MARCH 2017
website: www.samdavis596.com
VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3
Antietam’s other war: Surviving wounds
“I would sooner die a thousand
deaths before I would betray
a friend or be false to duty.”
Samuel Davis 1842-1863
By Steve Forman
Before the day was over on Sept. 17, 1862,
4,710 men from the Union and Confederacy
would be dead. 18,440 wounded and 3,043
missing in the Battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg —the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
Neither Generals Robert E. Lee or George B.
McClellan wanted to continue the fight the
next day. During the night of Sept. 18, Lee
recrossed the Potomac River, and McClellan,
never known for boldness, waited until Sept.
20 to pursue Lee.
OUR NEXT MEETING:
 TUESDAY
 MARCH 14, 2017
 7:00 PM
 In the Beauvoir Room of
the Jefferson Davis
Presidential Library
at Beauvoir.
SEE YOU AT BEAUVOIR
Invite a friend to join you!
If surgery was delayed until infection set in,
the chance of survival decreased significantly.
What happened to the casualties is told by the
survivors. A doctor from the Union Sanitary
Commission noted that “indeed there is not a
barn, or farmhouse, or store, or church , or
schoolhouse between Boonesville and
Sharpsburg….and Smoketown, that is not
gorged with wounded —Confederate and
Union. Even the corn cribs, and in many instances the cow stable, and in one place the
mangers were filled. Several thousand lie in
open air upon straw, and all are receiving the
kind services of the farmers’ families and the
surgeons.”
The wounded and surgeons did not know it at
the time, of course, but where the casualties
were taken and how they were treated proved
unhealthy. The germ theory of disease was
unknown at the time. Nobody knew about
bacteria or antisepsis.
Surgeons operated on contaminated wounds,
in contaminated barns and buildings, and with
unsterile hands and instruments. Medical personnel were unfairly criticized for being
“amputation happy”. During the war, surgeons were referred to as “sawbones.”
Mississippi Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Annual Reunion
June 6th—June 11th, 2017
Oxford, Mississippi
would be treated without an operation and the
limb saved. If an extensive amount o tissue
damage was present, or if a bone was broken,
there was a great chance of infection. The
invention of the Minnie Ball added a new
challenge to a surgeon's skills. Along with
splintering and breaking bones, the force of
the ball entering the body carried dirt and
pieces of clothing into the wound.
Medical Department records showed that only
about 35 percent of the wounded had amputations that proved fatal. On the other hand,
there was a 90 percent chance that a fatal infection would develop.
The unfortunate soldier would first be rendered unconscious with either chloroform or
ether. Most amputations were completed in
10 to 15 minutes. Contrary to general belief,
There are no recorded incidents of patients
being told to bite bullets in lieu of anesthesia.
But a number of amputations were recorded
where no anesthesia was used at all.
The first job of the doctors was to assess the
wounds and attempt to determine the extent of
the damage. If a wound was slight, the patient There was little a surgeon could do for a
Continued on next page
2017 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Mississippi Division Reunion, June 6-10 —See page 6
Page 2
Antietam’s other war: Surviving wounds
Continued from page one
patient with a wound in the head, chest or in the abdomen.
These casualties were made as comfortable as possible and
left to die.
but devote much time to plundering the dead bodies of our
men. Water very short. We suffer very much.”
Jonathan Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potomac, is called the “father of modern battlefield care for the
wounded.” Under his direction, an ambulance corps was established, whose soldiers were the only persons authorized to
remove the wounded and transport them to the newly established division hospitals close to the front line. Letterman
also required that medical wagons carry a prescribed list of
supplies. Antietam was the first time his system was proved
effective in battle.
In addition to Letterman and McGuire, the unsung heroes
were the hundreds of doctors who, without regard to uniform,
administered professional and humane treatment under agonizing conditions—and prevented the bloodiest day of the war
from becoming even more awful.
“September 19, 1862. Rained only a little. I had a rubber
blanket and overcoat. Confederates retreat. Another painful
Ironically, McClellan’s father, Dr. George McClellan, was the night...doctor looks at my wound and calls it a doubtful case.
founder of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, the
Get me on an ambulance at 3 p.m. But do not get to hospital
“West Point” of medical education, and two of the doctors
till nearly dark. Plenty of water which gives us a chance to
who had responsibility for the wounded after Antietam had
take down the inflammation. Nurses worn out by fatigue.
been trained at Jefferson.
Placed on straw near the barn.”
Major General Paul Hawley, chief surgeon in the European
theatre during World War II, had a position similar to that of
Letterman in the Army of the Potomac. Hawley stated: “At
the time I often worried whether, had I been confronted with
the primitive system which Letterman fell heir at the beginning of the Civil War, I could have developed as good an organization as he did. I doubt it. There was not a day during
Word War II that I did not thank God for Jonathan Letterman.”
Letterman’s Confederate counterpart was Hunter Holmes
McGuire, medical director of Stonewall Jackson’s division.
He was instituting the same sort of procedures that Letterman
was putting into practice.
Clara Barton, the former Washington Patent Office clerk who
would found the American Red Cross in 1881, followed the
Union’s 2nd Corps onto the battlefield, dressing wounds and
comforting the dying at the Samuel Poffenberger farmhouse,
which was turned into hospital. A stray bullet ripped through
her clothing and killed the soldier she was caring for.
A wounded federal trooper, Sgt. Jonathan Stowe. Co. G,15th
Massachusetts, poignantly recorded his ordeal:
“September 17, 1862. Battle oh horrid battle. What sights I
have seen. I am wounded! And am afraid I will be again as
shells fly past me every few seconds carrying away limbs
from the trees. Am in severe pain. How the shell fly. I do
sincerely hope shall not be wounded again.”
“September 18, 1862. Misery acute, painful misery. How I
suffered last night. It was the most painful of anything I have
ever experienced. My leg must be broken for I cannot help
myself scarcely any. I remember talking and groaning all
night. Many died in calling for help. Sergt. Johnson who lies
on the other side of the log is calling for water. Carried off
the firld at 10 a.m. by the /Rebs who showed much kindness
Page 3
Historic vote: Lee statue to be removed from Charlottesville's Lee Park
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson be recontextualized either in McIntire Park or in
their current locations.
After six months of public forums and
commission meetings, a majority of the
members on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public
Spaces expressed a preference for moving the Lee statue, but keeping the Jackson monument in place.
Much like the last City Council meeting,
tensions spiked at various moments
Monday evening — at one point, John
Heyden, an ouspoken critic of the proposal to move the statue, was removed
from the meeting after an outburst.
Although the majority of speakers during the meeting’s preliminary public
comment period voiced displeasure with
the proposal to move the statue, the
crowd response was loud, mixed with
cheers and jeers.
Visually, there were signs that said
“remove the statue” and signs that had
an image of the statue, which said “save
history.”
During the public comment period,
Jalane Schmidt, a University of VirginA statue depicting Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands over Lee Park in downtown
ia professor, compared the protest
against President Donald Trump’s refuCharlottesville.
gee and travel executive orders to the
statue debate, saying there’s “an empathy gap.”
By CHRIS SUAREZ The Daily Progress
“These African-American refugees of previous generations were
CHARLOTTESVILLE — After being unable last month to decide driven from our town. They found no sanctuary city here in Charwhether to keep Charlottesville’s statue of Confederate Gen. Robert lottesville. And in the 1920s, leading white citizens’ contempt for
black humanity was enshrined in Charlottesville’s public spaces,”
E. Lee in the city’s central square or move it to McIntire Park, the
she said.
City Council on Monday voted to relocate the statue.
The motion passed on a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Mike Signer and
Councilor Kathy Galvin voting against relocating the statue.
In his remarks before the vote, Councilor Bob Fenwick — who
deadlocked the council after casting an abstention vote last month to
move the statue and, in a separate motion, voted against recontextualizing the statue in place — welcomed whatever legal challenges
may come as a result of the vote.
“If you think death threats will stop me, you must not know my
background. I’ve been through much worse,” Fenwick said. “I’m
aware a lawsuit’s been threatened. I’d welcome one.”
The motion that passed Monday requires city management staff to
provide within the next 60 days recommendations for how the statue can be moved.
“These monuments prompted and still perpetuate a romantic false
narrative of the Lost Cause, which erases the memory of the enslaved majority.”
Most of the speakers who followed, however, spoke in favor of
keeping the statues.
Kenneth Jackson, who is African-American, argued that the controversy surrounding the statues is a new phenomenon that is being
perpetuated unnecessarily.
“I can tell y’all, we didn’t have these issues. We grew up together. I
used to walk through every neighborhood,” he said. “Don’t play
black folks for a fool. This disgusts me — and you’re supposed to
be our leaders? Our parents didn’t hate the statue.”
Before voting to relocate the statue, the council agreed to consider a
The council’s decision follows months of public discussion on the
matter, after Councilor Wes Bellamy last March called for the statue separate motion to rename Lee Park. The council had not voted on
of Lee to be removed, citing members of the community who feel it that proposal as of press time.
is culturally offensive and a symbol of white supremacy.
Last fall, a community commission convened by the council decided to recommend the statues of Lee and Confederate Lt. Gen.
Page 4
A Statement from Commander-in-Chief Thomas V. Strain On Lee Statue
I am sure by now many of you have seen that last evening the City Council in Charlottesville, VA voted 3-2
to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee from the city's Lee Park.
I wanted to let you know that the National and Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans are working together exploring our options and discussing what our next move will be.
When we make a final decision of our best way to approach this we will let you know.
I will make you one promise we will not go without a fight!!!
Thos. V. Strain Jr.
75th Commander-in-Chief
New Orleans releases bid documents for Confederate monument removal
At the time, the city said in a statement that "the safety of potential
bidders has been paramount.
"Due to previous violence and threats during the bid process, we will
wait to re-advertise the project until we feel confident a resolution in
the court is near and a contractor may be publicly procured so that
monuments may be relocated without further delay," the city said.
Landrieu spokesman Tyronne Walker said on Tuesday evening that
the city will keep confidential the names of companies that download bid documents from the city website. In the past, those names
had been disclosed. He said the names of contractors who bid will
not be released until after the bid selection process is complete.
Confederate statue removal in New Orleans turns nasty
For now, at least, things have gotten so nasty the city hasn't found a
contractor willing to bear the risk of tearing down the monuments.
By Kevin Litten/NOLA.com
New Orleans city officials on Tuesday (March 7) kicked off a
competitive bidding process to find a contractor that can relocate
the three Confederate monuments cleared by a federal appeals court
decision for removal just 24 hours earlier. The rapid posting of the
bid documents reflects Mayor Mitch Landrieu's desire to clear the
monuments from the three locations around the city with expediency.
But there are still open questions about how the city will be able to
ensure that contractors involved in the bidding are not a target of
threats, violence or property damage. It's a concern that's likely to be
raised after an earlier contractor selected to remove the monuments
saw his Lamborghini torched, and other contractors who responded
to earlier bid proposals received threats of boycotts and loss of business.
After the rancor surrounding the monument removal in January
2016, about a month after the City Council voted to remove them,
the contractor who had agreed to do the work, H&O Investments,
pulled out of its agreement citing "telephone calls, unkindly namecalling and public outrage expressed in various social media." The
city, however, pushed forward with a new bid process, even after the
monuments' removal was put on hold via court order in March 2016,
but the city ultimately halted the bid process in May.
Bill Quigley, a Loyola University law professor who's advocated for
monument removal and helped write a brief in support of the City
Council's December 2015 decision to remove the monuments, said
that the city could face difficulties in finding a contractor willing to
do the work.
"I'm sure that any contractor is going to be very aware of the threats
and the violence that have been visited upon the people before,"
Quigley said. "That will be something of a challenge but I think people have had enough time to think about it now and I hope the folks
that support the Confederate statues being up would not engage in
threats or violence."
It was not just the winning bidder that received threats or suffered
property damage. After the city released a list of companies that had
downloaded documents containing bid specifications in February
2016, many of those companies received phone calls from people
threatening boycotts.
While it's unclear how the bid process will play out, the documents
released on Tuesday give a clear picture of how the city will require
the monuments will be removed. Here's a look at the specifications
for each monument.
Page 5
Happenings at Beauvoir
On March the 4th, you have a chance to join the crowd and
Meet the Spirits of Beauvoir.
Meet the Spirits at Beauvoir....the 3rd Saturday of every month
starting in January 2017, ending in August 2017. March 2017
is the only month that does not occur on the 3rd Saturday....March 4, 2017. Visit our web site, www.visitbeauvoir.org
or www.sparsparnormal.com for more information.
Meet the Spirits is a ghost hunt that takes place on the Beauvoir
property. Guest will be divided into groups and taken to the
different "hot spots" on the property to meet the spirits....locations include the main home and the cemetery!
Registration and orientation begins at 6 PM. The paranormal
investigation will begin after orientation. Some locations are
outdoors—dress appropriately.
The Phrase “DEO VINDICE”
Being somewhat ignorant on the phrase Deo Vindice I came across
this and thought it might interest some of my more or less uninformed brethren of which I count myself in the latter rather than the
former. David Wharton published an article back in 2004 on the
meaning of the Latin phrase, Deo Vindice, ("With God as our Defender"). Presumably a Classics professor, Wharton proceeded to
explain the Latin meaning of the words. In a predictable turn to the
left, Wharton veered away from simply talking of the Latin, and
instead launched on the (equally predictable) subject of racism.
How does racism play into Latin linguistics, you’re wondering?
Easy you see, said Wharton, the Latin can refer to a God who is a
punisher. A God who, in short, punished the South for its racism.
Wharton cites the writer Walker Percy, who never ceased complaining about being called a "Southern writer." Percy considered
racism the original sin of the South, apparently never bothering to
investigate the Northern slave trade (from 1630 onwards). Wharton
ends his article with "So let the sons [sic] of the Confederacy engrave Deo Vindice on their seal, and let the Latin mean what it
will." Yet not once in his article does Wharton actually explain the
Latin. He merely gives his own translation and a few others.
(Before jumping on the "God as punisher" bandwagon). How odd
that one would write of a linguistic construction without explaining
it. OK, pay attention. It’s pretty simple, and I’ll skip the boring
stuff. But the phrase "Deo Vindice," when used as the subject of a
sentence looks like this: "Deus Vindex." (Latin: nominative case of
a second-declension noun followed by an adjective.) But this
phrase is not the subject of a sentence, say, "God is a Vindex." It is,
in fact, in a construction known as "the ablative absolute" to everyone who has ever studied even basic Latin. The ablative case (a
form of a noun in general) means that the two words can have three
essential contexts besides their direct dictionary meanings: 1) from,
or away from, 2) in or at (from the Locative case), and 3) with or by
(from the Instrumental case). The ablative absolute expresses a
great deal more than these, but these are the basics. Now the original meaning of Vindex was a legal term. A Vindex was someone
who helped out a debtor by assuming liability for the debtor’s debt.
From there, it was easy for Vindex to mean "a defender" or
"champion." From there came "one who punishes." Deus, of
course, means "God." (Directly related to the Indo-European root
whence cameth "Zeus," by the way.) So "Deo Vindice" can express, besides its dictionary meaning, those three contexts of the
ablative absolute, of which I shall give samples: "Where God is the
Avenger" "Because God is the Champion" "With God as [our]
Avenger" "God the origin of [our] Defender" Because the AA came
from the notion of "instrumental origin," I prefer to translate the
phrase with that background in mind. And isn’t it odd? It’s precisely how most people do, in fact, translate it: "With God as [our]
Champion." Race, Walker Percy or no, has (excuse the pun) absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of the phrase. Nada, nihil,
zip, zilch, no way, none, nothing. There is no irony. No tragedy.
None. Especially when you consider than the ones who did the capturing of slaves from Africa were from the North, not the South.
Fact. The Latin means what it means, and any sinistral attempt to
impose that most beloved of guilt-based, Northern-Puritan, conceptions of race upon the linguistics of "Deo Vindice" comes up, not
only short, but embarrassing. Someone needs to go back to Latin
101. But, take heart. I’m always here to help the errant Yankee linguist. © 2010 The Fire Eater
From the newsletter the confederate voice of the Col. Middleton
Tate Johnson Camp #1648 in Arlington Texas
Page 6
2017 Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion
Page 7
2017 Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion
Page 8
2017 Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans Reunion
If you are planning to attend the 2017 Mississippi Division Reunion in Oxford, Mississippi on June 9—11 its not too
early to start making your plans and make your hotel reservation.
Page 9
Two candidates announce their candidacy for MS Division 2nd Lt. Commander
Greg Stewart announces his candidacy
Gentlemen:
I am announcing my candidacy for the Division (Statewide) level office of 2nd Lt. Commander. Per the Division By-laws Article
19, Section 3, the 2nd Lt. Commander:
1. Performs the duties of the 1st Lt. Commander in his
absence.
2. Assumes the position of the 1st Lt. Commandership in the event of the death, disability, removal or resignation of the 1st Lt.
Commander until the next regular election.
3. Assists and aids the Brigade Commanders in the formation of
new camps.
To qualify to run for this position, according to our Division Bylaws, a candidate must be a member of good standing in his camp,
and his camp must be in good standing with the Division. Those are
the only requirements, the minimum, and I meet them. However,
there are two other qualifications inherent with any Division level
office: a commitment of time and a constructive, positive set of
goals.
Law Certification workshop to be eventually required for all members seeking Division level offices. I have a strong opinion that this
will steer the Division away from trouble and avoid needless misunderstandings between compatriots that, ultimately, distract us
from The Charge.
All of us agree that time and a constructive, positive set of goals are
required beyond just the minimum requirements as set out in our Bylaws for any Division level office. Two decades of service to the
organization at both the National Level (Discipline Committee
Chairman and Chief of Protocol) and in different appointed Division
level committee assignments (By-laws, Resolutions, Legislative,
Awards), and Division level appointments (Judge Advocate) give me
the long view of the Mississippi Division and a unique sense of
"pride in her history and achievements, and confidence in her future". This long view keeps me reserved at times, and not so loud,
but the best decisions are made with the best information.
I would sincerely appreciate your support in June, in Oxford, as we
celebrate 122 years of meeting together as Mississippians to carry
forward our great commission from Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, so
aptly given to us by him in THE CHARGE.
YOS,
Greg Stewart
1. I have the time.
As a twenty year member of the Mississippi Division, and chartering
member of the University Greys, my life's events have taken me to
all reaches of the State for Division or heritage issues and matters.
But in all those years we were still raising children at home and a
Carl Ford announces his candidacy
commitment to a Division level office would have been unfair to our
children, the office, or both. I am at a place where our children are
grown, giving me the necessary time and energy to devote to a
Gentlemen:
Statewide office for a full term.
I, Carl D. Ford, hereby announce my candi2. I have specific goals that will strengthen the Mississippi Division. dacy for the office of 2nd Lt. Commander of
the Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, at the Division Reunion in
A. If elected, I pledge to work closely with Brigade Commanders
and their designees to form new camps and further pledge to assist in June, 2017, at Oxford, Mississippi.
getting these new camps started off right with committed officers
and a host of nearby Division members of already established, suc- I am a member in good standing of the
cessful camps standing by with advice and support for the fledgling Jones County Rosin Heels, Camp 227, a
Camp in good standing of the Mississippi
new camps.
Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and, although it is neither here nor
B. I pledge also to do my utmost to encourage the new camps to
there, I have not been convicted of a felony...yet.
develop relationships at the Division level, to strengthen the camp
itself as well as the Division. Related to that, I will endeavor to inI am announcing this candidacy on March 6, 2017, Alamo Day,
troduce this new blood to the opportunities to Live the
and, like Colonel Travis, I am drawing a line in the sand, and askCharge through Division level participation in Division level coming all who want to join the fight to cross over, and Stand Fast, Mismittees that interest them AND re-engage our old “soldiers”, too
sissippi!
many of which were lost to long settled issues. I mean reconciliaSincerely
tion. The periodic purges we have put ourselves through over the
past 15 years have drained away resourceful and energetic help and Carl Ford
discourage new men from joining our ranks. In fact, a manslaughter
charge in Mississippi gets you less time in the Wilderness than picking the wrong side in a Division (and sometimes Camp level) teapot
tempest, not one of which yet has been remotely related to Stephen
Dill Lee’s Charge.
C. Lastly, if elected, as a Division level officer I will have a seat at
the Executive Council where I hope to make the case for a basic By-
Page 10
Bricks for Beauvoir and the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier
Honor your confederate Ancestors by purchasing an Ancestral Memorial Brick for $50.00 each in the
Memorial sidewalk of the Confederate Cemetery at Beauvoir. The plans for the sidewalk are nearing
completion, so if you want a brick put down for your ancestor you need to get your order in soon, so as
not to miss out.
Each brick that you purchase will be engraved with your ancestors rank, name, unit and company.
Memorial bricks will be laid, memorializing your ancestor, in a sidewalk from the UDC Arch to the
Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Solider at Beauvoir.
Page 11
Help Give The Past A Future
Join The Friends Of Beauvoir Today!
The Last Home of President Jefferson Davis
Save/print form, and mail your membership today! Enjoy benefits with your membership not available to
others. For more information on how you can join and keep history alive, call 228-388-4400. Give the
Past a Future. Beauvoir needs our support!
Page 12
Confederate Monument at Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans
CONFEDERATE MONUMENT, GREENWOOD CEMETERY (PHOTO FROM INFROGMATION ON FLICKR)
The large memorial at the front of Greenwood Cemetery is the Confederate Monument. It was the first Confederate memorial to be dedicated
in the city in 1874 (the U.S. Government had already constructed the
Chalmette Cemetery, so that was the first Civil War memorial in the
area).
Approximately 132 Confederate prisoners of war were originally buried
at Chalmette until the Ladies' Benevolent Association of New Orleans
requested that these soldiers be moved out of Chalmette, which is comprised entirely of Union soldiers, to the Greenwood Cemetery in New
Orleans.
The ladies re-interred the remains of those soldiers and others, totaling
about 600 altogether. The tumulus is a low mound, topped with a statue
of a Confederate infantryman. He stands, resting on his rifle, atop an
ornate marble pedestal. That pedestal includes four busts of Confederate
generals: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston and
Leonidas Polk Today, only Union soldiers from the Civil War remain
buried in Chalmette National along with those soldiers from other wars
and the four soldiers from the War of 1812 whose remains were later
transferred to Chalmette from other cemeteries.
Page 13
Confederate statue supporters vow to fight on
By David Blake WWL
With a green light from a federal appeals court for the city of
New Orleans to move ahead with the removal of three statues
of Confederate leaders, does this really put an end to the fight
to keep them standing?
Absolutely not, according to the Monumental Task Committee. Vice President Gary Mason says they still have cases
pending in both federal and state courts and they are asking
for donations to continue.
''This has been a long marathon and this is just one chapter in
what's going to probably be a long marathon,'' Mason said.
Mason says while deeply disappointed by the ruling in favor
of taking the statues down, he urges their supporters not to
give up hope, pointing out that the appeals court only ruled on
the injunction to prevent the statues removal. The main case
is pending in district court.
''There's an actual case in front of Federal Judge Carl Barbier,
plus we're in state court with an appeal pending and depending on how that comes out we can always go to the State Supreme Court,'' said Mason.
Mason contends this is not about race, but preserving history.
Mason worries that removing historic monuments sends a bad
message to the world.
Along with the removal of the statues of Robert E. Lee,
P.G.T. Beauregard, and Jefferson Davis, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the city council want to remove the Battle of Liberty
Place monument. That structure is subject to a separate court
case dating back to the 1990s.
Page 14
Page 15
Attack on Robert E. Lee is an Assault on American History Itself
By Allan Brownfield.... THE ABBEVILLE BLOG
Early in February, the City Council of Charlottesville,
Virginia voted 3-2 to remove a bronze equestrian monument to Robert E. Lee that stands in a downtown park
named in his honor. Vice Mayor Wes Belamy, the council’s only African American member, led the effort to
remove the statue. In the end, this vote may be largely
symbolic. Those opposed to the statue’s removal intend
to file a lawsuit and point to a state statute that says Virginia cities have no authority over the war memorials
they inherited from past generations. “If such are erected,” the law reads, “it shall be unlawful for the authorities of the locality, or any other person or persons, to
disturb or interfere with any monuments or memorials
so erected.”
The attack on the Robert E. Lee statue is, in reality, an
attack on American history itself. It has been suggested
that the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial
are inappropriate, since they celebrate men who owned
slaves. Those who seek to erase our history sound a bit
like the Taliban and ISIS, who are busy destroying historic structures all over the Middle East if they predate
the rise of Islam. History is what it is, a mixed bag of
mankind’s strengths and weaknesses, of extraordinary
achievements and the most horrible depredations. To
judge the men and women of past eras by today’s standards is to be guilty of what the Quaker theologian Elton
Trueblood called the “sin of contemporaneity.”
to obey their masters with full hearts and without equivocation. St. Peter urges slaves to obey even unjust orders from their masters.
At the time of its cultural peak, ancient Athens may
have had 115,000 slaves to 43,000 citizens. The same is
true of Ancient Rome. Plutarch notes that on single day
in the year 167 B.C., 150,000 slaves were sold in a single market. The British historian of classical slavery,
Moses I. Finley, writes: “The cities in which individual
freedom reached its highest expression—most obviously Athens–were cities in which chattel slavery flourished.”
American history is flawed, as is any human enterprise.
Those who refer to slavery as America’s “original sin” Yet those who now call for the removal of statues and
should review history. Sadly, from the beginning of rec- monuments commemorating our past are measuring our
orded history until the 19th century, slavery was the
history against perfection, not against other real placway of the world. When the U.S. Constitution was writ- es. What other societies in 1787—or any date in history
ten in 1787, slavery was legal everyplace in the world. prior to that time–would these critics find more free and
What was unique was that in the American colonies
equitable than ours? Where else was religious freedom
there was a strenuous objection to slavery and that the
to be found in 1787? Compared to perfection, our ancesmost prominent framers of the Constitution wanted to
tors are found wanting. Compared to other real places in
eliminate it at the very start of the nation.
the world, they were clearly ahead of their time, advancing the frontiers of freedom.
Our Judeo-Christian tradition, many now forget, accepted the legitimacy of slavery. The Old Testament reguIn the case of Robert E. Lee himself, there is more to his
lates the relationship between master and slave in great story than the Charlottesville City Council may underdetail. In Leviticus (XXV: 39-55), God instructs the
stand. Everyone knows that Lee’s surrender to Ulysses
Children of Israel to enslave the heathen and their prog- S. Grant at Appomattox effectively ended the Civil War.
eny forever. In the New Testament, St. Paul urges slaves What few remember today is the real heroism of
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Attack on Robert E. Lee is an Assault on American History Itself
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Robert E. Lee. By surrendering, he was violating the
orders given by Jefferson Davis, the elected leader of
the Confederacy. The story of April 1865 is not just one
of decisions made, but also of decisions rejected. Lee’s
rejection of continuing the war as a guerrilla battle, the
preference of Jefferson Davis, and Grant’s choice to be
magnanimous, cannot be overestimated in importance.
With the fall of Richmond, Davis and the Confederate
government were often on the run. Davis, writes Prof
Jay Winik in his important book April 1865: The
Month That Saved America : “…was thinking about
such things as a war of extermination…a national war
that ruins the enemy. In short, guerrilla resistance…The
day after Richmond fell, Davis had called on the Confederacy to shift from a conventional war to a dynamic
guerrilla war of attrition, designed to wear down the
North and force it to conclude that keeping the South in
the Union would not be worth the interminable pain and
ongoing sacrifice.”
yet greater shedding of blood…One need only recall the
harsh suppression of the peasants’ revolt in Germany in
the 16th century, or the ravages of Alva during the
Dutch rebellion, or the terrible punishments inflicted on
the Irish by Cromwell and then on the Scots after Culloden, or the bloodstained vengeance executed during
the Napoleonic restoration, or the horrible retaliation
imposed during the futile Chinese rebellion in the mid19th century.”
If it were not for Robert E. Lee’s decision not to blindly
follow irrational instructions to keep fighting a guerrilla
war indefinitely, the surrender at Appomattox never
would have taken place and our nation’s history would
have been far different. Fortunately, our American tradition has never embraced the notion of blindly following
orders, particularly if they involved illegal or immoral
acts. No American could ever escape responsibility for
such acts by saying, “I was simply following orders.”
The effort to erase our past, as the Charlottesville City
Council proposes, comes about, in large part, because
But Robert E. Lee knew the war was over. Grant was
we know so little about our own history. Pulitzer Prize
magnanimous in victory and, Winik points out, “…was winning historian David McCullough declares that, “We
acutely aware that on this day, what had occurred was
are raising a generation of people who are historically
the surrender of one army to another–not of one govern- illiterate. We can’t function in a society if we don’t
ment to another. The war was very much on. There were know who we are and where we came from.” More than
a number of potentially troubling rebel commanders in two thirds of college students and administrators who
the field. And there were still some 175,000 other Con- participated in a national survey were unable to rememfederates under arms elsewhere; one-half in scattered
ber that freedom of religion and the press are guaranteed
garrisons and the rest in three remaining rebel armies.
by the Bill of Rights. In surveys conducted at 339 colWhat mattered now was laying the groundwork for per- leges and universities, more than one-fourth of students
suading Lee’s fellow armies to join in his surrender—
and administrators did not list freedom of speech as an
and also for reunion, the urgent matter of making the
essential right protected by the First Amendment.
nation whole again.”
Appomattox was not preordained. “If anything,” notes
If we judge the past by the standards of today, must we
Winik, “retribution had been the larger and longer prec- stop reading Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Arisedent. So, if these moments teemed with hope—and
tophanes, Dante and Chaucer? Will we soon hear calls
they did—it was largely due to two men who rose to the to demolish the Acropolis and the Coliseum, as we do to
occasion, to Grant’s and Lee’s respective actions: one remove memorials to Washington and Jefferson, and
general, magnanimous in victory, the other gracious and statues of Robert E. Lee? Must we abandon the Bible
equally dignified in defeat, the two of them, for their
because it lacks modern sensibility? Where will it
own reasons and in their own ways, fervently interested end? As theologian Elton Trueblood declared,
in beginning the process to bind up the sounds of the
“contemporaneity” is indeed a sin. We would all do well
last four years…Above all, this surrender defied millen- to avoid its embrace.”
niums of tradition in which rebellions typically ended in
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Page 17
Last hurdle cleared, New Orleans expected to move quickly to remove
Confederate Monuments
By Jeff Adelson/The New Orleans Advocate
Confederate heroes Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and P.G.T. Beauregard
will soon be decamping from their prominent pedestals in New Orleans,
more than a year after the City Council declared their statues to be public
nuisances that should be taken down.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously
cleared the way Monday evening for the monuments to be removed, issuing
an opinion that criticized groups seeking to keep the statues in place for
arguments that “wholly lack legal viability or support.”
With what is likely the last legal hurdle the city faces removed, the statues
are expected to come down quickly. Tyronne Walker, a spokesman for
Mayor Mitch Landrieu, said the city will start seeking bids Tuesday to remove the statues, and a contract will be awarded 25 days later.
The opinion by Judges Patrick Higginbotham, Jennifer Walker Elrod and
Stephen Higginson lifted a temporary order they issued last year that had
prevented the city from moving to take down the statues that have stood for
many decades at Lee Circle, Jefferson Davis Parkway and the entrance to
City Park.
The opinion upheld U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling early last year
that supporters of keeping the statues in full public view, led by a group
called the Monumental Task Committee, had offered only a shaky legal
ground for their lawsuit that did not justify an order to leave the monuments in place while a full trial plays out.
While “failing to show a constitutionally or otherwise legally protected interest in the monuments, (the plaintiffs) have also failed to show that any irreparable harm to the monuments — even assuming such evidence — would
constitute harm” to the groups bringing the suit, the judges wrote.
The opinion also said that even though the groups sought to question the
city’s ownership of the monuments, “we have exhaustively reviewed the
record and can find no evidence in the record suggesting that any party
other than the city has ownership.”
Higginbotham was appointed to the appeals court by President Ronald
Reagan, Elrod by President George W. Bush and Higginson by President
Barack Obama.
The city has said it will use money from an anonymous donor to pay for the
removal of the statues, and Landrieu's administration said in a news release
Monday evening that it still plans to follow that course.
“Today the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the city’s ability to control
its property," Landrieu said in a statement. "This win today will allow us to
begin to turn a page on our divisive past and chart the course for a more
inclusive future."
He said that "moving the location of these monuments — from prominent
public places in our city where they are revered to a place where they can be
remembered — changes only their geography, not our history. Symbols
matter and should reflect who we are as a people. These monuments do not
now, nor have they ever, reflected the history, the strength, the richness, the
diversity or the soul of New Orleans."
Roof, a white supremacist who said he was seeking to start a race war, was
found guilty and sentenced to death in December.
Landrieu’s call to take down the statues set off a six-month debate in the
city, which ended with a 6-1 vote by the City Council in December 2015 to
declare all four monuments to be nuisances that should be taken down.
Councilwoman Stacy Head cast the only dissenting vote, saying she wanted
to keep the Lee and Beauregard statues in place.
The appeals court's opinion specifically referenced the long debate over the
monuments’ fate.
“We do not pass on the wisdom of this local legislature’s policy determination, nor do we suggest how states and their respective political subdivisions
should or should not memorialize, preserve and acknowledge their distinct
histories,” according to the opinion. “Wise or unwise, the ultimate determination made here, by all accounts, followed a robust democratic process.”
The Monumental Task Committee filed
suit immediately after the council vote
along with three other groups, though
their request to Barbier to block the removal pending a full trial was immediately dismissed when the judge ruled their
chances of success were slim.
The plaintiffs then asked the appeals
court to issue the same order, resulting in
the temporary block that was lifted by
Monday’s opinion.
The fourth monument that the city plans
to remove, which commemorates an unsuccessful rebellion against the state's
biracial Reconstruction-era government
in the so-called Battle of Liberty Place in
1874, was not covered by Monday's ruling
It added: “Despite this setback, the nonprofit organizations that filed the
because it is protected by a separate fedoriginal suit will continue to argue that all the city's historic monuments and eral consent decree.
cultural sites should be preserved and protected, and that a more appropriate response to calls for the monuments' removal is a program to include
That decree dates back to a previous atexplanatory plaques and markers to present these individuals in the context tempt to remove the marker during roadof their time.”
work on Canal Street that involved federal
funds. The city, arguing it has fulfilled the
The fierce debate over the three Confederate statues, as well as a fourth
terms of that agreement by putting the
monument celebrating a Reconstruction-era white supremacist militia
marker back on public display on nearby
called the White League, has been raging since mid-2015, when Landrieu
Iberville Street and leaving it there for
first called for their removal after Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people
more than two decades, has asked Barbier
at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
to lift that order.
In an emailed statement Monday night, the Monumental Task Committee
said the groups that filed the suit “are weighing whether to ask for a rehearing en banc that will allow all the judges of the 5th Circuit to take part in this
critically important decision.”
Page 18
A monthly devotional by Brother James W. Binion appears monthly in The Scout. His daily Devotionals
and Ministries are followed by many on numerous Facebook sites. He is a retired Methodist Minister and
school teacher. Brother Binion is a re-enactor who along with his wife portray President Jefferson Davis
and First Lady Varina Davis. Compatriot Binion and his wife appear regularly at SCV events through out
the south.
Let us rejoice and be glad as we look forward to the
commemoration of our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection.
Be a blessing to others; enlighten them to the fact that Jesus
loves them, warts and all.
St. Luke 18: 18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God
is truly good. 20 But to answer your question, you know the
commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must
not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely.
Honor your father and mother.’” 21 The man replied, “I’ve
obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” 22
When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one
thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the
money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.” 23 But when the man heard this he
became very sad, for he was very rich. 24 When Jesus saw
this,* he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” 26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in
the world can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible
for people is possible with God.” 28 Peter said, “We’ve left
our homes to follow you.” 29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I
assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or
brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom
of God, 30 will be repaid many times over in this life, and
will have eternal life in the world to come.” NLT
THOUGHT: These days only history buffs recall the fact that
the three liberal universities of the “Ivy League” Princeton,
Harvard, and Yale were begun as seminaries to educate
young MEN for the ministry. The story is told of a brilliant
professor at Princeton Seminary who always left his gradua-
The Scout is published monthly by:
The Sam Davis Camp #596
Biloxi, Mississippi
Editor: Wayne Saucier
Send submissions and comments to:
[email protected]
tion class with these words: “Gentlemen, there is still much
in this world and in the Bible that I do not understand, but of
one thing I am certain—‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the
Bible tells me so’—and gentlemen, that is sufficient!” That
sort of thinking would probably not be tolerated at any of
those three schools today but they were spoken at Princeton
and are still extremely true. It is simple faith by which we are
drawn to the precious bleeding side of Jesus not high blown
theological philosophies. The words of Christ can at times be
hard for us to take and even harder for us to do. The simple
truth is that following Jesus is worth every sacrifice we could
think of. Many will set out on the journey but few will have
the strength to endure the trip toward sanctification. When
the trip encounters rough roads and storms I always think
back to a pre-war between the states song most of us learned
as children –
Jesus loves me! this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little
ones to Him belong; they are
weak but He is strong.
Jesus loves me! loves me still, tho I’m very weak and ill, that
I might from sin be free, bled and died upon the tree.
Jesus loves me! He who died heaven’s gate to open wide; He
will wash away my sin, let His little child come in.
Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way.
Thou hast bled and died for me; I will henceforth live for
Thee.
Chorus: Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
That last verse is rarely if ever sung but is a source of inspiration to me. “He will stay close beside me all the way” The
liberals and atheists need to believe these words and take
them seriously. Let us pray them into submission.
Father keep our eyes upon the cross and the empty tomb as
we engage the lost and embittered of this world. We raise
prayers of thanksgiving and praise in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
2017/18 Officers of the Sam Davis Camp #596
Commander - Ron Wade
1st Lt. Cmdr. - Jason Smith
Adjutant - Maurice Mallette
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