Cannon and rifle fire punctuated Sunday's annual Confederate Memorial Day ceremony at a South Hall church, where the main speaker talked about "doing all we can to preserve our heroic Confederate heritage."

"We are still defending the honorable cause of our patriotic Confederate ancestors — limited constitutional government, states' rights and defending our homeland against an unconstitutional, immoral and brutal invasion," said Douglas Young, political science and history professor at Gainesville State College.

"Perhaps at no time has this cause faced more hostile public opinion and public opposition than today," he added. "We regularly read of yet another insult to the noble sacrifices of our Confederate kin."

Young said the anti-Confederacy sentiment exists despite 150 years that have passed since the beginning of the Civil War — or War Between the States, as preservationists call it. The first shots were fired April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina.

He made the comments Sunday afternoon during the ceremony at Redwine United Methodist Church at 3101 Poplar Springs Road.

The Gen. James Longstreet Chapter 46 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy sponsors the annual event, held for some 85 years at the church, where at least eight Civil War veterans are buried.

Also the Confederates' Company D, 27th Georgia Infantry, known as Colquitt's Brigade, organized at Redwine in early 1861 and "fought with distinction throughout the war," according to the ceremony program.

The event also featured a colors presentation by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, 2nd Brigade, dressed in military garb of the era.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy also recognized four military veterans — Elmer R. Chastain, Edwin Craft, Gary Coley and Sidney Meyer — who have ancestors who served in the Civil War.

After a service in the church, which closed with the audience singing "Dixie," participants went outside to the cemetery, where re-enactors remembered Confederate dead in the cemetery.

They called the roll of the soldiers, with men standing in the cemetery to represent the veterans.

One by one, women dressed in long period gowns, escorted by a re-enactor, laid red roses on the soldiers' graves.

The soldiers then took up arms and fired a 21-gun and cannon salute.

The ceremony closed with the group singing the Southern version of "Battle Cry for Freedom," led by re-enactor Ralph Mills.