Dragoons Attend Rededication of Jefferson Davis Statue at SCV National HQ at Elm Springs

     Saturday, 10 October, a group of compatriots, estimated at between 200-250, braved the rain and wind generated by Hurricane Delta to gather at Elm Springs, the General Headquarters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans., located south of Columbia, TN. They were there for the re-dedication of the statue of President Jefferson Davis that had been removed from Memphis. The program included posting of the colors, an Invocation by National Chaplain Dr. Herman White, a recitation of the SCV Charge by past Commander in Chief Kelly Barrow and a welcome by Commander in Chief Larry McCluney.  A keynote address was provided by H. Edward Phillips, III, JD.  The Nathan Bedford Forrest SCV Camp 215 whose project it was to move and place the statue at this permanent space at the National Museum hosted the unveiling and the local UDC Chapter placed a wreath there also.  Following the program, attendees were also able to tour the beautiful new National Confederate Museum. The museum is essentially completed, and the process to acquire, catalog, and display historical artifacts has begun.

        The Alabama Division was well represented; Jimmy Hill, Army of Tennessee Commander; Carl Jones, Army of Tennessee Councilman; Mike McMurry, Division Commander; Joel Goolsby, Division Lt. Commander; John H. Land, Division 2^nd Lt. Commander; Brigade Commanders Doug Barrett, Jimmy Martin, and Dragoon Josh Stover as well as other compatriots from Alabama including Tyrone Crowley from Camp 1524 who provided the photos from that day.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Commander's Column for October 2020 - Our Nation in Peril with the Approach of Elections

 We are approaching the national elections and candidates and pundits are declaring this the most important election in our lifetimes.  It well may be.  We are at the precipice of our republic sliding into socialism.  Our country fought wars and suffered tens of thousands of casualties in an effort to contain socialism and communism and now members of the US Congress and Democrat Presidential nominees now openly espouse Marxism.  The BLM movement which has tainted sports events as “woke” athletes disrespect the country with their flag kneeling during opening anthem presentations at NASCAR, NFL, FBS NCAA, and NBA events was founded by a self-proclaimed “trained Marxist”.  Their documented goals include the “’disruption (of) the Western-prescribed nuclear-family-structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another.’  (And) for abolishing all police and all prisons. It also calls for a ‘progressive restructuring of tax codes at the local, state and federal levels to ensure a radical and sustainable redistribution of wealth.’”  (https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/the-agenda-black-lives-matter-far-different-the-slogan)  BLM militant socialists and their anarchist Antifa henchmen scream a mantra of racial injustice and systemic racism at “peaceful protests” promoting their drug addicted, drug dealing, rapist heroes on posters plastered on public buildings they set afire even while international corporations make sizeable donations to the organization.

This all seems unprecedented but as our chaplain has pointed out, the parallels are striking with past history.  Racial tensions in 1860 revolved around the institution of slavery and the abolitionist movement stoking uprisings and revolts.  Today, the progressives teach our children in schools and universities using a 1619 Project curriculum a doctrine of white privilege and that there should be a realization of white guilt because of the advantages inherently enjoyed by Caucasians due to a system of racial prejudice created by them meant to disenfranchise blacks who should largely have been credited with the development of the nation from the arrival of the first slave ships to the present.  BLM rejects the contrary Christian “All Lives Matter” argument and instead demand that whites kneel in subject to the raised black power fist.  Many corporations now are openly advertising their initiatives to hire more minorities apparently in disregard of a consideration of qualified Caucasian candidates. The governor of California is sponsoring legislation requiring corporate hiring of management and executive levels in accordance with affirmative action quotas which have been proven unconstitutional. Corporations preach the immeasurable importance of diversity while failing to produce quantifiable measurements of the benefits to the bottom line. Sure to enhance employee job satisfaction and company performance or resentment and career limitations?

The Lincoln Republican platform of raising tariffs to fund industrialization in the New England and Midwest states with a disproportionate disregard for the agricultural Southern states was a primary impetus for the secession movement of 1860.  We have unfortunately become accustomed to the notion of the state and federal government redistributing private wealth thru a system of taxation and welfare programs but the idea of a socialist “radical and sustainable redistribution of wealth” as a political platform should be very disconcerting to us and for our children and grandchildren.  History has proven that socialist economic systems fail while suppressing the impetus for individual effort, excellence and success, indeed the bedrock of our nation’s fundamental individual freedoms and liberty.  Taking from the entrepreneurial wealth creators to give to those who have no desire or drive or responsibility, unearned and undeserved, deters innovation and investment.  

The 1860s Republican platform sought to bring the western territories into the Union as free states which threatened to forever shift the balance of power in the federal government in opposition to the Democrat controlled slave holding states.   The 2020 Senate Democrats have threatened that if the Republicans pursue their Constitutional duty to nominate and confirm a Supreme Court Justice before the year end elections that, should they gain control of the Senate and the Presidential executive office, they will pursue statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington DC which again threatens to shift the balance of power in the Senate indefinitely to the Democrats who are increasingly under the control of radical socialists and their progressive atheistic one-world-order agenda.  In addition, the Democrats have threatened to stack the Supreme Court with four additional jurists which would again shift the ideology of the court for generations to support progressive precedents and make it little more than an extension of their liberal legislative branch.

The anarchy and riots in American cities in the name of social and racial justice harkens to the class warfare espoused by the Communist activist Saul Alinski and his Rules for Radicals.  They are not seeking an understanding and appreciation of the value of blacks in American society as they abort black babies by the tens of thousands and assault black police officers on urban streets.  They are seeking the deconstruction of the American economic and social system of free enterprise, property and competition and of personal liberty silencing those who disagree with their extremist fascist philosophy, violating their freedom of speech and expression.  George Floyd, a worthy martyr?  How many times does it need to be shown that these BLM posterboys are drug users and dealers and rapists and that the police were justified in apprehending them?   There is no racial injustice inherent in the police and legal systems; unfortunate events and repercussions happen when one puts oneself in criminal situations and activities.    There is no systemic racism in this country and indeed the affirmative action and welfare initiatives over the past decades speak to the generosity, benevolence and magnanimity of the American people.   America is not the great nation it is because its citizens are entitled to reparations or special treatment – it is because each one of us has the freedom and liberty to pursue our dreams and become whatever our effort and skills earn us.  The election of 1860 and the subsequent Southern States secession and resultant War Between the States certainly changed forever the trajectory of the United States of America. The election of 2020 may have similarly dramatic ramifications.

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 October 2020 Column - Pray for Our Country in the Midst of Divisions and Unrest

 A contentious election. Political unrest throughout the country. Deep divisions and racial and sectional hatred throughout the country. Hateful speeches and animosity towards one another.

   Is it October 2020 or is it October 1860? Yes. And as SCV members and historians we all see the ominous parallels.

   If you go back and read the fake news, er, newspaper of that time, you see that history really is circular. Our ancestors dealt with the same issues we deal with today and we can look to them and the courage they showed 160 years ago.

   And what is the one mighty constant then and now and all through history? Jesus Christ.

   And as followers of Christ, we are not promised easy lives or easy times.  Scripture does remind us that trials are part of those who pick up the Cross. But we are promised that He, the great I AM, is by our side, always.

   Romans 8:18 says ‘I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

   The Book of James takes it one step further, adding, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing“ (1:2-3).

   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.

SCV Camp 1524 Dragoon Reenactor at Raid on the Little General's Farm

 by: Charles Andrew Bodenheimer & Douglas “Beir” Butler

August 21st, 2019 seemed like the world came crashing down for the reenacting family of the 8th Confederate Cavalry. I was sitting at home and my phone rang to a frantic mother’s voice which will never be removed from my mind. She was just leaving church and heading to the hospital and I sat 3 hours away helpless. We conversed several times that night and exhausted I had to sleep. The next morning I knew something wasn’t right because I had not been texted an update or heard from anyone else. Just after 6am, the call came that I never wanted to receive. “We’ve lost our little girl” came the voice of her father on the other end. My heart sank and the tears began to fall.

The next few days were a blur. Phone Calls came and went. Going to work became difficult. The immediate family as well as our reenacting family was devastated. An outpouring of love and condolences came from all across the country as well as some from European nations and Canada, but nothing could replace the hole left in the hearts of the family. The day of the funeral came and I was there for the graveside service, salute, and memory lane travel. Once everyone parted ways it finally hit many that we had really lost our “Little General”.

What to do? How to remember our little girl? The family had just gotten back from an event in Saltville, Virginia and the next weekend we were slated to be at Decatur, Alabama. Knowing we had to continue on for Maggie’s memory we somberly came together and set up our tents at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. Fellow reenactors passed out pink ribbons for everyone to wear in memory of our girl and our unit wore black armbands for the rest of the year. We were allowed to do a unit volley after the Battle of Decatur, but to us it just wasn’t enough. Over the rest of 2019 the love continued to pour in but, what can we do to honor Maggie? What can we do to remember her in perpetuity?

The answer was staring us in our faces. Little Maggie LIVED for reenactments. Maggie LOVED to be in the 1860s. Our Little General needed to guide and lead her troops again. Her siblings came to me and we discussed doing a reenactment in Maggie’s memory. We sat down as an extended family and discussed what we could do, how we could do it, and the hard work it would take to pull it off. We thought about things that happened around the Gadsden area during the war and it became obvious that we would bring back Emma Sansom who was Forrest’s Little General and tie it to our Little General Maggie Sue. We would name it the “Raid on the Little General’s Farm”. The idea was a seed and the hugs with myself and Maggie’s Mom and Dad sowed the seed.

We started to plan our event back in September of 2019. I told Tanya and Steve and the unit I would coordinate as best I could with everyone’s help. We decided to use the homestead where little Maggie’s new house is. We looked at the normal reenacting schedule and found a date that was open within 300 miles of the house and began to go to work with all the required extensive planning and preparation.

We began working on the land during the winter.  Certain individuals were appointed to key areas such as Vendor Coordinator, Land Coordinator, and certain assistants. The coordinator’s job basically is to think of everything, every possible scenario where something could go wrong, every possible solution, and bring everything together.

Initially we began planning on having the usual 40 to 70 reenactors that most first year events start out with. We also planned on just getting flyers out and getting a few banners for advertisement. We discussed what we would like to do as far as a schedule of events and what things we would like to see at the event.

Our 2020 Spring reenacting schedule began in February and we started talking up the event to reenactors but in March, one week after an event, the entire planet seemed to stop due to the COVID19 pandemic. Whenever an event we attended was canceled I called a work day at the Haessly Homestead to clear campground land, build bridges across the creek, clean up property, and get it ready for the event.

In my almost 30 years of reenacting and planning events including helping to start the Tallassee  24  Battles for the Armory reenactment, I can say that 2 weeks before the Raid on the Little General’s Farm we were LOOKING for the tiniest details of land prep to do. Never in my near 30 years have I sat back scratching my head wondering to  myself and looking over my list, “Are we really actually done?” Speaking from lots of experience when you put on an event, nothing is EVER completely done.

We worked hard budgeting and trying to get our cost down. We opened up sponsorships for the Ladies’ Tea and even the Port-O-Johns. We named each “crapper” and put the sponsor on them for everyone to see. The Prattville Dragoons sponsored one named the "North of the Mason Dixon Teleporter".  We planned with a local restaurant to work with us to have a big reenactor dinner. We shopped around and called in favors from family and friends and those who wanted to help to get costs down. We spent weekend after weekend preparing, finalizing, detailing who does what, when, and where. The wait of the actual weekend arriving was almost unbearable.

We did some advertising on social media by creating a page and putting our information on the event as well as the actual original battles and actions of Streight’s Raid. On social media I began with a wide spread area blast of a few boosted posts but as the weekend drew nearer I narrowed down the advertising to a more local area of about 60 miles. I aimed specific posts at specific groups such as the announcement of David Chaltas performing the 1860s Church Service to those with interests in Religion, Church, or Spirituality. I aimed more of the historical raid and the tie in with Maggie Sue to those with interests in History, War, and Alabama.

After many many hours of planning and splitting firewood and running new water lines the weekend was finally upon us. Beir Butler as well as many others have thousands of photos and dozens of videos on Social Media. Thomas Murphy has a 2 hour walk through of the entire grounds and Saturday Historical Recreation on Youtube. You can see for yourself the smiles on people’s faces having actually witnessed Emma Sansom and Nathan Bedford Forrest riding once more after 160 years.

I mentioned before what we had expected. Our expectations were, beyond met! We had over 200 reenactors of various specialties. We had over 700+ spectators. We actually made a nice bit of money to put towards our objective of turning Maggie’s home into a cemetery instead of just a plot. 

We are already working on the Raid on the Little General’s Farm to be held September 17-19, 2021 and we are planning on adding a School Day on Friday. We have learned from our first year what people enjoyed and things that need to be changed and are already working on those things. Yes, it takes a year to properly plan an event. It can be done in a shorter amount of time but it takes someone very experienced to assist in pulling it off.

I would like to thank the Haessly family and all of the 8th Confederate Cavalry which includes members from a half dozen Alabama Division SCV camps (including 2 Camp Commanders), all of the reenactors who came, all of our sponsors, and all of the spectators, family and friends who’ve supported us. 

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Cleanup After Hurricane Sally

Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores AL on September 16th as a category 2 storm.  It moved north and blasted the Montgomery area later that day.  Thursday morning the 17th a member of SCV Camp 1524 noted that a large oak had fallen at Indian Hill cemetery sometime the previous day or overnight due to the high winds and rain in Prattville.  The Dragoons put out a notice to members and friends and mobilized a crew to the cemetery on Saturday to start cleanup.  The oak was estimated to be at least 30 inches in diameter and represented a huge project to remove the limbs and clean up.  When it fell it fortunately just missed the white PVC fence which fronts the cemetery along County Highway 86 just west of Prattville.  Laborers that day included 1st Lt Harold Grooms, Quartermaster Bill Myrick, Color Sgt John Dennis, compatriot Bill Branch and coming in from Selma, Butch Godwin.  The men put in hours at the cemetery delimbing and cutting up some of that main trunk leaving that and the stump and debris to burn at a future workday.  The following week Butch and Charlie Kee returned and finished the massive job of cutting and removing the main trunk.  A large pile of good firewood was also left there that can perhaps be sold or donated.  The care of this historic cemetery is part of the community service work of Camp 1524 and part of the SCV's Guardian Program. 

Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 Meeting for September 2020

Members of SCV Camp 1524 and their guests gathered the evening of Thursday September 10th for their monthly meeting.  A couple of officers were absent for travel but there were about two dozen in attendance.  1st Lt Harold Grooms opened the meeting with an Invocation and Quartermaster Bill Myrick led everyone in the pledges and salutes to the flags.  Commander Waldo recited the Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and then welcomed guests as there were a number of new and potential members in attendance too.  The upcoming events including the camp picnic scheduled for October as well as a new reenactment near Trussville for the weekend.  A couple of opportunities were discussed for the camp to further community service including making a donation for an Eagle Scout project and potentially participating in Wreaths Across America for the Christmas season. Commander John Land of the Montgomery Semple Camp was the guest speaker and discussed his camp's efforts planning for the 2019 Division Reunion as Camp 1524 looks forward to hosting the 2021 event in Prattville.  John highlighted the formulation of the convention agenda using the planning guide and managing the details, especially the expenses for meals and logistics.  It was an enjoyable meeting bringing compatriots together especially the new members and those interested and excited in advancing the Charge.  

Prattville Dragoons Robinson Springs Cemetery Workday for September 2020

 Compatriots of Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 mowed and cleaned the Robinson Springs cemetery on Friday September 11th, an appropriate observance on the anniversary of that solemn day.  Quartermaster Bill Myrick, Communications Officer Doug Butler and new member Rob Schwartz mowed and trimmed around the grave sites and fence line to bring the grounds to a nice appearance befitting the final resting place of the many US and Confederate veterans and area founders there.  Compatriot Connor Lee mowed the larger areas on Tuesday early in the week using his zero turn mower.  It had been some time since it had rained so the grass was dry and wispy and required running over it multiple times to get it cut cleanly.  The US and Confederate Battle flags were still in good condition and were seen waving over the grave sites across the cemetery after the work there.  The Dragoons maintain Robinson Springs cemetery as part of the SCV Guardian Program.