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

Stonewall Jackson Window

Stonewall Jackson Window behind the pulpit of Church in Roanoke, Virginia
"In Memory of Stonewall Jackson"
"Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees."

The article below is reprinted from The New York Times, Published July 30, 1906

Stonewall Jackson Window

-------------

Erected in Negro Church by Contributions from Negroes.

ROANOKE, Va., July 29 -- A memorial window of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson was unveiled in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church today.  The congregation is composed of negroes.  The window was erected by the pastor, the Rev. L. L. Downing, the money for its purchase coming wholly from negroes.

The Exercises were largely attended by both races, the Confederate camps of Roanoke and Salem and the chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy.  There were addresses by white citizens of Roanoke.

Downing's father and mother were members of a Sunday school class of negro slaves taught by Jackson at Lexington before the war, and to-day's exercises marked the realization of an ambition Downing has had since boyhood, to pay fitting tribute to the Confederate commander.

The picture presented on the window is that of an army camping on the banks of a stream, the inscription underneath being Jackson's last words: "Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees."

Here is a link to the New York Times article:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10910FA395512738DDDA90B94DF405B868CF1D3

HOW I SEE IT: The Truth about the Confederate Flag

By Christopher H. Ezelle

Five Confederate flags flew between 1861 and 1865. The Confederate Battle Flag is the one most people know best. Some believe this flag is a sign of hate, racism and repression; but the truth is that it’s a symbol of honor, valor, truth, heritage and faith in Jesus Christ.


After confusion of flags during the Union and Confederate engagement of First Manassas, Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard charged his aide, Col. William Miles to design a battle flag.

Accepted was an adapted Scottish Cross of St Andrew-based flag, the famous battle flag known today.

St. Andrew, a disciple of Jesus Christ, was martyred by crucifixion at Patras, Greece, ordered by the Roman governor. He deemed himself unworthy of being crucified and nailed to a Latin cross like Jesus Christ. He requested crucifixion on an “X”-shaped cross and to be bound, not nailed. He preached the word of God to all that passed until he died. His martyrdom was during the reign of Nero, A.D. 60. Latin and Greek churches keep Nov. 30, his death date, as a day of feast. St. Andrew is honored as chief patron by Russia and Scotland.

Here are some more interesting facts surrounding the flag:

» In the 1860s, two-thirds of the country’s population was Scotch or Scotch Irish. This flag design was a carryover of the Scottish National Flag and ancestry.

» The Confederate States of America was a nation from 1861-65.

» The battle flag was the flag of common soldiers for only four years.

» No historical document exists to support that this flag represented hate, slavery, racism, deceit, infamy or repression. Not one flag of the Confederacy was ever described in its placement to represent anything other than the Confederate States of America.

» No Confederate ship ever ran slaves.

» The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) adopted the battle flag as part of its logo in 1896, long before “hate” groups began to abuse the flag, and they condemn misuse of any Confederate flag.

» The KKK and other “hate” groups didn’t use the flag until late 1950/early 1960s.

In his book “What They Fought For, 1861-1865,” historian James McPherson, after reading more than 25,000 letters and over 100 soldier diaries from both sides of the War for Southern Independence, concluded that Confederate soldiers "fought for liberty and independence from what they regarded as a tyrannical government."

See the original "HOW I SEE IT" piece in the Star*Exponent:  http://www2.starexponent.com/news/2011/mar/14/how-i-see-it-truth-about-confederate-flag-ar-903740/

Children in the White House of the Confederacy

This house in Richmond, Virginia was the executive mansion of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his family from August 1861 until April 2, 1865. A West Point graduate, former U.S. senator from Mississippi, and former U.S. secretary of war, Davis was the Confederacy’s only president. He worked long hours here, meeting with Confederate civilian and military leaders. On April 14, 1862, he held a council of war here with Secretary of War George W. Randolph, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and other officers to discuss the Confederacy’s defense against Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s advancing army, at the command of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who had raised an army to invade the Confederate States.

More often, the house was the site of official receptions and unofficial parties. One observer declared Confederate First Lady Varina Davis “to be a woman of warm heart and impetuous tongue, witty and caustic, with a sensitive nature underlying all; a devoted wife and mother, and a most gracious mistress of a salon.”

The Davis’ young family, with six children, enlivened the White House. A family friend remembered, “Statesmen passing through the halls on their way to the discussion of weighty things were likely to hear the ringing laughter of the care-free and happy Davis children issuing from somewhere above the stairs or the gardens.” Two Davis children, William (Billy) and Varina Anne (Winnie) were born in this house; one, Joseph, tragically died here in a fall from the balcony. Three other Davis children living at the Confederate White House included Margaret (Maggie), Jefferson Jr., and the the Davis' adopted black son, Jim Limber Davis.

The New Intolerance

by Patrick J. Buchanan

“This was a recognition of American terrorists.”

That is CNN’s Roland Martin’s summary judgment of the 258,000 men and boys who fell fighting for the Confederacy in a war that cost as many American lives as World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq combined.

Martin reflects the hysteria that seized Obamaville on hearing that Gov. Bob McDonnell had declared Confederate History Month in the Old Dominion. Virginia leads the nation in Civil War battlefields.

So loud was the howling that in 24 hours McDonnell had backpedaled and issued an apology that he had not mentioned slavery.

Unfortunately, the governor missed a teaching moment—at the outset of the 150th anniversary of America’s bloodiest war.

Slavery was indeed evil, but it existed in the Americas a century before the oldest of our founding fathers was even born. Five of our first seven presidents were slaveholders.

But Virginia did not secede in defense of slavery. Indeed, when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, March 4, 1861, Virginia was still in the Union. Only South Carolina, Georgia and the five Gulf states had seceded and created the Confederate States of America.

At the firing on Fort Sumter, April 12-13, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War, Virginia was still inside the Union. Indeed, there were more slave states in the Union than in the Confederacy. But, on April 15, Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers from the state militias to march south and crush the new Confederacy.

Two days later, April 17, Virginia seceded rather than provide soldiers or militia to participate in a war on their brethren. North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas followed Virginia out over the same issue. They would not be a party to a war on their kinfolk.

Slavery was not the cause of this war. Secession was—that and Lincoln’s determination to drown the nation in blood if necessary to make the Union whole again.

Nor did Lincoln ever deny it.

In his first inaugural, Lincoln sought to appease the states that had seceded by endorsing a constitutional amendment to make slavery permanent in the 15 states where it then existed. He even offered to help the Southern states run down fugitive slaves.

In 1862, Lincoln wrote Horace Greeley that if he could restore the Union without freeing one slave he would do it. The Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, freed only those slaves Lincoln had no power to free—those still under Confederate rule. As for slaves in the Union states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, they remained the property of their owners.

As for “terrorists,” no army fought more honorably than Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Few deny that.

The great terrorist in that war was William Tecumseh Sherman, who violated all the known rules of war by looting, burning and pillaging on his infamous March to the Sea from Atlanta to Savannah. Sherman would later be given command of the war against the Plains Indians and advocate extermination of the Sioux.

“The only good Indian is a dead Indian” is attributed both to Sherman and Gen. Phil Sheridan, who burned the Shenandoah and carried out Sherman’s ruthless policy against the Indians. Both have statues and circles named for them in Washington, D.C.

If Martin thinks Sherman a hero, he might study what happened to the slave women of Columbia, S.C., when “Uncle Billy’s” boys in blue arrived to burn the city.

What of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, at whose request McDonnell issued his proclamation? What racist deeds have they perpetrated of late?

They tend the graves of Confederate dead and place flags on Memorial Day. They contributed to the restoration of the home of Jefferson Davis, damaged by Hurricane Katrina. They publish the Confederate Veteran, a magazine that relates stories of the ancestors they love to remember. They join environmentalists in fighting to preserve Civil War battlefields. They do re-enactments of Civil War battles with men and boys whose ancestors fought for the Union. And they defend the monuments to their ancestors and the flag under which they fought.

Why are they vilified?

Because they are Southern white Christian men—none of whom defends slavery, but all of whom are defiantly proud of the South, its ancient faith and their forefathers who fell in the Lost Cause.

Undeniably, the Civil War ended in the abolition of slavery and restoration of the Union. But the Southern states believed they had the same right to rid themselves of a government to which they no longer felt allegiance as did Washington, Jefferson and Madison, all slave-owners, who could no longer give loyalty to the king of England.

Consider closely this latest skirmish in a culture war that may yet make an end to any idea of nationhood, and you will see whence the real hate is coming. It is not from Gov. McDonnell or the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick J. Buchanan - All Rights Reserved

This article appears on Mr. Buchanan's website.  You may see it here:
http://buchanan.org/blog/the-new-intolerance-3878

A Black Professor speaks out on Black Confederates

The quotes below are from Ervin L. Jordan Jr., noted author, professor and research archivist at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

"Numerous Afro-Virginians, free blacks and slaves, were genuine Southern loyalists, not as a consequence of white pressure but due to their preferences. They are the Civil War's forgotten people, yet their existence was more widespread than American history has recorded. Their bones rest in unhonored glory in Southern soil, shrouded by falsehoods, indifference and historians' censorship."



"Tennessee in June 1861 became the first in the South to legislate the use of free black soldiers. The governor was authorized to enroll those between the ages of fifteen and fifty, to be paid $18 a month and the same rations and clothing as white soldiers; the black men appeared in two black regiments in Memphis by September."



"After their capture one group of white Virginia slave owners and Afro-Virginians were asked if they would take the oath of allegiance to the United States in exchange for their freedom. One free negro indignantly replied: 'I can't take no such oaf as dat. I'm a secesh nigger.' A slave from this same group, upon learning that his master had refused, proudly exclaimed, 'I can't take no oath dat Massa won't take.' A second slave agreed: 'I ain't going out here on no dishonorable terms.' On another occasion a captured Virginia planter took the oath, but slave remained faithful to the Confederacy and refused. This slave returned to Virginia by a flag of truce boat and expressed disgust at his owner's disloyalty: 'Massa had no principles.' Confederate prisoners of war paid tribute to the loyalty, ingenuity, and diligence of 'kind-hearted' blacks who attended to their needs and considered them fellow Southerners."



"The public support and activities of Afro-Confederates, a minority within a minority, received considerable prominence. A Charlottesville newspaper reported an interview with Hames Ward, a slave who fled 'Yankeedom' to warn his fellow slaves of abuse and racism in Union army camps and of blacks being forced to front lines during battles. He preferred being the slave of "the meanest masters in the South" than a free black man in the North: 'If this is freedom, give me slavery forever.'"




Follow the Amazon link above to find the source of these quotes and much more in Dr. Jordan's highly acclaimed book,  "Black Confederates and Afro-Yankees in Civil War Virginia."

The photo of the author, Ervin L. Jordan, Jr., by LuAnn Williams, is from the University of Virginia website.

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. 

Eyewitness Account to the Funeral of Robert E. Lee

The white columns of Washington University, Lexington, Virginia, were draped in black for the funeral of General Robert E. Lee.  The name of the school was later changed to Washington and Lee University in honor of America's two great wars for independence - the Revolutionary War and the War for Southern Independence. 

Below is a letter written October 16, 1870 by William Nalle, a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington and sent to his mother, Mrs. Thomas Botts Nalle of Culpepper, Virginia. The letter, containing a detailed eyewitness account of the death and funeral of General Robert E. Lee is in the VMI Archives, Manuscript #0042.

Va Military Institute

Lexington Oct 16th 1870

Dear Mother

I expect you have been looking for a letter from me for some time and in fact I would have written but about the time I thought of writing the rains & the flood came on, destroying bridges canals, & cutting off communication generally.

I suppose of course that you have all read full accounts of Gen Lee's death in the papers. He died on the morning of the 12th at about half past nine. All business was suspended at once all over the country and town, and all duties, military and academic suspended at the Institute, and all the black crape and all similar black material in Lexington, was used up at once, and they had to send on to Lynchburg for more. Every cadet had black crape issued to him, and an order was published at once requiring us to wear it as a badge of mourning for six months. The battalion flag has heavily draped in black, and is to stay so for the next six months. The Institute has been hung all around with black. The College buildings were also almost covered with black. All the churches and in fact the town looked as if they had been trying to cover everything with festoons of black cambric, and every sort of black that could be procured.

The morning after his death we marched up and escorted the remains from the house to Washington College Chapel, where they lay in "state" until the burial yesterday morning.

After the remains were placed in the Chapel on the morning of the 13th the entire procession was marched through the Chapel, past the corpse, which they were allowed to look at. The lid of the coffin having been taken off for that purpose. I saw the General after his death, and never saw a greater change than must have taken place in him a short time before he died. Some days before he was taken I met him in the path leading into town, coming in direction of the barracks. He was walking, and seemed to be the picture of health, and when I saw him in his coffin, he looked to be reduced to half his original size, and desperately thin. When first taken with the paralytic stroke or whatever it was, he fell on his dining room floor, a bed was placed under him and he died where he fell. The doctors forbid anyone to move him. Myself and four other cadets with Gen Smith's permission sat up all night with the corpse on Friday night, perfect silence was kept the whole night, no one speaking except in a low whisper. It was considered a great honor to be allowed to sit up with the remains, and a great many applied for the privilege but one of the college professors on arrival took only five of us, whom he requested to stay.

The day following the funeral procession after marching all around town and through the Institute grounds, formed around the college chapel and he was buried in the chapel under the floor of the basement. The procession was a very large one, a great many persons from a distance being here. Our brass band with muffled drums, went ahead of the hearse playing the dead march. Cannon of our stationary battery were fired & &. The hearse however was perfectly empty the corpse being all the time in the Chapel where it was placed at first.

The flood of which I spoke, did a great deal of damage in this part of the country, carrying off some ten or fifteen houses, some dwelling houses some ware houses situated at the canal boat landing near here all the bridges in the river were carried off and the canal running to this place entirely ruined, all the locks being torn up and carried off. It was a rare sight to see large houses, bridges, mills & every sort of lumber go sailing at a rapid rate, down the river. Up to a week or two since, we could get no mails or any thing that had to come from a distance, and it is still very difficult to get provisions. Mails come and go regularly now, as they have fixed ferries for stages &&.

I was made a sergeant in Co A about three weeks ago, and the evening after the first appointment, I was appointed color sergeant. I have to carry the battalion flag and have charge of the color guard, do not wear any such accoutrements as cartridge box and bayonet scabbard, when I am in charge of the guard, as the other sergeants have to do, but wear only a sword and sash, go to church in the staff, and enjoy various other privileges Jessie is getting along very well, he seems to be a great favorite. I had him put in a room, with the best new cadets that I could find. One of them is a son of Col. Dulaney of Loudoun, the others seem very nice little fellows, and they are all about the same size.

I am getting along pretty well I think, and I written about all that I can think of at present. Let me hear from you soon and let me know whether or not Gen Smith sent pa the receipt for the deposit.

Your affectionate son
W. Nalle

Lee Chapel, last resting place of Robert E. Lee, on the campus of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

Photos by J. Stephen Conn

A Jewish Prayer for the Confederacy

Historical Postcard of Congregation Beth Ahabah, Richmond, Virginia

During the War for Southern Independence, the following prayer was composed by Rabbi Max Michelbacher and was distributed to Jewish Confederate soldiers, which numbered about 10,000.  Note: Hyphenating the name of G-d is a 20th-Century Orthodox custom. During the 19th-Century, Jewish writers, both Orthodox and Reform, would spell God out completely and it was not hyphenated as G-d in the original document.


Prayer for the Confederacy

by Rabbi Max Michelbacher of Congregation Beth Ahabah, Richmond, Virginia

Shemang Yisroel, Ad-nay El-hainoo, Ad-noy Achod!

Oh God of the Universe! Although unworthy through my manifestold transgressions, I approach the seat of thy mercy, to crave thy favor, and to seek thy protection. I supplicate thy forgiveness, O most merciful Father, for the many transgressions and the oft repeated disobedience, which cause Thee to command destruction over me. Behold me now, O my Father, supplicating Thy protection! Thou who art near when all other aid faileth! O spare me, guard me from the evil that is impending!

This once happy country is inflamed by the fury of war; a menacing enemy is arrayed against the rights, liberties and freedom of this, our Confederacy; the ambition of this enemy has dissolved fraternal love, and the hand of fraternity has been broken asunder by the hands of those, who sit now in council and meditate our chastisement, with the chastisement of scorpions. Our firesides are threatened; the foe is before us, with the declared intention to desecrate our soil, to murder our people, and to deprive us of the glorious inheritance which was left to us by the immortal fathers of this once great Republic.

Here I stand now with many thousands of the sons of the sunny South, to face the foe, to drive him back, and to defend our natural rights. O Lord, God of Israel, be with me in the hot season of the contending strife; protect and bless me with health and courage to bear cheerfully the hardships of war.

O Lord, Ruler of Nations, destroy the power of our enemies! "Grant not the longings of the wicked; suffer not his wicked device to succeed, lest the exalt themselves. Selah. as for the heads of those that encompass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals be cast upon them; let them be thrown into the fire, into deep pits, that they rise not up again." (Psalm 140). Be unto the Army of this Confederacy, as thou were of old, unto us, thy chosen people — Inspire them with patriotism! Give them when marching to meet, or, overtake the enemy, the wings of the eagle — in the camp be Thou their watch and ward — and in the battle, strike for them, O Almighty God of Israel, as thou didst strike for thy people on the plains of Canaan — guide them O Lord of Battles, into the paths of victory, guard them from the shaft and missile of the enemy. Grant that they may ever advance to wage battle, and battle in thy name to win! Grant that not a standard be ever lowered among them! O Lord, God, Father, be thou with us!

Give unto the officers of the Army and of the Navy of the Confederate States, enterprise, fortitude and undaunted courage; teach them the ways of war and the winning of victory. Guard and preserve, O Lord, the President of the Confederate States and all officers, who have the welfare of the country truly at heart. Bless all my fellow-citizens, and guard them against sickness and famine! May they prosper and increase!

Hear me further, O Lord, when I pray to Thee for those on earth, dearest to my heart. O bless my father, mother, brothers and sisters. (if married: my wife and children.) O bless them all with earthly and heavenly good! May they always look up to Thee, and may they find in Thee their trust and strength.

O Lord, be with me always. Show me the way I have to go, to be prepared to meet Thee here and hereafter.

My hope, my faith, my strength are in Thee, O Lord, my God, forever — in Thee is my trust. "For thy salvation do I hope, O Lord! I hope for Thy salvation, O Lord! O Lord, for Thy salvation do I hope!" Amen! Amen!

Shemang Yisroel, Ad-noy El-hainoo, Ad-noy Achod!

The Funeral of Stonewall Jackson

Grave of General Stonewall Jackson, Lexington, Virginia

The Lexington Gazette
May 20, 1863
 All that was mortal of our great and good chief, Lieut. Gen. T.J. Jackson was consigned to the tomb on Friday last.

The body having reached Lexington by the Packet boat on Thursday afternoon, accompanied by his personal staff, Maj. A.S. Pendleton, Surgeon H. McGuire, Lieut. Morrison, and Lieut. Smith, by his Excellency Gov. Letcher, and a delegation of the citizens of Lynchburg, it was received by the Corps of Cadets and escorted to the Institute, and deposited in his late Lecture Room, which had been appropriately draped in mourning.

There was the table used by the late Professor--the same chair in which he sat--the cases with the Philosophical apparatus he had used--all told of his quiet and unobtrusive labors in his Professional life--and placed just as he left them, when he received the order of the Governor of Virginia to march the Corps of Cadets to Richmond, on the 21st of April 1861. He left the Va. Military Institute in command of the Cadets. He has been brought back to sleep among us--a world renowned Christian Hero.

The procession moved from the Institute on Friday morning at 10 A.M. The Funeral escort was commanded by Maj. S. Ship, Commandant of Cadets, a former pupil of Gen. Jackson and a gallant officer who had served with him in his Valley Campaign, as Major of the 21st Va. Regt.

The Escort was composed as follows:

1. Cadet Battalion
2. Battery of Artillery of 4 pieces, the same battery he had for ten years commanded as Instructor of Artillery and which had also served with him at 1st Manassas, in [the] Stonewall Brigade.
3. A company of the original Stonewall Brigade, composed of members of different companies of the Brigade, and commanded by Capt. A. Hamilton, bearing the flag of the "Liberty Hall Volunteers."
4. A company of convalescent officers and soldiers of the army.
5. A Squadron of cavalry was all that was needed to complete the escort prescribed by the Army Regulations. This squadron opportunely made its appearance before the procession moved from the church. The Squadron was a part of Sweeny's battalion of Jenkin's command, and many of its members were from the General's native North-western Virginia.
6. The Clergy.
7. The Body enveloped in the Confederate Flag and covered with flowers, was borne on a caisson of the Cadet Battery, draped in mourning.

The pall bearers were as follows:

Wm. White ; Professor J.L. Campbell--representing the Elders of the Lexington Presbyterian Church.
Wm. C. Lewis; Col. S. McD. Reid--County Magistrates.
Prof. J.J. White; Prof. C.J. Harris--Washington College.
S. McD. Moore; John W. Fuller--Franklin Society.
George W. Adams; Robt. I. White--Town Council.
Judge J. W. Brockenbrough; Joseph G. Steel--Confederate District Court
Dr. H.H. McGuire; Capt. F.W. Henderson--C.S. Army.
Rev. W. McElwee; John Hamilton--Bible Society of Rockbridge

8. The Family and Personal Staff of the deceased.

9. The Governor of Va., Confederate States Senator Henry of Tenn. The Sergeant-at-Arms of C.S. Senate, and a member of the City of Richmond Council.

10. Faculty and Officers of Va. Mil. Institute.

11. Elders and Deacons of Lexington Presbyterian Church of which church Gen. Jackson was a Deacon.

12. Professors and Students of Washington College.

13. Franklin Society.

14. Citizens.

Story from the archives of the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia

Photo by J. Stephen Conn

The Passing of Richard Poplar, "A Colored Confederate Soldier"

Petersburg (Virginia)  Index-Appeal
May 23, 1886


There died in this city Saturday morning at the residence of Mr. James Muirhead, a Virginian who cast his fortunes with the Confederacy, and endured many months of weary imprisonment rather than desert his friends and comrades in their misfortune. He was an honest, industrious man, highly esteemed by old Confederate friends and comrades.

When he was taken sick a short time ago he was given a home and kindly treated by Mr. James Muirhead. His wants were supplied and the best medical attention also provided by a gentleman whom Richard cooked for during the war who was a member of the famous Sussex Light Dragoons, and with whom Richard was imprisoned with for nineteen months.

When the Sussex Dragoons were formed at the beginning of the war, and when they became Company H, of the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry, Richard attached himself to the command. The Sussex Dragoons were a wealthy organization, and each member of the company had his own servant along with him. From April 1861, until the retreat from Gettysburg, Richard remained faithfully attached to the regiment. On the retreat, together with many members of the command, he was captured and carried to Fort Delaware, at which place he was confined as a prisoner for five months. He was taken to Point Lookout and kept there fourteen months, making his prison life nineteen months in all.

He was a prisoner at the same time with many old comrades. During his confinement he was held in high esteem by both Confederates and the Federal troops who acted as the garrison. He extended many courtesies to the reserves who were captured on June 9, 1864, and carried to Point Lookout. He was often asked to take the oath of allegiance, release from prison being offered as an inducement. He stood firm to his convictions, however, and loyally remained with his friends, sharing their prison life.

Richard was exchanged March 1, 1865, and returned to Petersburg, where he spent the remainder of his life. His funeral will take place this (Sunday) afternoon from the Union Street Methodist Church at 4 o'clock, and six gentlemen who were Confederate soldiers will act as pall bearers, namely: Capt. E.A. Goodwyn, Capt. J.R. Patterson, Gen. Stith Bolling, Col. E.M. Field, and Mesrs. Jesse Newcomb and R.M. Dobie. The remains will be interred in Blandford Cemetery near the plot where now are buried many Confederate dead.

All acquaintances, both white and colored, especially the old Confederate soldiers who knew and esteemed him in the brave days of "auld lang syne" are invited to attend the funeral.

***

Petersburg-Index Appeal
May 24, 1886

The Funeral of the late Richard Poplar, the colored Confederate soldier, a sketch of whose life was given in the last issue of the Index-Appeal, took place from the Union Street Methodist Church, on Sunday afternoon and was very largely attended, there being a great number of white people in attendance including many ladies. The coffin was covered with beautiful flowers. The funeral service was conducted by the pastor of the church, whose remarks (quoted below), were both touching and appropriate.

A Colored Confederate Soldier

Dick Poplar had been a caterer at the Bollingbrook Hotel in Petersburg, Virginia where his cornmeal creations were said to be unequaled. He took his culinary genius to war with some Confederate fighting units and was captured at Gettysburg. Sent to Point Lookout Prisoner of War Camp, he was put under special pressure to desert the Southern Cause and take the oath of allegiance to the United States, but he treated oppressors with cold contempt. He declared himself "a Jeff Davis man" and said he didn't care who heard him say so. He endured almost twenty months of life in one of the three very worst prisoner of war camps of the war, selling his famous pones to the other prisoners. He returned to Petersburg after the war, and became a celebrated local figure and prospered. Upon his death he was buried with full Confederate honors as befitting a loyal Son of the South.


Follow this link to see my source and find more about Richard Poplar:  http://www.petersburgexpress.com/Pocahontas.html

Visiting Stonewall Jackson's Church

I recently found myself in Lexington, Virginia on a Sunday morning, so decided to visit the historic First Presbyterian Church. This is the view from my pew on the back row.

It is here at First Presbyterian Church of Lexington that Confederate General Stonewall was a deacon while serving as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute. Jackson was instrumental in establishing and teaching a Sunday School in this church for black parishioners, both slave and free. It is thought that he not only taught the Bible but also taught the black population of Lexington to read and write. The black Sunday School was in existance for several years before the outbreak of the War Between the States.

Several black churches in southwestern Virginia can trace their roots to Stonewall Jackson's black sunday school. An excellent book which tells that story is, "Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend,." by Richard G. Williams Jr. Here is a link to the book on Amazon:

13 Confederate Flags go missing in Middletown

By Jason Kane, The Winchester Star

Middletown, Virginia — The Confederate flags disappeared from Main Street this fall, along with the retreating Confederate troops.

Thirteen flags, all yanked from their poles in the town center during the Battle of Cedar Creek re-enactment weekend Oct. 18 and 19.

Missing flags in the wake of the annual re-enactment aren’t that uncommon, said Middletown Mayor Ray Steele. In fact, several of the town’s 50 Confederate flags go missing each fall.
“But this is the first time we’ve ever had them stolen to this extent,” Steele said.

All 13 will be replaced, he said, with a price tag of $30 to $35 each and a final bill running between $390 and $455.

The town originally planned to replace the flags immediately, but decided to postpone the purchase because of financial constraints.

“We’ll try to get ’em replaced before the next re-enactment,” Steele said.
He added that the Confederate flags would sit in storage for the rest of the year and won’t be needed until next October anyway.

One of the first to notice the theft — on the morning of Oct. 19 — was Middletown Police Chief Phil Breeden.

“I think whoever wanted them just wanted them for themselves,” he said.

The investigation is still open, but Breeden said it’s not on his “major list” of crimes to solve because he doesn’t have any suspects.

Town officials don’t want to accuse anyone, Steele said, but they suspect the culprit was an out-of-towner who visited for the re-enactment.

“We’re going to try to educate groups that come in for the re-enactment that this is a loss to the town, and it’s money we should not have to put out,” Steele said.

The stars and bars of the Confederacy fly in Middletown each year during the re-enactment weekend, dating to the 1990s when John Copeland was the town’s mayor.

A group of Confederate re-enactors approached Copeland 12 to 14 years ago and asked if they could donate several dozen flags.

The gift was accepted, and the Confederate flags have been waving to visitors during each re-enactment weekend since — in rows on both sides of Main Street, interspersed with modern American flags.

Copeland said he doesn’t believe the theft was the result of someone protesting the controversial flag, which some people associate with slavery.

“I think they’re a popular item with some people,” he said.

Such a protest against the Confederate flag, however, would not be new to the Valley.

The flag was removed from Winchester’s now-defunct vehicle decals several years ago when a governing council member from Winchester’s sister city of Winchester, England, called the town’s symbol racist in late 2004.

However, the flag remains on the city seal.

“But I’ve never heard any controversy at all like that in Middletown, ever,” said the town’s Heritage Society president, Tess Klimm.

In fact, protest in Middletown tends to swing the other way.

When a developer planned to name a new housing complex after a Union general last year, “people spoke against it,” Klimm said, “and the name was changed immediately.”

See the original story here:

http://www.winchesterstar.com/showarticle_new.php?sID=6&foldername=20081208&file=flags_article.html

Three charged with desecrating Confederate officer's grave

Tidewater News
By Jena Passut, http://www.tidewaternews.com/news/2008/dec/02/three-charged-desecrating-confederate-officers-gra/

COURTLAND, VIRGINIA — Three men have been arrested and charged in connection with the June desecration of a Confederate grave at the Gillette family cemetery east of Courtland. Kyle Sinclair Burks, 21, Aaron Richard Howard, 20, and Justin Thomas Rainey, 23, were charged with one count each of violation of sepulcher and attempted grand larceny. Southampton County authorities who made the arrest would not speculate on the men's motive.

Southampton County lawmen have made arrests in last summer's desecration of a Confederate grave site.

The three are accused of digging up the grave of Maj. Joseph Ezra Gillette, the man for whom the Urquhart-Gillette Camp 1471 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was named.
Gillette served as a captain and then a major in the 13th Virginia Cavalry. He died at his family’s ancestral home, “Cedar Lawn,” on Nov. 1, 1863, from wounds he received at Brandy Station. He is buried in a small family cemetery that is maintained by the local SCV camp.

Detective Cpl. Richard Morris, a spokesman for the Southampton Sheriff’s Office, said after the incident that vandals had dug 4 feet into the grave and there was “nothing to indicate” that the vandals had reached Gillette’s remains.