“The vindication of the Cause”
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, organized in Richmond, Va., in 1896, is a “patriotic, historical, civic and benevolent organization designed to preserve the history and legacy of Southern heroes, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern cause,” according to Guide to Confederate Issues in North Carolina, a publication of the SCV’s North Carolina Division.
Members seem to put great stock in these words of Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee (no relation to Robert E.) back around the time the organization was formed: “To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we submit the vindication of the Cause for which we fought; to your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier’s good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish. Remember, it is your duty to see that the true history of the South is presented to future generations.”
