This year has been proclaimed the Year of Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of his birthday. He was born in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the 19th of January 1807. On January 13th we held our annual Lee-Jackson Banquet in honor of General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863), the two most revered of all Confederate commanders. Stan Clardy, a Southern entertainer and musician from Statesville, North Carolina, performed his musical program, "Soldiers in Gray" at the banquet. "Soldiers in Gray" is about the life and daily experiences and hardships of a typical Confederate soldier during and after the war. At the end of the program Stan spoke on the Christian character and virtues of Robert E. Lee, and how Southerners should look to him as a role model.

At the Lee-Jackson Banquet the new camp officers were installed for the 2007-2008 term. I want to congratulate and thank them for accepting these positions and taking on the accompanying responsibilities. I look forward to working with them during the next 2 years.

This is an early reminder that our Confederate Memorial Day Service is scheduled for Saturday, April 28th, at Magnolia Cemetery. All camp members should plan to attend this service, which is the most important event we have every year, to honor and pay special tribute to our Confederate ancestors.

Thursday night’s speaker will be Mr. Kenny Jarrett, an expert on firearms and ammunition, and owner of Jarrett Rifles in Jackson, South Carolina. He will speak on Confederate Whitworth Sharpshooters. If you have a friend that’s interested in becoming a member, this would be an excellent time to bring them to a meeting. Kenny Jarrett, who spoke to us back in December 2005, is one of the most interesting and entertaining speakers that we’ve had. Bring a guest and they will be impressed by his presentation.

I hope to see all of you this Thursday at Sconyers for a night of Confederate heritage and good Southern fellowship!

Arlington Milford was accepted for membership at the January 11th meeting through his 2nd Great Grandfather, Sergeant Charles Stark Milford of Company F, Orr’s Regiment.

B/G E. Porter Alexander Camp #158: http://www.eporteralexander.homestead.com/Index.html

Georgia Division SCV: http://www.georgiascv.com/

SCV National: http://www.scv.org/

¦ Thursday, February 8th – Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 will meet at Sconyers Bar-B-Que Restaurant at 7:00 p.m. Our program speaker will be Mr. Kenny Jarrett, owner of Jarrett Rifles and Cowden Plantation in Jackson, SC. He will give a presentation on the subject of "Confederate Whitworth Sharpshooters."

■ Sunday, February 11th – The annual Sergeant Berry G. Benson Birthday Remembrance service will be held at Sunset Hill Cemetery on Alta Vista Avenue in North Augusta, SC, at 3:00 p.m. Sergeant Berry G. Benson Camp #1672 Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Berry Benson United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter #2584, and the Jeanie Benson Children of the Confederacy Chapter #884 are hosting the service. Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 will provide the Color Guard.

Directions to Sunset Hill Cemetery: After crossing the 13th Street Bridge into North Augusta, make a left turn off of Georgia Avenue at the first traffic light onto West Buena Vista Avenue. Go six tenths of a mile and take a right on Alta Vista Avenue. The entrances to the cemetery will be about two tenths of a mile on the left.

■ Saturday, February 17th – Sherman’s Attack on Columbia: The Greater Columbia Civil War Alliance is going to commemorate General William Tecumseh Sherman's cannons firing on Columbia from the West Columbia side of the Congaree River. The cannons will commence firing at 9:00 am. Confederate re-enactors are needed in the woods on the east side of the river at 8:30 a.m. to ambush the Yankees like they did last year.

■ Thursday, March 8th – Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 will meet at Sconyers Bar-B-Que Restaurant at 7:00 p.m. Our program speaker will be Dr. Russell K. Brown. He will speak on "Robert E. Lee’s Visit to Augusta in 1870."

The family of recently deceased Tom Watson Brown requested a Confederate honor guard for his burial service. The private burial service, for family and a few close friends, was held in the old city cemetery in downtown Thomson, Georgia, at 9:00 a.m., Thursday, January 18th. (A significant number of Confederate soldiers are buried in this old historic cemetery.) The temperature that morning was hovering around freezing with drizzling rain. This was the worst day of winter weather we’ve had so far, but that didn’t deter our fellow SCV members from enthusiastically doing their duty and serving as honor guard for Mr. Tom Watson Brown, who passed away on Saturday, January 13th. Mr. Brown, also an SCV member, belonged to John B. Gordon Memorial Camp #1449 in Thomaston.

There were nine Infantry soldiers, three Artillery and also two ladies from the UDC attired in mourning dresses with veils. Three of the Infantry served as flag bearers carrying the 1st, 2nd and 3rd National Confederate flags, five soldiers with rifles and one calling the orders. The three serving as Artillery manned a mountain howitzer, a small brass cannon. All soldiers wore black armbands to signify they were honoring a fallen compatriot.

At the beginning of the interment service the Artillery crew was in place and the Infantry marched into the cemetery, did a right face and faced the family. The UDC ladies in mourning dresses were standing off to the side of the family. Lieutenant Commander Ron Udell of Camp #158 presented Confederate flags to the 10-year old and 8-year old grandsons of Mr. Tom Watson Brown. The Infantry fired a three shot volley over the grave of Mr. Brown. The cannon fired after each volley fired by the rifles. The family and friends of Mr. Brown were very well pleased with the portion of the service performed by the honor guard. They were most appreciative of all those that took part and personally thanked all of our SCV members and the ladies of the UDC.

These dedicated UDC ladies and SCV members that braved the cold and freezing rain are to be applauded for their efforts. I personally thank each of them for their participation and recognize each one by name below:

Mrs. Diann Grigsby of Augusta & Mrs. Judy McAlhany of Harlem, are members of Berry Benson UDC Chapter #2584 in North Augusta, SC. (Their husbands are members of Camp #158.)

Members from Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 in Augusta: 1st Lt Commander Ron Udell, 2nd Lt Commander Lee Herron, David Powell, Ernie Franklin, Carl T. Miller, Sr., Fred Bussey, Tom Smith and Mark Cook.

Members from Eli P. Landers Camp #1724 in Lilburn: Commander Barry Denard and Past Commander David Denard. Barry Denard is also commander of the 13th Brigade.

Member from Major William E. Simmons Camp #96 in Lawrenceville: Adjutant David Floyd

Member from Buckhead-Fort Lawton Brigade Camp #2102 in Millen: Steve Burke

A special thanks goes to David Denard for bringing his cannon from Lawrenceville to Thomson to take part in the service, and to the two men who assisted him – Barry Denard and David Floyd. David Denard is currently the commander of the Georgia Division MOS&B.

Nick Posey,

Commander

[3] Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
[4] I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
[5] That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
[6] Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
[7] So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
[8] Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[9] God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

"His lofty patriotism, immaculate integrity, and firmness of purpose, which never yielded principle for expediency nor abandoned the right for success will be held up for emulation by the aspiring youth of Texas who would achieve an honorable distinction among their fellow men." – A message of condolence sent to Mrs. Davis in December 1889, from Texas Governor L. S. Ross (1838 – 1898), upon the death of Jefferson Davis.

"It is with profound emotion and heartfelt sorrow that I announce to the people of the state of Louisiana the death of Jefferson Davis, the honored President of the Confederacy. As soldier, statesman and citizen, he nobly performed his part. The pages of history will perpetuate his glorious record. The eyes of future generations will turn reverently to that heroic figure whose death the grateful South now mourns." – This is from the public proclamation of Louisiana’s Governor, Francis T. Nichols on December 7, 1889, illustrating the universal feeling throughout the South toward President Davis at the time of his passing.

"He loved the truth; he served God and his country. Let us go and do likewise." – A statement by Charles Minnigerode (1814 – 1894) upon the occasion of the death of Jefferson Davis in December 1889.

As a result of his gracious dignity, Mr. Davis never came in contact with a menial but that at once they grew devotedly attached to him. More than once have family and friends quizzed him regarding the absorbing love of the porters, servants, and slaves that accident threw in his way. Never was a man more loved by those who served him, and this was peculiarly noticeable among the Negroes he owned before the war. – On the death of Jefferson Davis, from The Memorial Volume of Jefferson Davis, published in 1890.

Respectfully submitted,

Commander Nick Posey

Arlington was the name of house that was owned by General Robert E. Lee. Mrs. Robert E. Lee had inherited Arlington from her father, George Washington Parke Custis. He was the grandson of Martha Washington and the adopted son of George Washington. Mrs. Lee was a direct descendant of Mrs. Washington so she inherited all the belongings of General Washington that were in her father's possession, in addition to inheriting the Arlington. During the war Arlington House was captured, and all personal articles of George Washington were taken away by Union General George McClellan. Arlington and the Lee-Custis estate were used by Yankee forces as a military headquarters and cemetery. Montgomery C. Meigs when he was an assistant to Lieutenant Robert E. Lee in some engineering work on the Mississippi at Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1837, said of Lee. "He was a model soldier and the beau ideal of a Christian." Later this same man, Union General Montgomery C. Meigs, during the War Between the States, made sure Arlington House would never be used as a residence again by burying Union dead as close to the Lee home as possible, hence the creation of Arlington National Cemetery. "The nation's most hallowed military burial ground," was born in an act of theft. The U.S. government confiscated it in 1861 from General Robert E. Lee and his wife Mary Custis Lee, after Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. The first of the Union dead buried there was Private William Christman, a member of the Pennsylvania regiment who saw as much combat as Abraham Lincoln - none. The Union had buried about 7,000 soldiers on the Lee estate by 1864, deliberately planting tombstones in Mrs. Lee's rose garden right up to the Lee house's back door. After the war, a freedmen's village was established on the Lee plantation, and included a hospital, a school, and a church. More than 3,800 former slaves are buried at Arlington under headstones that say either "Civilian" or "Citizen." Arlington National Cemetery expansion, which pushed the freedmen's village out, also claimed a 24-acre plot of woods around Lee's old home. The parcel would add 10 years' worth of burial space. Also eyed for annexation is part of Fort Myer adjacent to Arlington, and a parcel owned by the Department of Defense. Robert E. Lee's oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, sued the U.S. government in the 1870s for the return of the family estate. The Supreme Court upheld his-claim and the government paid him $150,000 for the old family estate. The U.S. government never returned the belongings of Washington that were confiscated. General Lee never returned to his plantation. He is buried in Lexington, Virginia, in Washington and Lee University's Lee Chapel. Of the United States' 114 national cemeteries, only Arlington is administered by the Department of the Army. All the other cemeteries fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Arlington contains the remains of 240,000 dead. It also contains several monuments, including the Tomb of the Unknowns and the Tomb of the Unknown Dead from the War Between the States. The latter is a granite tomb that holds the remains of 2,111 soldiers who fought in the War Between the States. There are also monuments honoring women in the military, the victims of the failed Iran rescue mission, the slain Kennedy brothers, the victims of the space shuttle Challenger mission, the Rough Riders and the victims of the USS Maine (its mast was salvaged from Havana harbor and brought to Arlington). Only two Confederate generals are buried in Arlington, General Joseph Wheeler and General Marcus Joseph Wright. Sources: Life and Letters of General Robert Edward Lee, by Dr. J. W. Jones, 1906; The Confederate Challenge, by John M Hightower, 1992; Robert E. Lee - The Christian, by William J. Johnson, 1993; and Ar1ington National Cemetery, MSN Slate article by Jack Shafer, December 13, 1997.

-- President Jefferson Davis

Sconyers Bar-B-Que Restaurant - February 8th, 7:00 pm

The Official Monthly Newsletter of

Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158