More Ridiculousness
Sometimes I come across stories and articles I find so absurd that I wonder if they’re true. Unfortunately, this one is. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.
Sometimes I come across stories and articles I find so absurd that I wonder if they’re true. Unfortunately, this one is. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.
Tomorrow marks a significant event in American history. On June 8, 1863, a Grand Review was held by Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry at Brandy Station, Virginia. The event was reportedly a magnificent display of military tactics and cavalry maneuvers. Unfortunately, the dust the horses stirred up caught the attention of Union General David McMurtrie Gregg, whose cavalry was nearby. Early the following morning, on June 9, 1863, Stuart’s cavalry was taken by surprise when Gregg’s troopers attacked, and a fierce battle ensued, raging all day. The Battle of Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle to ever take place on North American soil.
The outcome was that, even though the Yankees now displayed their ability to compete with Confederate cavalry, Stuart managed to ward them off and keep General Robert E. Lee’s infantry screened as they made their way north. You can read more about this in my novel, A Beckoning Hellfire.
Stuart is one of my favorite Civil War personalities. Not surprisingly, his name is under the current politically correct attack to change all things Confederate and eradicate Southern history.
A school bearing General Stuart’s name is under scrutiny and the PC are trying to force its removal. This goes against what the polls and petitions show: that the vast majority do not favor this institutional vandalism. However, it doesn’t seem to matter or make any difference what the people want.
The Stuart-Mosby Historical Society, on the other hand, has scored a major victory with the restoration of the statue of General Stuart on Monument Avenue in Richmond. Thanks to this project, as well as a maintenance program which will be launched soon, the statue will be a gleaming tribute to General Stuart for years to come.
And shame on you, Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman. Yesterday, this judge decided that the 120-year-old Confederate monument near the University of Louisville should be removed. Regardless of numerous protests from the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Louisville residents, Judge McDonald-Burkman decided that the monument should be moved, despite the fact that it could be seriously damaged and that the city does not own it. The monument has been at its location since 1895, but suddenly, political correctness dictates that it should be removed from sight.
Burkman lifted a temporary restraining order preventing the city from removing the monument. She also denied a motion for a temporary injunction that would have blocked the monument’s removal. Burkman asked the city not to take any action until she issues a written ruling later on.
Former congressional candidate Everett Corley spoke in support of keeping the monument at its current location. He said that he is a descendant of a Kentucky Civil War soldier and a former University of Louisville student.”This monument could have been here for the next 200 years and no harm would have been done to anyone,” he said.
Apparently, the monument has no historical protections, which makes it an easy target. Louisville’s Mayor Fischer and the University of Louisville President James Ramsey promised to relocate the monument to “an appropriate historical venue in the near future,” whatever that means. In the meantime, the monument, or what is left of it after it is displaced, will be stashed away in storage. Out of sight, out of mind, right Mayor?
The cultural cleansing of the South is becoming a very real, very scary problem. It doesn’t matter that the monument was a gift to the city way back in 1895, which should afford it some sort of historical protection. The monument includes three bronze statues of Confederate soldiers. Its inscription reads: Tribute to the rank and file of the armies of the South.” How this is racist is beyond me. In my opinion, it’s just plain disrespectful.
With all the attacks on anything related to the Confederacy, there are some things that are still being held intact. The following letter describes one of these instances. Although J.E.B. Stuart’s birthday anniversary was last week, I just received this letter, and I think it’s a wonderful victory. What do you think?
JEB Stuart Portrait Returns to Display in Patrick County BuildingShortly after Patrick County Judge Martin Clark committed the disgraceful act of having a portrait of Patrick County native and Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart removed from the Patrick County Courthouse, and following a swift and very vocal outcry of disgust with Judge Clark’s action by her citizens, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted to display the portrait on the “Wall of Honor” on the second floor of the Patrick Veterans Memorial Building. The portrait has been restored and encased in special glass, and a new bronze plaque has been installed.Tomorrow, Thursday, May 12th, the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust will host an official and public unveiling of the portrait, on the anniversary of his death. The ceremony will take place at 10:0 a.m. and will include Patrick County and town of Stuart officials, Stuart family members, and JEB Stuart re-enactor Wayne Jones, who organized and led a rally to protest the removal on the Courthouse steps shortly after the portrait was removed, and who will be a guest speaker at the event.The ceremony is open to the public. The Patrick Veterans Memorial Building is at at 106 Rucker St. in Stuart, Virginia.In this case, the PC attempt by Judge Clark to remove a beloved hero and Patrick County son from public view failed miserably, and has led to the portrait being restored and put on display in another public building where it can be seen by even more citizens.Please take a moment to thank the members of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors for their efforts in having the portrait installed on the Wall of Honor, and their courage in going against the popular trend to dishonor our veterans.
Contact info here: http://www.co.patrick.va.us/county-supervisorsGod bless the memory of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, and God Save the South!Virginia Flaggers(Courtesy of Southern Heritage News & Views, May 16, 2016 ed.)
It’s always amazing when something like this happens. A few days ago, I received an email from the Civil War Trust, stating that they had secured 10 acres of the battlefield at Brandy Station. The area is known as Fleetwood Hill, where Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart had his headquarters before the surprise battle took place.
The Battle of Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle to take place on North American soil. It happened on June 9, 1863, following a Grand Review by Stuart’s troops. Union General Gregg saw the dust that was stirred up and surprised the Confederates early the following morning. The Rebels managed to reign the day and fulfill their mission, which was to mask General Robert E. Lee’s infantry as they made their way north. Brandy Station was a prelude to the Battle of Gettysburg.
Last year, the CWT secured 56 acres of the battlefield. This is significant, because housing developments had been encroaching on the area for years. It doesn’t make sense how this could have been allowed to happen, since it is hallowed ground in my opinion, but it isn’t the only Civil War battlefield that has been neglected or destroyed. The CWT has now secured over 1,900 acres at Brandy Station.
Other significant battlefields that the CWT has been working on include Antietam and Gettysburg. A few years ago, I visited the Wilderness Battlefield, and was appalled to see how many houses were built on the hallowed site. Hopefully, the CWT can secure more land in that area as well.
Read more about the Battle of Brandy Station in my novel, A Beckoning Hellfire.
After the end of the War Between the States, Southern women decorated graves of their fallen loved ones. It was the start of the first Memorial Day. Following WWI, the day was spread nationwide and changed to Armistice Day. After that, it evolved into what is Memorial Day today. Originally, the day of observance was held in April, and hence, Confederate History/Heritage Month has sprung from it. The Civil War also started and ended in the month of April, which are other reasons why April is so special in the remembrance of Confederate veterans. During the month of April, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy decorate graves and hold special ceremonies in honor of their relatives. The following is an article published in The Southern Comfort. (Credits are listed below the article.)
Confederate Decoration Day
This went on all across the South, and began IN the South.
“A chaplain who remained with our wounded who were left at Murfreesboro, when we retired from that place, has arrived here. Before returning to our lines he went to Louisville, and describes, in touching language, a visit to Cavehille Cemetery, near that city. He was carried to that lovely city of the dead by a noble hearted citizen of Louisville, whose liberality and energy have given a proper burial to every Confederate soldier
that has died in the city. Here, on the Northern border of Kentucky, he beheld a sight that should put to shame many who inhabit cities farther South. The grave of every Confederate was raised, sodded, and not a few surrounded with flowers.
The name of the soldier, his State, and regiment, was lettered in black on a neat white head-board, around which hung a wreath of myrtle, the Christmas offering of the true Southern ladies of Louisville, to the noble dead.”
THE SOUTHERN WOMEN OF THE SECOND
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1863
Photo-Confederate Decoration Day
(Courtesy The Southern Comfort, Private Samuel A. Hughey Camp 1452 SCV, Vol. 40, Issue 4, April 2016)
Today marks the start of Confederate Heritage Month. April was originally chosen because Confederate Memorial Day is usually celebrated during the month. Seven Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Virginia) historically designated the month as a time to honor their Confederate ancestors, but due to recent racial climates, some states have rescinded from acknowledging this designation. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant recently signed a declaration proclaiming April as Confederate Heritage Month.
This designation has been in place for years, but this year, it has become even more controversial, due to the murderous rampage of one lunatic who shot innocent black church goers and had the audacity to wave the Confederate flag beforehand. Since then, the media circus has decided to blame the Confederate battle flag for this atrocity. The hysteria has spread to attacking monuments and other artifacts honoring Confederate veterans and heroes, some of which have been in existence for over a century. Is it a scapegoat, or a sign of the times of how dumbed down this society has become?
Let me set the record straight. Confederate soldiers did not fight to preserve slavery. Most could have cared less. They were fighting to save their homes. The war became an issue of slavery only after President Lincoln knew the North was losing the war and decided to make it about a moral issue. In other words, it was about politics. Those statues you see of General Lee, Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest are there to honor the men who tried in vain to preserve the Confederacy. Forrest’s ex-slaves so adored him that they fought under his leadership. Lee set his inherited slaves free prior to the war. And Davis never wanted to become president of the Confederacy because he had the foresight to see the bloodbath that was about to happen. They all fought in honor of the South.
In lieu of the assaults now taking place on Confederate flags, memorials, and monuments, I would like to stress that these items do not belong in dusty museums, hidden away from the modern world. They also do not belong to random citizens who think they have the right to vandalize them. These are memorials to America’s war veterans. Sorry if some don’t agree with what they perceive was the reason for the war. I don’t agree with every reason this country has ever gotten involved in a war or conflict, but you don’t see me spray painting the Vietnam Wall or the Korean War Memorial (BTW, my father was a veteran of that war). Compassion, understanding and knowledge are what is needed to accept why soldiers fought for the Confederacy. Times have changed. We must take that into account in order to comprehend what they believed in and realize how honorable they truly were.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/25/politics/mississippi-confederate-heritage-month/
With all the negativity that has been cast toward the Confederacy, there are still a few things that have happened recently. They disregard the nasty notion that the South was evil and fought to defend slavery.
One positive is that the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the city of New Orleans to move ahead with removing four Confederate monuments. The injunction will remain in place while the case is being appealed.
Another advancement is the updating being done in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; specifically, General Lee’s headquarters. The Civil War Trust has begun a renewal project, and has started demolition of the hotel and restaurant that were built onto the historical building way back when. The Mary Thompson House will be restored to look like how it appeared in 1863.
My book, A Beckoning Hellfire, describes in detail the cavalry battle that took place outside of Gettysburg.
You can purchase it here:
For more information regarding the renovation of Lee’s headquarters, check out:
A tall memorial that honors Confederate soldiers has stood in front of the Rapides Parish Courthouse for more than 100 years, but an organization of black attorneys believes it is offensive and should be removed.
Malcolm Larvadain, an attorney who is president of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, asked Rapides Parish police jurors to remove the memorial, which features a statue of a Confederate soldier on top. The society is made up of area African-American attorneys.
“I don’t go by and salute it. I don’t agree with everything that’s been done. … I think it needs to stay where it is because of history,” Billings said.
The Confederate memorial was erected in 1914 by the Thomas Overton Moore chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, according to information on the base of the statue.
Most jurors did not seem that familiar with the Senate bill and noted the statue-removal request was new. The Senate bill, if it becomes law, might make it harder to remove a statue or memorial.
It does note that a public entity may petition the commission for a waiver if it seeks to remove a memorial.
“The statue should never have been put up, and it should come down,” Fountaine said.
Perry said Larvadain’s request caught him by surprise, and he noted he never paid much attention to the memorial.
Jury President Craig Smith also said the jury wants to see the outcome of the Senate bill.
“If we have to, we’ll address it again,” Smith said of the request to have the memorial removed.
Overton said the memorial is “distasteful” to him and others, and he would like to see it removed.