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On June 30, 1889, the United Confederate Veterans, composed only of those who wore the gray, were organized.
Descendants of these veterans, "sons," met with the UCV, but still had quasi-official status. Formation of a
"camp of sons," was usually accomplished by the UCV Division Commander himself directing formation of these
supporting groups.
In June, 1896, a circular was sent to all veterans and sons urging formation of the "sons" at the UCV convention to be
held in Richmond, Virginia. The circular gave an outline of the proposed federation. At the UCV convention this
resolution was offered:
Resolved, that this session provide at once for the formation of Sons of Confederate Veterans into a separate
national organization. It is urgent from the manifold fact that our ranks are thinning daily, and our loved
representatives should step in now and arrange to take charge of Southern history, our relics, mementos and monuments,
and stimulate the erection of their monuments to our heroes ere "taps " are sounded for the last of our fathers.
The resolution was adopted by the UCV, and on July 1, 1896, with 40 delegates representing 24 "sons" camps,
the constitution was completed, adopted, and the "United Sons of Confederate Veterans" came into existence.
The
new constitution provided that the federation should perpetuate in its
organization the plan of the Confederate Army by being divided into
three Departments. The Army of the Trans-Missisippi consisted of all
states and territories west of the Mississippi River with the exception
of Louisiana, which was to remain in the Army of Tennessee until after
1925. At the first annual convention in Nashville in June, 1897, with
37 camps, seven in the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, W. C. Sanders of
Belton, Texas, was elected the first commander of the ATM.
The division commanders were R. K. Gaston of Texas; R. C. Clark of
Missouri; J. J. Sumpter, Jr. of Arkansas; Z. J. Woods of Oklahoma; and
N. E. Bailey of New Mexico. At the 1898 annual convention, Bennett Hill
of Dallas, Texas was elected ATM commander. The SCV at that time
consisted of 108 camps; the ATM had eight camps of which seven were in
the Texas division and one in the Missouri Division. Later that year
the first camps were chartered in Louisiana and Arkansas, and the
Indian Territory Division was formed with the chartering of three
camps. 1899, Brant H. Kirk of Waco, Texas was elected ATM commander. By
1903, the Robert E. Lee Camp of Fort Worth, Texas, organized in 1901,
was the largest camp in the SCV with over 1200 members and by 1904 had
1408 members. By 1924,there were in the ATM 61 camps with 1468 members.
In 1925 the largest ATM camp was the James M. Cochran Camp of Dallas,
Texas with 283 members. In 1926, the ATM was composed of 67 camps and
1618 members consisting of Arkansas - 10 camps and 248 members,
Louisiana - 5 camps and 159 members, Missouri - 2 camps and 78 members,
Oklahoma - 11 camps and 229 members, and Texas - 39 camps and 904
members.
The Army Commanders were given the title of Vice Commanders-in-Chief in 1932, and the ATM was represented by
Walter H. Saunders of St. Louis, Missouri. Because of the demise of the Confederate Veterans, the Great Depression,
and the advent of World War II, membership in the SCV severely declined. By the early 1940s there remained in the
ATM only the Albert Sidney Johnston Camp #67 in Houston, Texas and the Sterling Price Camp #145 in
St. Louis, Missouri.
Since the 1960s to the present time, there has been a revitalized growth in the SCV and the ATM with the formation
of new camps, the reactivation of old camps and divisions, and the formation of new divisions. Nowhere has this been
more evident than in the ATM. In 1995, the Army of Trans-Mississippi was composed of divisions in Texas, Louisiana,
Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, California, Washington, and Arizona; there were over 135 camps, including camps in
New Mexico and Colorado, and over 4000 members. For more information, visit the respective Division websites.
The ATM has provided the SCV with 21 Commanders-in-Chief, the more recent being Bernard E. Eble, Robert B. Wilson,
Jr., Charles H. Smith, W. Ralph Green, Robert L. Hawkins, III, Peter W. Orlebeke, and Denne Sweeney.
A few of the ATM's more recent projects have included the development of recruiting doubloons, heritage programs,
the Public Affairs manual, recruiting billboards, Army of Trans-Mississippi Newsletter, and the School of the Cadet.
The most recent ATM commanders include Edward O. Cailleteau, James E. Meadows, Alan Lowe, J. Douglass Moore, Peter W.
Orlebeke, Patrick J. Hardy, M.D., Denne Sweeney, John Perry, Chuck Rand,
and Chuck Norred .
The SCV in the Trans-Mississippi stands ready to protect, preserve, and present our Southern heritage.
Our history will not be forgotten.
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