The Prince’s Dispatch
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.




A More Decent Internment
From a story by Michael A. Halleran
Masonic Burials During the Civil War.

On the night of January 1, 1863, Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder attacked Federal forces occupying Galveston, Texas. With field artillery and riverboats converted to carry cannon, the Confederate forces overwhelmed Union troops stationed at the city wharf and attacked Federal naval vessels in Galveston Bay.
Among the Union warships engaged that day was the U.S.S. Harriet Lane, commanded by Captain I.W. Wainwright. During the action, the Harriet Lane was boarded by the Confederate troops from the C.S.S. Bayou City, lead by Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, at which time Captain Wainwright was killed.
The following day Harmony Lodge No 6 of Galveston opened a "Lodge of Emergency," and following intelligence from the Union prisoners that Captain Wainwright was a Master Mason, the lodge buried him with full Military and Masonic honors.
Commenting in the minutes of the lodge, the Master observed,
     It does not conflict with our duties as patriotic citizens to respond to the calls
     of mercy by a prostrate political foe, or to administer the last rite of the Order
     to the remains of a Mason of moral worth, although yesterday they met as an armed enemy in mortal combat.

Also buried that day was Captain Wainwright's second in command. Lieutenant Edward Lea, who was killed in the boarding action. In one of the war's many ironies, among the boarders of the Harriet Lane was a Confederate army officer, Major Albert Miller Lea, Lieutenant Edward Lea's father. His son died in his arms.



The U.S.S. Harriet Lane,





THE FEDERALISTS, NULLIFICATION, AND SECESSION
There was a time when even Massachusetts Federalists said that nullification and secession were not treason but were actions that a state had the right to take if it believed it needed to do so. Historian James Banner points out the following:
"The Federalist theory of interposition, so widely held after 1808, was rooted in the premise that the nation was a collection of "several independent confederated republics," a "league" of equal and sovereign states which had surrendered only a portion of their authority to the central government under the Constitution. In constitutional arguments sharply reminiscent of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which they had only a few years earlier rejected, Federalists declared that the Constitution was variously a "treaty," "contract," or "association." Each state was a free republic "united by a solemn compact under a federal government of limited powers." These sovereign republics, and not the people, had been represented at Philadelphia, and the nation's sovereignty derived directly from the sovereignty of the states.
"Federalists concluded from these propositions that since the states had negotiated the Constitution, the states alone could determine when a national law violated the compact, when its obligations under the Constitution ceased, and when to denounce it. From this it irresistibly followed that if a state nullified a law, interposed its authority between the people and the national administration, or in the extremity seceded, it would not commit treason. The state would merely assume to itself its full sovereign powers as a republic, a remedy "prescribed by the law of nations." (TO THE HARTFORD CONVENTION: THE FEDERALISTS AND THE ORIGIN OF PARTY POLITICS IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1789-1815, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1970, p. 118)



: "Because, it was said, the Constitution was "a treaty of alliance and confederation" and the government an association of states, then it followed "that whenever its provisions are violated, or its original principles departed from by a majority of the states or of their people, it is no longer an effective instrument, but that any state is at liberty by the spirit of that contract to withdraw itself from the union."
(TO THE HARTFORD CONVENTION, p. 301)



Calendar of Events.


November 4 -5
Virginia Civil War Reenactment.
The Peninsula Artillery invites you to the Walker home. "Locust Grove" in Walkerton to explore life during 1864 by walking through the woods, fields, encampments and sutlers' "stores." You will meet soldiers, their families and their commanding officers such as Gen. Robert E. Lee and observe as they engage in a battle each day. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Admission is $5 a day or $8 for a two day pass. Children under 12 admitted free.
For more information and directions, call (804) 769-8201 or go to peninsulaartillery.bizland.com



November 18 - 19
Virginia Capital of the Confederacy Civil War Show.
Richmond Raceway Complex.
The 26th Annual Event will feature exciting and educational displays by collectors and several major museums including The Museum of The Confederacy and Richmond National Battlefield Park. Over 400 exhibitors, many of national reputation, will present thousands of authentic Civil War items for sale including, uniforms, accoutrements, weapons, excavated artifacts, personal items of the soldier and civilian images, books and art. As always, profits from admissions will be donated to certain institutions and special projects where the primary focus is the preservation of our Civil War History. Admission is $6 for adults, children under 12 admitted free.
For information call (804) 737-5827 or (804) 928-1006
E-mail show@cvcwca.com. Visit the web site at www.cvcwca.com.



Nov 04, 2006
Rededication of Lt. Stafford's Grave of South Carolina.
Ceremony to start at 1:00 p.m. at Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, VA.

Nov 27, 2006
Fredericksburg's UDC Historical Night, (UDC Medals} at Salem Church Library, 6:00 p.m.



Dec 01, 2006
Day Camp Christmas Celebration at Cosner Community Center from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. The cost will be $12.00 per person and gift exchange will have a $10.00 limit. For more information contact your Commander.



Dec 02, 2006
Fredericksburg Christmas Parade. Plan to form up between 4:30 and 5:00p.m.
Contact your Commander for more information.



Dec 02, 2006
MOS&B Chapter #258 Christmas Party and Dinner
at the Commanders house



Jan 13, 2007
Fredericksburg UDC Chapter #163 Lee Jackson Ceremony at 2:00 p.m.
at White Oak Primitive Church off of Rt. 218.



Jan 15, 2007
Culpeper UDC Chapter #73 Lee Jackson Ceremony at the United Methodist Church.



From the Commander.
Once again we are wrapping up another year and I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all of the members of this Chapter and their families for the support of the dedications, ceremonies and parades that you all have attended. Our Chapter has had a lot of good exposure and I must say you all have made us look good. The UDC Chapters and the SCV Camps continue to invite us to be part of the local events. We are fortunate to have a past Commander of our Chapter who is now serving as Commander of the Virginia Society. It is my intentions to serve him to the fullest. After saying this, we need to start working on the Virginia Society Convention in which takes place in April. Once again, thanks for your loyal support and service.
Give your significant other (wife, girlfriend) a big hug and kiss for their support. That's an order!



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."



A bus driver is conducting a tour of famous Civil War battle sites.
"Here," he points out at one spot, "is where the Southern troops routed a whole regiment of Yankees.
Over there, the Rebs wiped out a whole platoon of Yanks.
Down about a mile, there's another valley where we captured a thousand Union soldiers."
A tourist says, "Didn't the North ever win a battle?"
"Yes, ma'am. But not while I'm driving this bus."