Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 - Donation to Autauga Interfaith Care Center for Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive

Dragoons Commander Waldo, 1st Lt Schwartz, 2nd Lt Wade and Adjutant Sutherland delivered non perishables and a check to the Autauga Interfaith Care Center in Prattville on Thursday morning November 17th as part of their annual Thanksgiving canned food drive.  330 pounds of food was received from camp members along with $550 in donations as part of the drive over the past month.  The camp matched that cash donation dollar for dollar so a check for $1100 was presented to Josette Dudle, co-director of the AICC, that along with the 330lb of canned and non-perishable food items.  The ladies at AICC were most appreciative receiving the donation.  This is another important community service effort the Dragoons perform to help those in our community less fortunate.  

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Meeting for November 2022 - President Jefferson Davis' Military Service

Twenty members and guests of the Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 gathered on Thursday November 10th  for their monthly meeting.  This was the last meeting before the delivery of canned food goods and donations to the Autauga Interfaith Care Center so a number of folks brought cans and checks to contribute.  Sift drinks and snacks were provided to enjoy before the meeting while 1st Lt Rob Schwartz played a number of songs on his guitar culminating with Dixie where everyone rose and sang along.  Chaplain Brantley led everyone in an Invocation including recognition of the passing of a member and another's wife recently.  Color Sgt John Dennis led everyone in the pledges and salutes to the flags after a mention of Veterans Day and thanking those in attendance for their service.  Commander Waldo then recited the SCV Charge.  He then called 1st Lt Schwartz to the front to present Rob with a Division recognition award and relating the litany of activities Rob engages in for the betterment of the camp including cemetery maintenance, participation in meetings and community events and assuming his leadership officer role.  Upcoming events including the Tallassee reenactment, holiday parades, Christmas Social and Salvation Army bell ringing were highlighted and 2nd Lt Karl Wade provided a report out on the Dragoons' booth at the recent Autauga County Fair and encouraged everyone to sign up to help the camp at the red kettle bell ringing.  

The guest speaker for the meeting was Dr. William Dean who is Associate Professor of History at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB.  He spoke on Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his military experience and challenges during the War for Southern Independence.  Davis was the most qualified man to assume the Presidency of the Confederacy.  He was a graduate of West Point  amd served in the Blackhawk Wat as a colonel leading Mississippi volunteers.  They were among the first to use rifled weapons which made an impression on Davis and he was quick to implement these when later responsible for modernizing the US Army as Secretary of War.   Davis was first married to President Zachary Taylor's daughter who died of malaria.  Davis too contracted malaria and was plagued by its affects for the rest of his life, often having to spend days during his Presidency in bed to recover from bouts.  He also was wounded and carried shrapnel in his foot received during the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican War.  

As President Franklin Pierce's Secretary of War he made many reforms which ironically served to improve the military his Confederate forces would subsequently face during the WBTS.  He stressed studying military technology and tactics and sent observers to Europe and Algiers during conflicts there.  The US War Doctrine used against the American Indians was developed by modifying observations of the French fighting the Algerians.  Davis added four regiments to the Army, implemented a promotion by merit system, and improved artillery and arsenals as part of these military reforms.   

He was elected to the US Senate and was serving there when he resigned to follow his home state in secession. When he was called to serve as President of the Confederate States he travelled to Montgomery AL where he busied himself among other things with creating an Army and Navy for the new nation.  He also started the buildup of arsenals including that at nearby Selma.  

The War for the Confederacy was difficult as they were severely outnumbered and had a much smaller industrial base.  When the Confederacy lost land to the advancing Union Army, they lost men and resources.  Davis' biggest problem was state governors who were reluctant to send home guards to fight in and defend other states - part of the dilemma of states rights.  One reason the capital of the Confederacy was moved to Richmond was to convince Virginia to follow her Southern sister states in secession but this placed the nation's capital within 100 miles of Washington DC and Union troops.  Davis was a brave leader who once actually rode out to the front lines from Richmond brandishing revolvers before being escorted back out of harm's way. 

Davis also had a tenuous relationship with his generals.  Albert Sydney Johnston was a good friend of Davis and early in the War was over the Confederate forces in the west but Davis couldn't readily send reinforcements to the west as defense of the capital was imperative.  This defensive posture instead of quickly taking the fight on the offensive was something  for which Davis has often been criticized.  Johnston lost Fort Henry in Corinth Mississippi after Davis sent reinforcements too late from Pensacola FL.  Davis subsequently moved troops out of New Orleans which left the vital port largely undefended.  Albert Johnston was killed at Shiloh.  Davis had a confrontational relationship with (former US Vice President Breckenridge, Joseph Johnston who actually challenged Davis to a duel, and Beauregard called Davis a traitor.  

Joseph Johnston was relieved of duty by Davis after Seven Pines and replaced by Robert E. Lee.  Lee had designs on taking the fight to the North but already ran into issues with local citizenry support in forays into Maryland including the Battle of Seven Pines. After Chancellorsville, Lee invaded Pennsylvania and targeted Gettysburg specifically to take a shoe factory there for provisions for his troops.  Johnston took command of the Army in the Western theatre but again was criticized for his cautionary defensive posture in the fall of Vicksburg and during the early Atlanta campaign although it should be recognized that his forces were outnumbered 3:1 as Sherman's troops approached Kennesaw Mountain and Atlanta; he attempted to use General Wheeler's cavalry to disrupt the Union supply lines.  Johnston was replaced by General Hood who launched numerous counteroffensive strikes against Sherman but was forced to steadily withdraw.  

There were good Confederate stands including at Spotsylvania/Wilderness but the loss of Vicksburg and the bloodshed at Gettysburg proved too much for the Confederacy.  After a long period of  defense including the advent of trench warfare at Petersburg, Grant's forces ultimately prevailed in the East.  The Army of Northern Virginia essentially melted away from the steady onslaught and Confederate soldiers were increasingly pulled away by their family's pleads to come home to defend them from lawlessness and marauders.  Logistics and most specifically the poor and disintegrating rail system in the South was a major hinderance to the Confederacy's war efforts.  The lack of focus on the Western theatre was a strategic mistake.  Personnel conflicts between Davis and his generals was a problem.  But the loss of human resources as one quarter of the men of the South were killed and an additional one quarter were injured or maimed proved to be the downfall of the Confederacy's fight for independence.  

Dragoons of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Attend Historic Pea Ridge Cemetery Revolutionary War Marker Dedication

The Sons of the American Revolution held a ceremony on Saturday November 5th to dedicate markers to two Revolutionary War patriots interred at historic Pea Ridge cemetery near Burnsville in Dallas County AL.  William Kirkland of Autauga County and James Porter of Dallas County were honored with a dedication and unveiling of new markers and laying of commemorative wreaths.  Their biographies are shown in the service program below.  Member of the Prattville Dragoons in attendance included Camp 1524 1st Lt Rob Schwartz who provided greetings from the SCV camp, Color Sgt John Dennis, Quartermaster Bill Myrick, Adjutant Wayne Sutherland and compatriots Tyrone Crowley and Skip Ward.  The Dragoons were recognized for having put in many hours helping to clear and maintain  this historic cemetery (especially John, Rob and Bill who returned many times to clear the undergrowth throughout the cemetery grounds) which has many area founders and veterans of both the Revolutionary War as well as Confederate veterans of the War for Southern Independence.  

Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

                      Upcoming Events for Confederate Compatriots

Dragoons Camp Meeting – Thursday November 10^th, 6:45pm at the Prattville Masonic Lodge  

Annual Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive – November 11^th deadline for distribution to AICC week of Nov 14th

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

Prattville Christmas Parade – Friday Dec 2^nd, 7pm starting on Court St in downtown Prattville

Salvation Army Red Kettle Bell Ringing – Saturday, December 10^th from 9am to 8pm at the Prattville Winn Dixie Store

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

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Commander's Column for November 2022 - Government Censorship of Social Media and WBTS Precedence

Confidence  in the mainstream media as a dependable unbiased news source has plummeted in recent years approximately in proportion to the rise of social media platforms providing an alternative news platform.  The widespread and growing access to the internet provides a worldwide web of information at the fingertips of computer and smartphone users.    Mainstream television networks created their own news websites but increasingly, people are depending on gathering and often sharing real time news stories on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  This has focused attention on whether these sites can be trusted to provide an unbiased perspective on news stories, thought and opinions.  The current POTUS administration attempted to create a Disinformation Governance Board which although short lived (3 weeks), still apparently exists in their reach into these predominant social media platforms allowing them to label, limit and attempt to discredit opposition perspectives.  This federal government overreach is very similar to Lincoln’s attempts to censor opposition to his War for tariff collection and invasion of the Southern states, jailing editors and shutting down newspapers which dared to print news and opinions opposing his unconstitutional actions. 

“According to the latest data from Pew Research, which incorporates responses from more than 9,200 Americans, around 71% of people now get at least some of their news input from social media platforms.  The results show that social media platforms have now become a critical news source, which is why accuracy is important. If people are making life decisions based on the information served to them on Facebook and Twitter, then it’s important for those platforms to also ensure that the information people see is correct.”  (https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-research-shows-that-71-of-americans-now-get-news-content-via-social-pl/593255/ )  This was a January 2021 article and it’s amazing to see how the tail has turned.  The Democrats were up in arms following the January “riots/insurrection” in DC and blamed Twitter and Facebook communications for enabling demonstrators.   The article continues, “People are definitely being informed by what they find on social platforms, and these stats show that its influence cannot be denied. Now it’s a matter of determining what they should be allowed to display, and how you regulate such effectively.”  Astonishing the blatant infringement on free speech in this statement maintaining that there should be regulations on what should be shared on social media platforms.  Elon Musk believed that there was a certain bias in what was permitted on Twitter and it prompted him to pursue his purchase of the social media giant and purge the staff of those who banished users including POTUS 45 and others promoting one world order UN human rights initiatives.  He has promised equal access and debate from all perspectives on his new Twitter.

Another Pew research poll later in September 2021 found, “A third of U.S. adults continue to get their news regularly from Facebook, though the exact percentage has slipped from 36% in 2020 to 31% in 2021. This drop reflects an overall slight decline in the number of Americans who say they get their news from any social media platform — a percentage that also fell by 5 percentage points year-over-year, going from 53% in 2020 to a little less than 48%.  The change comes at a time when tech companies have come under heavy scrutiny for allowing misinformation to spread across their platforms, Pew notes. That criticism has ramped up over the course of the pandemic, leading to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. In addition to the one-third of U.S. adults who regularly get their news on Facebook, 22% say they regularly get news on YouTube. Twitter and Instagram are regular news sources for 13% and 11% of Americans, respectively.  Today, 55% of Twitter users regularly get news from its platform.” (https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/20/study-finds-half-of-americans-get-news-on-social-media-but-percentage-has-dropped/ ) Even this article reporting on a poll though has a slanted biased viewpoint claiming an example of misinformation was associated with those who were mRNA COVID vaccination hesitant when it has come to pass that their hesitancy was based on the fact that the mRNA vaccination was a new technology, untested, and  unproven and launched to billions worldwide without the rigorous clinical trials under which such vaccinations and pharmaceuticals undergo.  And it has proven to be of very limited efficacy and medical side effects evidence is growing daily.  Misinformation? 

The federal (and state) government was claiming any opposition to the mRNA vaccinations were guilty of spreading misinformation.  Twitter flagged all such and prohibited related postings.  Now it has come to light that the government actually was largely pulling the marionette strings at Twitter and Facebook.  “Social media giants essentially granted government officials the ability to censor and suppress speech in the name of fighting “misinformation,” by providing them direct access to flag posts and an open line of communication with senior executives, according to a report by The Intercept.  The outlet found that the short-lived Disinformation Governance Board wasn’t the Biden administration’s only attempt at censoring political speech and posts that ran contrary to their preferred narratives.  According to leaked records, meeting minutes, and a lawsuit filed by a pair of Republican attorney generals obtained by The Intercept, top-ranking Biden administration officials seemingly worked hand-in-hand with Big Tech to censor content that the federal government deemed misinformation.  A presentation obtained by The Intercept revealed that Facebook went as far as creating a special portal for the Department of Homeland Security and government partners where they could log in to report “disinformation” directly to the company.  Emails obtained in a federal lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry over purported collaboration between the government and social media companies to censor or suppress speech indicate what appears to be coordination between dozens of federal administration officials and social media executives on how to address information regarding COVID-19 and a range of other content.  “The discovery provided so far demonstrates that this Censorship Enterprise is extremely broad,” Schmitt and Landry said in a joint statement.  In a request for depositions of several key administration officials, the attorneys general argue that they were directly involved in social media censorship campaigns, especially stories and posts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights what they assert is an open collusion between the government and social media companies.  During a November 2021 conference, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Jen Easterly stated: “One could argue we’re in the business of critical infrastructure, and the most critical infrastructure is our cognitive infrastructure, so building that resilience to misinformation and disinformation, I think, is incredibly important.””  (https://www.newsmax.com/politics/censor-information-facebook/2022/11/01/id/1094446/ )  The Biden administration actually created an Orwellian Ministry of Truth, the Disinformation Governance Board.  While it was paused only 3 weeks after it’s launch, the federal governments overreach into policing and disclaiming free speech on these social media platforms persists.  “Both DHS and Meta, the parent company of Facebook declined to comment when asked why the (government portal) “content request system” at facebook.com/xtakedowns/login is still active.”  Lincoln’s unconstitutional censorship, shutting down newspapers and imprisoning editors across the United States including the Chicago Times and the Washington DC Sunday Chronicle who opposed his War to collect tariffs from Southern states foreshadowed the federal governments tampering with first Amendment freedom of speech and of the press even in the digital age today.   

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Chaplain's Column for November 2022

            “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12.

 

            There are times in our lives when we seem to walk in perpetual darkness. I have encountered those seasons and I know as you read this you have as well. Some of those seasons seem to pass quickly and sometimes, unfortunately, they seem to go on forever.  During those times in our lives, we have two very distinct choices. We succumb to the darkness and let it overwhelm us, or we tether ourselves even stronger to God and let the light overcome the darkness.

            That can be easier said than done, though. I have a hard time trusting others and that can sometimes translate in to failing to trust God. So I asked myself how did our Confederate ancestors, during the war and reconstruction, resist the temptation to, as Job’s wife lamented, “to curse God and die”?

They put their complete trust and faith in God. An example comes from the Apostle Paul as he writes in Romans 4 that Abraham trusted God when God told him he would be the father of many tribes and nations. Abraham knew that such a thing was impossible at his age, but he put his complete faith in the Lord and was rewarded. Abraham did this again years later when God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son. He was again obedient to God and was again rewarded for his trust and righteousness.

            I will confess that as darkness has seem to envelop our family of late, I have questioned what was God is doing in my life? I may have passed my medical tests, but I failed my spiritual test.   

            Twice in recent weeks, the Lord has put Peter on my mind. In the first instance, I was reminded of the book of Matthew, verses 22-33, when Peter walked on the water to Jesus. He was fine at first, almost with a child-like glee to be with his Lord. But, then, he began to sink. Why? He took his eyes off of Jesus. Peter was fine when he kept his eyes on Jesus, but when he looked down at the water, he began to sink.  We do that in our lives as well. We are fine as long as we keep our eyes on God. But when we fail to realize that God is bigger than any problem we may have, we began to sink.

            After I had much time in prayer and reading of scripture, the Holy Spirit put Peter back in my mind once more. I read John 21:15-17. Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times the night of his trial and eventual crucifixion. Peter was demoralized and was certain that Jesus would denounce him. Jesus loved the disciples, and Peter, especially. Jesus went to Peter and asked him three times if Peter loved him. Each time Peter answered “of course I do.” Jesus replied, “then feed my sheep. No reprimand, no denouncement, just love and forgiveness. Jesus then commissioned Peter and the other disciples as he does us. “Go and feed my sheep.” I believe God put that scripture on my heart because He loves me and wanted me to know that I was forgiven (as we all are) and that there was no time to feel sorry for oneself because there is work to do!

“Go and feed my sheep! “