March, 2012 Volume 24 Number 10 ConfederateConfederate GazetteGazette

Bricks Placed At Maxey Plaza Major One of the final steps in the the plaza has been named his wife, Kathy, made a dona- Robert M. White restoration work at South the Maxey Plaza in honor of tion that helped complete Camp #1250 Sons of Confederate Belton the restora- Veterans Cemetery tion project Temple, has been in honor of complet- her husband. www.scvtemple.com ed. The A plaque in paving the plaza Jimmy D. Dossey bricks in Camp Commander honors Max- 115 Lakewood Dr. front of ey. Gatesville, TX 76528 the three The Camp monu- John C. Perry will hold a ments Newsletter Editor dedication and flag P.O. Box 794 ceremony in Salado, TX 76571 poles Newly finished Maxey Plaza at the South Belton Cemetery in Belton. Photo: John C. Perry the Spring. were © 2012, Major Robert M. installed last month. The Camp Charter Member, Lar- The project was started in White Camp #1250 bricks form a plaza just in ry Jack Maxey. Maxey died 2008 as a joint effort with front of the monuments and on December 14, 2009 and (Continued on page 4) SCV Holds Rally in Downtown Richmond Inside this issue:

The Sons of Confederate About 400 people attended in Richmond and ended at Profile on: Thom- 2 Veterans held a the Robert E. Lee as R. R. Cobb National Herit- statue. The SCV’s age Rally in Commander-In- downtown Rich- Chief, Michael Giv- What is a 2 mond, Virginia ens addressed the Legion? on February crowd. th 25 . There were a The event was handful of protest- HL Hunley 3 timed to coin- ers, one had a is freed cide with the home made sign establishment that read, “We’re Heritage march in Richmond. of the Confederate govern- Photo: P. KEVIN MORLEY Richmond Times-Dispatch glad your stinking rebels lost Camp Calendar of 3 ment in Richmond on Febru- the war.” There were a few Events ary 22, 1862, 150 years ago. the event, which included a heated words between the march down Monument Ave. (Continued on page 4) Page 2 Confederate Gazette CCONFEDERATEONFEDERATE PPROFILEROFILE Legion Commander e was an ardent be- kin. They had two sons and four school for girls in Athens. The liever in slavery and daughters, but only three school, which opened in 1859, secession and gave his daughters survived their child- was named in honor of Cobb’s H life to the cause for hood. daughter who died at age 13 the which he believed in. He was Cobb found success as a law- previous year. one of the few Confederate yer and from 1849 to 1857 he Cobb and his older brother officers to command a true was a reporter of the Supreme Howell were ardent supporters legion of soldiers. Court of . In 1851 he of slavery and states’ rights. In Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb wrote the well-respected, The 1858 Cobb laid out a defense of was born in Jefferson County, Digest of the Statute Laws of slavery in his book, An Inquiry Georgia on April 10, 1823 at his the State of Georgia, which was into the Law of Negro Slavery Thomas Reade Rootes family’s plantation known as a supplement to the state's in the United States of America. Cobb Cherry Hill. His parents were existing code of laws. He also The book argued that Africans John A. Cobb and Sarah Rootes wrote fifteen volumes of re- were inferior to whites and Cobb. While he was still a child, ports from the Supreme Court, slavery was a legitimate way to his family relocated to Athens, and he authored a substantial help the Africans have a better Georgia. part of the Code of the State of life. Georgia, which went into effect Cobb left the Cobb attended the University of Prior to the election of Abra- after his death. He helped co- Georgia, where he was a mem- ham Lincoln as U.S. President, Confederate found the ber of the Phi Kappa Literary Cobb had argued that Georgia School of Law with his father-in Society. He graduated at the and the other Southern states Congress to -law, Joseph Henry Lumpkin, top of his class in 1841. A year should remain in the Union, but for whom the school was form Cobb’s after graduating he was admit- with the election of Lincoln he named. Legion ted to the Georgia Bar and changed his position. With his began practicing law. Cobb was a deeply religious older brother he travelled man, a member of the Presby- In 1844 he married the daugh- across the state supporting terian Church in Athens. He ter of the Supreme Court of immediate secession and he was also a strong believer in Georgia Chief Justice Joseph was a delegate to the state education. With his sister he Henry Lumpkin, Marion Lump- (Continued on page 3) helped create a secondary What is a Legion? The word legion comes from than a full army, that contained Thomas R.R. Cobb. As originally the Latin word, “legio.” In men of all three units of ser- organized it did contain men Roman times the term legion vice, infantry, artillery, and from the three different army referred to the Roman Army’s cavalry with a single integrated branches with seven infantry unit of about 5,000 men that command. companies, four cavalry units, included infantry and cavalry. One of the most well know War and one artillery unit.. The By the time of the War Between Between the States legions was model didn't work well during the States the word evolved to known as Cobb’s Legion. It was the war and Cobb’s Legion was mean any military unit, smaller organized and initially led by eventually split up by branches. Page 3 Volume 24 Number 10 Hunley Freed Legion Commander

The Confederate submarine (Continued from page 2) which contained all three of H.L. Hunley was freed from its the key elements of an army, Secession Convention. supports and is now complete- infantry, cavalry, and artillery. ly visible, the first time since Georgia left the Union on Janu- The unit would soon be known 1864 when it sunk in the ary 19, 1861 and Cobb was as Cobb’s Legion, although it Charleston, elected to the Provincial Con- was also known as the Georgia

Cobb was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General

HL Hunley free of its truss Photo: Randall Hill, Reuters Cobb Family plot in in Athens, Georgia. gress of the Confederacy, harbor. Legion, and it was assigned to meeting in Montgomery, Ala- what would become the Army The Confederate sub which bama. He served on the com- of Northern Virginia. sank the USS Housatonic on mittee that drafted the Con- February 17, 1864 never re- federate constitution and ap- Cobb received a commission turned to port after sinking the parently one of the key au- as a colonel and led his men at US ship. thors of the document which Seven Days, Second Manassas, and Sharpsburg (Antietam). The wreckage of the Hunley was hand written in his hand- About six weeks later he left was found likely in 1970, the writing. the remnants of his Legion actual date is in dispute. In Apparently he became dissat- when he was given a brigade in 2000 the Hunley was raised isfied with the progress of the McLaws' division. He was pro- using a 17,000 pound metal Confederate Congress and moted to brigadier general, truss. The truss has support- resigned in August of 1861. He but was severely wounded at ed the Hunley until it was re- returned home to form an (Continued on page 4) army legion, an army unit (Continued on page 4)

Camp Schedule Next Meeting: th March 13, 2012 at Cotton Patch Café, Temple March 13 Regular Camp meeting at Cot- Mall. 7:00 PM. Speaker: Granvel Cotton Patch Café ton Patch Café, Temple Mall, Block, Texas Division Com- 7:00 PM. Speaker: Past Texas mander. 6:00 PM Social Division Commander Greg 7:00 PM Dinner Hector May 8, 2012 June 12, 2012 Regular Camp meeting at Cot- Regular Camp meeting at Cotton April 14, 2012 ton Patch Café, Temple Mall, Patch Café, Temple Mall, 7:00 PM. Quarterly Camp Dinner meeting 7:00 PM. Speaker: TBD Speaker: TBD ConfederateConfederate GazetteGazette P.O. Box 794 Salado, Texas 76571

Page 4 Hunley Freed Rally in Richmond Maxey Plaza Finished Legion Commander (Continued (Continued from page 3) (Continued from page 1) (Continued from page 1) th from page moved on January 12 , freeing the SCV’s color sergeant and the the City of Belton, who owns the 3) Hunley for the first time. protesters when they refused to cemetery. The cemetery is home to about 100 Confederate veter- the Battle Later this year a major effort will ans who are buried in the ceme- of Freder- be mounted to remove sea water tery. There are also men who icksburg were former Texas Rangers, men by a Union who fought for the Republic of Thomas R.R. Cobb artillery Texas, veterans of the Battle of blast at San Jacinto, and one Union sol- Marye's Heights near the Suken dier. Many prominent early Bell Road. He was carried to a house County citizens are interred in the rear. From the house he there. In 2003 the cemetery was was taken to he could see the designated as a Texas Historical house where his mother was born SCV’s CIC Speaks in Richmond and his parents wed. He appar- Stern of the Hunley showing propeller Photo: P. KEVIN MORLEY Richmond Times-Dispatch Cemetery. shaft. Photo: Randall Hill, Reuters ently bled to death from the The cemetery was established step aside. Richmond police wound which damaged his femo- salt from the submarine. The shortly after Belton was formed in stepped in and made way for the ral artery, dying on December 13, approximate nine month process 1850. The oldest grave is dated SCV. An airplane flew overhead 1862. will need to be done before ef- May 21, 1851 and the cemetery is with a banner that read, forts can be made to chip off the one of the first public cemeteries Cobb is buried at Oconee Hill “Richmond Embrace Your Confed- remaining concretion off the in Bell County. Cemetery in Athens. Hunley. erate History.”