Sons of Confederate Veterans Battle of Sharpsburg Camp #1582 The Sharpsburg Sentinel

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1 The Sharpsburg Sentinel Volume 10, Issue 3 The Sharpsburg Camp and the SCV denounce racism, racial supremacists, hate groups, and any group or individual that misuses or desecrates the symbols of the Confederate States or the United States. March 2015 Commander s Notes Our next meeting, will be on Wednesday, March 4th, 2015, 7:00 P.M., Sharpsburg Town Hall, 2nd Floor, 106 East Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Tom Clemens whose is President of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation who will be giving a program entitled, Letters from Lee s Veterans, Excerpts from the Antietam Battlefield Board Letters. His talk is rescheduled from our cancelled January meeting. I have a few speakers lined up for this year, but if any of you have any suggestions for speakers or would like to volunteer to speak to the group, please don t hesitate to contact me. Also, the information on the Maryland Division SCV Convention which will be held in April in Catonsville, MD has been ed to you all. I want to thank each and every one of you for being a member of the SCV. Remember, this is your camp and I encourage all of you to participate fully. Yours in the cause, Michael David Wasiljov Commander Sons of Confederate Veterans C mike24745@aol.com I hope everyone is having a great year so far, after my trip to the deep south of Jamaica, I came down with bronchitis but I m doing much better now and I m looking forward to being at our March meeting. From what I was told, our February speaker Mr. James Glymph gave a wonderful presentation on the Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery. He has several other topics to talk about and I m happy to say that hopefully, we ll be seeing him again in the future.

2 ADJUTANT REPORT MINUTES: The February 4, 2015 meeting for the was held at the Sharpsburg Town Hall and began at 7:00 p.m. There were 9 members and friends of the Camp, along with 6 guests in attendance. Due to illness Commander Michael Wasiljov was unable to attend the meeting. The opening ceremony included the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and the Salute to the Confederate flag was conducted by Past Commander and current Lt. Commander Stuart McClung. The Invocation was given by Adjutant Jan Hiett. Old Business: The Camp continues to look for monthly speakers for our meeting. Please contact our Commander if you are willing to make a presentation or know someone that is willing to fill our calendar for upcoming speakers. It was reported by the Adjutant that our current Camp membership is 26 members. Several regular members have not renewed despite repeated reminders. All membership cards have been distributed according to my records. If for some reason you have not received your Camp membership card please contact me. Our Friends of the Camp remain at 5 members. Thank you for making the effort to renew on time. Recruitment and retention continue to be the focus of your officers. It was announced that Chaplain Toby Law is making a great recovery from his stroke. We hope to see him in the near future. The Maryland SCV Division Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 31, Information regarding this meeting was presented to the Camp. New Business: The Camp was reminded that the Maryland Division Convention will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2015 in Catonsville, Maryland. This event is sponsored this year by the Trimble Camp #1836. Please watch for future announcements about this event. Those members with should have already receive a registration package. For those that use snail mail I will have copies of all the material at our next meeting. Compatriot Phil Bickle noted a damaged Confederate grave marker in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown. Discussion regarding this was held and it was agreed that we would look into the possibility of having the Veterans Administration replace this marker. If you are interested in this project please advise the Camp. Our guest speaker for the February 4 th meeting was Compatriot Jim Glymph from the Turner Asby Camp. He presented a most interesting talk on the Confederate Monument at the Arlington National Cemetery. In 1898 President McKinley delivered a speech before the Georgia legislature that urged the United States government to assume responsibility and care of the graves for the Confederate dead. By 1900 the federal government agreed to re-inter the Confederate dead buried in grave sites scattered in the Washington area and to be consolidated into Section 16 at the Arlington National Cemetery. In addition, President William Howard Taft authorized the placement of a Confederate Memorial in that Section. Funds were collected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and even Union soldiers from the war donated money to honor the Confederate dead. The Confederate Memorial stands at a height of 32.5 feet and is topped by a heroic-sized figure of a woman, crowned with olive leaves, her face turned toward the South. In her outstretched left hand is a laurel wreath and in the right hand is a plough stock and pruning hook with the theme being peace. Carved around the memorial is the verse from Isaiah: They shall beat the plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. A circular frieze of 32 life-sized figures show Southern soldiers going off to war. A sad homecoming dominates the middle part of the monument. Over the entire monument are carved seals of the Southern states. The United Daughters of the Confederacy awarded the contract to design the monument to Moses Ezekiel. He was born in Richmond and became the first Jewish cadet to attend the Virginia Military Institute. As a cadet he fought in the 1864 Battle of New Market where he was wounded. Later in the war he trained new recruits for the Confederate army. By the time he was commissioned to design and build the Confederate Monument in Arlington he was a

3 world famous sculptor, having won many awards in Germany, Italy, England, and the United States for his designs. Moses Ezekiel chose to be buried at the Arlington Confederate Cemetery where his grave stone is simply marked, Ezekiel Moses- Sergeant Company C Cadets of Virginia Military Institute. It should also be noted that this Southern hero designed the monument at his own cost. The Cornerstone was laid in 1912 with one of the many speakers being the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, Corporal James Tanner. The monument was finally dedicated on June 4, 1914 with President Woodrow Wilson making the principle address. The South side of the monument bears this dedication: To our dead heroes, by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Victrix causa diis placuit sed victa Catoni. The victorious cause was pleasing to the Gods, but the lost cause to Cato. Included in the 32 figures are a faithful Negro body servant following his young master. Oddly the rifles featured in the memorial are later model European bolt-action style weapons. Also of interest is the shield that leans against the fallen woman. It is inscribed Constitution. Thanks to Jim Glymph for his excellent power-point presentation of the Confederate Monument which is of great historical significance to our members. The closing prayer was offered by the Adjutant with the meeting ending at 8:15 p.m. ADJUTANT COMMENTS During one of my outings with my wife, we decided to visit the Stonewall Jackson Headquarters in Winchester, Virginia. They offer a wonderful tour and have a nice souvenir shop. Our guide for the day was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy so we got the official version of the war! While wandering through town we located the Mount Hebron Cemetery. This afforded us a chance to visit the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery which is part of the larger cemetery. The Confederate portion is the resting place for 2,575 Confederate soldiers who died in the fields and hospitals of this locality. Included are numerous monuments erected by the various states and individuals. Burial is according to the state in which the soldier served. One head stone in particular caught my eye. A laminated card with a Confederate flag and a poem was attached to the stone. Our Confederate was Robert E. Newman of Company E of the 15 th Alabama Infantry Regiment. Born in 1832 he died for the Cause on October 15, His recent visitor had left this poem, a touching tribute to our hero. No doubt the unknown visitor had traveled many miles to place this poem on the final resting place of his ancestor. Thanks to Compatriot Don Goodwin for information regarding this cemetery and his encouragement to see that the poem was placed in the newsletter. This touching poem was attached to the stone:

4 Dear Ancestor: Your tombstone stands among the rest; neglected and alone. The name and date are chiseled out on polished marbled stone. It reaches out to all who care, it is too late to mourn. You did not know that I exist. You died and I was born. Yet each of us are cells of you in flesh, in blood, in bone. Our blood contracts and beats a pulse Entirely not our own. Dear Ancestor, the place you fell one hundred-fifty years ago spreads out among the ones you left who would have loved you so. I wonder if you lived and loved, I wonder if you knew. That some day I would find this spot, and come to visit you. AUTHOR UNKNOWN QUOTE OF THE MONTH: General Braxton Bragg born March 22, Died September 27, General Bragg on December 10, 1863, just a few days after he had relinquished command of his army, the inspector general of the Army of Tennessee wrote him. I have just inspected the army, and I find a general regret at your leaving. It is evident, now, to all the rank and file of this army and the more efficient and honest officers that they prefer you to any other leader that could be sent here and they would hail your return with earnest satisfaction. Bragg is usually described as being an incompetent battle commander, but in fact nobody could have gotten better results from the command structure imposed upon him by the government in Richmond. Union commanders credit him as being a most tenacious and dangerous opponent. LYRICS OF THE MONTH: THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG We are a band of brothers And native to the soil, Fighting for the property We gained by honest toil; And when our right were threatened, The cry rose near and far Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag That bears a single star! CHORUS Hurrah! Hurrah! For Southern rights Hurray. Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag That bears a single star. This inspirational song was written by Harry Macarthy in 1861 and was first performed in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a favorite of the Maryland Division Color Guard!

5 AROUND THE SCV As noted in Last month s Sharpsburg Sentinel I often find myself at the Sons of Confederate Veterans website It is a great source of information and compliments our Confederate Veteran magazine. A great feature of this website is the Links. These include a large number of organizations that carry our Cause. Here are a few more to add to last month s list. I hope you Volume will look 9, Issue up these 1 organizations and learn more about them. Descendants of Point Lookout POW Organization This site is dedicated to the men, women, and children who were imprisoned and/or perished at Point Lookout Prison Camp for Confederates from 1863 to 1865 in the State of Maryland. Point Lookout was a genocidal, ethnic cleansing, concentration camp filled with federal atrocities. It housed over 52,000 Southerners of which over 14,000 died. This site includes the names of those prisoners interred at the Point Lookout Cemetery. This organization is an historical, patriotic, educational, memorial, unreconstructed, unapologetic, heritage association. Their purpose is to pay homage to those Confederate ancestors, both military and civilian, that were POW s at Point Lookout. The Stephen D. Lee Institute The Institute s goal is to organize accomplished, and distinguished professional scholars to inform members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the general public of the Southern side of the war. Based upon the notion that the citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. Given that preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South s decision to fight the Second American Revolution our story must be told. To that end the Institute makes available recognized scholars to present such topics as state s rights, economic motives for the invasion of the South, the dubious benevolence behind the slavery issues, Union war crimes, and other true causes of the war. Lee-Jackson Foundation of Charlottesville, Virginia The Lee-Jackson Foundation was founded in 1953 by the late Jay W. Johns, a successful Pennsylvania industrialist transplanted to Virginia. Mr. Johns became a great admirer of Generals Lee and Jackson. He believed that both of these Americans possessed distinguished traits of character that should be emulated by future generations. Since both these Virginians were involved in education, the Foundation honors them by working to increase educational opportunities for Virginia s youth. Established scholarships encourage high school students to continue their education.

6 Mosby Heritage Area Association The mission of this association can be best described by Preservation through Education. They educate about the history and advocate for the preservation of the extraordinary history, culture, and scenery in the Northern Virginia Piedmont region. The association has developed a preservation plan for the cavalry battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. They honor John Singleton Mosby s service to the South as commander of a partisan ranger unit. This famous unit took orders directly from Confederate President Davis and Generals Lee and Stuart. Raids were coordinated with other Confederate military activities. Their goal was to demoralize the Union cavalry west of Washington. The association honors individuals for conservation and preservation efforts in this historic area. UPCOMING EVENTS March 4 Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. Camp meeting at Sharpsburg Town Hall March 14 Saturday, 11:00 a.m. Confederate Navy-Marine Corps Day Old St. Ann s Cemetery Annapolis, MD March 28 Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Maryland Division Clean-up Benner s Hill Gettysburg, PA April 1 Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. Camp meeting at Sharpsburg Town Hall April 18 Saturday, 8:30 a.m. Maryland Division Convention Catonsville, MD April 25 Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Decoration Day Mt. Olivet Cemetery Frederick, MD May 2 Saturday, 10:30 a.m. Pennsylvania Division Confederate Memorial Day Gettysburg, PA Further information about the above-noted events can be obtained by contacting the Adjutant of the Battle of Sharpsburg Camp #1582 at the Camp meeting, telephone or bsc1582@aol.com. Thanks!