Tampa, FL - The leadership of the newly restored Southern Party of Florida today honored the sacrifice of Florida's Confederate troops at various private organized remembrance events across the bay area.

The SPFL kicked the day off at sunrise in downtown Tampa at the historic Oaklawn cemetery that is home to a number of Confederate heroes. Party officers spent most of the morning clearing weeds from around the headstones of the Confederate graves and placing single red roses and Confederate Battle Flags next to the headstones.

For those that are historically illiterate the City of Tampa was a vital Confederate port city during the War of Northern Aggression and as such was a target for the American navy. The Americans attempted to invade and burn Tampa 3 times from 1862-1864 with little to no success. The Tampa City Guards (precursor to the Tampa PD), and the Osceola Rangers whom were stationed at Fort Brooke successfully thwarted the attempts of the American navy to destroy the city. The only remaining evidence of these battles can be found in the cemetery, where a marker was erected in 1922 to show where a mortar shell from the USS Sagamore landed and created a massive crater during the Americans first attempt to wipe Tampa off the map in the summer of 1862.

After the SPFL had finished paying their respects at the cemetery party leaders drove over to the the Hillsborough County Courthouse and tossed red roses onto the steps of the Tampa Confederate War Memorial which was obstructed by a construction fence. The party hopes to be able to hold a ceremony at the steps of the monument next year when construction to the courthouse has been completed.

Party leaders then headed towards the town of Brandon, where they briefly stopped for a quick lunch at Barnacles on their way to Plant City to pay their respects at the legendary Cow Calvary of the Florida Army. The Cow Calvary succeeded against impossible odds by defending local ranches, farms, and supply roads between what is now Plant City and the port of Tampa, from being destroyed by the rampaging American navy and army.

Last year the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy managed to erect a monument to honor these brave Confederate heroes whose sacrifices had been all but forgotten by the Southern people of today.

Party officers stated that next year the SPFL will work towards coordinating their activities with the other local and state Southern groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Florida League of the South.

The ultimate goal of the party in addition to an improved CS Memorial Day ceremony is to organize a massive Gasparialla sized Confederate parade commemorating the Confederate victory over the American Armed forces at both the 1st and 2nd battle's of Tampa Bay.

To date the City of Tampa has done everything in its power to "white wash" over Tampa's Confederate involvement in the War. For example the City was officially founded in 1841, however they have it currently listed as 1898 which is a flat out lie and was done deliberately in the 1970's to cover up Tampa's strong ties to the Confederacy when the city seal was redesigned. Instead Tampa's leaders since the early 70's have chosen to promote the ties Tampa had instead to the mass Cuban migration period leading up to the Spanish American War which occurred almost 50 years after the city was already founded.

The SPFL has been very vocal regarding this farce and has publicly stated that the party intendeds to "rain on the parade" of the local anti-Confederate's by informing people that Tampa was and still is an Confederate city and the Cuban history is in fact a nasty piece of pro-Union Propaganda that has been twisted around to cover up Tampa's true origins.

Just about every morning, I drive by Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg, Virginia and I notice the seven star First National Confederate flag that flies on the flagpole in front of the Stonewall Jackson B&B and the flags (three of them - the Confederate Battleflag, the Virginia flag, and the First National) in the Confederate section of Woodbine. OK, I see the "quaint" connection with the named B&B and, of course, over the graves of Confederate dead. It's just that the absence of that eighth star in the First National, whenever flown in Virginia, is like a joke when it comes to "responsible flagging" of Confederate graves (it also seems a bit odd that a B&B with the name Stonewall Jackson attached to it flies a seven star First National, considering Jackson hailed from the eighth state to secede). Even if the cemetery wasn't in Virginia, odds are that about half of the men buried in the Confederate section are from states that seceded after Virginia. So, if a First National is to be flown, and considering those who place the flags are supposed to be "responsible" advocates of Confederate heritage (and "know" their history and heritage), the flags being used need to accurately represent the soldiers in the graves.

Frankly, I find the whole matter of flagging Confederate graves to be very complicated, especially when adding reluctant conscripts to the formula. Just as in examples of wrongful placement of headstones over graves, so too should the placement of Confederate flags on graves be more heavily scrutinized by those who engage in the practice. The persisting question should be, "do the flags over the graves represent the wartime sentiments of those in the graves?" I am quite certain that it is not the rule in all cases, and perhaps not so in more cases than some realize or would care to admit.