ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMMES CAMP #11
SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
MOBILE, ALABAMA
Lee - Jackson salute – January 22, 2012
Held on a cold, foggy Sunday afternoon.
CSS Alabama cannon restoration March 18, 2012
This 32 pounder was delivered to the Museum of Mobile in grand style, and many pictures were made. Attached are two that give the story. The conservation in Charleston was superb. It looks almost new. The carriage was constructed by the experts at the Mobile shops with great pride. The wrought iron fittings were made by the Gulf Coast Blacksmiths Association. All precisely to the original plans that Andy Bowcock obtained for us. This was a great day, the culmination of 7 years work by many people.
The cannon is on permanent display at the History Museum of Mobile. Visit the website.
The cannon is on permanent display at the History Museum of Mobile. Visit the website.
Compatriots delivering the cannon to the History Museum of Mobile.
This photo taken in the Museum is in front of an enlarged to life size photo from 1864.
Confederate Memorial Day – April 15, 2012
In preparation for Confederate Memorial Day, compatriots from Camp#11 powere washed all the grave markers and the monument, repaired the monument base, and added two stone benches. The following article appeared in the Press Register.
'Dead but not gone': Confederate memorial planned for Sunday
By Michael Dumas, Al.com Published: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 4:16 AM
MOBILE, Alabama — On Sunday, the sounds of muskets and cannon fire will echo over downtown Mobile as the “Confederate Rest” section of Magnolia Cemetery is recognized for 150 years of use. More than 1,100 soldiers who died in battle during the Civil War are buried at the site, which is one of the older memorials in the 1830s-era cemetery located at 1202 Virginia St. Originally called “Soldiers’ Rest,” the site was opened for use in 1862 and features a large obelisk, surrounded by marble gravestones and smaller memorials at its four corners.
Those memorials are dedicated to the Mobile Cadets, the Alabama State Artillery, the crew of the H.L. Hunley submarine and Gen. Braxton Bragg, who is entombed there. A.J. “Joe” DuPree, memorials chairman for Raphael Semmes Camp 11 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the 2 p.m. Sunday service will include brief ceremonies at each of the four corners, featuring a person or topic of speech related to its subject. “Each time we do that, there will be a volley of musketry and a cannon fire to resonate in memory of those people and the sesquicentennial,” DuPree said.
In honor of the Mobile Cadets, the great-grandson of Cadet Capt. Robert M. Sands will speak, he said. Confederate re-enactors will participate in the memorial to the state artillery, and the Hunley monument will be memorialized by the president of the Electra Semmes Colston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. That chapter erected the Hunley memorial, DuPree said. The Raphael Semmes Camp 11 president will speak at Bragg’s tomb, he said. “There will be people there in period uniform firing reproduction period weapons,” DuPree said. “The idea is that we continue to honor these peoples’ memories. “They’re dead but not gone.”
The overall ceremony will have several purposes. It will not only celebrate Confederate Rest and serve as part of the four-year recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it will also celebrate Confederate Memorial Day which, in Alabama, will be celebrated on April 23 this year. For DuPree, whose great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy, memorials such as Confederate Rest are a crucial part of historical responsibility in a free society. “What they did is important because it was a heroic thing,” he said. “In the state of Alabama, 25 percent of the men of military age died in this war. And it gives you a sense of their devotion to the cause of liberty. “A place like this shows you that there was actually a time when people would die because they believed that they gave government rights, government didn’t give them rights. That’s a remarkable thing.”
'Dead but not gone': Confederate memorial planned for Sunday
By Michael Dumas, Al.com Published: Thursday, April 12, 2012, 4:16 AM
MOBILE, Alabama — On Sunday, the sounds of muskets and cannon fire will echo over downtown Mobile as the “Confederate Rest” section of Magnolia Cemetery is recognized for 150 years of use. More than 1,100 soldiers who died in battle during the Civil War are buried at the site, which is one of the older memorials in the 1830s-era cemetery located at 1202 Virginia St. Originally called “Soldiers’ Rest,” the site was opened for use in 1862 and features a large obelisk, surrounded by marble gravestones and smaller memorials at its four corners.
Those memorials are dedicated to the Mobile Cadets, the Alabama State Artillery, the crew of the H.L. Hunley submarine and Gen. Braxton Bragg, who is entombed there. A.J. “Joe” DuPree, memorials chairman for Raphael Semmes Camp 11 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the 2 p.m. Sunday service will include brief ceremonies at each of the four corners, featuring a person or topic of speech related to its subject. “Each time we do that, there will be a volley of musketry and a cannon fire to resonate in memory of those people and the sesquicentennial,” DuPree said.
In honor of the Mobile Cadets, the great-grandson of Cadet Capt. Robert M. Sands will speak, he said. Confederate re-enactors will participate in the memorial to the state artillery, and the Hunley monument will be memorialized by the president of the Electra Semmes Colston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. That chapter erected the Hunley memorial, DuPree said. The Raphael Semmes Camp 11 president will speak at Bragg’s tomb, he said. “There will be people there in period uniform firing reproduction period weapons,” DuPree said. “The idea is that we continue to honor these peoples’ memories. “They’re dead but not gone.”
The overall ceremony will have several purposes. It will not only celebrate Confederate Rest and serve as part of the four-year recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it will also celebrate Confederate Memorial Day which, in Alabama, will be celebrated on April 23 this year. For DuPree, whose great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy, memorials such as Confederate Rest are a crucial part of historical responsibility in a free society. “What they did is important because it was a heroic thing,” he said. “In the state of Alabama, 25 percent of the men of military age died in this war. And it gives you a sense of their devotion to the cause of liberty. “A place like this shows you that there was actually a time when people would die because they believed that they gave government rights, government didn’t give them rights. That’s a remarkable thing.”
Raphael Semmes Camp #11 adopts Generals lee and jackson
Official "Adoption Papers" from the History Museum of Mobile documenting that Camp #11 funded the restoration of the lithographs of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.
Many of the 85,000 artifacts at the History Museum of Mobile are in need of restoration. A large percentage of these are from the period of the War Between the States. Upon hearing that lithographs of two great generals of the South were in deplorable condition, the Camp unanimously voted to supply the funds to have the artwork restored. On October 30, Curator Holly Jansen of the Museum presented the Camp with its "Adoption Papers."
December fête (Christmas Party)
In lieu of a monthly meeting, Camp#11 held its annual social event at the venerable Dew Drop Inn.