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 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.