December 2014 THE CONFEDERATE INFORMANT The official newsletter of the Major James Morgan Utz Camp # 1815 And the Brigadier General Francis Marion Cockrell Chapter # 84 Of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars Commander's Corner; Just a brief note to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a healthy prosperous New Year. It's an exciting time to be in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, where like-minded patriots such as us can gather together and pay tribute to our heroic ancestors. With all the bad news around the world, our meetings have become an oasis of sanity in a world turned upside down. We have been truly blessed on so many fronts that it's hard to know where to begin giving thanks. During this Christmas season I hope each and every one of us can take the time to reflect on the many blessings we have received this past year. In spite of what the TV news people say, America is still the greatest country in the world, and with God's help, we will keep it that way. Sometimes we can only be thankful for what we have left; for the rights that haven't been taken away yet, for the long periods of peace between eruptions of chaos, and for the many friends who stand with us, side by side, in our struggle to vindicate our Confederate ancestor's good name. We also give thanks for the men and women in law enforcement who are out there on the front lines, risking their lives. They are often the only thing between Christian civilization and "Third World" anarchy. The Major Utz Camp has been on an upswing for the past few years. Membership has dramatically increased, our treasury is in excellent shape, and we have been blessed with a new dynamic leadership team that will take us into an optimistic future. I'm looking forward to 2015 as our best year yet, and with your help it will be. Have a blessed Christmas season, and I will see you all at the January 24thmeeting at the AMVETS hall in St. Peters. Gene Dressel; Commander Major Utz Camp #1815 Chaplin’s Corner Tis the season to celebrate the birth of the Son! May you all have a joyous and happy Christmas holiday as well as a healthy and safe New Year! In this busy season, take a few moments to remember how our Southern soldiers would have celebrated Christmas even with their meager means. They didn't need gift cards, computers and overnight shipping to observe the Savior's coming, but Christmas was as meaningful to them as it's been through the ages. May we all know the Peace of the Season.... The January Meeting and Pot Luck We are all set for our January 24 2015 meeting place. It will be at the Amvet's Lodge #106 of St. Peters, MO. The address is: 360 Brown Road, St. Peters, MO. It’s only a few minutes from the Lion's Den. The best way to get there is to take Highway 70 west to the Highway 79 exit #220, (that's the next exit after the Mid-Rivers Mall exit) go north on 79 to the very first exit (N. Service Road) Go right at the stop sign and follow the access road a few hundred feet, then make a left onto Brown Road. The Amvet's building is on the right a few blocks down. We will start the meeting at 1PM so we have plenty of time to get everything done. We will have a short Business Meeting, Awards Ceremony followed by the dinner a raffle of things that everyone donates, you can bring as many items you would like some suggestions anything Confederate except books on the War of Northern Aggression please donate those to our new Camp library books for women, Christmas presents you don’t want and anything used you want to get rid of that cost a few dollars and if you what to go buy some things and donate them go head. We have a great time with this and raise some money for the Camp. Remember we have a lot of women attending. You can get raffle tickets 1 for a dollar or 6 for 5 dollars. Pot Luck Dinner: Fried chicken will be provided by the New Executive Committee. Everyone bring a covered dish or dessert. We had 42 people last year let’s make this year bigger and better. Family and Friends are invited. I know it’s really early but with Holidays and everything else that going on we need to get started on this. Email Brad Bludsworth at [email protected] or call 638-375-6147 and tell him how many will be attending and what you are going to bring. So we all don’t bring the same thing. Every week or so he will e-mail out the list of who is attending and what they are going to bringing. Let’s work at this and show our new Camp Adjutant who reads the minutes. The Salute to the CONFEDERATE Flag I SALUTE THE CONFEDERATE FLAG WITH AFFECTION, REVERENCE AND UNDYING DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE* FOR WHICH IT STANDS. My Confederate Ancestor Compatriot Harry Chashatt My 2nd Great Grandfather Alexander P. Crozier was born abt. 1836 in Dooly Co. GA. In 1860 he was living in Traders Hill, Charlton, GA. employed as a farm laborer. Alex enlisted in the Confederate Army on May 3 1862 in Pine Hill, GA. He was a Private in Company C 55th GA. Infantry Regiment. He served in the same Company with his brothers 2nd Lieutenant James E. Crozier and Private William W. Crozier. William became ill at Chattanooga, TN. and died Oct. 1 1862 in Ringgold, Catoosa Co. GA. Alex was captured Sept. 9 1863 at Cumberland Gap TN. was sent to Louisville KY. and then forwarded to prison at Camp Douglas, IL. Sept. 24 1863. He was paroled June 14 1865 at Camp Douglas, IL. Alex married Octavia Cowan Dec. 1 1868 in Pulaski, Polk, GA. The 55th GA. Infantry Regiment completed its organization at Camp Randolph, Georgia, in July, 1862. Many of the men were raised in Hall, Walker, and Jackson counties. Sent to East Tennessee, more than 540 officers and men were captured on September 10, 1863, at Cumberland Gap TN. After some of being exchanged, it was placed on detached duty guarding prisoners at Camp Sumter, Georgia and later at Florence, South Carolina and Salisbury, North Carolina. During January, 1865, there were 90 men at Florence, but the records do not give the number at Salisbury. Colonels C.B. Harkie and A.W. Persons, and Major D.S. Printup were its commanders. 150 Years Ago Dec. 7 1864 – Fighting at Murfreesboro TN. where General Forrest attacked an outpost. Dec. 9 1864 – Activity had increased at Petersburg VA. The U.S.S. Otsego and a tug boat were sunk by torpedoes in the Roanoke River near Jamesville. N.C. Dec. 10 1864 – U.S. General Sherman’s had arrived at the outskirts of Savannah, GA Dec. 15 1864 – After serval days of icy weather the battle at Nashville Tn. begins. Dec. 18 1864 - The battle of Little River in New Madrid Co. MO. Dec. 25 1864 – General Price’s and his Confederate troops reach Layneport, AK. Dec. 29 1864 –Skirmishing occurred at Hillsborough and Pond Springs AL. Dec. 31 1864 – To end the year. Skirmishing at Sharpsburg Ky. and at Russellville AL. Everyone ended the year wondering what the next year would like. Seems like people have been thinking this way for a long time. Scotland and the Confederate States of America: The American Civil War is not a conflict that figures prominently in the consciousness of Europeans. Few people in Scotland would be able to tell you much about the major figures of the war, why it happened or what the defining events of it were. Given Scotland’s long established connections to North America, this should actually come as a surprise. Scots played a prominent role in the war, for both sides, and the ‘War Between the States’ greatly affected the economic and political conditions that were prevalent in Scotland during the 1860s and beyond. Our current ignorance is in stark contrast to the Scots of the time, who were well informed and who often had sophisticated understandings of the arguments on both sides of the conflict. Indeed, abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass had visited Scotland as early as 1846 and given the reliance of the Scottish cotton industry on cotton from the American South, it is hardly surprising that Scots viewed these events as something directly relevant to them, and not as an abstract foreign dispute. It is said that while history doesn’t repeat itself, it certainly rhymes. As Scotland grapples with its own understanding of its future, whether that be independence or union, the Scots of the mid-19th century were similarly divided on the issue of independence or union for the American South. So for the benefit of the people on both sides of the Atlantic, here is a look at some of the more interesting connections that existed between Scotland and the Confederate States of America. William Watson and the SS Rob Roy Watson fought at the Second Battle of Corinth, depicted here by the the printmaking firm Currier and Ives. William Watson was born in Skelmorlie, North Ayrshire in 1826. He was the son of an Englishman, Henry Watson who had moved to Skelmorlie to work as a landscape gardener at the Ash Craig estate.