Confederate Soldier Honored Despite Missing Grave

A Southern soldier whose body was stolen from his grave has been honored in a Memorial Day ceremony at a Confederate cemetery in Ohio. Ann Hartman of Griffin, Ga., says her great-great-grandfather, Hiram Bland, was captured during battle in July 1864 and taken to Camp Chase prison camp in Columbus, where he died months later. Hartman says his body, which was never found, was stolen by a team of grave robbers just hours after it was buried. The bodies of more than 2,000 Confederate prisoners of war are buried in Camp Chase Cemetery. A chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans gave Hartman a memorial stone in Bland's honor on Monday. They also sang "Dixie" and sprinkled Southern soil on the ground.

(Associted Press/The Columbus Dispatch)

Senate Approves Confederate Month

The Georgia Senate voted to designate April Confederate Heritage and History month. The bill passed 48-2. It would celebrate the Confederate States of America. Governments, schools, businesses and Georgia citizens would be encouraged to participate in programs throughout the month. Supporters say the measure would be a boon to the state's tourism industry, encouraging visitors to come to Georgia's Civil War battlefield sites.

(Associated Press)

Cheney to help mark Ga. battle's anniversary

Vice President Dick Cheney will help commemorate the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga this week.

Cheney will deliver remarks Friday at the event in Northwestern Georgia near Chattanooga, Tenn., as organizers begin a three-day re-enactment of the 1863 battle.

Chickamauga was the site of the Civil War's second-bloodiest battle and the South's last major victory.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB coverage about Chickamauga.

Digging set to start at Civil War site

Archaeologists and Civil War experts are teaming up to search for artifacts at a battle site near the Oconee River in northeast Georgia. Next week, the group will begin digging at the site of the 1864 Battle of Barber's Creek. The goal is to attract funding for a potential park. Archaeologists also are planning to dig at a Revolutionary War-era fort in nearby Oconee County.

Thousands of Baptists hold historic meeting

Mercer University President William Underwood, Former President Jimmy Carter, and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue attend the opening ceremony of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant. (Katy Pando)

A diverse group of North American Baptists are meeting in Atlanta this week. It is the first broad attempt by the denomination at healing divisions dating to the Civil War. Organizers of the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant hope the meeting will forge a new spirit of cooperation among Baptists.


Democratic Presidential candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton at the podium. (Katy Pando)

Former President Jimmy Carter is the public face of the initiative: “We hope that Baptists, who might have the reputation as being the most divided of all, over time, can present a vivid demonstration that if we can do it, all other Christians can as well.”


Choral accompaniment. (Katy Pando)

Carter insists the meeting is not political and does not create a new denomination. However, the group does reflect a liberal counterweight to the conservative Southern Baptist Convention. Organizers plan to address issues such as racism, poverty, AIDS and environmentalism.

Archaeologists survey site of Civil War ship's sinking

Underwater archaeologists believe they might have found a Civil War era ship in a river near Savannah. Archaeologists working on the Vernon River Thursday came as close as they could to saying the ship they found is the U-S-S Water Witch without saying it conclusively.

If it's found, the Water Witch would be the first Civil War ship found since the H.L. Hunley was raised in 2000 and would be only the third such ship found in Georgia.

Tapping a pole against something metalic at the marshy, buggy site, archaeologist Harry Pecorelli said, the ship is in the right place and under 20 feet of mud. "Mud is a really good preserving agent," Pecorelli said. "So, based on my experiences just looking at the Hunley, the metal could be in very good shape."

A full-scale replica of the Water Witch is being constructed for the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus.

The site just outside Savannah was being studied as part of a highway extention project.

Chickamauga: reward for missing plaques

A $1,000 reward is being offered for century-old bronze plaques missing from the Chickamauga Battlefield in northwest Georgia.

The Civil War markers were placed by Indiana veterans in 1898 to commemorate their taking part in the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga.

Park officials say rangers discovered the plaques missing in September from the monuments of the 42nd and 88th Indiana Infantry Regiments.

Click here for more GPB coverage and features about Chickamauga.

Ft. Benning marks Battle of Chickamauga

The post will hold a commemorative ceremony heralding the 100th anniversary of the Infantry School and the centennial of the Battle of Chickamauga on Thursday.

Events include a graduation ceremony for 205 infantry soldiers who have successfully completed a 14-week training course.

The 100th anniversary of the Battle of Chickamauga is of special significance to the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, which can trace its unit history back to the Civil War and that incident, according to an Army PAO statement:

During the battle, that unit the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, held fast, securing the Union Army's exposed left flank, a key position. The unit stood fast throughout a prolonged and bloody battle and earned a reputation as "the rock of Chickamauga."

Click here for more on the Battle of Chickamauga.

New Civil War film focuses on Columbus

The "Battle for Columbus," dubbed by historians as the last official battle of the Civil War is the focus of a Georgia Public Broadcasting film, set to air Wednesday night at 10 p.m on WJSP tv.

Filmmakers Rickard Elliot Lifshey and James Bridges spent two years working on the production.

"It has all the elements of a great story and is one that should be told,"

Lifshey told the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper.

Columbus historians and journalists were interviewed for the film, and scenes were shot in and around Columbus, Phenix City, Ala., and several surrounding counties.

Senate Committee Approves Confederate History Month

The Senate Rules Committee has approved a measure making April “Confederate History and Heritage Month” and sent it on to the full chamber for a vote.
Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) says he sponsored the legislation to pay homage to his ancestors.

“It’s only appropriate for me, with a family who fought in the Civil War, a family who owned property where the battlefield exists now, to be part of such a bill to commemorate the War Between The States in Georgia,” Mullis says.
He says his resolution shouldn’t be controversial, but it is. It comes just days after African-American lawmakers called for an official apology from the state for slavery. Mullis says his legislation is not a response to their call, although he does not support it.