{"id":9096,"date":"2019-09-05T11:15:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=9096"},"modified":"2019-09-05T11:05:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T16:05:17","slug":"a-son-of-confederate-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2019\/09\/05\/a-son-of-confederate-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"A Son Of Confederate Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pamela S. Thibodeaux<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit I am not a history buff. Facts, figures, dates and events surrounding wars have never been my cup of tea. And, let\u2019s face it, that\u2019s pretty much all history is about. I firmly believe we should honor and respect the past but leave it where it belongs \u2014 in the past \u2014 and focus on a better world for the generations to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s my opinion, but my boss, Tommy Curtis, has a totally different take on the history of our country, specifically the Civil War era.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Color Company for close-up action in movie Gettysburg. Curtis is seated at the far right on the rock wall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When asked when he first became interested in this period, Curtis said as far back as he can remember, he\u2019s always had an \u2018intuition\u2019 about the \u2018Silver War,\u2019 as he deemed it until his mother gently corrected his pronunciation.<\/p>\n

Coming from a long line of veterans who served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and World Wars I and II, as well as the Civil War, Curtis says he didn\u2019t know much more than that about his ancestors, but he knew he was an American and very proud to be one.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cBack then, our vision of America was heroic,\u201d he says. \u201cOur heroes were those that we knew and those we were kin to. Television programs were very different when I was a young boy. They shaped our characters as Americans by extolling the virtues of bravery, patriotism, courage, etc.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And, when he started school in 1960, WWII veterans were still very young. \u201cPeople weren\u2019t trashing the country, the history or their heritage back when I was growing up,\u201d Curtis says. \u201cWe were raised and encouraged to respect the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tommy Curtis\u2019 great, great, great grandfather, Henry Overton Read who was a medical officer in the Confederate Army and Mayor of Abbeville in 1866. His brother, Stephen D. Read, was a Confederate cavalryman and the first district judge for Calcasieu Parish for 18 yrs. in the late 1800\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When he found out we (the South) actually lost the Civil War, Curtis says it was a huge shock to him because part of the heroic vision he\u2019d always adhered to was, \u2018America was always the good guys and America always won.\u2019<\/p>\n

Years later Curtis saw the movie Patton and heard Patton (George C. Scott) say, \u201cAmericans have never lost and will never lose a war because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans!\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, Patton knew very well of defeat as his grandfather and great uncles were Confederate officers. While in combat as a young field officer in WWI, and during his entire military career (1909-1945), Patton often drew upon their soldierly examples of courage for inspiration.<\/p>\n

With the excellent example of Patton\u2019s honor of his Confederate forbearers and television programs and movies that often showed southerners in an honorable light, Curtis developed a natural identity and deeply-felt connection with his own people, their unique and even tragic history, and the honor of their heroes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Patton, Curtis understood there is no inconsistency in fidelity, patriotism and love of America in being proud of his Confederate ancestors and in honoring their service to the CSA (Confederate States of America) as he honored the service of his grandfather and father to the USA in WWI and WWII. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What really fueled his passion for the Civil War was not who won or lost, but the cause. \u201cMost people are familiar with one cause of the war.\u201d Curtis says. \u201cHowever I have found that there were many issues, but only one that could have actually brought about war, and that is Secession.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the very issue of secession itself \u2014 states leaving the Union \u2014 that precipitated war. Had these states not seceded, war would never have come. Slavery, while a major issue and agitation, was constitutionally protected and untouchable where it existed. Lincoln was firmly committed to this position and offered to support the constitutional adoption of the Corwin Amendment which would have removed any authority by Congress to ever interfere with domestic institutions, thereby making slavery perpetual and forever untouchable in every state that sanctioned it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Curtis, Stephen Lang (General Pickett from the movie Gettysburg) and Scott Thorn, a fellow actor from Southwest Louisiana.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhy had I not heard of this?\u201d Curtis wondered. \u201cAnd why, then, did the southern states not accept this offer, but secede anyway? What were they truly fighting for?\u201d<\/p>\n

What the South was fighting for was the same thing our forefathers fought for \u2013 freedom from centralization, consolidation of government and for state sovereignty, not a central government to rule over everything and everyone. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t, and don\u2019t, want a monarch or a king. Never have. Which is exactly why the United States fought for independence from Great Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Curtis learned, and what most folks don\u2019t know, is that there was dissension between the North and South for 30 years before the North invaded the seceding states. Nor are they aware that the governors of Virginia and Missouri reprimanded President Lincoln when he called for volunteers to invade, saying his call to arms was \u201cillegal, immoral and unconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny attempt to romanticize as simply morality on one side and evil on another, or to simplify such a complexity of causes, differing views of the role of government, and all of the other intricate reasons behind this war does no honor to the memory, hardships, sacrifices, victories and defeats of participants and players on either side in this bloodiest of American tragedies.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During his years of study, Curtis saw an advertisement that the Sons of Confederate Veterans were holding a living history event at the Prien Lake Mall. He\u2019d never heard of the organization but joined immediately upon attending the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people who hear of our organization have no idea that the purpose behind it is to defend the Confederate soldiers\u2019 good names, to be the guardianship of the Confederacy\u2019s history, the emulation of its virtues, to hold dear those things which he cherished and to understand and defend the reasons why he went to war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket used in\u00a0films Gettysburg and Gods and Generals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Pat Buchanan, Harry Truman, Waylon Jennings, Trace Atkins and former Gov. Foster are just a few of the more prominent people who are, or were, members of this organization.<\/p>\n

Curtis\u2019s fascination with the Civil War has led him not only to collect artifacts and memorabilia from that era \u2014 he has two 1853 Enfield rifle muskets, spent bullets (Union have three rings, Confederate two rings), bridles, curry combs and belt buckles \u2014 but also to participate in reenactments of some of the battles around the state as well as large ones in Tennessee (Shiloh and Murfreesboro) and Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) that involve many thousands of re-enactors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of Curtis\u2019 Civil War memorabilia: Gray kepi (worn by officers); Red kepi (worn by artillery); brogans; cartridge box; canteen and bayonet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Curtis has participated in headstone dedications of Confederate veterans and reburials around the country, one of the largest in Charleston, SC for the burial of the Confederate crew of the Hunley \u2014 the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. This event drew an estimated 80,000 people and was broadcast on statewide television in South Carolina. Curtis was also cast as a \u201cbackground artist\u201d and acted in three movies about the Civil War: Gettysburg (1994), Andersonville (1996) and Gods and Generals (2003).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As enamored as he is with the entire Civil War era, Curtis\u2019s emotions tend to get riled when it comes to the Reconstruction period. \u201cReconstruction is a misnomer,\u201d he says. \u201cReconstruction was a time of plunder, theft and scandal.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there was much rebuilding going on, in truth this was meant to be an effort to reprogram, reeducate and reconstruct the mind of southerners by teaching New England\u2019s view of the war and the sins of their region.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory is what it is,\u201d Curtis says. \u201cI\u2019m not a fan of war but I am in favor of being correct about what occurred and learning from it. This is not a hobby,\u201d he maintains. \u201cBut a worldview that is informed by looking closely and clearly through the lens of history. One cannot do this seriously and not be deeply affected by it, as it informs the way you see everything \u2014 historically, politically, culturally and religiously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he has been and still is very proud to be a southerner, he wasn\u2019t always a defender of the heritage. However, now that he knows the truth and the causes behind the Civil War, Curtis is staunchly a Son of Confederate Veterans.<\/p>\n

Want to learn more of the truth surrounding the Civil War?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to lectures offered by Thomas Fleming, Editor of Chronicles Magazine, or read the following books:<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Confederate Constitution of 1961 \u2013 A Study in American Constitutionalism by Marshall L. DeRosa<\/p>\n

\u2014 North versus South \u2014 The American Iliad by Ludwell Johnson, professor of history at William and Mary University in Maryland<\/p>\n

\u2014 A Constitutional History of Secession and Blood Money: The Civil War and Federal Reserve by John Remington Graham<\/p>\n

\u2014 Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era and What They Fought For by James M. McPherson<\/p>\n

The Southern Tradition at Bay: A History of Postbellum Thought by Richard M. Weaver\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jefferson Davis, American by William J. Cooper\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Lee by Clifford Dowdey<\/p>\n

\u2014 The South During Reconstruction 1865-1877 by E. Merton Coulter<\/p>\n

A good fiction read set around the Battle of Mansfield here in Louisiana is Beloved in Another Time, Another Place by Annabelle Blythe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pamela S. Thibodeaux I\u2019ll admit I am not a history buff. Facts, figures, dates and events surrounding wars have never been my cup of tea. And, let\u2019s face it, that\u2019s pretty much all history is about. I firmly believe we should honor and respect the past but leave it where it belongs \u2014 in [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2074,2075,4,2073,2077,2014,2079,2078,2076],"yoast_head":"\nA Son Of Confederate Veterans - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2019\/09\/05\/a-son-of-confederate-veterans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Son Of Confederate Veterans - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Pamela S. Thibodeaux I\u2019ll admit I am not a history buff. 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