Prattville Christmas Parade

The Dragoons will be participating in the 39th annual Prattville Christmas parade tomorrow, Saturday evening, December 1st.  The parade starts lining up around 2:30pm and commences at 4:30pm.  The parade route will start in front of the Autauga County courthouse in downtown Prattville, turning left down 4th St, left on Washington St, right on Wetumpka St, right on Northington St, then right on Main St where it will finish again in front of the courthouse at the corner of 4th St and Lower Kingston.  The Dragoons will have their SCV banner and be pulling a decorated float complete with a Christmas tree, lights and garland.  There will be a number of folks walking with the float including a number of reenactors and folks in period clothes.  Candy and the treasured SCV coins will be tossed to the parade spectators along the route.  It is always a grand time celebrating the Christmas season and highlighting the Dragoons and the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the Prattville community.  Hope everyone can join the festivities and participate with the Dragoons or as a spectator and greet us wholeheartedly as we make our way along the parade route.  Check back for photos from this year's Christmas parade event.

Confederate Postmaster General's Office Historic Marker Setting in Montgomery

You are invited to the Unveiling Ceremony
for the Historic Marker at the
Confederate Postmaster General’s Office
(corner of Washington Avenue and Perry Street
Thursday, November 29, 2012 at Noon
Sponsored by the
Montgomery Area Stamp Club
 
Short Program 
Spread the Word!

Call Charles E. Brannon for further information:  334.239.8913
or Elizabeth A. Murray, President at 334.279.8018

Defense of Secession - Exactly Who are the Idiots?

Last week the Montgomery Advertiser published a letter-to-the-editor written by Prattville Dragoon Charlie Graham.  But, the Advertiser deleted the last paragraph in his letter.  Notice that his main point is contained in the deleted paragraph, found below.

The Montgomery Advertiser has been loaded with articles and editorials espousing every anti-secession angle that their little statist minds can conjure.  Secession has been referred to as absurd and ridiculous.  GOSH Moon says that it isn’t a sign that the president is taking the wrong direction or that the country is failing but rather a sign that idiots live amongst us.  I agree with him 100%.  But where we disagree is who fits in that category.

After all of the trillions that have been printed and infused into the economy with little positive result Obama/Bernanke continue to print $40 billion per month and invest in junk bonds. The deficit is screaming out of control.  Carl Hess labels economists that are concerned about this as spreading hate for a living, while the country is in fact failing. 

Daniel Haulman says that no states other than the original thirteen colonies have secession rights.  He contends that the federal government formed most of the other states.  The Constitution nor the written proclamations of the states reserving rights to secede as they joined the union do not support his opinion.   

The election brought the advent concluding that we are now a socialist republic.  That realization resounds in the minds of us who lived play by play through the cold war with the communists.  Socialism is devoid of freedom.  Misuse and repudiation of our Constitution from Lincoln to Obama and despotic government precipitates a dream in a responsible mind that is incomprehensible to the left.

Capt. Wirz of Andersonville Exonerated

From the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans, a press release:

COMMANDER OF ANDERSONVILLE EXONERATED AFTER 150 YEARS  

    

(Atlanta - November 11, 2012)   On Sunday afternoon, November 4, memorial services honoring Capt. Henry Wirz were held in Andersonville, Georgia, the site of one of the saddest stories of the American War Between the States. Hanged as a scapegoat shortly following the War, Captain Wirz has a tall obelisk monument dedicated to his memory in downtown Andersonville, and natives of the region who know well the truths behind the years of revisionist history hold services in his memory each fall.  Now, after 150 years, the true story of the Andersonville is finally being told as part of the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the War.

The story of Andersonville is well known, often having been told by Hollywood, writers, and historians. The true story of Andersonville is not as well known.

Established as the location of a prisoner of war camp by the Confederacy during the War for Southern Independence because of its remote location from the front of the War and because of the location of the rail depot for transport, Camp Sumter at Andersonville was one of the primary POW camps in the South during the War.

Of the 45,000 Union prisoners held at Andersonville during the War, more than 12,000 perished, mainly from malnutrition and dysentery. The nearly 28 percent mortality rate among the prisoners is a sad fact of the War but is also one that is often grossly over reported, particularly in light of the fact that at the same Camp, 226 of the roughly 1,000 Confederate guards also died from the same conditions. Approximately the same number of Confederate guards and Union prisoners died at Andersonville because of the blockade that the Union had enforced upon the South, along with the scorched earth policy practiced by Sherman as he marched through Georgia and the Carolinas. Food and medical supplies were simply not to be had at that late date during the War.

To his credit, Captain Wirz attempted to alleviate the suffering of the Union prisoners by paroling five Union officers and sending them to the Union lines to offer the prisoners at Andersonville as an exchange for Confederate prisoners. In spite of the fact that the Union soldiers reported the scarcity of food and medicine available to the Confederates in Andersonville, their pleas fell on deaf ears with Union leadership. Union General Ulysses S. Grant had enacted a nationwide ban on prisoner exchanges; knowing that the South did not possess the food and supplies to properly care for prisoners, Grant sealed their fate by refusing to even accept an offer by Captain Wirz to provide food and medical relief for the prisoners.

Following the War, Captain Wirz was blamed for the malnutrition and lack of medical service provided to the prisoners in Andersonville. His efforts to alleviate their suffering went unheard; and on November 10, 1865 at 10:32 a.m., Henry Wirz was hanged in Washington, D.C.  In an act of barbarity, his body was dismembered; and parts of it were placed on public display in Northern museums. 

For the last 150 years, both Captain Wirz and the South have been blamed for the death of the prisoners who fell at Andersonville; but little has been said of his efforts to save them or of the same percentages of Confederate guards who died at the Camp. Still less is reported of the atrocities which occurred against Confederate POW's in Union prison camps such as Elmyra Prison, New York where 25 percent of the prisoners died, or Camp Douglas, Illinois where more than 25 percent of the Confederate prisoners died as compared to less than five percent of the guards stationed there throughout the War. In fact, Senate Resolution 97, a joint resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate in 1865, ordered that Confederate POW's should be intentionally subjected to malnutrition, lack of medical attention, and exposure to the elements. While the stated purpose of the new U.S. policy was retaliation for the poor treatment of Union POW's, it addressed neither the problem of the South having adequate food and medicine for prisoners nor the refusal of President Lincoln to provide for prisoner exchanges in order to alleviate the suffering of Union prisoners.

For interviews regarding the story of Andersonville or for more information on the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the War, please call Jack Bridwell, Division Commander for the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans at 1-866-SCV-in-GA or visit online at www.GeorgiaSCV.org 

Secession Movement

Texas petitioners have already garnered over 27000 signatures to petition the federal government to allow their state to secede from the United States.  Louisiana over 16000, North Carolina over 7000 with Florida and Alabama close to 8000 signatures as of this date. http://southernnationalist.com/blog/2012/11/09/secession-poll-petition/ The following is the excerpt from this website:

How much pro-independence momentum will result from the recent US presidential election and ongoing, US-promoted displacement of Southerners? We shall see.
There is a petition for Louisiana to leave the failed Union.
And there is a poll on Texas seceding as well (as of the time of this post the pro-independence voters are at 83%).
H/T Occidental Dissent
UPDATE: An SNN reader has also drawn up a petition supporting the general right of secession.
Here are more State secession petitions: Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Virginia.

Note that these states largely represent the conservative red states and largely formerly of the Confederate States of America.  Many of the same reasons for the secession movement of 1861 is apparent today with a huge cultural divide and disagreement over taxation and federal spending and infringement on individual liberties and states rights.  Each of these non-binding petititions makes the same statement and here is the one for Alabama.  To sign the petition simply requires registering a user account and receiving a password from the whitehouse.gov website. The following provides the verbiage of the petition for Alabama's secession:

We petition the obama administration to:

Peacefully grant the State of Alabama to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.

Peacefully grant the State of Alabama to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.
As the founding fathers of the United States of America made clear in the Declaration of Independence in 1776:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive."

Alabama Secession Flag

This past week at the Prattville Dragoons EC meeting, Brigade Commander Bill Myrick showed an Alabama Secession flag which is now available from Ruffin Flag. You can contact Adam Fuqua at Ruffin at 706-678-9090.  These flags are $12 each and include grommet hardware.  Alabama was actually briefly an independent republic following its secession from the United States before it and the other original six states formed the Confederate States of America.  The Alabama Secession flag is actually two sided, with different depictions on each side.  The following is from the Alabama State Archives website (http://www.archives.state.al.us/referenc/flags/105107.html ):
This flag was presented to the Alabama Secession Convention on January 11, 1861 in the House Chamber of the State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. "While the ladies of Montgomery sewed and presented the flag, much of it was painted by Francis Corra a painter of military and decorative banners in Montgomery."  On January 16, 1861 a reporter from the Montgomery Weekly Advertiser described the flag as a "unique affair. On one side is a representation of the Goddess of Liberty, holding in her right hand a sword unsheathed, and in her left, a small flag with one star. In an arch just above this figure are the words, "Alabama-Independent Now and Forever." On the reverse, the prominent figure is a cotton plant, with a rattlesnake coiled at its roots. Immediately above the snake are the words "Noli me tangere." Also on the same side, appears the Coat of Arms of Alabama."

Tallassee Battles for the Armory Reenactment this Weekend

Battles for the Armory 2012

3 Day Event - November 9th, 10th and 11th in Tallassee, Alabama

This is the 15th annual event and is a family oriented event that you don't want to miss out on.   Battles for the Armory is sponsored by the "Tallassee Armory Guards" SCV Camp 1921 and is hosted by the 53rd Alabama Cavalry.   Battles will be fought at 2:00pm Saturday and Sunday Nov.10th and 11th. Other attractions include, working blacksmith shop, carriage rides over the plantation, period foods, crafts, and modern concession stands, and vendors, and our usual large Sutler's Village providing unique shopping opportunities for WBTS items for reenactors and the general public. Gates open to public at 9:00am. Historic Gibson's View Plantation provides expansive open fields well suited to cavalry, with camping areas that have piped water and shower facilities. Modern camping available with water, but no hook-ups.  The reenactment site is just south of Tallassee on County Road 4, just off Highway 229, 5 miles north of the intersection/exit on I-85.  Visit the website (http://www.tallasseearmoryguards.org/reenactment/index.html ) for further information.

Prattville Dragoons November Camp Meeting

The Dragoons held their monthly camp meeting on Thursday night, November 8th at the Shoney's on Cobbs Ford Road.  It was a great crowd of nearly thirty folks. Following an opening prayer by Chaplain Snowden and the flag pledges, announcements were made by Commander Booth.  Special guests were recognized and there were a number of ladies present, always a pleasure. The Tallassee Battles for the Armory reenactment is being held this weekend including today, Friday with a school day with tours and presentations.  December 1st is the Prattville Christmas parade at 4:30 and the Dragoons will have a float and marchers - please join the festivities tossing candy and SCV coins to the children lining the parade route.  December 14th is the Dragoons Christmas social at Buena Vista with festivities starting at 6pm and dinner at 7pm with the program wrapping up by 9pm. Linda Davis with the Cradle of the Confederacy UDC announced they were selling CDs and song books to help raise funds for preservation of historic UDC documents; Mrs Davis played the CD during dinner before the camp meeting and songs include Dixie and Taps instrumentals. Pat Godwin was introduced as the guest speaker as one of the sterling defenders of Confederate heritage in Alabama, President of the Selma UDC chapter and founder of the AL Division Order of Confederate Rose.  Pat provided an update on status and progress in the renovation of the Live Oak Cemetery Confederate Circle including replacement of the bust and enhancements to the Gen.N.B.Forrest monument.  Lawsuits and legal action if prevailing currently.  Todd Kiscaden has lawsuits filed against the City of Selma and the Police Chief for losses incurred in the fiasco which halted the renovation work.  Pat has accused "domestic terrorist" Rose Sanders of criminal mischief and vandalism and is attempting to get her arrested but despite evidence of and witnesses to these crimes, she appears to be immune to legal recourse in Selma.  Sanders actually has brought suit against Pat for defamation and losses incurred because of her publicly labeling her a "domestic terrorist"; Pat explained that the Patriot Act defines a domestic terrorist and the description accurately characterizes Rose Sanders and the harassment, theft, vandalism and endangerment she and her hired croneys have choreographed in interrupting the renovation work at the Confederate Circle.  She explained that these actions by Sanders have been a diversion to distract authorities from the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the felonious theft of the Forrest bust; a suspect, an associate of Sanders, has been identified by informants.  But Pat indicated that Rose Sanders has largely lost her base of support as evidenced by the very poor showing of numbers for the demonstrations at the cemetery and for a march across the bridge where 300,000 people were called for by Sanders and 45 people, including just a half dozen blacks, actually showed up.  Nonetheless, the lawsuits against the City of Selma and the Police Chief are evidence that Sanders has protection from the local government officials if not support from the general public.  Pat provided details on the Selma city councils vote to suspend work on the Confederate Circle renovations.  Work was halted until evidence can be produced as to the ownership and deed for that area of the cemetery.  A compilation of historical news reports dating back to the late nineteenth century provide evidence of the origins of the Confederate Circle and original Monument but Pat is continuing her search for additional legal documents proving ownership by the UDC.  This despite proper building permits and Certificates of Appropriateness having been obtained prior to the construction and renovation work. The Friends of Forrest established by Butch and Pat Godwin have Forrest T-shirts and monument pavers available which are to help with legal defense and the completion of the memorial enhancements.  She encouraged everyone to write letters to the editors of the Selma Tomes-Journal, the Montgomery Advertiser, and the Prattville Progress endorsing the Confederate Circle renovations as a promotion for historical tourism and honoring American verterans. 

A Sad Day for Individual Liberty and Freedom and States Rights

From a past Dragoons camp commander:

Not all is said and done. Yet has to come the realization to the American people, that again the worst choice ever has been made. What does it take to understand Marxism and communism?  Look back to Germany when Hitler received most of the votes and was elected; and what happened ever after that. It seems that all dictators are very sneaky. It's like a worm inside an apple, raising havoc til it is too late. Too bad for this Country and most of it's people that we will continue on a path of destruction of our great Constitution.  This could be the worst day in American History, unless it was the day Abraham Lincoln took office.  Don't forget.  Pray without ceasing  for our Country and her people.

And a response:

Interesting the Hitler comparison because the local radio talk show host this morning made that exact same comparison.  Just because someone was elected doesn’t make him the right choice, it may mean that the majority made the wrong decision.  Unfortunately, I believe there are two issues.  First, everyone deep down wants an easy handout.  A candidate said the other day (paraphrasing), “The economy is improving but we have a long way to go and I won’t quit until everyone who wants to work has a job.”  See anything wrong with that statement?  It used to be that anyone who was able to work should have a job.   So first, there is an entitlement mindset that has evolved into a way of life for 40% or more of Americans.  Secondly, you mentioned Marxism and many pundits during the campaign mentioned socialism.  The majority of younger Americans, largely due to the terrible public education they are receiving today, have no clue, no understanding about what that means.  Socialism is not a bad word today.  McCarthy isn’t studied. Could you imagine American involvement in a Vietnam conflict today? There would be no stomach to send one warship to defend a political system of freedom rather than communism.  The rise and fall of the Russian empire isn’t studied.  China means cheap game systems to Americans today.  They have no knowledge of Tiananmen Square.  Liberty is a vague unintelligible  concept.  A government check and a reward for having more illegitimate babies is the foundation a growing minority of Americans desire.  40% of babies today are born to unwed mothers.  The foundation of American greatness, the family, is crumbling because of laws enabling these fractured families, enabling independence to pursue happiness in one’s life rather than sacrifices for the future and betterment of one’s children.  The young today have no inkling as to the sacrifices of the greatest generation of America let alone their forebears of the 18th and 19th centuries.  They believe that America will always be there and always provide for their well-being/welfare.  But as many have warned, the day of reckoning may be soon at hand and the austerity measures many European governments are dealing with or facing may hit the shores of America.  Biblical concepts of self-reliance and absolute morality and Constitutional concepts of self-determination and liberty are ancient obsolete words on parchment. I was very sad this morning for my children and the diminished opportunities they will have in this country.

VOTE

Today, November 6th is election day.  Some have said this is the most important election of our lives.  It is.  Some say there is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats and the parties.  That is uninformed ignorance, an excuse, a reneging of the responsibility of your civic duty.  Or biased blindness. While each party has utterly failed in preserving the founders Jeffersonian principles of limited government, the United States electorate has a clear choice between capitalism and socialism.   Between liberty and responsibility as opposed to an entitlement welfare state.  Judeo-Christian morality versus progressive relativism.  A degree of constitutional limited government and states rights versus an ever expanding federal intrusive strong arm.  One party believes we must reform social programs for future generations whereas the other party believes exploding debt and deficits will solve any problem and line the pockets of their political and organized labor croneys to create a ruling proletariat.  One party believes in reduced bureaucracy and regulation and paving the way for entrepreneurship and businesses to start and thrive, to unleash the US economy to again be the preeminent economic superpower.  One party believes in a diminished United States limiting the development of our natural resources and creating oppressive government taxes and regulations while picking their favorites in an attempt to declare winners they favor.  In the 150 years since the War for Southern Independence it is striking the transformation which the Republican and Democrat parties have undergone.  Obama likened himself to Lincoln (http://video.foxnews.com/v/1113088245001/obama-compares-himself-to-lincoln/) which at first blush seems to be narcissistic and absurd. But just as Lincoln believed in the supreme authority of the federal government, so too does Obama and believes it to be the only solution to every societal ill, issue and problem. (Interesting other similarities were both were Illinois lawyers and campaigned with characterless irresolute political positions, Obama abstaining on any vote which could brand him in his short-lived legislative career before seeking the Presidential nomination and "(Lincoln's) strategy (in running for the Illinois state legislature in which) he issued no platform statement, made no promises, and gave few speeches. Instead, he shook hands, told jokes, and visited nearly every family in the county. (http://millercenter.org/president/lincoln/essays/biography/2)"  The Democrats of the antebellum South wanted to preserve their agricultural industries which prior to the advent of mechanized farming largely required labor intensive methods which resulted in the propagation of the institution of slavery. But Lincoln too believed in the superiority of the white race and while paying lip service to abolitionists, sought to deport all freed slaves as he believed whites and blacks could not coexist in society (http://afpakwar.com/blog/archives/2600).  Socialist federal policies seek to enslave the populace to a lifetime of dependency and suppressed achievement on a federal government plantation (http://thehill.com/video/campaign/186701-cain-says-he-qleft-the-democratic-plantation-a-long-time-agoq).   Republicans today are the party espousing a return to individual liberty and states rights whereas in the 1850s and 1860s it was the Democrats.  Conservative minorities are highlighting the racism inherent in the Democrat demagoguery and proving that the American dream is still possible in the face of the obstacles the government imparts.  This election is important.  Vote today.  If you reside in what has been identified as a swing state, VOTE and ensure all of your like minded friends and family VOTE too.  May God bless our country and give wisdom to the electorate to make the right decision to save our country.

Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column from the November Camp Dispatch

150 Years Ago This Month - and Christmas Parade

      The territory of New Mexico saw action during the War Between the States.  In November 1862, Confederate forces led by Lieutenant Colonel John R Baylor succeeded in capturing and briefly holding the towns of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

      On 14 November 1862, Abraham Lincoln approved General Ambrose Burnside’s plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, setting the stage for the Battle of Fredericksburg.

      Those of you who wish to participate in the Prattville Christmas Parade be sure to contact our Communications Officer Tyrone Crowley so he can coordinate your participation with 2Lt Cmdr Waldo. (The Dragoons have already registered their entry to include a float and walkers including reenactors.  The Parade will be held along Main Street in downtown Prattville on Saturday December 1st starting at 4:30p.  The Dragoons intend to bring some Confederate gray to the theme of a "Blue Christmas".  Join us for a festive time of community and SCV fellowship showing your Confederate and Christmas spirit. S.W.)

Chris Booth

Camp Commander

Prattville Dragoons Chaplain's Column from the November Camp Dispatch

Facing Failure in Life

 “O love the Lord, all ye His saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful.” Psalm 31:23

             Two of the greatest baseball players in history were Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Ty Cobb was known for his record number of stolen bases, and Babe Ruth was known for his record number of home runs. What we may not know about them is that they were faced with failures before they became great. You see Ty Cobb was also thrown out more than any other man in baseball trying to steal bases. Babe Ruth struck out more than any other man in baseball! Neither of these great ball players allowed their failures to stop them. We should not allow failures in life to stop us.

             So let’s fix our goals, face our faults and forget our failures. Let’s not allow those failures to lead to discouragement. Remember Philippians 4:13 which says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We must be determined to believe that failure in the Christian life is not final.

             Let’s continue to remember those on our prayer list. 

Chaplain Snowden

Upcoming Alabama Statewide Events of Interest for Confederate Heritage for November 2012

A perusal of the Alabama Tourism Department Sweet Home Alabama statewide Calendar of Events for September include some events of interest for Confederate heritage supporters. 

• Civil War Walking Tour

Orrville | Nov 3, 2012

Nov 3, Orrville Civil War Walking Tour 334-877-4253. www.cahawba.com. Fee for participants only. Old Cahawba Archaeological Park--Travel back in time through some of Cahawba’s most intriguing stories. 10am-11am

• Battles for the Armory

Tallassee | Nov 9-11, 2012

Tallassee Battles for the Armory (Civil War Reenactment) - Reenactment of Battles of Franklin and Chehaw which saved the Confederate Armory from being destroyed by Union Raiders. Battle of Chehaw on Saturday at 2pm and Battle of Franklin on Sunday at 2 p.m, School Day on Friday. Admission $5 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 334-391-4017

• Guided Archeology Tour of Cherokee and DeKalb Counties

Fort Payne | Nov 16, 2012

Nov 16, Fort Payne Guided Archeology Tour of Cherokee and DeKalb Counties 256-782-5697. www.jsu.edu/epic. Fee for participants only. Little River Canyon Field School Educational/Interpretive Center--Come along with JSU Archeologist Dr. Harry Holstein for a guided tour of sites throughout Cherokee and DeKalb Counties. Participants will visit the 19th Century Cornwall Furnace, a Spanish contact site at Coosa Village, a rock shelter in use as early as 3000 B.C., and much more. Space is limited so register early. Fee: $15 per person (ages 14 and over); Pre-Registration is required. 9am-3pm

SCV Prattville Dragoons Table at Gun Show at the Alcazar Temple

Compatriot Jeff Potts and son John will again be manning a table at the Gun Show at Alcazar Temple in Montgomery this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 3rd and 4th.  If you go to the show, stop at our table and say hello to Jeff and John.  Look for the Dragoon Banner on the front of the table.  SCV applications and informational literature will be available.  This is always a good event to keep the Dragoons and the SCV out in front of the public who share our belief in Constitutional rights and may be interested in membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Alcazar Shrine Temple is at 555 Eastern Blvd, Montgomery.  Hours for the show are Saturday 9-5pm and Sunday 10-4pm. The gunshowtrader.com/gun-shows/montgomery-gun-show website has further information.