The members of Sons of Confederate Veterans Murfreesboro Camp # 33 will be hosting approximately 1,200 visitors for the 117th SCV National Reunion. It will be July 11th through the 14th at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center here in Murfreesboro.
This is the first time the organization has held a national Reunion in Murfreesboro. The Tennessee State legislature has passed Senate joint resolution No. 526 making July 8-14, 2012 Sons of Confederate Veterans week in Tennessee.
History Comes Alive
The Reunion will begin on Wednesday, July 11th with a tour of the Sam Davis Home and Museum in Smyrna, and will include a memorial service at the grave of Confederate hero Sam Davis. That evening there will be a program by Colonel Tom McKinney on his book Jack Hinson’s One-Man War. After Hinson’s sons were murdered by a Union patrol, Hinson waged war on Union soldiers, killing over 100 with his custom-made sniper rifle. The actual rifle will be on display for the program. A concert by the Band of Rabble will conclude the evening, with local musicians including SCV Camp #33 member John Frost.
The official opening ceremony for the Reunion will take place on Thursday morning. A flag ceremony will be held for the posting of the colors and several state and local dignitaries will offer greetings to the SCV members. Also on Thursday morning, the ladies tour will take a historic route to Wartrace for a stop at the Blockade Runner Civil War Sutler and then to Bell Buckle for shopping. The Heritage luncheon at the conference hotel will feature nationally recognized historian Thomas Cartwright as the guest speaker. Confederate artifacts from the Tennessee State Museum will be on display during the day. An afternoon tour will include Elm Springs, the SCV Headquarters, in Columbia, the Nathan Bedford Forrest boyhood home in Chapel Hill and the dedication of a new Confederate monument at the Eagleville City Hall. On Thursday evening there will be a program by Confederate flag expert Gregg Biggs on the flags in the Tennessee State Museum collection. A concert by Ross Moore will conclude the evening.
The 150th anniversary of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Murfreesboro Raid of July 13, 1862 will take place on Friday, beginning with the annual Forrest Cavalry breakfast. The Awards Luncheon will have music by The Coleman Scouts featuring several Southern tunes. To commemorate Forrest’s Murfreesboro Raid, a tour will include: the Rutherford County Courthouse for the National Memorial Service, Confederate Circle in Evergreen Cemetery which is the final resting place of approximately 2,000 Confederates killed in Rutherford County during the war and Oakland’s Historic House Museum where Forrest accepted the surrender of Murfreesboro. Guests will dine on black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes, the same meal offered to Forrest following the raid. There will also be plenty of barbecue for the guests. There will be music on Friday night by the band Old South followed by the annual oratory contest, where members can demonstrate their speaking skills.
On Saturday the final business sessions will be held, followed by the election of National officers. A motorcycle show for the SCV mechanized Cavalry will be held at Bumpus Harley-Davidson during the day. A tour of the Battle of Murfreesboro will take members and guests to sites around and inside the Stones River National Battlefield. That evening the grand finale will be the Grand Banquet and Ball with the presentation of the Debutantes and music by the 52nd Tennessee String Band.
Local SCV
With a membership of 180, Murfreesboro SCV Camp # 33 is the second largest in the Tennessee Division and ranks among the top ten Camps in the national organization. This Reunion has been in the planning stages since 2007. With this being one of the Sesquicentennial years of the War Between the States, some 1500 SCV members and guests are expected to attend. This will be the week of the 150th anniversary of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Murfreesboro raid and 2012 is the 150th anniversary year of the Battle of Murfreesboro. Chairman of the Reunion Planning Committee James Patterson stated, "We have 1,200 members and guest registered from 27 states from across the U.S. This should be an exciting week for everyone who attends the 117th SCV National Reunion, since there is so much Civil War history in Rutherford County."
More Information
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is the oldest Confederate Veterans descendant organization with over 30,000 members worldwide. Membership is available to any male descendant of a Confederate soldier that served honorably in the Confederate military. Anyone who is interested in joining the SCV can find more information at www.scv.org.
If you have any questions regarding the Reunion, contact James G. Patterson, 2102 SCV Reunion chairman, at 615-812-0206 or mboroscv33@aol.com.
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