The Dick Dowling Camp was named in honor of Lt. Richard W."Dick" Dowling,
the Hero of the Battle of Sabine Pass.
Dick Dowling, a 28 year old Irish saloon owner from Houston who commanded a handful of Irish dock workers,
in a earthen (mud) fort, using six salvaged cannon, and stopped a Federal flotilla of 18 transports and four
heavily armed gunboats intending to invade Texas.
The end result, in less than one hour, was about 50 Union killed, two Federal gunboats
and about 350 prisoners captured with no Confederate casualties.
President Davis described the Confederate Victory as being
"without parallel in ancient or modern warfare."
Lt. Dowling and the men of the Davis Guard each received the only medal
struck for Confederate soldiers during the War Between the States.
The Dick Dowling Camp meets on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM
in the Saloon of Spindletop/Gladys City Boomtown Museum
on the grounds of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
For more information on the Dick Dowling Camp e-mail:
Camp Commander Paul Allen at hardincoreb2007@att.net
Adjutant (Position Open) at eastexmojo@aol.com
or Editor Bruce A. Hamilton at bham1954@att.net
For information on becoming a member of the Dick Dowling Camp please
e-mail the camp officers above or mail us a letter at the address below.
The Camp's Mail address is:
Dick Dowling Camp #1295 SCV
P.O. Box 1863
Beaumont, Texas 77704-1863.
Activities of the Dick Dowling
Camp #1295
Events of 2013:
SEPTEMBER 7 and 8, 2013
DICK DOWLING DAYS SESQUICENTENNIAL
THE 150th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF SABINE PASS, TEXAS
CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTMENT
held on the ground of the actual battle at
Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site
6100 Dowling Rd.
Port Arthur, Texas
!!!!! FREE ADMISSION !!!!!
Coordinated by The Dick Dowling Camp #1295.
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. Membership can be obtained through
either direct or collateral family lines and kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically.
The minimum age for membership is 12.
Proof of kinship to a Confederate soldier can take many forms. The easiest method is to contact
the archives of the state from which the soldier fought and obtain a copy of the veteran's military
service record. All Southern state's archives have microfilm records of the soldiers who fought
from that state, and a copy of the information can be obtained for a nominal fee. In addition, the
former Confederate states awarded pensions to veterans and their widows. All of these records
contain a wealth of information that can be used to document military service.
The SCV has a network of genealogists to assist you in tracing you ancestor's Confederate
service.
The SCV has ongoing programs at the local, state, and national levels which offer members a wide range of activities. Preservation work, marking Confederate soldier's graves, historical re-enactments, scholarly publications, and regular meetings to discuss the military and political history of the War Between the States are only a few of the activities sponsored by local units, called camps.
All state organization, known as Divisions, hold annual conventions, and many publish regular newsletters to the membership dealing with statewide issues. Each Division has a corps of officers elected by the membership who coordinate the work of camps and the national organization.
Nationally, the SCV is governed by its members acting through delegates to the annual convention. The General Executive Council, composed of elected and appointed officers, conducts the organization's business between conventions. The administrative work of the SCV is conducted at the national headquarters, 'Elm Springs,' a restored ante-bellum home at Columbia, Tennessee.
In addition to the privilege of belonging to an organization devoted exclusively to commemorating and honoring Confederate soldiers, members are eligible for other benefits. Every member receives The Confederate Veteran, the bi-monthly national magazine which contains in-depth articles on the war along news affecting Southern heritage. The programs of the SCV range from assistance to undergraduate students through the General Stand Watie Scholarship to medical research grants given through the Brooks Fund. National historical symposiums, reprinting of rare books, and the erection of monuments are just a few of the other projects endorsed by the SCV.
The SCV works in conjunction with other historical groups to preserve Confederate history. However, it is not affiliated with any other group other than the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, composed of male descendants of the Southern Officers Corps. The SCV rejects any group whose actions tarnish or distort the image of the Confederate soldier or his reasons for fighting.
If you are interested in perpetuating the ideals that motivated your Confederate ancestor, the SCV needs you. The memory and reputation of the Confederate soldier, as well as the motives for his suffering and sacrifice, are being consciously distorted by some in an attempt to alter history. Unless the descendants of Southern soldiers resist those efforts, a unique part of our nations' cultural heritage will cease to exist.
To Join, call 1-800-MY-DIXIE
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