Information on the Garland-Rodes SCV Camp

History of the Garland-Rodes Camp #409

Sons of Confederate Veterans

Lynchburg, Virginia

United Confederate Veterans

In June of 1887 work was initiated to establish a Confederate Veterans Camp in Lynchburg, Virginia. After several meetings and months of planning and organizing, on April 28, 1888 the “Samuel Garland” Confederate Veterans Camp was formed. The first Camp Commander was Kirkwood Otey. Six years later on May 7^th, 1894 the Camp was reorganized and renamed the “Garland & Rodes” Camp of the United Confederate Veterans.

The Camp remained active for four decades before the war with time depleted their ranks. In those forty years these veterans worked assisting other veterans with obtaining their pensions, helping widows of veterans and some wrote books and articles of factual accounts of the war. Mr. Adam Plecker, local photographer and member of the Boutetourt Artillery, wrote an account on the actions leading up to the Battle of Lynchburg in the Confederate Veteran magazine entitled “Who Saved Lynchburg”. Another was Charles M. Blackford who gave us “Campaign and Battle of Lynchburg”. These veterans met in different places over the years, including the Lynchburg Courthouse, the Lynchburg Armory and finally they were allowed to meet in what became known as “the camp room” at Jones Memorial Library. The members of the Camp were closely associated with the ladies of the Kirkwood Otey chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Lynchburg. These two organizations worked as a very close unit in seeing to the welfare of the veterans and their families for many years.

The larger portion of the history of the Garland & Rodes Camp was maintained in the “Meeting Minute Books” dated from 1904 to 1928. These ledger type books are in the care of the Jones Memorial Library and provide records of the monthly meeting, rosters, some photographs and listings of dates of deaths of the camp members.

As the number of living veterans began to dwindle and the size of the UCV Camp shrank, the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) was formed in 1896 to carry on the UCV tradition. The Garland-Rodes SCV Camp was organized several years later and received its charter on April 13^th 1903. It's main purpose was to preserve Southern history, support the widows and orphans of Confederate veterans, to erect memorials and monuments in their honor and "to instill into our descendants a devotion to and reverence for the principles represented by the Confederate States of America to the honor, glory and memory of our fathers who fought in that cause."

At the Veterans Camp meeting of April 23^rd 1903, a report was made to the members that the Sons of Confederate Veterans camp had been established. This camp recorded that it was honored that the sons had chosen the same name and approved this new camp.

The Garland-Rodes SCV Camp records have been lost over the years, but some of the camp’s history can be gleaned from the Lynchburg Newspaper. It was still meeting between 1959 and 1962 during the nation’s preparation for the War Between the States centennial commemoration and this can be seen in a newspaper photograph we have on display. The camp stopped meeting for a time, but has been active continuously since it was re-chartered in 1981. We still meet monthly as did the original UCV Camp and continue in the same tradition of honoring the memory of the Confederate veterans and the cause for which they sacrificed.

Current SCV Camp

The current Garland-Rodes SCV Camp No. 409 is located in Lynchburg, Virginia and is a member of the international organization named the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). Our meetings are held:

When- Third Thursday of every month (with a few exceptions)

Where- The brick building located at Fort Early at the intersection of Fort Avenue and Memorial Avenue in Lynchburg.