A Man Worthy of our Admiration

In the Sons of Confederate Veterans history is of supreme importance. This includes the choosing of our camp names. It is no accident when you consider the man for who is the namesake for our camp. Our camp is appropriately named for a man who is worthy of our admiration and respect, for General Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the finest Confederate officers. But we must also remember that General Forrest was also a man who was a success in every aspect of his life. He was a man of high character.

We feel that it would be appropriate for our camp newsletter to contain a column devoted to General Forrest. This column will become a regular part of our newsletter. We will attempt to look at the many faceted aspects of General Forrest's military as well as his civilian career. Our goal is for you to appreciate even more the character and abilities of this great man.

Sadly, this is all the more necessary because the name and reputation of General Forrest are under attack by those who despise the Cause of the South. Forrest's name and legacy have been slandered and it is our duty to see that we defend the honor of this Confederate hero. What is it that made Forrest such a great man? The first thing you notice about Forrest is the obstacles that he was forced to overcome. His father died when Bedford was only sixteen, leaving him as the head of the household. These early years did much to shape the character of Forest. The struggles and difficulties of frontier life taught Bedford the value of hard work and discipline,

lessons he would never forget.

Forrest was a success in every endeavor that he attempted, whether it was in business or in the tactics of war. Prior to the war he estimated his net worth at 1.5 million dollars, quite a fortune in those days. He came by that fortune through sacrifice and hard work. The war revealed him to be a military genius even though he had no formal military training. His natural ability allowed him to view a battle situation and immediately see the tactics that were required. His tactics were studied and praised for years after his death.

Forrest was also a man of high moral character. Through the difficulties of his upbringing and the influence of his mother and later of his wife, Forrest learned the value of character and morality. These lessons prepared him for the business world as well as leadership on the battlefield. He understood what too few in our day realize-character matters.

We have a one-sided view of Forrest. We can only picture him in the heat of battle. The following story recounted by his medical officer and kinsman, Dr. J. B. Cowan, shows that Forrest also had a tender side:

It was when the battle was over that the tender and gentler part of his nature came out. He would come to my hospital, help me with the wounded, go about them with kind words of encouragement, and aid me in caring for them as tenderly as a mother. I have known him to give his clothing and personal effects away on many occasions to the needy wounded. He would say to me:

'Doctor, do all you can for those poor fellows.' I have seen the tears running down his cheeks as he was speaking to some unfortunate soldier who had not long to live.

How different this is from our notion of Forrest simply as a warrior.  He was also a man of feeling and compassion. You would find it a good investment of your time to study the life of Forrest and see this great man as he really was. There are several excellent biographies. I will recommend three that will give you a better understanding of Forrest the man. The first is John A. Wyeth The Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. I would also recommend Andrew Lytle's Bedford Forrest and His Critter Company and Robert Seiph Henry Nathan Bedford Forrest First With the Most. Take the time to get acquainted with General Forrest. You won't be disappointed. 

- Kenneth Studdard  

Jackson Hill Task Force

March 1, the Rome City Commission took the first important step in making plans for the future of Fort Norton, and the entire Jackson Hill Historic District, with the appointment of a fifteen member Task Force. According to a letter to appointed members from City Clerk Joe Smith, "the purpose of the Task Force is to study the Jackson Hill area, and make recommendations for its future use." The fort site, and the entire Jackson Hill complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places two years ago, largely due to the efforts of Compatriot Gilbert Smith, who has been named as a member of the Task Force along with Compatriot John Carruth.

  Other members of the group include Rome City Commissioners Jamie Doss, George Pullen, and Bill Collins.  Also appointed were: Terrie Mayes, Louie Canova, Larry Madden, Diana Shadday, Roy Mann, Christine Colley, Georgia Bums, Connie Burnes, Marion Richards, and Marion Shaw.

  The Task Force held a get acquainted meeting Friday, March 26, and conducted a walk through of the entire Jackson Hill Historic District, including the ruins of Fort Norton. Some members had never visited the site, and seemed surprised at the well preserved trenches still plainly visible today, according to Compatriot Smith.

  With the recent total demise of the Resaca Battlefield project in neighboring Gordon County, the City of Rome and the community as a whole should seize the opportunity to develop this as a tourist attraction, as it has been described by preservation experts as containing some of the finest remaining trench and earthworks from the War. Let us hope that this Task Force will be able to finally break the log jam that has frustrated us all in the preservation and appropriate development of this historic site.

    Confederate Memorial Services

Camp 469's Confederate Memorial Service will be at Myrtle Hill Cemetery Sunday, May 2, 3:00 P.M. Past Georgia Division Commander Compatriot Jim Reynolds will be the featured speaker for the service.

  The Eighth Regiment Band will provide music, and salutes will be fired by the Cherokee Artillery and an honor guard. The colors will be presented by the Honor Guard of Shanklin-Attaway, Post 5, American Legion.

  You are also invited to attend the Maj. John Pelham Camp's service April 25 at 3:00 PM CDT., in the City Cemetery at Jacksonville, Alabama.

Future Speakers

Our speaker for the May 6 meeting will be Compatriot William K. (Bill) Snowden, Historian of the Major John Pelham Camp of Jacksonville, Alabama. Bill has worked closely with our Camp on past projects, and conducted the research which led to the identity of the Confederate Soldiers buried at Farmer's Bridge. He retired from the United States Marine Corps as a Chief Warrant Officer, and is an experienced military history researcher. His topic for the evening will be the Organization of the Confederate Army.  Bill is a most knowledgeable researcher and speaker, and you will not want to miss this most informative presentation.  

  June 3, Georgia Division Lt. Commander William Lathem will present the program. Cmdr. Lathem is past Northwest Brigade Commander, and he will speak to us about business items to be addressed at the Georgia Division Reunion to be held June 12 - 13 in Waycross. He has been a strong supporter of Camp 469 projects, and has provided meeting programs and spoken at memorial services in the past. Most recently, he was the featured speaker at the 1999 Lee-Jackson Banquet. William is a dedicated member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and has been on the battle lines to protect the good name of the SCV and the Confederate Soldier. Please make your plans to attend as we consider how our delegates will vote on the issues to be presented at the Division Reunion.

    Battle of Resaca

This year marks the 135th. anniversary of the Battle of Resaca, and the annual re-enactment will be a national event, with sponsorship by the North-South Alliance. Organizers are planning for the largest re-enactment they have ever staged, and Camp 469 will be there on Sutler's Row.

  Since this will be a national event, we will need as many volunteers as possible to man the tent, and help us to sell our wares, and tell the true story of the South, and of our Confederate Ancestors. We will set up our tent on Wednesday, and you are encouraged to help in setting up, working during the re-enactment, or with the tear down of the encampment Sunday afternoon. In addition to selling our merchandise, we will also hold the drawing for our CS Richmond Rifle Sunday afternoon after the battle.

  Please contact Compatriot Larry Barwick to schedule when you will be able to work at this most important  fund raising event for the Camp. If you have not worked at a re-enactment, this should be one to remember.

Birthdays

I           Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner (1823)

10         Lt. General Leonidas Polk (1806)

10        Brig. General Thomas R. R. Cobb (1823)  

17        Brig. General Phillip St. George Cocke (1808)

20        Brig. General Alfred Holt Colquitt (1824)

MAY

 Birthdays

1   Maj. General John B. Magruder (1807)  

15  Maj. General Isaac R. Trimble (1802)  

16  General Edmund Kirby Smith (1824)  

21  Maj. General Dabney H. Maury (1822)  

26  Brig. General E. Porter Alexander (1835)  

27  Maj. General Robert F. Hoke (1837)

28  General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (1818)  

31  Maj. General William Fitzhugh Lee (1837)

31  Maj. General Stephen D. Ramseur (1837)  

Events

6-7       Battle of Shiloh (1862)

9        Appomattox (1865)

12        Fort Sumter is fired on-beginning of War (1861)

17        Virginia secedes from the Union (1861)

20        Robert E. Lee resigns from the US army (1881)

Events

1-4   Battle of Chancellorsville (1863)

5-6  Battle of the Wilderness (1864)

8-12  Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (1864)

10   Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson died (1863)

31  Battle of Seven Pines (1862)

Prayer Breakfast Announced

The third annual Stonewall Jackson Prayer Breakfast will be held Saturday August the fourteenth.  The breakfast will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the South Broad United Methodist Church. There will be a hearty breakfast at 9 followed by a message given by Kenneth Studdard, assistant Chaplain of the Camp and Chaplain of the Northwest Georgia Brigade. Tickets will go on sale in July and be available until August 11.

  Members are encouraged to invite their pastor, and any other friends or relatives interested in attending. This is one of our most meaningful events, and there is always plenty of food and good fellowship. We will again have a variety of foods served buffet style, at a cost that you won't find in any restaurant.

  Please make plans to attend this event that focuses on a neglected and important aspect of our Confederate heritage-the spiritual life of so many of our Confederate ancestors.  

Did You Know............

Union Gen. Jefferson C. Davis described Rome, Georgia as "the most heavily fortified city I have seen in Dixie"?

The first submarine to sink a ship in combat was the CSS H.   L Hunley, which sank the USS Hausatonic in Charleston Harbor on February 17,1864. The Hunley and her entire crew were lost when the man-powered submarine sank, probably from the concussion of the blast?

  150,000 Confederate soldiers claimed conversion to Christianity in the "Great Revival" of 1863?

  That Bishop-General Leonidas Polk held the distinction of having baptized three Confederate Generals during the War? (John B. Hood, Joseph E. Johnston, and William Joseph Hardee)

  Gen. Robert E. Lee once said "I don't believe we can have an army without music"?

Rethinking the War

I have recently been giving a great deal of thought to the War Between the States and I must confess that it is forcing me to rethink some of the positions that I have held for so long. In this column I would like to share some of the new conclusions that I have drawn in my reevaluation.

The first thing that I have had to reconsider is the Cause of the War. I know that each of us would agree that the War was a clash of two different cultures-the agrarian South and the industrial North. Two different lifestyles and two different world views. To look at our modern world and the progress we have made as a nation perhaps the North was right. After all, if the South had won, we would not be a superpower, nor would we have worldwide influence on the scale we now enjoy. Of course if the South had won, we would not have many of the moral problems we have today, but that is the price of power and prestige.

 We must also rethink the conduct of many of the Northern generals. Men like Grant, Sheridan, Butler, Sherman, and numerous others believed in total war. They were committed to victory at any cost, even if it meant waging war on civilians.

  At first that seems barbaric, but after all, they had to do whatever it took for victory. Remember the American adage, 'if it works, then it must be right'. These men were pragmatists who lived by the maxim, 'the end justifies the means'. They simply took this way of thinking to its logical conclusion on the battlefield.

  This allowed them to operate with the sole purpose of victory. Everything else, including the Constitution, was subservient to that purpose. If Southern civilians were willing to support the war effort of their countrymen, then they should be prepared to face the consequences. Burning crops, homes and even cities simply prevented this type of rebellion from ever occurring again. Again, we must realize that these men were simply doing whatever it took for victory regardless of the cost.

The other aspect of the War that I have had to rethink is regarding Abraham Lincoln.  Perhaps you admire Lincoln and feel that he was a compassionate man who was simply caught in a difficult situation or perhaps you revile him as the Southern people did during the War. The latter has long been my feeling, but now I am being forced to reevaluate my position.

Let's consider a few actions taken by Mr. Lincoln. First, the only reason that he suspended habeas corpus and imprisoned innocent people was to preserve the Union. He realized that the government was superior to 

the individual citizen. Hadn't that always been the mind set of great rulers of the past-George Ill, Napoleon, the Caesars, and countless other successful leaders? Lincoln simply wanted to follow in their train.

When President Davis and General Lee offered to exchange prisoners later in the War, Lincoln refused. It would help the Southern War effort. The South was in need of soldiers, while the North had an endless supply. Davis next offered to simply release the Northern prisoners. Again, Lincoln refused. Finally, President Davis offered to allow Lincoln to send medical supplies for the ailing prisoners. Again, Lincoln refused. After all, these men should be willing to pay the price for the Northern War effort. We must see that Lincoln was simply doing whatever it took to secure victory. Perhaps this is where the Northern generals learned their strategy.

Of course, Lincoln is known as the Great Emancipator because he was instrumental in freeing the slaves. Of course, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free any slaves in Missouri, Kentucky or Delaware, nor did it free any slaves in Union occupied territory in the South. It only freed slaves where Lincoln had no authority to do so-in the Confederate States. But we must remember that Lincoln first of all had to guard his power base.  Freeing the slaves in these other areas might have gotten Lincoln into hot water. What is your reaction to what I have written so far?  Anger? Disbelief? I hope so. For as I write these words I am all too well aware that this newsletter will be released on April 1, and I believe that we all know that is known as April Fools' Day. And if you stop and think about it, one has to be a fool to think that the North was right in the War Between the States.

Our Confederate ancestors understood the Constitution as the Founding Fathers intended. They were alarmed at the encroachments already taking place and foresaw the mess that we are in today.  The Northern generals conducted war on a scale and in a manner unheard of in modern Western civilization. While men like Robert E. Lee took special care to preserve the rights and properties of noncombatants, the Northern generals had no such qualms. Last, but not least, the myth of Honest Abe is one that Southerners must not tolerate. He was a man who waged war on our ancestors with a ruthlessness that should make us shudder. Never for a moment surrender the belief that the South was right, for she most certainly was.

DEO VINDICE!

-Kenneth Studdard  

Doctor Quintard: Chaplain C. S. A. and Second Bishop of Tennessee

Charles T. Quintard (edited and extended by the Rev. Arthur

Howard Noll)

Sprinkle  Publications reprint (1999), 211 pages  

  Congratulations are in order to Sprinkle Publications for their reprint of this important volume regarding the work of this influential Confederate Chaplain.  Previous to this reprint, this was a scarce volume available only at a premium in the second hand book shop.

  Charles Quintard was born in 1824, the son of a prominent Connecticut businessman. Quintard attended Medical School and began his career as a medical doctor. But a few years later the Lord called him to a higher calling and he was ordained into the Episcopal ministry in 1856. He was called to the pastorate of the Church of the Advent in Nashville, the church he was serving at the outbreak of the war. He was elected Chaplain by soldiers from Nashville who enlisted for the defense of their homeland.

  The bulk of this volume is Quintard's recounting of his experiences as a Confederate Chaplain. Here was a man who seemed to be involved in every major action of the War. He was with General Robert E. Lee in his campaigns early in the War in western Virginia. He witnessed Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. He was present at the clash of  

the ironclads, the Monitor and the Virginia. He accompanied the Army of Tennessee in the invasion of Kentucky. He was at the battles of Chickamauga, and Atlanta. Sadly, he was witness to the tragic battle of Franklin.

  What impresses you as you read Chaplain Quintard's account is the amazing perceptiveness he showed into men and the events that surrounded them. He was in a unique situation that few others enjoyed during the War. He crossed paths with a Who's Who of Confederate leaders including and not limited to: Braxton Bragg, Kirby Smith, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest and Leonidas Polk who was a close friend of Quintard's.

  One of the most moving episodes in the book is Quintard's account of his sharing the Gospel with General Bragg. Bravely he told him of his sin and his need for grace. The General wept and that day came to a saving knowledge of Christ.

  Here you get the firsthand account of a man who experienced War in all its glory, but also in all its tragedy and suffering. Charles Quintard was a man who loved the Confederacy and the Cause that personified it. He gave himself wholeheartedly to that Cause while there was hope. He gave himself to binding up her wounds when hope was lost during the years of Reconstruction, serving as the Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee.

I would highly recommend this volume to you as a means of understanding the story of the Confederacy seen through the eyes of a man who loved her.

-Kenneth Studdard  

This book is available through Sprinkle Publications 54O-434-43 16