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Shortly after 10 o'clock on a crisp Saturday morning two weeks ago, 75 folks solemnly clutching small American flags and digital cameras assembled in a grove of young pines at a modest farm in the Zion community, tucked into in the soft hills west of downtown Rockingham. Their objective was to honor five forgotten Union soldiers who died in a skirmish only days before the end of the Civil War. Until now, the solders' remains have lain in hand-dug graves marked only by small piles of white stones for 145 years, their identities unknown. The event, sponsored by the Richmond...

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be in Virginia next week, speaking at the following events. If you can come, I would really like to meet you. 4/17/10 - Frank Stringfellow SCV Camp in Fairfax, VA. I will be speaking on Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. 4/19/10 - A.P. Hill SCV Camp in Colonial Heights, VA. I will be speaking on JEB Stuart. 4/20/10 - Charlotte County Grays SCV Camp in Keysville, VA. I will be speaking on Stonewall Jackson. 4/21/10 - Old Brunswick SCV Camp in Lawrenceville, VA. Again, I will be speaking on...

(CNN) -- Based on the hundreds of e-mails, Facebook comments and Tweets I've read in response to my denunciation of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's decision to honor Confederates for their involvement in the Civil War -- which was based on the desire to continue slavery -- the one consistent thing that supporters of the proclamation offer up as a defense is that these individuals were fighting for what they believed in and defending their homeland. In criticizing me for saying that celebrating the Confederates was akin to honoring Nazi soldiers for killing of Jews during the Holocaust, Rob Wagner said,...

A big anniversary is drawing extra tourists to the battlefields of Appomattox. One hundred and forty-five years ago Friday, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy at Appomattox, bringing the Civil War to an end. Crowds gathered to re-live the historic moment at the Appomattox National Historic Site. Actors are playing the part of townspeople to help visitors understand what the area was like in the 1860's. Friday's events have attracted visitors from across the U.S. Some drove from as far away as Oregon and California. "We had about 400 people out here on Thursday. It was nice. Don't know...

Did anyone here see tonight's Glenn Beck TV show segment with the author (Lehrman?) of Lincoln at Peoria?

Southerners flee postwar woes to build lives in Brazil Plagued with economic ruin, psychological terror and personal tragedy at the end of the Civil War,many Southerners began to dis-cuss packing up their war-torn lives and emigrating to foreign lands as an antidote for their suffering. Southern diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut wrote about Confederate officers going to Mexico and Brazil,and Scarlett O'Hara twice considered the idea of fleeing to Latin America in the epic novel "Gone With the Wind." One Southern girl confided in her diary:"The men are all talking about going to Mexico and Brazil." Another addressed the same theme:...

The Morehead chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have been denied a request to march in the Ironton Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade. The 5th Kentucky Infantry Camp #2122 received a letter from Arthur J. Pierson, parade grand marshal, rejecting the group’s request to participate in the parade, without giving any reasons why. “Your parade request for SCV, 5th Kentucky Infantry camp #2122 Morehead, KY, has been considered and NOT APPROVED,” the letter stated. The 5th Kentucky wanted to march with a color guard that would feature two Confederate flags – the Kentucky Confederate flag and the Confederate battle...

Civil War Watch Stopped Suddenly; Sub End Still Unknown Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina Associated Press December 17, 2007 When scientists opened the watch belonging to the H.L. Hunley commander three years ago, they thought they had the key clue to why the Confederate submarine sank off Charleston, South Carolina. But the 18-karat gold watch now seems to raise even more questions, despite the finding announced last week that the watch did not slowly wind down but stopped quickly—perhaps the result of a concussion or rushing water. "All of us were thinking the watch pointed to the crucial moment,"...

Rebel Yell by Michael McClain One Southern cultural trait which quite literally “calls attention to itself” is the famous “Rebel Yell”. Though mostly associated with the Southern War of Independence, in fact there is plenty of evidence that it long antedates said conflict, and it survives to this day. Its origins are little studied. It is often assumed that the Rebel Yell derives from and Amerindian war whoop. There is likely some truth to this; the Rebel Yell often begins with a rapid “yip-yip-yip” which does indeed recall an Amerindian war whoop. The yell is not a whoop at all,...

The month of February has begun and so has the celebration of Black History Month in the nation, schools and communities. Throughout this time, many noteworthy leaders, citizens, scientists and soldiers who fought in wars and conflicts will be recognized. However, there is one group of African Americans who will receive no recognition again this year during this month. I am speaking of black Confederates who served and fought to defend their homeland from what they believed to be an armed invasion. Advertisement The South was home to some 4 million who lived there and had roots going back more...

What's wrong about this photo? Or if you're a true-born Southerner, what's right? While scanning through some of the up and coming movies in 2005, I ran across this intriguing title; "CSA: Confederate States of America (2005)". It's an "alternate universe" take on what would the country be like had the South won the civil war.Stars with bars:Suffice to say anything from Hollywood on this topic is sure to to bring about all sorts of controversial ideas and discussions. I was surprised that they are approaching such subject matter, and I'm more than a little interested.Some things are better left...

<p>An honor guard from the Sons of Confederate Veterans marches during a memorial service for Gen. Alfred Mouton before the Battle of Mansfield re-enactment. Mouton was the highest ranking confederate soldier killed at the Battle of Mansfield, which was fought on April 8, 1864.The Battle of Mansfield in April 1864 was the last major Confederate victory of the Civil War, one of the largest battles west of the Mississippi River and marked the sour end of a campaign personally planned by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Still, historians have mixed ideas over its place in the grand scheme of that conflict.</p>

Abraham Lincoln, with his son Tad in tow, walked around Richmond, Virginia, one day 138 years ago, and if you try to retrace their steps today you won't see much that they saw, which shouldn't be a surprise, of course. The street grid is the same, though, and if you're in the right mood and know what to look for, the lineaments of the earlier city begin to surface, like the outline of a scuttled old scow rising through the shallows of a pond. Among the tangle of freeway interchanges and office buildings you'll come across an overgrown park or...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a man convicted of burning a Confederate flag flying in front of the Statehouse cannot enter the capitol grounds. Emmett Rufus Eddy was barred from the grounds after pleading guilty to defacing a public monument. Eddy, who has called himself the Rev. E. X. Slave, climbed a ladder while wearing a black Santa Claus suit and set the flag on fire in April 2002. Judge James C. Williams suspended Eddy's two-year prison sentence to two years of probation on the condition Eddy stay away from Statehouse grounds while on...

During the Civil War, Old Bridge supplied the Union troops with salt hay to feed their horses. The Mason Dixon Line — the symbolic border between the Union and the Confederacy — passed through New Jersey, geographically separating southern New Jersey from northern portions of the state. The town of Kearney was named for Philip Kearney, a one-armed military general who led many successful battles against the Confederates before being killed in battle. These and many other facts, some little-known, some not, are revealed in a new exhibit titled "Our Long Endurance: The Story of New Jersey in the Civil...

It's been a decade since McLeod Plantation on James Island was acquired by the Historic Charleston Foundation, but in the intervening years, the grounds have rarely been seen by the public. The plantation, dating to 1678 and whose 19th Century plantation house was used as a hospital during the Civil War, is empty except for a caretaker who lives in the house. The property includes a row of old slave houses. The bell that once called the slaves to work still hangs in a tree. The Historic Charleston Foundation acquired a third of the property when William Ellis McLeod died...