The Mena weekly star., 1909-07-01

annals of war, is an event which grows in interest, and the present Memphis reunion promises to be one of the most noteworthy of them all,
 Of peculiar moment on this occasion is the fact that Memphis was the ofhclal and active headquarters of one ot the most remarkable organizations which war has ever been responsible for, and the participants in this reunion will, for the most part, be men who were members of the famous ku- klux- klan which made history as effectively and much more rapidly in the early days of reconstruction than 1t was made during the war itself.
 The inside history of the ku-klux- Klan will probably never be known in it's entirety, but after these many years much that would never before | have been breathed of it's secret op- erations may now be disclosed with all propriety, and the revelations made in this article. while they may cause i wonder and astonishment, can result | in no harm to the living, no discredit to the dead. Indeed. that wonderful organization and those who pertici- pated in it, the conditions which brought ] 1t forth and the character of it's ac- tivities, the method of it's operation and the results accompishd by it, may well be discussed with freedom from prejudice and a reorganization of its merits which might have been, in some quarters, impossible in the last.
 It is not generally known that the | federal authorities recognized the ku- 1 Klux- Klan as an organization, officially l 4aI tI nd acceding to terms laid down as an ultimatum prevented a second up- rising throughout the entire South. The preparations were all complete Arkansas was to be the theatre of first operations and every Confederate state was organized and equipped to rush to her assistance
 Gen. Robert Glenn Shaver was the Arkansas state commander of the Ku- klux- Klan An interesting figure and one we'll known in Arkansas for more than q half century is General Shaver He was major general com manding the Arkansas division of the U C. V for the two terms of 1897- 9S, and if he attends the present re- union as it is hoped and expected he will thousands will extend to him a welcome such as his record deserves. His present home is in Mena. in West ern Arkansas, where his recent years have been peacefully spent in the practice of his profession as an attorney in Howard and Polk counties. To q strong personality characterized by intellect of a high order and a genial,
 friendly disposition have been added
 the character forming touches of the
 career of a soldier and a patriot, and and the romantic, thrilling experiences
 attendant upon close and intimate participation in the stirring events inn
 mediately following the great Civil War.
 The history of Gen Shaver's military career is we'll known, but not so public though none the less important and re- markable is the story of his connection with the historic Ku- klux- Klan of
 the South He was born April IS, 1881 , at Arcadia Postoffice, in Sullivan county
 fourteen miles southwest from Bristol
 exactly on the line between Virginia
 and Tennessee. He moved to Arkansas , in 1850, remaining in Batesville five
 years, when he located on a stock farm twenty-two miles east of that
 place Here he enlisted in the Seventh
 Arkansas regiment which was mustered into the Confederate army June l6.
 lS6l with him as its colonel He inn
 mediately moved the regiment to
 Pocahontas and Pittman's Ferry where
 he was stationed when Gen Hardee
 was sent to take command of the Ar
 kansas troops In August his regiment
 was transferred to Columbus. Ky.,
 thence to Bowling Green where they
 remained until Feb F, 1862, when , they went to Nashville and from there
 to Murfreesboro, Tenn, from which
 point they went to Decatur, Ala. and
 on to Corinth, Miss, where Gen. Albert
 Sidney Johnston organized the army of the Mississippi with which he at
 tackled sherman and Grant at Pittsburg
 Landing in the engagement known as
 the Battle of Shiloh. In this battle
 colonel and acting Brig Gen. Shaver commanded the First Arkansas brigade known as Hinsmon's consisting of the Second Sixth and Fifth Arkansas and the Seventh and Third Confederate Arkansas. At the evacuation of Corinth he was relieved and ordered to the trans Mississippi department in 1862 where he was assigned to the First brigade organized by General Hines,cn in the Mississippi department near Pine Bluff, remaining with this command until September, 1862. when ne was sent to command Mcbride s i brigade at Pocahontas, Ark, removing to Van Buren in October
 In December Hineman fought the Battle of Prairie Grove. Ark. after | which the command was moved to | Little, Rock, arriving there in January. | 1863.
 Briefly and incompletely, the fore gong summary covers the military sareer ot Gen. Shaver, giving fair idea of his prominence and the important part he took in the active campaigns ot that period After the war he lo- | cated in Jacksonport, Ark. when he | disappeared from Arkansas, and for nearly four years was not seen or heard | ot, though during this time he was icading the open life of an honest l fearless man in the far south country of | British Honduras After the war and up to the time he removed to Hond,rse Ssh ohaVer was prominent and active m the turbulent and uncertain affairs ol ms state, during which period the
 ku- kluXklan came into existence and operated throughout the South.
 Those who lived in the ravaoed Sor,b at the close of the war found thenlselvee confronted not only with the nrobte,,s presented by the necessity of wrestl;ng a livelihood from an ifupovrriehe3 land, equipped all too inadeouat~ly to hope 10 accomplish satisfactory re
 suits but they were also met bv n con, ditiQn ot social and civil chaos s,,h | leCtlng them naf ,rl,, e.. N~@ |