Free Republic

When he mentions that his daddy fought for the Confederacy, H.V. Booth gets more than a few raised eyebrows. “Really? Really?” Booth says, mimicking people’s incredulity. “They just can’t believe it.” His father, Isham Johnson Booth, a country boy from north of Athens, played a bit part in the Civil War. But it was a grim role, the memory of which never left him and was something he rarely spoke about. He was a guard at Andersonville, the prisoner-of-war camp in south-central Georgia that has become synonymous with suffering. Booth, who turns 92 this month, is the end of a...

Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell's recent proclamation of Confederate History Month provoked a firestorm of criticism, with many accusing him and those who commemorate their Southern ancestors' bravery of ignoring or even defending slavery. But the cruel and evil institution of slavery was not the sole or even primary reason for the South's secession from the Union, nor was it a significant motivating factor for individual Confederate soldiers. Yet many of us in the South, including those descended from old Jewish families of the Confederacy, still struggle to expose the truth about why Southern soldiers fought, the courage they showed...

Another project that the Patrick Cleburne Camp is heavily engaged is the annual memorial to the great General himself: Patrick R. Cleburne. This 25th annual memorial service for the Irish-born Confederate General will be held on March 13 in the Helena, Arkansas Confederate Cemetery. The memorial will begin at noon with key-note speaker Glen Dedmondt, author of The Flags of Civil War Arkansas, which Mr. Dedmondt dedicated to General Cleburne. Many spectators will meet at 10am at the McDonald’s in Helena prior to the memorial for breakfast. The public is invited to attend and all living historians are invited to...

MONROE – At first glance, it’s an unlikely combination. A black family seated under a tent facing a line of Civil War re-enactors, proudly holding Confederate flags and gripping their weapons. But what lies between these two groups is what brought them together: An unmarked grave about to get its due, belonging to a slave who fought for the Confederacy. Weary Clyburn was best friends with his master’s son, Frank. When Frank left the plantation to fight in the Civil War, Clyburn followed him. He fought alongside Frank and even saved his life on two occasions. On July 18, the...

All the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our Forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth. --Robert E. Lee Why do Americans continue to remember their past? Perhaps it is because it was a time when truth was spoken. Men and women took their stand to give us the freedoms we now enjoy. God bless those in military service, who do their duty around the world for freedom. The Hall of Fame for great Americans opened in 1900 in New York City. One thousand...

Internet station. Plays Dixie once an hour. Needs a download of their own player. I have used it for six weeks with no problems. And the stream is clear.

BOSTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- At long last, Confederate Navy Lt. Edward J. Johnston will be making his final voyage, home to a hero's welcome. Johnston is believed to be the last Confederate prisoner of war buried in New England. But thanks to the efforts of veterans groups and Civil War re-enactors in the North and South, his remains are to be moved from Massachusetts to Florida for reburial this month with full Confederate military honors, 139 years after his death. This will be Johnston's fifth -- and final -- grave. This one, however, is special. It will be with...

Almost 50 people gathered at the Scotland County Courthouse for a Confederate Memorial Day service Sunday afternoon. The event was sponsored by the Son of Mars Camp 1632 branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It was held to honor the “Immortal 600,” a group of 600 Confederate officers who were held at Morris Island, S.C., and used as human shields to protect Union positions.Three members of the “Immortal 600” were from Richmond County, which included part of Scotland County. They were Capt. Alexander Troy Cole, 1st Lt. Edwin Scipio Hart and 1st Lt. Franklin McIntosh, who was from Laurel...