Shortly after the war a song appeared called 'Good ole Rebel' as far as I know this song has no known author but it's
a good bet that it was written by a former Confederate soldier or someone with strong Confederate sympathies. One line from
the song goes .....'I only wish we'd won'...its a phrase I use frequently . Recently two Camp members have mentioned this
...one friendly ...one not so friendly . So I thought it appropriate to give you an explaination as to why they are on every
page of the www site and why I often end an email with them.
We are the Sons of Confederate Veterans and for many years , well before the forming of the SCV in Britain, we, as Southern
Heritage supporters, have been holding grave site dedications for men of BOTH sides.......yet we are Confederates, or/and
supporters of Southern Heritage ?...so why do we hold grave site dedications for Union men too. Let me give you an explaination
in case you are in some doubt . We hold gravesite dedications for Union men buried here for 3 reasons
1. There is no or next to no, SUVCW activity in the UK
2. We do this in the spirit of reconcilliation
3. We have many surviving descendants of Union men here, and have been approached by them in the past ,we have provided
grave markers and held dedications for them on request. We do this because we believe it is 'Right' and honourable .
IIndividual members may have their own reasons , like say Bob Jones for instance , his interest encompasses the War and
its connection with Liverpool, and the story of both sides is told on the headstones of the City's cemeteries.
There is also the fact that when we hold dedications for Federals, it gives us the opportunity to communicate to more
people about the sacrifice and struggle of our ancestors.
You will find on this web site details of my Confederate ancestors BUT...most of you will not realise that I also had
family members fight for the Union too....TEN of them....
WILLIAM WILLISON 188th NY Inf
NEWLOVE WILLISON 148th NY Inf
HENRY WILLISON ?NY
Capt. MILTON CHAMBERLAIN, 4th Ohio Cav.
WILLIAM LEES ?NY
GEOERGE G COLLIER 52nd Ind Inf
WILLIAM SMITH 68th Ind. Inf
JOSEPH SMITH 68th Ind. Inf.
GEORGE YOULE 6th NY Inf.
HOLLY HANSELL 33rd MIssouri Inf.
...........and thats not all...I am also one of only THREE full members of the SUVCW here in Britain, so my family have
a strong connection to the Union Army, but do I think the wrong side won.....YES I do...and it will be a cold day in hell
before I think otherwise. I believe the Southern States had a right to Independence and a right to defend themselves.
But....thats where my political leaning ( if you can call it that ) ends ....I know full well that the South just
did not lose 250,000 men and have their homeland runied or have their complete economic structure destroyed ,...they
had ...and lets make NO MISTAKE WHATSOEVER about this ....they had any chance of Independence ....GONE FOR EVER!
This is just my view and not the view of all of the Camp members , though it might well be the views of some.
We shall agree to disagree on this matter because as long as I am Commander there will be no personality clashes or in-fighting
amongst members ...not because of any strong desire for enforced harmony but because .....it was pesonality clashes and in-fighting
that cost us the war in the first place !
'I only wish we'd won?'......damned right I do
