Bowling Banner Sons Of Confederate Veterans Post office Box 2355 La Plata, MD 20646 February 2015 Editor: Brian Piaquadio from January Meeting 2015 Officers Bob Parker Commander Jim Dunbar 1st Lieutenant Commander / Adjutant Jack Brown-Chaplin & Judge Advocate Acting Treasurer Rick Hunt Quartermaster - Dennis Spears This Issue Hunley Update Museum teaching generations to hate our Ancestors Happy February Compatriots! I pray all of you are staying warm. I do believe we ve been lucky thus far this winter. Definately not as bad as last year. The current price of Heating Oil and gasoline are allowing me to have a few more coins jingling in my pocket. hopeuflly yours as well. Have a couple of items to share with you all from the January meeting and then it s on to the stories for the month. First off one of our members and his wife made a $1000 donation to the camp and for that we are all thankful. I m not at liberty to name names but we all thank you both for your generous donation. Seoond thing of importance that happened at the meeting was a representative from the Charles County Historical society camp to speak to us and ask for our assistance this year as we close out the Susquentenial year. She informed us that the property at Rich Hill has been acquired and will be restored. They are also requesting that we set up an encampment on the same weekend as the State convention. Details will be forth coming. For this month s main article I am giving a review which I gave at the last meeting. A review of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I hope you enjoy and see you at the next meeting SCV CHARGE To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier s good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations. Camp T-Shirts are still available in 2X. The price is $15.00. They are well worth it and they look great. Please remember that the shirts are for Private Wallace Bowling Camp Members only. If you cannot make the meeting and want a T-Shirt please call Dennis Spears @ 301-751-9994 1
Monthly Recipe Buttermilk Biscuits Ingredients 1/2 cup cold butter 2 1/4 cups self-rising soft-wheat flour 1 1/4 cups buttermilk Self-rising soft-wheat flour 2 tablespoons melted butter Preparation 1. Cut butter with a sharp knife or pastry blender into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle butter slices over flour in a large bowl. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. 2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with 1 short end. (Fold dough rectangle as if folding a letter-size piece of paper.) Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). 3. Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased jelly-roll pan. (Dough rounds should touch.) 4. Bake at 450 for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Note: For testing purposes only, we used White Lily Self-Rising Soft Wheat Flour. Recipe compliments of Southern Living Magazine 2
News From around the Confederacy 150 years after sinking, Confederate submarine slowly reveals its secrets Associated Press Charleston, SC Scientists may finally solve the mystery behind the sinking of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship. A century and a half after it sank and a decade and a half after it was raised, scientists are finally getting a look at the H.L. Hunley s hull. Experts hope to solve the mystery of why the famed hand-cranked submarine sank during the Civil War. It s like unwrapping a Christmas gift after 15 years. We have been wanting to do this for many years now, said Paul Mardikian, senior conservator on the Hunley project in North Charleston, S.C. he Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is seen at conservation lab in North Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 27, 2015 photo. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith, file) The Hunley sank the Union blockade ship USS Housatonic off Charleston in February 1864 as the South tried to break the Union blockade strangling the Confederacy. But the sub and its eight-man crew never made it back to shore. The Hunley was discovered off the South Carolina coast in 1995, raised in 2000 and brought to a conservation lab in North Charleston. It was covered with a hardened gunk of encrusted sand, sediment and rust that scientists call concretion. Last May, it was finally ready to be bathed in a solution of sodium hydroxide to loosen the encrustation. Then in August, scientists using small air-powered chisels and dental tools began the laborious job of removing the coating. Now about 70 percent of the outside hull has been revealed. The last remaining areas have been described as forensic hot spots. Friends of the Hunley, a group dedicated to conserving and eventually exhibiting the vessel, says that the remaining parts of the vessel s exterior should be revealed during the coming weeks. The team of conservators from Clemson University has already made some interesting discoveries, such as an area of the hull where the metal surface is stamped with the letters C N. Experts are investigating the meaning of the stamp, which is thought to represent the foundry where the Hunley s iron was forged. Mardikian said the exposed hull indeed has revealed some things that may help solve the mystery of the sinking. I would have to lie to you if I said we had not, but it s too early to talk about it yet, he said. We have a submarine that is encrypted. It s like an Enigma machine. He said the clues will be studied closely as scientists try to piece together what happened to the 40-foot submarine that night in 1864. (continued on page 5) 3
Today in Confederate History February 1st 1st 3rd 4th 5-7th 5th 6th 6th 6th 6th 7th 7th 8th 8th 8th 9th 11th 13-16th 14th 15th 16th 16th 17th 18th 18th 19th 20-21st 20th 21st 22nd 22nd 23rd 25th 25th 26th 27th 28th 1861 Texas secedes. Officials seize the US Mint and Customs House in New Orleans, LA. 1873 Matthew Fontaine Maury died. 1807 General Joseph E. Johnston s birthday 1861 First session of the Provisional Confederate Congress in Montgomery, AL 1865 Battle of Hatcher s Run, VA 1861 Resolution for formation of the Confederate States of America 1832 John B. Gordon s birthday (CSA General and statesman, First Commander in Chief of the UCV) 1833 General J. E. B. Stuart s birthday. 1834 General William D. Pender s birthday 1862 Battle of Fort Henry, TN 1817 Leroy Pope Walker s birthday (CSA general, cabinet member, statesman) 1861 Choctaw Indian Nation declares alliance with the CSA. 1817 General Richard Ewell s birthday. 1861 Provisional Confederate Constitution is adopted (Confederate Constitution Day). Arsenal at Little Rock, AR occupied by State Troops. 1862 Battle of Roanoke Island, NC 1861 Jefferson Davis elected by the Provisional government as President and Alexander Stephens as Vice President of the Confederate States of America 1812 Birthday of Alexander H. Stephens 1862 Battle of Fort Donelson, TN 1862 Confederate shore batteries of Fort Donelson, exchange fire with Union Ironclads. 1861 CSA Provisional Congress provides for a Peace Commission to the US Government. 1861 Texas troops occupy Arsenal and Barracks at San Antonio, TX. 1865 Fall of Columbia, SC 1864 Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink and enemy ship (USS Housatonic) in combat off Charleston SC 1817 General Lewis A. Armistead s birthday 1861 Inauguration of President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America. All US military posts in Texas are surrendered to state authorities by General Twiggs. 1865 Sherman s invading army burns most of Columbia, SC 1864 Battle of Olustee, FL 1861 Confederate States Navy founded 1863 Battle of Valverde, NM 1862 Official date adopted by the second and permanent Confederate Congress for formation of the CSA to honor the 130th anniversary of General and President George Washington s birthday. (who is featured on the Great Seal of the Confederate States) 1865 Fall of Wilmington, NC 1838 General Gilbert Moxley Sorrel s birthday 1833 General Clement A. Evans birthday 1862 Occupation of Nashville, TN throughout the war. 1861 CSA Congress passes Act to organize a general staff of the Army. 1863 President Davis calls for a national day of fasting and prayer 1863 CSS Nashville is destroyed by the US Montauk near Fort McAllisster, GA. 4
LIMITED EDITION BELT BUCKLES ARE HERE! Great news compatriots. Belt buckles are back. The Camp just received our allotment of belt buckles. We received approximately 20 belt buckles out of the 500 made. Each belt buckle is numbered with the botony cross Son s of Confederate Veterans Maryland Division. The buckles are $21 each and can be bought at our monthly meeting or you may contact Robert Parker 301-782-3069 You do not have to be an SCV member to purchase. Belt buckles are numbered and guaranteed against breakage. Book Review of the Month (reposted) Valor in Gray: The Recipients of the Confederate Medal of Honor Gregg Clemmer writes in detail about the events that occured that caused these men to be remembered. He has spent countless hours researching the character of each recipient and the things they did to deserve their tragic honor. Whether a descendant of the North or the South, this book will make you feel the emotion that drove these men to risk their lives for the values and beliefs they held dear. Each chapter is devoted to a separate Confederate Medal of Honor recipient and is devoted to that individual. Valor in Gray is one of the best books on Civil War history ever written. 496 pages You can get a copy here: https://scv.secure-sites.us/store.php Hard Back $34.95 Soft Back $20.00 Editors Review: This was a great book, each story is written as if you were actually there seeing it, living it. The amazing bravery of these men should be known by all Americans. I think this would make a great movie. *My Rating : *Rating is based between 1 and 5 Battle flags Hunley (Continued from Page 3) The Hunley had a 16-foot spar tipped with a charge of black powder that was exploded, sinking the Housatonic. After close examination of the spar two years ago, scientists speculated the crew was knocked unconscious by the shock wave of the explosion. When the Hunley was first raised, scientists speculated the crew may have run out of air before they could crank back to the coast. Scientists have also discussed the possibility the sub may have been sunk by an open hatch. After the Hunley was raised, the sand and the silt and the remains of the crew in the interior were removed. In April 2004, thousands of men in Confederate gray and Union blue walked in a procession with the crew s coffins four miles from Charleston s waterfront Battery to Magnolia Cemetery in what has been called the last Confederate funeral. Fascinating Civil War artifacts are still being unearthed. A cleanup of the Congaree River in Columbia, SC, for example, may lead to the recovery of Confederate munitions seized and then dumped by Gen. William T. Sherman s Union army. 5
Editors Report If you did not come to the January meeting then you missed my rant concerning the so called National Civil War museum in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Now I understand it is north of the Mason-Dixon line but I went upon their own description... Cost $11/per person Owner description: The only museum in the United States to present a balanced, unbiased look at the Civil War Below is my personal review of the museum as posted to trip advisor. Most offensive, biased, politically correct but historically inaccurate portrayal and sad excuse for a museum Reviewed January 21, 2015 We were heading to Harrisburg for some civil war dance classes and had a few hours to kill so we decided to see the museum. The fact that museum was located on Lincoln circle should have been a hint of what was contained within. Having 64 confederate ancestors (none of which ever owned a slave) and having been a life long scholar of that war, I was both shocked and offended. The name of the museum should have been Hate the South museum. The entire museum besides glorifying the myth of Lincoln was a entire scathing of the southern people, soldiers, leaders and completely lost the two-sided issues that drove the southern people to desire their independence. Nowhere in the museum will you find - The Morell Tariff - Confederate POW s - Atrocities committed by union troops - The brilliant leadership of the southern leaders - The CSS Hunley - The origin of Memorial Day - The Confederate constitution and it s banning of Slave importation. - Contributions of Blacks to South - Desire of South to enlist Blacks in exchange for freedom. - Reconstruction - A basic timeline of events that led to war, secession order etc. - and much more!!! Yet included in the museum were displays and videos of actors and mannequins with really bad southern accents and worse yet union one s making fun of southerners. (Where is the balance there?) 6
They had the immortal 600 but a union version not the actual story of the immortal 600 POW s who were Confederate officers that the north used as human shields and placed in strategic places they knew the Confederates would bomb. There was even a painting of General Lee on his horse riding side by side with General Grant on his horse... THAT never happened!!! There are two photos side by side of President Lincoln and President Jefferson Davis. Underneath Davis s it says Attended WestPoint... (Nothing about his war hero status etc.) Under Lincoln s it says he was a great military strategist. I suppose a policy of total war is a great miltary strategy. The museum places such a heavy sided view of that war that it becomes impossible to truly teach the lessons of the war that divided a country and in some ways still does. Those that ignore history are bound to repeat it. Reducing it to the singular issue of slavery doesn t do our nation justice for the suffer age it has endured. The Confederate Soldier, fighting to preserve his home and liberty from an invading hoard; marched farther and faster, fought harder and longer with less provision, equipment and medicine. Won more victories and freely expended more of his blood. By wars end the South had sacrificed twenty-five percent of their finest in the firm belief that the Declaration of Independence penned by their fathers was worth defending. I think my fiancé summed this museum up best having lost three ancestors at point lookout. This NEVER happened but was prominently displayed in museum. Why did you bring me here? Please don t ever bring me to this place again, unless it s on fire so we can roast marshmallows. I never felt a stronger urge to gouge things from my view I give this museum, 4 Lincolns, 2 Shermans and 2 Marx s... Save your money boys! Upcoming Events February Events/Interests Still awaiting the MD division to update their webpage Please be patient you can email Commander Parker with any possible updates santa1861@aol.com
REMINDER The next meeting is February 17th, 2015 At the Port Tobacco Court House Time 7:30pm Check us out on the web http://mdscv.org/camps/bowling Pvt. Wallace Bowling Camp #1400 P.O. Box 2355 LaPlata, MD 20646 <<Name>> <<Street>> <<Town/State/Zip>>