About Us

Our organization is a local unit of the SCV located in Spartanburg, South Carolina and is assigned to the South Carolina SCV Division.  Camp 68 was originally chartered as the Oliver E Edwards Camp on March 16, 1898.  The camp was later re-chartered as the Adam Washington Ballenger Camp on May 10, 1995.  Many of our activities focus on preservation work, marking Confederate soldier's graves, historical re-enactments, and scholarly publications and we hold regular meetings to discuss the military and political history of the War Between the States.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is the direct heir of the United Confederate Veterans, and the oldest hereditary organization for male descendents of Confederate soldiers. Organized at Richmond, Virginia in 1896, the SCV continues to serve as a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to ensuring that a true history of the South, especially the 1861-1865 period, is preserved and presented to future generations.

The citizen-soldiers who fought for the Confederacy personified the best qualities of America. The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought demonstrated their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Today, the SCV is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes so that future generations can understand their motives and character.

Who was Adam Washington Ballenger?

Sgt. Adam Washington Ballenger (13th South Carolina Infantry CSA) - A recipient of the Confederate Medal of Honor for service during the Battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia (28 July 1864). "During the charge of the 12 and 13th South Carolina Regiments which threw the enemy into confusion, Sgt. Ballenger left his command and alone, rushed forward and captured one of the guns of the enemy's artillery.  In his desperate fight with the enemy teamsters who sought to retake the cannon and move it to the rear, Sgt. Ballenger, although dangerously exposed to enemy fire, cut the traces of the horses, then mounted the gun and single-handedly defended the piece until reinforcements arrived." [Source: "He Stands Large in My Memory" in Valor in Gray: The Recipients of the Confederate Medal of Honor. 1996 by Gregg S. Clemer.]

Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans:

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

- Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General, United Confederate Veterans, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1906