Private Louis Leon (1841-1919) -- A Tarheel Confederate Soldier

Louis Leon (1841-1919) pictured in his United
Confederate Veterans (UCV) uniform.

Louis Leon was born on November 27, 1841 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, U.K. to German-born Jewish parents Abraham Leon (1898-1878) and Eva Hirsch Leon (1800-1874). The family immigrated to America and settled in New York City, then sometime around 1858, at the age of 16, Louis moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and settle into the small Jewish community in Mecklenburg County, finding work as a clerk in a clothing store.

When the State of North Carolina seceded from the Union on May 20, 1861, Leon -- then 19 years-old -- joined the "Charlotte Grays" Company C of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers Regiment under Captain Egbert Ross, and began his tour of duty on May 21, 1861 in Richmond, Virginia, one day after North Carolina seceded from the Union.

His tour of duty through Virginia lasted six months, during which time he participated in the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. The 1st North Carolina Regiment was commanded in the battle by then Colonel Daniel Harvey Hill. This was also the battle where the war's first enlisted Confederate soldier -- 19 year-old Private Henry Lawson Wyatt -- was killed, the only Southern soldier to die that day.

The regiment disbanded shortly after, and he returned to Charlotte.

On April 14, 1862, Leon would again join the service of his new country and become a private in Company B, 53rd North Carolina Infantry Regiment. The regiment was mustered into Confederate service at Camp Magnum in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 30, 1862 and sent to Virginia to serve in General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia throughout the war.

Leon kept a diary of his wartime experiences as a private soldier through the war and later as a prisoner of war when he was captured along with other members of his regiment at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. Leon would remain a POW at the infamous Elmira Prison in New York until the end of the war when he would take the Oath of Loyalty to the Union upon learning of General Lee's surrender. Once he was released, he visited his parents in New York City, then returned to Charlotte to resume his career as a store clerk.

After the war and the Reconstruction Era, Leon became a Major in the North Carolina United Confederate Veterans (UCV) becoming very active in that organization both locally and nationally, and was known locally in Charlotte a "Major Leon" in honor of his service. Leon was also instrumental in helping to erect Charlotte's Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Monument on May 20, 1898.

He married Sarah Levy (1850-1909) of New York and the couple had three children: Rebecca Leon DeLane (1874-1920), Henry L. Leon (1876-1943), and Clarence Leon (1886-1955).

His youngest son, Clarence, would serve in the United States Army in the American Expeditionary Forces as a Private in World War I. There is a photo showing the aged United Confederate Veterans at the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina welcoming home North Carolina's American Veterans from Europe in early 1919 -- both father and son were in attendance.

North Carolina UCV members welcoming home North Carolina's "Doughboys" from the
European Western Front at the NC State Capitol in Raleigh in early 1919.
Image courtesy of the NC Department of Archives and History.

In 1913 at the age of 72, Louis Leon published his Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier with Stone Publishing Company in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time when most first-hand accounts of the War Between The States were written by officers, Leon wanted to show the war from the point of view of the private Confederate soldier. The diary, which he kept throughout his military service and his time as a prisoner of war, shows the grizzly reality and horror of war up close and personally.

The following are the excerpts of Leon's account of the Gettysburg Campaign including the three days of fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) and aftermath:

June 25 -- Marched on, passed through Leesburg, Canada, Hockinsville, and Centerville, all small villages. We got to Carlisle, Pa., at sundown. Marched 21 miles to-day. This city is certainly a beautiful place. It has 8,000 inhabitants, and we were treated very good by the ladies. They thought we would do as their soldiers do, burn every place we passed through, but when we told them the strict orders of General Lee they were rejoiced. Our regiment was provost guard in the city, but were relieved by the 21st Georgia Regiment, and we went to camp at the U. S. barracks. So far we have lived very good in the enemy’s country. “We stayed here until the 30th, when we took the Baltimore pike road, crossed South Mountain at Holly Gap, passed through Papertown and Petersburg. We then left the Pike and took the Gettysburg road – 17 miles to-day. This has been a hard day for us, as we were the rear guard of the division, and it was very hot, close and very dusty, and a terrible job to keep the stragglers up.

July 1 -- We left camp at 6 A.M., passed through Heidelsburg and Middleton. At the latter place we heard firing in the direction of Gettysburg. We were pushed forward after letting the wagon trains get in our rear. We got to Gettysburg at 1 P.M., 15 miles. We were drawn up in line of battle about one mile south of town, and a little to the left of the Lutheran Seminary. We then advanced to the enemy’s line of battle in double quick time. We had not gotten more than 50 paces when Norman of our company fell dead by my side. Katz was going to pick him up. I stopped him, as it is strictly forbidden for anyone to help take the dead or wounded off the field except the ambulance corps. We then crossed over a rail fence, where our Lieutenant McMatthews and Lieutenant Alexander were both wounded. That left us with a captain and one lieutenant. After this we got into battle in earnest, and lost in our company very heavily, both killed and wounded. This fight lasted four hours and a half, when at last we drove them clear out of town, and took at least 3,000 prisoners. They also lost very heavily in killed and wounded, which all fell into our hands. After the fight our company was ordered to pick up all straggling Yankees in town, and bring them together to be brought to the rear as prisoners. One fellow I took up could not speak one word of English, and the first thing he asked me in German was “Will I get my pay in prison?” After we had them all put up in a pen we went to our regiment and rested. Major Iredell, of our regiment, came to me and shook my hand, and also complimented me for action in the fight. At dusk I was about going to hunt up my brother Morris, when he came to me. Thank God, we are both safe as yet. We laid all night among the dead Yankees, but they did not disturb our peaceful slumbers.

July 2 -- Our division was in reserve until dark, but our regiment was supporting a battery all day. We lost several killed and wounded, although we had no chance to fire — only lay by a battery of artillery and be shot at. The caisson of the battery we were supporting was blown up and we got a big good sprinkling of the wood from it. Just at dark we were sent to the front under terrible cannonading. Still, it was certainly a beautiful sight. It being dark, we could see the cannon vomit forth fire. Our company had to cross a rail fence. It gave way and several of our boys were hurt by others walking over them. We laid down here a short time, in fact no longer than 10 minutes, when I positively fell asleep. The cannonading did not disturb me. One of the boys shook me and told me Katz was wounded by a piece of a shell striking him on the side, and he was sent to the rear. We went on to the Baltimore Turnpike until 3 in the morning of the 3d.

July 3 -- When under a very heavy fire, we were ordered on Culps Hill, to the support of Gen. A. Johnson. Here we stayed all day — no, here, I may say, we melted away. We were on the brow of one hill, the enemy on the brow of another. We charged on them several times, but of course, running down our hill, and then to get to them was impossible, and every time we attempted it we came back leaving some of our comrades behind. Here our Lieutenant Belt lost his arm. We have now in our company a captain. All of our lieutenants are wounded. We fought here until 7 P.M., when what was left of us was withdrawn and taken to the first day’s battlefield. At the commencement of this fight our Brigade was the strongest in our division, but she is not now. We lost the most men, for we were in the fight all the time, and I have it from Colonel Owens that our regiment lost the most in the Brigade. I know that our company went in the fight with 60 men. When we left Culps Hill there were 16 of us that answered to the roll call. The balance were all killed and wounded. There were 12 sharpshooters in our company and now John Cochran and myself are the only ones that are left. This day none will forget, that participated in the fight. It was truly awful how fast, how very fast, did our poor boys fall by our sides — almost as fast as the leaves that fell as cannon and musket balls hit them, as they flew on their deadly errand. You could see one with his head shot off, others cut in two, then one with his brain oozing out, one with his leg off, others shot through the heart. Then you would hear some poor friend or foe crying for water, or for “God’s sake” to kill him. You would see some of your comrades, shot through the leg, lying between the lines, asking his friends to take him out, but no one could get to his relief, and you would have to leave him there, perhaps to die, or, at best, to become a prisoner. Our brigade was the only one that was sent to Culps Hill to support General Johnson. In our rapid firing today my gun became so hot that the ramrod would not come out, so I shot it at the Yankees, and picked up a gun from the ground, a gun that some poor comrade dropped after being shot. I wonder if it hit a Yankee; if so, I pity him. Our regiment was in a very exposed position at one time to-day, and our General Daniels ordered a courier of his to bring us from the hill. He was killed before he got to us. The General sent another. He was also killed before he reached us. Then General Daniels would not order any one, but called for volunteers. Capt. Ed. Stitt, of Charlotte, one of his aides, responded, and he took us out of the exposed position.

July 4 -- We laid on the battlefield of the first day, this the fourth day of July. No fighting to-day, but we are burying the dead. They have been lying on the field in the sun since the first day’s fight; it being dusty and hot, the dead smell terribly. The funny part of it is, the Yankees have all turned black. Several of our company, wounded, have died. Katz is getting along all right. The battle is over, and although we did not succeed in pushing the enemy out of their strong position, I am sure they have not anything to boast about. They have lost at least as many in killed and wounded as we have. We have taken more prisoners from them than they have from us. If that is not the case, why did they lay still all today and see our army going to the rear? An army that has gained a great victory follows it up while its enemy is badly crippled; but Meade, their commander, knows he has had as much as he gave, at least, if not more. As yet I have not heard a word from my brother Morris since the first day’s fight.

July 5 -- Left this morning a 5 o'clock. Only marched ten miles to-day. The enemy being in our rear, and skirmishing very strong. 

Major Louis Leon, at the age of 78, died in his sleep on June 28, 1919 in New York City, New York while visiting relatives. He is buried with is wife in the Hebrew Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The grave of Confederate veteran Louis Leon & his wife, Sarah 
at Hebrew Cemetery, Charlotte, North Carolina.

I would like to add an important caveat to this story.

In doing research on the life of Private Louis Leon, I found that there was a granite marker at the Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery near the old chapel honoring Leon along with 12 other Jewish men from Mecklenburg County who served in the Confederate military. In addition to photographing Private Leon's grave site, I was going to add a photo of that marker as well.

However, I was informed by cemetery employees that the marker had since been removed at some point by staff around 2017 out of "fears of vandalism" following the dishonorable purge of Confederate symbols and markers around that time.

Out of respect for the South's dead, I will list the names of those Jewish Confederates buried there:

Captain Julius Roessler, 13th Regiment NC Troops
1st Lieutenant Edward B. Cohen, 1st Regiment NC Volunteers
2nd Lieutenant Solomon A. Cohen, 1st Regiment NC Volunteers
Sergeant Major Aaron Katz, 53rd Regiment NC Troops
Corporal Henry Wertheim, 53rd Regiment NC Troops
Corporal Phillip Schiff, 44th Regiment GA Infantry
Private Louis Leon, 53rd Regiment NC Troops
Private Charles S. Liberman, 13th Regiment, NC Troops
Private Jonas Engel, 53rd Regiment NC Troops
Private Jacob Donau, 53rd Regiment NC Troops
Private I.C. Levi, 1st Regiment NC Volunteers
Private Sam Oppenheim, 1st Regiment NC Volunteers
Private Jacob Katz, 1st Regiment NC Volunteers

"Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad."
("Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.")
In blessed and eternal memory of those Southern men of Jewish faith who answered the call to defend Dixie 1861-1865.
May their names continue to live on as a blessing to their heritage and community.
Deo Vindice.

Source for the quotes come from the Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ISBN-13: 978-0692288214. Pages 33-38.

Confederate Veteran Weary Clyburn (1841 - 1930)

Mr. Weary Clyburn of Lancaster County, South Carolina.
Co. E, 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment, CSA.
Member of the United Confederate Veterans.
Image courtesy Lancaster (SC) Historical Society.

 

Weary Clyburn was born into slavery in Lancaster County, South Carolina sometime in the year 1841. He was listed as the son of one Phillip Blare and was raised with his master’s son, Thomas F. "Frank" Clyburn.

When the War Between The States broke out in April, 1861, Weary Clyburn went to war with Frank, as his bodyguard. Both men served as members of Company E, 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment.

The 12th South Carolina Infantry was formed at Lightwoodknot Springs near Columbia, South Carolina in July of 1861. Frank Clyburn was made the Captain of Company E. Both young men were present during all the major battles that the unit fought in as part of the General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the war, Frank officially gave Weary manumission (freedom) and though he was under no military obligation to remain with the regiment or work for Frank, Weary elected to remain with his friend. As part of Company E, Weary Clyburn also performed jobs as a forager, cook, and at times picket duty with a borrowed rifle on occasions during the war.

Frank Clyburn would be promoted twice during the course of the war: to Major on Tuesday, November 17, 1863; and then to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on Friday, May 6, 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness.

Colonel Clyburn was badly wounded at the Battle of North Anna near Jericho's Ford on Monday, May 23, 1864. It was there that Weary was reported to have carried the wounded Frank Clyburn off the battlefield and saving his life.

Weary Clyburn was with the 12th South Carolina Infantry Regiment when it formally surrendered at Appomattox Court House on Monday, April 10, 1865. Clyburn, along with the remaining 159 officers and men of the regiment walked back to South Carolina together.  

After the war, Weary and Frank remained friends until the Colonel Frank Clyburn passed away on October 16, 1896. Frank and his wife, Eliza, moved to Union County, North Carolina.

Weary Clyburn was known for his fiddle playing and his enthusiastic approach to life and attended dozens of reunions with surviving members of the 12th South Carolina Infantry after the war, and was a proud member in good standing of the United Confederate Veterans.  One prominent post-war photo shows Weary Clyburn with his fiddle attending the 50th Anniversary 1913 Reunion of the Battle of Gettysburg along with the other 8,750 former Confederate soldiers in attendance. 

Weary applied for a pension for his service in the War Between the States on Monday, February 1, 1926 in the State of North Carolina and was one of the first persons of color to receive a Confederate pension in Union County, North Carolina.

The oral history Weary shared with the Union County pension board tells us he was present at the training camp in Columbia [SC] and also with the company at Charleston, Morris Island, Page's Point and Hilton Head "and other places throughout the war; that at Hilton Head, while under fire of the enemy he carried his master out of the field of fire on his shoulder; that he performed personal services for Robert E. Lee; that he has been a resident of this county [Union County, NC] for four years; that he is eighty-five (85) years old; has a wife and foolish boy to support..." (the family shared that the 'foolish boy' was named Lee) Attorney, J. P. Richards of Lancaster, SC submitted an affidavit dated January 22, 1926 for Weary's pension application that verified that "Worry D. Clyburn seved [served] in the Confederate Army from the years 1863- to 1865, along with Capt. Frank Clyburn of the 12th regiment of the South Carolina volunteers;...he is eligible for pension if he lived in this state. However, as he lives in the state of North Carolina, I sincerely recommend him for pension and any other possible aid obtainable in that state."

However, upon his death and a racist ruling by a North Carolina Attorney General, his wife was denied his pension declaring in a letter that "negro (sic) pensioners are not classified as Confederate soldiers." So few former Black Confederates lived long enough to even see the pensions that they did receive and they were classified as "type B", very similar to the widows of soldiers; so the State of North Carolina at the time probably would not want to extend the pension to the widow.

In spite of this, the former Confederate Veterans that he served with helped raise money for Eliza our of respect for his service to the South, and also because Weary also apparently helped raise money for veterans reunions and expenses through his fiddle playing at hotels.

Weary Clyburn died on Sunday, March 30, 1930. According to a notice of death in The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, April 1, 1930, by Aaron Perry, another former black Confederate Veteran, Weary was "...long a figure here and at Confederate reunions, was buried yesterday wrapped in the Confederate uniform of gray" in accordance with his final wishes. His casket was also covered with a Confederate battle flag.

Nearly 78 years after his death, in the summer of 2008, Weary Clyburn's grave was marked by a new Confederate Veterans' headstone by the James Miller Camp #2116, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). In attendance was his then living elderly daughter, Mattie Clyburn Rice -- herself an active member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) -- as well as members of the Clyburn family, some of them remain active SCV and UDC members today.

His daughter, Mattie, passed away in 2014 and her ashes were buried with her father at his grave at Hillcrest Cemetery in Monroe, Union County, North Carolina.

Grave of Weary Clyburn,
Confederate Veteran.

A special thanks to the members of the Lancaster County (SC) Museum, the James Miller Camp #2116, SCV, South Carolina Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy (SC UDC), and the Clyburn family for the information in this article.

Two Confederate Veterans In Honor Of Black History Month

Pictured in this photograph are two Confederate Veterans at a reunion of the United Confederate Veterans taken near the battlefield at Brice Crossroads near Baldwyn, Mississippi in July of 1921.

On the left is Joe Wiley, then 90 years old, who served in Company A, 7th Georgia Infantry Regiment, CSA. On the right is Howard Divinity, then 91 years old, who served in Company A, 12th Mississippi Infantry Regiment CSA.

This month of February, designated as Black History Month in the United States, this blogger honors their service, and that of all African-Americans who served honorably in America's wars.

The Southern Fried History of Sweet Iced Tea

The Southern Fried History of Sweet Iced Tea

By: C.W. Roden 

June 10th is National Iced Tea Day, Y'all. 

With the exception of water, tea is probably the most consumed beverage in the world today. Millions of Americans consume roughly 3.5 billion gallons of tea a year, and of that number around 85% of the tea consumed is iced tea, making it one of the most popular drinks in America.  

In the American Southland, this iconic hot-weather beverage has been the drink of choice -- with iced cold lemonade running a close second -- for more than a century-and-a-half.

From personal experience, I know that nothing beats sitting in a rocking chair on your front porch, or on the porch swing, and enjoying a nice tall glass of sweet iced tea with a piece of lemon inside. Some people enjoy other flavors: lime, mint, apple, cherry, peach, strawberry, or just plain; while some horribly misguided souls prefer unsweetened iced tea (blasphemy!).

A glass of cold, sweet tea is as much a part of the Southern supper table as fried chicken and 4th of July picnics. South of the Mason-Dixon Line this beverage is as popular as barbecue and watermelon. Some people down here in Dixie also drink their iced tea from a Mason jar; though it is just as acceptable to serve Southern sweet iced tea in a tall crystal glass, or a paper Dixie cup.  A pitcher of sweet tea can almost always be found in every refrigerator in the South.

Yes folks, there is nothing like this sweet Southern-born nectar to cut the scorching heat during those long summer months.

Southern sweet iced tea has its humble origins in this writer's own home state of South Carolina. The Palmetto State is the first place in the United States where tea was grown and produced commercially. The first crop of tea in America was planted in Dorchester County in the late 1700s by French botanist and explorer Andre Michaux and his son, Francois at what is now the site of Middleton Place Gardens. Eventually, sprigs of those same tea leaves were transferred to Wadmalaw Island, where tea is still grown and cultivated today at the Charleston Tea Plantation.

Today, the town of Summerville boldly proclaims itself: "The Birthplace of Sweet Tea" and the town's Chamber of Commerce launched a Sweet Tea Trail in 2013. At stops along the trail, visitors can get a sweet-tea facial, lunch on a sandwich made with a sweet tea -- marinated pork chop, or hit a few balls on a golf course at the Summerville Country Club, the site of a former tea farm. 

Sweet tea recipes have been found in Southern cookbooks dating back to the 1830 during the late Antebellum period when cold green tea "punches" spiked with booze gained in popularity. The recipes called for green tea and not black tea, because green tea was more common than black tea in America before about the 1880s when the import of inexpensive black tea exports from British India, Ceylon, South America, and Africa became more popular. 

Perhaps the oldest printed recipes for iced tea date back to the 1870s. Two of the earliest cookbooks with iced tea recipes are the Buckeye Cookbook by Estelle Woods Wilcox, first published in 1876; and Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree, first published in 1877. 

The drink was also apparently quite popular with the South's former veterans of the War Between the States (1861 - 1865) as well. 

According to an article from the September 28, 1890 issue of the Nevada Noticer newspaper regarding the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) Missouri State Reunion in 1890:

"The following figures will convey some idea of the amount of provisions used at Camp Jackson during the recent encampment. There were 4,800 pounds of bread, 11,705 pounds of beef, 407 pounds of ham, 21 sheep, 600 pounds of sugar, 6 bushels of beans, 60 gallons of pickles, and a wagon load of potatoes. It was all washed down with 2,220 gallons of coffee and 880 gallons of iced tea. The committee expended $3,000, a little in excess of the amount subscribed, for the entertainment of the old soldiers."

Confederate Veterans at a reunion in South Carolina circa 1900
enjoying a meal that includes glasses of iced tea.

We have the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri to thank for the lift-off in the national popularity of iced tea. A man named Richard Blechynden, India Tea Commissioner and Director of the East Indian Pavilion, was offering free hot tea for everyone. However, because that summer was exceedingly hot summer fair goers were looking to cool down and hot tea wasn't going to cut it.  Blechynden and his tea took the brewed black India tea, filled several large bottles and placed them on stands upside down running the tea through iced lead pipes cooling it down. The free iced tea became very popular to the thirsty fair goers. 

By World War I (1914 - 1918) Americans were buying tall glasses, which became commonly known as iced-tea glasses, long spoons suitable for stirring sugar into taller glasses and lemon forks. Iced tea became a common recipe in most Southern cookbooks a the time.

The Prohibition Era (1920 - 1933) helped boost the popularity of iced tea as Americans looked at alternatives to drinking beer, wine and hard liquor, which were made illegal during this period. Restaurant owners needed something to serve diners other than water. Given the heat and the Southern preference for all things sweet, restaurants began offering chilled tea with bowls of sugar on the side. 

This practice shifted starting in 1942 following the U.S. entering World War II, when fighting with Japan cut off trade routes in the Pacific. Cargo vessels to Hawaii, which was a chief source for domestic sugar, were redirected for military use, and sugar became the first food designated for wartime rationing. Even after the end of the war, the price of sugar remained tempestuous, forcing restaurant owners to rethink their approach to iced tea. 

World War II also had a significant impact on tea because most sources of green tea became unavailable to the American public leaving the only source of tea being black tea exported from British controlled India. By the end of the war Americans were drinking nearly 99% black tea. 

Following the end of the war in 1946, a returning U.S. Army mess cook named Milo Carlton opened Milo's Hamburger Shop in Birmingham, Alabama. His business served quick food for workers at the nearby factories. Because of the continued sugar shortage, Carlton couldn't afford to bake pies and leave sugar out for sweet tea. So he began the practice of pre-sweetening his tea in the back before service -- something that probably nobody else thought to do before, but others soon caught on. Not long after tea began arriving at table pre-sweetened as a standard, prompting the rise of the now-standard question: "Sweet or unsweet? -- as if that's even a choice!

In 1995, South Carolina's tea was officially adopted as the Official Hospitality Beverage by State Bill 3487, Act No. 31 of the 111th Secession of the South Carolina General Assembly on Monday, April 10, 1995.  

So folks, however y'all enjoy it -- yeah even you weirdos who like it unsweetened -- let's remember on this 10th day of June to raise a toast to our beloved Dixie-born beverage. Nothing else beats the heat quite like a tall glass of Southern-made sweet iced tea.

Cheers!

Wearing of the Gray

Wearing Of The Gray

The fearful struggle's ended now and peace smiles on our land,

And though we've yielded we have proved ourselves a faithful band.

We fought them long, we fought them well, we fought them night and day,

And bravely struggled for our rights while wearing of the gray.

And now that we have ceased to fight and pledged our sacred word,

That we against the Union's might no more will draw the sword.

We feel despite the sneers of those who never smelt the fray,

That we've a manly, honest right to wearing of the gray. 

Our cause is lost the more we fight 'gainst o'erwhelming power,

All wearied are out limbs and drenched with many a battle shower.

We feign we rest for want of strength in yielded up the day,

And lower the flag so proudly born while wearing of the gray.

Defeat is not dishonor; No, of honor not bereft,

We thank God that in our hearts this priceless boon was left.

And though we weep tis for those braves who stood in the proud array,

Beneath our flag and nobly died while wearing of the gray.

When in the ranks of war we stood and faced the deadly hail,

Our simple suits of gray composed our only coats of mail.

And on the awful hours that marked the bloody battle day,

In memories we'll still be seen wearing of the gray. 

Oh! should we reach that glorious place where waits a sparklin' crown,

For everyone who for the right his soldier life lay down.

God grant to us the privilege upon that happy day,

Of claspin' hands with those who fell while wearing of the gray.

This lament for the Confederate States Army, sung to the tune of "Wearing of the Green" was published in 1865 at the end of the War Between The States.

You will never be forgotten!

Black Confederate Presentation At The Museum Of The Waxhaws

It is almost always a pleasure for me to formally meet in person with fellow Confederate heritage supporters that I correspond with online. 

On Saturday, February 21st of this year, I got the opportunity to meet up with one very amazing Southern lady at the Museum of the Waxhaws just over the border in Waxhaw, North Carolina, one Miss Teresa E. Roane, a noted archivist and historian from Richmond, Virginia. 

Miss Roane is a member of the Richmond-Stonewall Jackson Chapter #1705 United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Captain Sally I. Tompkins Chapter 2 Order of the Confederate Rose out of Richmond, Virginia. She is also an archivist at the UDC Library in Richmond.

She is also the owner of many really unique and marvelously large hats that she displays oh so beautifully. 

Miss Roane traveled all the way from Virginia to the Carolinas border town to present a wonderfully detailed presentation on the contributions of Black Confederates and Afro-Southern loyalists during the War Between the States. 

What better place to hold such an event than the Museum of the Waxhaws, located near Andrew Jackson State Park - the birthplace of Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States of America. A truly amazing place that this blogger highly recommends to tourists visiting the Waxhaw, North Carolina area.  

The following are some really good photos I took of the trip. 

The Secrest Log House.
Built in the first quarter of the 1800s and was
originally located four miles west of Monroe, NC
and later moved to the Museum of the Waxhaws
in 1997 to become a part of the walking tour.

Wooden crosses with Confederate Banner
flying overhead.

The flag flying above the wooden crosses is a
replica of the Confederate 1st National Flag
"Stars & Bars" pattern used as the headquarters flag
of General Robert E. Lee,
Army of Northern Virginia, CSA.

Marker commemorating the Scots-Irish
Settlers of the Waxhaws region.
Andrew Jackson's parents were among those
early European settlers who traveled down the
Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania
to the Carolinas.

The Museum of the Waxhaws.

Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson,
mother of Andrew Jackson.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Miss Jackson lost both her older sons in the war,
and later in 1781 died of smallpox while helping to
tend wounded prisoners held at Charleston, SC.

22 Star US Flag of a pattern used during the start of
Andrew Jackson's presidency.

Another Confederate 1st National "Stars & Bars"
flag (7 Star Pattern).
Artifacts from the War Between the States (1861-1865)
are also included.

Reunion flag of the Monroe, NC
United Confederate Veterans (UCV).

About the United Confederate
Veterans and the flag.

Historic photograph of the dedication ceremony of
the Confederate Soldiers' Monument in front of the
Old Courthouse, Monroe, NC in 1910.

Catawba Indian pottery.

Native American arrowheads collected
from the area on display.

A temporary exhibit was set up for the occasion with
Civil War artifacts -- including information on Black Confederates
and their service. Courtesy of the NC Museum of History.

An exhibit honoring the services of local "Colored Confederates"
including images of past local services honoring Black
Confederate Veterans and a recently departed Real Daughter.

A small copy of the marker dedicated to Black Pensioners of Color
placed at the base of the Confederate Monument in nearby Monroe,
NC on Saturday, December 8, 2012.
A memorial ribbon from the memorial service is included.
This blogger also attended that service as seen HERE.

Bullets fired during the Battle of New Bern, NC
in 1865 still embedded into tree trunks.

Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis' cane.
A present given to him by a Black Confederate
Veteran after the War.

Model of the submarine HL Hunley -- first man-made submarine
in history to sink an enemy warship.
Included in the display is a replica of the gold dollar piece
found in the submarine during excavation and the HL Hunley Award
medal and ribbon annually given by the Sons of Confederate Veterans
to high school JROTC candidates.

Confederate Naval Officer re-enactor and wife in
mid-1800s period attire.

Local SCV member and museum volunteer Mr. Tony Way
with Professor Earl L. Ijames, Curator of the
North Carolina Museum of History.
One of the guest speakers for the event talking about
Black Confederates and their service in the Confederate military.

 Miss Patricia Poland, librarian, genealogist and local
historian in Monroe shared her extensive research on a
local Confederate Pensioner of Color Aaron Perry.
He was a slave and former Confederate Veteran who
became a man of recognition, honor and influence.
It was truly fascinating to hear what she found out
about this one life who was a slave and how
Mr. Perry went on to influence so many thru his life.

SCV member Mr. Gregory Perry, the great, great, great grandson
of Aaron Perry, whose life was researched as a local slave and how
he served in the Confederate military and came out and
influenced so many lives in so many ways.

As the keynote speaker, Miss Teresa Roane, spoke eloquently
and passionately on minorities (slaves and free men of color)
in combatant support roles in the Confederate Army and their
significance to the Confederate military.
It was truly an honor to listen to her speak.
Those in attendance learned much from her research.

All in all a good afternoon learning about some of those men who fought to defend Southern independence and the land of their birth. Not to mention meeting Miss Teresa in person. It was a great honor for me.

For more information on the Museum of the Waxhaws or the subject of Black Confederates and their descendants please check out the links to the right of this blog, as well as the links provided in the post.