New Book, "My Confederate Cousin" tells story of a Black Confederate Soldier

King George, Virginia – Writer Robert Broome, Jr. announces the release of My Confederate Cousin, a fictional narrative based on a true account of his ancestor, a Black soldier who fought for the South during the War Between the States. This compelling novel charts the course of a family lineage with origins of English nobility interwoven with slavery on a plantation in Poolesville, Maryland.

Through a tapestry which involves military battles of the eighteenth century, Broome introduces the reader to Basil Dawson, the son of a white slave owner and a Black slave mother. Although Basil was a slave, he was not treated like one. He was educated, learning to speak both Latin and French, and was  inducted into the Confederate Army where he fought alongside his father and half brother.

The author hopes his work will encourage others to have a new perspective of Black soldiers who had allegiances on both sides of the war which ultimately ended slavery in the United States. “Enlisting Black soldiers both slave and free in the militia from 1861 through 1865 played a significant role in the Civil War,” notes Broome. “It redefined our legacy and cultural history.” Broome received inspiration to pen this depiction of events after hearing many stories from family members of his cousin’s heroic efforts.

 Many of Basil Dawson’s descendants continue to live in Poolesville, Maryland. Others have migrated to Gaithersburg, Maryland; Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Wisconsin; and California.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Broome, Jr. is a published author and speaker who served in the United States Marine Corp, January 1976 through January 1980. His historical research unveils the often misunderstood details of military battles that helped shape the social, political, and economic landscape of America today.

With a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Strayer University, Washington, D.C., Broome is employed by the federal government. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he resides in King George, Virginia with his wife and daughter.

Broome is available for speaking engagements, book club presentations, and interviews. He can be reached at broome50@peoplepc.com or 540.663.2232. Learn more about his book, My Confederate Cousin, or order online through the publishers’ website at http://sbpra.com/robertbroome/. The book can also be purchased at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnobel.com.

Publisher: Strategic Book Group

ISBN: 978-1-60976-390-9
Cost: $23.50 USD
Hardcover, 151 pages

Howard County, Maryland, Confederate Monument

This Confederate Memorial, prominently placed  in front of the Howard County Courthouse, Ellicott City, Maryland, was dedicated on September 23, 1948.  It honors the brave men of Howard County who defended their sovereign state of Maryland from Abraham Lincoln's invading Yankee army during his illegal  War to Prevent Southern Independence, 1861-1865. 


The embellished bronze relief plaque, on a gray granite tablet, makes for an outstanding example of a tablet style monument.  Three edges of the plaque are embellished with a border of twining foliage. The plaque is decorated with a low relief composition of overlapping elements: laurel wreath, drum, bugle, saber, rifle with bayonet, and flag.


Below the design the inscription reads:  

BY THE

 HOWARD COUNTY CONFEDERATE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION

 IN HONOR OF THE BRAVE MEN

 WHO FOUGHT SO COURAGEOUSLY IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY 

Beneath the inscription is a listing of 92 names of the Confederate soldiers of Howard County.  A miniature Confederate Battle Flag, which was apparently placed in front of the monument not long before I captured this image,  shows that those soldiers and their honorable cause have not been forgotten.

Maintaining the Mason-Dixon: Maryland...

Here is a very interesting and informative video about Maryland, the northernmost Southern state. 

Poet Laureate of the Lost Cause - James Ryder Randall

This statue to James Ryder Randall stands on beautiful tree lined Greene Street in Augusta, Georgia.

The front inscription reads:

JAMES RYDER RANDALL
1839 - 1908

Better the fire upon thee roll,
Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland, my Maryland

Back inscription:

Erected by the
Randall Memorial Committee
of Chapter "A"
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Augusta Georgia
May 28, 1936

John Ryder Randall, a 22-year-old journalist and poet from Baltimore, Maryland, was educated at Georgetown University and had just accepted the position of Chair of English Literature at Poydras College , Pointe-Coupee, Louisiana, then a flourishing Creole institution. At the outbreak of the War Between the States, when Randall heard of the attack by Union troops in Baltimore on April 21, 1861 it disturbed him greatly. A friend and classmate of his had been killed in the conflict. Randall’s Southern sympathies were so aroused by the incident that he sat up late into the night, penning a poem by candlelight. The poem was first published in the New Orleans Sunday Delta just five days later.

Soon the poem made its way back to Baltimore. Miss Jennie Cary added “My Maryland” to each stanza and the song began to be sung to the familiar tune of "Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum," or “O Christmas Tree.” It became a war hymn of the Confederacy and was very popular throughout the time of War Between the States and beyond. Since 1939 it has been the official state song of Maryland.

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The words of Randall's poem illustrate that his first love and loyalty was to his native country - Maryland. Many, if not most, citizens of the United States at that time considered their first allegiance to their sovereign state, which was united to the other states only by a voluntary and limited union.

Randall came to be called the “Poet Laureate of the Lost Cause." After the war, he served as a journalist with several different newspapers, his last position being a correspondent and editor for the Augusta Chronicle, Georgia’s oldest newspaper. I feel a certain kinship with James Ryder Randall because for more than ten years I also wrote a regular editorial page column for the the Augusta Chronicle. Randall died in Augusta on January 15, 1908.

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You can see the entire poem and hear the music at this link: http://www.mdkidspage.org/StateSong.htm

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Photo and Article by J. Stephen Conn

John Hopkins Shuts Doors to Confederates

For generations the University campuses of America were bastions of free speech, openness and tolerance. Now they are bowing at the altar of political correctness. As a proud descendent of numerous Confederate veterans, and as a Southerner who has a long record as a civil rights activist, going back to the early 1960s, it saddens me to see the close mindedness of John Hopkins University officials who have shut their doors to my compatriots.


The John Hopkins News-Letter
By Peter Sicher

Baltimore, Maryland - Every January for 20 years, Hopkins has rented a room in Shriver Hall to the Sons of Confederate Veterans for a reception after their celebration of Southern Civil War rebel leaders Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jackson in Wyman Park. This January, however, Hopkins is ending this practice.Because Hopkins is a private institution, explained Dennis O'Shea, executive director of Communication and Public Affairs, "We are not obliged by law to allow any group on campus," and the University has ultimately decided that it does not want the confederate flag to be taken across its grounds.

The Colonel Harry W. Gilmor Camp precinct of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is outraged at Hopkins's decision, according to several members.In an e-mail, Michael Williams, Commander of the group, said he believes that "the practices of Hopkins [against] the First Amendment Rights promised by the Constitution, including the rights of our group ... are near Stalinist."O'Shea responded that the University is not violating any civil rights."This is not a free speech issue. The University has chosen not to rent a room, nothing more," he wrote in a follow-up e-mail.

Regardless, several members of the SCV said they feel the University is rejecting their right to peacefully assemble."The sole purpose of this event is to remember and honor the lives of two great Americans who served their country (Virginia), risking all to perform what they saw as their duty," Donald Steven Smith, first lieutenant commander of the Gilmor Camp, wrote in an e-mail.According to SCV Adjutant Elliot Cummings, the longstanding tradition of the reception in Shriver Hall did not seem to offend students or faculty members."The only part of the event that actually took place [on campus] was the reception ... this included coffee, hot chocolate and pastries for all participants and spectators, [whether they were] federal, confederate or civilian, who often had stood in severe cold for up to two hours to take part in or view the ceremony," Cumming said.

There's more. Here's the link to the full story: http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2008/12/04/NewsFeatures/University.Closes.Doors.To.Confederate.Remembrance-3571307.shtml