Alabama Division Southwest Central Brigade Sons of Confederate Veterans Fall Muster 2026

The SWC Brigade Alabama Division SCV held their fall muster on Saturday October 24th.  With the establishment of the General James Holt Clanton, the muster evolved from a Prattville Dragoons Camp 1524 event to a SWC Brigade event as both these camps heavily participate.  This was the biggest and best fall muster yet with dozens of members, friends and family in attendance.  Compatriot Philip Edwards and his wife hosted the muster again at their home and it is a perfect setup with their walkout basement available for television viewing for those who still wanted to catch some of the Auburn football game (until the game took a turn for the worse).  It was a beautiful early fall day with not a cloud in the sky and a cool breeze helping moderate the temperatures.  A couple canopies were setup under which tables were set for serving the picnic lunch which included smoked butts from Smokin S provided by Camp 1524 and BBQ chicken from Jim n Nicks provided by the Edwards and Conecuh sausage brought by Dragoons 2nd Lt Karl Wade and all sorts of sides and desserts brought by folks to share including drinks, baked beans, mac n cheese, deviled eggs, cole slaw, potato salad, wonderful pear salad, key lime pie, brownies, cookies, and cakes including a wonderful coconut cake and hummingbird cake and German chocolate cupcakes. What made the day so much more enjoyable were all the children brought by Dragoons Chaplain Johnson and his friend Steve Huffman from the Opelika SCV camp with their wives. Also making a special trip down from Tuscaloosa was Leigh Bearden and her husband Michael; Leigh is the recently elected Alabama Division UDC President.  But many senior members and officers of both camps as well as friends and other ladies were there and were integral to a most enjoyable event with much delicious food, fellowship and of course lots of clay target shooting.  Philip and Todd Rogers, Commander of the Clanton camp brought electric clay throwers and three boxes of clay targets were gone thru with folks shooting before and after the picnic lunch. Tremendous fall muster event on a beautiful fall day.

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 at the Autauga County Fair

The Prattville Dragoons SCV Camp 1524 set up a recruiting booth at the Autauga County Fair which ran Tuesday October 13th thru Saturday October 17th.  Dragoons 2nd Lt Karl Wade again acted as lead for this project including the entry and working every shift, every hour of the fair.  He was joined for setup by Cap 1524 Commander Waldo, Comms Ofc Davis, Quartermaster Dellegar, and former Commander Myrick.  Dale was busy also in the lead-up to the fair getting flags and caps and tags to replenish stores and good sales of these and other items were made throughout the week.  A number of gentlemen stopped by asking for information about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and membership and applications were provided. Bill and Karl worked both shifts on opening night and they were joined by Color Sgt Leverette for the early shift and Commander Waldo for the second shift.  1st Lt Grooms and Commander Waldo also worked Wednesday and compatriot Larry Spears joined for the second shift that night.  Eric and Billy were with Karl again on Thursday and then on Friday there was a crowd of folks working the booth which greeted the crowd of fair goers.  Treasurer Dennis, Adjutant Butler along with compatriots Myrick and Frank Pelt joined Karl that Friday night.  Louis Turner also helped at the late shifts both Friday and Saturday and helped break down the booth on Saturday evening with Dale and Karl.  It was another great opportunity for the Dragoons to get the Sons of Confederate Veterans out in front of thousands of their friends and neighbors at the Autauga County Fair.  

                                      

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Chaplain's Column for October 2026 - The Fall Season

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”—Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is something about autumn that invites reflection. The heat of summer gives way to cooler evenings, the leaves begin to fall, and the year seems to pause between the abundance of summer and the barrenness of winter.

Autumn sits at the juncture between past and future, between life and death, metaphorically speaking. It is the time of Harvest, the time when all the Farmer’s long days of unflagging labor in the summer’s heat would be rewarded. It is also the time when remaining plants and trees go dormant, their vibrant life that makes Summer so green and fresh ebbing away, to preserve a remnant of life safe from Winter’s hostile attacks.

Autumn is both a season of planning ahead, preparing for the future, and of remembrance, for looking back.

The falling leaves remind us that nothing in this earthly life lasts forever. The Psalmist writes, “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” (Psalm 103:15), These words are not meant to leave us in despair, but to teach us humility. The generations before us have passed from this world, and one day our own generation will pass as well.

But as the flowers of the field, our own generation will give rise to others, who may carry forward the work of our Kind given to us by God from the foundation of the world. It is for us, the living, to plan for them, the future, so that we may hand off the torch of our common heritage to them, flaming brightly and well-kept, that they might bear it burning down through the years in their turn to those that shall come after them.

And in truth, it is that very work of planning and preparation that gives special importance to the work of remembrance.

As members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, we seek to preserve the memory of those who lived through one of the defining periods of our nation's history. We remember their service, their sacrifices, their families, their communities, and the world they knew. For that generation, the War Between the States was not a distant remembrance. It was personal memory.

That generation is now gone.

The responsibility of remembrance has therefore passed to us.

Scripture repeatedly commands God's people to remember and to teach the generations that follow. “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

That principle applies to our own history as well. A people who forgets its past becomes disconnected from its own story. Our task is not to pretend that those who came before us were perfect, but to preserve their memory honestly and faithfully.

For as Christians, we know that death is not the end of the story. All that is false will one day be exposed, and all that is truthful will one day be revealed. All those who have died in Christ will themselves return, resurrected in immortality, and may bear witness to the truth. And as we ourselves desire to be found faithful, we must strive to preserve the true record of our People for its future generations.

We cannot stop the passing of time, but we can faithfully preserve what has been entrusted to us. We can teach our children who their ancestors were, preserve and tell their records and stories, visit their graves, and remember the communities in which they lived.

As another year moves toward winter, may we be grateful for God's blessings, faithful in the responsibilities He has given us, and diligent in preserving the memory of those who came before.

And when the autumn of our own life comes, may we be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7).

May God bless our families, our chapter, and those whose memories we have been entrusted to preserve. May He grant us wisdom to remember the past, courage to fulfill our duties in the present, and faith to entrust the future to His providence.

            Deo Vindice!

Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Commander's Column for October 2026 - Fairness

A recent sermon at my church made me draw parallels to the struggles we have as members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in preserving the vestiges of our heroic ancestors.  The anarchists and Marxists at every turn continue to remove monuments placed on the public square in remembrance of the sacrifices our brave Confederate grandfathers made in defense of their homes and families in their quest for independence.  The sermon presented Job chapters 20-21 as a study of “When Life Doesn’t Seem Fair”.  It seems that the woke historical revisionists incessantly attack our vestiges with no repercussions and are often empowered to destroy or remove or “contextualize” our beautiful monuments by the very politicians that should be representing us as constituents.  There is no respect shown to our Confederate soldiers’ monuments placed as remembrance, many priceless works of art and, even to final resting places of these Confederate veterans and their families.  As Orwell said, “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”  The DE&I wokeism, historical revisionism like the 1619 Project, and an absurd concerted effort to protect a vocal minority from “offense” has resulted in the erasure of our Confederate remnants and Southern culture by progressives and carpetbaggers.  The takeaways from the sermon for Job to cope with the seeming unfairness of his situation included to “Resist Simple Formulas”.   For the SCV, I saw the work of the Virginia Flaggers and Josh Stover’s Monuments Across Dixie erecting new flags and monuments as great examples of taking the battle to an offensive and not merely voicing your displeasure with events on Facebook or to your local political representatives who probably don’t share your perspective as descendants of these American patriots.  The second noted point of the sermon was to “Question Your Comparisons”.  Some atrocious statues offensive to any rational American citizen have been erected in the place of those beautiful sculptures removed of General Lee and others.  A drug addicted violent felon like George Floyd has had multiple statues erected on the public square to honor him as some sort of martyr in some perverted sense.  To avoid becoming dejected in the efforts of our SCV Charge which we see in response, we need to appreciate the efforts at a local camp level to get in front of the public including our neighbors to influence and shape the communities in which we live.  And again, great projects are underway to replace the beautiful statues which have been removed in Virginia and elsewhere and according to Monuments Across Dixie, there are now more Confederate monuments than ever before.  Take solace.  The final point of exhortation of the sermon was “Let God Give the Final Verdict.”  The attacks against our heritage come in ebbs and flows but just as we feel that a sense of common sense has prevailed in an appreciation of honoring everyone’s shared history, another report is seen of yet another monument being relocated.  It can be frustrating in just reading the comments on social media from those who are ignorant of our long and complex history of these united states including those who would favor some monstrosity of an omnipotent federal government even to the extreme of a communist state, recent immigrants who cannot fathom and appreciate our 400 years of Southern history and, woke progressives who put on their lenses of presentism in a shallow analysis of the historical record and the honor and record of our Confederate heroes and historical figures.  We must be strong and resilient and persevere in our carrying forth the SCV Charge.  Deo Vindice!

Sons of Confederate Veterans at Todd Family Reunion

Alabama Brigade Commander Jeremy Boothe and Prattville Dragoons Camp 1524 Adjutant Doug Butler were in Headland AL on Saturday October 17th at the Todd family reunion.  They were asked to set up a table to show their wares and do a reenactment demonstration to promote the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  Todd family from as far away as Texas and south Florida came to Headland for the reunion.  The reunion program had historical information including the Todd family crest and origins dating back to old English and Scottish derivations.  Fantastic opportunity to get the Sons of Confederate Veterans in front of friends and family. 

New Sons of Confederate Veterans General James Holt Clanton Camp 1461 First Meeting

The new SCV Camp 1461 held its first meeting on Thursday evening September 24th at the Peach Country Theatre in downtown Clanton.  Members of the camp as well as memebrs from the Prattville Camp 1524 and from the Montgomery Semple Camp came to celebrate this milestone.  The theatre opened the snack bar so folks could get movie fare like popcorn, candy and cokes and the auditorium served as the meeting venue.  A short program was conducted by Clanton Camp Commander Todd Rogers.  Camp Chaplain Earl Edmondson opened the meeting with an Invocation then Todd led everyone in pledges and salutes to the flags followed by a recitation of the SCV Charge.  Commander John Land from the Semple Camp presented Todd and the members of Camp 1461 with a framed copy of the Charge addressed to the camp as a congratulatory token.  Todd then highlighted upcoming events including the fall muster and Christmas Social which will be held jointly with Camp 1524 as Brigade events.  Chaplain Edmondson closed the meeting with a testimony as to his beliefs in the Confederate Cause and SCV Charge and then led everyone in a Benediction.  Everyone enjoyed a time of fellowship before and after the meeting proper before departing.  Great milestone event in the formation of the Clanton SCV Camp 1461.  

Prattville Dragoons at the 131st Alabama Division UDC Convention in Prattville AL

The ladies of the Alabama Division UDC had their 131st annual convention at the Marriott in Prattville this past week.  During the Historical Banquet on Friday night September 11th, Alabama Division SCV Commander Jimmy Hill brought greetings from the SCV.  SWC Brigade and Prattville Dragoons  SCVCamp 1524 Commander Waldo brought greetings from the Children of the Confederacy in the absence of his son who is the President of the Alabama Division CofC as he had a conflicting engagement.  Dragoons Adjutant Butler acted as part of the color guard for leading the procession into the convention ballroom after the evening's supper.  He and  SCV Brigade Commander Jeremy Boothe were both dressed in period reenactrment uniforms as the color guard. It was a meaningful formal occassion as part of the UDC annual convention as they recognized men who had served in our nation's armed forces and who had lineal ancestry to Confederate veterans.