During the latter part of April SCV camps all over the state of Georgia conducted memorial services commemorating Confederate Memorial Day, which officially fell on Monday, April 26^th. This is one solemn day set aside each year to specifically honor those brave men in Gray who so valiantly fought to defend their besieged Confederacy against overwhelming armies of merciless Yankee invaders determined to destroy their Southern homeland. If the other SCV camps in the Georgia Division were typical of Camp #158 in regard to member attendance at their respective camp’s memorial services, they were poorly attended, too. At our memorial service we had barely over 100 people total in attendance. (Last year we had over 150 in attendance.) Only 26 camp members attended our memorial service. For a camp our size, this was an extremely low turnout. Needless to say, the large majority of our camp members did not support the most important event held annually by the SCV, which is honoring our Confederate ancestors on Confederate Memorial Day (in our case the Saturday before). I realize that some of our members had valid reasons for not attending. But I would venture to say that for most it was because taking time out to attend a Confederate Memorial Day Service to honor your ancestors that fought in a war 140 years ago is something that’s just not very high on the priority list of things to do on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April. I shudder to think what the attendance will be at these Confederate Memorial Day Services 10 years from now (provided they’re still legal) with the current apathy that exists within the SCV membership today. However, I wish to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the dedicated camp members that worked so hard to make this year’s memorial service a success. A lot of planning and preparation went into this event several weeks ahead of time, and I want to thank all camp members that worked diligently to get the Confederate sections of the cemetery ready for the service. I want to especially thank the members that went down to the cemetery at 8:00 a.m. the morning of the service to get everything set up and ready for the service in the early afternoon. A big thanks, too, goes to the Infantry and Artillery re-enactors for their participation to make the service very special by their performance of the black powder rifle and cannon salutes. And I really appreciate all ladies in attendance at the service in 1860s period dress, and a special thanks goes to the three ladies in morning dresses that placed the wreath in front of the fountain in the Confederate Dead section in honor of all Confederate soldiers. Our keynote speaker, Mr. E. Randall Floyd, gave an impressive talk on the bravery of our ancestors, and Mr. Phil Turner, "The Gray Poet," eloquently read a very appropriate poem prior to the placing of the wreath and the black powder salute. The part of the program that specifically honors the ancestors of those present, "The Salute to Confederate Ancestors," was widely participated in by those in attendance. This was an opportunity for anyone present to state publicly the name of their Confederate ancestor (or ancestors) and give any pertinent information about them, i.e., their rank, battles in which they fought, where they were killed, where they are buried, etc. The memorial service not only honored the Confederate soldiers in Magnolia Cemetery, but also the ancestors of all those present. With the various battle re-enactments, the Hunley Funeral and our annual memorial service behind us, hopefully there will be a lull in activities during the next few months.

As members of the SCV we need to try and remember to do certain things. One of those, and probably the most important, is to honor our Confederate ancestors – that’s what we’re all about and we do this throughout the year by going to meetings, attending grave marker dedication services, participating in Confederate Memorial Day Service, etc. And on one certain day each year we publicly honor our Confederate ancestors at our Confederate Memorial Day Service at Magnolia Cemetery. Another important event is our Lee-Jackson Banquet where we honor and pay tribute to two of the Confederacy’s greatest generals. Remember the SCV Charge given to the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1906 – read it and take it to heart. If you don’t do anything else during the year, make every effort to attend the Lee-Jackson Banquet and especially the Confederate Memorial Day Service (and not hide in a closet). At the memorial service you not only honor those Confederates buried at Magnolia Cemetery, but you can also honor your Confederate ancestor by publicly acknowledging him. Don’t miss out on this special annual event and the opportunity to honor your Confederate ancestors, and don’t be afraid to participate!

On April 14^th Ben Creech and I had the distinct honor and great privilege of standing honor guard for the crew of the H.L. Hunley from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. This took place at the John Wesley United Methodist Church on the Savannah Highway in Charleston, South Carolina. This was truly a very meaningful experience for both of us. For several weeks I had been in telephone contact with Dennis Blejski trying to arrange a time slot for us to participate as honor guards on Wednesday, April 14^th. After several discouraging contacts with Dennis and not being able to get any concrete information on how many other re-enactors would be at the church that day, we were finally told to come to Charleston on the 14^th, not knowing for sure whether we would be able to participate as honor guards. At best we thought we might be fortunate enough to get one fifteen-minute shift. As it turned out we were able to stand guard as many times as we wanted throughout the day. When we weren’t standing guard, we were greeting people that came to the church to view the flag draped caskets of the Hunley crewmembers, and also assisting as needed with other things during the entire day. It turned out to be an extremely busy day and the experience made it well worth taking the chance to make the trip not knowing what to expect when we arrived. We shall not soon forget our time there. Let us not ever forget them – the heroes of the Hunley.

"If the cause is great enough, the cost is irrelevant."

On April 17^th, 2004, the crew of the Hunley were finally laid to rest after lying on the bottom of the bay in a submarine for 140 years. Most know that this was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in battle but few were aware that it was an Army mission commanded by an Army officer. In 1999 the submarine was found and it was raised on August 8, 2000. Using state of the art forensics half the crewmembers were positively identified and all faces were reconstructed of wax and plastic. There were lots of artifacts found in the sub including the gold coin given to Lt Dixon by his girlfriend that saved his life when a union bullet struck it at Shiloh. It was recovered showing the dent and confirmed to have lead in the indentation. Dixon’s watch and binoculars were recovered also.

The ceremonies started on Monday where the bodies in their caskets adorned by a confederate flag lay in State starting at the Yorktown at Patriots Point and then to the various churches with honor guard at each site and ending at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist.

Saturday was the Program, Service, Procession, and Interment. This was a glorious occasion the likes of which is unprecedented in the history of the world. This was an actual funeral for casualties of the War Between the States. Each participant was engaged in a real-time experience of a war that ended 139 years ago with the remaining unfinished business of honoring those who bravely sacrificed. It was not a re-enactment as much of the media mistakenly characterized it. This was the first and only funeral for these men.

I had to leave North Augusta at 3:30 a.m. to get there at 6:00. We were shuttled from a lot near the cemetery to White Point Gardens at the Battery in Charleston. You have never seen so many soldiers of re-enactment units and they came from as far away as California and Arizona. There were probably 400 or more women dressed in "widow’s weeds" black hoop dresses, black hats and shawls and little black parasols. The program started at 9:15 but most of the people in the procession were getting lined up and we saw none of the program.

This event was primarily a Sons of Confederate Veterans function. The procession stepped off at 10:30. The procession started with the troop commander and a state senator. (14 Southern governors were invited to attend but all declined). Next was the Citadel Bagpipe Band, the Crucifer, then the honor guard from the Adm. Raphael Semmes SCV Camp in Mobile AL, the home of Lt Dixon, the Hunley commander. Next was the color guard, then the Pall Bearers and horse drawn Caissons each containing a casket. Next in line were the descendants and family representatives, then the troops. The order of march was based on the divisions of the SCV and first was the Army of Northern VA that included SC, NC, VA, MD, WV and PA. Priority within the divisions was based on order of secession of the state. So SC would be first. Then came the Army of Tennessee, which includes GA, TN, AL, MS, FL, KY and some others. Last was the Army of Trans-Mississippi, which includes all the states west of the Mississippi River.

Immediately behind the troops of each state were the women in mourning dress followed by the civilians from that state. Georgia alone had 16 to 20 "widows" marching. The procession was orderly due to the re-enactment troops being under command and able to march and drill and properly bear flags, colors and weapons. The procession extended over 1.5 miles and the route was 4.5 miles. There were spectators along the entire route. As the procession passed some project homes black children were seen waving confederate flags. The route went from the Battery, which is almost like it was in 1861 when the Citadel cadets fired on the Star of the West, up Bay Street in downtown Charleston then to Meeting Street to Cunningham Street to Magnolia Cemetery. The procession had over 10,000 people marching. The crowds were at least 50,000. There were no hotel rooms within 50 miles of Charleston. The event generated little publicity because any event that casts the South in a favorable light is politically incorrect. There were no protestors or South bashers seen. They at least knew that this was an occasion to keep their mouths shut and preferably to stay away.

The interment included the laying of the wreath, presentation of flags, committal of the men to the Earth, Masonic last rites, 50 gun Infantry Salute, 50 gun Artillery Salute, Tattoo and Taps. This crew was buried next to the other two crews.

In retrospect, one reason the event received little publicity is that the PC crowd has no real heroes and they know that the funerals for Hillary and Bill, Jane Fonda and Ted Kennedy when they die will pale in comparison to this one to the point of insignificance.

On Saturday, April 10^th, a memorial service was hosted by Margaret Jones UDC Chapter 27 to honor the Confederate soldiers buried in Waynesboro’s Magnolia Cemetery. Representing Camp #158, Lt Commander Ron Udell attended dressed in his Confederate uniform. Ron’s daughter Katie and member Lee Herron’s daughter Courtney also attended, both wearing 1860s period dresses. We thank Ron, Katie and Courtney for representing Camp #158 at this memorial service.

Ben Creech & Ron Udell, two Camp #158 re-enactors, made another trip to Charleston, SC, on Wednesday, April 14^th. Both served as honor guards one final time for the crew members of the CSS Hunley, all of whom were lying in state at the John Wesley United Methodist Church on 626 Savannah Highway. Ben and Ron were able to participate in honor guard details during the day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death. Psalm 48: 14

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Romans 1: 16

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Proverbs 29:23

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:5-6

(Excerpt from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to his friend John Holmes on April 22, 1820, discussing slavery and the Negro presence in America.)

"I have always observed that wherever you find the Negro, everything is going down around him, and wherever you find the white man, you see everything around him improving." (Remarks to Colonel Thomas Carter, General Lee’s cousin, as Robert E. Lee advised him in 1865 to replace the Negroes on the farm with white workers.)

"I never knew a better man, and there never was a braver man in any service of the army." (Stated by John Cothran [1843 – Unknown] in 1902 about the young Lt. George Dixon, commander of the CSS Hunley.)

"There’ll never be spiritual revival in America as long as the homes of America are dominated by television." (Statement made in 1990 by Dr. Charles Estell Baker.)

"Probably no man ever commanded an army and, at the same time, so entirely commanded himself as Lee." (Said of Robert E. Lee by Edward Porter Alexander on May 5, 1863, the morning after Lee’s stunning defeat of the U.S. Army at Chancellorsville, Virginia.)

"Negro men, who had wandered a while looking for an invisible "freedom," came back and went to work on the farm from force of habit. They now received wages and bought their own food. That was the only apparent difference that freedom had brought them." (Walter Hines Page [1855-1918], from reminiscences of his boyhood during the War Between the States.)

"We were over-powered but never conquered." Emma Sansom [1847-1932]

"We fight for principles. The Federal troops fight for want of employment." (A soldier in the 3^rd Tennessee Infantry, Samuel Houston Hynds [1837-1906], penned this on June 23, 1861.)

"Our Founding Fathers designed our system of government in the form of a constitutionally limited republic with minimum government control or interference into our personal lives and business affairs. They didn’t have in mind some gigantic federal bureaucracy with all this power and control regulating our lives and our businesses. They had in mind a federal government that would abide by the Tenth Amendment. It was small, it had limited powers, it took care of national events, and it defended our borders. It maintained the army and issued national currency. And all the rest of the rights and responsibilities, they said, belonged to the states and the people." - David Alan Black

The Official Monthly Newsletter of

Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158