Camp Chase, Ohio

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Confederate Memorial Day

This Sunday, June 6th, 2004, a Memorial service was held at the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. This ceremony is held every year and is organized by the Hilltop Historical Society, also located in Columbus, Ohio.

At 1:30PM, Richard Hoffman, President of the Hilltop Historical Society, arrived at the cemetery with a few early arrivals of the Confederate Color Guard, and began setting up chairs, the podium, and the placing of Confederate Battle Flags on the graves of the soldiers buried there. At the Cemetery entrance, flags of the Southern States who represented the Confederacy were placed along the street running along side the cemetery walls.

At 3PM the Sons of Union Veterans Color Guard and the Confederate Color Guard, consisting of Capt. Ron Goodwin, a color bearer carrying the Confederate Battle Flag of the 17th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Company D, the 'Rough and Readies, and five members of the company under arms marched to their posts to the left and right of the attending crowd.

A prayer of invocation was given, then a short speech by Mr. Hoffman which commemorated the 2,260 Confederate soldiers and civilian sympathizers that are buried at the cemetery. A guest speaker then brought up two members of the Confederate Color Guard and explained and demonstrated the clothing, equipment and weapons used by Confederate soldiers in battle. The speaker then remarked on the courage and fortitude of the men of the Confederate army, remarking on how much they endured for a cause they believed in and for one that they died for far from home. There should be no controversy over giving them the respect and honor they deserved and recognizing their obvious courage in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances.

At the conclusions of the speaker, a prayer was again offered up for the souls of those resting there and then the Confederate Color Guard fired three volleys and presented arms. Then taps was played with its mournful notes drifting throughout that cemetery and the ceremony was concluded.

Many spectators remained after the ceremony to view two tents and articles from the Civil War that were on display that included examples of Confederate rations, clothing, personal items and weapons. All-in-all, a very good job by Mr. Hoffman and the Hilltop Historical Society.

Each Sunday on the first Sunday in June, The Hilltop Historical Society holds a Memorial Service for the Confederate dead in the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery. The cemetery is located at 2900 Sullivant Avenue, between Hague and Binns Blvd. The service is normally held at 3PM and appropriate speakers are featured.

The ceremony was originated by Col. William Knauss (2nd New Jersey Infantry, Union Army) in 1895 to commemorate those prisoners who had died at Camp Chase. Knauss had been left for dead on the frozen Fredericksburg battlefield in December of 1862. Ironically it was Knauss who years later would make it a life-passion to aid in preserving the memory of those who nearly killed him. Knauss fought local public opinion and managed to assemble enough supporters to undertake a complete restoration of a cemetery that had become a weed-choked eyesore along Sullivant Ave., forgotten even by Southerners.

Confederate Memorial days are celebrated on several dates in some southern states, but the June date was chosen in Columbus to coincide with the May Memorial Day observance, and also is normally the Sunday in June closest to Jefferson Davis's Birthday.

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(Message edited by Unionblue on June 07, 2004)

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Tennessee held their Confederate Memorial Day on the 6th as well.
The SCV camp I belong to, General Robert H. Hatton Camp # 723 Sons of Confederate Veterans held a ceremony in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon, Tennessee. Hatton and 149 other confederates are buried there.