Southern statement that the true causes of the war were about one part of the nation attempting to change the meaning of the words within the Constitution, than you must accept that today’s “Confederates” should be just as dedicated to the original Constitution as their ancestors. And, if you accept that, than you must ask; Why aren’t you Sons of Confederate Veterans active in changing local, state and federal government policy to ensure that Southern values and interests are represented at the governing table?

I believe there is a second element to the Southern tradition; Christianity. Men like Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jackson and so many others refer in their official and personal writings the place of Providence in the South. Massive Christian revivals occurred in the Southern armies and at home. And it was Christianity and the Bible that George Washington said were essential to the governing of America!

Judeo – Christianity is at the heart of the creation of America. It is the reason for the close and enduring bond between Israel and the United States. It is an umbilical cord between two peoples, one that should never be cut. As Israel was the first chosen people of God, America is man’s third chance to be God’s people.

Is Dixie called the Bible Belt in error? Are the people of the South not committed to Christ?

As you can see from these brief words Dixie is about a lot more than accent, lovely woman, Southern food and a robust culture, diverse in its make-up and genre. And the South is still today, despite a continuous onslaught from the north, still a separate and unique people.

For many in the Southern movement, visiting a classroom for a few brief hours to provide the children a small glance at the Olde South, is all we can do. But, that’s not true. The Gay Rights movement is getting public schools to teach “Dick and Jim.” Should we in the Southern movement not be getting public schools to talk about the original meanings of the Constitution and the warnings of Patrick Henry?!

This is work. Not an hour meeting, not talking to the local museum about a presentation. This is about changing policy in the halls of a large bureaucracy! This is about participating in the governing of your nation! This is about vindicating the Cause! Our ancestors did it with their blood and treasure, can you not do it through the ballot and energetic citizenship!

The formation of the Southern National Congress was one expression of the need for a regional political defense force concerned with ensuring the representation of the South in the halls of Congress. But, it’s membership is too small, too monolithic to truly represent the 21st Century Southland. The Southern National Congress could be the tool to re-introduce a Southern voice in national politics, but to do so, it must grow exponentially and include a proportionate representation of blacks, Indians, Mexicans in order to have real credibility and be an accurate representative body of today’s South.

The Colors of the South, all of them, but most significantly the Confederate battle flag are proud colors which represent to the world resistance to oppression by a central government, and the pride of independent regions and peoples. These colors are about defiance to manipulation of a system, or changing the rules when you can’t win. Whether you look at Roe v. Wade, or Obama Care, or Gay Rights you see repeatedly that rules are changed, law ignored because these groups cannot gain a majority. While simultaneously you see majorities reversed on issues like Voter ID, traditional marriage, and property rights.

The political battles occurring in the United States at the turn of the twenty-first century are the very same battles, very same issues which drove the people of the South to choose secession in 1860 – 61. And these issues may force a re-visitation of secession in the modern day. In Scotland, secession is underway from the United Kingdom! In 2014 the people of Scotland will vote, and should they vote for Scotland Free a second “gun heard round the world” will be fired.

If you answered the first question of this essay yes, if you believe yourself to be a guardian of the South, then accept that re-enacting and parades, and small monthly meetings are not the responsibilities General Lee was calling you to. For the 21st Century United States to remain the “City on the Hill” to the entire world, the South must be a powerful, constant political pulse within America. If as a guardian of the South you relinquish that sacred trust, you are in fact gutting the United States of its nobility and Providential character.

This is what I tried to say as the Lt. Commander of the Texas Division, and what I will continue to say as just me, though you may hear it as only a faint whisper.

May God preserve the South in the palm of His hand,

Mark Vogl
johnyreb43@yahoo.com

142nd Anniversary of Gen. Lee’s death

By Calvin E. Johnson, Jr., Speaker, Writer of Historical Essays, Author of book “When America Stood for God, Family and Country” and Chairman of the Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee for the Sons of Confederate Veterans http://confederateheritagemonth.com/heritage/2011/entry.php
cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net

Hello America!

Please share this story with students, educators, historians and all who love history.

Every year, the Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia presents a lecture and special events commemorating the Washington College presidency of Robert E. Lee on the anniversary of his death.

On Monday, October 8, 2012, the college chapel will present a book signing beginning at 10:30 am, followed by an Address at 12:15 pm in the auditorium. A program commemorating the 142th anniversary of Lee's death will feature Jeffry D. Wert, speaking on "Lee and the Rebirth of an Army: From Seven Days to Gettysburg." See details at: http://www.wlu.edu/x56830.xml

America mourned the death of Gen. Robert E. Lee on Wednesday, October 12, 1870 and Friday, October 12th marks the 142nd anniversary of his death.

Robert E. Lee, son of Light Horse “Harry” Lee of Revolutionary War fame and Anne Hill Carter Lee, distinguished himself as an exceptional officer and combat engineer in the United States Army for 32 years and Commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia for the Confederacy during the War Between the States. He was also a top honored student at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he would serve as Superintendent in 1852.

General Lee died at his home at Lexington, Virginia at 9:30 AM on October 12, 1870. His last great deed came after the War Between the States when he accepted the presidency of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University. He saved the financially troubled college and helped many young people further their education.

Returning home from a church meeting, Robert E. Lee sat at the supper table and was about to say grace. The general could not say a word and slumped down in his chair. It was believed that he had a stroke.

His condition seemed hopeless when a doctor told him, "General, you must make haste and get well---Traveller--- has been standing too long in his stable and needs exercise." Lee could only shake his head as he knew he would never again ride his beloved horse.

The rains and flooding were the worse of Virginia's history on the day General Lee died. On Wednesday, October 12, 1870, in the presence of his family, Lee quietly passed away.

The church bells rang as the sad news passed through Washington College, Virginia Military Institute and the town of Lexington. School Cadet's carried the remains of the old soldier to Washington Chapel where he lay in state and would be buried.

Memorial meetings were held throughout the South and as far North as New York. At Washington College in Lexington eulogies were delivered by: Reverend Pemberton, Reverend W.S. White--Stonewall Jackson's Pastor and Reverend J. William Jones. Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis brought the eulogy in Richmond, Virginia. Lee was also eulogized in Great Britain.

“Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less”---Robert E. Lee.

The War Between the States Sesquicentennial, 150th Anniversary, runs 2011 through 2015. The Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans joins the nation in remembering this historic time in our nation’s history. See information at: http://www.150wbts.org/

Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said, “Old soldier’s don’t die; they just fade away”!

Let’s not allow the memory of our nation’s heroes to fade away!