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Tom Smith Camp # 1702 Post Office Box 1861 Suffolk, VA 23439-1861 First Brigade - Virginia Division - Dept. of the Army of Northern Virginia Meetings are held on the 4th Monday of every month at the BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 1549 Holland Rd., Suffolk 23434 (next to the Wilco station), with possible exceptions in November and December due to holidays. We are now at 97 members. | |||||||
It is stated in books and papers that Southern children read and study that all the blood shedding and destruction of property of that conflict was because the South rebelled without cause against the best government the world ever saw; that although Southern soldiers were heroes in the field, skillfully massed and led, they and their leaders were rebels and traitors who fought to overthrow the Union, and to preserve human slavery, and that their defeat was necessary for a free government and the welfare of the human family. As a Confederate soldier and as a citizen of Virginia, I deny the charge, and denounce it as a calumny.
We were not rebels; we did not fight to perpetuate slavery, but for our rights and privileges under a government established over us by our fathers and in defense of our homes.
Colonel Richard Henry Lee
This page updated May 15, 2013
Click on The Heritage for the latest Camp newsletter.
Next Meeting: Will be Monday, May 27th at 6:00. Location is BETHLEHEM CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 1549 HOLLAND ROAD, SUFFOLK (next to Wilco).
Menue will be Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Cobbler.
Our speaker will be Micheal C. Hardy from North Carolina. The topic will be Civil War Charlotte: Last Capital of the Confederacy. This meeting is a must for the "Tar Heels" in the camp.
June 1, 1832 - May 9, 1912 CALENDAR OF LOCAL EVENTS 150th Gettysburg Reenactment. There will be two this year. One on the last weekend in June and the other on the July 4th weekend. The bleacher spectator event will be the July 4th weekend. Both are being held in the Gettysburg vicinity. May 25 at 10 AM- UDC Memorial service, Cedar Hill Cemetery. June 8, Jefferson Davis memorial ceremony at Hollywood Cemetery and massing of the flags. The camp is trying to obtain a bus for attending this event. More info at the May meeting. June 8 and through the summer at the Portsmouth Court House an exhibit "My Heart Beats for Peace" and "Picturing The Civil War". These exhibits explore the home front with Civil War letters and artifacts relating to the area. June 29th and 30th. Gettysburg Civil War Show - to be held in the Sports Complex behind the Eisenhower Inn Past Camp Events APRIL PETERSBURG TRIP On April 3, 2010, Ninteen members of the camp took a day trip to Petersburg, Five Forks and Sailor's Creek. Here the group is shown at the position of Pegram's guns at the Forks. The restored Hillsman House at Sailor's Creek This house was standing at the time of the battle and Union Artillery used the position to fire on the Confederates across the creek. The Sailor's Creek Battlefield is now a State Park with a new Visitor Center. Walking trails have been cleared enabling visitors to follow the battle and walk the route taken by the retreating Confederate Soldiers. The park ranger describes the fighting at the creek. This is the area where the Confederates crossed the creek and later fired on the Federal soldiers in pursuit. This is how the approach of the Yankee skirmish line would may have appeared to the Confederates defending the creek in 1865. JUNE CHIPPOAKS STATE PARK GAS AND STEAM SHOW The camp sets up every year at this event. There is lots to see and eat. Here Wayne Taylor makes breakfast on Sunday morning with the Tom Smith tent in the background. Passing the flag to another generation at Holleywood Cemetary. This gentleman's name is Jim Love of Colonial Heights, Va. He belongs to the SCV Mechanized Cavalry who seem to appear and disappear at SCV events like they were being lead by Colonel J.S. Mosby. On any given weekend there have been sightings at various places in the Commonwealth where SCV functions are being held. The picture below was provided by Kermit Hobbs.It appears in his book, The same picture in full size & resolution can be viewed at: tomsmithucv (about 1.5 MB--a huge file!). You can even read the banner in the background and the Camp insignia on their hats! Tom Smith
Co. A, 16th Virginia Infantry
~ 2013 ~


Suffolk: A Pictorial History, and is posted here with his permission.The picture shows the Tom Smith Camp of the United Confederate Veterans (Camp No. 44). No exact date is known except that it is around the turn of the century.


James Harrison Butler (identified by the book's author, Kermit Hobbs, since it was published) is the first man on the left in the 2nd row.
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, June, 1906)
Phil and Ben Carr are Bobby's sons, and "B. J." (Ben, Jr.) is Bobby's Grandson.
All 4 are Life members in the SCV!

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Sons of Confederate Veterans International Headquarters Historic "Elm Springs" Located in Columbia, Tennessee April 7, 2003 |
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| General Robert E. Lee's Birthday |
January 19th |
| General Stonewall Jackson's Birthday | January 21st |
| Anniversary of the Founding of the Confederacy | February 22nd |
| Confederate History Month | APRIL |
| National Memorial Day Honoring ALL Dead | May 30th |
| Lt. Thomas Washington Smith's Birthday | June 1st |
| President Jefferson Davis Birthday | June 3rd |
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| Virginia state flag adopted 30 April 1861 by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 05 February 2000. (Used by permission.) |

SALUTE TO THE FLAG OF VIRGINIA: Flag of Virginia, I salute thee. To thee I pledge my loyalty,
my service and my life.
SALUTE TO THE CONFEDERATE FLAG: I salute the Confederate flag with affection, reverence
and undying devotion to the cause for which it stands. Amen.
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Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans: "To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations." Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General |
"Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history and descend to posterity. History is not the relation of campaigns and battles and generals or other individuals, but that which shows the principles for which the South contended and which justified her struggle for those principles. "
Robert E. Lee
Check out this new page created "just for fun"
ENJOY!
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Confederate Monument, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Suffolk, VA |
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| Today, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes, | |
| so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause. The SCV | |
| is the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, and the oldest hereditary organization | |
| for male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Organized at Richmond, Virginia in 1896, the SCV | |
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continues to serve as a historical, patriotic, |
| and non-political organization dedicated | |
| to insuring that a true history | |
| of the 1861 - 1865 period is preserved. | |
| Membership in the Sons of Confederate | |
| Veterans is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate | |
| armed forces.Membership can be obtained through either direct or collateral family lines and | |
| kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically. The minimum age for membership is 12. | |
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COMMANDERS of the TOM SMITH CAMP: | ||
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From: |
Until: | |
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Kevin Beale |
March 2013 |
Present |
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Mike Pullen |
December 2008 |
February 2013 |
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Jason Chipman |
December 2006 |
December 2008 |
| Roy Pope | December, 2004 | December 2006 |
| Fred D. Taylor | December, 2002 | December, 2004 |
| William M. Richardson | December, 2000 | December, 2002 |
| F. Lee Hart, III | December, 1996 | December, 2000 |
| Woodie L. Walker | abt. September, 1996 | December, 1996 |
| Robert R. Hardy | December, 1995 | abt. September , 1996 |
| Randy Turner | April, 1995 (chartering) | December, 1995 |
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CHARTER MEMBERS of the TOM SMITH CAMP: | ||
| C. Earl Blythe | F. Lee Hart, III | Fred Panton |
| Fred C. Copeland | Spencer L. Hart, IV | Colin G. Pully, Jr. |
| John F. Copeland | Charles W. Johnson | Randy Turner |
| Robert T. Copeland | Charles W. Johnson, Jr. | H. L. Walker |
| Thomas Goodrich | John Johnson | Joseph H. Walker |
| Alvin Lee Griffin | James A. Lynch | Woodie L. Walker |
| Anthony M. Griffin | J. Craig Moore | Woodie L. Walker, II |
| Steven A. Griffin | Ocie Linwood Moore, Jr. | Thomas Warrington, Sr. |
| Robert Hardy | Giles L. Newsome | |
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