Va Flaggers Lee-Jackson Weekend Report Part II -- Washington & Lee University

Saturday morning, we gathered at Stonewall Jackson cemetery for a memorial service for General Jackson. Once again, God smiled on the Confederates gathered to honor Lee & Jackson with beautiful weather…sunny, breezy, and temperatures near 50 degrees!  A large crowd was on hand for the service, and those in attendance paid respects to the General through prayer, singing hymns, and laying memorial wreaths.

Immediately following the service, we formed up for a parade through Lexington.  Our unit was led by Generals Lee and Jackson, a Flagger color guard, and followed by the largest group of flaggers we have ever had attend the event including SCV, UDC, OCR and Mechanized Cavalry members from across the Commonwealth and the country!  It seemed to us that there were about twice as many folks gathered to watch the parade as there had been last year as well.  It was truly a glorious site, to see the parade stretched down main street, and the street filled with flags and supporters of Confederate heritage. Along the route, we sang Dixie, handed out stick flags, and received the support and well wishes of all who had gathered. 

At the end of the route, the parade took a detour from its normal path.  Instead of heading to Washington and Lee University, we were directed the opposite way, and into the municipal parking deck.  At this point, we turned and our entire unit headed over to Letcher Ave., to make our way to VMI to pay our respects to General Jackson before the Memorial Service, as has been our custom for the past several years.

As most of you know, a group of 6 students who attend Washington and LEE university's school of law wrote a letter in April of 2014 to Washington & LEE officials (copy attached) which demanded that the university €œhold itself responsible for the racist and dishonorable conduct of Robert E. Lee.€  Specifically, these agitators demanded the following mandates be implemented, threatening €œcivil disobedience€ if the administration failed to comply tot their demands:

1)  We demand that the University fully recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the undergraduate campus.

2)  We demand the University stop allowing €œNeo-Confederates€ (i.e.SCV, UDC, re-enactors) to march on campus with confederate flags on Lee-Jackson Day and to stop allowing these groups to hold programs in Lee Chapel.

3)  We demand that the University remove all confederate flags from its property, including those flags located within LEE Chapel.

4)  We demand that the University issue and official apology for the University's participation in chattel slavery and a denunciation of Robert E. Lee's participation in slavery.

In July, W&L President Ruscio began the systematic capitulation to these demands when he stripped the replica memorial Army of Northern Virginia Battle Flags from the chamber which holds the "Recumbent Lee" statue in the LEE Chapel.  Shortly thereafter, Confederate Flags were prohibited on the grounds, and those wishing to visit the Chapel were not allowed to carry a Confederate flag and were made to remove apparel that had a Confederate flag on it.  Recently, W&L officials announced that classes would be canceled next school year in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and this year, the LEE Chapel was not available to the SCV and UDC for their annual Lee-Jackson Day memorial service, reportedly (and conveniently) due to renovations.

Throughout the weekend, we had Flaggers stationed at Washington & Lee, and Campus Security was right there to make sure none of "those flags" were allowed on the property.  One of our flaggers, speaking of his conversation with one of the security officers, remarked,  "I told him it was a sad day in America when the borders of W&L are more secure than those of the United States."

As our group walked up Letcher Avenue after the parade, we stopped for a photo, unveiling the 20' x 30' flag that will soon be raised on I-81 in Lexington.

Security guards rush to ensure an education did not break out at Washington & Lee University.

At this point, those who still wanted to make the trip to VMI, including our own Robert E. Lee, portrayed by an elderly Vietnam Vet, were forced to walk back down Letcher Ave, cross busy traffic twice, and climb a very steep, difficult to navigate entrance, in order to access the VMI parade grounds.

For those who were not keeping track, this means that officials at Washington & Lee have already capitulated to THREE of the FOUR ludicrous demands made by the agitators, in effect giving full credence and agreement to their assertion as to the €œracist and dishonorable conduct of Robert E. Lee.

SHAME ON WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY FOR FORSAKING THE HONOR, MEMORY AND LEGACY OF ROBERT E LEE...AND SHAME ON THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE ADMINISTRATION AND THEIR COWARDLY ATTEMPTS TO APPEASE.

"Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice, and sustained by a virtuous people."-President Jefferson Davis

Despite the obstacles presented, we made it to VMI to pay our respects, although the hassle, delays, difficult hike, and lost time meant that many did not make it back in time for the Noon service at Lexington Presbyterian.

Our next and final report  will share our experience at VMI and the final hours of flagging Lexington that afternoon.

 Grayson Jennings

Virginia Flaggers

P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com

Va Flaggers: Old Soldiers' Home Veterans Profile: Rev. Moses Drury Hoge

The Virginia Flaggers are pleased to announce the release of the third in a series of profiles of Confederate Veterans with connections to the Old Soldiers™ Home, on the grounds of Confederate Memorial Park in Richmond, VA. 

For over three years, the Virginia Flaggers have forwarded the colors, twice a week, on the sidewalk outside of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) after museum officials forced the removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the portico of the Confederate Memorial Chapel.  

One cannot truly appreciate the history and significance of the Chapel, nor the degree of desecration committed when museum leadership, driven by their own misguided prejudice and ignorance, removed the flags, without knowing the (personal) stories of the men who built the Chapel, worshiped in it every Sunday, and gathered each time the bell tolled, to pay their respects to and honor their comrades, as one by one, the Veterans passed over to eternity. 

For many of our Flaggers, this fight is about more than just defending our Heritage against yet another unwarranted and unprovoked attack.  For those whose veins course with the blood of the men who actually had a connection to the Old Soldiers ™ Home, it is personal...

Moses Drury Hoge -- Confederate Chaplain
Moses Drury Hoge may not have been a soldier, but his importance to the veterans of the R.E. Lee Camp, No. 1 Soldiers' Home cannot be denied.

Born in 1818 in the oldest building at Hampden Sydney College in Prince Edward County, Virginia, he was the son of  college president Moses Hoge, who moved his family to Ohio so he could study there when his son was 2. After his father's death, young Moses, then 15, was sent to live with an uncle in North Carolina. He went on to attend Hampden Sydney and graduated as class valedictorian, becoming the assistant to Dr. Plumer in Richmond's First Presbyterian Church after college. Though the two became lifelong friends, Moses decided to start a separate church, Second Presbyterian on Fifth Street, in 1845. That same year, he discovered that the U.S. Army in Mexico needed chaplains, so he immediately volunteered.

In 1860 the Hoges moved to a house at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, where they entertained many distinguished visitors, including Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and more.

Rev. Moses Hoge was an abolitionist who supported secession from the Union and the radical Republicans who controlled it. At the start of the War Between the States, Gov. John Letcher appointed him to the Council of Chaplains. Moses preached to over 100,000 men during the war and was a favorite of the Stonewall Brigade. Cpl. James P. Smith wrote, ".... but the prayer, with far-reaching distinctness and with appeal and tenderness went up through the open skies to the God of so many fathers and mothers, to the great captain of our salvation, and went down into the hearts of those boys in gray, and tears were on many faces and strong desires in many hearts."

After the Seven Days Battles, Gen. Jackson himself went to Second Presbyterian to hear Moses preach. Small wonder that Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens appointed Moses "Honorary Chaplain" of the Confederate Congress. He opened congressional sessions with prayer 44 times,  far more than any other minister. He also accompanied President Davis and his cabinet during the evacuation of Richmond. In Danville, he found Secretary of State Benjamin walking the streets without a room and took him to his own lodging.  

By May, 1865 Moses returned to Richmond, depressed. "To me it seems that our overthrow is the worst thing that could have happened for the South and the worst thing that could have happened for the North, and for the cause of constitutional freedom and of religion on this continent," he wrote. "But the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth overall ..." Later, Moses admitted to having lost $30,000-$40,000 during the war.

Moses returned to his job as pastor of Second Presbyterian church but was not forgotten by the Confederate veterans. On May 8, 1887, he dedicated the Confederate Memorial Chapel at the Robert E. Lee Camp No.1 Soldiers Home. He preached there often, also speaking at the dedications of the Lee and Jackson monuments. When Moses was 80, he was injured in a streetcar accident but never recovered. He passed away on January 6, 1898 and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery across from the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler.

Over 100 years after Moses Drury Hoge entered his eternal rest, his young cousin is determined that his sacrifice, courage and devotion to God and country will not be forgotten, as he forwards the Colors in his memory, and in protest of those who have desecrated the Confederate Memorial Chapel and the hallowed ground on which it rests, and dishonored our gallant Confederate Veterans.

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers