Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Meeting for November 2020

Twenty compatriots gathered together on Thursday evening November 12th for the Camp 1524 monthly meeting at the Prattville Masonic Lodge downtown.  Chaplain Brantley opened the meeting with an Invocation followed by the pledges and salutes to the flags led by Color Sgt Dennis.  Commander Waldo read Stephen Dill Lee's Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and then presented the upcoming events and announcements.  Sign up sheets for the Salvation Army bell ringing time slots and the invitations to the Christmas Social were passed around in addition to a checklist for planning activities for the 2021 Division Reunion which the camp is hosting.  A number of folks brought in non-perishables for the camp's Thanksgiving canned food drive to benefit the Autauga Interfaith Care Center. 

Dr. Brandon Beck was the guest speaker for the November camp meeting and he spoke about the logistics and troop movements leading up to the Battle of Okolona in Mississippi.  Dr. Beck provided a handout which included maps of the western portion of Tennessee and northwest Mississippi thru which General N.B. Forrest moved his troops to evade the Yankee army about railroad lines and across rivers of the region.  Dr. Beck always provides great detail and paints a picture so that you can virtually see the characters and the action.  

Following the presentation, Commander Waldo recited the SCV Closing and the Chaplain provided a Benediction to see everyone off safely to their homes.  Many stopped by the back table where Dr. Beck had copies of a number of his books including "Winchester's Three Battles" as well as "The Battle of Okolona: Defending the Mississippi Prairie" for purchase.  It was a very enjoyable meeting and time of fellowship, an opportunity to see regulars, new members and those who have been away for some time.  

Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column for November 2020 - Sectional Acrimony Brings Rise in Predictions of Secession

 I have spent the past few days deliberately staying away from all main stream media news feeds.  The lead up to the November 3rd elections with the preposterous polling has again proven the slant and bias of the MSM as the inevitability of a progressive socialist tsunami and takeover was irrefutably illustrated by insurmountable Dem leads in all the polls.  And now we find ourselves two days later still awaiting results which for some reason in the 21st century with computerized balloting is an excruciatingly long process with absentee votes to seemingly appear from thin air and the backs of automobile trunks with secretive tallying.  It appears the Presidential race is still undecided days after the polls closed with reports varying hour by hour.  The Senate races appear to be somewhat more definitive with the GOP retaining slim control in what has been described as a firewall against the increasingly left leaning House.  This election cycle has been described as the most important of our lifetimes. 

There is a stark contrast between the platforms of the GOP espousing a robust capitalist economic policy with low taxes and deregulation as opposed to the Democrats advertised massive New Green Deal plans and promised $4.7 trillion tax increase.  In response to the Republicans confirming Amy Coney Barrett as Trumps latest Supreme Court appointment, the Democrats have fielded ideas to pack the court, creating additional seats to fill with liberal justices and to push for statehood for the liberal Washington DC enclave and for Puerto Rico.  The former is a direct assault on the Constitutional concepts of equal and separate branches of government. The latter would be an attempt to secure for the foreseeable future, a Democrat majority in the legislative branch and a far more difficult hurdle for conservatives in the electoral college in Presidential elections.  Dem Senator Barbara Boxer in 2017 even introduced legislation to eliminate the electoral college and current Dems have further pushed this radical agenda ( https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/02/politics/senate-democrats-electoral-college-constitutional-amendment/index.html) which would destroy the protections our founders put  in place to prevent sectional dominance in the United States government. 

Even still, with the population centers of California and New York disproportionately affecting the results of nationwide elections and the real threat of additional liberal states or moving to a strict popular voting process, what does this current election cycle and political climate bode for the future of our country.  In 1860 the threat of additional non-slave states being added to the country from the western territories was a primary impetus for the secession of the Southern states.  They viewed that as a political strategy to ensure Republican political dominance and along with the increased tariffs (taxes) promised by the Republicans in their election platform to build industries and railroads centered in the North, the destruction of the Southern economic system and way of life.  The Democrats today are promising massive tax hikes, the appropriation of the federal treasury to pet green industries and progressive social causes and organizations, and the governmental control of private industries thru massive regulations.  They openly espouse the further infringement of Constitutional rights including the right to bear arms and religious liberty and freedom of speech which their militant fringes have been violently attacking on college campuses and town squares across the country for the past few years.  They dare violate the sanctity of life codifying the right to kill full term babies.

Where does that leave the future of our country?  For the first time since our forefathers fought for Southern state’s independence, the concept of secession has moved to the main stream of debate.  Groups in California (https://yescalifornia.org/) and Texas (https://texassecede.com/?_sm_nck=1) have actively sought referendums on secession.  In this heated recent election cycle, others have predicted the dissolution of the country.  Conservative talk show host Ben Shapiro had a guest on Monday, the day before the election, who predicted  “within six years” the United States would break apart into perhaps 50 separate and sovereign nation states.  The same day, Financial analyst David Rosenberg predicted “the U.S. could find itself broken into more than one country as unrest and acrimony grip the electorate” (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-u-s-could-split-up-gundlach-says-heres-how-hed-invest-for-that-11604352902?reflink=mw_share_twitter)  Apart from the political and economic disagreements rife within our society, for decades we have been battling moral imperatives such as the right to life guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence.  Prattville’s city council just passed a resolution proclaiming the city as “a safe city for pre-born children and lives in all stages.” (https://www.wsfa.com/2020/11/04/prattville-council-passes-first-its-kind-resolution-alabama/?outputType=amp)  Who would have thought such a proclamation necessary but, that resolution wouldn’t have seen the light of day in Pelosi’s San Francisco.  We have been fighting the repercussions of the government removing prayer from the schools for generations now, that and the diminishment of a real education including civics and true history (as well as foundational basic reading and arithmetic).  The result - our nation’s  youth have devolved into ignorant entitled anarchists.  Is the fracturing of the Unites States into perhaps a federated union like the EU a viable solution to preserve state sovereignty and help eliminate the sectional acrimony we have seen explode across our nation?

Prattville Dragoons Chaplain's Column for November

 Chaplain’s Column  - Anxious Times for Our Nation and Ourselves

I am typing this on Election Day. I have prayed and voted and I hope you did both as well. I have also been in prayer and scripture over the last weeks and have asked for God to bless the results of this election for all offices.

   Now we all anxiously await the results.

   Wait, why would we be anxious if we know God is in control?

   Philippians 4:6 reminds us, “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God” (ASV).

   Easier said than done, right?  I know. But you will notice in the above scripture the word thanksgiving. At the end of this month we have a holiday by that same name where we gather around the table with family and friends and give thanks to God.       

   I was reminded at Church recently that while me may not get what we want when we want it, but God is on the throne and has a plan for your life. I was also reminded that there are people out there right now who are praying for what you and I already have.

   We may not get the answer we want or when we want it, but let us gather around the table this Thanksgiving and “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His gracious love exists forever” (Psalm 107:1) (ISV).    

   I ended last month’s column with these words and felt they needed to be said once more: gentlemen, do not spend all your time on the worries of the world and Man, but rather get in to the Word. Make sure you are spending each day in prayer and reading your Bible. Remember, He wants a relationship with you!  And while you are in worship with Him, Please pray for our country, the State of Alabama, our organization and camp.

Amen.

 

May God continue to watch over you and your families and protect you all.

And may God save the South!

Remember those on our prayer list. 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Complete Seasonal Grounds Maintenance at Robinson Springs Cemetery

Despite temperatures still hovering in the 70s, with the slow approach of fall, the grass growth has slowed.  But Robinson Springs cemetery still needed one more mowing for the season til the grass went dormant.  Quartermaster Bill Myrick went there on Saturday November 7th and mowed around all the grave markers and trees and then on Tuesday the 10th Connor Lee brought  his riding zero turn mower to finish the larger areas of the cemetery.  Many thanks to these dedicated compatriots who worked the grass cutting to get the cemetery in kept appearance for the winter.  The Dragoons help maintain Robinson Springs Cemetery as part of the Sons of Confederate Guardian Program.  Robinson Springs is the final resting place of many veterans (including Confederates) and other founding citizens of the Robinson Springs community which predates Millbrook AL in this area. 

The Dragoons and friends had worked at Indian Hill cemetery to remove a fallen tree from one of the season's hurricanes including taking loads of cut wood to the Autauga Interfaith Care Center to donate as firewood to the community's needy.  Color Sgt John Dennis worked at Indian Hill to burn the remaining limbs to finish the cleanup.  Indian Hill is the final resting place of a number of Confederate veterans including original Dragoons and founders citizens of the Indian Hill community which predates Prattville.  

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

Prattville Dragoons November Camp Meeting – Thursday Nov. 12^th, 6:45pm, Masonic Lodge, 100 Maple St, Prattville AL

Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringing – Saturday December 5^th and 12^th, 9am-8pm, Prattville Winn Dixie

Dragoons Christmas Social – Friday December 18^th 6-9pm at the historic Buena Vista mansion

Millbrook Revelers Mardi Gras Parade and Festival – Saturday February 6th, 9am festival and 11am parade, Main St