Jewish Supporters of the Confederacy Abounded

This Monument at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, honors more than
 30 Jewish Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in defense of the Confederate States.

By Catherine Calos

Richmond Times-Dispatch

A year after the Civil War ended, Richmond's Jewish women came together to honor and mourn their own:

Marx Myers, killed at Manassas; Henry Smith, at Fayette Courthouse; Herman Hirsh, in Westmoreland County; Isaac Levy and Gustavus Kann, at Petersburg; Madison Marcus, Henrico County; and 30 other Jewish Confederates from around the South, dead in the defenses of Richmond.

The local men were buried in family plots around Hebrew Cemetery on Shockoe Hill.

Others shared a plot known as the soldiers' section. Caring for them became the goal of the Hebrew Ladies' Memorial Association. And in a fundraising letter "to the Israelites of the South" on June 5, 1866, Mrs. Abraham Levy explained that the group intended to place a headstone at each grave and erect a monument to their service.

"In time to come, when our grief shall have become, in a measure, silenced, and when the malicious tongue of slander, ever so ready to assail Israel, shall be raised against us, then, with a feeling of mournful pride, will we point to this monument and say: 'There is our reply.'"

That reply, bordered by an elaborate iron fence with draped muskets and crossed sabers, remains standing in Richmond, a testament to the service of Jews during the Civil War.

North and South, Jews were very much a part of the wartime response.

They were soldiers and blockade runners, merchants and calligraphers, public leaders and farmers. They died in battle, came home wounded, tended to the sick. Families tore apart as they chose sides. Tales of bravery and heartache lived for generations.

• Judah Benjamin, sometimes known as "the brains of the Confederacy," was one of the South's highest-ranking officials. He served as attorney general, secretary of war and finally secretary of state during the four years that the Confederate capital was in Richmond.

• Myer Angle, first president of Congregation Beth Ahabah, had six sons who fought for the Confederacy.

• Phoebe Pember tended the sick and wounded as chief matron at Chimborazo military hospital, where as many as 75,000 were treated during the war.

• Gustavus Myers, city councilman for 28 years and council president for 12, was one of the men who met with President Abraham Lincoln on a surprise visit to Richmond on April 4, 1865, to talk about an oath of allegiance for former Confederates.

There's much more.  See the full story here: 
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2011/sep/18/13/jewish-supporters-of-the-confederacy-abounded-ar-1317911/

Photo by J. Stephen Conn

Confederate Biography on a Tombstone



Grave of Confederate Soldier John Harrod
New Hope Cemetery, Georgia 

While exploring the New Hope Cemetery, Paulding County, Georgia, I was very interested to see that someone, perhaps a descendent of the deceased, has placed a biography of Confederate Lt. Col. John Harrod on his tombstone.  This is a great idea, and inspires me to do something similar on the graves of my own Confederate ancestors in Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky.  Wouldn't it be a great idea if many other Confederate descendents would perpetuate the memory of their ancestors in a similar manner.


The text is below: 

John Harrod
1st Lt. Co. G
then Major
Then Lt. Colonel

John Harrod was born December 24, 1826 in Alabama. He was the son of William L. Harrod (October 20, 1786-September 1, 1866) and Sarah Chewning (May 5, 1785-July 16, 1856). At some point his family moved to Cadaretta, Choctaw Co., MS. At the age of 35, he was elected 1st Lieutenant of Co. G, "Sons of Liberty" which later became the "Davis Guards," of the 33rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment. On August 19, 1863 he was promoted to Major of the regiment. Compiled Service Records do not indicate the exact date he was promoted to Lt. Colonel, but it was probably early January 1864. As the war for the 33rd Mississippi Infantry moved into Georgia, it was at New Hope Church, a few miles from Atlanta, that the Lt. Colonel was wounded "while gallantly leading his regiment in an attack" and later died on June 11, 1864.

According to his daughter's recollections of the war,

"He was shot through the hand and the knee, just as he raised up from behind a tree with his hand on his knee. They had discovered the Yankee scouts on the other side of the hill. Father's boys gave the blood curdling Confederate yell and the Yankees fled; and so they were able to carry Father back to camp. The little church was used as a hospital. They amputated his leg, and when it was nearly healed, gangrene set in, and he died, like thousands of others, died for lack of proper antiseptics...They made him a coffin of one of the church doors, wrapped him in his soldiers (sic) blanket, and buried him there in a nameless grave." (1)

Prior to the war, On March 6, 1851, John had married Sophia Ann Coleman Smith (May 8, 1833-June 21, 1902) in Cadaretta, Choctaw Co., MS. They had five children. After the war she and the children moved to California.

Sixteen Unknown Confederate Dead in Pikeville, Tennessee

In the remote, beautiful Sequatchie Valley of East Tennessee, about 50 miles north of Chattanooga, are the graves of sixteen unknown Confederate dead. The headstones, pictured here, can be found in the Pikeville City Cemetery, Bledsoe County. Since I live near Pikeville, I have had opportunity to ask several local people about these 16 Confederate soldiers. It is very rare to find a local person who even knows that the tombstones exist, and I have never yet found a person who seems to know much about them. It is so unfortunate that so many American people are oblivious to their their own history.

In the book "Bledsoe County, Tennessee: A History," written by Pikeville native Elizabeth Parham Robnett in 1993, I learned this about the monument:

"According to tradition, General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his troops were in Pikeville for a brief rest while passing through the valley. During their brief stay sixteen of his men die and were buried in the Pikeville City Cemetery. Their graves may been seen there today; marked, "16 Unknown Confederate Soldiers. The site of their camp was on the hill near the Lafayette Academy. Tradition also tells that General Forrest was a guest in the home of Judge Frazier, whose home was near the academy."

Similar grave markers can be found in obscure, old cemeteries throughout the South - sober reminders of a past which we forget at our own peril.

Photo by J. Stephen Conn

Cleveland, Tennessee - as Strategic as Richmond to Abraham, Lincoln

“To take and hold the railroad at or east of Cleveland, in East Tennessee, I think  fully as important as the taking and holding of Richmond."
Abraham Lincoln, June 30, 1862, in a letter to Major General Halleck 

Bradley County Confederate Monument, Cleveland, Tennessee

When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Tennessee, we lived on Eighth Street, and this monument is in a small island where Eighth crosses Broad and Ocoee - the main streets that lead through downtown.  I passed this spot literally thousands of times.  On each of those occasions I was - and still am - proud of the great Southern heritage which the monument represents.

The inscription on the west side of this monument reads:

ERECTED BY THE,

JEFFERSON DAVIS CHAPTER

UNITED DAUGHTERS

OF THE CONFEDERACY,

1910

The inscription on the east side reads:

"MAN WAS NOT BORN

TO HIMSELF ALONE

BUT TO HIS COUNTRY."

In front of the monument are the words:

TO OUR KNOWN

 AND UNKNOWN

CONFEDERATE DEAD.

I remember pausing to read these words often, even as early as when I was in the first grade, walking past "The Monument" on my way to and from school.

Some historians are quick to point out that a majority of the residents of Cleveland voted against secession and therefore it was a Union town. However, that was before Abraham Lincoln, in his micro-management of the War to Prevent Southern Independence, specifically targeted Cleveland. He placed a high priority upon capturing and controlling the railroad in this strategic town because occupying Cleveland would enable Yankee troops to control supply lines to the looming battle in Chattanooga in November of 1863.

Cleveland was occupied by Lincoln's invading hordes much of the time during the War Between the States and the people of the area suffered severely as a consequence. During so called "Reconstruction" they suffered even more. If a slight majority of the people of Cleveland were pro-Union before the atrocities of the War, they were heavily pro-Confederate afterwards. A remembrance of the war can still be found at Cleveland's First Presbyterian Church which was badly damaged during the War.  Musket balls are still embedded in the steeple. This church, as many in the South, was attended by both black and white worshippers before the Northern invasion.  Segregation was exacerbated for 100 years in the South as a result of the North's extreme punitive abuses during Reconstruction.

During the war, the Union army made its base at the site of Fort Hill Cemetery, overlooking downtown Cleveland, a place I loved exploring as a young man.  A few Union graves can be found in the cemetery, but the most intriguing monument of all is the simple headstone in the cemetery which marks the spot where 270 unknown Confederate soldiers are buried.

Headstone for 270 Unknown Confederate Soldiers - Fort Hill Cemetery, Cleveland, Tennessee

Story and Photos by J. Stephen Conn

They Died in Defense of Constitutional Liberty

Kentucky's First Confederate Memorial, Cynthiana, Kentucky

Battle Grove Cemetery in Cynthiana, Kentucky was dedicated November 4, 1868 to honor those who fell there June 12, 1864 during the second Battle of Cynthiana.  The battle ensued when Union troops invaded Kentucky during the War to prevent Southern Independence (1861-1865).

In the following spring, on May 27, 1869, Battle Grove Cemetery became the site of the first of dozens of Confederate memorials in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and it is widely believed to be the second oldest Confederate monument in the nation. 

The memorial consists of a granite shaft, beside which flys the First National Flag of the Confederacy.  Surrounding the shaft and flag is a circle of headstones of Confederate dead, most of them unknown.  And why did these brave men die?  The monument makes the answer clear with the inscription:  They died in defense of Constitutional Liberty. 

In the spirit of American Revolution of 1776, the Confederates made the ultimate sacrifice in a war for freedom from an out of control federal government.  The North, under the despotic dictatorship of Abraham Lincoln, trampled the Constitution in a grab for money and centralized governmental control over the previously sovereign states. 

Chiseled in stone on front of the monument are these words:

ERECTED 

MAY 27, 1869

BY THE

CYNTHIANA CONFEDERATE

MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION

IN MEMORY OF

THE CONFEDERATE DEAD WHO

FELL IN DEFENSE OF

CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY 

The other side of the monument contains this verse:

THEIR NAMES SHALL NEVER BE FORGOT

WHILE FAME THEIR RECORD KEEPS.

AND GLORY GUARDS THE HALLOW'D SPOT 

WHERE VALOR PROUDLY SLEEPS.

Master Honored by his Former Slave

This very interesting headstone in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia, was lovingly purchased and placed by a former slave in honor of his master, who died ten years before the outbreak of the War Between the States.

The inscription reads:

David McKinley

Died 1851

Aged

About 70 Years

My Trust is in God.

Erected by Peter Fleming

his former Slave.

For a century and a half this simple grave marker has born silent testimony to the familial bonds of affection which often existed between slave and slaveholder in the antebellum South.  It confirms the records left by hundreds of former slaves in the WPA Slave Narratives, in which the overwhelming majority speak of their former masters with fondness and appreciation. 

It also is a testimony to the Christian faith of both slave and master.  Such a kindred spirit between slave and slaveholder in this "peculiar institution" is impossible to conceive outside of a shared Christian faith.  Many Christian slaveholders were opposed to slavery as a permanent condition, but were realistic enough to know that immediate, forced emancipation, without proper preparation, would be harmful to both the individual slave and the larger community.

A prime example of this is General Stonewall Jackson, the namesake of the cemetery where this stone is found.  Jackson personally assisted many slaves in gaining their freedom and he helped hundreds more by educating them in his Colored Sunday School.  Jackson saw gradual emancipation as the most practical way for the slaves to become responsible, self supporting members of society.   He was not alone.  Tens of thousands of southern slaveholders had already prepared their slaves and then had freed them, even before the War Between the States.  Most northern slaveholders sold their slaves "down the river."  That's why there were far more free blacks in the South than in the North.

The symbol at the top of the headstone shows a hand with the forefinger thrust upwards.  This is a universal symbol, pointing upward to the hope of Heaven, and also upward to the Savior, Jesus Christ - who is the One Way true liberty. 

Fort Lancaster, on the Confederacy's Western Frontier

Ruins of Historic Fort Lancaster in West Texas

Of all the places that comprised the Confederate States of America from 1861–1865, few were as remonte as Fort Lancaster, on the high, arid plains of west Texas.

Established in 1855, Fort Lancaster was one in a series of forts erected along the western Texas frontier. It was located on 82 acres in the Pecos River Valley of Crocket County, 33 miles west of the small county seat town of Ozona. The fort's purpose was to guard the mail, supplies, and immigrants moving along the lower San Antonio–El Paso Road.

Fort Lancaster housed approximately 150 men and 3 officers. In 1856 a United States Army Inspector visited the fort and found that the soldiers were so untrained, he didn’t want them to demonstrate rifle firing. He also discovered 76 prisoners in the guardhouse, 15 of them there for drunkenness. The Inspector reported, "they desire nothing better than to get drunk and lay in the guardhouse." The problem stemmed partly because of lack of officers and also poor conditions at the fort. The men were living in what was called "hackadales," portable frames covered with canvas. The living quarters were soon improved.

The fort saw little action, but in 1857, a wagon train was ambushed by Indians about 25 miles away. The soldiers were able defeat the Indians, with the loss of only one sergeant.

Fort Lancaster was surrendered to the Texans in 1861, at the beginning of the War Between the States. The fort became a part of the Confederate far western frontier line. It played a role in protecting the supply line from Arizona in the New Mexico Campaign of 1861-62. The campaign was intended to make the Confederacy a nation which would have stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Confederate “Minute Men” from the 2nd Texas Calvary occupied this lonely post. The fort was inspected by Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley in the fall of 1861. Regular patrols guarded supply trains and checked Indian activities. When things became dull, the troops entertained themselves by putting out a camp newspaper and spiced things up with the nightly sport of shooting pesky coyotes.

The fort was abandoned in 1867, only to be reactivated briefly as a sub-post during the Kiowa-Comanche troubles of 1871. Today Fort Lancaster is a State Historical Site, operated by the Texas Historical Commission. A handful of graves on the property contain the remains of those who died at this remote, windswept outpost. One of them was a Confederate soldier, Private J. H. Norris, whose tombstone is a silent reminder of the War for Southern Independence.

The lonely grave of Confederate Private J. H. Norris, Fort Lancaster, Texas

Confederate Cemetery to get Major Cleanup

Antique Postcard of Camp Chase Confederate Monument & Cemetery - Columbus, Ohio

Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, about five miles east of downtown Columbus, Ohio, is slated for a major cleanup.

This cemetery, which was the site of a Confederate prisoner of war camp during the War Between the States, is the final resting place of 2,260 men in gray who perished while being held in captivity north of the Mason Dixon line, or in this case, north of the Ohio River. Their only crime was defending their homeland against an invading foreign army.

Camp Chase was named for Salmon Chase of Ohio, Abraham Lincoln's treasury secretary. The United States government, which owns the property, is funding the cleanup. Workers will be straightening and washing tombstones and planting grass at the graveyard. Work is slated to be completed by early November of this year. I'm planning to visit Camp Chase to take a few post cleanup photos. Watch for a report here on Confederate Digest.