Note to readers: this is an "unofficial listing" to help our members and citizens learn about our ancestors. It is a working draft by a cyber committee of Confederates. The project is seen here only in draft form.
- 2.3.A-Argument #1Since the Ku Klux Klan fly the Confederate flag, it has become a symbol of hatred, racism and intolerance. We cannot let our state (or school or whatever) project an image of racism by flying a Confederate battle flag or something that contains the Confederate battle flag.
- 2.3.B-Argument #2 Confederate symbols represented history at one time, but Confederate Americans have not acted to protect the sanctity of their symbols from use and abuse by hate groups, thereby Southerners have forfeited their claim to these symbols.
2.3.C-Argument #3 Confederate symbols should not be honored because they are cruel reminders of the by-gone era of slavery and slave-trade.
2.3.D-Argument #4 Confederate symbols should not be tolerated because they represent a government that fought a war to keep blacks in bondage and to preserve the institution of slavery.
2.3.E-Argument #5 Since Confederate symbols were erected and raised in defiance of court ordered integration during the 1950's and 60', they should be removed.
2.3.F-Argument #6 Confederate flags are un-American and they do not represent all Americans.
2.3.G-Argument #7 What's the big deal? It's only a flag. Besides, you have all of those monuments, memorials, markers, etc. to remind you of the Confederacy. Can't we find a compromise?
Part #1: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERAN ORGANIZATION
1.2. Why honor men who served for the Confederacy, after all weren’t they traitors?
1.3. How does one become a member of the SCV?
Membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces. Membership can be obtained through either direct or collateral family lines. Kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically. The minimum age for membership consideration is age 12.
Proof in kinship to a Confederate Soldier can take many forms. The easiest method is to contact the archives of the state from which the soldier fought and obtain a copy of the veteran’s military service record. The SCV has a network of genealogists to assist you in tracing your ancestor’s Confederate service.
Joining the Sons of Confederate Veterans serves today as a means for a gentleman to honor his Southern Ancestry with memorial, historical and educational activities. If you are a male descendant of an ancestor who fought for the Confederacy you can call 1-800-MY SOUTH (697-6884) to receive a membership packet. You can also call this number to inquire about the location of an SCV camp (local organization) nearest you.
Sources and Further Reading: Contact the International Headquarters of the SCV at call 1-800-MY SOUTH (697-6884), or PO Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402-0059 or your local SCV Camp.
1.4. How can I find out if an ancestor fought in the war and how do I find out about his service?
We have come up with this "GENERALIZED" outline to help get you started.
Making a connection to a Confederate ancestor is an exciting way to bring history alive for you and your family. So the first step has got to be learn your family’s genealogy.
The basic facts that you will need to know in order to do research on an ancestor are: name, state, regiment, and if possible, the company. Knowing what county your ancestor resided in during the 1860's would also be helpful.
Start your search by talking with your oldest living relatives. See how much information they can give you to build a family tree. Try to develop a family tree that extends back to the mid 1800’s. Males aged 16-40 on the 1860 census are prime candidates for CSA service. Begin your search with these men. Later you can check on older or younger men that may have also served.
It is important now to determine the state and county of residence so that Census records from 1860 may be located and reviewed for information. Census records can be found in local libraries, historical and genealogy societies, government archives and at LDS Family History Centers. Some are in books, but more common are microfilms. Paper copies of census records can usually be made. Develop a list of men whom you suspect may have served.
Contact that county to see if they have local historical society. Many counties have historical societies that have already documented local-county men who fought for the Confederacy. Many have "County History Books" which contain their men’s involvement with the WBTS. They'll have at least the local companies raised, and sometimes the roster and pension recipient list. Occasionally the battles their local soldiers participated in, their letters home, etc. may also be found.
Confederate regiments were frequently referred to by the commander's name even when in fact they had a numerical designation. You will find that many states have some sort of indexed listings of a soldiers. The National Archives has published a "Consolidated Index to Compiled Confederate Service Records" on microfilm which is available in many large historical libraries. The service records themselves are also frequently on microfilm at the library.
All Southern states have archived records of men who fought in the WBTS and also records of men who applied for pensions based on service to the CSA. Once you have a name or list of names you can visit or contact the state archives to view and/or obtain copies of service and/or pension records. Remember that not all records survived the war and the amount and quality of information can vary greatly from state to state.
When you have gathered the basic information, you can also obtain copies of your ancestor's service records by writing to the National Archives and requesting NATF Form 80. The address is:
Military
Service Branch (NNMS)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408
You may also request NATF Form 80 by sending e-mail to: inquire@arch2.nara.gov
When you have the forms, fill one out as completely as possible and check "Military Service". It is recommended that you write in red ink next to the veteran's name "Please send complete contents of files". Several weeks after you send in the Form 80, the Archive will return the form indicating what they have located and how much it will cost to copy it, typically about $10.
Since the National Archive process is so slow, it is recommended to those who chose to use this source that they just check the block to have their credit card charged the $10.00 fee. This saves the extra postage and added time.
The information from compiled service records from the National Archives may be the same, similar or different that the information from the state archives on the same soldier. The National Archives will not have pension records for Confederate veterans. Only the former Confederate state did awarded the pensions and their archives will have such records.
NOTE…..
1.5. How can I find information about a particular regiment?
- Alabama http://www.erols.com/jreb/alabama.html, and http://www.researchonline.net/alcw/page2.htm
- Arkansas http://www.erols.com/jreb/arkansas.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-ar.html
- Florida http://www.erols.com/jreb/florida.html and http://www.researchonline.net/cwsites.htm
- Georgia http://www.erols.com/jreb/georgia.html
- Kentucky (CSA) http://www.erols.com/jreb/kentucky.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-ky.html
- Louisiana http://www.erols.com/jreb/louisiana.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-la.html
- Mississippi http://www.erols.com/jreb/mississippi.html and http://www.researchonline.net/mscw/msstart.htm
- Missouri http://users.erols.com/jreb/missouri.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-la.html
- North Carolina http://www.erols.com/jreb/northcarolina.html and http://www.researchonline.net/nccw/ncunits.htm
- South Carolina: http://www.erols.com/jreb/southcarolina.html and http://www.researchonline.net/sccw/scunits.htm
- Tennessee: http://www.erols.com/jreb/tennessee.html and http://www.researchonline.net/tncw/page2.htm
- Texas: http://www.erols.com/jreb/texas.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-tx.html
- Virginia: http://www.erols.com/jreb/va.html and http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw-va.html
1.6. Who was the last surviving Confederate Veteran of the WBTS?
The last authenticated veteran of the Confederate army was Pleasant Crump of the 10th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, who died on 31 Dec 1951. Previous claims to be the last veteran of the Confederate army were made for Walter Washington Williams (died 19 Dec 1959) of Texas and for John Salling (died 19 Mar 1959) of Virginia. However, their claims must be rejected, since among other reasons, census records indicated that, in 1860, Williams was only 5 years old and Salling was just 2 years old.
Sources and further reading: William Marvel in "Blue and Gray", Feb 1991; The Civil War Notebook, by A.A. Nofi; New York Times article, Dec. 19, 1959; Civil War Dictionary, by M.M. Boatner.
1.7. What violations of heritage are the Sons of Confederate Veterans battling?
In General, the SCV fights against attacks, falsifications, revisionism, stereotypes and attempts to remove all things Confederate from the public.
In each issue of the Confederate Veteran (the bimonthly publication of the SCV), a section is devote to heritage promotion and to fighting heritage violations. This section is called "Forwarding the Colors, a report from the SCV Heritage Committee". Violations have ranged from items such as vandalism of Confederate soldier’s graves, vandalism to Confederate monuments, removal of Confederate flags that have flown over graves of Confederate veterans, attacks (physical, verbal, legal) on citizens who choose to promote Confederate history and honor their ancestors, denial of citizens and students from displaying anything Confederate on their person, vehicles, etc, banning of the playing of Dixie at school events, challenging the media who defame our ancestors by publishing false information, or portraying our ancestors or their symbols in a demeaning manner, stereotyping of the Southern people as racist and bigoted, removal of "rebel" as school and college mascots, just to name a few.
As descendants of these men, it is our duty to stand up for their place in history and defend their good name.
Sources and Further Reading: Contact the International Headquarters of the SCV at call 1-800-MY SOUTH (697-6884), or PO Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402-0059 or your local SCV Camp.
1.9. Why do grown men, run around pastures and woods playing soldiers? Doesn’t this glorify war and suffering?
These men are called reenactors. They are for the most part not playing soldier, but demonstrating a living history project. They are trying to recreate a time in history that will be lost and which some are trying to eliminate. The purpose is not to glorify suffering, but to show today’s people what it was like to live and perhaps die in the 1860’s. Types of events sponsored by reenactors include:
Educational Programs for schools and civic groups, in which the WBTS and display reenacting equipment is discussed.
Living History Encampments for the general public, where historical camps are set up, demonstrations on the lifestyles and folkways of the era are presented and displays of reenacting equipment are shown. Reenactors often discuss how the WBTS affected the lives of the combatants, their families, and the nation.
Battle Reenactments-At times the battle reenactment is a largest event open to the general public. It is meant to demonstrate the maneuvers and tactics used by the opposing armies on the field of battle. Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineers can be utilized in scenario.
A graphic field hospital demonstration may follow a battle.
Revival tent and period church services are sometimes presented.
Cooking and food samples of the troops may be available.
19th Century Skill competitions, which can be of warfare such as accuracy with firing a musket or revolver, Calvary maneuvers, artillery actions, or other competitions such as cooking, uniform representation, music, others.
Civilian encampments which demonstrate what a citizen’s life might have been like in the 1860’s.
The SCV it’s self does not sponsor reenactors or reenactments, but many SCV members to participate in living history, reenacting at events, performing as honor guards for grave and headstone memorial services. Many SCV members who also choose to be reenactors do so in honor of an ancestor who served and may have died for the Confederacy. It gives a descendant a sample of what life was like for their ancestor.
Reenactors are involved in a non-profit organizations committed to education of the public on the WBTS. Too much history these days seems to be viewed only with a 1990’s outlook. The living historians or reenactors try to put people back into the mind set of a mid 1800’s civilization. Remember events in history took place in perspective of the times in which they happened. People of the 1860’s did not view it as how their life might be judged 150 years later.
Many of the reenactors are excellent research historians and much could be learned by attending an event, viewing the program and asking questions. Most reenactors go to great personal expense and sacrifice to demonstrate to the public what accurate history is about.
By the way there are reenactors throughout the country and world that reenact many periods of history, not just WBTS area including: the Roman Empire, Middle Ages, Revolutionary war, Lewis & Clark era, Mountain man/fur traders, Mexican War, Oregon Trail, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, WWI just to name a few. Not all are military in nature. Many are civilian, medical, industrial, reenactments.
There are many living history and reenacting groups found through out the United States. There are many sites on the internet that can give you further contacts. Someone serious about history can learn much from reenactors.
Sources and further reading: Reliving the Civil War, A Reenactors Handbook by R. Lee Hadden, Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (1996), Camp Chase Gazette, The Voice of Civil War Reenacting, PO Box 707, Marietta, OH 45750, The Citizens' Companion he Voice of Citizens Reenacting, PO Box 707, Marietta, OH 45750
Internet: Cryders Civil War Reenacting pages: http://marin.org/npo/cwar/home/, http://midas.org/npo/cwar/home/direct.htm, http://reenact.org/home/index.html, http://marin.org/npo/cwar/
Part #2: QUESTIONS ABOUT CONFEDERATE SYMBOLS SUCH AS THE FLAG AND THE HERITAGE THEY REPRESENT TO THE SCV.
2.1. Why are the Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy so important in this day and age?
They are symbols that our ancestors fought, sacrificed and died for. They allow us to share their history and meaning with our children and with persons interested in historical research. There are groups in America who would deny us the right to remember, explain, or display any symbols of the Confederacy. It is a sad fact that some people and groups have taken up the cause to re-write history and erase anything that dealt with the people of the Confederacy. Too many persons appear to make judgements on the people of the 1860’s with only their current 1990’s perspective. Regardless of what some people may claim about the symbols they are our heritage and have nothing to do with hate. They are our history and our culture, which in a free society, we are allowed to have. The symbols go deep into our family roots and unite us as a Southern people. Family unity and responsibility should be a greater point for the social reformers to focus on rather than trying to defame our ancestors. Perhaps these groups have much to learn from our heritage which is the Confederate States of America and the patriots that died to protect their family.
Sources and Further Reading:
2.2. What are the "Stars and Bars", "Southern Cross" and other Confederate symbols?
The "Stars and Bars" IS NOT the familiar rectangle "rebel" flag one sees adorning license plates and often carried, that is the CS Naval Jack, based on the CS battle flag. The Stars and Bars was actually the First National Flag of the Confederacy, where as the "Southern Cross" is actually the Confederate battle flag, a military flag.
NOTE: The following information is provided as a general guide to the flags of the Confederate States of America. There were many variations in the flags and particularly the battle flags. This page will give you good background information on the CSA flags but can not in the space here cover all the variations, materials, colors, and times of service. There are many works that focus just on the battle flag variations.
Flags of the Confederate States of America: National flags are those that identify a nation. These flags were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens where in the Confederate States of America. It is also a matter of great pride for their ancestors as part of their heritage and history. For the first 24 days, the Confederate government had no officially approved flag. The capitol building in Montgomery, Alabama flew the State flag of Alabama. When Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederacy, the inaugural parade was led by a company of infantry carrying the State flag of Georgia.
A committee on Flag and Seal was appointed by the Provisional Congress, the chairman of the committee was William P. Miles of South Carolina. Hundreds of flag designs were received from all over the new nation and from the now foreign country of the United States. There was an unwritten deadline for a flag design of 4 March 1861 because that was the day Lincoln was to be inaugurated president of the United States. On that date the Confederate States were determined to fly a flag to express their own sovereignty.
There were 3 major "official" flags of the Confederate nation from 1861 to 1965, but many people only know of the "Battle Flag", which was not a national flag at all.
Bonnie Blue Flag: On 9 January 1861 the Convention of the People of Mississippi adopted an Ordinance of Secession and a large blue flag with a single white star was raised over the capital building in Jackson. Although the Confederate government did not adopt it, the people did. Lone star flags, in one form or another, were adopted in five of the Confederate States that adopted new flags in 1861.
The First National "The Stars and Bars" (4 March 1861-1 May 1863) On the morning of 4 March 1861 large models of the proposed flags were hung on the walls of the Congressional chamber. The First National Flag "The Stars and Bars" was adopted on the same day it was to be raised over the capitol at Montgomery. A flag made of soft merino wool was completed within two hours of it's adoption by the Congress. The very first flag of the Confederate States of America was raised by Miss Letitia Christian Tyler, grand- daughter of President John Tyler. Six weeks later it was flying over Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The Original First National Flag of the Confederacy can still be seen today at Beauvoir, which is the Jefferson Davis Memorial and Shrine, located in Biloxi, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast Highway. It had 7 stars in a circle on a blue field, to represent the 7 states of the CSA Later versions would have 11 stars and then eventually 13 stars as other states joined the Confederacy. The bars consisted of two red and one white. In their hurry to adopt a flag and have it ready the same afternoon, the Congress forgot to enact a flag law. Nowhere in the statute books of the Confederate States is a Flag Act of 1861. In official use for over two years, the Stars and Bars was never established as the Confederate Flag by the laws of the land. The Stars and Bars flag was replaced in 1863 by the "Stainless Banner"
The Second National Flag "The Stainless Banner" (1 May 1863-4 March 1865) William Porcher Miles, chairman of the Flag and Seal Committee, was not satisfied with the "Stars and Bars" as the Confederate National Flag. He wanted to get away from any flag that resembled the United States flag.
The mood of the Confederate people and their representatives in Congress, was to let the "Stars and Bars" be the National Flag. As the war started to drag on, the sentimental feelings for the "Stars and Bars" began to fade away. More and more Confederate citizens came to see the flag of the United States as a symbol of oppression and imperialistic aggression.
In February 1862 the First Congress of the Confederate States assembled in Richmond. The new members of Congress reflected the changing feelings of the people toward the flag. One of the first actions of the new Congress was to appoint a new Joint Committee on Flag and Seal with instructions to consider and propose a new Confederate Flag.
On 19 April 1862 the committee submitted it's report to both Houses of Congress. While the debate over a new National Flag for the Confederate States of American was going on, the Army of Northern Virginia had been engaged in some battles under it's Battle Flag and a lot of blood was spilled. Because of these actions some members of Congress, and the citizens of the Confederacy, wanted the Battle Flag incorporated into the National Flag as a way of paying respect to the Confederate Soldiers that were wounded and killed fighting for the new nation's freedom and independence.
Senate Bill No. 132 was put into formal language by Representative Peter W. Gray of Houston, Texas. This bill was passed on to the senate and passed with very little debate. Later that same day President Davis signed the bill and gave the new flag to the Confederate States of America. The new flag became official on the 1st of May 1863.
This second National Confederate Flag was referred to as the "Stainless Banner" because of it's pure white field, and was said to represent the purity of the cause which it represented. One of the first uses for the new flag was to drape the coffin of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. General Jackson died on the 10th of May and he lay in state in the Confederate House of Representatives on 12 May 1863. By the order of President Davis, his coffin was draped with the first of the new National Confederate flags to be manufactured. This very first "Stainless Banner" is now on display in the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. Because of it's use on General Jackson's coffin the new flag is at times referred to as the "Jackson Flag". The Second National Flag was replaced by the Third National Flag in 1865.
Third National Flag (4 March 1865-Present) In 1863 congress had argued that "the white flag would not be taken for a flag of truce as it was patterned after the old French Bourbon Flag", but the flag had been considered by many as looking too much like a flag of truce. As a result the flag was often manufactured with a shorter fly length in order to minimize the white field.
A new flag bill was introduced to the Confederate States Senate on 13
December 1864. Senator Thomas J. Semmes of Louisiana introduced Senate Bill No 137 with the statement that "naval officers objected to the present flag, that in a calm looked like a flag of truce". Much consideration followed the introduction of this bill, including consultations with high ranking officers of both the Confederate navy and army. The senate passed bill 137 on 5 February 1865 on to the house which also passed it on 27 February 1865. It was signed into law by President Davis on 4 March 1865.
Unlike existing war flags of the earlier patterns, there are very few survivors of the 1865 version as it was approved so late in the war. Many of the ones that do exist are actually the 1863 Stainless Banner with the fly shortened and a red bar added to the flag.
CSA Battle Flag "The Southern Cross" (November 1861-present) Flags that are used by troops in the field are known as "Battle Flags". The use of distinctive battle flags by combat units can be traced back to the middle ages in Europe and even to Roman legions. Flags that are used in battle are important because they let the battlefield commanders know what troops are where.
At the first great battle of Mannassas 21 July 1861 General Joseph E Johnston had overall command of the Army of Northern Virginia, but the greatest part of the actual planning and field operations were conducted by General P.G.T. Beauregard. On several occasions during the fighting, confusion was caused by the inability of commanders to distinguish their troops from that of the enemy. There were too many similarities in uniforms and the Confederate stars and bars (1st national flag) looked similar to the Union Stars and Stripes, add this to the dust and smoke of battle, it combined into a confusing battle to fight or command.
General Beauregard complained to Johnston, so the commanding General ordered the troops to use their state flags for recognition. But there were not enough of these state flags for all the regiments. General Beauregard asked Congress to change the 1st National Flag. Instead Congressman Miles suggested that the Army adopt a distinctive battle flag for its own use. The design that Miles urged the army to use was one that he had originally submitted to be the national flag of the confederacy, but was rejected. The Generals liked the Red Flag, with the blue cross and white stars, but felt a square flag would be more convenient for military use.
In November 1861 the first battle flags were issued to regiments. This flag is referred to as the "Southern Cross". It had 11 stars for the states currently in the CSA and one for Missouri, which had seceded, but was not yet admitted to the Confederacy for a total of 12 stars.
The first flags were made of silk, but which did not last very long exposed to the harsh weather conditions the army had to live in. Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) silk flags were used into 1863 by some units. Two were lost at Gettysburg for example. Their borders were yellow and the hoist edge a blue sleeve. The next flag issue was the ANV cotton flags, also of 12 stars. These were made in April, 1862 and given to three brigades as a stop gap measure.
The next issue of these flags in 1862 were made of heavy English wool bunting. They would now proclaim 13 stars. These first wool bunting flags were made in May 1862, Second Wool bunting flags in June (both with orange borders) and Third Wool bunting flags (with white borders for the first time) from July 1862 until May 1864. Fourth Wool bunting flags (these were the only ones that were 51 inches square) came in June 1864 with later bunting issues beginning in October through March 1865. The ANV flew 9 variants of their battle flag during the war.
The some regimental flags would have the regimental designation painted in gold on the blue cross above and below the central star. The regimental battle honors were painted in blue on the red field of the flag. Further researchers point out that most ANV flags were unmarked by honors or unit designations. Only those units in the 1863 divisions of D.H. Hill, A.P. Hill and Ed Johnson (issued April, May and September 1863 respectively) had flags done with the gold letters over the center stars and blue honors on the field. Pickett's Division received flags in June 1863 with white painted unit designations on their fields. Some brigades, like Cox's NC Brigade, Kershaw's SC Brigade and a few others had their own flags done in particular manners, most with honors only, either painted on the flag in white or blue letters or sewn on strips.
Battle Flags used on land by Confederate troops were usually in three sizes:
INFANTRY FLAG: This flag was the largest size a 48 inches to a square side.
ARTILLERY FLAG: This flag was the middle size. 36 inches to a square side
CAVALRY FLAG: This flag was the smallest size. 30 inches to a square side
NOTES: These measurements include the borders which were folded over the exterior of the field of the flag. In May through September, 1863 the infantry flags were only about 45 inches square to save scarce imported bunting. Also in many cases the artillery used infantry sized flags.
The different sizes of the flags made it easier for the commanders to not only tell what combat unit was where, but it also told the commander what type of unit it was. The Battle Flag was always in front of the regiment. This way the soldiers in the regiment always knew where they were to be. Should a soldier ever be separated from his unit, all he had to do was look for his regiment's flag.
It was indeed the intent of Generals Beauregard and Johnston to permeate the ANV flag all over the South in the field armies but both men met resistance from commands in other areas that had already created their own distinctive battle flags and so their efforts were mixed in terms of results.
The Armies of Tennessee, Mississippi, the states departments, and the Trans-Mississippi Department all had variations on size, shape color and markings on its battle flags. Many CSA battle flags were created by other unit commanders for the same reasons the ANV flag was, to settle battlefield confusion. Gen. Polk created his flag (a St. George's cross) in 2 versions for his corps (and a subunit, Dea's Alabama Brigade created flags similar but based more on French imperial flags); Gen. Hardee's corps used the famous "moon" flag of a white device (circle, oval or rectilinear, depending on when issued) on a blue field (the flag was actually invented by Gen. Buckner); Gen. Bragg's Corps used flags inspired by the ANV flag but with 12 six-pointed stars on it; Breckenridge's Corps used First Nationals well into 1863 as their battle flags; Bowen's Missouri Division used blue flags with red borders and a white Latin cross on it; Van Dorn's Army of the West used a Middle Eastern looking flag with a red field, either yellow or white stars and borders.
As for flags inspired by the ANV flag, The Army of Tennessee (AOT) flag of 1864 was supposed to be square also like the ANV (as per Johnston's orders to the Atlanta Depot) but the depot goofed and they came back rectangular. The flags of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi & East Louisiana ( the command unit for Polk's Army of Mississippi, Forrest's Cavalry Corps and others) were also slightly rectangular but with only 12 stars. These were made in Mobile by contractors Jackson Belknap and to a lesser extent James Cameron. Neither flag had colored borders. The flags of the Department of South Carolina, Florida and Georgia were also ANV flag inspired but were built differently. These square flags were made by the Charleston Depot and began showing up in April 1863. They can be discerned easily from ANV flags by their wider cross and colored pole sleeves of red or blue (ANV flags were tied to the poles).
Other ANV inspired flags, both square and rectangular appeared in ad hoc situations in the west and Trans-Mississippi theaters. The most unique were the flags of Gen. Walker's Texas Division issued in 1864. These were square, blue flags with red St. Andrews crosses and 13 stars. Other battle flags bore no resemblance to anything else previously known but contained usually a device that was prominent to the troops that carried them.
NOTE: All three national flags also served as unit battle flags, particularly in the West and Trans- Mississippi theaters. The First National flag, despite being changed officially in May 1863, was actually the only CS flag pattern that saw battle use from the beginning to the end of the war! Examples were taken at Appomattox, in North Carolina, and in battles of the 1864 campaigns.
Sources and further reading: Flags of the Confederacy, Cannon, Devereaux D. Pelican Publishing 1994, Internet: www.scv674.org/csaflags.htm
2.3. Doesn’t it bother you, flying that hateful racist flag? Don't you care how other people feel or that my ancestors were hurt by men flying that flag?
The flags of the Confederacy represented the Southern people, their nation, and their armies. There was no hate associated or intended with the making or displaying of the Confederate symbols of 1861-1865. Those symbols represent our ancestors and their struggles and sacrifices. They are a part of this countries history. Acts of war in 1861-1865 killed and hurt many people. The SCV deplores the use of these symbols by extremists and hate groups (such as white supremacist, skinhead, Neo-Nazi, KKK) which have no right to use the often seen Confederate Naval Jack of 1863, or any other sign, symbol, or token of the Southern Confederacy of 1861-1865. Acts of hate, in which our symbols are used are an inappropriate condemnation of our heritage and culture.
If you research closely you will see that these extremist groups fly and also defame the fifty-star American Flag, not to mention the flag of the Christian Churches of the world, with their white supremacist, racist bigoted, hate rhetoric. There is no demonstration to ban those flags, even when used by the hate groups. The Sons of Confederate Veterans zealously, condemn, denounce, all of these hate group for the misuse and degradation of any and all of the symbols of the Southern Confederacy 1861-1865. THE SCV also denounces any organized group that oppose our history and symbols for their own mis-informed campaigns, self promotions, or down right ignorance of history. Remember, these Confederate symbols are stained with the blood of our Southern patriot ancestors.
Many emotionalized attacks on our Confederate images have been presented. These shallow anti-Confederate arguments lack substance when studied. Again using 1990’s perspectives to judge actions of the 1860’s. This thought process is doomed to failure in a thinking society.
The following (Arguments 2.3.A to 2.3. G) are shared from the Heritage Preservation Association (HPA). The Heritage Preservation Association has organized counter attack arguments against those out to destroy Southern culture and its symbols. Some border on absurd and others appear, on the surface, to have merit unless you take a minute to study a little deeper. The most common arguments given for removing, changing or censoring a Confederate symbols are here presented. Immediately following each argument, is a logical response that successfully refutes the argument, demonstrating why it usually fails in its mission to convince.
(Note: The following arguments are copyrighted by the HPA 1996-1997. All Rights Reserved)
2.3.A-Argument #1 " Since the Ku Klux Klan fly the Confederate flag, it has become a symbol of hatred, racism and intolerance. We cannot let our state (or school or whatever) project an image of racism by flying a Confederate battle flag or something that contains the Confederate battle flag."
First, many in the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) do not fly the Confederate battle flag. In fact, only a small number actually use a Confederate flag. However, we are told that KKK bylaws require the U.S. flag and the Christian flag to be present at every event. Most people are not aware that the largest KKK membership is in the North and it has been that way since the early 1900s. Mr. Boyd Lewis, a Klan expert who spoke at DeKalb College in Atlanta, states that at the height of Klan power, "Indiana had the largest Klan population with over 2 million members between 1915-1916," (71). Most KKK groups prefer to use a U.S. flag or a Christian flag, yet oddly enough, no one is calling for the permanent censorship of those symbols!
Americans have been programmed, by the liberal media, into believing that the KKK is only a "Southern Thing" and that only Southern symbols must pay for the Klan's transgressions. A free-lance photographer and friend once related with frustration at how the newspapers never buy or use his photographs if they show the Klan carrying a U.S. flag. "They only want to use the photographs that show a Confederate flag." Based on the magnitude of media bias that would have us believe the Confederate flag and the Klan go hand-in-hand, although incorrect, it is understandable why people have the perceptions they do. However, those perceptions are based on false information, and it is the perception that must be changed, not the symbol that has been victimized by the perception.
At one time, man had the perception that the earth was flat. This was because his eyes were giving his brain false information, which was also fed by the many stories told and retold by sailors at sea. However, once we acquired accurate geographical information, we were forced to change our perception and accept the fact that the earth was not flat, but round. We must likewise change our false perceptions of Confederate symbols as being symbols of the Klan, when it truth, they are not.
Second, the use of a symbol by a person or group, does not convey the characteristics of that person or group to that symbol. For example, Malcolm X and the nation of Islam were indisputably, the black equivalent of David Duke and the Klan. Both lived and preached racial hatred. Both claimed to have found religion and converted. If the Confederate flag symbolizes the Klan's white racism against blacks, then we must interpret the "X" of Malcolm X, emblazoned on the clothes of many black consumers, as being symbolic of Malcolm X's black racism
2.3.B-Argument #2 "Confederate symbols represented history at one time, but Confederate-Americans have not acted to protect the sanctity of their symbols from use and abuse by hate groups, thereby Southerners have forfeited their claim to these symbols."
Southerners never willingly gave up their symbols 130 years ago and the same is true today. The abduction of our symbols by another group, does not constitute forfeiture, especially when there is no recourse for preventing their use by another group. Ironically, the same liberals who burn and abuse the U.S. flag and Confederate flags, are the same ones who work to overthrow the laws that are designed to protect those symbols from abuse. Even when the flag being abused is the U.S. flag, the courts have ruled that laws against such abuse are unconstitutional. If there is no recourse for protecting the U.S. flag from abuse by hate groups, how can any flag be protected? If the Nation of Islam marches with the black liberation flag, should we assume that this flag now represents the same racism and anti-Semitism espoused by this "hate group"?
2.3.C-Argument #3 "Confederate symbols should not be honored because they are cruel reminders of the by-gone era of slavery and slave-trade."
Slavery was a legal institution in this country for over 200 years. Africans were brought here by northern slave traders to be used in northern industry, long before the antebellum South or the Confederacy ever existed. The first American colony to legalize slavery was Massachusetts in 1641, only 17 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. "The slave trade became very profitable to the shipping colonies and Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire had many ships in the triangular trade," (72). "The moral argument against slavery arose early in the New England shipping colonies but it could not withstand the profits of the trade and soon died out." (73).
Thomas Jefferson condemned the slave trade in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, but the New England slave traders lobbied to have the clause stricken. In a short eleven year period form 1755 to 1766, no fewer than 23,000 slaves landed in Massachusetts. By 1787, Rhode Island had taken first place in the slave trade to be unseated later by New York. Before long, millions of slaves would be brought to America by way of 'northern' slave ships. After all, there were no Southern slave ships involved in the triangular slave, it was simply too cruel.
William P. Cheshire, the senior editorial columnist for the Arizona Republic recently noted, the New England Yankee who brought slaves to America, "were interested in getting money, not in helping their cargo make a fresh start in the New World." He adds that northern slave ownership "isn't widely known - American textbooks tend to be printed in Boston, not Atlanta - but early New Englanders not only sold blacks to Southern planters but also kept slaves for themselves as well as enslaving the local Indian population," (74).
Slavery did not appear in the South until northern settlers began to migrate South, bringing with them their slaves. It was soon discovered that while slaves were not suited to the harsh climate and working conditions of the north, they were ideal sources of cheap labor for the newly flourishing economy of the agricultural South. Of the 9.5 million slaves brought to the Western Hemisphere from 1500 - 1870, less than 6% were brought to the United States. This means that our Hispanic, British and French neighbors to the south owned over 94% of the slaves brought to the New World. In the South, less than 7% of the total population ever owned a slave. In other words, over 93% of Southerners did not own any slaves, (75).
Attempts to outlaw the slave trade in the north only increased the profits of smuggling. In 1858, only two years prior to the birth of the Confederacy, Stephen Douglas noted that over 15,000 slaves had been smuggled into New York alone, with over 85 vessels sailing from New York in 1859 to smuggle even more slaves. Perhaps it was their own guilt that drove the abolitionists of the day to point an accusing finger at the South, while closing their eyes to the slavery and the slave trade taking place in their own back yards.
For more than 200 years, northern slave traders mad enormous profits that furnished the capitol for future investments into mainstream industries. Who is more responsible for slavery in America, the Southern plantation owner who fed and clothed his slaves, or the New England "Yankee" slave trader who brought the slaves here in the first place?
From 1641, when Massachusetts first legalized slavery, until 1865, when the Confederate struggle for independence ended, slavery was a legal institution in America that lasted over 224 years. The Confederate battle flag flew for 4 of those 224 years, but the U.S. flag and its colonial predecessors flew over legalized slavery for ALL of those 224 years. It was the U.S. flag that the slave first saw, and it was the U.S. flag that flew on the mast of New England slaves ships as they brought their human cargo to this country. It is clear, that those who attack the Confederate flag as a reminder of slavery are overlooking the most guilty and hateful of all reminders of American slavery, the U.S. flag.
2.3.D-Argument #4 "Confederate symbols should not be tolerated because they represent a government that fought a war to keep blacks in bondage and to preserve the institution of slavery."
This is one of the most commonly used arguments against Confederate symbolism and on of the easiest to prove false. Everyone knows that the South (and the North) had slavery until 1865. The north had slavery at least until 1866, due to some holdouts like Union General Ulysses S. Grant who refused to give up his slaves until the passage of the 13th Amendment. Prior to 1866, slavery was completely legal. The Supreme Court had ruled favorably on the legality and constitutionality of slavery. Presidents Buchanan and Lincoln both promised many times, that they would not interfere with the practice of slavery. New laws were recently put on the books protecting slave owners from loss of slave property due to theft or runaways. Add to that, the fact that the Confederate states constituted the fifth wealthiest region in the world. The slave owning states had all of these things and more. So why on earth would Southern states secede from the United States? Surely, no one believes that the South would have left the security of the Union and gone to fight a war for something they already had! Countries do not fight wars for the things they have, they fight wars to obtain the things they do not have.
To emphasize how safe the institution of slavery was, let's look at what it would have taken to eliminate it. Since slavery was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, it would require a constitutional amendment and that is very difficult to achieve. Two-thirds of the House and Senate must agree to the amendment and then three-fourths of all the states must vote to ratify the amendment before it can become part of the U.S. Constitution. This simply would never have happened as long as the Southern states stayed in the Union! That's right, with the South in the Union, the northern and Southern slave states would have voted down any attempt to amend the Constitution, thereby guaranteeing that the institution of slavery could continue almost indefinitely. So you see, it is quite easy to prove that the South did not secede and fight a war to maintain slavery, an institution they already possessed.
What the South did not have was financial freedom. Southerners were slaves to the industrial demands of the north, just as blacks were slaves to the agricultural demands of the South. Growth potential was severely limited in the South, so long as the north continued to levy heavy tariffs on things that Southerners needed to purchase and heavy taxes on those things that Southerners produced. In the words of South Carolina senator John C. Calhoun in 1850, "The north has adopted a system of revenue and disbursements, in which an undue proportion of the burden of taxation has been imposed on the South, and an undue proportion of its proceeds appropriated to the north ... The South as the great exporting portion of the Union has, in reality, paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue,". Unfair taxation drove Americans to war with Britain in 1775 and against each other in 1861. History is quite clear on this point.
2.3.E-Argument #5 "Since Confederate symbols were erected and raised in defiance of court ordered integration during the 1950's and 60', they should be removed."
This argument goes hand-in-hand with those who try to portray the 1950's, especially in the South, as a decade of hate. This approach was popular with "civil rights" groups in Georgia as well as the liberal media. The Georgia state flag, for example, was changed in 1956. Those who want the flag changed today, claim that the current state flag was established as a slap in the face of court ordered integration, even though records indicate otherwise. Integration was ordered by the courts in 1952. If Georgia legislators were angry over integration, it would not have taken them four years to change the Georgia flag. If defiance had been the reason for the flag's change, it would have been changed the very same day as the court decision! After all, opposing integration in the 1950's was a popular position to hold, and it earned votes for politicians, both in the north and the South.
The formula for providing quality education has always been an illusive one with many variables. In the 1950's, some of those variables discussed by the members of the state legislatures in the north and the South included teacher salaries, improved curriculum, funding for new schools and integration. Any state whose elected officials did not thoroughly debate how court ordered integration might effect quality education was done a serious disservice. Yes, debates over segregation and integration took place during the 1950's, but the timing of those debates was chosen by the civil rights movement and not by the defenders of segregation who would have preferred that the debates never occur at all. Had the courts ordered integration 50 years earlier or 50 years later, the 1950's would have still been a decade of heritage not hate.
In the 1950's and especially the South, a nationwide preparation for the "Civil War Centennial" had begun. This event would include many states with activities spanning several years. The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta paled in comparison to the celebration surrounding the historic centennial event. President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a special proclamation calling on all state and federal employees to take part in the festivities. The Postal Service issued a special set of stamps to commemorate the event. Knowing that many visitors coming to the South would take guided tours, hundreds and thousands of historic markers were also placed throughout the 1950's in many states. The decade of the 1950's saw an enormous outpouring of Southern awareness that had its beginnings in the late 1930's with the incredible success of Margaret Mitchell's novel, "Gone With The Wind" and its subsequent movie premier in Atlanta. Hailed as an overwhelming success, this classic and moving story of the South's struggle for independence and then survival, continues to serve as an inspiration to millions of Americans today.
2.3.F-Argument #6 "Confederate flags are un-American and they do not represent all Americans."
It is impossible to find a symbol of a flag that will represent everyone. The most accurate polls to date show that 87% of all Americans are not offended by Confederate symbolism. Many Americans feel that they are best represented by a Confederate flag. Actions that appease 13% of our population while disenfranchising 87% of our population, are not progressive or democratic. Nor are they very savvy from a political point of view. When You have a symbol that is as popular as the Confederate battle flag, the best solution is to simply leave it alone.
Any person who claims that Confederate flags are un-American needs a remedial course in geography. "America" as we refer to it, consists of all 50 states, not just those that exist in the north. Southerners are Americans and their flags are American flags as well. A patriotic symbol is one that represents freedom and virtue to its owner, not necessarily to others who view the symbol. If the Confederate battle flag makes you feel patriotic and proud to be a Southern, then it is just as patriotic to fly a Confederate flag at your home or place of business as it is to fly the flag of the United States
2.3.G-Argument #7 "What's the big deal? It's only a flag. Besides, you have all of those monuments, memorials, markers, etc. to remind you of the Confederacy - Can't we find a compromise?"
The issue of whether to fly a Confederate battle flag is only the "tip of the iceberg". We are now seeing children abused in schools for wearing clothing with a portrait of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson or a likeness of a Confederate symbol, not only by roving gangs of black students, but by the administrators as well. We have seen numerous efforts by various groups to change street names, remove Confederate monuments, censor the playing of Dixie (a song written by a Northerner) and otherwise purge our society of an visible remembrances of Southern Heritage.
The tactic employed by the NAACP on a national level went like this. In one state, the NAACP would claim it was only the flag they wanted to remove. In another state, they would claim it was only a monument, or this, or that, trying to minimize the importance of their claim by contradicting or ignoring what the other NAACP spokesperson had said. In other words, they would use any means necessary to remove a Confederate symbol from its place of honor. The Heritage Preservation Association was the first "national" civil rights organization for Southern Heritage and we exposed this ploy of the NAACP for what it was. This forced the NAACP to go public with their true intentions in 1994 by stating it was their goal to remove ALL Confederate symbols from public property. No more lies. No more hidden agendas. It was now out in the open!
At the state or local level, their tactic was to strike with the absurd and then back off just enough to give the appearance of a "willingness to compromise". This ploy usually starts with a "civil rights" leader or group coming out with ridiculous proposals for censoring Southern symbols, knowing and expecting that these proposals will meet with opposition. The to show their "charity" and "flexibility", they offer a "compromise" that amounts to something less, but still hideous in the eyes of those who must give something up.
Civil rights leaders in Georgia, for example, declared that the Georgia state flag was not historic since it was only 35 or so years old. They wanted the Georgia state flag removed, but as a "compromise" they would allow it to be flown on special historic days. While this may sound charitable and rational to those who dislike Confederate symbols, it was unacceptable to everyone else. The HPA mirrored their efforts by suggesting "in the spirit of compromise" that the black community give up Martin Luther King Holiday, Black History Month in public schools and Kwaanza. For those unfamiliar with Kwaanza, it is a pagan harvest ritual, claiming to have African roots and celebrated during Christmas by a few blacks. It was invented only a decade or so ago, so it really has no historical importance, and is considered by many to be un-American. These civil rights leaders became furious that we would suggest that they give up anything. We were supposed to be grateful that they didn't start another race riot like the one Atlanta witnessed during the Rodney King fiasco. We flatly refused, and the media portrayed us, the victims, as "unwilling to compromise".
In Danville VA, a black city council woman complained that a Confederate flag was flying in front of the "Last Capitol of the Confederacy Museum and Memorial", so the city took it down. Apparently, Southerners are not supposed to fly Confederate flags anymore, even at Confederate museums. The flag had been flying approximately 250 days a year. The local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), had initially opposed the removal of the flag. But shortly after chapter leaders were reportedly offered positions on the museum board, the SCV and others quietly engineered a compromise where the Confederate third national flag would be flown only 23 days a year. The SCV claimed a victory but HPA and local residents were shocked and angry. A local HPA chapter was formed and within a year, had worked to elect one of their own to the city council. Knowing that HPA would replace them one-by-one, the city council became frantic to find a solution that would meet with HPA's approval. They did. There is now a Confederate monument where none stood before, and we have our Confederate flag proudly flying, not 23 days a year, or 250 days a year, but 365 days a year! Now that is what HPA calls compromise.
In South Carolina, we have another prime example of the dangers of compromise. Civil rights leaders wanted the Confederate battle flag removed from the State House dome in Columbia where if flies underneath the U.S. and state flags. To counter this, numerous "pro-Southern" leaders in the Sons of Confederate Veterans introduced yet another compromise that would remove the flag from the dome and place it next to a monument on the capitol grounds. But the monument had already been the target of the NAACP. In other words, these so-called leaders were willing to reduce the visibility of a Confederate symbol, give the civil rights leaders what they wanted by removing it from the State House dome, and place it next to a monument targeted for removal and in a location where it would surely be vandalized. The HPA exposed this "compromise" as cowardly, unthinkable, and unacceptable. HPA is desperately working in South Carolina to prevent this "compromise" from becoming a reality.
We have learned over the years, and through many attempts to negotiate a solution, that those who attack Southern Heritage are themselves, unwilling to compromise. They expect Southerners away their heritage, but they are not willing to give them anything in return. If we start giving in on any issue, then all symbols of the South will gradually disappear. Pro-Southern organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and others must learn this lesson, and soon. Compromise has become the gradual dismantling of Southern Heritage - one symbol at a time.
A simple test for the worthiness of any offer to compromise is to determine the resulting visibility of the Confederate symbol being challenged. After all, a true compromise is where both sides win something or both sides lose something. If one side wins and the other loses, that, by definition, is not a compromise but a defeat. Any solution that reduces the value, validity or visibility of a Confederate symbol is not a compromise and therefore unacceptable.
Sources and Further Reading: Contact the International Headquarters of the SCV at call 1-800-MY SOUTH (697-6884), Heritage Preservation Association, P.O Box 98209, Atlanta, GA 30359-1909, Phone: (770)-928-2714 Fax: (770)-928-2719, email: hpa@american.net
Part #3: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE WBTS, THE SOUTH, AND THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
Listed are but some of the many good books that are available for reading. These books will present to the reader a perspective of the War For Southern Independence that many books do not present. They are listed in alphabetical order.
"Abolitionism Unveiled" by Henry F. James 1856
"Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" 8 Volumes, by the men who fought in the war, edited by Century Magazine, 1887
"Berry Benson’s Civil War Book: Memoirs of a Confederate Scout and Sharpshooter" by Berry Benson 1962
"Black Slaveowners, Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina 1790-1860" by Larry Koger 1985
"Cannone