The Admiral’s Log
Sons of Confederate Veterans
1211 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36604
Raphael, Semmes Camp 11
Vol. XXV No 10 October 2005 Editor: Art Green
1211 Government Street Mobile, AL 36604
The regular monthly meeting was held on September 26, 2005, with members and guests
attending. The Camp celebrated the birthdays of Admirals Raphael Semmes and Franklin Buchanan with
a salute and a birthday cake. Captain Oliver Semmes gave the program. Our next monthly meeting will
be held on the second floor of the Admiral Semmes Hotel in downtown Mobile at 7 p.m. on October 31,
2005. Our program will be given by Terry “Beetle” Bailey as a comparison of the Federal Prison at Point
Lookout and the Confederate Prison at Andersonville.
From the Commander’s Desk
Please join me in extending the sympathies of the camp to our editor, Arthur Green, on the loss
of his son last week in an automobile accident. I wish there was a way to show our deepest of feelings
to a loyal compatriot who does so much for our camp.
Our September meeting included the annual birthday celebration for the Admirals with Oliver
Semmes giving the address. It is always a fine event for the camp to have not only the direct descendant
of Admiral Semmes, but also such an upstanding individual, speak at our meeting.
We have work to do at the cemetery. Anyone that can donate a Saturday, please see me or call
and let me know. Thanks to Compatriot DuPree for finding the Semmes bridge sign. I have retrieved it,
and it awaits its reestablishment.
Please send in your dues if you have not done so. You will not find a better avenue to pursue
maintaining the good name of your Confederate ancestor.
I
God Save the South, and God Save Mobile,
Joe
Announcements
Camp dues are now due. If you have not paid, please remit $42 to Paymaster Charles Christmas at 1954
Old Governments Street, Mobile, AL, 36606.
A headstone was placed by the camp for CSA Veteran Augustus A. Haas at the Camp 11 plot in Magnolia
Cemetery on October 13, 2005.
November 4-6 – Georgia, Conyers, 140th Anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta. To include re-enactments
of the Battle of Pickett’s Mill, Battle of Atlanta and the action at Jonesboro.
November 5-6 – Alabama, Kushler, 21st Alabama Ladies-Aid Society Ladies Encampment at Magee Farm.
November 10 – 13 – Alabama, Tallassee, 8th Annual Battle for the Armory re-enactment.
November 18 – 20 – Alabama, Sequoyah Caverns at Valley Head. Battle of Missionary Ridge re-
enactment.
December 3 - 4 – Tennessee, Nashville, 19th Middle Tennessee show and sale. Tennessee State
Fairgrounds.
December 10 – 11 – Alabama, Dauphin Island, Christmas at Fort Gaines.
Featured Alabama Infantry Regiment – 22nd Alabama Infantry Volunteers
Note: The 21st Infantry was featured out of order in March 2004 issue due to its close ties to Mobile.
The 22nd Alabama Infantry was organized at Montgomery, Alabama, in November 1861. It
served at Mobile before being ordered to Corinth, Mississippi, and reached Tennessee in time to take
place in the Battle of Shiloh where it suffered loss. The 22nd fought at Munfordville, at Perryville and at
Murfreesboro. They took a brilliant part in Rosecrans’ army at Chickamauga and suffered severe loss of
two-thirds of its men. This loss included the death of five color-bearers. It served in the campaign of
Georgia and again saw heavy losses in the battles around Atlanta and at Jonesboro. It was distinguished
at Franklin, Tennessee, and at Nashville. They served and fought at Kinston, North Carolina, and
Bentonville on March 19 to the 21, 1865. In April 1865, it was consolidated with the 25th, 39th and the
50th Alabama Infantries under Colonel Harry T. Toulmin.
Officers of the 22nd Alabama killed or mortally wounded in the war included: Colonel John C.
Marrast, Captain Abner C. Gaines, Major R. B. Armstead, Lt. Colonel John Weedon, Captain James Deas
Nott, Colonel Benjamin R. Hart, Captain Thomas M. Brindley, Captain Ben B. Little and Lieutenants J. N.
Smith, J. H. Wall, Waller, Mordecai, Renfroe, Leary and Stackpoole.
(From “Confederate Military History – Alabama Vol. VIII” written by Lt. General Joseph Wheeler.)
ITEMS OF INTEREST
Lemons were the favorite fruit of General Thomas Jonathan “STONEWALL” Jackson.
II
Lloyd Bowers was the Confederate Postmaster of Mobile, Alabama.
May 25, 1865, was the date of the powder magazine explosion in Mobile, Alabama.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was the only man in either the Confederate or the Union army who rose
in rank from an enlisted private to a Lieutenant General.
The Confederate States Medical Department could not obtain ample supplies of silk for sutures to
close wounds due to the blockade. A substitute of hair from the tails and manes of horses was used
experimentally, but only after boiling was the horsehair supple enough to sew up wounds in human
flesh. In addition, by boiling the hair it became disinfected, but the value of sterilization was not known
until later. The boiled horsehair became the standard stitch material that Confederate surgeons used
when silk was not available.
Some references in our Veteran’s Medical records can be confusing. Dropsy usually meant
edema or congestive heart failure. Pox was a reference to syphilis. Remitten meant a fever that drops
but does not altogether disappear. Vulnus Sclopeticum was a reference to a gunshot wound. Variola is
small pox. Screws referred to rheumatism. Rubeola is measles and scorbutus is scurvy.
Lest We Forget
“Buried in a strange land by stranger’s hands, without a stone to mark the place where he
sleeps.” Fannie Beers in Memories.
“To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will submit the vindication of the cause for which we
fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate Soldiers’ good name, the
guardianship of his history.” Lt. General S. D. Lee
The following is a continued partial listing of Alabama CSA soldiers who were buried at Ship
Island, Mississippi. These graves are not marked and have been long washed away. There exists a
bronze plaque mounted on the fort wall at Ship Island with all CSA burials listed.
Grave 78 - Pvt. Benjamin Edwards, 21st Alabama; Grave 123 – Sgt. J. B. Fulford, 21st Alabama; Grave 89 –
Pvt. William Garris, 1st Alabama Artillery; Grave 74 – Sgt. A. A. Gilmore, 21st Alabama; Grave 111 – Pvt. W.
W. Godwin, 1st Alabama Artillery; Grave 117 – Pvt. G. T. Grace, 21st Alabama; Grave 38 – Pvt. H. Graham,
21st Alabama; Pvt. J. D. Graham, 21st Alabama; Grave 129, Pvt. James Grenshaw, 21st Alabama; Grave 47,
Pvt. D. Groce, 21st Alabama; Grave 32 – Pvt. W. E. Groom, 21st Alabama; Grave 79 – Pvt. L. Hall, 7th
Alabama Cavalry; Grave 73 Pvt. W. D. Hand, 21st. Alabama; Grave 54 – Pvt. J. M. Heard, 21st Alabama;
Grave 147 – Pvt. David Hendricks, 8th Alabama Cavalry; Grave – 87 Pvt. G. W. Hill, 1st Alabama Artillery;
Grave 90 – Pvt. Phil Howell, 21st Alabama; Grave – 105, Pvt. B. Hudson, 21st Alabama; Grave 85 – Pvt. E.
W. Kennedy, 21st Alabama; Grave 104 – Pvt. S. R. Kennedy, 21st Alabama; Grave 103 – Pvt. William Lee,
1st Alabama Artillery; Grave 75 – Pvt. Nafors E. Majors, 21st Alabama; Grave 112 – Pvt. Simon Maples, 21st
Alabama; Grave 151 – Pvt. McDonald – 2nd Alabama; Grave 42 – Pvt. McLean, 21st Alabama; Grave 14 –
Pvt. Edward Morrison, 1st Alabama Artillery; Grave 101 – Pvt. Edwin Motley, 21st Alabama; Grave 76 – Pvt.
A. P. Oakley, 21st Alabama; Grave 52 – Pvt. Martin Parker, 1st Alabama Artillery; Grave 122 – Pvt. A. J.
III
Partin, 21st Alabama; Grave 108 – Pvt. W. S. Philan, 21st Alabama; Grave 88 – Pvt. John T. Poittat, 21st
Alabama; Grave 21 – Pvt. M. E. Robinson, 1st Alabama Cadets. To be continued.
-Rest in Peace-
Minutes of September 26, 2005, Monthly Meeting
The minutes of the September 26, 2005, meeting are attached.
MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 26, 2005, REGULAR MEETING
I. PROGRAMS
The featured program was given by Oliver Semmes, descendent of Admiral Raphael Semmes.
Compatriot Semmes reported on the last dive to recover artifacts from the CSS ALABAMA. Compatriot
John Ellis gave a Confederate Obituary reading from May 22, 1890 on Captain Augustus Stikes, late of
the 12th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery. On behalf of the Admiral
Franklin Buchanan Chapter # 28, MOSB, Compatriot David Mader presented a report “On This Day In
The War Between The States” covering events of September 26, 1863.
II. REPORTS
1. Adjutant (David Mader): There were no minutes from August due to Hurricane Katrina.
2. Paymaster (Charles Christmas): The membership was informed of the current balances in the
Camp’s accounts.
3. Camp Commander (Joseph Ringhoffer): (A) A dues reminder was issued. (B)
The Camp received an okay for the proposed plaque to be placed in
Bellingrath Gardens; authority granted to Compatriot AJ Dupree. (C) The
Camp placed sign at the Raphael Semmes Bridge on the Causeway was
carried away by Hurricane Katrina. (D) Storm damage at Magnolia Cemetery
IV
is approximately the same as Hurricane Ivan. This will cause a delay in the
work at the Confederate Monuments. (E) David Mader was appointed as
new adjutant to fulfill the remainder of the term of Perry Outlaw, who
resigned for personal reasons.
4. Cemetery/Monuments (Darrell Neese): The VA headstone for Augustus
Haas will be installed in the UCV lot by the Camp in the next week or so.
Mr. Raley is now completely bedridden at the nursing home.
5. Memorial/Media: Compatriot AJ Dupree reported on the plaque for
Bellingrath Gardens
6. Reunion Committee: Commander Ringhoffer reported on the Reunion
Committee meeting and solicited volunteers
III. OLD BUSINESS - NONE
IV. NEW BUSINESS
1. An application for the membership of Shane Ellison in the Semmes Camp was received,
examined and unanimously approved.
2. 1st LCDR Phil Law gave a report on the extensive damage and recovery efforts at Beauvoir.
Submitted by David Mader, Adjutant
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