The 146th Anniversary of North Carolina Secession

CIC Sullivan:

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans proudly proclaim that the SCV is dedicated to defending the honor of Confederate soldiers and that the SCV stands for "Heritage Not Hate." In reality, the SCV has become an organization that allows its faction of hate-filled fanatics to operate freely and do the bidding of those who lead the organization. The John Wilkes Booth SCV chapter, the League of the South faction, the James-Younger SCV motorcycle gang and numerous other SCV members conduct campaigns of harassment, intimidation and lies against those they view as enemies of the SCV. Instead of defending Confederate heritage with dignity, scholarship, and outreach, many SCVers defend the new SCV with distortion and suppression of historical fact. They are motivated by political activism and neo-secessionism which, in violation of the SCV’s constitution, have become the new goals of your organization. Recent activities of SCV members substantiate this charge.

Since April, 2006, members of the SCV have waged a public campaign to destroy the image of a loyal Confederate soldier and suppress a book about Confederate conscription. Private Albert G. Thompson’s (Rutherford County, North Carolina) experience as a Confederate conscript is typical of tens of thousands of Southern men who faithfully served their nation. For SCVers, the credible documentation of compulsory military service in the Confederate army does not fit well within the Southern separatist movement. In order to suppress a history book about Confederate conscription, SCV members mischaracterize the Confederate conscript. He, and by implication, thousands of other Confederate soldiers have been labeled as cowards by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

As an honorably wounded and discharged Confederate soldier, Albert Thompson and thousands of veterans like him are the very men whose heritage the SCV claims to protect. Instead, the SCV allows its members to lie about Thompson’s well documented record in order to rewrite Confederate military history. Many SCVers find the fact of Confederate conscription to be incompatible with their political agenda. The almost universal misconception that all Southern men were eager secessionists and army volunteers is politically more useful to the modern Southern secession movement that the SCV has embraced.

Mr. Sullivan, many of your compatriots who publicly malign this soldier are average SCV members. They are simply ignorant of history. Others are members of ruthless factions that are allowed to operate within the SCV. Their attempts to discredit Private Thompson and suppress awareness of Confederate conscription have included:

1) posting charges of cowardice against Thompson in so-called book reviews on the Amazon books website,

2) calling him a coward in front of the public and the reenactment community,

3) committing perjury about Thompson’s service in the Confederate army, and

4) forwarding messages throughout the nation about his alleged cowardice.

In the absence of action by you, Mr. Sullivan, or by any other SCV leader, a reasonable person would certainly suppose that SCV members have engaged in these activities with the organization’s apparent approval. The specifics are as follow:

Item #1: Amazon book reviews:

The effort to suppress a credible Confederate history book and to destroy the service record of Private Thompson was coordinated by SCV member Jim Pierce of North Carolina. In March, 2006, he urged all SCV members to go the Amazon books website and tell Amazon "what you think" of the book "They Went Into the Fight Cheering!" Pierce stated, "I'm sure you will want to write a review of Walter Hilderman's book. This is important for all to do. Jim Pierce. Col Sam Tate SCV Camp 836 Morganton NC."

The results of Mr. Pierce’s message began appearing as book reviews that same month:

Reviewer: "Sassy" (Dixie, the South, CSA) - March 7, 2006. [The author’s] "own great-great grandfather, who by his own admission seems to be to have been neither a patriot nor a brave man..."

Reviewer: Joel E. Prim, alias "The J Man" (SCV member, Charlotte, NC) March 18, 2006.

"What a joke of a book. Just because the writer's ancester [sic] had no love for his Country and was a coward...."

Reviewer: "Laughing Bear" - March 20, 2006. Hilderman’s "ancestor had to be forced into the army kicking and screaming..."

Reviewer: Walter F. Adams alias, "Jack Bauer" (SCV member, Comfort, NC) March 28, 2006. "This so called book deserves a - [minus] 5 Stars. This book is nothing but mear [sic] lies from a one sided ediot [sic]. Hilderman has absolutely no clue about what went on during the war for Southern Independence. Hilderman and his ancestor are both cowards."

Other book reviews became so abusive that Amazon removed most of them at the request of a former Virginia SCV member who had been maligned on the website for submitting a favorable review of the book. Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Confederate reenactment community were maligned as well for the same reason.

Item #2: Publicly referring to a Confederate soldier as a "coward."

On September 15, 2006, SCV member Mike "Possum" Long, by his own admission in court, referred to "Hilderman’s ancestor" as a "coward" at an officers’ meeting at the reenactment of Allison’s Woods near Statesville, North Carolina. The next day, immediately prior to the battle reenactment, after repeating the insult again and having been warned by me not to do so, Mr. Long called Private Thompson "chicken" in my presence. In finding me legally guilty of Simple Assault in the fight that ensued, but morally justified in my actions, the judge stated, "I would probably have done the same thing that Mr. Hilderman did." (See Statesville newspaper Landmark and Record, May 9, 2007)

Item #3: Perjury

During the trial mentioned in Item #2 above, when asked why he would repeatedly refer to a Confederate soldier as a coward, an SCV member proudly stated under oath, "Because he was, he refused to fight. He is not listed in the North Carolina troops roster." In making this statement and in specifically citing North Carolina Troops: A Roster 1861-1865 (North Carolina Archives, Publications Section, 1966 - present), this SCVer lied. Much of Private Albert G. Thompson’s Confederate service record appears in volume XV, page 98, of that publication.

Item #4: Publicly circulating through the Internet during May, 2007, messages that refer to Private Thompson as a coward and urging SCVers to confront me by reminding them that:

"FYI: By the way, Walt does not like it when you call his ancestor Albert G Thompson, a yellow bellied, craven, coward. Permission to forward is granted."