The Georgia Southern Heritage Volume 3, Issue 9 September 2015

From the Captain I N S I D E T H I S I SSUE Men,

1 From The Captain I hope everyone is doing well. Cool weather is approaching fast and some of the best riding weather of the year. We had our September Quarterly 4 Communication Officer meeting in Dublin again this year. It was a very good meeting and 5 Safety Officer supported by all 4 Troops. I was glad to see the outstanding turn out. TAZ brought up a fund raiser for a little girl that we all agreed to support next year. This is what we have been talking about that the SCV needs to support and pay back to our community in helping those in need. More to come on this event. The next meeting will be in Villa Rica on December 6th. The day before the Quarterly was the annual VA event at the Dublin VA hospital. We fed around 275 Veterans and visitors, fixed over 225 gift

bags, and provided over 300 desert plates. We another good two man band and a motorcycle judging for the Veterans. They like getting out and looking at the bikes. The event was supported by 4 SCV Camps and the Mechanized Cavalry. We all pitched in and the event turned out great. Already planning next year. This weekend is the annual Andersonville historic fair. They will have a battle and living history supported by the 10th and 16th I believe. HK Ekerson will also be there to march in the parade and talk to people. We will have two recruitment booths setup and also selling hats and flags as a fund raiser for the mechanized Cavalry. Hope to see you there if possible. I have talked to the Florida Capt. David King and several of the Florida boys will be there. October is the month General Lee died, October 12th 1870, he was 63. He had an exceptional leadership style and showed a lot of courage, doggedness and determination in all he did. His decision to lead the Confederate Army was completely a show of selflessness and a picture of a man who is given to uphold his beliefs. Beyond historical facts, he was able to create theories for leadership and its discourse because he had a firm grip on how power should be utilized and he also empowered his subordinates. His primary concern was to serve and he was in no way ego driven. He always ensured that he laid out stringent and high standards of excellence for himself. He grew to be admired and loved by his subordinates due to this quality. He had a modest approach and believed in the power of Introspection as it was better to lead from within before leading others. He was faithful to the course he believed in and was a disciplined officer who followed through on orders given to him even when it went beyond the call of duty. He was determined to maintain high standards and refused to promote officers who had not shown discipline in the way they went about their personal conduct. His philosophy was that whatever anyone modeled in his life automatically would be reflected in the lives of those he led. He was an

1 asset to those around him and even his peers observed his exceptional lifestyle in the kind of leadership and courage that he exemplified. This month we remember the sacrifices he made in the call to duty serving his country. I wish we had more leaders like him today running our country. Maybe they wouldn’t be taking our flags down and trying to hide our monuments.

Events coming up soon: 3 & 4 October, Andersonville Historic Fair, H.K. Eckerson will be in attendance this year 16-18 October, Beauvoir Fall Muster Biloxi Mississippi

The Beauvoir estate is notable as the historic post-war home (1876-1889) of President of the Confederate States of America, , (1807/08-1889), (who was also former U.S. Representative, (1845-1846), and more influentially as United States Senator from Mississippi, (1847-1851, 1857-1861) and in between U.S. Secretary of War, (1853-1857), under 14th President Franklin Pierce). Its construction was begun in 1848 facing the Gulf Coastline (Gulf of

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Mexico) at Biloxi, Mississippi. It was purchased earlier in 1873 by the planter Samuel Dorsey and his wife . After her husband's death in 1875, the widow, Sarah Ellis Dorsey learned of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis' difficulties. She invited him to visit at the plantation and offered him a cottage near the main house, where he could live and work at his memoirs ("Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government"). He ended up living there the rest of his life. The house and plantation have since been designated as a National Historic Landmark, recognized and listed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and its National Park Service (established 1916).

Ill with cancer, in 1878 Sarah Ellis Dorsey remade her will, bequeathing "Beauvoir" to Jefferson Davis and his surviving daughter, , known as "Winnie". His wife Varina Howell Davis was also living there, and the three Davises lived there until former President Davis' death in 1889. His young second wife and widow, (Varina Howell Davis) and her daughter moved to New York City in 1891.

After the death of Varina Anne Davis ("Winnie") in 1898, Varina Howell Davis inherited the plantation. She sold it in 1902 to the Mississippi Division, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans with the stipulation that it be used as a Confederate state veterans home and later as a memorial to her husband. Barracks were built nearby and the property was used as such a home until 1953, with the death of the last veteran of the Confederate States Army in Mississippi.

At that time, the main house was adapted as a house museum. In 1998, a Presidential Library (similar in style to the other United States Presidential Libraries, an archival and museum system operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, established in 1934/1935, with the first presidential library for 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940) was completed and opened on site.

The main house and library were badly damaged, and other outbuildings were destroyed, during Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. Beauvoir survived a similar onslaught from Hurricane Camille in 1969. The house was restored and has been re-opened, the Jefferson Davis Presidental Library has been finished and is open to the public, as must see.

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Compatriots,

September has come to an end, bringing many fall activities our way for the month of October. Harvest festivals, reenactments, ghost tours, and much more. Be sure that any event you think others would enjoy gets passed on for additions to the calendar. The weather is turning cooler and it is a great time of year for recruiting new members, especially our youth. SCV CIC Barrow has extended the suspension of application fees and reinstatement fees until the end of December, so do your part in retaining old and new members.

With the release of the 2nd issue of the September calendar, I put together a printable wall calendar page. At our quarterly meeting in Dublin, I announced that this will be the new calendar released to everyone on a Bi-monthly basis. This calendar only contains brief details of upcoming events, but will allow all members to have an easy printable version that can be carried with you for easy access without having to be online. For complete details of any calendar event, you will need to visit the Ga. Mechanized Cavalry website at: http://www.gascvmc.org . If you have not registered for the member only access of the website, please do so as soon as possible. The website has many features and resources available. Please take advantage of them. Everything from the calendar, applications, handouts, prayer requests, heritage defense, humor, and much more. There is also a new forum found on the “Georgia Communicator page”. For those members that do not or choose to not have Internet access or smart phone capabilities, it is the duty of the Troop Lt.’s to provide copies of the printable calendar and any necessary details for any upcoming

4 event. We are in a modern age of technology, and I am certain our ancestors would have used this technology for communications as well, had it been available to them.

Have a Great Dixie Day!

Capt. Bo

Safety Officer It’s that time of year. Things are cooling down, and you can’t just hop on the bike in your t-shirt and hit the road. There are considerations. It’s almost always colder that we think, and even if you have a pair of suitcases on either side of your rear wheel, you might want to check the contents for useful equipment… like warm stuff… rather than wish you had it and don’t. Killer

13 things more dangerous than riding:

Texting: NHTSA estimates that 24 percent of crashes involved [cage] drivers talking or texting on cell phones. That’s 7,247 deaths caused by phone use in 2010 alone. (Source: NSC) http://rideapart.com/articles/things-more-dangerous-than-riding-a-motorcycle

At the same time:

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http://rideapart.com/articles/motorcycle- risks?utm_content=buffer5f112&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Shiny side up, rubber side down, Killer

"Never stand and take a charge,... charge them too." Nathan Bedford Forrest

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