By now I hope all of you have seen Warner Brothers film, Gods and Generals. If not, you still have time to get to a local theater to catch a show.


There have been plenty of reviews on the film, some negative and many positive, but I add my comments to the list.

Today's moviegoers have grown very accustomed to "Big" special effect-laden Hollywood blockbusters. Those folks might be a bit disappointed in Gods and Generals. While there are fine special effects, this is one film that was made the way films of old were produced. There is drama, beautiful orchestral scoring, personal characterization of "real" people and most important to me, the revelation of Truth that portrays the South and it's Confederate leaders in a positive way.

The primary focus is on Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The producers do not shy away from his Godly character but fairly, portray him as a man devoutly called of God to duty and country; a man who feels as "safe in battle as he does in bed." He is depicted as a loving husband and father, brilliant strategist, patriotic, and friend to all.

Several points of history brought to surface are that the South did not go to war to preserve slavery, (a fact we have all known for some time now) but rather to defend itself from hostile invasion of the Federal army. Even more surprising, Union Col. Joshua Chamberlain, played by Jeff Daniels (also in Gettysburg) explains to his brother that the war was not originally launched to free the Negro.

I doubt that the film will end all South bashing and the never ending distortion of our Southron culture, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

It is normally difficult for me to endorse much of anything that comes out of the fantasy world of Hollywood, or Ted Turner, but I have a new profound respect and thanks for the producers of this film.

Following the direction and instructions of the South Carolina Division, SCV, many camps throughout the State have set up tables and had Camp representatives on site during the showing. The McGowan Camp is working with the Adam Ballenger Camp of Spartanburg at a local theater (Wynssong 7 on Reidville Road) since the premier on Friday February 21st. Many of you have come from Laurens to Spartanburg to see the film, and I ask that you contact Commander Simpson to volunteer on the weekends for SCV recruiting.

So far, we have recorded contact information of about 2 dozen men interested in joining the SCV. Some folks browse our tables, smile and move on, but we have had no complaints or problems.

A special thanks goes out to general manger Andrew Reynolds, who was very favorable and appreciative of our presence. We have posted 8 Flags in his lobby - 1st National, 2nd National, Bonnie Blue, SC State, Orr's Rifles, 12th SC, 14th SC ANV Battle Flag, and the US Stars and Stripes. These flags will remain posted at the request of the theater as long as the film shows at this location.

Charles Claton Phillips, the youngest son of William Phillips and Margaret Whitton was born March 12, 1829 in the Black Rock Community, Union County, SC. He married Nancy Amelia Gwinn on February 10, 1850. The 1850 Census showed Charles Claton as residing in Spartanburg District in the household of William Phillips. He was stated as being 20, white male, farmer. The Charles C Phillips family as of the 1860 Census was living within Spartanburg County, Woodruff Post Office District, South Carolina.


On August 16, 1861, Charles Claton Phillips enlisted with the Enoree Mosquitoes, which became Company E, 14th Regiment South Carolina Infantry. He enlisted for the duration of the war at Lightwood Knot Springs, northeast of Columbia, SC and is believed to have undertaken training with his compatriot's in Aiken SC. The muster rolls for Company E, indicate that he may have been wounded several times during his military service in the Army of the Confederacy. He was in the hospital at McPhersonville (January - February, 1862) after the battle at Port Royal Ferry, South Carolina (January 1, 1862), was in the General Hospital Howard's Grove and Jackson Hospital, both in Richmond (May 11 - October 24, 1863), hospitalized for leg wounds, after the battle at Chancellorsville (May 1 - 4, 1863). Following the Mine Run Campaign (December 1863) he was in the hospital, wounded (April 30 - May, 1864). On August 16, 1864 he was wounded in battle in the area of Deep Bottom, Virginia along the James River during a skirmish. August 18, 1864 he was hospitalized in the Receiving and Wayside Hospital, disposition, Jackson Hospital,


Richmond, VA. Where he died of his wounds (compound fracture femur lower 3rd right leg, mini ball) November 12, 1864. He is buried on the hillside below the Pyramid Monument (Confederate War Dead Section), Hollywood Cemetery (South Cherry Street), Richmond, VA. His head stone reads "Charles C Phillips Co E 14 SC Regt CSA 1829 1864. Like so many others, Charles Claton Phillips left behind a wife and eight children between the ages of fourteen years and three month to fend for themselves in the post war.

It appears that Charles Claton Phillips served during some of the significant battles of the Civil War. Port Royal Ferry, Seven Days Battle, 2nd Bull Run, Chantilly, Sharpsburg, Shepherdstown Ford, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Mine Run Campaign, Cold Harbor/Petersburg Siege are some of those historical battles in which he may have fought.

In September 1861 he composed "A Soldier's Hymn To A Loving Family" which is as follows.

In September 2001, a headstone, less remains, was placed alongside the graves of his beloved wife and two of his sons in the Cedar Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, SC 418, Laurens County, SC. This headstone replicated the headstone in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Fifth and sixth generations, direct descendents of Charles Claton Phillips were in attendance. He was a part of a brigade of Brave South Carolinians known as McGowan's Brigade.



Many thanks to McGowan Camp member and Compatriot Charles Phillips of Frederick, Maryland for the submission of his ancestor's profile.

South Carolina Division
Sons of Confederate Veterans
42nd Reunion
March 14 - 15, 2003

This year's SCV State Convention will be held on board the USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point in Charleston.


The Host for this convention is Charleston's Secession Camp # 4, winner of last year's Aiken Convention attendance award with 18 members present. The last time the McGowan Camp won the attendance ribbon was in Chester in 1999. Let's rally the troops and make a great showing in Charleston and bring back the attendance award to Laurens. This will be a memorable convention.

The film continues to show in various theaters in Greenwood, Greenville and Spartanburg. If you haven't yet volunteered to work, please contact Commander Simpson in Spartanburg or Commander Rearden in Abbeville.

Representing the SCV publicly is a real joy and honor. People are

interested in Southern Heritage Issues and the movie venue presents an excellent opportunity to recruit for our organization.

Our March Speaker will be Mr. Steve Biondi, author of the book, "The True Story of Manse Jolly." In 1862, two young South Carolina volunteers forged a brotherhood that stood the test of battle. One lived to tell their tale... Encompassing one of the most tumultuous decades in American history, Part I of this two-volume work of fiction tells the mostly true tale of Confederate hero Manse Jolly, a tough, rawboned farmer, and his reluctant comrade, Ansel Fries, a naive law graduate, whose paths crossed one eventful day and were forever after intertwined.

Part II, still in manuscript, continues Fries' cosmic memoirs about his adventures with Jolly through the violence of Reconstruction and into the wild and dangerous Texas frontier.

Steve Biondo was born near Champaign, Illinois in 1950. He graduated in journalism from Ohio University and earned an M.A. in English at Virginia Tech. An award-winning journalist for 26 years, he has written for dailies and weeklies in Virginia and South Carolina, and currently is a staff writer for The Laurens County (S.C.) Advertiser. He is a former reenactor who served with Sherman's Bummers on fields of mock battle from Pennsylvania to Florida. Biondo lives in Anderson, S.C., with his wife and two sons.

SCV License Plate Applications

  Palmetto Pathfinders Applications

  South Carolina Division Life and National life Applications

  SC State SCV Convention
March 14 and 15

In a scene from the movie "Gods and Generals", Thomas J. Jackson, in preparation of his departure to join fellow Virginians in defense of his country, he reads this text from Corinthians to his wife.

While knowing the danger of war and the uncertainty of life, they realize, as did the Apostle Paul, that for the believer in Christ, to be "absent from the body was to be present with the LORD."

Father.  Whether you are a Thomas J. Jackson, or one of the billions of ordinary citizens of the planet we inhabit, you can walk in the same assurance that Old Stonewall had when at his life's ending he said, "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."