SCV Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons Perform Final Seasonal Mowing at Historic Robinson Springs Cemetery

Friday and Saturday Oct 21st and 22nd, members of the Prattville Dragoons, SCV Camp 1524 mowed the grounds at the Robinson Springs cemetery in Millbrook AL as the final seasonal maintenance.  On Friday, Brigade Commander Harold Grooms brought his riding lawn mower and cut the larger areas within the fenced cemetery.  Then on Saturday morning, 1st Lt Rob Schwartz and compatriot Thomas Griffith finished up with push mowers and weed trimmers.  This maintenance work should keep the cemetery looking good thru the winter months as the grass goes dormant.  More terrific community service work as part of the SCV Guardian Program to maintain historic cemeteries which provide the final resting place for Confederate veterans as well as many community founders and veterans from other wars. 

Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Work Masonry Repairs at Historic Indian Hill Cemetery

Members of the Prattville Dragoons helped a local master bricklayer with brick and concrete repairs at the Indian Hill Cemetery over the past couple weeks.  Dragoons Color Sgt John Dennis initiated the repairs working with 87 year old Don Hall who is a master bricklayer.   1st Lt Rob Schwartz also pitched in and learned a lot about the mason craft and came away amazed at Don's knowledge, skill and energy with the project.  The guys rebuilt a brick wall around a family plot at Indian Hill which provides the final resting place for a number of original Dragoons, veterans of the War for Southern Independence.  Some of this brick had fallen on the ground and they used this and worked to find old brick to use to complete the wall, even attempting to match the weathered mortar color. They also have reconstructed a false crypt for another grave using concrete including footers and forms.  Broken headstones are also being repaired and cleaned.  An outstanding project which these men initiated and have owned including spending substantial money of their own to enhance this historic cemetery and return these gravesites to their original condition.  Indian Hill cemetery is maintained by the Dragoons as part of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Guardian program.  

                                 

        

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 at the Autauga County Fair

Members of the Prattville Dragoons manned a booth at the Autauga County Fair from Tuesday thru Saturday October 11-15th.  Rain and threatening weather caused the closure of the fair on Wednesday the 12th but otherwise the weather was outstanding with clear cool temperatures and so there were great crowds each evening the fair was open.   Dragoons' 2nd Lt Karl Wade coordinated the camp's entry including submitting the registration with the fair organizers as well as recruiting members to work time slots throughout the week.  Karl also worked every single shift!  On Monday before the fair, Karl along with camp Commander Waldo, Quartermaster Myrick and Adjutant Sutherland set up the tables and banners for the booth and brought in the camp stores for handouts and sales.  Additionally members working throughout the week included Brigade Commander Harold Grooms, 1st Lt Rob Schwartz, Treasurer Billy Leverette, Color Sgt John Dennis, along with compatriots Dale Boyles, Tyrone Crowley, Darryl Haywood, Larry Miller and Louis Turner.  Crowds estimated between 8000-10000 people from the Autauga County area attended the fair and passed by the Dragoons' booth representing a fantastic opportunity for these camp members to greet our neighbors and provide information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the camp, offer mini Battle flags and SCV recruitment coins and posters and sell larger historical flags as well as car tags and ball caps and coffee mugs emblazoned with the Battle Flag.  Karl also stocked a dish with Halloween candy for the kids.  The Dragoons had terrific sales with proceeds for the camp treasury funding all the projects for the coming year including donations to heritage preservation groups and food pantries, flags to set at local cemeteries, fair and parade entries and other initiatives.  The  2022 Autauga County Fair and the Dragoons booth were a huge success.  

Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Prattville Dragoons Fall Muster

The Dragoons enjoyed their annual fall muster on Saturday October 8th with twenty attendees enjoying a picnic and clay shoot.  The weather was warm and sunny and the Dismukes property south of Millbrook provided a great venue for the event.  Members included Commander Stuart Waldo, 1st Lt Rob Schwartz, 2nd Lt Karl Wade, Brigade Commander Grooms, and Quartermaster Myrick along with compatriots Dave Thompson, Mike Thomas, Thomas Griffith , Tyler Suttle and Dale Boyles.  The guys brought their significant others including wives, family and friends. Philip Edwards set up an electromechanical thrower which really moved the clay targets downfield in a hurry; he also contributed boxes of clay targets and shotgun shells for everyone to shoot.  Adjutant Sutherland brought by smoked pork which he had pulled along with buns and BBQ sauce and all the plates and utensils before he had to depart for work.  Everyone who wanted to shoot was able to bust some targets including trying different shotguns including new and old Remingtons and Philip's beautiful Benellis.  After a morning round of shooting, the food everyone brought to share was blessed by 1st Lt Schwartz for a picnic dinner.  In addition to Adjutant Sutherland's BBQ pork, 2nd Lt Wade provided Conecuh sausage, Commander Waldo brought some fried chicken along with potato salad and corn casserole and, "The Bug Man" brought some ham and pimento cheese sandwiches.  Quartermaster Myrick brought  his world famous baked beans and he threw some hot dogs on there for good measure and his wife sent along a delicious Earthquake chocolate cake.  Philip and his wife brought a scrumptious upside down blueberry cobbler.  Mike brought a pair of jazzed up  bakes beans and Thomas Griffith brought a baked mac n cheese with french fried onions on top.  1st Lt Schwartz brought some potato salad and there was very good cole slaw, cookies, chips and all sorts of delicious food enjoyed.  After dinner, more clay pigeons were shot and some missed but it was a lot of fun for everyone.  Commander Waldo's daughter and son even tried shooting - he hit his very first two targets as well as another pair using Philip's 20 gage Benelli which he immediately fell in love with.  The Bug Man proved to be an exceptional marksman but Philip was undoubtedly the premier shot of the event and proved his accuracy using a number of different guns.  Another great family event for the compatriots of Camp 1524 on a beautiful warm fall day in the southwest central brigade of the Alabama Division SCV.

SCV Camp 1524 Work to Restore Graveyard Brick Masonry at Historic Indian Hill Cemetery

Dragoons Color Sgt John Dennis worked with friend Don Hall to rebuild the damaged brick work around the Smith family graves plot at Indian Hill cemetery on Saturday October 1.  Much of the front wall restoration was completed while they went thru eight bags of mortar.  They matched the beige mortar color to that of the existing wall.  Mr. Hall is a descendent of original WBTS Dragoon Dixon Hall who is buried at Indian Hill.  This restoration work is part of the Dragoons' pledged maintenance of the historic cemetery as part of the SCV Guardian program.  

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Commander's Column for October 2022 - Hispanic Heritage Month

 

We are in the middle of Hispanic Heritage month.  Many in Camp 1524 are familiar with the Confederados of Brazil.  The Fraternidade Descendência Americana, or FDA, is a group founded by the descendants of Confederate families who fled North America following the War for Southern Independence and settled in Santa Bárbara and the neighboring city of Americana, Brazil.  For the past four decades, these FDA have hosted thousands from across Brazil at the annual Festa Confederada, or Confederate Festival to honor and celebrate the legacy of their Confederate ancestors.  The festival includes country music, antebellum reenactments and food including fried chicken and biscuits. Battle flags adorn the town including the chapel at Cemitério do Campo which has one of the largest Battle flags in the world on the plaza at the cemetery which also has a tall obelisk imprinted with the names of those original Confederate immigrants who settled here in the 1860s and 1870s.   “For us, the Confederate flag carries the symbolism of … resistance to tyranny, not the symbolism of slavery”, says João Padoveze, president of the FDA.  (https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2022/0816/New-law-could-mark-end-of-American-Confederacy-in-Brazil)  “It’s difficult for us to feel bad about something we’re proud of,” adds Mr. Padoveze.  “It’s a symbol of connection with our roots.” Unfortunately, similar to what is happening in the United States and in England, the PC woke crowd  is attacking the FA and the festival, condemning them while looking thru their lense of presentism to instead focus on the history of slavery in Brazil (which incidentally was abolished in 1888 by decree of Brazilian Princess Isabel of Bragança when she signed Imperial Law number 3,353, following a number of prior actions including the 1871 Law of the Free Womb which granted freedom to the children of all Brazilian slaves – all without the loss of 620,000 lives as sustained in the War Between the States). 

 

The Hispanic legacy in North America predates the Confederacy by hundreds of years with many Spanish conquistadors exploring North America in the 16th century.  The first permanent settlement in what is now the United States was in St. Augustine FL which was established in 1565.   In the run up to and during the WBTS, “In the Southeast, lands that had once been Spanish West Florida and Louisiana, Hispanics commonly supported the Confederate cause.  This population represented a rich mixture of cultures and languages: French, Spanish, Caribbean, American Indian, African, German, and Anglo American. These "Creoles" were often well-to-do planters with plantations or established merchants with homes in the bustling ports of New Orleans and Mobile. Many held slaves. Others made their money through the cotton trade that relied on the "peculiar institution" of slavery, part of the aristocracy of the region and joined their like-minded Southern neighbors and actively fought to preserve their way of life.” (https://www.nps.gov/articles/hispanics-and-the-civil-war.htm)  “New Orleans mustered nearly 800 Hispanics as part of the "European Brigade," a home guard of 4,500 to keep order and defend the city. The brigades of Brigadier General Harry T. Hays's and Brigadier General William E. Starke, popularly known as the "Louisiana Tigers," included native Louisianans of Anglo and Creole descent, plus men from Spain, Cuba, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. Both brigades campaigned with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and fought at battles such as Antietam and Gettysburg.  One Alabama company, the Spanish Guards, was made up exclusively of men of Spanish ancestry and served as a home guard for the city of Mobile. Alabama's 55th Infantry, which served in the Vicksburg, Atlanta, and Nashville campaigns, and Florida's 2nd Infantry, which fought at Antietam and Gettysburg, included significant numbers of Hispanic soldiers as well.  One of the most daring officers in the Confederate navy was Capt. Michael Usina, a blockade runner who was born in St. Augustine, Florida, to Spanish parents; Usina started the war as a private in the 8th Georgia Volunteer Infantry and after suffering serious wounds in the battle at Manassas, joined the Confederate Navy.”

In the Southwest, the Hispanics were chiefly of Mexican descent and as slavery was outlawed in Mexico, “many Hispanics opposed the idea of bringing the institution into their homeland and endorsed Union efforts to prevent it.”  But, there were some “African American” slaves and native American “coerced labor” in Texas and New Mexico and so allegiances were mixed.    By the start of the War, Texas joined the CSA.  California remained in the Union although the southern portion dominated by Hispanics leaned toward the Confederacy.  In Texas in 1861, “Tejanos led by Antonio Ochoa marched on the Zapata (TX) County seat to prevent local officials from taking an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. Confederate troops responded by forcing Ochoa to flee across the border into Mexico. There Ochoa gained the support of Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, a Mexican general and folk hero, who had already gained a reputation as a fearless defender of Mexican American rights. From the safety of Mexico, Ochoa, Cortina and others attacked military and economic targets in south Texas, keeping Confederate troops constantly preoccupied. In one brutal attack, pro-Union raiders commanded by Octaviano Zapata rode to the ranch of a Confederate county judge and hanged him. Confederate retaliation was swift. Capt. Refugio Benavides led a company of cavalry into Mexico in pursuit of Zapata, killing 18 and wounding 14 of his men.”  With the Union naval blockade along the SC, AL and LA ports, the ports in Texas at Laredo and Brownsville along with wagon trains into Mexico became critical in establishing a trade route; cotton “carried across the Río Grande and loaded on Mexican flagships could sail safely past Union warships. This trade, established largely through the efforts of the Cuban-born, Harvard-educated diplomat José Agustin Quintero, helped maintain a vital line of trade for the cash-strapped Confederacy.”  The last battle of the WBTS occurred in Texas when Union troops from Brazos Island “made one final foray toward Brownsville on May 12-13. Confederate troops including Hispanic soldiers responded, and on the coastal plains near the mouth of the Río Grande at Palmito Ranch, they defeated the Union forces--a final Confederate victory.” 

“For Hispanics, like all other Americans, the decision of which side to support in the Civil War (sic) often came down to personal motives and desires. Hispanic citizens in the South often acted to preserve a lifestyle and defend lands that they had occupied for generations.”  Many Hispanics held prominent positions in Confederate society, government and the military and served with distinction.  As we honor our Confederate ancestors so do they.  The Confederate forces were markedly diverse and the FDA and Hispanics, as us SCV members, rightfully “defend the Confederate soldier’s good name, guard his history, and perpetuate those principles which he loved and those ideals which made him glorious.”  Deo Vindice.

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

 

Dragoons Fall Muster – 10am, Saturday, October 8^th at the Dismukes property off Peninsular Rd south of Millbrook  

Laurel Hill Reenactment – October 7-9^th  Ararat, VA.  Jeb Stuart birthplace

Robinson Springs and Indian Hill Cemetery Ground Maintenance Workdays – TBD

 

Autauga County Fair – October 11-15^th, Autauga County Fairgrounds, Dragoons booth

 

Fall Muster – October 14-16^th,  Biloxi MS, Beauvoir

 

Annual Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive – November

 

Battle for the Armory - Nov 11-13^th, Tallassee AL

 

Dragoons Christmas Social – Friday Dec 16^th at the Buena Vista mansion in Prattville

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Chaplain's Column for October 2022 - Secession for the Greater Good

 

Matthew 24:6-7, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Don’t be alarmed! These things must happen, but they don’t mean that the end has come.” (GW)

 

I have been hearing a lot lately about how we are heading to “another” Civil War in this country.  As any SCV member knows, there was no “civil war” the first time, but I digress. Of interest is that Americans of both political bents are now pondering the idea that it is a good idea to seek separation rather than conflict. Let’s remember that it was the North that first wanted to secede in the Hartford Convention of 1814.

I truly don’t see how the people of God can co-exist with folks who can’t decide their gender and take kids to drag queen shows. The Lord admonishes us to, to the best extent on our side, to avoid conflict and disagreement (paraphrase). What better way to do that than what our ancestors attempted over 160 years ago. Let our adversaries go their way, and we shall go ours.              

But, alas, we know it is not to be so. The Tribulation shall come and many will suffer before Christ comes again. Let us continue the good fight and run the race!

I have copied a column below from my counterpart and fellow Missourian, Chaplain Woolsey, of the Woodside Camp. I found it to be illuminating on the subject.

 

The Forgotten Seed

Sadly, I do not know what the solution is... simply because there is no solution in God's ultimate plan, except for the return of His Son.  That alone will save us... and nothing else. The current controversy raging around our old flag is only one small indicator among thousands of others... ALL pointing to the End of Time (which we are rapidly approaching).

One hundred, sixty years following the War of Northern Aggression, we reflect on a protracted, bitter conflict that produced 600,000 ensuing casualties in addition to the destruction of an entire region. And in retrospect we thoughtfully ask, “Regarding the demise of the Confederacy, what was the purpose of its sacrifice?”

In concession to the victor's unique privilege of writing history, some exclusively accept President Lincoln's words, “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' ”

But regarding the previous statement, can we totally summarize the defeat of the Confederacy as an “aborted attempt by Southerners to prolong the faltering institution of slavery?” No! History is simply too complex to compartmentalize using one single statement or point of view!

Surprisingly, at the conclusion of the war, Confederate General Robert E. Lee said, “So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained.”

So, regarding the human crime of slavery, both Lincoln and Lee were in agreement. Consequently, we must dig deeper to discover a heretofore unnoticed blessing bequeathed to the entire nation, resulting from the sacrifice of the Confederacy.

The Scripture that Lincoln used in his second inaugural address emphasizes the preeminence of Divine will, “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” Psalms 19:9

Similarly, General Lee also attested to the omnipotence of God's sovereign plan, “My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good.” Romans 8:28

But despite the death of the Confederacy, the “common good” both men advocated is uniquely embodied in the mindset of the South to this day. Like a forgotten seed, hidden deep within Dixie's good earth, there remains a treasured legacy perpetually waiting to be reborn for the benefit of our entire nation. And in this single hope, we are reminded of Jesus' words, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and DIE, it abideth alone: but if it DIE, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24

But what was that “greater good” Lee alluded to..., the “seed” begrudgingly surrendered to the ground following the death of the Confederacy? Was it simply Secession?

Although the doctrine of “states' rights” was championed by Jefferson and many other Founders, yet the outcome of Secession might have been frightening indeed had the Confederacy prevailed. One can only imagine the eventual fragmentation of petty grievances in both North and South had the dismemberment of “Union” succeeded. No, following the slow distillation of the passionate sentiment of Secession, there has to be something more... some other Divine intent orchestrated as a redeeming factor other than merely dissolution.

Assuming that the “greater good” of God's perfect plan was meant to lead the South on a different course than disintegration, General Lee concluded, “We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.”

Unquestionably, the “blessing” that General Lee foresaw was analogous to the sacrificial “seed” Christ also mentioned. By the death of one, an abundant promise was universally granted to all. Ironically associated with the uprooting of slavery... the seed, resolutely committed to the good earth of the Old South, was the steadfast dedication to LIBERTY! Probably more so than in any other region of our great nation, the love of individual freedom is fiercely treasured in the shadow of what was once the Confederacy! Nurtured upon the bastion of its native soil, Southern LIBERTY remains a perpetual legacy for the entire nation to emulate.

And finally we are reminded of our original question, “Regarding the demise of the Confederacy, what was the purpose of its sacrifice?” In reflection, we would do well to consider the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his SEED, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)

Thus the answer to our inquiry is simply found in the good hope of a forgotten SEED... the South's steadfast commitment to LIBERTY as a universal heritage for generations yet unborn!

 

Chaplain Edwin Woolsen

SCV, Col. John R. Woodside, Camp #203

Mountain View, Missouri