Major General John Bankhead Magruder Chapter 258 - Military Order of the Stars and Bars
Fredericksburg, Virginia – Volume 1, Number 6 – January 2005
Welcome to the The Prince’s Dispatch, quarterly newsletter of the
Major General John Bankhead Magruder Chapter of the Virginia Society of
The Military Order of the Stars and Bars.
The Magruder Chapter was chartered as Chapter #258 of the Virginia Society on 9 August 2000. Chapter meetings are held quarterly at a time and place announced in advance. The Chapter also gathers the second Wednesday of each month concurrently with the Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp #1722, Sons of Confederate Veterans at the Salem Library in Fredericksburg.
Charles A.
Embrey Sr.
Charles A. Embrey Sr is the Commander of the Magruder Chapter of the mosb.
Commander Embrey was born in Stafford County and attended school there with his twin brother, John M. Embrey Jr. He has one sister Bessie, who lives in Spotsylvania County.
Charlie, as he is called by most who know him has held Staff positions in the Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp of the SCV. When the Magruder Chapter was formed he took the position of Lt. Commander for the first two years.
Charlie is married to Barbara and they have three boys and two girls between them and
They just moved into their home in Orange County after many years in Stafford County.
Charlie and Barbara just got back from a trip to Texas where he was able to have his picture taken at the John B. Magruder Monument at the cemetery in Galveston, Texas
In the pictures above, the left is his “Passport” photo. The center was taken at the Iron Cross Dedication of his Gr. Grandfather at the Concorde cemetery.
The picture on the right is Charlie testing a modified bicycle.
As
usual the Lee-Jackson-Maury Memorial Service hosted by Culpeper Chapter No.
73, Virginia Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy at the Culpeper
United Methodist Church, Jan 17,
2005. The President of the Culpeper Chapter, Mrs. Betty Shackelford, gave
the welcome and conducted the ceremonies.
The invocation was given by Pastor Ralph Wilson of the Cedar Run
Baptist Church and the guest speaker
was "Gar" Schulin, an 18 year Navy man, who talked about
General Robert E. Lee. Again this
year the period music was superb!
The musicians, Dr. John Tole
and Mrs. Anne Howard, were a real treat! Susan
(Bean) Williams was presented the beautiful UDC Military Service Medal and
citation by Brenda W. Latham, Vice President, Virginia Chapter of the
UDC. It was to honor the service of
her father during WWII. The Sons of Confederate Veterans of
Matthew Fontaine Maury Camp 1722 of Fredericksburg presented the colors and
posted them at the end of the ceremonies ~ and did a GREAT JOB!
Members of the Maj. Gen. John
Bankhead Magruder Chapter 258 of the Military Order of the Stars and Bars were
also on hand. For this occasion.
(Thanks
to Steve Robertson, Camp 1722, and Jack Buttgen for their contributions for
this article)
In a previous edition of the newsletter I had an article on the LeMat Revolver. I didn’t have a picture then. I found one and am running another short article on this revolver.
There were a couple different calibers and the shotgun barrel came in two different sizes.
This is the 44 caliber version.
This .44 caliber LeMat revolver has a nine-chambered cylinder and weighs about four pounds. What makes this revolver unique is the addition of a second smoothbore barrel, of approximately .63 caliber, (18 gauge shotgun) under the barrel. This larger barrel was designed to fire buckshot. The top of the hammer was fitted with a pivoting striker that could be rotated to fire the .44 caliber rounds or changed to fire the lower, larger barrel.
The above is like the one Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was supposed to have carried.
The Army Model and Navy Model did not have the “spur” on the trigger guard.
A Cavalry Officers Journal
A Cavalry Officer was entertaining friends when his wife took
sick. The Officer excused himself and
went to his wife’s side. The doctor was
called and, after a thorough examination, the doctor had no idea what was wrong
with her. The doctor suggested watching
her close as she was running a high fever and falling in and out of
consciousness.
After a few days and
getting worse, the Officers wife became unconscious and the doctor pronounced
her dead later that day. The Officer
was devastated and prepared his wife for burial. The next day as the coffin lay on the stands in the family
cemetery, the family and friends said their last goodbyes.
The Officer decided
that after the grave diggers arrived that night and dug the grave that the
burial would be a private affair between the two of them. He remained at the coffin until all others
had gone. It was hard to say goodbye to
his wife who was just 26 years of age.
After standing there awhile, he started to return to the house and as he
walked away from the coffin he heard a cry.
He returned to the coffin and pried it open and his wife sat up and
called his name.
It was decided that
she had lapsed into a “living death” and while unconscious, the fever and
illness had left her. The Officer
carried her into the house and one year later, in 1807, she gave birth to a
son. The Officer hoped that this son
would continue in his fathers footsteps as an Officer in the Cavalry. They named this son “Robert E. Lee.”
This was a published story about “Lighthorse Harry
Lee and Robert E. Lee.”
(Editors
Note: I have the tape if anyone wants to see it.)
.
Gentlemen,
The SCV Virginia Division Convention is set for May 20-22 in Richmond. The Virginia Society of the MOS&B constitution currently calls for our convention to be held concurrently with that of the SCV. Arrangements are currently being made for a meeting place. The Virginia Society, Lt. Commander , Ray Gill will contact us when times and places have been confirmed.
110th Reunion of the SCV and 67th
Reunion of the mosb
The 2005 reunion will be held in Nashville, Tenn. July 18 – 23. Registration is now open for anyone who would like to attend. You can register online at
http://www.scv2005.com/index.htm
The host hotel will be Music City Sheraton.
Meeting -
Meeting – Meeting
The next scheduled meeting for the Maj. Gen. John Bankhead
Magruder Chapter 258 will be held in Faulkner Hall at the St. Georges
Episcopal Church on Pr. Anne St, Fredericksburg.
Time will be 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
Date: Monday,
March 14th, 2005
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Fredericksburg Chapter
The
placing of a marker on the grave of their founder, Nannie Seddon Barney,
will take place on Sunday, April 10th at 2:00 pm. Location: Confederate Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Va.
We have been invited to attend.
Iron
Cross dedication for the ancestor of Sheri Kiebert, Pvt. Robert Henry Jerrell, Co. E, 9th
Virginia Cavalry. Date: Saturday,
April 30th 2:00 pm.
Location: 701 Rumsey Lane, Spotsylvania, Va.
We have been invited to attend.
MOS&B National Web Address
Virginia Society Web Address
Magruder Chapter Web Address
http://www.jtdonnelly.com/mosb
Pledge of the Military
Order of the Stars and Bars
“We the posterity of the Officer Corps and civil officials of the Confederacy do pledge ourselves to commemorate and honor the service of leadership these men rendered in the cause of the fundamental American principles of self-determination and states rights and to perpetuate the true history of their deeds for the edification of ourselves, our society, and for generations yet unborn.”