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Sarah Meyer, whose great grandfather fought for the Union Army during the Battle of Atlanta, has strong feelings about the carvings of Confederate leaders on Stone Mountain. Let them stand. “History is history and you should not rewrite it,” said Meyer, who lives in Alpharetta and belongs to 15 lineage societies. Meyer also is president of the newly chartered Georgia Department of Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The organization, which has three Georgia chapters, or “tents” named after nurses who tended Union soldiers, is part of the national organization founded in 1885. Although Meyer clearly believes that the right side prevailed, she and the other members also maintain that all fallen soldiers deserve our respect and honor.
Q: Who were your relatives who fought for the Union?
A: My great grandfather and grandfather were in just about all of the battles of the Army of Potomac. My other great grandfather fought as part of Sherman's army. He was wounded in Jonesboro on Sept. 1, 1864. Since he fought in the South campaign, I feel honored to be able to visit all of those sites.
Q: Who belongs to your group?
A: We have about 75 members and they have to have direct lineal descent to honorably discharged soldiers and sailors who served the Union. Believe it or not, there are a lot of women in Georgia who meet our requirement.
Q: What kind of things does your group do?
A: We are very active in the community. We are into preserving genealogical and historic sites and documents. We partner with cemeteries and were instrumental in funding and establishing two monuments at the Allatoona Pass Battlefield near Cartersville. We do a lot of work with veterans, both with our time and our money. We participated in the last Stand Down at Fort McPherson, which provided meals, clothing and services to homeless veterans.
Q: To mark the 150th anniverary of the Civil War’s end, your organization took part in the “Funeral for 13,000” at Andersonville Prison in September. What was that like?
A: There are certain sites where the horror just seems to stay. Gettysburg is one, Andersonville is another. The prison camp was only in existence 14 months but 13,000 Union soldiers died there because there was no sanitation, housing or food. The men were buried immediately in shallow graves and never had a funeral. I presented the wreath for National Department of Daughters of Union Veterans. Members of the Emma Stephenson Tent in Marietta also presented a wreath. There was a feeling that the men finally got the recognition they deserved.
Q: Are you surprised by how much angst continues today over Confederate monuments and symbols?
A: Our position is that the Confederates are entitled to their history. I honor them for fighting for their beliefs. I think they were wrong but I honor them as individuals.
Q: You aren’t for sandblasting the Confederate heroes off of Stone Mountain?
A: Nobody wants their monuments and their flag preserved more than we do. The ancestors on the side of the Confederacy are entitled to them, too.
Q: What drives most of your members?
A: The driving force is researching their history and honoring their ancestors. There is a desire to preserve historic sites and to pass on our heritage to our children and their children's children. The Civil War to us is the second American Revolution. It is what preserved the Union.
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