U.S. Gov't Recognition of the Confederate Veteran

So often, as I read the news articles, letters to the editors, and web comments on both, I see so many using the foulest terms to describe our Confederate ancestors. Among those terms, though certainly not the worst, are "traitor" & "criminal." This, however, was not the sentiment of most Union veterans after the war, and only most divisive politicians held that opinion.

It must be realized that no matter what charges were ever brought against any Confederate soldiers, sailors, officers or government officials, only one was ever tried & convicted of treason (Capt. Henry Wirz - the commanding officer at "Andersonville" Prison), and that was done on trumped up charges & false testimony in a "kangaroo court."

Many will say that we need to "restore the honor" for our brave Confederate heroes, but what has never been diminished needs not to be restored. Instead, we need to RECOGNIZE THE HONOR, and educate others of why the honor is worthy of recognition. 

Through a process that took a century, give or take, our reunited country took action to recognize & properly honor the Confederate veterans as American veterans worthy of honor. Below is a timeline that I have put together that shows the process. Pay close attention to the words of U.S. President Carter at the end...

[April 1865]
The close of major military action in the War Between the States

[May 29, 1865]
PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION 134: U.S. President Andrew Johnson grants amnesty to most regular Confederate soldiers.

[July 4, 1868]
PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION 170: Pres. Johnson grants pardon to all persons participating in the "late rebellion," with the exception to those under indictment for treason or other felonies.

[July 9, 1868]
14th AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION: Section 3 of the Amendment prohibits the election or appointment to any federal or state office of any person who had held any of certain offices and then were accused of engaging in insurrection, rebellion, or treason; this is the only punishment ever given to the select few Confederate officials not pardoned through Pres. Andrew Johnson's earlier proclamations.

[December 25, 1868]
PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION 179: President Johnson grants full pardon & amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the War Between the States. This does not, however, nullify Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

[April - August 1898]
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR: Thousands of Americans of Confederate heritage come together with their Northern brethren to serve their reunited country in military action. Among the thousands of Southerners who served in the United States military during that conflict were the following four Confederate officers...

- Matthew C. Butler
(A Colonel in the Confederate Army; a Major General for the U.S. Volunteer Troops in the Span-Am War.)

- Fitzhugh Lee
(Maj.Gen. in the Confederate Army; Maj.Gen. for the U.S. Volunteer Troops in the Span-Am War. Also, a nephew of Gen. Robert E Lee.)

- Thomas L. Rosser
(Maj.Gen. in the Confederate Army; Maj.Gen. for the U.S. Volunteer Troops in the Span-Am War. Also, a nephew of Gen. Robert E Lee.)

- Joe Wheeler
(Lt.Gen. in the Confederate Army; Maj.Gen. for the U.S. Volunteer Troops in the Span-Am War.)

[December 1898]
In a speech, President Wm. McKinley urges complete reconciliation between Northern & Southern U.S. citizens. Pres. McKinley said, in part, that "every soldier's grave made during our unfortunate civil war is a tribute to American valor... and now the time has come... when, in the spirit of fraternity, we should share in the care of the graves of the Confederate soldiers... The cordial feeling now happily existing between the North and South prompts this gracious act, and if it need further justification, it is found in the gallant loyalty to the Union and the flag so conspicuously shown in the year just passed by the sons and grandsons of those heroic dead."

[June 6, 1900]
CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, FISCAL YEAR 1901: Congress magnanimously passes the bill, which appropriates $2,500 to enable the Secretary of War "to have reburied in some suitable spot in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, and to place proper headstones at the their graves the bodies of about 128 Confederate soldiers now buried in the National Soldiers Home near Washington, D.C., and the bodies of about 136 Confederate soldiers now buried in the national cemetery at Arlington, Virginia."

[March 9, 1906]
CONGRESSIONAL ACT - P.L. 38, 59TH CONGRESS, CHAP. 631-34, STAT. 56: Congress authorizes the furnishing of headstones for the graves of Confederate veterans, particularly those who died in Union prison camps and were buried in federal cemeteries.

[January 21, 1907]
The U.S. War Department establishes the Civil War Campaign Medal. Authorization for it's creation was given by Congress in 1905, and it was intended for veterans of both the Union and Confederate armies. A corresponding naval award, the Navy Civil War Medal, was established on June 27, 1908, by the U.S. Navy Department.

[February 26, 1929]
U.S. PUBLIC LAW 810: Approved by Congress, this law expanded upon what began in the aforementioned 1906 legislation, authorizing the Secretary of War "to erect headstones over the graves of soldiers who served in the Confederate Army, and to direct him to preserve in the records of the War Department the names and places of burial of all soldiers for whom such headstones have been erected." This legislation broadened the scope of recognition for Confederate veterans, allowing for them to receive burial benefits equivalent to those granted for Union Army veterans, providing the use of government (public) funds for the marking and recording of Confederate graves. This law is still on the books as 38 U.S. Code, Sec. 2306, which reads, in part: "The Secretary shall furnish, when requested, appropriate Government headstones or markers at the expense of the United States for the unmarked graves of... Soldiers of the Union and Confederate Armies of the Civil War."

[May 27, 1958]
U.S. PUBLIC LAW 85-425: SEC. 410: Passed by Congress, the law states: "The Administrator shall pay to each person who served in the military or naval forces of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War a monthly pension in the same amounts and subject to the same conditions as would have been applicable to such person under the laws in effect on December 31, 1957, if his service in such forces had been service in the military or naval service of the United States." This act, combined with all of those previously stated, effectively placed the Confederate veteran on equal legal footing with those who served in the Union Army. Because of this, there have been children of Confederate veterans collecting pension benefits right up to our current decade, earned through their respective fathers' service in the Confederate military, equal to those collected by the surviving children of Union veterans.

Aside from these, there are two other notable, noble acts of the United States government that should also be remembered.

[August 5, 1975]
Pres. Gerald R. Ford signs into law a joint congressional resolution (passed June 13, 1975) restoring full citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee, after the 1970 discovery of documents in the archives proving that he had filed all of the necessary paperwork for it. The resolution declared that "the legal disabilities placed upon General Lee as a result of his service as General of the Army of Northern Virginia are removed, and that General R. E. Lee is posthumously restored to the full rights of citizenship." At the signing of the resolution, Pres. Ford stated, "[a]s a soldier, General Lee left his mark on military strategy. As a man, he stood as the symbol of valor and of duty. As an educator, he appealed to reason and learning to achieve understanding and to build a stronger nation... General Lee's character has been an example to succeeding generations, making the restoration of his citizenship an event in which every American can take pride."

[October 17, 1978]
Pres. James E. Carter signs into law a joint congressional resolution (passed October 3, 1978) restoring full citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis never sought or received pardon for the crimes of which he was accused, as he was never convicted of any during his lifetime. Because he did not seek such a pardon or take an oath of amnesty or allegiance to the United States after the war, he died a man without a country. At the signing of this act, Pres. Carter said, "[i]n posthumously restoring the full rights of citizenship to Jefferson Davis, the Congress officially completes the long process of reconciliation that has reunited our people following the tragic conflict between the States. ... He had served the United States long and honorably as a soldier, Member of the U.S. House and Senate, and as Secretary of War. General Robert E. Lee's citizenship was restored in 1976. It is fitting that Jefferson Davis should no longer be singled out for punishment." "Our Nation needs to clear away the guilts and enmities and recriminations of the past, to finally set at rest the divisions that threatened to destroy our Nation and to discredit the principles on which it was founded. Our people need to turn their attention to the important tasks that still lie before us in establishing those principles for all people."

There are currently efforts underway to undo all of the progress & healing that the above efforts achieved, by those who seek to rip open 150 year-old scars for the purpose of agitating & dividing we, the people, for their own personal gain. WE MUST NOT PERMIT THAT TO HAPPEN. The veterans themselves are gone, and it is our duty to keep fighting the fight in the war of ideas to make sure that the recognition of honor that our ancestors rightfully attained in devoted service to their country is NEVER taken from them.

DEO VINDICE!
-Jonathan McCleese
Sergeant-at-Arms
Admiral Raphael Semmes Camp #1321 (Dearborn, MI)
Army of Tennessee, Sons of Confederate Veterans