Southern Sentinel March 2014 Vol. XII #3 www. scv1642.com Col. Hiram Parks Bell Camp # 1642 Sons of Confederate Veterans A Southern Heritage and Historical Society OFFICERS FOR 2014 CMDR: CLIFF ROBERTS 770 656 5585 LT. CMDR: MICHAEL DEAN 404-771-6507 ADJ. DAN BENNETT 770 888 2800 CHAPLAIN: JOEL ANDERSON 770 218 7785 OUR NEXT MEETING Monday, March 24th At 7:00 PM Social time starts early around 6:30 PM Bell Research Center 101 School St. Cumming GA 678-455-7216 Everyone is Welcome! Call for Directions COMMANDER S TENT Fellow Compatriots, I sent my registration form in for the 119 th National Reunion to be held in North Charleston July 16-19 th. Special tours of the CSA submarine H.L. Hunley will be part of the program. Judging from the campaign e- mails that I am getting, there are several contested national positions up for election. Our camp has six voting chairs. Please consider being a representative. The website for the 119 th is www.scv2014.org. The 2015 Reunion will be in Richmond, Virginia and the 2016 Reunion in Dallas, Texas. Deo Vindice! Cliff Roberts 1
UPCOMING EVENTS: March 24 March Camp Meeting - Author Mark Lemon tells the story of Capt James L. Lemon, one of only two recipients of the SCV's Confederate Medal of Honor from Georgia. Civil War editor Keith Bohannon calls Marks book Feed Them the Steel one of the finest war narratives from a Confederate company-grade officer he has ever read. April 26 Col. H.P. Bell UDC Confederate Memorial Day, 2:30 PM, Friendship Baptist Church, 2250 Friendship Circle, Cumming, 30028 April 28 April Camp Meeting Rick Joslyn will be speaking on the History of the Georgia Military Institute May 16-18 150 th Re-enactment of the Battle of Resaca June 13-14 117 th Georgia Division State Reunion, Columbus Trade Center, Columbus, Georgia June 14 - Annual Memorial Service for General Polk atop Pine Mountain, 10:30 AM. July 16-19 - Sons of Confederate Veterans 119th National Reunion North Charleston, SC. Observing the sesquicentennial of the C.S.S. H.L. Hunley Camp Hardtack I am pleased to report that the Bell Research Center has received a major grant from the Benjamin F. Brady Charitable Foundation. This will greatly assist the Center in maintaining all of its endeavors and historical work for the coming year. We are grateful for their generosity and their trust in our historical mission. Brothers Jeffrey and Charlie Woods officially joined our camp at the February meeting. Both men are teachers in the Forsyth County Public School system. They are descendants of Pvt. Robert Giles, of Company E, 13 th South Carolina Infantry. We are pleased to see charter member Ronnie Watkins at the February meeting. Ronnie has been living outside of Georgia and is pleased to be home. Mike McAlpin has taken the lead in coordinating and assisting Monty Johnson and the UDC with the Chapter s Confederate Day Memorial Service to be held at 2:30 PM, on Saturday, April 26 th, at Friendship Baptist Church. The church was established in 1840 and its cemetery holds 31 Confederates. It is an ideal location for a ceremony and Monty has secured the use of the Sanctuary for the service. We will have pulled pork BBQ sandwiches and drinks available for the re-enactors on their arrival from the Commerce service. Mike provided these photos of Friendship: 2
The Civil War Trust is a wonderful organization that purchases land around Civil War battlefields that would otherwise fall into the hands of developers. 2013 was a good year for the organization as the group saved more than 2,700 acres of battlefield land, bringing the total number of acres saved to more than 38,500. Highlights from the year include saving 56 acres at Fleetwood Hill at Brandy Station, 11 acres along the historic Southern railroad at Vicksburg and 114 acres from five separate tracts at Gettysburg. In Georgia, 110 acres was preserved on either side of West Chickamauga Creek at Reed s Bridge where the Battle of Chickamauga occurred. For the fifth consecutive year, the Civil War Trust has earned a coveted 4-star ranking from Charity Navigator, America s leading charity evaluator. David Mitchell has his hand in an interesting exhibit at the Bremen Jewish and Heritage and Holocaust Museum, which is at corner of 18th Street and Spring Street in Midtown. Established in 1996, the Bremen is the largest Jewish history museum in the Southeast. David has been encouraging the archivist Jeremy Katz to have the museum become more "Southern" and take on more regional Southern topics that involve the Jewish experience. Since the early 19th century, Jews have played an important role in the dry good and merchandizing industries in the United States. With the onset of the Civil War, the demand for uniforms 3
helped Jewish merchants transform themselves into leading members of the textile trade, outfitting both Union and Confederate forces. This often untold story in Civil War history laid the groundwork for future generations of Jews to flourish in the garment industry, a legacy that exists until the current day. Join the Breman Museum on Sunday, May 4th, 2014, at 2 P.M. for a tour of our exhibit, Return to Rich s: The Story behind the Store, followed by a lecture at 3 P.M. on Jewish involvement in the garment industry during the Civil War by Dr. Adam Mendelsohn, Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at College of Charleston. SCV members present at the February Camp Meeting: Jerry Bryan # 1418 Clark Rye #1642 Dan P. Miles #1642 Mike McAlpin #1642 Dan Bennett #1642 Hugh McMillian #1642 Chad White #1404 Richard Thompson #1642 Tony Lett #1642 John Adair #1642 Joe Bailey #1642 Joel Anderson #1642 Jerry Sanders #1642 Frank Clark #1642 Cliff Roberts #1642 Ralph Mills #1404 Mike Couch #1404 Dave Barnett #1642 Michael Dean #1642 Ronnie Watkins #1642 Dennis Nelson #1642 Jim Nelson #1642 Charlie Woods #1642 Jeffrey Woods #1642 April is our month to honor the local men who served the Confederacy by placing a battle flag next to their grave. Jerry Sanders heads our grave committee and has been coordinating the assignment of cemeteries. Jerry notes that, In the past we have taken the flags up in early May, but this year I am recommending that we leave the flags out until after national Memorial Day. The reason for the change is people putting American flags on graves for Memorial Day have noticed our CSA graves. Not seeing flags on them, they asked us if they could put mark them with American flags. Flags as usual will be available at the Bell Center. Elaine Zimney is having the Children of the Confederacy Chapter, Maggie Howell Davis Chapter 971, flaggin the Cumming City Cemetery. 4
It was living history day at River Trail Middle School in Fulton County on March 13 th. Brett Martin, Mike Couch, and Jerry Bryan left a big impression on the 8 th graders. These experienced re-enactors give a facinating presentation on the life of the common soldier in the War Between the States. Cindy Crane spoke to our camp in 2011 about her book Roswell Redemption. She sent me the following update: Cliff, I told you I would let you know when the monument got approved! It's incredible what pouring your heart into a book, researching and learning what you never knew, and ultimately finding others that care too can do... The news I'm about to share with you, I wrote about in my last chapter of Roswell Redemption, written in 2010, published in 2011...never stop following your heart and saying what needs to be brought to light. Mayor Wood and Roswell City Council approved the Cherokee Memorial and asked me to move forward with the fund raising! We need to raise about $15,000 by May 1st. Our goal is to have a Cherokee Dedication and Festival at Riverside Park this summer. The donators with the highest donations will be featured on a sign with a map showing where 8 boulders are placed along the Chattahoochee River. The boulders will have plaques with the history of the Cherokee - written by me, vetted by the Cherokee Nation! I also attached the receipt for the $1 per book sold at your book signing last year. I put the $10 in the memorial fund. Thank you for your support! Cindi Crane 5
We are excited to report that David Mitchell, through a long-term loan, has extended to the Bell Research Center a signed and framed print of General Joseph E. Johnston. This rare print was part of a post-war fundraising effort to erect a Richmond memorial to General Robert E. Lee. 6
One of our great camp traditions is to visit the Cumming City Council at the start of each spring. On Tuesday, March 18 th, Mayor H. Ford Gravitt began the council meeting with a recognition of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans and reads a proclamation declaring April to be Confederate History and Heritage Month. The AJC noted this summer that Mayor Gravitt and councilmen Quincy Holton, Lewis Ledbetter, Ralph Perry, John Pugh, and Rupert Sexton (a camp member) are the longest serving council in the state. They have been warm supporters of the work of our camp and the Bell Research Center. Representing the UDC at the presentation was Monty Johnson, Teresia Dean, and Lynn Briggs. Standing for the SCV was Michael Dean, Michael McAlpin, Clark Rye, Cliff Roberts, David Mitchell, and Amir Nowroozzadeh. Clark Rye took us down to the first floor meeting room that is decorated with flags and photos from the four CSA companies that were raised in Forsyth County. 7
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Mike McAlpin and Frank Clark have update the Bell Center trifold broshure handouts. What do you think? 10