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-

michael@aol.com.

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-