Cleburne, Texas honors Confederate General Patrick R. Cleburne

This gleaming white Confederate monument stands in front of the Johnson County Courthouse in the center of downtown Cleburne, Texas.  The town was named in honor of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne, under whom many local men served during the War for Southern Independence.  General Cleburne is also memorialized on a large mural at nearby Wright Plaza, pictured below.

Historical Mural at Wright Plaza, Cleburne, Texas, feathers the town's namesake, Confederate General Patrick Cleburne.

An inscription on the mural displays a green Irish shamrock.  It reads:  

Born in Cork County, Ireland

Lived in Helena, Arkansas

CLEBURNE commanded regiment from Texas, Ark., at Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mtn. Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin,

Gen. Cleburne was killed at the battle of Franklin, Tn. on November, 30, 1864, along with 5 Confederate generals including General Hiram Granbury.  Confederate veterans and townsmen voted in 1867 to name the town after Gen. Pat, "The Stonewall Jackson of the West."

Hardee Flags / Granbury's Texas Brigade, Cleburne's Division 

Another monument to General Cleburne, standing on the courthouse square, was placed by the state of Texas during the centennial of the War Between the States.  It reads:

CITY NAMED FOR CONFEDERATE

GENERAL

PATRICK R CLEBURNE

1828 - 1864

BORN NEAR CORK, IRELAND, CAME TO THE U.S. 1849.  DRUG CLERK IN OHIO, BECAME LAWYER IN ARKANSAS.  RECRUITED 1ST ARKANSAS REGT. FOR CONFEDERACY, ELECTED COLONEL, PROMOTED BRIGADIER GENERAL MAR. 1862. BECAME MAJOR GENERAL DEC. 1862.  RAPIDLY EARNED REPUTATION AS A SUPERB COMBAT OFFICER ON NUMEROUS FIELDS WITH ARMY OF TENNESSEE. EIGHT TEXAS REGIMENTS OF GRANBURY'S BRIGADE WERE UNDER CLEBURNE AND IN 1864 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN HE SAID THE PILES OF THE (UNION) DEAD WERE SILENT BUT SUFFICIENT EULOGY UPON GRANBURY AND HIS NOBLE TEXANS."  ON NOV. 30, 1864 CLEBURNE, A SAVAGE FIGHTER, MET DEATH SIX PACES FROM THE FEDERAL LINES IN BATTLE FRANKLIN, TENN.  BECAME KNOWN AS "STONEWALL JACKSON OF THE WEST."

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS, 1964  

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans file Lawsuit against the DMV



Image from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

The Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, asserting  that the DMV infringed on the Confederate's free speech rights by refusing to issue a specialty license plate which would have featured a Confederate flag. Below is a press release from the Texas SCV which was issued in conjunction with the filing of the lawsuit: 

On  December 8th, 2011 a complaint was filed in pursuant of 42
U.S.C. §1983 to vindicate the rights secured to the “Texas Division Sons
of Confederate Veterans” by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the
Constitution.

The Texas SCV is a non-profit organization that works diligently to
preserve the memory and reputation of the Confederate soldiers,
emphasizing the virtues of their fight for the preservation of liberty
and freedom. Like many other non-profit organizations in Texas, the
Texas SCV sought from the State of Texas, through the Department Motor
Vehicles Board, approval of a specialty license plate, both to raise
awareness of their endeavors and to raise additional money to fund their
activities.

This action is in regards to the recent denial of the specialty license
application presented to the Department of Motor Vehicles Board by the
Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans. Currently, the SCV has
specialty automobile license plates available to vehicle drivers in
Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana,
South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

The Texas SCV initially applied for a specialty license plate in Texas
with the Department of Transportation, the proper agency at the time, in
August 2009. That application was denied by the Department of
Transportation.

In 2009, the Texas Legislature amended the Transportation Code to
provide that the Department of Motor Vehicles, rather than the
Department of Transportation, was charged with issuing specialty license
plates. The license plate function moved to the new Department of Motor
Vehicles on November 1, 2009. At the time the Texas SCV reapplied with
the new governing department, to hopefully have a specialty plate in
advance of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, April 12, 2011. The official
public comments were heavily in favor of the Texas SCV’s application for
a specialty plate. Following commentary by both proponents and
opponents, the Board rejected the SCV plate at the hearing by an 8-0
vote without any discussion. At the same hearing, the Buffalo Soldiers
plate, without any discussion, was approved by a 5-3 vote. Since the
Department of Motor Vehicle Board has been charged with issuing
specialty license plates, the Sons of the Confederate Veterans plate is
the first, and only, to be rejected.

Through the members of the Department of Motor Vehicles Board, the State
of Texas has discriminated against the Texas SCV based on the ideas and
message that the Texas SCV supports, in clear violation of the First
Amendment. The Board seeks to bar the Texas SCV from expressing their
viewpoint while allowing all other groups to express their viewpoint:
this type of restriction is exactly the type which the First Amendment
is designed to erase. The only guideline that the Transportation Code
has to offer, which the Board referenced as its reason for rejecting the
plate, is that the Board can reject a plate “if the design might be
offensive to any member of the public…” This, however, cannot be the
standard. It is vague and indeterminable. Essentially, it is no
standard at all to say that the Board can discriminate based upon a
viewpoint if such speech is offensive to anyone. The First Amendment
clearly protects controversial speech. Additionally, even if simply
being “offensive to any member of the public” was sufficient to allow
for rejection, the State has approved numerous plates that are
“offensive to any member of the public.” In fact, the plate approved the
very same day as the Texas SCV plate was rejected – the Buffalo Soldier
plate – is offensive to Native Americans because the all-black cavalry
helped fight Native Americans in the Indian Wars from 1867-1888.

Accordingly, the Texas SCV seeks appropriate injunctive relief,
requiring the State of Texas to approve the Texas SCV’s application and
implement the specialty plate.

Granvel J. Block
Commander Texas Division
Sons of Confederate Veteran

Confederate Symbols become issue in U.S. Presidential Race

This image provided by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles shows the design of a proposed Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate. Eleven years ago, when the NAACP stepped up a campaign to remove the Confederate battle flag from statehouses and other government buildings across the South, it found an opponent in then Lt. Gov. Rick Perry. Perry argued that states should honor their history and decide on appropriate displays. A related issue may rise this fall when Texas decides whether to allow specialty license plates featuring the Confederate flag. Photo: Texas Department Of Motor Vehicles / AP       

WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eleven years ago, when the NAACP stepped up a campaign to remove the Confederate battle flag from statehouses and other government buildings across the South, it found an opponent in Rick Perry.

Texas had a pair of bronze plaques with symbols of the Confederacy displayed in its state Supreme Court building. Perry, then lieutenant governor, said they should stay put, arguing that Texans "should never forget our history."

It's a position Perry has taken consistently when the legacy of the Civil War has been raised, as have officials in many of the other former Confederate states. But while defense of Confederate symbols and Southern institutions can still be good politics below the Mason-Dixon line, the subject can appear in a different light when officials seek national office.

For Perry, now Texas governor for 11 years and in the top tier of Republican presidential candidates, a racial issue is already dogging him.

He took criticism over the weekend for a rock outside the Texas hunting camp his family once leased that had the name Niggerhead painted on it. Perry's campaign says the governor's father painted over the rock to cover the name soon after he began leasing the site in the early 1980s and says the Perry family never controlled, owned or managed the property. But rival Herman Cain, the only black Republican in the race, says the rock symbolizes Perry's insensitivity to race.

A related issue may rise this fall when Texas decides whether to allow specialty license plates featuring the Confederate flag. The plates have been requested by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a nonprofit organization Perry has supported over the years. A state board he appointed will decide.

The NAACP says its initiative against "glorification" of slave-state symbols remains ongoing. "The romanticism around the Old South," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington Bureau. "It's a view of history that ignores how racism became a tool to maintain a system of supremacy and dominance."

Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner did not return messages seeking comment on the matter. But Granvel Block, the Texas Division commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the organization appreciated Perry's position on such issues.

Read the rest of the story here:  http://www.chron.com/news/article/Perry-once-defended-Confederate-symbols-2201378.php

Young County Confederate Monument, Graham, Texas

The Unique Confederate Monument pictured here graces the front of the Young County Courthouse in the center of "America's largest downtown square" in Graham, Texas.  The inscription reads: 

Erected September 1918
by the Fitzhugh Lee Chapter, U.D.C. of Graham and citizens
to the Confederate soldiers of  Young County.

Texas County named for Confederate Colonel C. M. Winkler

Monument to Confederate Colonel C.M. Winkler

In 1994, upon visiting my 50th state in the U.S.A., I decided to set out on a new quest to visit each of the 3,142 counties or county equivalents in the country.  At this point I am more than 97% of the way to my goal.  One of the milestones along the way was visiting every county Texas, all 254 of them, which I completed in March of 2009.  One of the interesting discoveries in Texas was to learn that scores of Texas towns and counties, especially in the western part of the state, are named for Confederate heroes.

Lt. Col. C. M. Winkler, C.S.A.

In the 1960s, during the centennial of the War Between the States, the state of Texas did a splendid job of identifying and marking much of it's proud Confederate heritage.  The state legislature authorized numerous monuments and historical markers, such as the one pictured here, to help preserve the memory of the gallant men in gray who defended the Southland against Abraham Lincoln's invading Yankee armies.


I have already posted photos of a few of those markers, and will be adding more as time permits.  The marker above stands in front of the Winkler County Courthouse in Kermit, Texas, just south of the New Mexico state line.  It is a reminder that the county was named for Confederate Colonel C. M. Winkler.  Clinton McKamy Winkler, Confederate soldier, lawyer, state legislator, and judge of the Court of Appeals, was born in Burke County, North Carolina, on October 19, 1821.  His family moved to Indiana, where he grew up, and at the age of 19 he moved to Texas.  Winkler was a Court of Appeals judge at the time of his death, May 13, 1882, in Austin, Texas


The inscription on the monument reads:

COUNTY NAMED FOR TEXAS CONFEDERATE

COLONEL C. M. WINKLER

1821-1882     

Native North Carolina. Start of Civil War, organized and took company 150 men to join Confederate army in Virginia. Unit made part 4th Texas Infantry of famed Hood's Brigade. Rose to command regiment as Lt. colonel. Fought with famous unit in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee. Distinguished himself second Manassas, wounded at Gettysburg. Surrendered with General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.

A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy

(1963)

Winkler County Courthouse, Kermit, Texas

Robert Lee, Coke County, Texas - Named for Confederate Leaders



Bust of Robert E. Lee in the
Robert Lee, Texas, City Hall 

 When I recently had the opportunity to visit the small, remote, West Texas town of Robert Lee, I was naturally curious as to how the city got its name.  Seeing the City Hall in the center of town, I stepped inside to inquire.  

Before I could ask my question it was answered by this bust which holds a prominent position just inside the front door.  I learned  that Robert E. Lee had served with honor and distinction in this part of Texas as a United States military officer in 1856-1861, just before the outbreak of the War for Southern Independence.  The good folks of Robert Lee are still proud of their former resident and have honored him by giving their town his name.    

I was also curious as to why Coke County, of which Robert Lee is the county seat, came to be called "Coke."  Could it have been named for the famous beverage?  But I knew that Coca Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia.  The young woman who worked behind the front desk in the City Hall said she was born and raised in Coke County, and she didn't have a clue as to why the county was named Coke.

I thanked her and stepped outside, corssing Main Street to the Coke County Courthouse.  There, just a  few steps from the City Hall, was the simple monument, pictured below, which tells that the county is named for Richard Coke, a Confederate soldier and a Texas political leader both before and after the War Between the States. He served Texas at different times as Governor and as a United States Senator.  


Confederate monument honoring
Governor/Senator Richard Coke 



People say that if you want to know about a place, ask a local.  That doesn't always work.  It just goes to illustrate why diligence is necessary in telling the story of our proud Confederate heritage to each new generation.

The inscription on the monument reads: 

County named for Texas Confederate

RICHARD COKE
1829-1896


Virginia Native, Leader, Texas Secession Movement, joined army, rose to captain, 15th Texas infantry company, serving in Louisiana, Arkansas, chiefly Tennessee Campaigns. Elected to state supreme court, 1866, Removed by reconstruction military authorities. Defeated Governor E. J. Davis 1873, bloodless controversy ensued. Davis retired under protest, marking political end Reconstruction in Texas. U.S. Senator 1877-1895.

A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy, Erected by the State of Texas, 1863.


Coke County Courthouse, Robert Lee, Texas 



A Serendipitous Encounter in the Rain

This imposing Confederate monument, shaded by a Live Oak tree, stands beside the Cherokee County Courthouse in Rusk, Texas.


While I was taking the photo above, in a light rain, a man stopped and we chatted for a few minutes about the Confederacy and the War Between the States. He told me the story of his great, great grandfather, a Confederate soldier who was wounded during the War and was laying with several other wounded soldiers in a church which was being used as a hospital.  The Texan told of how a Yankee soldier had entered the church and coldly shot and killed all the wounded Confederates. His great, great, grandfather, the lone survivor who lived to tell the tale, was not shot again only because he pretended to be dead.

 I wish I had gotten name of the man who told me this story.  I'd like to recheck my facts with him and learn any more details he could share with me.  But alas, I was on a road trip, in a bit of a hurry, and it was raining.  If that gentleman should ever happen to see this post I trust he will email me through this blog.

Ever sine the 1860's, thousands of stories such as this one have been passed down - repeated by untold numbers of Southern families. It's no wonder that many folks in the Southern States still refer to their occupiers as "Damned Yankees!"

Walter Washington Williams: The last surviving Confederate Veteran

I still remember the news, just a few weeks before my 15th birthday.  I was working on a Saturday at Toby's Food Store in Cleveland, Tennessee when I heard of the death of the last surviving Confederate veteran.  Some folks consider the War Between the States to be ancient history.  In fact, the lives of those who were a part of that terrible conflict overlapped the lives of many who are still living today.  That wasn't so long ago.  Some who fought for Southern Indepencence, and some who fought to prevent it, were my contemporaries.  Below is a story of the last Veteran of the War Between the States as found on the website of the Chamber of Commerce in Franklin, Texas, his last home town.  

Walter Washington Williams Monument
Gettysburg National Military Park, Pennsylvania

Walter Washington Williams, who came to Texas in 1870, and later settled on a twenty-acre farm at Eaton on the Shiloh road southeast of Franklin, was reported to be the last surviving soldier of the Civil War. According to the records of the family, Williams was born in 1842, and died on December 19, 1959.

He was a Mississippian by birth. In 1949, Frank X. Tolbert, Sr., a feature writer for the Dallas Morning News, set out to visit the last three survivors of the War Between the States and drove to Robertson County to interview Williams. Tolbert found the old gentleman on his front porch where he was asked for his formula for living over a century, which was as follows:

"I never et much. I get up for breakfast, turn around for dinner, and go to bed for supper. When I was riding up the Chisholm Trail the range cooks sort of held it against me because I was a light-eating man. I've always drunk lots of coffee, chewed plenty of tobacco, and haven't tried to avoid any of this good Texas weather."

In the last ten years of Williams' life he became an interesting personality. Radio and newspaper reporters interviewed him and public relations men made good copy of his opinions. He was taken on airplane rides, dined in fashionable places, and given special honors by various groups.

He was addressed by honorary titles. Some called him "Trooper Williams," others referred to him as "Honorable Colonel," and still others addressed him as "Five Star General Walter Washington Williams." When he died in 1959, at the age of 117, the government observed official days of mourning. Funeral services were conducted at Mount Pleasant and he was buried there, taking with him the answers to questions that had been asked about him.

Whether "General Williams" was actually the last veteran of the Civil War to die, and whether he was 117 years of age or "only 104," even whether he actually served as a forage master under General Hood, or served at all, now seems relatively unimportant. Indeed, one is inclined to agree with the research director for Texas historical markers who wrote"

I recall that the Texas Civil War Centennial Commission reviewed the census data in 1963, and came up with the conclusion that the claim had received worldwide notice and could not be undone so far as fame and notoriety were concerned. Even if the cemetery gate inscription were to read,"Site of the grave of the noted Gen. Walter Williams, reputed to have been the last of the survivors of the enlisted men of the Civil War," there would be historical value in the marking for future generations will seek the grave, authentic or not be the last survivors claim.

Walter Williams was indeed an interesting man. He had been married to his second wife over sixty-five years and at least twelve children survived him. He once stated that his father had lived to the age of 119 years, and his ambition was to reach 120.

  Walter Washington Williams
 who was recognized by the government of the United States as the last surviving Confederae Veteran died 1959 at the age of 117 years.

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

Confederate Monument and Flag grace De Leon Plaza, Victoria, Texas

Victoria County Confederate Monument

The beautiful city of Victoria, Texas, is home to an impressive and distinctive Confederate Monument. 

Noted sculptor Pompeo Coppini reached an agreement with the local William P. Rogers chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. If they would let him design the statue - it would be a more fitting tribute to the men who fought for Southern Independence than any other Confederate statue in the state. They agreed and Coppini made this piece - the only one of its kind.   

This unique work of art stands in De Leon Plaza, in the heart of Victoria, across from the Victoria County Court House.  It was dedicated on  June 3, 1912.

The inscription on the monument bears the sentiments of the people of Victoria for the brave Confederate soldiers who defended their homeland from Union aggressors during the War for Southern Independence. It reads:

ON CIVILIZATION'S HEIGHT
IMMUTABLE THEY STAND

Six Flags Memorial in De Leon Plaza, Victoria, Texas

Also in DeLeon Plaza, the Six Flags Monument displays the flags of the six different sovereign nations which have flown over the land that is today known as Texas. Victoria County is the only county in Texas where all six flags flew.  They are (left to right) United States, Confederate States of America, Texas, Mexico, Spain and France.  The three large granite plaques below the flags state that the monument is dedicated to the "Explorers, Founders and Colonists of Victoria."

During the War Between the States, Victoria was on one branch of the "Cotton Road" which went from Alleyton (Colorado County) to Brownsville. The road was a major lifeline for the South - trading cotton for arms and medicine through neutral Mexico. The town was threatened with a hostile Yankee invasion in 1863 and so the railroad from Port Lavaca was destroyed. Camp Henry E. McCulloch trained Infantry and Cavalry companies for Confederate service.

Confederates Remembered in Comanche County, Texas

This colorful monument, erected in 2002 and dedicated on March 24, 2002, stands in front of the Comanche County Courthouse, Comanche, Texas. The recent date on the monument is a testimony to the fact that even as we are approaching the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, the noble Confederate cause - the struggle for freedom from an oppressive centralized government - is not forgotten.

The inscription reads:

CONFEDERATE

 VETERANS

NOT FOR FAME OR REWARD, NOT FOR

PLACE OR RANK, NOT LURED BY

AMBITION OR GOADED BY NECESSITY,

BUT IN SIMPLE OBEDIENCE TO DUTY

AS THEY UNDERSTOOD IT, FOR FOUR

WEARY YEARS THESE BRAVE MEN

SUFFERED ALL, SACRIFICED ALL, DARED

ALL, AND FACING DEATH CARRIED THE

BANNERS OF THE CONFEDERACY.

THESE SOLDIERS OFFERED THEIR LIVES

ON THE ALTER OF THEIR

COUNTRY'S LIBERTY

DEDICATED BY

THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS

2ND TEXAS FRONTIER DISTRICT CAMP 1904

AND PATRIOTIC CITIZENS WHO

GENEROUSLY CONTRIBUTED

A.D. 2002

1861 - 1865

Monument to Confederate Colonel George R. Reeves

This simple monument to Confederate Colonel George R. Reeves stands in front of the Reeves County Courthouse, Pecos, Texas.  The county was named for Reeves, who was a not only a soldier but also served as a Texas state legislature and as Speaker of the House.

The monument was placed by the state of Texas as a part of the centennial observance of the War for Southern Independence.  The inscription reads:

County Named for Confederate

GEORGE R. REEVES

1826 - 1882

Organized captained company in the 11th

Texas Calvary start civil war, served

in Arkansas, Indian Territory, Kentucky

invasion of 1862. Assigned to Wheeler's

Cavalry in Tennessee. Promoted colonel

and command of 11th Cavalry, 1863. Led

regiment Chickamauga. In 1864 fought in

100-day Atlanta campaign, guerilla

warfare against Sherman's march to the

sea, in battle at Savannah. In 1865

participated Carolinas campaign.

A memorial to Texans

who served the Confederacy.

Erected by the state of Texas 1963.

Photo by J. Stephen Conn

Confederate General Tom Green and the Tennessee - Texas Connection

Tom Green County Courthouse, San Angelo, Texas

Having grown up in East Tennessee, and having traveled extensively in Texas, visiting each of that state's 254 counties, I have long taken note of what I call the Tennessee - Texas Connection.  Two of Texas' greatest heros, Sam Houston and Davy Crocket, were both famous political leaders in Tennessee before they moved to Texas.  Numerous other God fearing, freedom loving, Tennessee Volunteers, died on Texas soil, helping the Lone Star Repbulic/State fight for independence - first in the Mexican War and later in the War for Southern Independence.

One of those brave Tennessee boys who became a martyr in the cause for freedom in Texas was Tom Green, after whom Tom Green County, Texas, was named.

This simple monument was erected by the State of Texas in 1863, during the centennial celebration of the War Between the States and stands in front of the Tom Green County Courthouse, San Angelo, Texas.  It reads:

TOM GREEN

CONFEDERATE GENERAL

Led 5th Texas Cavalry Battle Val Verde

In Arizona – New Mexico campaign 1861 –

1862. Commanded cotton clad carrying

Cavalrymen dubbed “Horse Marines” in

Recapture Galveston, January 1863. Made

Brigadier General while leading

Greens Cavalry Division 1863 campaign

To save Louisiana. Killed 1864 leading

Attack at Blair’s Landing, Louisiana in

Red River Campaign to prevent the

Federal invasion of Texas. An ardent

Texan, A brave leader. He constantly

Sought the heat of battle.

A memoriam to Texans

Who served the Confederacy

Erected by the State of Texas, 1963

The back side of the monument reads:

THIS COUNTY WAS NAMED FOR

TOM GREEN

1814 - 1864

Came to Texas from Tennessee, 1833

Veteran of Battle of San Jacinto, 1836

Mannig famed twin sisters cannons

Manning County Representative 4th 

Congress. Secretary of Senate 6th and

8th Congresses.  Clerk of Supreme Court

1841-1861. Participated frontier Indian

Campaigns, Member of Sumervell Expedition

Officer in Mexican War - Confederate

General in Civil War 

Another Black Confederate Veteran in the New York Times Archives

Here's another interesting article I've found in the archives of the New York Times which tells of a Black Confederate Veteran. One such article might be overlooked, but the large multitude of such accounts which are constantly being uncovered indicates that today's "politically correct" view of the Confederacy may not be historically accurate.

Negro Confederate Veteran Shot

-

DALLAS, Tex., June 14 - Two negroes, Henson Williams and his son William, were shot dead from ambush in Brazos County, while they were plowing in a field. Officers were searching for a white man who is believed to have shot them. The elder Williams fought through the Civil War as a soldier and made such a good record that he was a full member of the Confederate Veterans' camp at Milliken. The old white Confederate soldiers are enraged at the assassination and threaten vengeance on the assassin when captured.

Here is a link to the article, which was published June 15, 1900, in the New York Times:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E01E0D61F3CE433A25756C1A9609C946197D6CF

Jefferson Davis' Prophetic Words and State Secession Movements

After the War for Southern Independence, and the South's defeat by a vastly larger invading Northern army, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America said:

"The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it may be at another time and in another form."

"Truth crushed to the earth is truth still and like a seed will rise again."

It was the South that fought to uphold the principles of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. The South stood on especially firm legal ground in defending the 10th Amendment to the Constitution: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Some say that the defeat of the Confederate States of America in the War Between the States settled the issue of secession once and for all. However, peace that comes through force and conquest is not true peace at all. It is subjugation. The nation with the biggest army is not always right. I find it interesting that now, on the eve of the sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, Jefferson Davis' words are proving to be prophetic.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports:

-

AUSTIN — As head of the Texas Nationalist Movement, Daniel Miller of Nederland believes it’s time for the Lone Star State to sever its bond with the United States and return to the days when Texas was an independent republic.

"Independence. In our lifetime," Miller’s organization proclaims on its Web site.
When Gov. Rick Perry suggested that some Texans might want to secede from the Union because they are fed up with the federal government, the remarks drew nationwide news coverage and became fodder for late-night comedians.

But to Texas separatists like Miller and Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Kilgore of Mansfield, secession is no laughing matter. Nor is it exclusive to the nation’s second-largest state.

Fanned by angry contempt for Washington, secession movements have sprouted up in perhaps more than a dozen states in recent years. In Vermont, retired economics professor Thomas Naylor leads the Second Vermont Republic, a self-styled citizens network dedicated to extracting the sparsely populated New England state from "the American Empire."

And on the other side of the continent, Northwestern separatists envision a "Republic of Cascadia" carved out of Oregon, Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

While most Americans dismiss the breakaway sentiments, sociologists and political experts say they are part of a larger anti-Washington wave that is rapidly spreading across the country.

-

There's more. Here's a link to the full story: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1623872.html#

Texas Confederate Monuments during the Civil War Centennial

In the early 1960s, during the centennial years of the War Between the States, the state of Texas did a splendid job in placing historical markers throughout the Lone Star State commemorating the people and events of that pivotal time in history. Below is an example of those markers, this one found in front of the Upton County Courthouse in the small west Texas town of Rankin.

The inscription on the monument reads:

County named for Texas Confederates
John C. Upton and W.F. Upton (Brothers)

COLONEL
JOHN CUNNINGHAM UPTON
1828-1862

Born Tennessee, Came to Texas 1859
Raised company outbreak of Civil War
Attached to 5th Texas Infantry, Hood's
famed Texas Brigade, fighting in the
campaigns in and around Virginia.
Rose to Lt. Colonel of his regiment. The day
before his death at the battle of
Second Manassas led charge upon the
enemy rear guard which was a seldom
seen yet brilliantly executed move.

A MEMORIAL TO TEXANS
WHO SERVED THE CONFEDERACY
ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS 1963

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

Touring the Confederate Reunion Grounds of Texas

Reunion Grounds near Mexia, Limestone County, Texas is a unique place for remembering and reflecting upon those who fought for Southern Independence. It was born out of the shared honor and heartache of the men in gray from the Lone Star State who had defended their homeland from an invading U.S. army on the bloody battlefields of the War Between the States.

After the war, the Texas Confederates returned to their homes with little fanfare. Although defeated by a much larger Union army, they had a resolve to rebuild the new South. Still believing that the Confederate cause was right, they also wanted a place to remember - a meeting place where they could march in ranks once more, share old war stories with younger generations - and celebrate. Thus they developed and built what has become today Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site.

These seventy-seven beautiful acres, shaded by towering bur oaks and watered by crystal springs is situated along a bend of the Navasota River at its confluence with Jacks Creek. Archeological discoveries in the park suggest that this has always been a gathering place, the earliest campers having been nomadic hunter-gatherers during the archaic period from 6,000 to 200 B.C

The modern history of the park goes back to 1888, when a group of Limestone County Veterans met at what was then known as the Pen Camp meeting Grounds. The next year they officially formed their own group, naming it for General Joseph E. Johnston. On June 16, 1892 the Confederate veterans purchased the first 20 acres of what was to become the Confederate Reunion Grounds.

1893 Dance Pavilion at the Confederate Reunion Grounds

The grounds were divided into lots with the two main streets being named Lee Avenue and Jackson Avenue. In 1893 the veterans built a magnificent, eight sided dance pavilion which is still a major focal point of the park. An old canon which the Texans had captured at the battle of Valverde, New Mexico, was positioned near the center of the park. Each day during reunions the canon was fired at dawn and dusk with a thunderous roar reverberating throughout the valley. The reunions continued strong well into the 20th century but dwindled as the old soldiers, one by one, passed on to a place where there will be no more war.

I toured the Confederate Union Grounds on a cool, gray afternoon in March, 2009. There were no other visitors in the park on that late winter day, but I sensed that I was not alone. The spirits of countless Confederate compatriots seem still to linger in this special place.

Confederates Gave their Lives in the Spirit of 1776

Texas Confederate Monument, State Capitol, Austin

Like the people of all the Southern States, Texans are justly proud of the men from the Lone Star State who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending their homeland against the invading Union armies during the War for Southern Independence. The inscription on the Confederate Monument in front of the State Capitol in Austin, Texas reads:

DIED

FOR STATES RIGHTS

GUARANTEED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION

THE PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH, ANIMATED BY THE SPIRIT OF 1776, TO PRESERVE THEIR RIGHTS,
WITHDREW FROM THE FEDERAL COMPACT IN 1861. THE NORTH RESORTED TO COERCION.
THE SOUTH, AGAINST OVERWHELMING NUMBERS AND RESOURCES,
FOUGHT UNTIL EXHAUSTED.
DURING THE WAR THERE WERE TWENTY TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVEN ENGAGEMENTS.
IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO OF THESE, AT LEAST ONE REGIMENT TOOK PART.
NUMBER OF MEN ENLISTED:
CONFEDERATE ARMIES 600,000; FEDERAL ARMIES 2,859,132
LOSSES FROM ALL CAUSES:
CONFEDERATE, 437,000; FEDERAL, 485,216

John H. Reagan on Causes of the War

John Henniger Reagan, Postmaster General of the C.S.A.

John H. Reagan served as a United States Congressman from Texas both before and after the War Between the States. During the interim, he was a member of Confederate President Jefferson Davis' cabinet, Postmaster General of the Confederate States of America. In spite of severe difficulties he served with distinction and effectiveness. One historian called the postal service of the Confederate States "the only post office department in American history to pay its own way,"

On April 19, 1903, as the last surviving member of the Confederate States Cabinet, Reagan gave a very interesting and enlightening speech in Houston, Texas, on "Why the South Seceded." He said, in part:

"During the war, 1861 to 1865, and ever since there has been a studied, systematic effort on the part of those who were our adversaries to pervert and falsify the history of the causes which led to that war....

"Their (the North's) pretense was that They were fighting to save the Union, and they made thousands of honest soldiers believe they were fighting for the Union. Their leaders knew that the Union rested on the Constitution, and that their purpose was to overthrow the Constitution. The Union the soldiers fought for was the Union established by the Constitution. The Union the leaders sought was only to be attained by the subversion of the Constitution, the annulment of the doctrine of State rights, the making of a consolidated central republic, abolishing the limitations prescribed by the Constitution and substituting a popular majority of the people of the whole Union in their stead, and to open the way for individual and corporate gain through the agency of the government....

"Our people were not responsible for the war; it was forced on them. They were not rebels or traitors. They simply acted as patriots, defending their rights and their homes against the lawless and revolutionary action of a dominant and reckless majority."

You can read the entire speech here: http://civilwartalk.com/Resource_Center/General_Resources/Politics_and_Politicians/why-the-south-seceded-a442.html

Monument to John H. Reagan - Postmaster General of the Confederacy

This small monument stands in front of the Reagan County Courthouse, Big Lake, Texas. It reads:

COUNTY NAMED FOR TEXAS CONFEDERATE

JOHN H. REAGAN

1818-1905

-

DELEGATE TEXAS SECESSION CONVENTION

WHILE MEMBER 1ST CONFEDERATE CONGRESS

MADE POSTMASTER GENERAL C.S.A. 1861

DIFFICULT JOB BEGUN BY RAID ON U.S. POSTAL

DEPT. FOR SOUTHERN PERSONNEL ASKING

THEM TO GET MAPS, FORMS, DESPITE SEIZURE

MAIL BY ENEMY ARMY DRAFT OF CLERKS AND

CARRIERS AND SPLIT OF SOUTHERN DEPARTMENT

CARRIED ON. AT WAR'S END IMPRISONED BOSTON.

LATER U.S. SENATOR. FIRST CHAIRMAN

RAILROAD COMMISSION.

-

A MEMORIAL TO TEXANS

WHO SERVED THE CONFEDERACY

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS. 1963