Category Archives: Memory

How Far Will the Virginia Flaggers Go For Attention?

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Update #2: Here is the latest. The university issued the following statement: “According to our Office of Public Safety, our officers reported four occasions when they interacted with individuals who were participating in the July 26 rally sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in downtown Lexington. The officers characterized all of these interactions as respectful. They did not record names or ages of any of the individuals.”

Update: Brandon Dorsey and the Stonewall Brigade (SCV) is now demanding that W&L apologize to the individual who was supposedly harassed by police on campus this past Saturday. Not a shred of evidence has been presented substantiating the accusation.

I’ve already said that yesterday’s protest in Lexington, Virginia over the removal of replica Confederate flags will likely lead nowhere. The Virginia Flaggers know this which is why they have now gone to great lengths to stage another conflict to garner sympathy for their cause.  Continue reading →

Another Defeat For the Virginia Flaggers

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Virginia FlaggersWith each perceived heritage violation the Virginia Flaggers somehow manage to place themselves further from the mainstream when it comes to the display of the Confederate flag. Their assumed stance that they alone ought to dictate what it means to commemorate and remember the Confederate past has won them very few, if any, allies in Virginia and beyond. Even after all the protests they have yet to garner one significant victory.

The controversy at W&L was a perfect opportunity for the Virginia Flaggers to demonstrate their ability to engage in some creative thinking and sincere interest in a solution that would be satisfactory to all constituents. Unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly all the Flaggers could muster was much of the same extreme outrage and self-righteousness in response to what most  observers believe was a reasonable response by the president. Continue reading →

Restored Original Confederate Flags to Return to W&L’s Lee Chapel

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Battle Flag No. 62

Battle Flag No. 62

Amidst the focus on replica Confederate flags being removed from inside Lee Chapel on the W&L what has almost entirely been lost is the decision to properly exhibit original Confederate flags on a rotating basis in the museum space below the chapel. The first flag which will be displayed in the Lee Chapel museum is Battle Flag No. 62.

Captured at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, by the 12th New Jersey Infantry, this flag is believed to have belonged to the 26th North Carolina Infantry. A history of the 26th Infantry records the following report on the incident in which the flag was captured: “Our color bearer, a member of Company K, Facuett’s Company from Alamance County, succeeded in passing over this fence, but fell mortally wounded. He died that night with his face to the enemy. Our colors fell with our brave color-bearer not ten steps from the rock wall.” July 3 was the last day of fighting at Gettysburg.

Descriptions of the other battle flags scheduled to appear can be found here.

Yes, I can certainly see why so many people are outraged. :-)

Will Washington & Lee’s Response Satisfy The Committee?

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It should be no surprise that not everyone approves of the decision made at Washington & Lee University to deal with concerns expressed by a group of students, who call themselves The Committee, over the school’s Confederate past. A good deal of this first wave of outrage comes from the usual suspects, who believe that they alone hold a monopoly on what it means to properly commemorate Robert E. Lee and the Confederate past.

Charges of political correctness and an administration that caved into the demands of a select few abound. Not surprisingly, the decision to remove reproduction flags from the chapel has caused the most outrage among those who are best described as reproduction Confederate heritage advocates. No mention of the fact that the school is going to display the original Confederate flags that once hung in the chapel in the museum section of the building below. Does this really reflect caving into demands? One Virginia blogger worries about a slippery slope: Will the Recumbent Statue of Lee be next? Continue reading →