MEMBERS OF THE GALLANT OLD GUARD OF THE CONFEDERACY

[The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1893]

Passing, one by one, into the silent land, the heroic leaders who struggled desperately to save "the lost cause" have been dropping out of mortal ken during the past quarter of a century, until now a very small group is left. Very interesting are the figures which make up the little band, men of hoary hair and faltering step they are now, but their names recall memories of the days when they were active and alert, braving shot and shell on the field and cheerfully bearing privation and hardship in the camp or on the march. In those times, in the cities of the East and the farm houses and homes of the West, their names were execrated, and on the hotly contested border land their approach was dreaded with sinking heart. The new generation which has grown. up to manhood since that time has learned to look at them in a more kindly light. Their valor and their devotion are come into recognition; their disappointment and their failure plead for them, and we remember that they, too, are Americans whose prowess does honor to our race.

Busily occupied with business affairs in New Orleans, the last surviving general of the Confederacy, Gen. Pierce Gustave T. Beauregard, still exhibits the untiring, indomitable energy which characterized him during the four years of war. In spite of his seventy four years, he retains the old pugnacity of his youth and middle age. He does not wield the old weapons but the man who has the hardihood to cross the old general's path and oppose his plans speedily learns that he has an antagonist who can adapt himself to any mode of warfare, and has lost none of his strategic skill.

The general has a certain right to speak authoritatively, so far as experience can give the right, he having had the honor and the responsibility of opening the ball, by directing the attack on Fort Sumter, and of commanding, in conjunction with Gen. J. E. Johnston, at the battle of Bull Run. The general explains with graphic force how, if that battle had been fought as he planned it, and if he had been permitted, even after the battle had taken place, to add his later plans, he could have "crushed Patterson, liberated Maryland and captured Washington." He surrendered with Gen. J. E. Johnston to Gen. Sherman, in April, 1865.

Associated with Gen. Beauregard of late years is that other prominent soldier of the South, Gen. Jubal A. Early. The two men are congenial associates, having many characteristics in common. The same dash and impetuosity, the same impatience of contradiction or control, distinguish Early as they do Beauregard, and the same effects are seen in both their lives in numerous and bitter enemies. Gen. Early, who is seventy six years old, has been a soldier since boyhood, though more than once he has abandoned a martial career for law or business. He had a West Point training, and first smelled powder in the Florida War of 1837.

He quitted the army at the close of the war and commenced the practice of law; subsequently he sat in the Virginia Legislature for two years. The outbreak of the Mexican War lured him from the pursuits of peace. He served as a major of volunteers, and acted as Governor of Monterey the last two months of its occupation. He returned to the practice of law when the army was disbanded, and served for ten years as attorney of the commonwealth. He was appointed colonel on the outbreak of the Rebellion, and took part in the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg.

In 1864 he was sent to the Valley of the Shenandoah. There, after a few minor successes, he fought the disastrous battle of Cedar Creek. Six months later, in October, 1864, a still more severe disaster befell him at Waynesboro, where Gen. Custer almost annihilated his command. Lee, who still retained his faith in Early's capacity, was unable to resist the popular feeling in the army against the defeated general, and felt himself obliged to remove him from his command. In his letter relieving him from duty, Lee with the delicacy of the true gentleman, softened the blow by assuring Early of his own regard, but reminded him that the country and the army would naturally judge by results, and consequently there could be no doubt that his influence would increase the already serious difficulties accumulating in Southwest Virginia. Early at once quitted the army and spent some time in Europe.

A conspicuous figure among the survivors of the great struggle is Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, who a few years ago was elected Governor of Kentucky. He was one of the pall-bearers at the funeral of Gen. Grant, whom he always admired and honored. He was the general to whom Grant sent the dispatch which stirred so much enthusiasm in the North early in Grant's career, and which history has immortalized. The North thought it had the right ring, and that the man who wrote it was the man for the hour. The words, which soon became famous, were: " I propose to move immediately upon your works." This was at Fort Donelson. Buckner's two superiors, Officers Floyd and Pillow, had made their escape, when they found the position no longer tenable; but he declared that he would stay with his men and share their fate. He remained, and after the capitulation was sent as a prisoner of war to Boston, Mass., where he was kept until exchanged, six months later. On his return to the field he commanded under Bragg in Tennessee. He fought at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, and surrendered with Edmund Kirby Smith at Baton Rouge, in May, 1865. Buckner was another of the West Point graduates, and had also, like so many of his comrades and foes, done gallant service in the Mexican War. He is now sixty nine years old.

Now sitting in the United States Senate for his native State of Georgia, is another brave officer of the southern army, Gen. John Brown Gordon, who has just passed his sixtieth birthday. He bears on his body evidence of his valor in the shape of eight wounds received in battle. He entered the Confederate Army as a captain of infantry, but before the close of the war had risen to the rank of lieutenant general. He was one of the officers who surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

Last, but not least remembered, of the old chivalric guard of the Confederacy come those sturdy heroes, Stephen D. Lee and Ambrose P. Stewart. Gen. Lee now holds a position of responsibility in a university at Starkville, Miss., while Gen. Stewart, who is living quietly at Oxford, Miss., was recently appointed Confederate commissioner on the committee for the construction of a national cemetery on the site of the old battlefield of Chickamauga, where so many of the sons of the confederacy fell fighting for the stars and bars.

The animosities of the war have long since been buried, and by none more completely than by the men who fought most bravely and sacrificed most in the struggle. The North unites with the South in recognizing the heroism of the men who fought so gallantly for their convictions. In the closing years of their lives the chieftains of the old Confederacy enjoy the love and honor that is accorded to true soldiers, and when they finally pass away from the scenes of their struggles they will not be among those who are soon forgotten.

REF: The following article is from the Confederate Veteran, Vol. 1, No. 2, Nashville, Tenn., February, 1893. 

A Word to the “Take’em Down” Crowd

The Marxist-indoctrinated crowd just doesn’t get it. The War of Northern Aggression had NOTHING to do with slavery, but was fought to repel an illegal invasion of sovereign states that had legally seceded from an over-reaching, intrusive, tyrannical, overtaxing government. Slavery was a dying institution and no other country on the planet waged a war to end slavery.  It died a natural death everywhere else, so why do people think we needed a war here to end it?  The North hated blacks and were not invading the South to free the black race.  What sense does that make when there were more Union officers and soldiers who owned slaves than there were Confederates soldiers who owned slaves? If people would take the time to read the Corwin Amendment and the Johnson-Crittenden Resolution they would see that they clearly dispel the myth of slavery being the cause of the war.  Lincoln threatened war in his inaugural address when he stated that the duties and imposts would be collected from the seceded states "by force if necessary".  He could not bear to lose the revenues being unconstitutionally extracted from the South because the South was footing over 80% of the federal tax bill while the rich Northern industrialists and bankers were reaping the benefits. The war was all about ending self-government, subjugating the people of the South, looting the natural resources of the South for the benefit of the North, and establishing a strong, centralized government that would have control over the states.  The CSA seceded and fought for the same reasons that our Founding Fathers seceded from and fought Great Britain.  If slavery was the cause, as the Marxists contend, then isn’t it strange that not one letter, not one, has been found from either Confederate or union soldiers stating that this is what they were fighting about?  Instead, numerous letters found from Confederate soldiers state that they were fighting for independence and in defense of their homes and families.  Letters from union soldiers state that they were fighting to “restore the union”.  The Confederate Battle Flag and all the Confederate monuments have nothing to do with slavery or white supremacy, but a people who defied tyranny and fought to preserve the Constitution and the principles upon which our Founders established a new country. Lincoln was for white supremacy.  Just read his quotes about the inferiority of the black race and how he had never been in favor of making voters or jurors out of them.  Yet he is worshiped as the Great Emancipator.  He freed nobody. The 13th Amendment ended slavery, eight months after the war was over.

These lunatics taking down Confederate monuments are no different than Nazis or ISIS by attempting to destroy and rewrite history.  And quit putting the blame for slavery on the South.  It was the Yankee slave traders who brought the slaves to America, flying Old Glory on the masts of the slave ships.  Not one single slave ship ever flew a Confederate flag. These "take'em down" idiots are puppets for the global puppet masters seeking to destroy every bit of our history, culture, and Christianity.  It won't stop with Confederate monuments.  Washington and Jefferson will be next. What about the White House and other beautiful historic buildings in Washington D.C. built by slaves?  Will they be taken down too?  The hypocrisy of the Marxist left is easy to see.  They tolerate only what they agree with, but expect EVERYONE else to tolerate the left's views. Communists is what they are.  A blight on our soil and a disgrace to the great people of history who fought to make us free.


Jeff Paulk                                 
Tulsa, OK

cwipaulk@earthlink.net

Magnificent Monument - Shreveport, Louisiana

This photo was made back in the days before, without a murmur, the Confederate ladies let the brainwashed and the Marxist- enemies take down the Confederate flag.  The Confederate flag waved last over a Confederate capital in  Shreveport in 1865.—Shreveport was the site of the  last state capital to fly the flag.  That’s history!  

One can only wonder just how many Confederate ladies pay dual devotion to the Daughters of the Union groups?  How many are presidents for both the Union and the Confederacy groups and thus are incapable of being loyal to the South?  Dual citizenship - can never mean equality of loyalty.  Anyone saying so—lies.  If anything people should be required to make their choice—  One cannot be both for God AND for the Devil!  What idjits think this possible?  What kind of people are busily forcing the alteration of an ancient Southern organization into a mere genealogy group?

The longer this hate the South movement continues the more it makes me despise the enemies of truth.  Deo Vindice?

Please God, let me aid you in delivering vengeance on all of the hideous haters of the South— on the  liars, the  thieves, and other crazed, evil Yankee-Marxist- monsters.
 
Joan Hough
johough@swbell.net

THE TRUE NATURE OF THE MONUMENT DESTROYERS

By Connie Chastain

"The force behind the assault on Confederate heritage is the same force behind the attacks on President Trump. What we are seeing is an enormous psychotic episode, a colossal nervous breakdown by the ultra-left in America because their adored Hillary was defeated.

The left has always been destructive, increasingly so in recent years. But since Trump has been in office -- since late January -- where he has steadily razed the Obama legacy, they've been like an animal in the furious stage of rabies.

These people are not Americans. Leftists are socialists. They are the antithesis of Americans. They are destroyers. Since they cannot have our country and transform it into Socialist America, they will destroy it.

Destroying Confederate heritage is an early phase, a trial run, you might say. They have the same fate in mind for the legacy of the Founders... not just monuments and statues, but the very country they crafted. They want to destroy every aspect of the culture -- Christianity, the family, private property, education, historical memory, our cultural cohesiveness, our very identity as western man.

Western man. Man. Men. The left hates nothing the way they hate masculinity. From "feminism", which is not about equality for women but about hating and hurting men ... from feminizing industry, education, the military, church leadership, the popular culture, the government to the demonization of "dead white males" the left hates virility.

VIRILE, VIRILITY characterized by a vigorous, masculine spirit: manly character, vigor, or spirit; masculine energy, forcefulness, or strength in a marked degree.

Our Confederate heroes were some of history's manliest of men. Even in cold, lifeless bronze, Davis, Beauregard and Lee exuded a level of virility that shames Mitch Landrieu.

The nameless Confederate soldiers in marble and granite standing atop pedestals and obelisks across the South shame the typical leftist male -- the Michael Moores, the Morris Deeses, the brainwashed antifa, the mindless mobs, the spineless and weak-minded men, leftists themselves or influenced by leftism, who run government at all levels. The closest thing these men have to masculine energy and vigorous spirit is hatred. Oddly enough, this is the same fuel that energizes leftist women -- the Hillary Clintons, the Maxine Waterses, the Ashley Judds and the Madonnas -- as well.

As we craft and then implement our counter-offensive in the defense of our heritage -- and our continued existence and the future for our children (make no mistake, these are in the Left's crosshairs, as well) -- it will do us well to remember the nature of our attackers."
 

About the author:  Connie Chastain writes contemporary Southern fiction. Her author page at Amazon.com is found at this link: https://www.amazon.com/…/B002KL46…/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

BLACK STUDENT AWARDED SCV COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP

Each year the Americus Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) Camp 78 awards College Scholarships to two graduating high school seniors from Sumter and surrounding counties who place 1st and 2nd in an essay contest. The topic of the essay contest changes each year but always relates to Southern and Confederate heritage, culture, and history. This year the topic was "Black Confederate Veterans". Miss Kahria Hadley placed 2nd. She and her family attended the Confederate memorial service along with about 200 SCV and UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy) members Saturday May 6 at the Masonic Lodge in Americus. Both scholarship recipients read their essay which was followed by a presentation by Mrs.Teresa Roane of Virginia who is a descendant of a black Confederate and a UDC member.

  

The group then traveled a short distance to Oak Grove Cemetery for a headstone dedication for black Confederate Peter Furlow who was a Confederate veteran in Company D of the 12th Georgia Confederate Infantry Regiment. Technically Peter Furlow was a slave but he was a trusted loyal loved and respected member of the Furlow family. When the South was invaded he accompanied his master's son William Furlow to Virginia. The 12th GA. became part of the CSA  Army of Northern Virginia and served under General Stonewall Jackson in the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. On May 8, 1862 at McDowell Virginia Confederate forces were victorious. However the 12th GA was in the center of the front battle line and CSA officers Furlow, Turpin, and Dawson were killed in combat. Peter Furlow had been stationed in the rear with instructions in case of death of the officers. After the battle he searched and found their bodies and brought all three with all their possessions home from Virginia to their families in Americus Georgia.

  

The memorial service included descendants of the Furlow and Turpin families. No Dawson descendants could be located. The later history of Peter Furlow and his actual grave and burial site are unknown. The headstone honoring this brave and faithful black Confederate was placed in the Furlow family plot and is inscribed C.S.A. Peter Furlow 12th Ga. Regiment Company D. 

James W. King

SCV Camp 141 Commander

Albany GA

jkingantiquearms@bellsouth.net