Prattville Dragoons Commander's Column for April

April is Confederate History and Heritage month.  I hope everyone makes an effort to observe this special time of the year in remembrance of their Confederate ancestors.   I was enthused listening to 93.1FM on the radio on the way home yesterday when a caller to the program wished all the listeners a happy Confederate History month.  On Twitter there are many on the camp’s feed who are also recognizing this and of course a couple of detractors.  Unfortunately, a special event our camp observes, our annual picnic must again be postponed due to the COVID restrictions.  But, a number of camp members met at Oak Hill cemetery in downtown Prattville to place Battle flags at all the Confederate veterans’ graves there as an observance for Confederate History and Heritage month.  Compatriot Schwartz sent an email sharing his special feelings at the event which are related in the column further in this newsletter.   We are planning to place flags at other area cemeteries including at Confederate Memorial Park, even if we can’t enjoy the fellowship of our picnic at the same time.  We should all really pause and reflect on the great sacrifices our ancestors made in defense of their homes and families and in an effort to create a nation to propagate our founders ideals of liberty and the proposition of states’ rights and sovereignty. 

While Twitter has infringed on many users’ constitutional right of freedom of speech including banning our nation’s 45th President, it is still represents a venue to reinforce the Charge of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, to defend “the Confederate soldier's good name, (guard) his history, (and present) the true history of the South to future generations.”  A Tweet posted of our April billboard advertisement drew a huge positive reaction.  I commented to another recent tweet from an individual (a former VP for Deloitte) who said, “We need to give States the right to make their own laws ! Federal Government should be in charge of funding the Military regulating the Banking Industry and the Social Security system! Everything else should be handled by States!”  I replied that states rights was defeated in 1865 at the end of the Union muzzles when Lincoln supplanted that founding ideal with an imperialist omnipotent central federal government.  There is a super Twitter account we are following (and who follows us) Jefferson Davis, @Jeff_Davis1808 whose profile states, “Congressman and Senator from Mississippi, United States Secretary of War, President of the CSA, West Point Graduate and Veteran of the Mexican-American War”.  Along the lines of educating the public (on Twitter) he provides photos of Confederate monuments including the inscriptions invariably with the comment that these don’t proclaim any racism or odes to slavery but rather honor the Confederate soldiers and their defense of their homeland.  He has also shown monuments from Northern states which invariably fail to mention abolition on their inscriptions and instead proclaim a memory of their soldiers and preservation of the Union as their cause.  

Unfortunately, being out on these social media platforms served to put a spotlight on certain of our camp’s and the SCV’s politically incorrect positions which some perceive as discriminatory.  The SCV is an historical organization rooted in an historical political movement (the secession and defense of the southern states) and espousing a traditional way of life and values.   We know our Confederate ancestors experienced a revival during the War for Southern Independence and many returned home to create houses of worship which transformed the Southern states into the Bible Belt where we still “cling to our Bibles and guns”.  As the Charge also implores us, we are tasked to emulate our Confederate ancestors “virtues, (and perpetuate) those principles he loved and which made him glorious and which you also cherish.”  The definition of emulate is to “match or surpass (a person or achievement), typically by imitation”.  We should all hope that our actions and the stances we make on every platform, the walk we make in our lives reflects well on our Southern heritage and our faith in God.  Happy Confederate History and Heritage month.