The Sharpsburg Sentinel Volume 10, Issue 1 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. January 2015 Commander s Notes I want to wish all of our members, supporters and their families a very Volume 9, Issue 1 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I can t believe how fast this year has flown by and I want to thank everyone for their continued support of our camp and the SCV. I want to thank Ted Alexander for speaking at our December meeting. Unfortunately, I wasn t feeling well that day and missed that meeting, but from what I heard, it was a great talk. I also want to thank our Adjutant Jan Hiett, his wife Vickie and daughter Kim for hosting a wonderful camp Christmas party at their home. Thank you for opening up your home to us. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 7 th, 2015, 7:00 P.M., Sharpsburg Town Hall, 2 nd Floor, 106 East Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Tom Clemens, President of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation who will be presenting a program entitled, "Letters from Lee's Veterans, Excerpts from the Antietam Battlefield Board Letters". Tom spoke to our camp a few years ago and gave an excellent presentation and I ve heard that this one is excellent also. As this year draws to a close I want to remind everyone that if you still need to make any charitable donations for tax purposes, please don t forget the camp and the SCV National Organization. We are 501-C3 tax exempt organizations and your donations are tax deductible. I have several speakers lined up for next year, but I still need more. I m also thinking about having another social night sometime in the upcoming year. Once again, Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year. Yours in the cause, Michael David Wasiljov Commander Sons of Confederate Veterans 301-992-3122-C mike24745@aol.com
ADJUTANT REPORT MINUTES: December 3, 2014 meeting for the. The December meeting was held at the Sharpsburg Town Hall and began at 7:00 p.m. There were 11 members and friends of the Camp, along with 8 guests in attendance. Due to illness Commander Michael Wasiljov was unable to attend the meeting. The opening ceremony included the Pledge to the American flag and the Salute to the Confederate flag was conducted by Past Commander and our current Lt. Commander Stuart McClung. The Invocation was given by our Chaplain Toby Law. Old Business: Member and friends of the Camp were Volume reminded 9, Issue of the 1 Christmas party to be held at the Adjutant s house on Saturday, December 13 th. The final SCV belt buckle was sold to our Chaplain and I would venture to guess that he gave it as a gift to his grandson! Everyone was reminded that the September/October Confederate Veteran magazine included the official 2014-2015 Merchandise Catalog. This is a great source for Christmas presents! Our Camp is still looking for speakers for the upcoming year. Contact Commander Wasiljov if you know someone or you would be willing to help. Our January meeting will feature Tom Clemens, President of the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. He will be presenting a program entitled Letters from Lee s Veterans. Also, announced was the Maryland Division Convention that will be held in Catonsville, Maryland on April 18, 2015. New Business: Compatriot Phil Bikle noted that while checking on his sales booth at Antique Auction Square in Boonsboro he found a vendor that was selling G.A.R. grave markers. He questioned the legality of this action and this matter was referred to the Adjutant for further investigation. See the Adjutant Comments section for an update. Our guest speaker for the evening was Compatriot Ted Alexander, Chief Park Historian for the Antietam National Battlefield. Ted comes to the SCV by way of the service of his great-grandfather who served with the 31 st Mississippi Regiment. His talk was entitled The Confederate Army in Washington County: 1861-1864. As usual Compatriot Alexander covered a variety of topics including prominent and fascinating Washington County residents who served the Confederacy. Henry Kyd Douglas had a lot of good company! Also, discussed were the various actions beginning in 1861 on the Maryland side across from Harper s Ferry, the Battle of Sharpsburg, the retreat from Gettysburg and various other raids made by the Confederates. Thanks to Compatriot Alexander for another excellent presentation. The closing prayer was offered by Chaplain Toby Law. The meeting ended at 8:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jan Hiett Adjutant-Newsletter Editor ADJUTANT COMMENTS It was truly our honor to host the Camp s Christmas party on December 13 th. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. A special thanks to my wife, Vickie and daughter Kim for all their efforts. You certainly did not think that I had much to do with all that cooking. I did take a tool that I am most familiar with, the vacuum cleaner, and was responsible for a clean house. Hey that s not easy with two dogs and two cats!
I am sorry to report that I received a telephone call from our Chaplain, Toby Law, the afternoon of the Christmas party. He just recently had a medical procedure that left him in a great deal of pain. He had a similar procedure several years ago and expected a good recovery. I understand from Lt. Commander Stuart McClung that Toby is indeed improving. Our Southern thoughts and prayers go out to Toby during this time of healing. The Semi-Annual Camp Report will be due within a few weeks. By that time I will make a full report regarding our membership. Sadly we had a few members that elected not to renew their membership. Also discouraging is the number of prospective members that express interest in joining our camp and despite encouragement from Camp officers, we seem unable to get them to attend meetings. Many of these prospective Volume member 9, Issue come 1 to us via the National organization and are referred to our Camp. They are invited to attend by e-mail and sometimes by telephone contacts. Some even have their documentation completed, yet they fail to enlist. The Camp officers would certainly entertain any thoughts that our members have regarding this situation. As noted above Compatriot Bikle was concern that several G.A.R. grave markers were being sold at the Antique Auction Square in Boonsboro. As we know, the sale of Southern Crosses of Honor and other grave related markers are illegal in most if not all Southern states. If you see these items for sale report them to the Camp Commander or the police. As far as the G.A.R. markers this writer contacted one our Friends, James Bachtell. James is a member of the Antietam Camp Sons of Union Veterans (SUV) located out of Frederick, Maryland and he contacted his Camp Commander. I also called Duane Whitlock, Commander of the Sgt. Harris Camp of the SUV in California, Maryland. He was certain that it was illegal for these markers to be sold and was going to contact his Department Commander with the view in mind of seeking action in this matter. He commended our SCV Camp for reporting these violations. I also e-mailed the National Headquarters of the SUV and advised them of the situation but as of this writing I have not received a response. Surely, as Compatriot Bikle noted, these markers were removed from brave Union soldier graves and should not be sold. I would hope that if the roles were reversed in this situation that a SUV member would be as outraged about the sale of one of our Southern ancestor s grave markers and report it to us. QUOTE OF THE MONTH: What are you fighting for anyhow? I m fighting because you are down here. Confederate prisoner to Union soldier. LYRICS OF THE MONTH: Virgil Kane is the name and I served on the Danville train. til Stoneman s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again. In the winter of 65 we were hungry just barely alive. By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, It s a time I remember so well Like my father before me I will work the land and like my brother above me who took a Rebel stand. He was just 18, proud and brave but a Yankee laid him in his grave. I swear by the mud below my feet you can t raise a Kane back up When he s in defeat The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing. The night they drove old Dixie down and all the people were singing.
This song was written by Robbie Robertson of THE BAND and performed by them in 1969. Joan Baez covered this song and did a horrible job with the lyrics. Don t bother with her version. Robertson and Levon Helm researched the original version. The Danville train was the main railroad supply line into Richmond. It was regularly tore up by the Union General George Stoneman. As we all know, by the winter of 1865 the Confederate States were starving and defeat was at hand. The reference of May the tenth was actually the day President Jefferson Davis was captured. Richmond had already fallen into enemy hands by April. Santa, Southern children and General Robert E. Lee Volume 9, Issue 1 As you will recall last month I published a letter written by three Southern girl to General Lee asking about Santa Claus. Please tell us whether Santa Claus loves the little rebel children, for we think he don t; because he did not come to see us for four Christmas Eves. This letter first appeared in 1867 as part of Mrs. Louise Clack s Christmas Gift To Her Little Southern Friends. Originally published by Guild Bindery Press, Mrs. Clack s children s book contributed to the post-war revelation of another side of General Lee s character. His personal honor and courageous audacity on the battlefield was a given. The kind and gentle nature with all, particularly children, was the other. The story was never intended for profit as all royalties went to the orphans of the South. Mrs. Clack wanted it that way! In 1996, when the tale was reprinted by Alexander Books, part of the profits were earmarked to assist in the upkeep of Stratford Hall, General Lee s birthplace. Is it a true story? Who knows Historical wisdom gently admonishes and reminds us is there any evidence that it did not happen? If not then let us believe it! Here is General Lee s response to the three Southern children. My dear little friends: I was very glad to receive your kind letter, and to know by it that I have the good wishes and prayers of three innocent little girls, named Lutie, Birdie, and Minnie. I am very glad that you wrote about Santa Claus for I am able to tell you all about him. I can assure you he is one of the best friends that the little Southern girls have. You will understand this when I explain to you the reason of his not coming to see you for four years. The first Christmas Eve of the war I was walking up and down in the camp ground, when I thought I heard a singular noise above my head; and on looking to find out from whence it came, I saw the queerest, funniest-looking little old fellow riding along in a sleigh through the air. On closer inspection, he proved to be Santa Claus. Halt! Halt!, I said; but at this the funny fellow laughed, and did not seem inclined to obey, so again I cried Halt!. And he drove down to my side with a sleigh full of toys. I was very sorry for him when I saw the disappointed expression of his face when I told him he could go no further South; and when he exclaimed, Oh, what will my little Southern children do! I felt more sorry, for I love little children to be
happy, and especially at Christmas. But of one thing I was certain--i knew my little friends would prefer me to do my duty, rather than have all the toys in the world; so I said: Santa Claus, take every one of the toys you have back as far as Baltimore, sell them, and with the money you get buy medicines, bandages, ointments, and delicacies for our sick and wounded men; do it and do it quickly--it will be all right with the children. Then Santa Claus sprang into his sleigh, and putting Volume his hand 9, Issue to his 1 hat in true military style, said: I obey orders, General, and away he went. Long before morning he came sweeping down into camp again, with not only everything I had ordered, but with many other things that our poor soldiers needed. And every Christmas he took the toy money and did the same thing; and the soldiers and I blessed him, for he clothed and fed many a poor soul who otherwise would have been cold and hungry. Now, do you not consider him a good friend. I hold him in high respect, and trust you will always do the same. I should be pleased to hear from you again, my dear little girls, and I want you ever to consider me, Your true friend, General Robert E. Lee Upcoming Events 2015 January 7 Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. Camp meeting at Sharpsburg Town Hall February 4 Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. Camp meeting at Sharpsburg Town Hall April 18 Saturday Maryland Division Convention in Catonsville, MD Further information about the above-noted events is available by contacting the Adjutant of the Battle of Sharpsburg Camp# 1582 at the Camp meeting, telephone 301-797-1021 or e-mail bsc1582@aol.com. Thanks!