Civil War Stories. Published Nov 2004

The Power Point Lecture on Freemasons at Gettysburg seems to have been well received, with further invitations to lecture at Lodge St. Andrew Livingston Station, Airdrie St. John and St. Mary, Coltness. There seems to be a genuine thirst for knowledge in the subject and the question answer sessions can be quite lively. One of the most frequent questions asked is, “are there any tales of Freemasons helping one another”. 

The answer is, “there are too many to print” . . . well that is not quite true. 

The late Bro. Allen E. Roberts (First Master of The Civil War Research Lodge) in his book House Undivided tells the story of Freemasonry and the Civil War. In the months ahead The Right Angle will look at a few of these true stories.

Among the gunboats of the United States Navy sailing the Mississippi River in the summer of 1863, firing into the towns along the banks , and laying siege to Port Hudson was the USS Albatross. One of the towns that the gunboat had been firing into was St. Francisville, Louisiana situated about 15 miles above Port Hudson.

The Captain had been in a delirium for several days with fever and confined to his cabin. On June 11th. A pistol shot was heard, the Officers rushed to the Captain`s cabin and found him dead. The executive officer Theo. Dubois believing that his Captain John E. Hart would like a Masonic funeral, went ashore under a white flag of truce. He met two brothers Samuel & Benjamin White who lived near the banks of the Mississippi, and asked if there was a Masonic Lodge in St. Francisville. The brothers, being Masons led them to the Lodge. 

The Master S.J. Powell was absent, serving with the Confederate Army, but the Senior Warden, William Leake, although serving in the Confederate Army was in St. Francisville. When informed of the request, he answered, 

“I am an Officer in the Confederate Army. As a soldier, I consider it a duty to permit the burial of a deceased member of the army or navy of any government, even if, as in the present instance, is war between that government and my own. As a Mason, I know it to be my duty to accord Masonic burial to the remains of a Brother Mason, without taking into account the nature of his relations in the outer world.”  

Ex. Officer Dubois, USN, described what happened next. 

“On 13th. June with an armed funeral procession of fifty seamen, I took our Brother`s remains ashore, and as we marched mournfully up the hill to the beautiful church of St. Francisville, we were met by a procession of Brother Masons, who took charge of the coffin. Exchanging my sidearms for the snow white apron, I joined them, my men following on. We buried our Brother Captain Hart in his uniform with Masonic honours……"

Bro. Reynolds …… spoke affectingly of the circumstances of our Brother`s death, far from his home in a strange land; and I feel sure that every Mason on the spot felt better for having done his duty towards the remains of a deceased Brother - though an enemy in war, still a Brother.

St. George`s Lodge No. 6 New York, sent the thanks of the Lodge to Feliciana Lodge No. 31, St. Francisville for their kindness manifested at the funeral of their deceased Brother. After the war the Daughters of the Confederacy kept Capt. Hart`s grave fresh with flowers, along with the Confederate soldiers buried beside him. The Grand Lodge of Louisiana dedicated a permanent marker on the grave and so the Captain of the Union gunboat Albatross who had died during the shelling of St. Francisville and was brought ashore under a flag of truce had his Masonic funeral service conducted by Bro. W. Leake, a Captain of the Confederate Army who gathered together members of the local Lodge. The war was halted while Confederate Masons buried a Brother from the North in a church cemetery pock marked with shells from his own Union gunboat.  

The grave marker reads 

“This monument is dedicated in loving tribute to the universality of Freemasonry”.

A remarkable story. One of many which the book House Undivided tells. 

Question. There is believed to be only one monument to the American Civil War outside America.

Do you know which city that it is situated?    

It may be closer to home than you would imagine !