About The Stonewall Brigade Camp
The Charge ~ Our Mission
Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans - our mission
"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."
Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General,
United Confederate Veterans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1906.
Camp History
The Stonewall Brigade Camp #1296 SCV
The Stonewall Brigade Camp was formed in 1999 as the only Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp to be located in the Lexington/Rockbridge County area since 1975. The organizer and founding Camp Commander was Michael W. Pursley. Since that time the camp has met actively. Beyond regular camp meetings, the camp sponsors many historical and educational events such as Lee-Jackson Day each January and is the developing entity of Lee-Jackson Memorial Park, a historical veterans park located in Fairfield, VA. The camp regularly sets up informational booths at area events to inform the community about the history of the Confederacy and to raise awareness of the camp. The Stonewall Brigade was the third in a series of SCV camps to meet in this area. The original camp was the General Frank Paxton Camp which grew out of the Lee-Jackson Camp United Confederate Veterans. The camp met regularly at the "old" county courthouse in Lexington and was the host of many early Lee-Jackson Day celebrations. We are not sure at this time exactly when the Paxton camp folded, but we suspect it occurred during the WWII period when many social organizations became the casualties of the war effort. When the Sons of Confederate Veterans re-established itself in the Rockbridge area, the second camp was known as the Rockbridge Artillery Camp #1296 which was named for a well known artillery unit from the area. This camp ceased to operate after one or more of its leaders moved away. When The Stonewall Brigade Camp was formed, it assumed the camp number designation of the Rockbridge Artillery Camp as camp number 1296.
About the Sons of Confederate Veterans
The Sons of Confederate Veterans - History
The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built.
Today, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause.
The SCV is the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, and the oldest hereditary organization for male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Organized at Richmond, Virginia in 1896, the SCV continues to serve as a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to insuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved.
Membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the Confederate armed forces. (photo: Elms Springs, SCV Headquarters in Columbia, Tennessee. visit www.scv.org