SCV celebrates Confederate invasion of Mexico

After the Civil War some Confederates refused to surrender and went to Mexico to colonize and offer their services to the French puppet emperor Maximillian who was the figure head of the French forces occupying Mexico. During the Civil War, with the United States preoccupied with the rebellion, France and Spain decided to invade Latin America and take what territories they could.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) recently celebrated Confederate General J.O. "Jo" Shelby going into Mexico as reported in the Nov./Dec. 2006 issue of Confederate Veteran, pages 16-19. The celebration was in the form of a re-enactment of Shelby's forces trek across Texas and entry into Mexico which occured April 29 to May 3, 2005.

This link tells the history of Shelby and includes his relation to Maximillian, French puppet emporer.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/qms1.html

In the article is the following quote:

"After the event, Fort Duncan Museum Director John Stockley and his wife led participants in uniform acrss the Rio Grande into Piedras Negras, Mexico. In order to conform to Mexican law, they left their horses and arms ont he Texas side of the river, but the modern-day Confederates joked that they were claiming the town for the Emporer Maximillian and the Confederacy, too."

I think the SCV's celebration of the Confederates collaboration with the foriegn occupiers of Mexico and Napoleon III's attempted destruction of a neighboring republic is very revealing of their attitudes towards Mexico and Hispanics.