Welcome 2014

Hello Readers,

We hope everyone has had a fantastic Christmas and holidays and that you are ready for the New Year and 2014. It is coming, ready or not! Just want you to know I will be away for a few days starting tomorrow but hope to return the end of this week to start the new year right with regular blogs once again!

 

Another biggie will be if Auburn can win the National Championship on January 6th against a very formidable opponent, Florida State University. Regardless of the outcome, it is amazing that Auburn is in the BCS title bowl game.

 

2014 will also begin the sesquicentennial of the fourth year of the War Between the States. Things are beginning to unravel rather quickly for the South.  We will recount those battles right here so stay tuned.

 

We will also report on upcoming activities at the First White House of the Confederacy. There will be busy days ahead! I will take up where I leave off in a few days. Please stay with me.

Book Signing At the First White House January 16, 2014

The First White House of the Confederacy is pleased to announce an upcoming book signing by historian and author David P. Bridges, historian and professor at the university of Richmond in Virginia..

 

This will be Thursday, January 16, 4:00 - 6:00 pm when David will discuss "What makes an Alabama hero today vs. during the Civil War?"

 

David's book is "The  Broken Circle" and is a dramatic historical novel about his great, great uncle Dr. James Breathed, a Maryland doctor who chose to fight with the Confederate Army to preserves the Southern way of life.

 

Alabama's hero, General John Pelham, who is in the Alabama Hall of Fame, was Dr. Breathed's commander and best friend. Please come to the book signing if you are in the vicinity, and if not, order the book on Amazon.com.

 

 

Ezekial Moses, Confederate Soldier and Sculptor

Reading through an album of our trip to Virginia Battlefields a photo of a very imposing statue caught my eye. It is called "Virginia Mourning Her Dead" and stands on the campus of Virginia Military Institute The sculpture was done by Moses Ezekiel, a graduate of the Institute, who later became a world renown sculptor, and who donated the statue to the school.

 

 You may remember the story: in 1864, a Union army under Franz Sigel moved through the Shenandoah Valley intending to capture Lynchburg, an important supply hub. Confederate Commander John C. Breckinridge assembled a makeshift army to stop Sigel. Desperately needing more men, Breckinridge contacted VMI Superintendent Francis H. Smith, asking to  have the VMI cadet corps join him as a reserve troop.

 

The 258 cadets, including Ezekiel practically ran the 81 miles to join Breckinridge near the town of New Market. During the battle, when Breckinridge's line wavered, the Confederate commander in desperation ordered the cadets to join the fight, saying "Put the boys in, and may God forgive me."

 

When the battle was over the Confederates had won, but at the cost of 10 cadets dead or mortally wounded, and 47 others wounded. Among the mortally wounded was Ezekiel's roommate, who died two days later in Ezekiel's arms. Moses Ezekiel never forgot that frightful experience.

 

And this may be of special interest to you: The Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery was also done by Moses Ezekiel. Carved around the base of this Memorial are these words from the book of Isaiah in the Holy Bible, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." 

Blog Book Coming Soon

Hello Dear Readers,

I mentioned this in my  August 5, 2013 blog, but I want you to know that with the help of my good friend and author of the Miss Budge books, Daphne Simpkins, we are nearly ready to publish our Blog Book.

 

It is shaping up to be a book about  some of my blogs that have been written since I began in August of 2010.

 

The blogs will be in three sections: one about Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his Family; second about the War and all things Confederate: and third about The First White House, the celebrations there and the struggle for its survival.

 

I will keep you posted on when it will be available. In the meantime don't forget to check the First White House website at www.firstwhitehouse.org and our Facebook page and please keep reading our blog and tell others about it. We appreciate your interest and encouragement.

 

Things You May Not Know About the Alabama State Capitol Grounds

Alabama became a State in 1819 and the first permanent capitol was at Cahawba (near Selma) but as the area was prone to flooding the capitol was moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826. Montgomery became the capital in 1846 and the present Capitol building was completed in 1851 after the first building  burned two years earlier.

 

As Alvin Benn, writer for the Montgomery Advertiser said in an article titled "Capitol grounds a dazzling outdoor museum" June 9, 2013, "Alabama's Capitol is a marvelous museum inside and out".

 

Benn mentioned the brass star at the top of the front steps where Jefferson Davis took the oath as the Provisional President of the Confederacy, as well as the orange roses planted in the rose garden in honor of Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King.

 

Several statues are on the Capitol grounds including one to  James Marion Sims and one honoring John Allen Wyeth. "Who are they" one might ask?  Wyeth founded a medical school in New York and Sims was known as the Father of Modern Gynecology. There is also a very impressive statue of President Jefferson Davis.

 

The most impressive structure on the Capitol grounds is the Confederate Monument which took 12 years to build and was completed in 1898. Jefferson Davis came to dedicate  the cornerstone in 1886 three years before he died.

There is also a Liberty Bell replica which was put there in 1976 in honor of the bicentennial of our nation, and an Avenue of Flags which includes the flags of all 50 states as well as a stone or rock from each state. The flags are on the South side, facing the First White House of the Confederacy, so if you are visiting the Alabama State Capitol, be sure and stop in at the First White House! You will be warmly greeted.

As a personal aside,the Robert Henry Tile Company installed the beautiful marble steps in front of the Capitol. My father, Robert F. Henry, Sr., owned the business at the time, and Henry Tile Company is now owned and run by my brother, Robert Henry, Jr. and his two sons and daughter, my nephews and niece.

 

 

 

Numbers of Vistors to The First White House and The Blog

Have you wondered how many visitors we have at the First White House of the Confederacy annually? Over 25,000 from almost every state in the Union and from many foreign countries.

 

 Through the end of October this year we have actually had 13,259  plus from Alabama, 10,196 from other States, and 1568 from outside the U.S.

 

Most of these tourists spend at least two nights in our Capitol City of Montgomery, and eat at downtown restaurants, bringing cash flow into the community. They shop at gift shops too, including ours. Our visitors buy such things as T shirts, books, children's toys, and  almost anything with "First White House"  on it.

Here is an update on our blog: since August of 2010 we have had 63,464 people visit our blog, with 2127 last month. The largest number of readers has been from the U.S. but we have had large numbers of blog readers from Austria, Russia, France, Germany, UK, Sweden, Poland, China and Turkey.

The three most read blogs have been "Who Really Designed the First Confederate Flag?" "Jefferson Davis Descendants" and "Miss Budge-Another Real Southern Lady".

I want to invite all of you who have already visited the First White House to come again and see the new items that have been added. Someone is always there  ready to welcome you back!!! Ditto with the Blog!!!

 

 

 

Exciting News About the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond

The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond has notified its members that the Museum is joining forces with the American Civil War Center at the Historic Tredegar Iron Works site to make Richmond the "foremost Civil War destination in the United States."

 

The $30 million project will result in the construction of a brand new museum building at the Tredegar Iron Works site.

 

The largest priority of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond has always been the protection of its incredible collection, which includes artifacts belonging to Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, Robert E. Lee and many others. The new museum will provide better storage for the collection, improved displays and a larger and better venue for hosting educational programs.

 

 The Second White House in Richmond, located next door to the Museum of the Confederacy, will be celebrating its 200th birthday in 2018. It will continue to operate as normal, as will the Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox.

 

We are so happy for the Museum of the Confederacy and the American Civil War Center. Congratulations to you and especially to Waite Rawls III, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Museum.