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An empty chair now and forevermore shall sit at our table in remembrance of those that have gone before.
We welcome our guests and give a Rebel Yell to the newest members of the proud decedents of the men who rode with the 13th Kentucky Cavalry!
I have listened very intently to the rhetoric and posturing of our SCV officers at the International Headquarters attempting coups and arguing on which side is right and
which side is wrong. I have read literally hundreds of letters in disbelief as
I watched normally rational southern compatriots ripping at each other’s throats. I
have been reluctant to speak without hearing both sides, so I could make a wish decision, for I not only represent myself, I represent the camp and also the good name of General Robert E. Lee. But enough is enough! I have reached some personal conclusions and I must let you, my brothers know how I feel. The first is it doesn’t really matter to me who is right or wrong but what DOES matter to me is those people violating the Charge and oath taken to vindicate my ancestor’s good name. Both sides should be ashamed! Not only am I embarrassed but also ashamed of what has happened to the good name of my ancestors in which I had entrusted those people with the guardianship of their good name. How, why did this slap upon my/ours forefathers occur without me/us getting full wind of the turning of the tide? I have seen so many people asking what General Lee would think of this. I too wonder, since he represented the very fiber of every Confederate soldier. As a man who has studied Lee and portrayed the Christian nature of his life in 37 events last year alone, I can tell you that General Lee would be the first to say it is beneath the dignity of a Southern man to harbor such thoughts and actions. He would be the first to attempt to mediate and think what would be the best for his country and his people. Will the stubborn wills of a few seeking power, politics interfere with principles for our people. I call for a day of prayer for the Confederacy. I call upon each Confederate American to beg God Almighty to forgive us and lead us back on the honorable path. For if we do not, the dark forces will have won without even lifting a finger. “We have seen the enemy and it is us.” When we stray the path chosen we begin our own demise. Is it too late to compromise? Is it too late to sit down and negotiate terms of understanding for all so that my ancestors will rest assured once more that we are vindicating the cause, we are defending his good name, we are guarding his history, we are emulating his virtue, we are perpetuating the principles he loved, we are honoring those ideals which made him glorious, and that we also still continue to cherish those principles held so dear. Are we not brothers and as such, should we not be willing to set aside our own personal venue to remember who they were and what they represent. Reflect upon the words of our general and then remind yourself of what we should be representing. “Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly, but firmly, with all your classmates; you will find it the policy, which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not. If you have any fault to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain; there is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man’s face and another behind his back. We should live so as to say and do nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only best as a matter of principle, but it is the path to peace and honour…Duty, then, is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.”
Now for the good news! Our encroachment permit for the monument is in and we can begin the work to place it on the mountain. The deadline is July 1, 2005 for the final inspection by the Kentucky Cabinet of Transportation. Let the work begin! We have been asked to be the honor guard at the road dedication on April 22, 2005 at 11:00. They have requested that we have cannons and our boys in full force. This is our opportunity to get some great PR since Governor Fletcher, Hal Rogers and other dignitaries will be there. We MUST practice our drill for the event and remember that we are southern gentlemen honoring the memory of our ancestors. We need to set a date for local gravesite dedications for Stiller Bill, John Campbell and the gravsites at the mouth of Pratt’s Fork. I would like for the camp to consider a date in the near future prior to the busy season starting in May. Commander Sparkman and Compatriot Combs have discovered yet another 13th man and are hot on the trail of other great stories. Let us continue praying for Danny Taylor, Carlos Brock, John and Jean Peck, as well as others that are in need of our prayers for healing. God has blessed us and we must share the blessing.
I remain your obedient servant in Christ, The Old General The Old General
As I stated in my last column, The SCV seems to be rife with problems. Among the problems is an inflammatory piece written by Ann Coulter, which is titled "The Battle Flag". The article was basically a piece meant to bash Democrats. The article so inflamed the Caudill camp that at letter was written by myself to the editor of the Confederate Veteran condemning the publishing of the article. The reply from the Editor was that most of the mail he received ran 4 to 1 in favor of the article and no apology for the insulting content was offered. This kind of attitude would have to be considered as part of the problem, which is currently afflicting the SCV. In its current state, whoever wins the up coming legal battle will find himself facing a wound which he will find very hard to heal. 1st Corinthians 13:11 tells us "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” It would seem that the leaders on both sides of an organization that prides itself on its Christian heritage have forgotten to take heed to this very important verse. I say my compatriots it is time to move past this petty squabbling and heal the wounds of division, which have afflicted our beloved SCV. Let us pray, asking the Lord for his guidance, as events play out in the up coming legal battle.
Deo Vindice, Lt. Commander John P. Back
My Kepi and Me is a series honoring camp members and their ancestors. The purpose is to share their ancestor’s history as well as the current son occupying the seat of honor. This month let us offer a salute and tip our Kepi to our own Jeremy Jones. I have the privilege of working with this young man and have seen him grow in spirit along with a positive outlook on life. He lives in Caudill’s Branch. His mother’s name is Linda L. Jones. He has 2 brothers (Tim and Hardy) and 1 sister by the name of Jennifer. He has 3 dogs, 2 cats and 1 hamster. He plans on finishing high school and then attending college. He wants to obtain a law enforcement degree, possibly working with the K9 unit. He entered the Caudill Camp on the lineage of Stiller Bill Caudill. Stiller Bill was the son of William C. Caudill and Nancy Craft Caudill. Bill married Nancy Dixon. He obtained the rank of 4th Sergeant and is buried above Jeremy’s home. Jeremy reenacts with the 5th Kentucky, Company F and participated in 8 events last year. He first saw the elephant at Saltville. His hobbies are Play Station, reenacting, hunting and fishing. We are honored to have this man as our compatriot and welcome him as one of us in the band of brothers. Ladies and gentlemen, let us tip our kepis and give up a hardy Rebel yell for our brother Jeremy!
I have not received any updates on the status of our members from the National Office since our last meeting. I would assume that we are still being accredited with approximately 114 members. The lack of information may be due to the conflict that is raging at the national level. I hope they resolve their problems soon as we have enough enemies with out fighting amongst ourselves.
I would like to extend my thanks to the members of our camp that braved the wet weather to clean up litter along Highway 23 form Pound Gap towards the Pike County Line. We were credited with four miles of clean up which entitles us to $400. We should receive the money in a few months. The members assisting in the cleanup were: David Chaltas, David Brown, Richard Brown, Okie Blair, Tim Blair, Richard Smith, Roger Hall, Wayne Whitaker, Raymond Isaacs, Jeremy Jones, Tabby Back and Rosetta Back. Unfortunately, we picked up 81 bags of garbage, a sign that we still have a long way to go in educating people about respecting our ecology.
The granite for the Pound Gap Memorial is now at Appalachian Monument Company! We have applied for permission to set the monument but are constantly having to submit additional paperwork. The state is hesitant about issuing permission for monuments, therefore we have now resubmitted the request as a Historical Marker, which in truth, is actually a historical sign. Hopefully, engraving on the stone should start in the next month.
A friend of mine that works for a local coal company told an interesting story to me this week. He said that when they advertised in Knott County’s newspaper about their plans to build a silt pond in Big Branch of Troublesome Creek in Knott County, an elderly gentleman came to see them. He said that in the location of the proposed pond were two graves, his gg-grandparents. The man was executed by General Morgan’s orders while on his last raid into Kentucky. The gentleman said that his gg-grandfather had been a Confederate soldier that had deserted to return to his family on Troublesome and was captured as Morgan’s Men were on their way to Mt. Sterling. We are in the process of pursuing this story further.
I am glad to hear that our Secretary/Treasurer, Danny Taylor, is doing better after his surgery. Please keep him in your prayers. Also keep our troops in your thoughts as well.
Adjutant Brown
I have the honor of reporting that our camp balance before expenditures was $1489.66. Our expenses for the month were $930.00 (state dues) leaving a balance of $599.66. We made $66 in the auction, $20 for T-shirts and had a balance of $559.66. Our grand total is $645.66 as of this date. Keep in mind that we made $400 on the road clean up and still have the quilt money to add into the account. If you have any suggestions regarding fundraisers or questions please contact me at 633-0881. Let us continue to encourage former members to rejoin and to recruit new members to honor our ancestors’ deeds
Secretary/Treasurer Taylor
Last week was going pretty good with three days of beautiful snow on the ground and clinging to the trees. I thought, “What a wonderful God we have!” I was looking forward to church for Jeff Sam's would be there. I love to hear him preach and sing along with seeing my brothers and sisters at church. But then it started.
Friday morning as my wife and I was about to leave to go to work and we noted that the carpet was soaking wet. I knew it was coming from the water heater. Our water had to be turn off.but I told my wife me and my son would get up Saturday morning and fix it. The next morning we began the task of emptying my wife’s closet in order to get to the water heater (I believe it would have been easier to dig up King Tut’s Tomb!) We finally made it to the tomb, I mean water heater. It had to be replaced, so off to Lowe's we go. About an 1 1/2 later we made it back. We were so happy things was going well until we put the water heater in and found out it was a little taller then the one we had removed! My top pipe was about six inches short, so back we go to Lowe's. Another 1 1/2 later went by before we returned and fix the pipe. It had taken all day but we would now have water. I gave the pipes 30 minutes to dry and I went out side to turn the water back on but no water! What was wrong? I had water when I turned it off but now no water pressure. I knew we needed water to get prepared for church in the morning. I decided it was the foot valve. My son and I uncovered the well and pulled the pipe with the value at the end. Sure enough, it was bad. But it was too late to go out again but thank God for my brother- in-law because he had one. Another hour and we had it back together just in time to take a bath before going to bed. BUT again no water! We worked an hour or more and finally my son had enough water to take a bath. I told my wife I would get up and work on it in the morning to get some water to take bath before going to church.
Early Sunday morning I was outside working on the water. I worked for about an hour and gave up. NO WATER! I went back in and got my son up and told him he could ride the bus to church because it didn't look like I was going to make it. My wife had been sick all night. About 9:15 my son was off to church but I knew God would understand that my wife was sick, I had no water to take a bath or clothes to wear. But then God put it on my heart that I needed to go. The devil had put all these things in my way and it would be easy to stay home. But I felt God wanted me to attend. I told the devil not only was I going to church but also I would make it before Sunday school. With about 40 minute to go started looking around. No water! What was I going to do? When I looked in the kitchen, there in the floor was the case of Yankee water from New York. No one would drink it so I took my teakettle in about five minutes the Yankee water was hot and I took a bath. I dug in my closet and found something that was clean and just needed a little ironing. As I was putting on the shirt it had a hole in it and I said, “You devil this is not going to stop me.” With my Bible in my hand and five minutes to make it to church I was in my car. As I turned the key a song was playing (I need to see Jesus). I said, “Amen” then I put on my seat belt because I don't trust the devil and I told him I was going to church if I had to do it on my hands and knees! I made it right on time and I was blessed just to be there at church.
SUMNER, JOHN: Private, Company B, 13th Kentucky Cavalry, CSA
