St. Johns Rangers Legionnaires

02/12/2026

Sons of Confederate veterans, St Johns Rangers, Florida is proud to present our 1st Edition of our new Community Education Initiative, "The Tales of Volusia County".

As always, we strive to provide historical accuracy when we tell the history of our Confederate heroes. Both Military and Civilian. So what we do is use ChatGPT. We prompt the AI to find all the records on the person or event we want to tell the story of. Once the AI provides the summary, we then prompt it to begin working on an illustrative storyboard. We then compile the illustrated storyboard into an educational comic.

Our first edition is one of the more interesting stories of Volusia County. Let us know what you think about this initiative. Thanks!

02/10/2026

When it comes time to join our Confederate Ancestors, what will you say?

☠️ I was too busy.
☠️ There's nothing I can do.
☠️They will do what they want anyway.

That is a big pile of 💩‼️

Our Confederate Ancestors marched 14 miles , some barefoot, and without any food to go right into battle at Antietam Creek and you can't attend a meeting once a month?

🎯Meetings Matter! 🎯Your attendance matters🎯Solidarity matters! 🎯
Live the Charge!

02/09/2026

On March 16, 1864, Union forces conducting river operations on the St. Johns River launched a raid on Enterprise, Florida, a small but strategically placed river settlement. Supported by Union gunboats, naval landing parties went ashore to search homes, seize food, livestock, boats, and other supplies believed to support Confederate forces, temporarily disrupting civilian life and local trade. Though the town was not permanently occupied or destroyed, the raid created fear and hardship among residents and underscored Enterprise’s vulnerability to river-based warfare. Confederate resistance—primarily from local militia and detachments of the 2nd Florida Cavalry—was limited and cautious, favoring observation and harassment over direct engagement. The raid exemplified the broader Union strategy in Florida during the war’s final year: to punish, disrupt, and weaken Confederate support networks rather than hold territory.

02/08/2026

William Rawlins and his younger brother Peter Rawlins were early residents of the Enterprise area in what later became Volusia County, Florida. Born in Florida in 1825 and 1836 respectively, the brothers grew up during the territorial and early statehood period, working as farmers and laborers along the upper St. Johns River. When the Civil War began, both men entered Confederate service through Florida units that operated in the Western Theater, serving with troops that frequently fought dismounted in an infantry role despite cavalry designation.

During the Battle of Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on November 25, 1863, William and Peter Rawlins were engaged with Florida forces during the collapse of Confederate lines and were captured together by Union troops. They endured imprisonment before eventually being released and returning to Florida after the war. In later life, both brothers resettled in Volusia County and applied for Florida Confederate pensions—William in 1903 and Peter in 1904—providing official confirmation of their service. Their shared capture at Missionary Ridge and return home stands as a documented example of the wartime experiences faced by many Florida families whose sons served far from home in the Western Theater. Here is there story in pictures......

02/08/2026

AI image of what Captain Winston Stephens, Co. B, 2nd Fla. Calvary, would have looked like leading his men at the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864.

The Battle of Olustee, fought on February 20, 1864, in Baker County, Florida, was the largest and deadliest Civil War conflict in the state. A 5,500-man Union force under Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour, attempting to secure Florida, was decisively defeated by 5,000 Confederates led by Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan, preserving interior Florida for the South.

The battle halted the Union's attempt to disrupt Confederate supply lines, recruit black soldiers, and reintegrate Florida into the Union. The fight was extremely bloody, with 1,861 Union casualties (roughly 34% of their force) and 946 Confederate casualties.

Union forces, advancing from Jacksonville, were pushed into a narrow, unfavourable position between Ocean Pond and swamps, allowing the Confederates to hold their ground and force a retreat.
The Confederate victory secured the region for the remainder of the war, and made Tallahassee the only Southern State capital to not fall to the Union. The charge of the 2nd Florida Cavalry during the battle and their bravery on the battlefield has been recounted with both admiration and terror by Yankee soldiers who witnessed in their letters home.

02/08/2026

Capt. Stephens to Octavia Stephens February 21, 1864, Camp Beaugard, Florida.

My Dear Wife,
I am now writing with a Yankee pen, Yankee ink, and on Yankee paper captured on the battlefield. We had one of the hottest contested battles of the War on yesterday, commencing about 2 oclock pm and ending 1/2 past 5 pm and during the whole time there was not a moment cessation in the fire. Men never fought better than our men did and God seemed to shield them in a great measure from Destruction as the loss on our side is comparatively light. -----
Pages 318-19 of the Rose Cottage Chronicles. First paragraph of the letter home after the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. Union losses during the Battle of Olustee was 203 KIA, 1152 wounded, and 506 MIA. Confederate losses were 93 KIA, 847 wounded, and 6 MIA. Over shadowed by Gettysburg and Shiloh, the Battle of the Tall Pines AKA Battle of Olustee was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. There is an 1937 recording of an interview with a 2nd Florida veteran who survived the battle. He recounts fierce hand to hand combat instead of the shooting across pickett lines.

02/07/2026

"To tell the true history of the South". No political manipulation or race baiting propaganda. Just pure facts based on primary source documentation. Learn all the facts and more by joining and supporting the Sons of Confederate veterans, St Johns Rangers, Florida.

02/06/2026

Yeah, I jumped on the OpenAI bandwagon to see what Captain Winston Stephens' photo from 1854, would look like cleaned up. Here is the result.

02/03/2026

⚠️Truth Alert❗️⚠️
🛑Stop Scrolling for to learn about brave Americans❗️🛑

✅Black Confederates are part of Black American History📌

💔The fact that our modern American academics work so savagely to erase the honorable service of Black American to the Confederate States is a terrible misjustice.

🔍The truth is easy to find once you get past the last 15 years of Woke lies and misinformation. As this March 7, 1861, Leslie's Illustrated shows, Black Confederates are not a "myth". What many of our college educated often over look is how the war started.

The Yankee washed version of The Confederate States firing on a fort is hogwash. There were no Confederate States of America on April 12, 1861. When the North tried to resupply Ft. Sumner with 250 more soldiers Jefferson Davis was still a Senator in Washington DC. The Confederate States of America formed on February 22, 1862, almost a full year of war later. Several battles had already been fought with Black and White soldiers fighting and dying together.

In the May 1906 issue of the UCV's Confederate Veteran there is an article about the "Negro soldier" who carried off a wounded White comrade. To believe the lies by the Woke Academics, a person would have to ignore the numerous photos, films, documents, and newspaper articles about the Black Confederate Veterans. A person would also have to ignore the obvious question to...why do they want to erase the Black Confederate Soldier from history?

The obvious answer to the obvious question is the Black Confederate Veteran is evidence of a non-racist society, or to be fair.... a society that isn't as racist as they claim. The Hollywood version of the South with everyone using the "N-word" and enslaved people wearing chains in the cotton fields with white men with whips is fairytale. The True History of the South is much less brutal and alot more complex.

01/30/2026

🌺The Ladies of the Confederacy💐

Pictured is Octavia Bryant-Stephens (1841-1908). She was the wife of Captain Winston Stephens, Co. B, 2nd FLA. Cav, CSA. She was one of 100's of thousands of Confederate widows who made sure their loved one's memory were preserved. Octavia Stephens saved her letters from the war and told his story to her children and at reunions. Later on those letters would be published in to the "Rose Cottage Chronicles" that told the struggles of Confederate families during the war through firsthand primary source information.

In just about every single edition of the UCV's Confederate Veteran Magazine they have 3 or more articles about Confederate widows or wives. Those Ladies of the Confederacy helped plan and fundraise for UCV reunions, and not all were members of the UDC. These brave women were the ones who endlessly petitioned congress to allow them to decorate their loved one's graves. They wrote articles to local newspapers to ensure accurate accounts of the Confederate soldiers deeds were printed.

Even today, some of the loudest voices about Northern hypocrisy are our women of the South. Confederate Roses, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and all the ladies of the South who keep up the fight to ensure the TRUE history of the South is told, SCV Camp 1360, The St. Johns Rangers thanks you.

01/24/2026

❓How did our Confederate ancestors really view Colonel Shaw and 54th Mass. Colored Troops at Ft. Wagner❓

The Youtube Channel "Life on the Civil War Research Trail" has a great video reading letters from the Confederate soldiers and officers there. Spoiler, it's not like what the movie "Glory" portrays. Battlefields back then were called "the field of Honor" for a reason because it was where men showed their true mettle, and skin color was the last thing on a soldier's mind in close quarter combat. A gallant soldier is a gallant soldier no matter what. The video is about 20 minutes and well worth a watch.

When it comes to the July 18, 1863, assault on Fort Wagner, our memory is dominated by engravings and lithographs of Col. Robert Gold Shaw leading his 54th M...

01/20/2026

Today the June 1897 and November of 1899 issues of the UCV's Confederate Veteran magazine arrived. I originally bought the May and April of 1906 to go with our 1906 UCV Reunion badge. After reading the 1906 issues I was amazed with the information. The articles contained accounts of battles, thoughts on how the war was being told, and hopes of their sons carrying on.

Nobody has personified the SCV Charge more than our Compatriot Mr. H.K. Edgerton. He lived the Charge with facts, passion, and unwavering devotion to the Cause of the Confederacy. His presence in the Grey uniform of his ancestors, Our Ancestors, commanded attention of the misinformed. With passion absent of anger, Compatriot Edgerton educated the often hostile public about the TRUE history of the South with a smile as they hurled insults. Retreat was not in his vocabulary.

SCV Camp 1360, The St. Johns Rangers sends our condolences to Compatriot Edgerton's family and friends. We thank God for His blessing us with have been able to witness our Compatriot's example and courage. If we all could be just half as courageous and dedicated to the Charge as our Campatriot was, then the Hopes for the SCV that our Confederate ancestors had for us will certainly come fruitful.