city council wants to
remove the name of
George Washington
citing the fact that he
was a slave owner.
(Continued page 2)
Where does it end? The
politically correct left are
refusing to give up their
relentless campaign of
erascism that threatens
not only our southern
heritage but our
American heritage as
well. In California
there is a movement
to rename at least
one high school. The
From the editor’s Desk
Compatriots of Camp
2243,
What a great
September we had! On
the 10th we held a histor-
ical event—the dedica-
tion of a marker com-
memorating the Battle of
Shultz’ Mill and capture
of Gen. Robert B. Vance.
This is the first marker
or monument recognizing
a Confederate soldier
ever erected in Cocke
County. I hope there will
be more. Thanks to all of
you that helped make
this marker a reality.
On September
17, the Maj. James T.
Huff camp hosted the
Vaughn’s Brigade annual
picnic at the Brushy Mtn.
Bear Club Pavilion in Del
Rio. I think the rest of
the brigade was im-
pressed. I know they
liked the entertainment
by the Williams Fam-
ily. Thanks again to
all of you that helped
with the picnic.
Now, on to
October, which prom-
ises to be even busier
than September. We
have four festivals to
work, Newport, Par-
rottsville, Cosby, and
Del Rio, in that order.
Newport is this week-
end, Oct. 1-2. This is
a good chance to sell
some merchandise,
recruit members, and
generally drum up
support for the
Cause. With the suc-
cessful recruiting ef-
forts over the last two
years, we now have
enough members to
work these festivals
without a big strain
on just a few. Thanks
to everyone that vol-
unteered to help. If
you weren’t at the
last meeting and did-
n’t sign up, come by
anyway. We can al-
ways use the extra
help….especially at
Newport, where we
need folks in uniform
for the camp life
demonstration.
We have a
couple really good
programs lined up for
the next two meet-
ings. In October, Tim
Massey, Commander
of the John Hunt
Morgan Camp in
Greeneville, will pre-
sent a PowerPoint
program on the Con-
federales Days in
Brazil, which he at-
tended back in April.
(Continued page 2)
The James T. Huff
Camp 2243 News
Commander’s Message
Special points of inter-est:
This month we have
a special expanded
edition of the news-
letter featuring an
essay written by Bill
Quinn on the history
of the Confederacy.
If any of our mem-
bers would like to
submit a news item
or story you may send
it to me at mwil-
Inside this edition is
a letter written by the
Honorable H.K.
Edgerton in defense
of the Confederate
flag. Many may re-
member H.K. Who
proclaimed himself
as a reborn Confeder-
ate. He marched
more than 1,000
miles from North
Carolina to Texas
carrying a Confeder-
ate flag for southern
heritage.
October 2016
Volume 1, Issue 22
While this effort may seem far
fetched, it is being proposed to the
Tennessee Historical Commission
on October 21st.
Members of Camp 87 and mem-
bers of other East Tennessee SCV
Camps, you are the guardians of
Confederate history. Confederate
monuments and the graves of our
Compatriots is sacred. They will
be preserved. Your attendance is
needed. The date, time, and loca-
tion are:
October 21, 2016 - 9:00 am EDT
This is our heritage. We must not
allow them to desecrate it with the
exhumation of the dead. Whether
or not someone agrees with history
The Newport Plain Talk fea-
tured the camp on the front pag-
er following the dedication of the
historic marker for the Battle of
Shultz' Mill Marker. The marker
is located at 3892 Cosby High-
way, at Holloway County Home
(quilt shop)
It must be preserved.
Remember the old proverb;
“Those that do not remember
the past are condemned to re-
peat it.”
Where does it end? There are
some who would like to see
Abraham Lincoln exhumed.
After all by modern standards
he was a racist and a tyrant.
Should we seek the removal of
his tomb since it is offensive to
some?
Where will it end?
Please be at the meeting on
October 21st and let’s see if we
can start bringing this mad-
ness to a halt.
In response to this desecration of our
heritage, both southern and Ameri-
can, the SCV is asking all members
to attend a special meeting on Octo-
ber 21, at 9:00 a.m., at the Brookside
Resort, Gatlinburg, TN.
The Tennessee Historical Commis-
sion is presently scheduled to meet
and consider a request to exhume
and relocate the bodies of Nathan
Bedford Forrest and his wife from
Forrest Park in Memphis. This re-
quest to remove Forrest, his wife,
and potentially other Confederates
from the Forrest Park, is just one of
the many efforts to destroy history
and Confederate monuments.
The Confederales are descend-
ants of the Confederates that fled
to South America to escape the
brutality of Reconstruction. They
have a big festival every April.
In November, Michael
Hardy, award-winning author
and N.C. Historian of the Year,
will present a program on the
Confederate White Houses
(Richmond, Danville, Greens-
boro, and Charlotte).
You won’t want to miss
these two programs. Until
then…..
Deo Vindice
Commander’s message (Continued from page 1)
Dedication of marker makes front page news
Editor’s Desk (Continued from page 1)
The James T. Huff Camp 2243 News Page 2
The link to the article is
http://www.newportplain
talk.com/news/local_new
s/article_2f9a3e17-a647-
51f4-b21b-
3cce4c0556e8.html
at a historic black church in
Charleston, S.C. The shooter al-
legedly was seeking to start a
race war and posed in pictures
with the Confederate flag.
In article that appeared in the
MSNNEWS, a largely left leaning
publication confirms that a ma-
jority of Americans view the Con-
federate flag more as a symbol of
Southern pride than racism, ac-
cording to a new poll.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans
said they see the flag as evoking
Southern pride in the CNN/ORC
poll released Thursday, compared
to 33 percent who believe it is
racist. Those numbers show little
movement since a similar
poll from 2000.
Black and white Americans have
very different views on whether
the flag is a symbol of pride or a
symbol of hate.
Two-thirds of whites believe the
flag represents Southern pride,
while only 28 percent believe it
has any ties to racism.
That perspective is the opposite
among blacks — 72 percent be-
lieve the flag is a symbol of rac-
ism.
The majority of Americans, both
black and white, believe that the
flag should be removed from all
government property except for
museums.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
(R) called on her state Legisla-
ture to remove the Confederate
flag from the Capitol grounds in
response to the killings last
month of nine African-Americans
An Open Letter & Open Report / 31st
Infantry Division
Dear Ms. Lunelle,
If one wants to define hypocrisy at the
highest level, all you have to do is to
turn to the history of the Headquarters
of the 31st Infantry Division , Ft. Jack-
son, South Carolina; so named the Dixie
Division. And make yourself privy to the
letter of the Commanding General ( Ma-
jor General A.G. Paxton ) to the Officers
and Men, dated 31 October 1951,a and
their history.
1st paragraph of said letter reads: For
the third time since 1917 the Dixie Divi-
sion is again on active duty in the de-
fense of our country and of the ideals
treasured by the American people for
many generations. Throughout the
strenuous training you have undergone
since our arrival at Fort Jackson you
have shown the willingness, the deter-
mination and the spirit
Majority see Confederate flag as symbol of pride, not hate
An open letter from the honorable H.K Edgerton
Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 22
which is essential in a good sol-
dier and in the development of a
major fighting unit of the United
States Army--- a coordinated,
smoothly- functioning Infantry
Division. And to include the
gray-uniformed soldiers of the
Dixie Division Band attired in
Confederate black caps and the
Southern Cross on their drum.
And now look what we face in
South Carolina; a scalawag 21st
century Republican Reconstruc-
tion Governor who is set to give
the Republican Party response
to the President of the United
States, State of the Union Mes-
sage as she vows for a Vice Pres-
idential nomination as a prize
for her treachery against the
Congressional Venerated Battle
Flag that the men of the 31st
Division carried into Battle for
States. And never to forget the
one carried by the greatest
fighting American soldier in
the annals of mankind for the
Confederate States of America.
And like so many of her peers
have a total disregard for Fed-
eral Law 465 section 10 that
one day soon shall be account-
ed for.
If any Republican Party Can-
didate who wins the nomina-
tion for President so selects
her as their running mate;
Hillary will enjoy the White
House once again. God bless
you!
Your brother,
HK
It has been a busy few months for the camp. First there was a dedication of a historic marker
for the camp and the camp Picnic. Photos from the dedication are below.
Newsletter Title Page 4
Camp photos from The Dedication at Schultz
The dedication for the Battle of Shultz' Mill Marker. This is at 3892 Cosby Highway, at Holloway
County Home (quilt shop)
Bill Quinn addresses the audience at the dedication ceremony.
three states, Virginia, New York,
and Rhode Island, adopting accom-
panying resolutions upholding the
right to secede from the union if the
Federal government did not abide by
the Constitution.
The Southern states maintained a
large degree of influence over the
nation during the first several dec-
ades of this country’s existence.
Seven of the first eleven presidents
were from the South. Four of the
first five were from Virginia, and
each one served two terms. This
dominance in those early days
caused New England to threaten
secession four times. In 1815 during
the Hartford (Connecticut) Conven-
tion, their secession failed by only
two votes. They were driven by con-
cerns over the Louisiana Purchase,
the War of 1812, and the annexation
of Texas, all of which they consid-
ered an erosion of their political
power.
One of the main dividing issues be-
tween the Northern and Southern
states leading up to the war was tar-
iffs. During the infancy of the coun-
try, the U.S. Congress passed tariff
legislation as a means of raising rev-
enue to run the country and this
provided the main source of revenue,
up to 95% at one point. There was
no income tax in those days.
It was initially fairly low – in the 5-
10% range. By the end of the War of
1812, the cotton gin had boosted the
production and exportation of cotton
exponentially. Cotton became the
primary export product. Since cot-
ton was exported from Southern
ports to European markets, those
ships returned to these ports with
goods produced in Europe. The tar-
iffs were collected at these ports and
As we move beyond the 150th anniver-
sary of the War Between the States, I
wanted to provide some insight into
how and why there existed a Confeder-
ate States of America. I call it the War
Between the States because technically
it was not a “Civil War” as it has be-
come known. Many believe the Confed-
eracy existed just to preserve slavery
and the war was fought to free the
slaves. But as the modern cliché states,
“it’s complicated,” and there were more
issues than slavery that caused 13
states to secede and fight the bloodiest
war in American history.
Evolution of the Confederacy
The differences between the Northern
and Southern states began during the
infancy of the new nation. In those ear-
ly days, the Southern states played a
major role in securing independence
from England and shaping the United
States of America. Some contend the
Southern States even won the Revolu-
tionary War. After all, it was the victo-
ries at such places as Kings Mountain
and Cowpens in S.C., Cowans Ford and
Guilford Courthouse in N.C., and the
ultimate victory over Cornwallis at
Yorktown, Va. that secured our liberty.
Following the treaty with England in
1783 (there were actually 13 treaties,
one with each colony), the colonies, now
states, came together to form a new na-
tion. There was much heated discus-
sion over the type of government it
should have. Alexander Hamilton from
New York wanted a king instead of a
president and felt the common man did-
n’t have sense enough to self-govern. It
was individuals such as Thomas Jeffer-
son and James Madison from Virginia
that prevailed and insisted on a demo-
cratic form of government. These
two individuals also authored the
first governing document for the
United States of America – the
Articles of Confederation. Thom-
as Jefferson was also the princi-
pal writer of the Declaration of
Independence.
In 1787, the states assembled
again to “form a more perfect un-
ion.” It was a Virginian, James
Madison, who drafted the Consti-
tution. Here is where the bicker-
ing between North and South
really started. One issue was the
apportionment of members for
the House of Representatives,
with the larger slave population
in the South being the issue. In
1776, slavery existed in all 13
colonies. By the time the Consti-
tution was drafted, Massachu-
setts had abolished slavery and
other New England states were
considering it. Where slavery
existed in the North, the num-
bers were relatively small com-
pared to the large Southern plan-
tations, which gave the Southern
states an advantage in counting
population. They compromised
on counting slaves as three-fifths
of a person.
The other big issues were individ-
ual rights, state sovereignty, and
restricting the power of the Fed-
eral government. The Southern
states would not accept the new
Constitution without guarantees
of those principles. Those guar-
antees came in the form of the
Bill of Rights, ten amendments
which were added to the docu-
ment. All thirteen states then
ratified the Constitution, with
History of the Confederacy By Bill Quinn
Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1
ignorant Germans and Scotch-
Irish in the Middle States and
weak morally-depraved South-
erners in the South.”
In the early part of the 19th
century, the “Age of Enlighten-
ment” swept across the Atlantic
from Europe and landed on the
Northern shores. Puritanism
soon gave way to Transcendental-
ism, Unitarianism, and Abolition-
ism. Northerners of these per-
suasions constantly railed
against the Southern people as
barbaric, uncivilized, and unedu-
cated.
The Southern states were com-
posed of immigrants from not
only England, but also France,
Ireland, Germany, Spain, and
other European countries. Their
religion was mostly orthodox
Protestant – Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc.
There were also Catholic and
Jewish citizens. Although the
demographic makeup of the two
regions has changed considerably
over the last 150 years, particu-
larly in the Northeast, in 1860
the South was a much more di-
verse culture.
The Northern states were fast
becoming industrialized and
heavily populated, with the popu-
lation concentrating in cities. In
1860, the Northern population
was around 20 million. The
South remained an agrarian soci-
ety, relying mainly on agriculture
as its economic base. In 1860,
their population was around 9
million, including 4 million
slaves. It is a fact of nature that
people who live in close proximity
look to the government for more
protection, oversight, and control
while people living in more
sparsely-populated areas prefer
to be left to their own devices and
resist government controls. Thus
was the situation in 1860 with
the Northern states pushing for a
stronger, more centralized Federal
government, while the South held
on to their beliefs of the less govern-
ment the better, and what govern-
ment was necessary should be con-
trolled by the people at the lowest
levels. This principle is commonly
referred to as states’ rights.
Another major catalyst to the 7
Deep South states seceding was the
election of Abraham Lincoln in No-
vember, 1860. He ran on a Republi-
can platform (of which he was the
principal architect) which would
expand the role of the Federal gov-
ernment into a strongly centralized
unit with complete autonomy over
the states. The Southern states had
always believed in the sovereignty
of the states. Another plank in this
platform called for the federal gov-
ernment to subsidize companies in
order to complete massive public
works projects such as railroads and
canals, with the vast majority of
these projects in Northern states.
Naturally, this would take a lot of
money, and that money would come
from tariff revenue paid by the
Southern states. The Republicans
also called for a national bank that
could print money whenever it saw
the need. The nation had tried a
national bank before, but it was
abolished during Andrew Jackson’s
administration due to miss-
management and corruption.
Most Americans today think
Abraham Lincoln was a popular
President elected by a majority of
the people. Actually, he received
less than 40% of the popular vote in
a 4-way race for the office. He didn’t
win a single Southern state, but
managed to pull a majority of the
electoral vote by winning the heavi-
er-populated Northern states. So,
Lincoln was strictly a sectional
President, representing the North-
ern states. The North had already
gained control of both houses of
Congress, and now they controlled
the Executive Branch.
History of the Confederacy
(Cont)
drove up the cost of the mer-
chandise brought in. So, the South
was providing most of the revenue
needed to run the country.
Starting in 1816, tariffs were also
used to protect the young manufac-
turing industries in the Northeast.
Through a series of tariff acts from
1816 through 1828, the rate was
raised to 50%. After S.C. nullified
the 1828 “Tariff of Abominations”
and threatened secession, a compro-
mise worked out by Henry Clay re-
duced the rates to around 20%. This
is where they stayed until 1860 when
the Morrill Tariff passed the U.S.
House of Representatives, calling for
a 67% increase in the tariff rates.
This would have boosted the South’s
share of the total U.S. tax base to
around 80%. What was this revenue
to be used for – to fund a transconti-
nental railroad that would not pass
through a single Southern state.
Cultural differences between the two
regions of the country were another
root cause for the War between the
States. These differences were recog-
nized as early as 1775 during the
Second Continental Congress when a
number of attendees discussed form-
ing “two grand Republics.” New Eng-
land was settled by Puritans from
England and remained mostly “pure
English” until after the Civil War.
New Englanders were the original
“Yankees” and tended to look at the
rest of America west and south of the
Hudson River as inferior. You might
say they had a “holier than thou” at-
titude.
That attitude is best displayed by
Noah Webster, the Massachusetts
author of the Webster Dictionary,
when he wrote in his diary, “O New
England! How superior are thy in-
habitants in morals, literature, civili-
ty, and industry.” Another example
is the first American geography book
written in 1790 by Jedediah Morse, a
Connecticut Puritan preacher. He
depicted America outside of New
England as inhabited by “lazy and
B
senate would abide by their conclu-
sions. This committee consisted of
five Southern Democrats, three
Northern Democrats, and five
Northern Republicans. The five
Southerners recommended several
resolutions to end the tensions
that were accepted by the three
Northern Democrats but rejected
by the five Republicans. The end
result was no recommendations
came out of the committee.
On December 20, 1860,
South Carolina seceded from the
Union. They immediately commu-
nicated with President James Bu-
chanan, assuring him they would
not try to take over the U.S. forts
in S.C. as long as the U.S. govern-
ment did not try to reinforce them
or otherwise change their status.
On December 26, 1860, Major Rob-
ert Anderson, commander of the
U.S. garrison at Fort Moultrie on
Sullivan’s Island moved his men to
Ft. Sumter, immediately in front of
Charleston harbor. This move was
not authorized by Washington, but
nether-the-less shocked the South
Carolinians.
On the same day, a delegation
from South Carolina arrived in
Washington to seek removal of
Major Anderson’s garrison, negoti-
ate a settlement of federal proper-
ty within the state, and make an
offer to pay South Carolina’s por-
tion of the federal debt. News of
Anderson’s move terminated the
negotiations, as this was interpret-
ed as a hostile threat on the part of
the U.S. A few days later U.S. Sec-
retary of War, John B. Floyd, re-
signed his position when President
Buchanan did not order Anderson
back to Fort Moultrie and restore
the former status.
In early January, 1861, the US
government attempted to reinforce
and provision Ft. Sumter utilizing
the civilian merchant ship Star of
the West. South Carolina fired on
it when it entered the harbor and
the ship reversed course and left.
On January 31, Governor Francis
Pickens sent S.C. Attorney Gen-
eral Isaac W. Hayne to Washing-
ton to negotiate a peaceful trans-
fer of Ft. Sumter to S.C. and set-
tle all questions related to prop-
erty. Even after an offer to buy
the fort, he received no satisfacto-
ry response from President Bu-
chanan. From January
through mid-April, Major Ander-
son and his men received food,
mail, and other provisions from
Charleston.
On February 1, Texas
becomes the 7th state to secede.
All Deep South states have now
seceded and convene on February
4 to adopt a constitution and
form a national government. Jef-
ferson Davis is elected president
on February 9 and inaugurated
on February 18.
On March 4, 1861, Abra-
ham Lincoln is inaugurated as
President of the U.S. By now the
Confederate States of America
are fully functional with a consti-
tution, an elected Congress, Pres-
ident, Vice-President, and Cabi-
net. During March, US Secretary
of State Seward, communicating
through US Supreme Court Jus-
tice John Campbell, repeatedly
assured the Davis Administration
that Ft. Sumter will be evacuat-
ed. General of the US Army Win-
field Scott advised Lincoln to
evacuate all forts in the seceded
states.
That same month CSA Presi-
dent Davis sent three commis-
sioners to Washington to seek
recognition of the Confederate
States as a sovereign nation, es-
tablish friendly relations between
the two countries, and to negoti-
ate the transfer of Southern forts
and other property to the CSA.
Lincoln refused to meet with
them. Lincoln also refused to
meet with Napoleon III of France,
who offered to act as an inde-
pendent negotiator between the
two parties.
History of the Confederacy Con-
tinued
The South saw Lincoln’s election
as not only financial doom, but also
an end to principles they had stood
for since the birth of the nation as
spelled out in the founding docu-
ments. They had fought the continu-
al encroachments on their constitu-
tional liberties for decades, but now
they saw their political power slip-
ping away. By 1860 the Northern
States controlled both houses of Con-
gress. With Lincoln being a North-
ern sectional president, they feared
he would succumb to pressure from
the Northern Abolitionists to abolish
slavery. With the Northern Republi-
cans now controlled both the Execu-
tive and Legislative branches of gov-
ernment, they saw their only avenue
to preserving their principles and
their way of life was to dissolve their
contract with the United States and
form a new union. Starting with
South Carolina on December 20,
1860, seven Deep South states seced-
ed to form the Confederate States of
America.
Secession of the South-
ern States
Immediately following Abraham
Lincoln’s election on November 6,
1860, tensions between North and
South immediately rose to a feverish
level. The two South Carolina sena-
tors tendered their resignations. The
remaining Southern senators, in or-
der to avert disunion, offered several
resolutions which would soften the
dominance of the ruling Republicans
and appease the war-mongers in the
South. One by Senator Crittenden of
Kentucky would restore the line be-
tween slave and non-slave territories
to that established in the Missouri
Compromise of 1820, but pushed
south by the Compromise of 1850.
These measures were rejected by the
Republicans.
One resolution was finally
agreed to on December 18 calling for
a Committee of 13 to work out the
differences between the two regions
with the supposition that the whole
pendence, or whatever title you
want to assign to the war that rav-
aged the country between 1861
and 1865. My grandmother al-
ways referred to it as the War of
Northern Aggression.
I’m not going to attempt to repli-
cate the many authors who have
written those books. But I will try
to provide some overview of the
war and how it impacted the fate
of the Confederate States of Amer-
ica. For an objective and compre-
hensive battle-by-battle account of
the war I would suggest Shelby
Foote’s three-volume Narrative of
the Civil War.
In studying this period of
American history, I am continu-
ously amazed at how little the
Southern States prepared for the
war. An eventual war between the
Northern and Southern segments
of the country had been predicted
years, even decades prior to 1861.
Colonel Timothy Pickering, an of-
ficer in the Continental Army and
holder of several cabinet positions
under George Washington forecast
a separation of the Union as early
as 1803. A few days before his
death on March 31, 1850, John C.
Calhoun stated, “The Union is
doomed to dissolution…I fix its
probable occurrence within twelve
years,…and it will explode in a
Presidential election.” Calhoun’s
prediction was about as close as
one can get.
Yet, when war broke out,
the South had no weapons facto-
ries, no shipyards (except Norfolk,
Va. which was quickly captured by
the Union), no textile mills, or any
other manufacturing facilities.
There were twice as many rail-
roads in the North, who also had
all the facilities to produce engines
and other rail components. Even
with the border states joining the
Deep South, the white population
ratio was 4 to 1 in favor of the
North. The United States Navy
rivaled that of Great Britain..
The one thing that kept the
Confederate States in the war for
four years was sheer spirit and
determination, along with the
fact they were defending their
own land. You might say they
had the home field advantage.
However, this became a detri-
ment as the war drug on and the
Union resorted to “total warfare,”
subjecting Southern civilians to
the ravages of war.
The Confederate government
was barely organized when it had
to focus all its attention to de-
fending the newly-established
country. Hastily-constructed
shipyards started converting
wooden ships into ironclads. But,
despite valiant efforts, the CSA
never was able to build a navy
formidable enough to break the
stranglehold of the Union block-
ade on Southern ports or prevent
the US Navy from capturing the
major ports and rivers. Most of
the clothing for Southern troops
was produced by the women of
the South, often in sewing
groups, but rarely in efficient tex-
tile mills. At Appomattox, three
out of four Confederate soldiers
were barefoot.
Neither side expected the war
to last longer than thirty days.
Each thought the other would
give up after the first battle. The
North thought the South would
surrender and rejoin the Union.
The South thought the North
would give up and go home leav-
ing them in peace and an inde-
pendent nation. Four years and
620,000 battlefield deaths later,
the South finally succumbed,
having lost one quarter of her
adult male population and her
economy totally devastated.
The first major battle portend-
ed what lay ahead. After the six
border states joined the Confeder-
acy, the capital was moved from
Montgomery, Al. to Richmond,
Va. Lincoln’s focus for the war in
the eastern theatre then became
capturing the Confederate capital
while defending Washington,
D.C. with only 100 miles separat-
ing them.
On April 8, Lincoln notified Governor
Pickens of SC that a naval expedition would
arrive at Ft. Sumter to supply the fort, by
force if necessary. On the 11th, CSA Gen-
eral Beauregard gave Major Anderson one
last chance to surrender the fort. Early on
the morning of April 12, the US fleet of 8
warships with 26 guns and 1400 soldiers
were sighted entering Charleston Bay.
General Beauregard gave the order to fire
on Ft. Sumter and the bombardment began.
The Federal fleet remained safety out in the
harbor. War had begun.
On April 15, President Lincoln
called upon the governors of the remaining
states to send 75,000 troops to invade the
seceded states and restore the Union. Over
the course of the preceding four months,
seven border slave-holding states had held
conventions to determine whether they
would secede and join the seven deep South
states. All seven had rejected secession and
decided to stay in the Union. Now that they
were asked to send troops to invade their
sister Southern states, they immediately
rejected Lincoln’s call for troops and re-
sumed secession discussion.
Virginia seceded on April 17, Arkansas on
May 6, Tennessee on May 7, and N.C. on
May 20. Maryland scheduled a secession
vote on September 13. The night before
Lincoln sent troops who arrested all Con-
federate sympathizers in the legislature
and imprisoned them in Ft. McHenry. The
secession vote never happened. Missouri
aligned with the Confederacy on October
31. On November 17, a convention of pro-
Southerners in Kentucky adopted an ordi-
nance of secession. Thus, thirteen states
joined the Confederate States of America,
although Lincoln never recognized Missouri
and Kentucky as leaving the Union.
It should be noted Lincoln didn’t
ask Congress to declare war on the South
until July, after he had massed troops in-
side Virginia for the first major battle at
Manassas. The U.S. Constitution clearly
stipulates only Congress can declare war,
and the President can only call up the mili-
tia in an emergency and then has to gain
approval of Congress within thirty days.
Other steps taken by Lincoln in April to
gain executive powers included calling for a
blockade of Southern ports, ordering five
additional warships, and suspending the act
of habeas corpus, which guarantees the civil
liberties of citizens. Soon afterward he
started shutting down newspapers that
disagreed with his war on the South.
The War (for Southern Inde-
pendence)
Volumes of books have been writ-
ten on the Civil War, War Between
the States, War for Southern Inde-
tack unless he was assured of a
significant advantage in numbers,
saw his chance and immediately
mounted an offensive against Lee.
Lee sent for Jackson and en-
trenched his heavily outnumbered
troops in three passes in the South
Mountains east of Sharpsburg. By
the end of the day, he had to re-
treat across the valley to his rear
and re-established a defensive po-
sition with the mountain outside
Sharpsburg at his rear and Antie-
tam Creek in his front. Jackson
arrived just in time the next day to
save Lee and Longstreet and with
a combined force of 40,000 held off
the 70,000 troops of McClellan.
Antietam Creek ran red from the
blood of both armies. The next day
Lee held his position inviting
McClellan to attack again, but
McClellan declined to do so. Dur-
ing the night Lee moved his troops
back across the Potomac into Vir-
ginia.
The battle was a draw with
heavy losses on both side and no
victory for either. But strategical-
ly, it was a major blow to the Con-
federacy and provided a much-
needed advantage to the Union.
The British Prime Minister Palm-
erston had been waiting to see how
Lee performed in Maryland before
recognizing the Confederacy as a
legitimate country and providing
much-needed aid to the struggling
nation. France also was ready to
come to the aid of the Confederate
States, but would not commit with-
out England. Lee’s crossing back
over the Potomac ended the Euro-
pean intervention on the South’s
behalf.
Another major side effect
was the issuing of the Emancipa-
tion Proclamation by Abraham
Lincoln. Lincoln had the procla-
mation drafted but wouldn’t issue
it until the North won a victory on
the battlefield. He didn’t want it
to look like the proclamation was a
last ditch effort at winning the
war. Since Lee left the battlefield
first and retreated back to Virgin-
ia, the North claimed a victory and
Lincoln released the proclama-
tion on October 1, 1862. It was to
go into effect on January 1, 1863.
The purpose of the proclamation
was to incite rebellion among the
slaves in the South in hopes the
owners would leave the Confeder-
ate Army and return home to pro-
tect their homes. Another pur-
pose was to keep England and
France from aiding the Confeder-
acy. Those countries had already
freed their slaves and by issuing
the Emancipation Proclamation,
Lincoln hoped to add a moral rea-
son for the war. The slaves never
rebelled, but England never came
to the defense of the South.
Up until the Emancipation
Proclamation was issued, the
purpose of the North’s invasion of
the South had been strictly to
force the Southern states back
into the Union. Slavery had not
been an issue. Now it was. But,
the proclamation in actuality
never freed a slave. Lincoln
worded it to apply only to those
areas that were in rebellion, and
exempted all other areas where
slavery existed but was under
Federal control. Those areas ex-
empted included Missouri, Ken-
tucky, Maryland, Delaware, six
counties in eastern Virginia, and
12 Louisiana parishes around
New Orleans. In the words of
Lincoln’s Secretary of State Wil-
liam Seward, “We show our sym-
pathy with slavery by emancipat-
ing slaves where we cannot reach
them and holding them in bond-
age where we can set them free.”
There was a backlash in the
North to the Emancipation Proc-
lamation. Some 200,000 union
soldiers deserted. As one soldier
phrased it, “I signed up to restore
the Union, not free any n_____s.”
Several Northern states, includ-
ing Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
passed legislation barring freed
slaves from entering their state.
Oregon had already barred them
in the state constitution of 1859.
This area became the most fought
over real estate in history. The first
major battle occurred on July 17-20,
1861 near the town of Manassas with
the heaviest fighting along a creek
known as Bull Run. A legendary
Confederate general named Thomas
Jonathan Jackson earned his nick-
name “Stonewall” when he held his
ground and turned the tide of the
battle. The battle ended in a com-
plete Union rout. Many government
officials and civilians had turned out
to watch the Union Army “whip the
Rebs” only to discard there picnic
baskets in their haste to stay ahead
of the pursuing Confederates and the
Union Army who had also discarded
rifles, cartridge packs, and every-
thing they carried in order to outrun
the enemy back to Washington.
The Confederacy could have
secured their independence right
there if they had given in to General
Jackson’s request for 10,000 troops to
pursue the Union Army back to
Washington and capture the U.S.
capital. But Jefferson Davis held to
his conviction that the Confederacy
only wanted to defend its homeland,
not invade the North.
There were two other times
when the Army of Northern Virginia
had a good chance of securing the
independence of the Confederate
States. The next time was in Sep-
tember of 1862 when General Robert
E. Lee took the army across the Poto-
mac River into Maryland. He split
his army, sending Jackson by
Harper’s Ferry to capture the Feder-
al Arsenal there, while he proceeded
to Sharpsburg with the other Corps
under Longstreet. One of his aides, a
Lieutenant, kept a copy of his orders
and rolled three cigars in the paper,
which he lost along the way. These
cigars wrapped in Lee’s orders were
discovered by a private in General
McClellan’s U.S. Army of the Poto-
mac. His buddy realized the paper
was of value and stopped him from
discarding it, sending it up the chain
of command.
McClellan, normally over-
conservative and not willing to at-
eventually dried up.
Up until now I have only
discussed the war in the eastern
theatre. There were two other the-
atres, Tennessee and Trans-
Mississippi. Although there were
certainly significant battles in
these areas, such as Shiloh, Chick-
amauga, and Pea Ridge, none had
the impact on the fate of the Con-
federacy as the three in the east-
ern theatre which were discussed.
With the surrender of Lee at Appo-
mattox, it was only a matter of
weeks until the Confederate Ar-
mies of Tennessee and Trans-
Mississippi stopped fighting. They
knew they couldn’t hold out if the
East was lost.
When the war ended, the South
thought they could go back to liv-
ing their lives and rebuilding their
land and homes, minus the slaves
which were officially freed by the
13th Amendment in December,
1865. Unfortunately, although the
fighting was over, the war wasn’t
over as they found out during the
twelve years of Reconstruction.
The Radical Republicans took over
in the absence of Abraham Lincoln
with the intent of total destruction
of the Southern people - economi-
cally, politically, and spiritually.
Robert E. Lee regretted not listen-
ing to his army’s pleas to disband
and continue a guerrilla war in-
stead of submitting to an honora-
ble surrender.
It took over a century for
the South to recover from the War
Between the States, and in some
ways it still hasn’t. Although it
has for the most part recovered
economically, Southerners still
suffer ridicule from other segments
of American society. Movies and
TV tend to depict Southerners as
ignorant, backward, and dirty, in
other words, the stereotype
“redneck.” The mindset of many is
“if they talk slow, they must think
slow.” And of course, Southern
Whites are all racist bigots. More
on that in the next segment.
Many Northern newspapers ex-
pressed outrage and raised fears that
America would see the same fate as
Haiti. (The black slaves slaughtered
all the whites on the island upon re-
ceiving their freedom.) In July 1863,
while the battle of Gettysburg was
being waged, the Irish in New York
City rioted over the conscription laws
and the fear of freed blacks taking
away their jobs. They murdered over
30 black citizens of New York and
burned down several city blocks be-
fore Lincoln could get three regi-
ments of troops there to stop the ri-
ots.
The last battle in which the Con-
federacy has a chance of securing
independence was Gettysburg. This
was the first battle of the war in the
east following the death of General
Stonewall Jackson. Lee had come to
trust and depend on his two corps
commanders, Longstreet and Jack-
son. As a trio, their execution was
almost flawless. After Jackson’s
death, Lee divided his army into
three corps under Generals Long-
street, Ewell, and A.P. Hill. Without
Jackson’s quick thinking and skillful
reaction to sudden events, Lee’s ar-
my failed to deliver a decisive blow to
Meade’s Union forces during the first
two days of the battle. This allowed
them to establish an impenetrable
line of defense along Cemetery Ridge.
The charge on the center of this line
the third day of battle proved disas-
trous. Lee was forced again to re-
treat back to Virginia.
A British cavalry officer,
Colonel Fremantle, had been accom-
panying Lee’s army during the
spring and early summer. He wit-
nessed the decisive victory over the
Union at Chancellorsville and sent
glowing reports back to England.
The British Prime Minister could
still be persuaded to come to the aid
of the Confederacy. But, Gettysburg
erased all hope of British interven-
tion. The war was now lost, although
it took nearly two more years to
bring surrender. Those two years
were a war of attrition, one which the
South could not hope to win. Their
resources, both material and human,
Minorities in the Con-
federacy Most Americans have the per-
ception of the Confederate States of
America being racist and bigoted.
Actually, the Confederate States
were more receptive to diversity of
color, religion, and ethnic origin
than were most of the people in the
North. The prevailing opinion is
that slaves would always run away
from their master and escape to the
North at the first opportunity. Of
course there were many cases of
that happening and the Under-
ground Railroad is well-
documented. But also documented
are the many cases of slaves refus-
ing to leave their masters and
homes when liberated by the Union
army. Also documented is the par-
ticipation of both free blacks and
slaves in the Confederate Army.
There were over 130,000 free
blacks in the South in 1860, and
many of them were slave owners.
Approximately 200,000
blacks enlisted in the Union Army
starting in 1863. However, blacks
had been volunteering for Confed-
erate service since the beginning of
the war in the spring of 1861. Im-
mediately following Ft. Sumter on
April 12, 1861, free blacks in
Charleston started organizing into
companies to serve the Confedera-
cy. An accurate count of blacks in
the Confederate Army is hard to
obtain because they were not al-
ways organized into companies or
regiments, but were usually inter-
mingled with the white soldiers. They also weren’t always iden-
tified by race on the rosters. In
fact, many of them who served
as teamsters, cooks, musicians,
and in other non-combat roles
were never put on the rosters.
Most estimates put the number
between 120,000 and 150,000.
ets, ready to shoot down loyal
troops and do all that soldiers may
do to destroy the Federal govern-
ment and build up that of the trai-
tors and rebels.”
The first Union officer to
become a casualty of war hap-
pened in June of ’61 near Bethel
church, not far from Manassas. 7
regiments of Union troops at-
tacked 1400 entrenched N.C.
troops. Major Theodore Winthrop,
leading Vermont and Massachu-
setts troops against the 1st N.C.
Infantry was shot through the
heart by the musket-wielding serv-
ant of Captain Ashe of Company
D.
One black Confederate soldier is
recorded in the history of the 1st
U.S. Sharpshooters. When
McClellan amassed his Army of
the Potomac at Yorktown, Va. in
the spring of ’62 to launch an as-
sault on the Confederate Capital of
Richmond, their efforts were ham-
pered by a sharpshooter who very
expertly picked off careless officers
on a daily basis. His ability to
avoid exposure finally caused
McClellan to call in the 1st U.S.
Sharpshooters company. They
studied this Confederate’s move-
ments for over a week and finally
positioned the company near the
Confederate lines early one morn-
ing and were able to bring down
the marksman as he was climbing
a tree. It was to their dismay to
discover he was a black private.
Dubriel Olivier, a free black
plantation owner, and owner of
many slaves, raised and equipped
a company of Confederate infantry
in ’62. The company consisted of
white and black soldiers. Less
than a year later, Olivier was
dead, leaving his wife to take care
of the plantation. In the spring of
’63, Union soldiers plundered his
plantation and abused his wife, not
believing a Negro could own a
plantation.
After the battle of Shiloh, the Con-
federate Army retreated to Cor-
inth, Ms. The 4th Tennessee In-
fantry had suffered severe losses
during the battle. After reaching
Corinth, they decided to hold a
memorial service for their fallen
comrades, but their chaplain had
been killed also. Several of them
knew a black teamster called Un-
cle Henry who was assigned to
the regiment and happened to be
a preacher. They asked him if he
would lead the service. He ac-
cepted and the regiment was im-
pressed with him.
On the Confederate side, the
Native Americans were quickly
accepted in both the army and in
the Confederate Congress, where
the five civilized tribes
(Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw,
Choctaw, and Seminole) had two
representatives. Native Ameri-
cans have never been represented
in the U.S. Congress. Over 4,000
of these five tribes joined the
Confederate Army of the Trans-
Mississippi. Stan Watie of the
Western Cherokee became a
Brigadier General and was the
last Confederate general to sur-
render on June 26, 1865.
The Eastern Band of the Chero-
kee was no less patriotic to the
Confederate cause. William Hol-
land Thomas had befriended the
Cherokee and gave them refuge
on land he had acquired when the
removal took place in 1836-1838.
When the war broke out, he orga-
nized a battalion-size force which
became known as Thomas’ Le-
gion. There were slightly less
than 300 Cherokee and a little
over 100 white men for a total of
roughly 400 soldiers. Members of
the Legion were involved in the
last battle east of the Mississippi
when they surrounded a group of
Kirk’s Raiders at Waynesville,
N.C. on May 5, 1865, killing one
of the raiders before the rest sur-
rendered. (Colonel Kirk was a
Union colonel who operated in
the mountains of western N.C.
and east TN during the war).
service, they asked him to be their
chaplain. He served with this regi-
ment for the duration of the war in
that capacity.
After the battle of Chickamauga in
the fall of ’63, Major General Patrick
Cleburne of the Confederate Army of
Tennessee, drafted an eloquently-
written three-page letter addressed
to President Jefferson Davis, re-
questing the Confederate govern-
ment grant any slave who would vol-
unteer for service his freedom. This
letter was signed by all the General
Staff of the Army of Tennessee, in-
cluding the Commander, Braxton
Bragg. At first, Davis was opposed to
it, but after conferring with General
Robert E. Lee, decided to propose the
idea to the Confederate Congress.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until Febru-
ary, 1865 that Congress passed such
legislation, officially sanctioning the
participation of blacks in the Confed-
erate Army. It had unofficially been
occurring since the outset of the war.
By the end of the war in April, sever-
al regiments of black soldiers were
training in Richmond, but it was too
late to make a difference.
The participation of Native Ameri-
cans in the War Between the States
is an interesting study. On the Un-
ion side, they were shunned. Ely
Parker, an educated Seneca of the
Iroquois Confederation, offered to
raise several companies of his tribe
to serve in the Union Army soon af-
ter the outbreak of war, but was
turned down by the legislature of
New York. However, after the war
he became Secretary of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs under President
Grant.
Following are some examples of
the evidence of black enrollment in
the Confederate service:
In the fall of 1861, the articulate
orator and escaped slave turned abo-
litionist, Frederick Douglas, lament-
ed “There are at the present moment,
many colored men in the Confederate
Army doing duty not only as cooks,
servants, and laborers, but as real
soldiers, having musket on their
shoulders and bullets in their pock-
pulsed the federalists at Zacate
Creek in the battle of Laredo.
Conclusion
I hope this essay providing
a brief history of the Confederate
States of America has enlightened
the reader and changed 150-year
old engrained perceptions of that
period of American history. It is
sad that school children today do
not receive a proper education in
history, particular in the history of
the Confederacy and the War Be-
tween the States. But, that is how
it was intended when the Federal
government, controlled by the Rad-
ical Northern Republicans, cen-
sored the first text books to roll off
of the presses following the war.
Of course those presses were in the
North, as there were no publishing
facilities in the South in 1865.
What few had existed were de-
stroyed during the war. It is said,
“To the victor belong the spoils.”
Those spoils included telling their
version of the war.
Author, Bill Quinn
The first Jew to ever hold a cabinet-
level position in America was Judah
Benjamin, who was first Sec. of War,
then Sec. of State, and then Sec. of
the Treasury for the Confederate
States of America. He was a lawyer
and business man in New Orleans,
La before the war. A New York Trib-
une reporter once interviewed one of
his former slaves. He asked him
what kind of a master he was. The
answer was “the best there ever
was.” Many Jews in the Southern
States quickly joined the Confederate
Army when the war erupted, several
becoming officers. This is in total
contrast to the Union where General
Grant refused to accept them in his
army.
Another minority represent-
ed in the Confederacy was the His-
panic population of Texas and south-
western Louisiana. There is no com-
parison to participation in the Union
because there were very few Hispan-
ics in the North. However, their part
in the Confederacy can’t be over-
looked. It would be hard to estimate
their numbers as they did not volun-
teer in segregated companies or regi-
ments, but simply signed up along
with the Anglo population.
The Hispanic population in the
Rio Grande Valley of Texas made a
major contribution to the Confedera-
cy by smuggling cotton across the Rio
Grande River to the Mexican city of
Matamoros. It was then loaded on
French ships and taken to France.
This action bypassed the Texas ports
of Galveston and Corpus Christi
which were blockaded by the U.S.
Navy, allowing the Confederacy to
raise some much-needed revenue. In
the early years of the war much of
the cotton passed through Browns-
ville, but in 1863 the fear that Union
troops might capture this town drove
the trade farther west. Laredo was
one of the towns to receive this redi-
rected trade. In March, 1864 Union
troops advanced on Laredo with or-
ders to destroy all the bales of cotton
that were stored there. Colo-
nel Santos Benavides, the highest
ranking Hispanic in the Confedera-
cy, and his Laredo Confederates re-