Norris Camp Commander Frank Brown Jr.

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1 Army of Northern Virginia Maryland Division Camp #1398 Colonel William Norris October 2013 Norris Camp Commander Frank Brown Jr. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. See Inside Adjutant Report 2 Following ANV 62 Route Across Potomac River from Maryland 3 McGimsey Papers 4 A Slave s Service in the Confederate Army 5 Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade 6 Norris Camp Commander Frank Brown Jr. with Buddy Brown. Frank was born in Washington, D.C., the first of three children. He started his career with Local 26 electrical union, where he worked for 11 years. Frank is currently a member of the Local 99 engineer s union where he has worked 18 years. He also represents Local 99 on its Executive Board. He has held this position for 16 years. In addition to his professional duties, he has been married to his wife, Phyllis, for 27 years. They are the proud parents of two children, Gail and Christopher, and have two grandchildren. His wife has worked for the American Farm Bureau Federation for 33 years in its Communications Department. She is also the tireless editor of our camps newsletter. Franks interests include southern rock music, cooking and animals. He also he enjoys watching his favorite teams the Redskins, Capitals and Detroit Tigers. Frank joined the SCV under his ancestor, Abijah B. Davis. Davis was in Company G, 5 th Regiment of the Mississippi State Troops. Despite Frank s busy schedule, he takes time out to manage the day-to-day business for the Norris Camp. Frank would like to extend an invitation to you to attend any or all of our camp s activities. He can be reached by at fbrwnmcbrwn@ aol.com He hopes to meet you soon.

2 Page 2 Adjutant Activities Minutes, Sept. 3, Camp Meeting at VFW Bingo Entrance There were six members and guests attending including compatriots Ray Parker, 1 st Lt. Commander Dave Redden, Commander Frank Brown Jr., Bob Brewer and Van Morfit. Commander Brown opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and the Salute to the Confederate Flag. Upcoming Events Discussed: Happy Birthday Montgomery County 100 th anniversary wreath laying at the Confederate Soldier monument 2014 Maryland Convention Happy Birthday Montgomery County On Sept. 8, 2013, Don Beck (photo left) participated in the annual Happy Birthday Montgomery County event in Rockville, Md. Camp Commander Frank Brown Jr. laid a wreath (photo right) in recognition of the Confederate Soldiers Monument s 100th anniversary.

3 Following ANV 62 Route Across Potomac River from Maryland By Nancy Jennis Olds Page 3 DICKERSON, MD. The 14 th Annual Potomac River Crossing allowed attendees to follow in the footsteps of the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) as they waded across the Potomac River at the beginning of their 1862 Maryland Campaign, Sept. 4-6, The Aug. 24 event hosted by Colonel William Norris Camp 1398, of Gaithersburg, promised to give participants a shared experience in tribute to the Confederate soldiers who crossed the river at that location. Today s crossers had the advantage of sneakers and a change of clothing if needed. The noon crossing began on the Dickerson Conservation Park parking lot. A dirt path at least a half mile long leads to the Potomac River. Stone remnants of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal s lock can be seen. The Grand Old Ditch, which opened in 1831 and is now choked with algae, carried small boats into the interior, as far as Cumberland, Md., from Washington, D.C. During the Civil War it carried Union supplies. Footwear-sucking mud and fallen branches and tree trunks strewn on the riverbank make the walk down to the river messy and precarious. Some folks volunteered to be color bearers. The first steps into the river were very shallow. As the group followed the ANV s path, the water increasingly became deeper until it was up to hips and waists. This part of the river is pristine and uninhabited, as it was 151 years ago. One has to watch out for snakes, venomous ones such as water moccasins, swimming the river. Many crossers lost their footing on the slippery rocks and underwater grasses and got dunked. The hot and tired Confederate soldiers crossing on a warm September day probably welcomed the water s coolness after the Battle of Second Manassas, a Confederate victory that spurred Gen. Robert E. Lee to invade Maryland and beyond its borders. This was their secret crossing to avoid the Federal army and its pickets. All of the modern crossers made it to the Virginia side of the river and took a break in the shallows before returning to Maryland. They sang Dixie in celebration of reaching the opposite shore. Ready to cross the Potomac to Virginia are Norris Camp members (from left to right) David King Sr.; John Howerton; author, photographer and film producer Chuck Mauro; Commander Frank Brown Jr.; Steve Fernandez; and Harold Ford. Carefully and steadily the group recrossed the river for lunch to see displays and sale items and listen to David Redden speak about the Civil War on the Potomac River and Elk Ridge/Maryland Heights.

4 Page 4 McGimsey Papers This letter, dated 19 May 1864, was written by Confederate soldier Lewis Warlick to his wife. In his letter, Warlick comments on the heavy fighting at Spotsylvania, Va. He also notes that friendly contacts were still possible between members of the opposing armies. Warlick would not survive the war. Spotsylvania C.H. Va., May 19 th 1864 My Dearest Corrie, As there is an opportunity or soon will be of sending a letter I will write to you again. I wrote two or three days since being aware that you will be very anxious to hear from me frequently during these fighting times. I will endeavor to write as often as an opportunity affords. We had a mail today, the first in nearly two weeks, none from you. Our command has not been engaged since I wrote but expecting every night and day to be attacked: the enemies line of battle is in full view, about a thousand yards in our front but I think it very probable he will never attack us in our strong position, if he should he will be repulsed as heretofore. We were under a terrific shelling yesterday for two hours with very little damage. Ewell repulsed the enemy yesterday three times making great slaughter in his (the enemy) ranks. To-day so far everything is quiet, the skirmashers don t even fire at each other but seem to be quite friendly, meet each other and exchange papers and have a chat he, the Yankee, told Brown that Lee had destroyed half their army; there has no doubt been an awful slaughter in their ranks as men who fought over many bloody fields in Virginia say they never saw dead Yankees lie so thick on the ground as they do in front of the works where they charged. There dead lie unburied from the Wilderness down here, the enemy went off and left them and we did the same. I see from Northern papers they claim a great victory at the Wilderness, well I wish they could all the time have such victories. I consider when an army is driven back leaving their dead and wounded both in the field and hospitals that they have been badly whipped, don t you? That is the kind of a victory they gained at the Wilderness for I was there and know it to be so, we remained on the field till Sunday evening of the 8 th and not an enemy could be found in front by our scouts. We have to mourn the loss of many good officers and soldiers since the fight began. From all quarters we have good news, every where our arms have been victorious Butler driven back, Grant checked. Steele captured with his command and many other places we have been successful for which we ought to give God the praise. In my last I wrote to you of the death of brother Logan. I also wrote to his wife. Bill McGimsy had an attack of cramp yesterday is nearly well to-day. Aug P. has been a little unwell but improving. Pink and I are very well. I am very thankful that we have come out through so many dangers as well as we have, nothing but the hand of an Allwise providence has protected us thus far, for which we ought to be very humble and give him all the praise for his goodness. My wound is not well but does not hurt me. I saw Sam Tate when we were coming down here haven t seen or heard from him since. We have had a hard time since we left camp, have been marching, lying in line of battle and fighting all the time, are now in the works now allowed to leave any distance as Grant is a sly fellow and has to be watched closely. Grant is twice as badly whipped now as was Burnside or Hooker but he is so determined he will not acknowledge it, but I think before he gets through with Lee he will have to own up. I haven t had any clean clothes since I left camps the wagons are in the rear and we cannot leave to go where they are to get our cloths, all the officers are in the same fix, so you may well suppose we are somewhat dirty. Give my love to uncle John, Puss and Sue. Do you get your papers? Your devoted Lewis

5 Page 5 A Slave s Service in the Confederate Army By Ronald S. Coddington Sgt. Andrew M. Chandler began his memoir of fighting at Chickamauga with utilitarian prose that belied the horrible, bloody waste that the battle wrought on northwest Georgia in September I was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, belonged to the Forty-fourth Mississippi Regiment, Patton Anderson s Brigade, Hindman s Division, he wrote for an 1894 article in Confederate Veteran magazine. The highlight of Chandler s story occurred on the second day of the battle, after he participated in a charge that resulted in the capture of a Union artillery battery. In this charge we, our brigade which fought under the command of Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman broke broke the Federal line and drove them nearly one mile, when we were recalled and reformed, and marched back to the old field, which was literally covered with dead and wounded Yankees, he wrote. The federals had sent more troops to fight the Mississippians. As the bluecoats converged on their position, Chandler recalled an exchange that he had with Hindman, a dapper dresser bursting with aggression from his 5-foot-1- inch frame. General Hindman stopped his horse in rear of our company, when I said to him, General, we are the boys to move them! he replied, You are, sir. We were then ordered to the foot of a long ridge, heavily wooded. After remaining there lying down for some twenty minutes, the Yankees charged our brigade. Chandler abruptly ended his narrative here. He did not describe the rest of the attack which was strange but telling, because during the fighting a bullet tore into his right leg and ankle and took him out of action. But Chandler s military records and an anecdote passed down through the family over the following century and a half filled in the rest of his story. A surgeon examined the 19-year-old Chandler as he lay on the battlefield, determined the wound serious and sent him to a makeshift hospital. Soon afterward Chandler was joined by Silas, a family slave seven years his senior. In the hospital, according to family history, surgeons decided that the injured leg could not be saved and decided to amputate. Then Silas stepped in. As one of Chandler s descendants explained, Silas distrusted Army surgeons. Somehow he managed to hoist his master into a convenient boxcar. They rode the rails to Atlanta, where Silas sent a request for help to Chandler s relatives. An uncle came to their assistance, and brought both men home to Palo Alto, Miss., where they had started out two years earlier. Continued on page 7

6 Page 6 Annual Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade The Maryland Division Color Guard participated in the annual Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade held on Sept. 2. Pictured (left to right) is Katy Brewer, Bob Brewer and Frank Brown Jr. The Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade consistently draws a large crowd of spectators.

7 Page 7 A Slave s Service in the Confederate Army Continued from page 5 When the war broke out in 1861, Chandler enlisted in the Palo Alto Confederates, a local military company that eventually joined the 44th Mississippi. His concerned mother, Louisa, sent Silas, one of her 36 slaves, off to war with him. Thousands of slaves served their masters and masters sons in the Confederate Army before and after the Black Republican in the White House, as some referred to President Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Many remained with their owners throughout the war. Silas had known nothing but slavery his entire life. Born into bondage on the Chandler plantation in Virginia, he moved with the family to Mississippi when he was about 2. He was trained as a carpenter, and the Chandlers brought in extra income by hiring Silas out to locals in need of his skills a common practice in the antebellum South. The money Silas earned by his labor was paid to the Chandlers, who gave him a small portion. According to a story passed down through Silas s descendants, he saved the pennies that he received in a jar that he hid in a barn for safekeeping. Around 1860 Silas wed Lucy Garvin in a slave marriage, not recognized by law. A lightskinned woman, she was the illegitimate daughter of a mulatto house slave named Polly and an unnamed plantation owner. She was classified as an octoroon, or one-eighth African, which determined her legal status as a slave. The next year Silas bid his newlywed wife farewell and went to war with Chandler. He shuttled back and forth from encampments in Georgia and elsewhere to the plantation in Mississippi to procure and deliver much-needed supplies to Chandler. No account exists that Silas ever attempted to flee to Union-held territory. At the Battle of Chickamauga, the 44th went into action with 272 men and suffered 30 percent casualties, including Chandler. According to the Chandler family, Silas accompanied him to Mississippi. A home town doctor prescribed less drastic measures and Mr. Chandler s leg was saved. Chandler was able to do Silas a service as well, noted the family. During one campaign, Silas constructed a shelter for himself from a pile of lumber, the story goes. A number of calloused Confederate soldiers attempted to take Silas s shelter away from him, and when he resisted threatened to take his life. At this point Mr. Chandler and his comrade Cal Weaver, came to Silas s defense and threatened the marauders with the same kind of treatment they had offered Silas. This closed the argument. Chandler s Chickamauga wound ended his combat service. But Silas went back to the front lines with Chandler s younger brother, Benjamin, who enlisted in the Ninth Mississippi Cavalry in January Silas accompanied the younger Chandler and the rest of the Ninth as they skirmished with advance elements of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman s army through Georgia and the Carolinas. Then, during the Confederacy s final days, Benjamin Chandler and a detachment of his fellow Mississippians joined the military escort that guarded President Jefferson Davis as he and his entourage fled Richmond. By the time Davis reached Georgia, fears that his large escort would draw the attention of Continued on page 8

8 Page 8 A Slave s Service in the Confederate Army Continued from page 7 numerous Union patrols crisscrossing the countryside in search of him prompted commanders to act. On May 7, 1865, most of the escort was disbanded. Davis continued to ride south with a much smaller and less conspicuous guard. Benjamin Chandler and Silas were part of the group ordered to disband. Three days later, Chandler surrendered to federals near Washington, Ga. Silas was by his side. President Davis was captured the same day, about 175 miles south in the Georgia village of Irwinsville. Silas returned home, and reunited with Lucy. They eventually had 12 children, 5 of whom lived into adulthood. Silas became a carpenter in the Mississippi town of West Point, and he taught the trade to at least four of his sons. They built some of the finest houses in West Point, noted a family member, who added that Silas and his boys constructed houses, churches, banks and other buildings throughout the state. Silas lived within a few miles of his former masters, the Chandler brothers. In 1868, Silas and other freedmen constructed a simple Baptist altar near a cluster of bushes on land adjacent to property owned by Andrew and his family. The freedmen soon replaced it with a wood-frame church. In 1896, one of Silas s sons participated in the construction of a new church on the same site. In 1888, Mississippi established a state pension program for Confederate veterans and their widows. African-Americans who had acted as slave servants to soldiers in gray were also allowed to participate. Over all, 1,739 men of color were on the pension rolls, including Silas. Benjamin Chandler died in Silas passed away in September 1919 at age 82. Andrew Chandler survived Silas by only eight months. He died in May In 1994, the and the United Daughters of the Confederacy conducted a ceremony at the gravesite of Silas in recognition of his Civil War service. An iron cross and flag were placed next to his monument. The event prompted mixed reactions from descendants of Silas and Andrew. Silas s greatgranddaughter, Myra Chandler Sampson, denounced the ceremony as an attempt to rewrite and sugar-coat the shameful truth about parts of our American history. She added that Silas was taken into a war for a cause he didn t believe in. He was dressed up like a Confederate soldier for reasons that may never be known. But Andrew Chandler Battaile, great-grandson of Andrew, met Myra s brother Bobbie Chandler at the ceremony. He saw the experience a bit differently. It was truly as if we had been reunited with a missing part of our family. Bobbie Chandler, for his part, accepts the role his great-grandfather played in the Confederate army. He observed, History is history. You can t get by it. Ronald S. Coddington is the author of Faces of the Civil War and Faces of the Confederacy. His most recent book is African American Faces of the Civil War. He writes Faces of War, a column for the Civil War News.

9 Sons of Confederate Veterans Army of Northern Virginia Maryland Division Camp #1398 Page 9 The newsletter of the Colonel William Norris Camp #1398 is published 12 times a year by the camp as a service to its membership and to the public. Officers Heritage Violations Notify the Camp Heritage Officer compatriot Jim Stargel (jim.stargel@ffa.gov) of any heritage violations. Harold E. Ford Adjutant/Treasurer Colonel William Norris Camp #1398 Frank Brown Jr., Commander 5008 Tothill Drive Phone: Olney, MD fbrwnmcbrwn@aol.com David Redden, 1st Lt. Commander Dowden Circle Phone: Poolesville, MD daveredden@hotmail.com Major David King Jr., 2nd Lt. Commander 5611 Oak Place Phone: Bethesda, MD Dejota.King@verizon.net Dan Buckingham, 3rd Lt. Commander Front Field Lane Phone: Potomac, MD danbuckingham@hurrisafe.com Harold Ford, Adjutant/Treasurer Jacobs Road Phone: Mt. Airy, MD dept911@gmail.com Thomas Keefer, Chaplain Cross Bridge Way Phone: Germantown, MD tskeef@yahoo.com Mitch Mroczka, Recruiting Officer 7333 Brenish Drive Phone: Gaithersburg, MD mroczka1@verizon.net Jim Stargel, Heritage Office/Quartermaster Phyllis Brown, Editor jim,stargel@ffa.gov phyllisbrow20832@aol.com