On October 16th at 2pm, The General  James  Longstreet  Camp
#1247,  Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans will
be conducting a gravesite dedication service for two (2)  of
General  James Longstreet's staff members whose remains were
recently  discovered  interred  in  Hollywood  Cemetery   in
Richmond,  Virginia.  The two (2) staff members are: Colonel
John G.  Clarke  of  the  Engineer  Corps;  and  Major  S.P.
Mitchell, Chief Quartermaster of General Longstreet's Corps.

Colonel  John  G.   Clarke  served  with  General Longstreet
through the  fateful  Battle  of  Gettysburg  in  1863.   He
directed  and  superintended  the  placing  of  the  pontoon
bridges at "Falling Waters" for General Lee's army  to  pass
over   after   the   battle   on  their  retreat  southward.
Ultimately, he was given  command  of  the  defenses  around
Charleston,  South Carolina.  Colonel Clarke was at one time
the  City  Engineer  of  the  City  of  Manchester  and  was
responsible for the construction of the "Free" Bridge - also
known as the Ninth Street Bridge.  He died in  the  city  of
Paterson,   New   Jersey,  following  a  train  accident  on
September 15, 1880.                                         

Not much is known about Major S.P.  Mitchell except that  he
was  the  Chief Quartermaster for General James Longstreet's
Corps.  He died of diphtheria,  after  a  brief  illness  on
October 5, 1863 in the town of Chickamauga.                 

The  gravesite  dedication  service  will  begin  at  2pm in
Hollywood Cemetery.  There will a Color  Guard  provided  by
the  Cold Harbor Guards Camp, Sgt.  Major Eddie Willard will
present Fife and Drums, and the 12th Virginia Infantry  will
be  firing  a  volley  of salute at the end of the services.
There will also be a planned wreath laying ceremony  at  the
end  of the services.  Anyone wishing to lay a wreath may do
so at that  time.   Current  Longstreet  Camp  Commander  L.
Taylor  Cowardin  and Past Commander of the Longstreet Camp,
Harry J.  Boyd, will be conducting these services.          

All members of the SCV, UDC, MOS&B and those members of  the
general public interested may attend these services.        

Any  questions can be directed to Longstreet Camp Commander,
Taylor Cowardin dow17000@aol.com        

Below are 2 letters between Walter and Commander Sweeney.  
After that is the meeting announcement from www.scv.org    
(Walter's letter was written only representing himself and  
not his camp.)                                             

Below the letters are the  proposed  changes  that  couldn't
wait for the constituionally scheduled National meeting!
------------------------------------------------------------
March 29, 2005

Mr. Denne Sweeney, Commander-in-Chief                       
Sons of Confederate Veterans                                
Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402-0059                             

Dear Commander Sweeney:                                     
In the mail Saturday upon my return from out  of  town  were
the  notice  of  special  meeting signed by you and proposed
amendments to the SCV Constitution.                         

It is extremely puzzling that this special meeting is  being
called to vote on Constitutional amendments, because Article
XXVI of the SCV Constitution reads, "This  Constitution  may
be amended at any General Convention."                      

Article  V Section 1 of the Constitution reads, "The General
Convention shall commence during the dates between  July  20
and August 5."                                              

If  amendments  could  be voted on at anytime other than the
General Convention, then Article XXVI would so state.       

Article V  Section  2  permits  the  calling  of  a  special
meeting.   Nothing  in  this  section  equates  the  special
meeting with the General Convention.  Please  tell  me  what
article  in the SCV Constitution permits actions to be taken
which are  contrary  Articles  XXVI  and  V.   How  can  any
amendments  approved at this special meeting be valid, since
the   Constitutional   requirements   for    amending    the
Constitution have not been met?                             

I  look forward to hearing from you soon.  A self-addressed,
stamped envelope is enclosed for your convenience.          

Sincerely, Walter Dunn Tucker, Life member, SCV             
END
------------------------------------------------------------
Sweeney response 31 March 2005

Dear Mr. Tucker:                                            
I received your letter of March  29  and  will  endeavor  to
answer your questions as best I can.                        

The  special  convention  is  not being called under the SCV
Constitution, but under  Mississippi  law.   The  SCV  is  a
non-profit  corporation  chartered  in  MS  and as such must
follow the MS law.  Sections of the code that are applicable
to our situation are on the next page.                      

We have had some of the best legal minds in Tennessee review
what we are doing and they have agreed that we are following
the  code  correctly.   You  may  recall that the attempt to
overthrow the elected leadership of the SCV was  done  under
the  Mississippi  law,  not  under  the  Constitution.  As a
result of  the  judge's  ruling  on  March  9,  the  elected
leadership  was restored, but we must now be careful that we
follow both the Mississippi law and our  constitution.   But
where the two conflict, the law trumps our constitution.    

Sincerely, /s/ Denne A. Sweeney, Commander-in-Chief         
END
------------------------------------------------------------
4/20/05 - Below is what's on the National SCV web site:     

Sons of Confederate Veterans, P.O.Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402

Notice of Special Convention                                
Section 79-11-199  (1)  (b)  of  the  Mississippi  Nonprofit
Corporation  Act  provides that a nonprofit corporation with
members shall hold a special meeting of the members  if  the
holders  of  at  least five percent (5%) of the voting power
sign, date and deliver to any corporate officer one or  more
written  demands  for  the meeting describing the purpose or
purposes for which it is to be held.                        

Having received over 2000 such requests from members  as  of
16  March  2005,  I hereby declare that a special convention
shall be held and it will be convened at the following  time
and place:                                                  

Location:  Cabarrus  Arena,  Event  Center B, Concord, North
Carolina Time: Saturday, April 23, 2005 at 10:00AM          

A registration form for the convention  is  attached.   This
will  be  a one-day business-only convention for the purpose
of considering the enclosed Constitution amendments.        

Registration and credentials tables  will  be  open  Friday,
April  22  from  noon  until  10:00PM  at  Hampton Inn, 9850
Weddington Road, Concord.  The hotel is at exit  49  off  of
Interstate   85.    The   phone   number  of  the  hotel  is
704-979-5600.  The registration and credentials tables  will
reopen  at  the  Event Center B, Cabarrus Arena at 7:00AM on
Saturday, April 23.                                         

Directions to convention site: Cabarrus Arena, 4751  Highway
49  North, Concord, NC.  Concord is just north of Charlotte,
NC.  From Charlotte, take I-85 north  to  Exit  48  (I-485).
Turn  right on I-485, travel to NC Hwy 49.  Turn left on Hwy
49, continue east through Harrisburg - cross  under  US  601
and  follow  NC  Hwy 49 for 3.2 miles.  The Arena will be on
the left.  More information at www.cabarrusarena.com        

Denne A. Sweeney, Commander-in-Chief                        
END
------------------------------------------------------------

Proposed Amendments to the Constitution
of the Sons of Confederate Veterans,
23 April 2005

Deletions to current wording are shown as RED;
additions are shown as GREEN text.

Proposed Amendment #1

Subject: Amendment limiting Past Commanders in Chief
on the General Executive Council to the past three.


Article VIII - General Executive Council                    

Section 1.                                                  
(a).  Between General Conventions, the administrative  power
shall  be  vested  in  the  General Executive Council, which
shall be composed of the Commander-in-Chief, the  Lieutenant
Commander-in-Chief,     the     Chief    of    Staff,    the
Adjutant-in-Chief,   the   Judge   Advocate-in-Chief,    the
Editor-in-Chief, the Chaplain-in-Chief, the three Department
Commanders, in addition to one member from each  Department,
and  all  Past Commanders-in-Chief  the three preceding Past
Commanders-in-Chief.                                        

Section 3.                                                  
The term of office of all members of the  General  Executive
Council  shall  commence immediately upon adjournment of the
General Convention at which they were elected to office, and
shall  end  at  the adjournment of the General Convention at
which    their    terms    expire;    except    that    Past
Commanders-in-Chief  shall  be  and  remain  members  of the
General Executive Council for the duration of their lives or
until  they  elect  to resign therefrom and provided further
that the retiring members  shall  remain  in  command  until
every  function  of  the  General  Convention at which their
terms expire is discharged.                                 


Proposed Amendment #2

Subject: Amendment to remove MOS&B
commander from General Executive Council

Article VIII - General Executive Council                    

Section 1.                                                  
(b) The Commander-in-Chief of  the  Military  order  of  the
Stars  and Bars shall be an ex officio, non-voting member of
the General Executive Council.                              
------------------------------------------------------------
END