Ceremony for Confederate dead held at historic church
By RENDY BOLAND, T&D Correspondent
Monday, November 14, 2011The Civil War ended almost 150 years ago, but a Civil War veteran gravesite and Honor Cross dedication was recently held at the historic Bethel United Methodist Church on the Charleston Highway.
The Paul McMicael #427 United Daughters of the Confederacy conducted the ceremony, honoring 11 Confederate veterans who have long rested in a site adjacent to the church.
"What would it be like in these days and times for men and women of all ages to head to battle the enemy?" asked chapter member Karen Black.
The men of Bethel Methodist probably had not attended a military college, she said. They were farmers.
"Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined what lay before them on the battlefield," she said. "The future held a lot of uncertainty for these men."
On the Sunday before the men went off to war, they said their prayers in Bethel’s sanctuary, Black said.
"Today, we remember these special men and their families, the work they did, their church and Southland," she said.
The E. Porter Alexander SCV Camp from Augusta, Ga., dressed in the uniforms of the Confederacy and led the final part of the service, playing a bugle, firing a cannon and firing a gun salute.
Copyright 2011 The Times and Democrat
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