Confederate Colonel

As we look at what American voters are given as choices for high public office by the two major parties, the obvious question arises: “Is this the best we have to offer?”

Political leadership is a direct reflection of the people. Political leadership follows the people - it does not lead. Politicians get into political office by offering the people what they want. That’s a nice way of saying that the system requires political pandering. To look at it another way, change is not accomplished by political leadership. Change is accomplished by first changing the people - who then select their leadership according to their changed beliefs.

Following this model then, Southern Nationalism at this point is putting the cart before the horse. Before political change is even considered, we must first lay the groundwork by working to change the culture of the people. Is it possible to make sufficient change in the mass culture so that Southern Nationalism is politically viable? I seriously doubt it. Demographic and political trends are strongly against it.

So, if Southern Nationalism as a political movement is not viable, and shifting the culture so that it would be viable is highly unlikely, then what’s the point of working on it at all? I would answer that by asking, “What’s the point of doing right? What’s the point of raising children to do good? What’s the point of teaching the truth?”

There are things in life that we do simply because they are the right thing to do and because doing so makes life better. Promoting and encouraging Southern Culture and the code of the Southern Gentleman and Southern Lady do exactly that - and that is why we are here.

ConfederateColonel

This is from an on-going discussion about the concept of Southern Nationalism. Our focus must be on Southern Culture - not some futile effort at creating a “Southern homeland”. These are my 10 key points:

1. The primary objective is to restore the ideals of Southern Culture as being a very desirable way of life, and to establish the general belief that Southern Gentlemen and Southern Ladies are real people - not just movie characters.

2. Southern Culture is defined as the best of the antebellum period of The South and is exemplified by the legendary character of Robert E. Lee.

3. Southern Culture (or any culture, for that matter) is an individual matter and applies to the individual, the family, and private organizations such as churches, clubs, and privately organized groups of individuals.

4. Southern Culture is not a government matter. It cannot be established or enforced by government. It moves from the bottom up, and not from the top down. Culture moves the government - government does not move the culture (or at least, it should not).

5. Politics and government, in the current system in the federalized 50 states, have gone far beyond the conditions that the Founding Fathers established in which government served and was controlled by the people. Our ability to control and shape our government is largely an illusion - something that is useful to those in power to keep the people believing that they are really in control, when in fact they are not.

6. The demographics of the Southern states has shifted so radically, and the government indoctrination system (public schools) has been so effective that there is very little support among the general population for any political change identified as “Southern” or “Confederate”. In fact, there would be very strong opposition to any proposed change.

7. Promoting and encouraging Southern Culture is a realistic objective that is being accomplished right now, one person at a time.

8. Working for political change to restore a Southern homeland has no realistic chance of happening. Even if all other points were dismissed, this point alone would mean that working toward a Southern political system is a waste of effort and resources.

9. If restoring The South as a political entity were possible, it would have happened during the 1930’s when the “Lost Cause Movement” was at its peak. It was a powerful cultural movement, but nothing significant happened politically toward establishing a new Southern nation. If it didn’t happen at the peak opportunity, it won’t happen now when The South has been thoroughly demonized by the rest of society.

10. Finally, working toward a political objective means that a “different set of rules” applies. Those forces opposed to Southern Nationalism would target Southern Culture and push a century of anti-Southern propaganda into high gear. Where Southern Culture is currently pretty much ignored and “under the radar”, bringing politics into the picture would turn our culture into a prime target. A good analogy is what happens when a relatively-unknown political figure is suddenly thrust upon the national political scene. The scrutiny is intense, the lies are created and embellished, the hostile propaganda is kicked into high gear. Without the influence of politics, we have a chance at restoring Southern Culture to its rightful place of honor. If “Southern” becomes a political issue, the forces arrayed against it would be overwhelming.

A while back, I attended the funeral of my cousin. It was held at a small Baptist church in the middle of farming country here in the rural part of Florida. As the funeral procession drove from the church to the cemetery, I would estimate that about 1 out of every 3 or 4 vehicles pulled to the side of the road and stopped out of respect.

This used to be the standard response here in The South to seeing a funeral procession, but it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Part of the reason is that with the steady increase of urban and suburban sprawl, it is often simply not safe to stop at the side of the road. Stopping where it would create a hazard is not showing respect for the dead - it is showing disrespect for the living. I really believe that the number of people doing this as a sign of respect would greatly increase if they only knew about it. I know that I have been guilty of not stopping for a funeral procession before I really became aware of this, so I’m not really faulting those that didn’t stop. It is no longer common knowledge. We need to try to make it so.

ConfederateColonel

The following is taken from an article in the April 21, 1997 edition of National Review (LINK). It does an excellent job of explaining the on-going attacks on The Old South.

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IN 1906, Varina Howell Davis, widow of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, died in New York. She had moved there for financial reasons after her husband’s death in 1889. Needing to earn her living but reluctant to embarrass her fellow Mississippians by doing it in their midst, she accepted an offer from her cousin’s husband, Joseph Pulitzer, to review books for his paper.

Now that New York Gov. George Pataki has ripped the Georgia state flag from the Albany capitol, it is instructive to learn how an earlier New York responded to the passing of the First Lady of the Confederacy.

Her funeral, described in Gerry Van der Heuvel’s excellent biography, stopped traffic:

New York honored Varina without any prompting. . . . The mayor sent an escort of mounted police to accompany her body to the station, where it was placed aboard a special train [to Richmond]. The casket was draped in the Confederate flag. A military band marched before the hearse playing “Dixie,” “Maryland, My Maryland,” and “The Bonnie Blue Flag.” . . . General Frederick Grant, son of the Union general-in-chief, ordered a company of artillery from Governors Island to escort the cortcge. This was the first time in history federal troops had accorded this honor to a woman.

It is a commentary on our times that this passage could serve as a checklist of all the things that are now in the process of being banned.

Attitudes were different in 1906. Back then, the North held the Old Confederacy in high esteem. The halcyon days of Southern good repute had begun almost immediately after the Civil War. The image-makers were Union veterans, whose stories of Confederate valor spread respect for the former enemy at a time when Americans invested the good loser with nobility and the martial grand gesture stirred every schoolboy’s heart.

By the end of the nineteenth century memories were fading and veterans were dying off, but the South won the country’s admiration again in 1898 when war with Spain broke out. Southerners enlisted in droves, earning ardent tributes to their patriotism. The spirit of 1898, when Northern and Southern men fought side by side under the American flag for the first time since the Mexican War, lingered into the twentieth century and explains the send-off New York gave Varina Davis.

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I highly recommend reading the entire article.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton’s Third Law of Motion is something that every high school student has been taught. While it applies to physics, it is also applicable to cultural issues. We see this each time the NAACP and its political sycophants manage to ban the display of the Confederate Flag. While students may be prohibited from any display of The Flag on school grounds, we see The Flag appearing in numerous other places. Southern culture and Southern symbols cannot be destroyed or legislated out of existence by obsequious politicians.

In the Southern Cultural War, we need to modify Newton’s law by changing the word “equal”. It is our duty to make sure that for every action that the anti-Southerners take, they experience a Greater reaction.

Although the most common title for the war of 1861 - 1865 is “The Civil War”, most Southerners know that is incorrect. The question is: What is the correct title? Here is one of the clearest explanations I’ve seen on the subject. It is from page 15 of The Confederate Handbook by Curtis Patranella .

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There are many myths surrounding the Confederate States of America and the “Civil War”. For example, the terms “Civil War” and “War Between the States” are both an incorrect title to give the war as you shall soon realize.

A Civil War is when two factions are fighting for control over the government. The Confederacy had no desire to control Washington, DC. The CSA was a Nation fighting for its Independence FROM Washington, DC.

A War between States would exist if, for example, Kansas were to be at war with Missouri. The Nation of the Confederate States of America was at war with the Nation of the United States of America. Clearly the war was not between States.

You may be wondering, “What should I call that war?” well, the answer is actually quite simple. Considering the Confederacy was fighting for Independence, an apt title would be “The War for Southern Independence”. Secondly, the North illegally invaded and attacked the South for seceding; therefore “The War of Northern Aggression” would be an apt title as well.

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The Confederate Handbook is an excellent reference to have on hand. Download it. Print it out. Read it. You’ll be glad you did.

The following is from a paper I found when going through a folder in my desk. I think it was in an old issue of The Wall Street Journal (1980’s or 1990’s), but I’m not certain. It is one of those things that I feel compelled to save when I stumble across it.

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Class never runs scared. It is surefooted and confident. It can handle whatever comes along.

Class has a sense of humor. It knows that a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes. Class knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices.

Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with money. Some extremely wealthy people have no class at all while others who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.

Class is real. You can’t fake it.

The person with class makes everyone feel comfortable because he is comfortable with himself.

If you have class you’ve got it made. If you don’t have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn’t make any difference.

source and author unknown

Confederate Colonel is an online community of those striving to live the life of the Southern Gentleman or Southern Lady in today’s world. It is Chivalry with a Southern accent. It is the New Life of The Old South. It is a rich heritage waiting to be claimed by those who strive to live life with the quiet dignity that once exemplified life in the South. It is gracious Southern living at its best.

What is it that makes the South so beautiful, so gracious, so culturally rich, and so uniquely appealing? Part of the answer might be found here at Confederate Colonel. We hope you enjoy your visit, and we hope it helps you live the dreams of a new Southern nation that our ancestors once had. Those dreams are now carried on by those of us who cherish the sweet smell of Confederate jasmine, the sound of a breeze gently blowing through moss-draped oak trees, the taste of cool lemonade poured into a tall glass while sitting on a porch swing, and the splendor of the sun setting through tall Ponderosa pines.

The photo shown here is of William Pelham McGehee and his wife, Sarah - they are the inspiration for Confederate Colonel. William served in the Confederate States Army in the Washington Artillery. He was captured at the battle of Petersburg and held in the federal prison camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. After the war, he returned home to his farm in Alabama.

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Confederate Colonel Objectives

Our objectives are to promote and encourage:
• the code of the Southern Gentleman and Southern Lady as guidelines for daily living
• the customs and traditions of The Old South in our homes and in our daily lives
• the tradition of Southern hospitality and gracious living.

We recognize that the code of the Southern Gentleman is best exemplified in the life of Robert E. Lee and other great leaders of the Confederate States of America.

We define Southern Culture as being the best of the antebellum period of The South.

A Southern Gentleman is usually also a Christian Gentleman. Christianity can shape and mold a man into a Southern Gentleman, or a woman into a Southern Lady. Confederate Colonel is a Christian web site.