Announcing the Prattville Dragoons Camp Meeting for September 2013

The Dragoons' monthly camp meeting will be held tonight, Thursday September 12th at 7pm at the Shoney's on Cobbs Ford Road in Prattville, just off I-65 Exit 179.  Come early to enjoy the Shoney's dinner buffet. 

Learn About Battle of Ebenezer Church at September Meeting

            Just some miles northwest of Prattville stands Ebenezer Church, in Stanton, Alabama.  It was here that Confederates made an attempt to slow Wilson’s Raiders as they approached Selma to destroy that Confederate bastion.  At our September meeting, we will hear a talk on this battle by a resident of Stanton who has studied it all his life.  Following are the words of our speaker, Mr. Charles Wayne Arnold.

I am 64 years old, and was born and raised in Stanton, Alabama. While playing in Bogles Creek at age 12, I found my first Battle of Ebenezer artifact:  an 1861 Springfield rifle. Needless to say, this fired me up on the history of the War and my area of the state. When I was about 13 or 14, I was able to sit and talk with a wonderful 80+ year-old lady, "Aunt Addy" Huff, a great source for local history during the period of the War Between the States. When Aunt Addy was a young girl, she would sit and listen to elderly ladies talk during church socials and quilting parties. One of these elderly ladies was the daughter of Oliver Perry Mcgee, and she remembered April 1, 1865, when Wilson's Raiders struck the Confederate breastworks on the Mcgee Plantation. So, what I know about the battle is fairly close to an eyewitness source.

            When I was about 18, I found my second rifle, an Enfield, and the third weapon was a Spencer Carbine which I found when I was about 40. Over the years I have found minie balls, Spencer rounds and casings, some canister, and found the location where the Yankees burned the haversacks and weapons.  I have given this presentation to numerous civic, historical, and school groups, and it has always been fun. I am a Marine Viet Nam veteran and was retired due to wounds received in 1969. My great-great grandfather on my father’s side lost his left leg from the knee down on the first day at Gettysburg. My great-great grandfather on my mother’s side was an artillery officer in the Army Of Northern Virginia, survived the war, but came home stone deaf. I look forward to meeting with your honorable group on September 12, 2013.