October p3

surrendered than during the battle. He survived only because of the Masonic symbols he had drawn on his hat. While huddled with other soldiers that had surrendered, he suddenly realized a Union soldier had a rifle pointed at him. He quickly stepped behind a Union guard to avoid certain death. Wondering what he could do to preserve his life he noticed a Union officer with a Masonic emblem on his hat. He pointed out the soldier that had attempted to shoot him to the Union officer. The officer hit the soldier on the head with his pistol. When the solder started to run back over the breastworks the Union officer shot him and commented that he had done three others the same way.

Throughout history, war has brought out both the best and worst qualities of men. The heat of battle has resulted in many thousands of men being needlessly slain. In spite of facing tremendous odds and being the defenders instead of the aggressors, it is to the credit of Confederate soldiers that the vast majority of them followed a code of honor that is unequaled in the annals of war. The northern version of the history of the War Between the States attempts to blame some Confederate units and leaders with having assassinated Union soldiers after they had surrendered. It is not surprising that Union historians would make such statements as it is difficult for them to explain why it took a force that outnumbered the Confederate Army by three to one, nearly four years to defeat them. The north has never understood the Southern fighting spirit. They do not understand the "code of honor" and "devotion to duty" that dictated behavior for our gallant ancestors. It is obvious today they do not want to!

The Bugle Call
By David E. Curtis, Commander

Our highest calling and greatest duty as SCV members is to answer the Charge of Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee given to us in 1896. Please read it - study it and live by it daily.
"Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less" Gen. Robert E. Lee --- CSA.

Your Obedient Servant,
David E. Curtis, Commander

EDITORS NOTE:
See accompanying article on the true "Charge" of Lt. Gen. S.D. Lee on page 6 of the Highlander Dispatch. The actual charge was given in 1906 at the United Confederate Veterans reunion in New Orleans, Louisiana. The United Confederate Veterans now the Sons of Confederate Veterans was founded in Richmond, Virginia, on June 30th, 1896.

Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15th through October 15th.

This is to honor the contributions of this people and the contributions of those Confederates that relocated to Latin America.

(This information was prepared by the Education Committee
of the Sons of Confederate Veterans)
o The Cuban patriot Narciso López approached Mexican War heroes Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee in 1848
with the request to head a liberation army to free Cuba
from Spain -- Lee seriously considered the offer, but
turned it down.

o José Agustín Quintero, a Cuban poet and
revolutionary, ably served Confederate President
Jefferson Davis as the C.S. Commissioner to Northern Mexico, ensuring critical supplies from Europe flowed through Mexican ports to the CSA.

o Santiago Vidaurri, governor of the border states of Coahuila and Nuevo León, offered to secede northern Mexico and join the Confederacy; Jefferson Davis
declined, afraid the valuable "neutral" Mexican ports
would be then blockaded.

o The Spanish inventor Narciso Monturiol offered the Confederacy his advanced submarine Ictineo to smash
the Federal blockade. Never purchased, Jules Verne apparently based the Nautilus on this, the world's most advanced vessel of the day.

o Ambrosio José González, a famous Cuban
revolutionary, served Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard as his artillery officer in Charleston; earlier,
in New York, he helped design the modern Cuban and (inversed) Puerto Rican flags.

o The Mexican Santos Benavides, a former Texas ranger, commanded the Confederate 33rd Texas Cavalry, a Mexican- American unit which defeated the Union in the 1864 Battle of Laredo, Texas. He became the only
Mexican C.S. colonel.

o Thomas Jordan, a Confederate general responsible for early codes used in spying on Washington, after the war led the Cuban revolutionary army as Commander-in- Chief, training its generals and in 1870 routing the Spaniards at two-to-one odds.

o Lola Sanchez, of a Cuban family living near St. Augustine, had her sisters serve dinner to visiting Federals, while she raced out at night and warned the nearest Confederate camp. The Yankees thus lost a general, his unit and a gunboat the next day.

(HISPANIC HERITAGE continued Page 4)