News from the Camp

Feb 2007 Issue

http://www.bencaudill.com

Ben E. Caudill Camp #1629

Box 1102

Whitesburg, KY 41858

The Last Salute

An empty chair now and forevermore shall sit at our table in remembrance of those that have gone before.

Mark Barger, Cecil Brown, Harold Cantrell, Greg Caudill, Vernon Cooper, Atlas Hall, James Hamilton, Johnny C. Osborne, Jake Smith, Henry Webb, Michael Wright

Let us welcome our newest members!

Dr. L. Chase Allen, Florida

Dr. Allen’s grandson, Jacob Allen, Florida

David V. Chaltas, Ashland, KY

Morgan Dwayne Blair-Isom, KY

Wesley Callahan-Fusonia, KY

The General’s Dispatch  

We are saddened to hear of the loss of our compatriot Vernon Cooper.  He was a fine man that loved his heritage.  He will be sorely missed.  Let us dwell on what is going right with our camp and projects.  To date we have answered the call of presenting at different locations, as noted in the website journal.  We have compiled the three-year journal of the camp into a book entitled, Follow the Drum.  We now have an active voice in the KY Division Executive Council and are recognized on the national front as a model program honoring our ancestors.   We have undertaken a joint project with our Virginia brothers and sisters this month in setting a new flagpole at the Gap honoring the great state of Virginia.  We have in the planning stages a major dedication on May 27^th to honor those men buried at the Sandlick Cemetery.  We are assisting in research for the camp and other people that lean on our expertise.  We continue to discover more about our ancestors, record their deeds and set stones.  We currently have over 90 pages towards Confederate Kin II (draft copy).  We are going forward in the direction in which we must continue to grow, as outsiders attack our ancestors’ good name in an effort to eradicate the very fiber of our Southern heritage.  We must seek refuge in numbers and stand to execute the Charge that has been given to us as Southerners.  Each One Reach One!!!  With sacred principles to maintain, I remain your obedient servant.  Old General…Laus Deo

Upcoming Events; February 8-1^st in a series of Presentation to the West Care Facility at Ashcamp, Ky.  Another presentation will be given in March.  In return they will assist in keeping the monument area mowed at Pound Gap, clean up the Fincastle Trail and be available for any future projects that we have.  We need to attend the Letcher County Fiscal Court and Jenkins Council meeting in the month of March to discuss future projects.  Research and stone setting activities are still being done.  A date to set the Virginia Flagpole Pound Gap trash pickup needs to be set this month.  February 21, the 5^th KY, Co. F will meet at the Vocational School at 6:00. March 16-Meet the Generals at the Rose Center, Morristown; March 17-18,-Battle of Shiloh-Shiloh, Tennessee;

Lt. Commander’s Report

Greetings compatriots. Our yearly elections are over and the people have spoken. It is now time to turn to the real issues that face our camp and indeed the whole SCV organization.  On Feb 10, 2007, Commander Chaltas. Lt Commander Back and Cumberland Valley Brigade Lt. Commander Taylor attended the KY Division SCV meeting in E'town.  The meeting was well represented by camps from over the state.  The topic of discussion included the adjutant, heritage and chaplain reports.  The ‘Lost Cause’ was discussed along with the Website and listserver.  New business included the Vicksburg Monument (it should be in place by early summer!), heritage issues, 2007 Reunion, formal recognition of two new camps, and having a S. D. Lee Institute in Prestonsburg.  A push is being made in the KY Division for recruiting. It is estimated that there over 1,000,000 Confederate descendants in the state of KY and we need to reach as many of these people as possible to include them in our ranks. Deo Vindice Lt. Commander Back

The Adjutant’s Desk

The Colonel Ben E. Caudill Camp # 1629 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has 106 members as shown on the official roster at this time.  In reality, there are 75 paid members.  If you know anyone that has not rejoined, please contact him and urge him to do so. EACH One REACH One!

I would like to welcome our three newest members of the Caudill Camp, David V. Chaltas, Dr. L. Chase Allen and his grandson, Jacob Allen, both of Florida.  They both entered the camp on the ancestry of Sergeant Ira Allen of Company G, 13^th Kentucky Cavalry.  Dr. Allen had read the article on the Sandlick Cemetery Monument in the Kentucky Explorer, which gave him the opportunity to join our camp. 

The first monthly meeting of the re-enactment arm of the camp met on January 24^th.  Fifteen members of Company F, 5^th Kentucky Infantry, attended the meeting.  Anyone interested in joining the company or would just like to attend the meeting to know more about our ancestry, can attend the next meeting on February 21 at the Letcher County Vocational School.  

As for the Financial Report, the camp has approximately $608.45 in the checking account.  We also have approximately $508 in our saving account that is earmarked for scholarships.  The majority of the money in the checking account will be going toward the purchase of the sixth panel for the Pound Gap Monument.  We need to have some sort of fund-raiser soon, possibly a road cleanup. 

The Allen Central High School has been given to the site based counsel.  The Floyd County Board of Education voted to allow the school itself to determine if they want to continue using the mascot “Rebel” or not. Unfortunately, Coleman of Louisville now states he will take the issue to Frankfort and attempt to force the State Board to disallow the use of these type names for mascots.  Honoring the Memory of our Ancestors, I remain your Adjutant Brown 

Trivia Questions

What name was given to the flammable solution of phosphorous in cannon balls?

What metal were smoothbore cannons made of?

What type of rifle bore the name of a Virginia town that played a major role in the war?

What famous artillery unit had guns named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

Why was the artillery piece called the Brooke Rifle so highly regarded in the Confederacy?

What type of rifle was called by Confederates “that damn Yankee rifle that they load up on Sunday and fire all week”?

What nine shot revolver was sometimes given to high-ranking Confederates as a gift for promotion?

What type of ammo, used in the famous Springfield rifle, made older rifle ammo obsolete by the war’s end?

What were “niter beds”?

What much-loved English made rifle was often issued to men on sniper duty?

Sayings of the South

"It is the tradition that a Kentuckian never runs.  He does not have to...he is not obligated to retreat, nor to consider whether he can safely retreat, but is entitled to stand his ground, and meet any life threatening attack made upon him with a deadly weapon."  Civil War Veteran known only as Gibson

“If you bring these leaders to trial it will condemn the North, for by the Constitution secession is not rebellion.” Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court privately delivered this opinion on charging captured Confederate officers with treason.

“On they come, with the old swinging route step and swaying battle flags. In the van, the proud Confederate ensign. Before us in proud humiliation stood the embodiment of manhood; men whom neither toils and sufferings, nor the fact of death could bend from their resolve; standing before us now, thin, worn, and famished, but erect, and with eyes looking level into ours, waking memories that bound us together as no other bond; was not such manhood to be welcomed back into a Union so tested and assured? On our part not a sound of trumpet more, nor roll of drum; not a cheer, nor word, nor whisper or vain-glorying, nor motion of man, but an awed stillness rather, and breath-holding, as if it were the passing of the dead!” Joshua L. Chamberlain at Appomattox.

“Any people, anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suites them better.  This is a most valuable and sacred right-a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it.  Any portion of such people, that can may revolutionize and make their own of so many of the territory as they inhabit.”  Honest Abe, January 12, 1848

Bluegrass Confederate, Guerrant’s Diary

Wednesday, May 13, 1863

At the Salt Works at Brashearville, Kentucky

“From Ball I crossed on to Buckhorn, over the worst of roads, ah “Roads” did I say?  I beg pardon of the Via Appia- the N.O. Shell road- and the turnpikes of Kentucky.  It was no road I traveled. A winding, devious, deer-path across a creek a thousand times, over logs, brush and banks, make a mile an hour fast traveling.  Night closed in upon me, alone I this primeval solitude, wet and raining and so dark I had to guess at the path, scarcely traceable in midday.  About 9:00 P.M. I arrived at Captain Hays of Caudill’s Army, now at the Salt Works, and here I staid tonight, after a ride of 35 miles over the worst way in the state.  Mr. Hays and Miss Manda McDaniel entertained us tonight with sundry songs, serious and sentimental. 

Stone Total:  858 with 216 Dedications!

Answers to Trivia Questions

Greek Fire

Bronze

The Harper’s Ferry Rifle, manufactured in Harper’s Ferry Arsenal, Virginia (now W.V.).

The Rockbridge Artillery of Virginia

It was designed and built in the Confederacy by John Brooke.  Other than it and the Williams Gun, the rest of the cannons were made either in the U.S. or Britain.

The popular Henry Rifle. (The Spencer was a repeater but not as reliable as the Henry)

The LeMat revolver which could fire either standard rounds or “grapeshot”

Conical, or, in common terms, a normal bullet-shaped bullet.

Trenches and holes outside communities where people could dump urine, used in the making of niter needed for gunpowder.

The Whitworth, with a range of over a mile.

Minutes

January 18, 2007, 2006

The monthly meeting of the Colonel Ben E. Caudill Camp was held on January 18, 2007, at the Letcher County Vocational School in Whitesburg.  Members present were: Carlos Brock, Raymond Isaacs, Willis Strong, Manton Ray Cornett, Okie Blair, Timothy Blair, Danny Taylor, Willie Cornett, John P. Back, Tabby Back, Chris Back, Garland Kiser, Danny Wright, Dale Wright, Wayne Watts, Michael Watts, Gary Begley, Wayne Whitaker, Leathan Whitaker, Dewayne Blair, Glenn Brown, David Chaltas, Richard Brown and Bob Balthis.

Carlos Brock called the meeting to order. Danny Taylor led the Pledge of Allegiance.  Commander Chaltas led the salute to the Confederate Flag.  Tabby Back gave the opening prayer.  Commander Chaltas welcomed all new guest and explained the flag draped, Empty Chair.  Danny Taylor read the minutes of the last meeting (December of 2006).  Gary Begley made a motion to accept the minutes as read, John Back seconded, motion passed.  Commander Chaltas read the Camp voting regulations and explained them.  He also announced that the election was held under the old camp bylaws. The only election was between John P. Back and Carlos Brock for Lt. Commander.  There was no one running against other candidates for office.  Both candidates were given five minutes to talk to the camp asking for their vote, neither gave a lengthy speech.  Vote tellers, Manton Ray Cornett and Raymond Isaacs, were in charge of election.  There were thirty votes including absentee votes.  They came back in and announced that John P. Back had won the election.  Camp officials are as follows:  Camp Commander, David Chaltas, Lt. Commander, John P. Back, Adjutant, Richard Brown, Sergeant at Arms, Wayne Watts, Chaplain, Tabby Back and Historian, Faron Sparkman.  Carlos announced that the camp had set 860 stones and had 24 more ordered.  Commander Chaltas gave the commander’s report.  Richard Brown gave Adjutant Report.  Commander Chaltas read an article by Commander Sullivan regarding the Allen Central High School’s Mascot problem.  Michael Watts asked the camp if they would be interested in placing an ad in the 14^th Region Championship Program.  John Back made a motion to take the ad, Bob Balthis seconded, motion passed.  Hat was passed and the amount for a full page, $100, was raised.  Faron Sparkman sent a request to transfer $100 into the Camp’s Hazard bank account to cover cement purchases for tombstones.  John Back made a motion to transfer the money, Carlos seconded, motion passed.  Commander Chaltas showed a proposed proclamation requesting Letcher County Judge Jim Ward proclaiming January 21 as Lee-Jackson Day.  Gary Begley made a motion for the Commander to present the proclamation to the judge, Mike Watts seconded, motion passed. It was announced that the Virginia flagpole to be placed at Pound Gap was in at Rokie’s.  Mosby Restaurant in Wise sent word that they are considering having a Tri-State meeting every three months and give discounts.  Danny Taylor made a motion for the camp to buy 100 small CSA flags to place at graves for Memorial Day, John Back seconded, motion passed.  Camp will vote on ISBN number for Confederate Kin book at the next meeting.  For the upcoming 900 stone setting, Carlos suggested doing the five soldiers that were killed at the mouth of Neely Branch and buried in William D. Hall Cemetery.  Gary Begley will talk to Knott County’s judge about working on road to cemetery.  Commander Chaltas announced that Colonel Adkins has a mortar for sell for $400.  Camp needs to thank Mark Carroll for his great work on the website.  Discussed Camp Scholarship to be given away this fall.  Applicants need to write an essay about their Confederate ancestor.  Lethan suggested the camp dedicate Stiller Bill Caudill, David Back, Hiram Stamper and Anderson Hayes graves this spring.  Camp voted to dedicate Stiller Bill, David Back and Lewis Back on March 24 or 25, time needs to be set and inform family.  The dedication of the Sandlick Cemetery Monument and graves will be on Memorial Day weekend, on May 27 at 1:30 P.M.  Need to contact Jimmy Bates at VFW as they shoot over the graves at 1:00 P.M. that day.  Commander Chaltas announced that the camp’s re-enacting group, Co. F of the 5^th Kentucky Infantry would meet January 24 at the Vocational School.  Richard Brown gave out Trivia Questions. John Back gave closing prayer.  The next regular meeting will be at the Vocational School on 2/13/07. 

Executive Council Meeting

February 13, 2007

Present Richard Brown, John Back, Dave Chaltas, By Law Committee Representative Danny Taylor

Developed Agenda

Discussed dedications in March

Reviewed By Laws I-XIV-congratulated Committee representative Taylor for their revisions

Discussed heritage Issues plans

Talked about the KY Division Executive Committee’s action

Placing Sandlick Cemetery article (written by Richard Brown) on line

Agenda

February 15, 2007

Call Business meeting to order-Sgt. At Arms

Prayer-Chaplain Tabby Back

Pledges

Scripture Reading-Chaplain Tabby Back

Ancestral Roll Call-All members

Welcome-Recognition of new SCV & Associate Members

Dr. L. Chase Allen, Florida

Dr. Allen’s grandson, Jacob Allen, Florida

David V. Chaltas, Ashland, KY

Morgan Dwayne Blair

Wesley Callahan

(HAND OUT:  Membership Applications 2 each)

State if there is a Quorum present

Reading/Approval of Minutes-camp member

Commander’s Comments

Lt. Commander’s comments

New Business

PRESENTATION:  Rhonda Roberts and Wise County Historical Society

2^nd reading of the Bylaws-vote on each section individually after one is read-QUORUM?

Allen Central Update-Heritage Issue

Kentucky Division Executive Council Meeting

Form committee to update website mission/goals

Form a Public Relations Committee

Dedication:  March 24, 2007 at Caudill’s Branch-Stiller Bill Caudill, starting 1:00

Dedication March 24, 2007 at Elk Creek-David Back, starting 2:00

Open Floor

Present H. K. Edgerton for honorary membership

Present Dan Buckner (General Stonewall Jackson) for honorary membership

Present Roger Kelly (Butternut) for honorary membership

Present Carroll Campbell for honorary membership

Present Namuni Young for honorary membership

Amendment XV-follow Robins Rules of Order

ü

Events Committee-Report on Status of 2007 events-Kenny Cantrell

Bench at LCCHS

Confederate Kin-ISBN=$150.00----Confederate Kin II has 93 pages to date!

Movie via Dean and Nita Cornett

Stone Reports-858 set with 216 dedications to date

Dedication of Whitesburg Cemetery Monument-is posted on website

Trash Pickup and Pound Gap Flag pole-set date

Trivia-Richard Brown

ü Quilt drawing…Adjourn by Prayer