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Harry St. John Dixon
Replica of badge
made from half dollar
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Harry St. John Dixon and his small
band of Sigma Chi soldiers established what has come to be known as the
Constantine Chapter of Sigma Chi. The Constantine Chapter was organized
on the night of September 17 during the heated Atlanta campaign of the
Civil War. The place of the historic event was a few miles southwest of
Atlanta. Dixon, who was a member of Psi chapter’s class of 1861 at the
University of Virginia, states the circumstances under which the
war-time chapter was conceived:
It was ascertained that a number of the Fraternity were in the Army of
Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston during the Atlanta campaign in
1864. It was conceded that the South was forever disunited from the
general government, and it was assumed that all chapters throughout the
South would cease to exist. Furthermore, it was deemed expedient that we
brothers should know each other and our several commands for the
purposes of relief in distress, and communication in case of need, with
our Northern brethren.
In the ruin at hand my sentiment was to preserve the lofty principles
typified by the White Cross. I know that I had no authority to establish
a chapter of Sigma Chi outside a college, or at all; but, isolated as we
were, I thought I should raise the standard and fix a rallying point. By
so doing, we should preserve t he order, whether we failed or not in our
struggle for independence.
Throughout the war, Dixon kept informed of all Sigma Chis known to be in
the vicinity, and he kept their names recorded upon the flyleaf of his
diary. With the plan for a Confederate Army chapter fully formed, he and
Harry Yerger, Mississippi 1864, who was in Dixon’s division, contacted
all brothers who might reach the place selected for the meeting. Of this
first meeting Dixon wrote:
The meeting was held in a deserted log cabin on the outskirts of the
camp, at night. By a miraculous effort one wretchedt allow candle was
procured. The cabin was in a state of frightful dilapidation. Its rude
walls and rafters were covered with soot and cobwebs, and the floor
showed evidences of having been the resting place of sundry herds of
sheep. But the spirit was there and shone brightly. There was no time
for ceremonies beyond what were absolutely necessary. We had left the
camp without permission and did not know at what minute our bugles would
sound ‘To horses’ as the ‘fearful adversary’ was at hand. We got
some ‘chunks’ and, by placing rails upon them, improvised benches,
lit our candle, had the President reconnoitre the premises thoroughly,
and upon his report that all was well, proceeded with business. This,
however, was hardly necessary, as our ‘hall’ was on the edge of a
lonely field, and was almost covered with vines and overhanging trees.
The chapter elected Harry St. John Dixon as Sigma, or president, and
Harry Yerger as Chi, or vice president. Other brothers known to be
involved in this chapter include Reuben T. Pollard, Mississippi 1861;
Evan J. Shelby, Mississippi 1862; and William H. Bolton, original Sigma
Chi chapter at La Grange (Tennessee) 1862. The Constantine Chapter
initiated two men, Thomas N. Fowler and A.B. Raffington.
The only badge in the chapter was the one Dixon improvised earlier in
the war. All had lost their original badges. The loss was keenly felt,
for the badge could not then be replaced in the South, and Dixon
cherished it as invaluable in case of capture. With an ingenuity born of
necessity, Dixon fashioned a rough substitute from a silver half-dollar.
The task required several weeks of tedious work, which he performed at
odd times in camp with his pocket knife and a file. With great labor, he
even set the Greek letters SC therein with bits of gold.
A final, formal meeting occurred New Year’s Day 1865. With Dixon
presiding, these devoted men of the Southland passed a resolution to pay
a tribute of respect to the four Constantine Chapter Sigs who had died
during the war. The last days of the war quickly came and rendered
impossible any further activities of this wartime chapter.
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