News-Info-Alerts

Re: Confederate History Comes Home

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: December 18, 2002

"Man brings Confederate history home

Steve Bloom/The Olympian

Descendants of Confederate veterans who are interested in joining the Sons of Confederate Veterans are invited to attend Camp Anderson's meeting at 12:15 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Fife City Bar and Grill. More information is available at www.scv.org.


When Moses White was 16, he stole his father's mule and left the family home in Cullonden, Va., to join the Confederate army with his cousin.

White became a private in the 36th Virginia Cavalry, fighting in the battles of Winchester, Gettysburg and Kernstown. He was a prisoner of war at Point Lookout Prison Camp in Maryland.

White's great-great-great-grandson, Frank Hall, 41, of Yelm, is inspired by the story about one of his forefathers. "I don't understand why people don't care about where they came from," he said. "I feel obligated to my ancestor."

Hall is commander of Camp J. Patton Anderson, which is the Olympia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization open to male descendants of Confederate veterans. Camp Anderson has grown from six to 30 members under Hall's tenure.

"The SCV is a heritage organization, and I love the history," Hall said.

Hall, a self-described Army brat who calls no particular place home, is a graduate of Columbia College, Mo., where he majored in history and political science. He has taught U.S. history to middle school students and worked in the civil service. Currently, he's a stay-at-home dad. His wife is a captain in the Army.

One of SCV's missions is maintenance of Confederate graves and historical markers. There are about 1,600 graves of Confederate veterans in the Olympia area alone, according to Hall.

"Lots of Southerners fled Reconstruction for other parts of the country, including the Pacific Northwest," he said.

The Confederate flag

Another of the SCV's primary missions -- and of particular interest to Hall -- is establishing respect for the beleaguered Confederate battle flag. The flag has been the subject of much contention, particularly in Southern states who incorporate it in their flags.

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has said the Confederate battle flag "represents evil in much the same way as the German swastika" because it symbolizes support of slavery and white racial superiority.

Hall disagrees.

"We want to teach enemies of the battle flag that it is not like a swastika," Hall said. "Most people think that the whole Civil War was about slavery, but that's just not accurate."

There were a variety of circumstances that culminated in the war between the states, Saint Martin's College history professor Father John Scott explained, but a recent convention of Civil War historians concluded that slavery was the primary reason for the war.

Every official Declaration of Secession issued to Congress by Southern states cites threats to the legality of slavery as the principal motivation for leaving the Union.

"By far, most of the men who fought in the Confederacy didn't even own slaves. My great-great-great-grandfather never owned a slave," Hall countered.

"We just don't think it's right to sit on a pedestal here in the 21st century and look back and say 'They should have done this or that,' " Hall said. "The politically correct are trying to rewrite history rather than learn from it."

Continued evaluation of U.S. history from a 21st century vantage point will eventually taint the images of such revered national heroes as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were both slave owners, Hall said.

"If this continues, there might be those who'll be forcing us to change the name of our state," he said. "Someone may want us to do away with the stars and stripes because it flew over slave lands, too.

"The Sons of the Confederate Veterans is absolutely not a hate group, not a neo-Nazi group," Hall emphasized.

"Our purpose is pure heritage. ... I'm not honoring the slave holders or the death of Union soldiers," Hall said. "I'm a history buff, and I just find something very compelling about a 16-year-old who steals a mule to run off to war. I honor my ancestor. I think all Americans should be more tolerant of one another."

Sons of Confederate Veterans concentrate on their ancestors

©2002 The Olympian"